Consumer Perceptions of Noni Juice Health Benefits during a 90-Day In-Home Use Test

Noni juice, made from the fruit of Morinda citrifolia, is a health-promoting food from the Pacific Islands with an extensive history of traditional use. Human clinical trials have revealed that noni juice has antioxidant, immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties. Previously, regular noni juice consumers in Europe and traditional healers in Fiji were surveyed to identify potential noni juice health benefits. But to better understand the perception of its health benefits among those with no previous experience with noni juice, an in-home study was conducted in the United States. Three hundred and nineteen adults with untreated chronic health conditions were provided with a 90-day supply of a blinded (unlabeled) commercial noni juice product (Tahitian Noni® Juice), instructed to consume 4 fluid ounces (1/2 cup) each day, and responded to a questionnaire given on days 30, 60 and 90 to evaluate product appeal and perceived effectiveness. A total of 299 people (94%) felt that their health improved in some way after drinking TNJ for 90 days. More than 80% of the subjects reported feeling better or healthier in general. Most participants also concurred with more than two dozen additional positive health perception statements, especially on days 60 and 90. More than 70% of consumers also indicated that noni juice helped them feel better than other wellness supplements they had tried in the past, including other so-called “super fruit” products. These findings seem to corroborate the results of clinical trials and previous consumer surveys regarding the potential for noni juice to provide discernable health benefits when used consistently over time. Such findings may help guide additional placebo-controlled clinical trials in which specific effects may be evaluated more rigorously.

Quantum particle swarm optimization for micro-grid system with consideration of consumer satisfaction and benefit of generation side

Considering comprehensive benefit of micro-grid system and consumers,we establish a mathematical model with the goal of the maximum consumer satisfaction and the maximum benefit of power generation side in the view of energy management.An improved multi-objective local mutation adaptive quantum particle swarm optimization(MO-LM-AQPSO)algorithm is adopted to obtain the Pareto frontier of consumer satisfaction and the benefit of power generation side.The optimal solution of the non-dominant solution is selected with introducing the power shortage and power loss to maximize the benefit of power generation side,and its reasonableness is verified by numerical simulation.Then,translational load and time-of-use electricity price incentive mechanism are considered and reasonable peak-valley price ratio is adopted to guide users to actively participate in demand response.The simulation results show that the reasonable incentive mechanism increases the benefit of power generation side and improves the consumer satisfaction.Also the mechanism maximizes the utilization of renewable energy and effectively reduces the operation cost of the battery.

Cotton's Water Demand and Water-Saving Benefits under Drip Irrigation with Plastic Film Mulch

The primary purpose of this research was to give suitable irrigation program according to the growth period and water requirement.A cotton field experiment with mulched drip irrigation was conducted at the National Field Observation and Research Station for Oasis Farmland Ecosystem in Aksu of Xinjiang in 2008.Water balance method was adopted to study the water requirement and water consumption law of cotton under mulched drip irrigation in Tarim Irrigated Area.Statistical analysis of experimental data of irrigation indicates that the relationship between yield of cotton and irrigation presents a quadratic parabola.We fit the model of cotton water production on the basis of field experimental data of cotton.And the analysis on water saving benefit of cotton under mulched drip irrigation was done.Results indicate that water requirements for the irrigated cotton are 543 mm in Tarim Irrigated Area.The water requirements of seedling stage is 252 mm,budding stage is 186 mm,bolling stage is 316 mm and wadding stage is 139 mm.the irrigation amount determines the spatial distribution of soil moisture and water consumption during cotton life cycle.However,water consumption at different growth stages was inconsistent with irrigation.Quantitatively,the water consumed by cotton decreases upon the increase of irrigation amount.From the perspective of water saving,the maximal water use efficiency can reach 3 091 m3/ha.But the highest cotton yield needs 3464 m3/ha irrigation water.In summary,compared to the conventional drip irrigation,a number of benefits in water saving and yield increase were observed when using plastic mulch.At the same amount of irrigation,the cotton yield with plastic mulch was 30.2% higher than conventional approaches,and the efficiency of water utilization increased by30.2%.While at the same yield level,29.3% water was saved by using plastic mulch,and the efficiency increased by 41.5%.

