Sales and marketing

Waikato Commerce Club was founded in the heart of Hamilton in 1937. And it was a popular place for people to go and relax at that moment. At present, Waikato Commerce Club is facing the problems of member losing, financial difficulty and attracting people. For these reasons, the project is aimed at identifying the reasons why members leave club, and how the club marketing itself, and strategies to retaining current club members. Primary and secondary research methods are used for this study. Questionnaire is used as primary research in this project, and the questionnaire is structured as it gives quantitative information. The survey is conducted to identify if people knows the existing of Waikato Commerce Club, and whether or not they are interested in the Club. For secondary research, the researcher collected data from a range of sources including online document, websites articles, and the previous survey on club members which is conducted by Waikato Commerce Club. This research is conducted to gain more marketing skills, and find out the more information about running a successful club, the reasons why members leave club. The data from the survey had not been calculated and analysed yet as the data had just been collected. But the answered questionnaire had been viewed roughly, there are not many people (participants) have heard about the Waikato Commerce Club, and only a few people are interested in the Club. From literature review, Enrmann (2008) states that many clubs are in the situation that has a turnover rate of 15 – 20% per year. And at a typical club or association, 5% of members run the club and show up for almost every event; another 15% of members regularly participate, another 20% occasionally participate; and the remaining 60% never show up for anything. But literature also reviewed that some examples of successful club. Waikato Commerce Club is one of the typical clubs. As these reasons, it is necessary to understand why the club experience this situation, and what marketing strategies are feasible for the club

An efficient and robust exfoliated bentonite/Ag3PO4/AgBr plasmonic photocatalyst for degradation of parabens

Efficient visible-light-driven heterojunction photocatalysts have attracted broad interest owing to their promising adsorption and degradation performances in the removal of organic pollutants. In this study, a mesoporous exfoliated bentonite (EB)/Ag3PO4/AgBr (30%) photocatalyst was obtained by stripping and exfoliating bentonite as the support for loading Ag3PO4 and AgBr. The particle size ranges of Ag3PO4 and AgBr were about 10-30 nm and 5-10 nm, respectively. The exfoliated bentonite could greatly improve the dispersion and adsorption of Ag3PO4 and AgBr, and significantly enhance the stability of the material during paraben photodegradation. 0.2 g L-1 methylparaben (MPB) was completely decomposed over the EB/Ag3PO4/AgBr (30%) in 40 min under visible light irradiation. In addition, the photocatalytic activity of EB/Ag3PO4/AgBr (30%) remained at about 91% after five recycling runs manifesting that EB/Ag3PO4/AgBr (30%) possessed excellent stability. Radical quenching tests revealed that holes (h+) and hydroxyl radicals (·OH) were the major radicals. They attacked the side chain on the benzene ring of parabens, which were gradually oxidized to the intermediates, such as benzoic acid, 3-hydroxybenzoic acid, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, azelaic acid, and eventually became CO2 and H2O. The enhancement of photocatalytic activity and photo-stability could be ascribed to the stable structural characteristics, enlarged surface area, high absorption ability, and improved light absorption ability from loading Ag3PO4 onto EB. Meanwhile, the matched energy levels of Ag3PO4 and AgBr made the photoelectron-hole pairs separate and transfer effectively at the interfaces. As a result, the photocatalytic properties of EB/Ag3PO4/AgBr (30%) composites were enhanced. © 2020 The Royal Society of Chemistry

Extraction of Pleurotus ostreatus Protein by the Aqueous Two-phase System and Its Characterization

To achieve green and efficient extraction of Pleurotus ostreatus protein (PP), the phase diagram of the PEG-(NH4)2SO4 aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) was constructed using the cloud point method. Protein extraction concentration was utilized as evaluation indicator to investigate the effects of ATPS factors such as the molecular weight and mass fraction of PEG, mass fraction of (NH4)2SO4, and proportion of added crude PP extraction. Furthermore, the basic components of PP including emulsification characteristics, foaming properties, and water and oil holding capacities were explored. The optimal process conditions for PP extraction were determined using response surface methodology, with PEG2000 mass fraction set at 19.5%, (NH4)2SO4 mass fraction at 22.6%, and protein crude extract mass fraction at 26%. Under these conditions, the extraction rate of protein reached 93.16%, with a protein content of 1.71 mg/mL. Analysis of the physical and chemical properties revealed uniform protein composition with an average particle size of approximately 220.2 nm. The total amino acid content was measured at 221.46 mg/g, with the highest aspartic acid (Asp) content at 25.06 mg/g. Moreover, PP exhibited exceptional emulsification stability 65.22%, foaming properties 79.87%, and water holding capacity 2.61±0.18 g/g. Compared with similar food proteins, PP protein had higher emulsifying stability, foaming ability, and water holding capacity. This study used a green, environmentally friendly, and low toxicity aqueous two-phase method to extract PP protein, providing a new approach for the green and sustainable development of protein extraction in the food industry, and a research foundation for the development of functional foods based on PP protein

