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The purpose of this paper is to propose data mining techniques to model the return on investment from various types of promotional spending to market a drug and then use the model to draw conclusions on how the pharmaceutical industry might go about allocating promotion expenditures in a more efficient manner, potentially reducing costs to the consumer. The main contributions of the paper are two-fold. First, it demonstrates how to undertake a promotion mix optimization process in the pharmaceutical context and carry it through from the beginning to the end. Second, the paper proposes using directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) to help unravel the direct and indirect effects of various promotional media on sales volume.

A synthetic data set was constructed to prototype proposed data mining techniques and two analyses approaches were investigated.

The two methods were found to yield insights into the problem of the promotion mix in the context of the healthcare industry. First, a factor analysis followed by a regression analysis and an optimization algorithm applied to the resulting equation were used. Second, DAG was used to unravel direct and indirect effects of promotional expenditures on new prescriptions.

The data are synthetic and do not incorporate any time autocorrelations.

The promotion mix optimization process is demonstrated from the beginning to the end, and the issue of negative coefficient in promotion mix models are addressed. In addition, a method is proposed to identify direct and indirect effects on new prescriptions.

A better allocation of promotional expenditures has the potential for reducing the cost of healthcare to consumers.

The contributions of the paper are two-fold: for the first time in the literature (to the best of the authors’ knowledge), the authors have undertaken a promotion mix optimization process and have carried it through from the beginning to the end Second, the authors propose the use of DAGs to help unravel the effects of various promotion media on sales volume, notably direct and indirect effects.

This paper analyzes and discusses the fundamental role of new urbanization in the construction of a new development pattern based on the specific practice of China’s new urbanization construction, combining the classical Marxist ideas in urbanization and the theory of the industrial capital circulation, and proposes to remove blockages in the domestic and international circulations through developing new urbanization and construct a new development pattern with the domestic circulation as the mainstay and the domestic and international circulations promoting each other, thereby achieving high-quality national economic operation.

Based on the theory of industrial capital circulation, this paper elucidates the general process of domestic and international economic circulations, critically examines the bottlenecks and challenges in economic circulation, and emphasizes the mechanisms through which new urbanization contributes to the formation of a new development pattern.

The people-centered new urbanization can effectively release domestic demand, optimize investment supply, and stabilize market participants’ expectations, linking the national economic circulation from production to consumption and alleviating supply and demand mismatches, which has a fundamental role in building the new development pattern.

We should focus on creating a comprehensive domestic demand system based on counties while fostering a unified domestic market led by urban clusters and metropolitan areas to stabilize and enhance the expectations of both domestic and international market participants.

A more accurate comprehension of data elements and the exploration of new laws governing contemporary data in both theoretical and practical domains constitute a significant research topic.

Based on the perspective of evolutionary economics, this paper re-examines economic history and existing literature to study the following: changes in the “connotation of production factors” in economics caused by the evolution of production factors; the economic paradoxes formed by data in the context of social production processes and business models, which traditional theoretical frameworks fail to solve; the disruptive innovation of classical theory of value by multiple theories of value determination and the conflicts between the data market monopoly as well as the resulting distribution of value and the real economic society. The research indicates that contemporary advancements in data have catalyzed transformative innovation within the field of economics.

The research indicates that contemporary advancements in data have catalyzed disruptive innovation in the field of economics.

This paper, grounded in academic research, identifies four novel issues arising from contemporary data that cannot be adequately addressed within the confines of the classical economic theoretical framework.

Polishing is a crucial process in mechanical manufacturing. The use of industrial robots to automate polishing is an inevitable trend in future developments. However, current robotic polishing tools are too large to reach inside deep holes or grooves in workpieces. This study aims to use a pneumatic artificial muscle (PAM) as the actuator and designs a force-controlled end-effector to reach inside the deep and narrow areas in the workpiece.

This approach first addresses the challenge of converting the tensile force generated by the PAM into pushing force through mechanism design. In addition, a dynamics model of the end-effector was established based on the three-element model of the PAM. A combined control strategy was proposed to enhance force control accuracy and adaptability during the polishing process.

Experiments were conducted on a robotic platform equipped with the proposed end-effector. The experimental results demonstrate that the end-effector can polish the inner end face of holes or grooves with diameters as small as 80 mm and depths reaching 200 mm. By implementing the combined control strategies, the target force tracking error was reduced by 48.66% compared to the use of the PID controller alone.

A new force-controlled end-effector based on the PAM is designed for robotic polishing. According to the experimental result, this end-effector can polish not only the outer surfaces of the workpiece but also the internal surfaces of workpieces with deep holes or grooves specifically. By using the combined control strategy proposed in this paper, the end-effector significantly improves force control precision and polishing quality.

The paper presents one of the first attempts to identify and categorise the fundamental barriers currently preventing the multibillion semiconductor equipment manufacturing industry from implementing existing B2B e-trading models for its secondary market. It furthermore proposes a global e-business strategy supporting aftermarket integration with the industry's supply chain.

Because of the global nature of the industry, the research employs a multiple case-study design to explore the state-of-the-art in semiconductor excess management. The data for this analysis are obtained through a number of in-depth interviews with experts from a cross-section of the industry, and further supplemented and validated with a systematic literature review and public corporate data.

The results indicate that significant market imperfections still exist in the industry due to information and knowledge deficits, organisational inefficiency and IP-related concerns. The considerable levels of third-party competition to the original equipment manufacturers raise questions about the existence and efficacy of reverse logistics processes and Closed-Loop Supply Chain (CLSC) management strategies in this industry. It has been shown that a leaner semiconductor supply chain is achievable through the implementation of the proposed B2B e-marketplace, maintaining the information exchange on the surplus/obsolete equipment and parts.

These outcomes are unique for supporting the design of the first global e-marketplace for the secondary semiconductor equipment and spares. The results can, furthermore, inform the standardisation of the semiconductor aftermarket transactions, streamline knowledge exchange mechanisms amongst different industry players and improve pricing strategies. These contribute to knowledge of principles allowing the aftermarket e-trading to become a key part of the value network in high-tech manufacturing industries.

Regulating and guiding the sound development of capital under a socialist system is not only a significant theoretical innovation rooted in Chinese practice by the Communist Party of China (CPC) but also a major practical exploration for the smooth progression of the party and the nation’s modernization endeavors.

Adopting an analytical framework that unifies theoretical, historical and practical logic, this paper explores the rationality of capital’s existence under a socialist system based on the notion that capital is a materialized production relationship. It also examines the staged evolution of capital theory under socialism, highlighting the great leap forward realized by the capital theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

With the CPC Central Committee’s deepening understanding of the capital patterns in the socialist system, capital-related policies have undergone a developmental journey through several stages – from the negation and elimination of capital to the support and operation of capital and finally to the stage of regulating and guiding capital. This reflects the reciprocal and complementary relationship between capital theory and capital policy.

In response to issues such as the disorderly expansion of capital in the new development stage, it is imperative to actively promote a practical pathway safeguarded by the adherence to Party leadership, guided by the capital theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics and targeted toward common prosperity.