Spatial distribution prediction and benefits assessment of green manure in the Pinggu District,Beijing,based on the CLUE-S model

Green manure use in China has declined rapidly since the 1980 s with the extensive use of chemical fertilizers.The deterioration of field environments and the demand for green agricultural products have resulted in more attention to green manure.Human intervention and policy-oriented behaviors likely have large impacts on promoting green manure planting.However,little information is available regarding on where,at what rates,and in which ways（i.e.,intercropping green manure in orchards or rotating green manure in cropland） to develop green manure and what benefits could be gained by incorporating green manure in fields at the county scale.This paper presents the conversion of land use and its effects at small region extent（CLUE-S） model,which is specifically developed for the simulation of land use changes originally,to predict spatial distribution of green manure in cropland and orchards in 2020 in Pinggu District located in Beijing,China.Four types of land use for planting or not planting green manure were classified and the future land use dynamics（mainly croplands and orchards） were considered in the prediction.Two scenarios were used to predict the spatial distribution of green manure based on data from 2011：The promotion of green manure planting in orchards（scenario 1） and the promotion of simultaneous green manure planting in orchards and croplands（scenario 2）.The predictions were generally accurate based on the receiver operating characteristic（ROC） and Kappa indices,which validated the effectiveness of the CLUE-S model in the prediction.In addition,the spatial distribution of the green manure was acquired,which indicated that green manure mainly located in the orchards of the middle and southern regions of Dahuashan,the western and southern regions of Wangxinzhuang,the middle region of Shandongzhuang,the eastern region of Pinggu and the middle region of Xiagezhuang under scenario 1.Green manure planting under scenario 2 occurred in orchards in the middle region of Wangxinzhuang,and croplands in most regions of Daxingzhuang,southern Pinggu,northern Xiagezhuang and most of Mafang.The spatially explicit results allowed for the assessment of the benefits of these changes based on different economic and ecological indicators.The economic and ecological gains of scenarios 1 and 2 were 175691 900 and143000 300 CNY,respectively,which indicated that the first scenario was more beneficial for promoting the same area of green manure.These results can facilitate policies of promoting green manure and guide the extensive use of green manure in local agricultural production in suitable ways.

A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis of Benefits Distribution in China-U.S. Trade during 1978-2007

The Sino-U.S. trade imbalance and the related debate on RMB appreciation have attracted much attention in recent years. Judging objectively, however, the trade imbalance does not necessarily result in an imbalance in the distribution of trade benefits. By analyzing the distribution of benefits in Sino-U.S. trade from 1978 to 2007, this paper finds that bilateral trade has brought positive benefits to both sides, differentially in terms of production and consumption. Simply put, China has gained benefits for production yet suffered in terms of consumption, whereas the opposite is true for the U.S.. Moreover, even during periods in which the U.S. experienced a trade deficit, its citizens gained larger total individual benefits than those in a period of trade surplus. We argue, therefore, that appreciation of the RMB would reduce the trade benefits for both sides by almost the same margin, bringing little benefit to the United States.

China's New Tax System Benefits Foreign Investors

To meet the requirements of a socialist market economy and overcome the inherent sharp contradictions of the former taxation system, China began reforming the structure of its tax system this year. The structural reform has been carried out under theguidelines of unifying the tax law, creating equal treatment, simplifying the tax system, building up a rational tax revenue sharing system, redressing distribution relationships, standardizing the mode

Diplomatic Implications of Women＇s Work in American Consumer Society

American foreign policies have observed guiding principles of democracy, yet an overemphasis on political values leads to more conflicts than mutual understandings in today＇s world. Therefore, this paper proposes that exploring diplomatic implications of ＂women＇s work＂ provides new insights into cultural values of the Four Freedomsmmajor pillars supporting modern American liberalism. This paper foregrounds the domestic and diplomatic significance of ＂women＇s work＂ by analyzing women＇s contributions as laborers at home, in the labor force, and in American consumer society. As American women participated in the paid labor force and took up most consumptive activities, women outside America also worked hard to provide food and care for families. This paper argues that a more comprehensive definition of＂women＇s work＂ is not only indispensable for the development of American industry, consumer society, and the expansion of marketplace, but integrates a system of dualisms separating wage labor and housework, or divisions between spheres of men and women. Moreover, investigations into hidden values of women＇s work alleviate worries arising from information revolution and economic globalization. Moreover, placing women＇s work in perspective enables diplomats to see through factors leading to international hostilities, to reduce conflicts arising from information revolution and economic globalization, and to understand America＇s soft power pertinently.

