Milking the Market

With climate change becoming direr and the WTO losing its teeth at 30,experts renew call for green collaboration among the world’s three largest economies.AS competition intensifies in the global dairy product market,many foreign dairy companies are focusing on China."China is the best market to debut breakthrough products,"said Bruno Chevot,food and beverage multinational Danone China’s president for North Asia and Oceania.

Self-medication with nutritional supplements and herbal over-the-counter products

In recent years,the popularity increased for nutritional supplements and herbal products.Prescription drugs,but not herbal therapies are paid by health insurances.They are sold over-the-counter(OTC)on the patients’own expense.However,there are potential risks of self-medication,e.g.incorrect self-diagnosis,severe adverse reactions,dangerous drug interactions,risk of addiction etc.They are often used by patients at their own discretion without knowledge of and control by their physicians.Certain users are at risk of intoxication.Multiple medications taken by older patients increase the risk for adverse drug reactions,drug-drug interactions,and compliance problems for this age group(polypharmacy).Herbals should be discontinued prior to operations to avoid interactions with anesthetics or anticoagulants.Herbal preparations may also be carcinogenic or interfere with cancer treatments.Pregnant women use various OTC preparations.However,in many cases,it is unclear whether their use is safe for mother or baby.Self-medication with herbals is also largely distributed among anxious and depressive patients,and patients with other conditions and symptoms.The popularity of herbal products has also brought concerns on quality,efficacy and safety.Cases of botanical misidentification,contaminations with heavy metals,pesticides,radioactivity,organic solvents,microbials as well as adulteration with chemical drugs necessitate the establishment of international quality control standards.Hepatotoxic effects have been reported for more than 300 plant species,and some commonly used herbs have been demonstrated to interact with Western medication.Health care professionals have a critical responsibility assessing the self-care ability of their patients.Databases are available for pharmacists with information on action,side effects and toxicities as well as herbdrug interactions.There is a need for established guidelines regarding the correct use of nutritional supplements and herbal OTC preparations(phytovigilance).Physicians,pharmacists,and other health care professionals have to counsel patients and the general public on the benefits and risks associated with herbal drugs.Information centers for consumers and general practitioners are needed,and convincing evidence on safety and efficacy of herbal products has to be demonstrated in placebo-controlled,double blind and randomized clinical trials.

Gender Differences in Usage of Over-the-Counter Analgesics among Norwegian Adolescents

Introduction: Usage of over-the-counter (OTC) analgesic has increased among Norwegian adolescents since 2001. It has been noted that females tend to have a higher usage compared to males. In this paper we explore this gender difference. Data: Our dataset consists of 284,674 from Norwegian adolescents attending junior high school and high school between 2014 and 2017. Methods: The econometric approach consists of applying ordered logistic regressions with usage of OTC analgesics as the dependent variable and a dichotomous gender variable as the independent variable. Control variables include variables such as frequency of physical and mental health problems and other sociodemographic variables. Results: Gender, physical and mental health problems and various sociodemographic variables are found to have a significant effect on usage of OTC analgesics. Females are predicted to use significantly more analgesics. A large proportion of the gender difference evaporates when controlling for various other determinants. Conclusion: A considerable part of the observed gender difference in OTC analgesic usage can be traced back to differences in frequency and severity of physical and mental health problems. Part of the gender difference in usage, however remains unexplained.

Analysis and construction of evaluation index system of inter-provincial electricity spot markets

Because of the contradiction between the scale of new energy installations and the continuous load growth in the central and eastern regions of China,the balance problems of the electricity market are becoming increasingly prominent,and it is urgent to solve such problems through inter-provincial electricity spot markets.First,the development history and construction status of the inter-provincial electricity spot market are summarized;second,the mechanism design of the inter-provincial electricity spot market is sorted out in terms of the market operation framework,transaction declaration,and clearing methods;subsequently,the evaluation index system of the inter-provincial electricity spot market is constructed,including four themes of electricity mutual aid and support,new energy consumption,economic benefits of market-based allocation,and social benefits of market-based allocation;finally,the operation of the inter-provincial electricity spot market is comprehensively analyzed by the algorithm based on the market operation data of 2022,which proves the feasibility and practicality of the proposed index system.

