Poor-prognosis disclosure preference in cancer patient-caregiver dyads and its association with their quality of life and perceived stress: a cross-sectional survey in mainland China

Background This study attempted to examine the discordance between family caregivers and cancer patients in their poor-prognosis disclosure preferences in mainland China and then ascertained the associations between quality of life (QoL), perceived stress, and poor-prognosis disclosure preferences. Methods Six hundred fifty-one pairs of inpatients and their matched caregivers (participation rate = 92.2%) were recruited in this cross-sectional survey. A set of paired self-administered questionnaires were completed independently by patient–caregiver dyads. Results Fewer family caregivers than cancer patients felt that poor prognosis should be disclosed to patients (61.2% vs. 90.0%, p < 0.001). Patients' positive poor-prognosis disclosure preference was associated with patients' better QoL (p < 0.05) and caregivers' reduced perceived stress levels (p = 0.013). However, caregivers' poor-prognosis disclosure preference correlated only with their own physical state (p = 0.028). Moreover, the caregivers who concurred with patients in positive poor-prognosis disclosure preference were more likely to experience a better QoL (p < 0.05) and lower perceived stress levels (p = 0.048) in the III–IV stage subgroup. Conclusions There was a significant discrepancy in poor-prognosis disclosure preference between cancer patients and caregivers in China. The caregivers' preference of concealing poor prognosis from patients was not related to cancer patients' QoL or perceived stress. In addition, caregivers had better QoL and lower stress levels when they held the same positive poor-prognosis disclosure preference as the patients

Optimisation du fonctionnement et coordination de contractualisation dans les chaînes logistiques avec prise en compte des éléments comportementaux

This thesis studies how to incorporate typical social preferences, such as fairness concerns and reciprocity, into the context of supply chain. The impacts of theses social preferences on the supply chain’s decisions, channel efficiency and coordination are investigated. Specifically, it focuses on three important questions as follows: 1, what are the differences between the conventional channel and the behavioral channel (e.g., fairness-concerned channel and reciprocal channel)? 2, how do these behavioral factors influence the decisions of the supplier and the retailer in the supply chain? 3, what effects have these social preferences on the coordination of the channel and its efficiency? In order to answer these questions, two models of behavioral operations are formulated. A newsvendor model for a dyadic supply chain with Nash bargaining fairness concerns is built first. In this model, a supplier plays Stackelberg game with a retailer who faces stochastic demand. Nash bargaining solution is used as fairness reference to formally depict perceptively fair compromise, which is a new perspective to study fairness concerns in a supply chain. Then a similar dyadic channel in which a retailer and/or a supplier have a preference for reciprocity is investigated, but the retailer is facing deterministic demand. In this model, the impact of intention is studied within the context of supply chain for the first time. Some interesting and valuable managerial insights are drawn by analyzing the two behavioral models. For example, fairness concern does have great impact on the difficulty of coordinating a channel. In addition, the dyadic channel with reciprocity can be coordinated by using a constant wholesale price, which implies that the problem of double marginalization is not necessary to be present all the time.Cette thèse étudie l’incorporation des préférences sociales typiques, telles que le souci de justice et la réciprocité, dans la chaîne logistique. Les impacts de ces préférences sociales sur la prise de décisions dans la chaîne logistique, sur l’efficacité et la coordination du canal de distribution sont étudiés. Plus spécifiquement, la thèse se focalise sur trois questions essentielles ci-dessous : 1. Qu’est-ce qui différencie un canal conventionnel d’un canal comportemental qui prend en compte la justice et/ou la réciprocité par exemple ? 2. Comment ces facteurs comportementaux influencent-ils la prise de décisions du fournisseur et du distributeur dans la chaîne logistique ? 3. Quels effets ont ces préférences sociales sur la coordination du canal de distribution et sur son efficacité ? Afin de répondre à ces questions, nous développons deux modèles d’opérations comportementales. Nous construisons d’abord un modèle de vendeur de journaux pour une chaîne logistique dyadique avec prise en compte de justice dans un processus de négociation de Nash. Dans ce modèle, un fournisseur joue un jeu de Stackelberg avec un distributeur qui doit faire face à une demande aléatoire. La solution de Nash est utilisèe comme référence de justice pour formellement décrire un compromis perçu comme juste, ce qui constitue une nouvelle manière de traiter la justice dans une chaîne logistique. Ensuite nous étudions un canal de distribution similaire mais où le fournisseur et le distributeur ont une préférence pour la réciprocité et la demande est supposée déterministe. Dans ce modèle, l’impact de l’intention dans une chaîne logistique est étudié pour la première fois. Des analyses approfondies de ces modèles comportementaux nous permettent de tirer des aperçus managériaux intéressants,comme par exemple le fait que le souci de justice joue un rôle important sur la difficulté de coordonner un canal de distribution. Nous avons démontré qu’un canal dyadique avec prise en compte de réciprocité peut être coordonné en utilisant un prix de gros constant, ce qui signifie que le problème de double marginalisation ne se pose pas nécessairement tout le temps

