Contract choice and advance selling strategy in a supply chain of FAP.

The advance selling (AS) has been widely applied in fresh industry for it can elevating the customer experience and increase flexibility thus profit for a retailer. However, the introduction of the AS will have an impact on spot market in pricing strategy, market share and the profit of the retailer. Hence, to coordinate the supply chain and improve the efficiency of the agricultural supply chain, a two-stage game theory model is constructed to analyze the effects of AS on three classic contracts: wholesale price, quantity discount and revenue-sharing contract. This paper also discusses the boundary conditions of whether a retailer should sell in advance. The conclusions of this paper are as follows: First, revenue-sharing contracts are superior to wholesale price and quantity discount contracts when retailers sell in advance, the wholesale price contract can perform better than the quantity discount contract in the presence of AS if the contract parameter is properly set. Second, a revenue-sharing contract that normally coordinates the supply chain can performs poorly when the retailer sells in advance that the social welfare would be higher if using a quantity discount contract instead. These conclusions have important implications for suppliers when retailers sell in advance. Such suppliers need to design appropriate contracts to distribute FAP that carefully take into consideration the AS activities in the market.

No expenditure difference among patients with liver cancer at stage I-IV: Findings from a multicenter cross-sectional study in China.

OBJECTIVE: The number of liver cancer patients in China accounts for more than half of the world. However, China currently lacks national, multicenter economic burden data, and meanwhile, measuring the differences among different subgroups will be informative to formulate corresponding policies in liver cancer control. Thus, the aim of the study was to measure the economic burden of liver cancer by various subgroups. METHODS: A hospital-based, multicenter and cross-sectional survey was conducted during 2012-2014, covering 39 hospitals and 21 project sites in 13 provinces across China. The questionnaire covers clinical information, sociology, expenditure, and related variables. All expenditure data were reported in Chinese Yuan (CNY) using 2014 values. RESULTS: A total of 2,223 liver cancer patients were enrolled, of whom 59.61% were late-stage cases (III-IV), and 53.8% were hepatocellular carcinoma. The average total expenditure per liver cancer patient was estimated as 53,220 CNY, including 48,612 CNY of medical expenditures (91.3%) and 4,608 CNY of non-medical expenditures (8.7%). The average total expenditures in stage I, II, III and stage IV were 52,817 CNY, 50,877 CNY, 50,678 CNY and 54,089 CNY (P>0.05), respectively. Non-medical expenditures including additional meals, additional nutrition care, transportation, accommodation and hired informal nursing were 1,453 CNY, 839 CNY, 946 CNY, 679 CNY and 200 CNY, respectively. The one-year out-of-pocket expenditure of a newly diagnosed patient was 24,953 CNY, and 77.2% of the patients suffered an unmanageable financial burden. Multivariate analysis showed that overall expenditure differed in almost all subgroups (P<0.05), except for sex, clinical stage, and pathologic type. CONCLUSIONS: There was no difference in treatment expenditure for liver cancer patients at different clinical stages, which suggests that maintaining efforts on treatment efficacy improvement is important but not enough. To furtherly reduce the overall economic burden from liver cancer, more effort should be given to primary and secondary prevention strategies.

Human biomonitoring of eight trace elements in urine of residents living in rural areas along the Yangtze River, China.

The rapid economic development and industrialization have made heavy metal contamination a great public concern, especially in China. However, the levels of heavy metals in human body, especially those susceptible to the effect of industrial progression, are rarely explored. In this study, eight elements in 2643 urinary samples of individuals living in rural areas along the Yangtze River were determined through inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (As, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, and Zn) and TAS-990 atomic absorption spectrophotometry (Cd). Two-level regression model was applied to explore the potential factors associated with the level of the eight trace elements. After adjusting for urinary creatinine, the geometric means were 77.5, 10.98, 14.39, 13.00, 0.59, 1.51, 489.62, and 1.80 µg/g for As, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn, and Cd, respectively. The level of eight elements varied among individual and familial characteristics. Compared with domestic and international results, the rural residents living in riverside areas had higher level of As, Cd, Cr, Fe, and Zn. Therefore, industrial progression followed by economic development has resulted in high body burden of heavy metals. Targeted public health policies should be made to improve the local environment and the recognition of potential risk factors.

Social participation, willingness and quality of life: A population-based study among older adults in rural areas of China.

AIM: The present study aimed to reflect the current situation of social participation in rural areas of China, willingness to participate in social activities, association between health-related quality of life and social participation, and factors related to social participation. METHODS: A total of 2644 rural adults aged 60 years and older were randomly selected and surveyed with a self-rating questionnaire. We used the unified definition of social participation in our study. The Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form Health Survey was used to measure health-related quality of life. RESULTS: The overall engagement of social activities was 26%. Those who participated in social activities were more likely to have high scores of health-related quality of life. Older men with a high educational level (OR 1.59, 95% CI 1.01-2.29) living alone or with a spouse (OR 1.51, 95% CI 1.08-2.12), high objective social support (OR 1.08, 95% CI 1.00-1.17) and high support utilization (OR 1.13, 95% CI 1.07-1.21) were inclined to engage in social participation. Older women with high individual income (OR 1.74, 95% CI 1.25-2.43), single marital status (OR 1.53, 95% CI 1.11-2.10), normal weight (OR 1.92, 95% CI 1.10-3.34), overweight (OR 2.28, 95% CI 1.24-4.19), living alone or with a spouse (OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.20-2.00), objective social support (OR 1.11, 95% CI 1.04-1.18) and subjective social support (OR 1.15, 95% CI 1.10-1.20) were more willing to engage in social participation. CONCLUSIONS: Engagement in social activities is relatively low in rural areas, and associations of willingness and health-related quality of life with social participation were found. Policy-makers and government workers should make appropriate types of encouragement policies around social participation for older adults in rural areas. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 1593-1602.

Assessment of dynamic smile and gingival contour in young Chinese people.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to classify the dynamic smile and to quantify the gingival line (GL), as well as apico-coronal displacement of the gingival zenith (GZ), in the maxillary anterior dentition in a young Chinese population. METHODS: Two-hundred young Chinese subjects (100 men and 100 women; 20-35 years of age) with healthy dentogingival tissue were recruited. The dynamic smile process was captured using a digital camera. The smile type, GL type, the vertical distance of the GZ between the canine and the central incisor on the same side and the GZ of the lateral incisor-GL relationship were measured using a self-developed smile-analysis method. The kappa statistics was used to examine the reliability of the data recorded by the rater. The Pearson chi-square test was used to analyse the differences between subjects regarding the frequencies of smile type and GL type at α = 0.05. RESULTS: Data revealed that 45.5% of subjects had a high smile and 45.5% had an average smile; 58.2% of the subjects presented an upwards GL. The GZ of canine teeth was 0.33 mm apical to the corresponding central incisor and no significant difference between both sides of the GZ was observed. The GZ of the lateral incisor was located coronal to the GL in 87.9% of samples. The vertical distance between the GZ of the lateral incisor and the GL was 0.59 mm and no statistically significant difference was detected. CONCLUSIONS: The most common findings were a high or average smile type, combined with an upward GL. In the majority of subjects, the GZ of the lateral incisor is coronal to the GL. The apico-coronal displacement of the GZ showed bilateral symmetry.