Patient-reported supportive care needs among Asian American cancer patients.

PURPOSE: Cancer is the leading cause of death for Asian Americans. However, few studies have documented supportive care needs from the perspective of Asian American cancer patients. This study describes the needs reported by Asian American patients with colorectal, liver, or lung cancer over a 6-month period during their treatment. METHODS: Participants were recruited through the Greater Bay Area Cancer Registry and from cancer care providers in San Francisco. Participants self-identified as Asian or Asian American; were age 21 or older; spoke English, Chinese, or Vietnamese; and had stage I-III colon, rectum, liver, or lung cancer. Participants were matched with a language concordant patient navigator who provided support during a 6-month period. Needs were assessed by surveys at baseline, 3, and 6 months. RESULTS: Among 24 participants, 58% were 65 years or older, 42% did not complete high school, and 75% had limited English proficiency (LEP). At baseline, the most prevalent needs were cancer information (79%), nutrition and physical activity (67%), language assistance (54%), and daily living (50%). At the 3- and 6-month follow-up surveys, there was a higher reported need for mental health resources and healthcare access among participants. CONCLUSION: In this pilot study of Asian American cancer patients who predominantly had LEP, participants reported many needs, with cancer information and language assistance as the most prominent. The findings highlight the importance of culturally and linguistically appropriate patient navigators in addressing supportive care needs among cancer patients with LEP. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03867916.

Homoclinic behaviors and chaotic motions of double layered viscoelastic nanoplates based on nonlocal theory and extended Melnikov method.

The nonlinear dynamical equations are established for the double layered viscoelastic nanoplates (DLNP) subjected to in-plane excitation based on the nonlocal theory and von Kármán large deformation theory. The extended high dimensional homoclinic Melnikov method is employed to study the homoclinic phenomena and chaotic motions for the parametrically excited DLNP system. The criteria for the homoclinic transverse intersection for both the asynchronous and synchronous buckling cases are proposed. Lyapunov exponents and phase portraits are obtained to verify the Melnikov-type analysis. The influences of structural parameters on the transverse homoclinic orbits and homoclinic bifurcation sets are discussed for the two buckling cases. Some novel phenomena are observed in the investigation. It should be noticed that the nonlocal effect on the homoclinic behaviors and chaotic motions is quite remarkable. Hence, the small scale effect should be taken into account for homoclinic and chaotic analysis for nanostructures. It is significant that the nonlocal effect on the homoclinic phenomena for the asynchronous buckling case is quite different from that for the synchronous buckling case. Moreover, due to the van der Walls interaction between the layers, the nonlocal effect on the homoclinic behaviors and chaotic motions for high order mode is rather tiny under the asynchronous buckling condition.

Patient COUNTS: A pilot navigation program for Asian American cancer patients.

Many Asian American cancer patients face barriers to cancer care but little is known about their navigational needs. We designed and implemented a pilot study to provide culturally- and linguistically-appropriate navigation for Asian American cancer patients. We recruited Asian American adults age 21+ years, who spoke English, Cantonese, Mandarin, or Vietnamese, with newly diagnosed, stage I-III colorectal, liver, or lung cancer in the Northern California Bay Area. Participants were assigned a language-concordant patient navigator, who provided support and resources over 6 months. Surveys were administered at baseline, 3-, and 6-months to assess sociodemographic characteristics, healthcare access, quality of life (FACT-G), and cancer care needs. Participants' mean age was 65 years (range 38-81); 62% were men, 67% spoke Chinese, and 75% reported limited English proficiency. Forty-two percent of participants had lung, 38% colorectal, and 21% liver cancer. Of 24 participants who enrolled, 67% completed the program and 75% completed standard of care cancer treatment. The average total FACT-G score was 72.6 (SD 17) at baseline, 68.0 (SD 20) at 3 months, and 69.9 (SD 22) at 6 months. All participants reported that the program was culturally appropriate and would recommend it. Asian American cancer patients in a patient navigation program reported lower quality of life compared to the general adult cancer population. Even with navigation, 75% of participants reported completing standard of care treatment. While participants were satisfied with the program, more research is needed to address the quality of cancer care Asian American cancer patients receive.

Correlates of supportive care needs among Asian Americans with colorectal, liver, or lung cancer from a web-based patient navigation portal intervention: The Patient COUNTS study.

BACKGROUND: Cancer is the leading cause of death among Asian Americans, who often face barriers to cancer care. Cancer supportive care needs among Asian Americans remain understudied. AIMS: We examined cancer supportive care needs and participant factors correlated with these needs, identified profiles of supportive care needs, and examined whether needs profiles are associated with quality of life among Asian American adults. METHODS AND RESULTS: We recruited 47 Asian American adults with colorectal, liver, or lung cancer who spoke Chinese, English, or Vietnamese, and were starting or undergoing cancer treatment. We assessed cancer supportive care needs in four domains: cancer information, daily living, behavioral health, and language assistance. Hierarchical cluster analysis was used to identify clusters of participants based on their supportive need profiles to further examine the association between need profiles and quality of life (QoL) assessed by the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy. Participants (mean age = 57.6) included 72% males and 62% spoke English less than very well. Older participants (age ≥ 65) and those with annual income <$50K reported higher daily living needs. Men and younger participants (age < 50) reported higher behavioral health needs. We found three clusters displaying distinct cancer supportive need profiles: Cluster 1 (28% of the sample) displayed high needs across all domains; Cluster 2 (51%) had low needs across all domains; and Cluster 3 (21%) had high needs for cancer information and daily living. Cluster 1 participants reported the lowest QoL. CONCLUSION: Cancer supportive care needs among Asian American patients with colorectal, liver, and lung cancer were associated with patient characteristics and QoL. Understanding cancer supportive care needs will inform future interventions to improve care and QoL for Asian American patients with cancer. CLINICALTRIALS: gov Identifier: NCT03867916.

Transient wave propagation in the ring stiffened laminated composite cylindrical shells using the method of reverberation ray matrix.

The method of reverberation ray matrix is extended to investigate the transient wave propagation and early short time transient responses of the ring stiffened laminated composite cylindrical shells subjected to impact loads. The ring stiffened laminated cylindrical shells are modeled as the continuous coupling systems between the vibration of the un-stiffened laminated cylindrical shell and the motion of the curved beams. The dynamic models of the laminated cylindrical shell and curved beams in the Laplace phase space are established on the basis of the first order shear deformation theory. The reverberation ray matrix can be determined by the boundary and continuous conditions of the ring stiffened laminated cylindrical shell. Using the fast Fourier transform algorithm, the dynamic responses of the ring stiffened laminated cylindrical shells can be computed. Through the numerical simulations, it can be seen that the early short time transient accelerations of the ring stiffened laminated cylindrical shells under impact loads are very large, while the early short time transient shear strains and displacements are very small. Furthermore, the influences of the ring stiffener number and impact load types on the early short time transient responses of the ring stiffened laminated cylindrical shells are also investigated.

[Optimization of optical parametric amplification on femtosecond fluorescence spectra by referring to cone emission].

Femtosecond time-resolved fluorescence spectra technique based on non-collinear optical parametric amplification is a new method for ultrafast spectroscopy research In the present report, the authors discuss the dynamic range for amplifying fluorescence. The supercontinuum seed can be amplified linearly to its transient intensity. Due to large amplification ratio up to 10(7), small instability in pump pulse energy produces large fluctuation in final output amplitude. Here the authors introduce a method using cone emission as reference to overcome this difficulty. The results show significant improvement in fluorescence dynamics curve.