Newsvendor model for a dyadic supply chain with Nash bargaining fairness concerns

International audienc

The Promotion/Inhibition of the Seepage Transport of Copper Ions by Suspension-Colloidal Particles with Wide Size Gradation

Sand column tests were conducted to investigate the seepage transport of silicon powders (SPs) with two wide particle size ranges (30-2000 nm and 2-70 μm), including the cotransport of SPs and copper ions. The results show that the graded large-scale SP has an obvious inhibiting influence on the transport of copper ions. In contrast, in the presence of the graded small-scale SP, the concentration of copper ions in the effluent tends to increase; i.e., there appears to be a promoting effect. However, after a long transport distance, the presence of SPs, regardless of particle size, has an overall retarding effect on heavy metal pollutants (e.g., copper ions). The promoting effect of the increase in seepage velocity on the concentration of copper ions in the effluent is greater with the graded large-scale SPs than with the graded small-scale SPs. In terms of the microstructural characteristics by metallographic microscopy, the average particle size of the deposited graded small-scale SPs is almost constant at different transport distances, while that of the deposited graded large-scale SPs tend to decrease significantly with increasing transport distance; i.e., notable bed filtration is exhibited in the latter case. This physical mechanism also determines the sequence and rate of the retarding effect of SPs on heavy metal ions under seepage flow

Peer-regarding fairness in supply chain

<p>People exhibit peer-regarding fairness concern when others who are in similar circumstances are treated unfairly. The fairness concern derives from a sense of sympathy or schadenfreude. We study it in a distribution channel where a supplier deals with two retailers located at independent markets. Sympathy means the decrease of the retailer’s utility because he believes that his peer’s unfair treatment is undeserved, while schadenfreude indicates the utility increase as the unfair treatment is perceived deserved. The two retailers are offered wholesale prices sequentially and set their retail prices if they accept the offers. In our paper, the second retailer has the peer-regarding fairness concern. We show the following in regards to this idea: (i) the retailers’ profits and the distribution channel performance can be improved by the peer-regarding fairness concern for sympathy; (ii) the retailers’ profits and the channel performance can be reduced by the peer-regarding fairness concern for schadenfreude; and (iii) the peer-regarding fairness concern for sympathy is unfavourable to the supplier, and the second retailer may be punished separately if the concern is not strong enough, while the supplier benefits from the peer-regarding fairness concern for schadenfreude and may exploit the second retailer solely if the schadenfreude parameter is large.</p

Deep sequencing reveals global patterns of mRNA recruitment during translation initiation

In this work, we developed a method to systematically study the sequence preference of mRNAs during translation initiation. Traditionally, the dynamic process of translation initiation has been studied at the single molecule level with limited sequencing possibility. Using deep sequencing techniques, we identified the sequence preference at different stages of the initiation complexes. Our results provide a comprehensive and dynamic view of the initiation elements in the translation initiation region (TIR), including the S1 binding sequence, the Shine-Dalgarno (SD)/anti-SD interaction and the second codon, at the equilibrium of different initiation complexes. Moreover, our experiments reveal the conformational changes and regional dynamics throughout the dynamic process of mRNA recruitment

Electrochromism of Viologen/Polymer Composite: From Gel to Insulating Bulk for High-Voltage Applications

Power equipment operates under high voltages, inducing space charge accumulation on the surface of key insulating structures, which increases the risk of discharge/breakdown and the possibility of maintenance workers experiencing electric shock accidents. Hence, a visualized non-equipment space charge detection method is of great demand in the power industry. Typical electrochromic phenomenon is based on redox of the material, triggered by a voltage smaller than 5 V with a continuous current in μA~mA level, which is not applicable to high electric fields above 106 V/m with pA~nA operation current in power equipment. Until now, no naked-eye observation technique has been realized for space charge detection to ensure the operation of power systems as well as the safety of maintenance workers. In this work, a viologen/poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene)(P(VDF–HFP)) composite is investigated from gel to insulating bulk configurations to achieve high-voltage electrical-insulating electrochromism. The results show that viologen/P(VDF–HFP) composite bulk can withstand high electric fields at the 107 V/m level, and its electrochromism is triggered by space charges. This electrochromism phenomenon can be visually extended by increasing viologen content towards 5 wt.% and shows a positive response to voltage amplitude and application duration. As viologen/P(VDF–HFP) composite bulk exhibits a typical electrical insulating performance, it could be attached to the surface of insulating structures or clamped between metal and insulating materials as a space charge accumulation indicator in high-voltage power equipment