Innovations Not Enough—Yet—to Make Headset Market an Actual Reality

In January 2024,after decades of intermittent improvements in virtual reality(VR)and augmented reality(AR)devices failing to help the technology catch on with the public,tech behemoth Apple(Cupertino,CA,USA)launched its marketing of a headset with by far the highest resolution and sharpest contrast of any commercially available device to date[1].Yet sales of the Vision Pro(Fig.1),Apple’s much anticipated first entry in the VR/AR marketplace,have fallen far short of the company’s already low expectations[2].

Observational Study of a Multi-Active Ingredient Over-the-Counter Cold Remedy Following Active Pharmacist Recommendation

Real-world user satisfaction with a fixed dose combination over-the-counter cold remedy (Vicks Symptomed Complete Cytrynowy hot drink;VSCC) was evaluated in a prospective, non-comparative, observational study involving 176 pharmacies in Poland from February to April 2015. 1391 participants completed a questionnaire in the pharmacy and several paper questionnaires at home following use of the product at their own discretion. Participants returned their completed questionnaires to the pharmacy. 1356 participants were included in the intent-to-treat analysis. Participants highly valued the advice from their pharmacist (97%, P < 0.0001, important vs. not important) and thought the quality of that advice was good (93%, P < 0.0001, good/very good vs. very bad-fair). 96% of participants found VSCC to be effective in some way against their cold symptoms (P < 0.0001, effective vs. not effective) and 68% of them stated that it was better than any other cold therapy they had used before (P < 0.0001, better/best vs. same/worse). Adverse event reporting was very low.

A Special Issue:“Electricity Market Technologies for Renewable Energy Development”for Global Energy Interconnection

Electricity market technology plays a crucial role in promoting the development of renewable energy.Accelerating the construction of a unified national power market system improves the adaptability of the power market to a high proportion of renewable energy sources.This will help optimize resource allocation,improve the flexibility and reliability of the power system,and support the consumption and utilization of renewable energy.Electricity market technology has provided strong support and promotion for the development of renewable energy through a number of aspects,such as market-oriented reform,fair participation,pricing mechanism,international cooperation,publicity and guidance,construction of the electricity market system,green power trading,technological progress and policy support.

Impact of Sharing Marketing on Marketing Willingness of Employees in Internet Decoration Industry

With the development of information technology,sharing marketing,as an innovative marketing method,plays an important role in promoting the marketing willingness and enthusiasm of employees in the Internet decoration industry.Based on the data obtained from the ques-tionnaire survey,this paper makes an empirical analysis of the impact of the economic value,social value,perceived ease of use,perceived convenience,enabling conditions and subjective norms of sharing marketing on the marketing willingness of employees in the Internet decoration industry.The results showed that the questionnaire had good internal consistency and construct validity.Through empirical analysis,it can be found that the economic value,social value,perceived ease of use,perceived convenience,enabling conditions and subjective norms of sharing marketing have a significant positive impact on employees'marketing willingness.

Renewable Polymers in Biomedical Applications:From the Bench to the Market

Polymers from renewable resources have been used for a long time in biomedical applications and found an irreplaceable role in some of them.Their uses have been increasing because of their attractive properties,contributing to the improvement of life quality,mainly in drug release systems and in regenerative medicine.Formulations using natural polymer,nano and microscale particles preparation,composites,blends and chemical modification strategies have been used to improve their properties for clinical application.Although many studies have been carried out with these natural polymers,the way to reach the market is long and only very few of them become commercially available.Vegetable cellulose,bacterial cellulose,chitosan,poly(lactic acid)and starch can be found among the most studied polymers for biological applications,some with several derivatives already established in the market,and others with potential for such.In this scenario this work aims to describe the properties and potential of these renewable polymers for biomedical applications,the routes from the bench to the market,and the perspectives for future developments.