Clinical characteristics and correlation analysis of IVIG resistance in children with kawasaki disease complicated with hip synovitis: case-control study

ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical characteristics and risk factors of Kawasaki disease (KD) complicated with hip synovitis.MethodsChildren with KD admitted from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2020, in the KD database of Yuying Children's Hospital Affiliated with Wenzhou Medical University were retrospectively included. We selected KD children with hip synovitis as the case group and KD children without hip synovitis as the control group to analyze the possible risk factors of hip synovitis in KD children.ResultsAmong 2,871 KD children admitted to our center in recent years, 28 had hip synovitis. In this study 140 KD children were enrolled, including 28 KD children with hip synovitis and 112 children with general KD (within one month of admission). The onset age of KD patients with hip synovitis was 30.92 (23.23–49.99) months, and there were 17 cases of bilateral hip involvement. The course of synovitis (limited movement, joint pain, lameness, unwillingness to stand, etc.) ranged from 1 to 19 days, with an average of (8.8 ± 4.6) days. We treated all KD children with IVIG (Intravenous immunoglobulin) plus aspirin, among which five patients in the case group developed coronary artery damage, six acquired IVIG resistance, and synovial inflammation disappeared within two weeks. Age, weight, length of stay, and incidence of IVIG resistance significantly differed between the two groups (P = 0.001, 0.005, <0.001, and 0.035, respectively). Logistic regression analysis showed that KD combined with hip synovitis was an independent risk factor for developing propyl pellet resistance, with an OR value of 4.625 (95% CI: 1.095, 19.526).ConclusionKD combined with hip synovitis mainly involves bilateral hip joints, and joint pain and limited movement are the main clinical features. The symptoms are mild and self-limiting. KD combined with hip synovitis is a risk factor for IVIG resistance. Hip synovitis is a good predictor of IVIG resistance

The effect of prehabilitation on the postoperative outcomes of patients undergoing colorectal surgery: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Study objectivePrehabilitation is analogous to marathon training and includes preoperative preparation for exercise, as well as nutrition and psychology. However, evidence-based recommendations to guide prehabilitation before colorectal surgery are limited. We aimed to evaluate the effect of prehabilitation on the postoperative outcomes of patients undergoing colorectal surgery.DesignThis study is a systematic review and meta-analysis.MethodsThe PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases were searched for studies reporting the effect of prehabilitation strategies versus standard care or rehabilitation in patients undergoing colorectal surgery. The primary outcomes were overall postoperative complications and length of hospital stay (LOS), and the secondary outcome was functional capacity (measured using the 6-min walk test [6MWT]) at 4 and 8 weeks after surgery.Main resultsFifteen studies with 1,306 participants were included in this meta-analysis. The results showed no significant reduction in the number of overall postoperative complications (risk ratio = 1.02; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.79–1.31; p = 0.878) or LOS (standardized mean difference = 0.04; 95% CI = −0.11 to 0.20; p = 0.589) in patients who underwent colorectal surgery with or without prehabilitation strategy. Additionally, there were no significant differences in the functional capacity estimated using the 6MWT at 4 and 8 weeks postoperatively.ConclusionsPrehabilitation did not significantly affect the number of postoperative complications, LOS, or functional capacity of patients undergoing colorectal surgery. Whether prehabilitation should be recommended deserves further consideration.Systematic Review Registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?RecordID=290108, identifier CRD4202129010

Impact of Carbon Trading System on Green Economic Growth in China

Whether China’s economy can maintain sustainable growth has been debated both in China and internationally, and the most representative critique has been summarized in the “Krugman Query”. Faced with such doubts, how to achieve a “win-win” for economic growth and environmental protection has become one of the central objectives of local government work while striving for the new vision of development. Taking China’s carbon trading pilot policy as an example, and based on panel data of 30 provincial administrative regions in China from 2001 to 2018, this paper uses the Data Envelopment Analysis-Malmquist index model and the Propensity Score Matching-Difference in Difference method to measure the level of green economic growth from two aspects: green development mode and economic growth effect, and further explore the impact of China’s carbon trading system on green economic growth. The results show that the implementation of the carbon trading system promoted both the green development level and economic growth of pilot cities, and positively affected green total factor productivity, refuting the “Krugman Query”. Finally, the study puts forward a series of recommendations in strengthening environmental regulation, improving green technology innovation, and developing low-carbon industries