Initial Analysis on the Legal Protection of Consumers＇ Rights and Interests in Network Transaction

With the development of network technology and information technology, electronic commerce as a new business model wiht itsnew trading ideas-＋, In changing the traditional business structure,but also gradually changing people’s shopping patterns and consumptionpatterns,Online shopping has become the preferred way of shopping.Changes in consumption patterns will inevitably lead to new problems inthe process of consumption,and the development speed of the problem in sync with the development speed of network economy,as far as therenewal speed of laws and regulations is concerned,this asymmetric development is bound to bring great inconvenience to the consumer rights innetwork transactions.In this paper, from the angle of legal protection,the protection of consumer rights and interests in network transactions areexpounded,analysis of the current situation and reasons of the consumers’ rights and interests are infringed upon in the network transaction,learnfrom the experience of foreign consumer rights and interests protection,In order to put forward effective suggestions on the system constructionof the protection of consumer rights and interests.

An Ecological Interpretation of Consumer Culture in Willa Cather's The Professor's House

The Professor's House presents the readers pictures with striking consumer culture characteristics. With abundant goods of sign values, conspicuous consumption, swelling-desire-stimulating power and the individuals' efforts to construct their identities through consumption as dominant features, consumer culture exerts negative and even devastating effects on the characters in the novel. Theories of ecocriticism shed new lights on the interpretation of consumerism reflected in the novel, especially on analyzing how the consumer culture makes the characters suffer from split personality, alienation from nature, society, and even from themselves and their spiritual ecology.

Uplifting a Nation China’s 40 years of reform and opening up has brought tangible benefits to its people and the world

Beijing resident Li Zhangzhe, 58, still keeps a pair of sunglasses he bought nearly 40 years ago.

基于S-O-R模型的视觉营销对消费者购买意愿的影响研究——以红色文创网店为例

为提高红色文创网店的点击转化率,文章从消费者视角出发,研究影响消费者购买意愿的视觉因素。基于S-O-R模型理论,构建红色文创网店视觉营销对消费者购买意愿因素的理论模型。利用S-O-R模型分析了红色文创网店视觉营销中的商品形象、界面形象以及品牌视觉形象对顾客感知价值及顾客购买意向的影响。通过设计量表和调查问卷进行实证研究,并结合结构方程模型加以论证,得出品牌视觉形象和界面形象是影响消费者购买意愿的关键因素,为设计师和红色文创品牌进行网店设计提供了一定的理论参考和建议。

Deepening China-Africa Cooperation, Benefiting People’s Health

CHINA and Africa have been a commu- nity of shared interests and shared destiny Their collaboration benefits not only the development of China and Africa but also promotes the unity and cooperation of developing countries. Health cooperation is a powerful testimony to the friendship between Chinese and African people. Based on win-win cooperation and aiming at the well-being of the people, China and Africa have attained fruitful results through health cooperation over the last five decades.

“Malaysia Has Certainly Benefited from China’s Prominence on the World Stage”——Exclusive Interview with See Chee Kong Leonard, Business Minister of Embassy of Malaysia in PRC

Relations between China and Malaysia have been developing steadily.Recently,See Chee Kong Leonard,Business Minister of Embassy of Malaysia in PRC,accepted an interview with Chinas Foreign Tradey and talked about the 45 years of economic and trade cooperation and achievements of the two countries.

二项分布Bayes鉴定试验次数的选择与分析

讨论了二项分布的可靠性Bayes鉴定试验方案问题。在试验样本量一定的条件下,充分利用验前信息弥补现场试验信息的不足,从平均后验风险角度制定了成败型系统可靠性鉴定试验的Bayes方案。密切结合工程试验,从生产和使用双方的实际风险的角度,研究分析了Bayes可靠性鉴定试验与评估的联系与差异。最后,与传统的鉴定试验方案进行了分析比较,明确了Bayes方法的使用范围,对于工程试验方案的选择具有实际的指导意义。

基于C/S模式的医疗耗材管理系统设计与开发

无论从加强医院的管理还是从成本核算的角度分析,医疗消耗材料的管理都是医院管理中的一个重要组成部分。依据医院耗材管理系统的设计与开发的实践经历,着重介绍了一个基于C/S模式的医疗耗材管理系统的设计方案及系统的主要功能和特点,包括系统数据库设计和系统安全性。