Research on decision-making behavior of multi-agent alliance in cross-border electricity market environment: an evolutionary game

Constructing a cross-border power energy system with multiagent power energy as an alliance is important for studying cross-border power-trading markets.This study considers multiple neighboring countries in the form of alliances,introduces neighboring countries’exchange rates into the cross-border multi-agent power-trading market and proposes a method to study each agent’s dynamic decision-making behavior based on evolutionary game theory.To this end,this study uses three national agents as examples,constructs a tripartite evolutionary game model,and analyzes the evolution process of the decision-making behavior of each agent member state under the initial willingness value,cost of payment,and additional revenue of the alliance.This research helps realize cross-border energy operations so that the transaction agent can achieve greater trade profits and provides a theoretical basis for cooperation and stability between multiple agents.

Exploring the impacts of major events on the systemic risk of the international energy market

This study examines the systemic risk caused by major events in the international energy market(IEM)and proposes a management strategy to mitigate it. Using the tail-event driven network(TENET)method, this study constructed a tail-risk spillover network(TRSN) of IEM and simulated the dynamic spillover tail-risk process through the cascading failure mechanism. The study found that renewable energy markets contributed more to systemic risk during the Paris Agreement and the COVID-19pandemic, while fossil energy markets played a larger role during the Russia-Ukraine conflict. This study identifies systemically important markets(SM) and critical tail-risk spillover paths as potential sources of systemic risk. The research confirms that cutting off the IEM risk spillover path can greatly reduce systemic risk and the influence of SM. This study offers insights into the management of systemic risk in IEM and provides policy recommendations to reduce the impact of shock events.

Activity Data and Emission Factor for Forestry and Other Land Use Change Subsector to Enhance Carbon Market Policy and Action in Malawi

Activity data and emission factors are critical for estimating greenhouse gas emissions and devising effective climate change mitigation strategies. This study developed the activity data and emission factor in the Forestry and Other Land Use Change (FOLU) subsector in Malawi. The results indicate that “forestland to cropland,” and “wetland to cropland,” were the major land use changes from the year 2000 to the year 2022. The forestland steadily declined at a rate of 13,591 ha (0.5%) per annum. Similarly, grassland declined at the rate of 1651 ha (0.5%) per annum. On the other hand, cropland, wetland, and settlements steadily increased at the rate of 8228 ha (0.14%);5257 ha (0.17%);and 1941 ha (8.1%) per annum, respectively. Furthermore, the results indicate that the “grassland to forestland” changes were higher than the “forestland to grassland” changes, suggesting that forest regrowth was occurring. On the emission factor, the results interestingly indicate that there was a significant increase in carbon sequestration in the FOLU subsector from the year 2011 to 2022. Carbon sequestration increased annually by 13.66 ± 0.17 tCO2 e/ha/yr (4.6%), with an uncertainty of 2.44%. Therefore, it can be concluded that there is potential for a Carbon market in Malawi.

Analyzing the Wind-Dominant Electricity Market under Coexistence of Regulated and Deregulated Power Trading

Currently,both regulated and deregulated power trading exist in China’s power system,which has caused imbalanced funds in the electricity market.In this paper,a simulation analysis of the electricity market with wind energy resources is conducted,and the calculation methods of unbalanced funds are investigated systematically.In detail,the calculation formulas of unbalanced funds are illustrated based on their definition,and a two-track electricity market clearing model is established.Firstly,the concept of the dual-track system is explained,and the specific calculation formulas of various types of unbalanced funds are provided.Next,considering the renewable energy consumption,the market clearing model based on DC power flow is constructed and solved;by combining fitting methods of mid-and long-term curves,the unbalanced funds are calculated based on clearing results and formulas.

Impact of the carbon market on investment benefits of power-grid enterprises in China: a system dynamics analysis

The power grid,as the hub connecting the power supply and consumption sides,plays an important role in achieving carbon neutrality in China.In emerging carbon markets,assessing the investment benefits of power-grid enterprises is essential.Thus,studying the impact of the carbon market on the investment and operation of powergrid enterprises is key to ensuring their efficient operation.Notably,few studies have examined the interaction between the carbon and electricity markets using system dynamics models,highlighting a research gap in this area.This study investigates the impact of the carbon market on the investment of power-grid enterprises using a novel evaluation system based on a system dynamics model that considers carbon-emissions from an established carbon-emission accounting model.First,an index system for benefit evaluation was constructed from six aspects:financing ability,economic benefit,reliability,social responsibility,user satisfaction,and carbon-emissions.A system dynamics model was then developed to reflect the causal feedback relationship between the impact of the carbon market on the investment and operation of power-grid enterprises.The simulation results of a provincial power-grid enterprise analyze comprehensive investment evaluation benefits over a 10-year period and the impact of carbon emissions on the investment and operation of power-grid enterprises.This study provides guidelines for the benign development of power-grid enterprises within the context of the carbon market.

With Growth in Birth Population,Maternity and Children's Market Picks Up

In recent years,China's birth population has continued to decline,causing concern from all walks of life.However,data for the first half of2024 show a slight recovery in the number of births in some regions,a phenomenon that has brought new vitality to the maternity and children's market.Although this rise may be a short-term"spring",it has injected hope into related industries.

Understanding the Dynamics of China’s Import Market in 2024

As a key player in global trade and innovation,China continues to adapt to changing circumstances,leveraging both domestic strengths and international partnerships to maintain steady growth.In particular,China’s import market stands out as a significant barometer of its economic resilience.Despite transformations in global trade dynamics,the enduring demand for a wide array of products spanning from cutting-edge technologies to sustainable goods underscores the adaptability of both Chinese consumers and enterprises,highlighting the expansive growth prospects within the nation’s trade landscape.As we look ahead to 2025,China’s import patterns offer important insights into its economic priorities and the forthcoming evolution of global trade.

China Intensifies Monetary Policy Adjustments and Boosts Market Confidence

On September 27,the People's Bank of China (hereinafter referred to as the"central bank") announced that,from September 27,2024,the RRR (required reserve ratio)of financial institutions would be lowered by 0.5 percentage points (excluding those that are subject to an RRR of 5%).The weighted average required reserve ratio for financial institutions is about 6.6% after this cut.At the same time,the central bank also announced that from September27,the interest rate for 7-day reverse repo operations in the open market will be adjusted from1.70%to 1.50%.

The "Black Myth" Marks a New Milestone for China-Made Games in Overseas Market

Since its first launch on August 20th,the game"Black Myth:Wukong"has broken many previous records for domestic single-player games,and also provides a chance for global game players to see Chinese games as among the world's best games.The number of online users on the entire platform exceeded3 million at its most,and more than10 million copies of the games were sold within the first four days after the launch.It has received more than 270thousand reviews in total and 96%positive reviews on the Steam platform,providing a chance for global game players to enjoy the best of Chinese games。

China’s Inbound Tourism Market Sees Its Highlight Moment

Under the wave of globalization,tourism has long transcended the simple realm of travel and become an important vehicle for cultural exchange and economic interaction among countries.Especially since the beginning of this year,China’s inbound tourism market has been rising rapidly.According to China Travel:Let the World Know a More Realistic China,a think tank report released by Xinhua News Agency on December 4,since 2024,China has further extended its visa-free policy for more countries and the number of foreign tourists visiting China has significantly increased.The trend of“China Tours”continues to heat up on overseas social media platforms.

Central Economic Work Conference:A Key Indicator for Future Market Trends

China concluded the highly anticipated annual Central Economic Work Conference(CEWC)on December 12,which outlined the government’s main economic objectives and policy plans for 2025.The Central Economic Work Conference has set the tone for China’s economic development in the coming year,particularly providing important guidelines and new requirements for foreign trade and economic cooperation.These directives are of great significance for China to further expand its opening-up and promote the high-quality development of foreign trade.