Chi Zhang

The ethical use of placebos in herbal medicine (HM) clinical trials remains contested, particularly in contexts where traditional medical systems shape patients’ beliefs and expectations. Complexities in placebo preparation, insufficient transparency, and inconsistent consent practices pose challenges not only to scientific validity but also to ethical standards. This study aimed to explore stakeholder perspectives on placebo use in HM trials, with a specific focus on ethical concerns related to trust, informed consent, and trial integrity. In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 23 stakeholders, including clinical investigators, research coordinators, trial managers, pharmaceutical staff, and patient representatives. We applied an inductive, framework-based thematic analysis to identify key perceptions, challenges, and needs regarding placebo use. Participants demonstrated diverse understandings and attitudes toward placebos. Medical professionals, who often had higher levels of formal medical training, tended to describe placebos from a scientific perspective, whereas patients more commonly expressed skepticism rooted in concerns about trust and transparency. Pharmacists reported substantial challenges in developing indistinguishable HM placebos, raising questions about the ethical implications of adding small amounts of active ingredients. Participants also highlighted inconsistent practices in placebo composition and similarity evaluation, which raised concerns about blinding integrity and transparency, as well as insufficient communication that affected participant trust and overall trial integrity. Differences in professional and educational background appeared to shape how stakeholders perceived HM placebos, influencing informed consent and ethical conduct in trials. Enhancing understanding and transparency in placebo composition and similarity evaluation is essential to uphold ethical and scientific integrity of HM trials and to guide the development of clear guidelines for HM placebo design and communication. not applicable.

Background: Upper limb functional exercise has a positive effect on promoting the rehabilitation of upper limb function. However, little is known, about what drives postoperative patients to engage in and even maintain the advised exercises. This study integrated the health action process approach and the theory of planned behavior theory to investigate the psychosocial determinants on the initiation and maintenance of ULFE in breast cancer patients. In addition, this study also tests key hypotheses relating to reasoned and implicit pathways to ULFE and its maintenance among postoperative patients with breast cancer.Methods: Purposive sampling was used to recruit patients from two breast cancer wards in a provincial hospital in Jiangsu, China. Patients completed self-reported questionnaire about constructs from integrated theories concerning ULFE at an initial time point : task self-efficacy, positive outcome expectations, negative outcome expectations, risk perception, attitude behavior, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, behavioral intention, and ULFE-in hospital. Three months later, patients self-reported: maintenance self-efficacy, action planning, coping planning, recovery self-efficacy, and ULFE-maintenance.Results: The model has a good fit. For behavioral intention of ULFE, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control were positively directly related to behavioral intention. Regarding the initiation of ULFE, perceived behavioral control and behavioral intention had a direct positive relation to ULFE-IH. In the maintenance of ULFE, action planning, coping planning, maintenance self-efficacy, and recovery self-efficacy all had significant positive relation on ULFE-M. In addition, maintenance self-efficacy had a significant positive association on action planning, coping planning, and recovery self-efficacy. Coping planning was significantly predicted by behavioral intention. Additionally, behavioral intention is a mediator of subjective norm and perceived behavioral control to ULFE-IH. Action planning, coping planning, and recovery self-efficacy are mediators of maintaining self-efficacy to ULFE-M.Conclusions: This study presents the first attempt to integrate the health behavior model in ULFE in postoperative patients with breast cancer. The study has shown that the HAPA-TPB integrated model has good applicability and effectiveness to explain and predict ULFE initiation and maintenance. Future work can be considered to develop appropriate intervention strategies based on this integrated behavioral theory.

In this article, we focus on an extended model M ¯ of bounded rationality. Based on a rationality function with lower semicontinuity, we analyze the relationship between structural stability and robustness of Ω ¯. To further demonstrate the applicability of our theory, we introduce a model Ω ¯ 0 containing an abstract rationality function and generalize abstract fuzzy economies. We demonstrate the structural stability of the extended model Ω ¯ 0 at ξ ¯, ɛ. That is to say, Ω ¯ 0 is robust to the ξ ¯, ɛ -equilibria.

Background Medical research in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has increased recently, raising ethical concerns about the moral status of CAM. Medical academic journals are responsible for conducting ethical review (ER) of manuscripts to protect the interests of human subjects and to make ethical results available before deciding to publish. However, there has been no systematic analysis of the ER in CAM journals. This study is aim to evaluate the current status of ethical requirements and compliance in CAM journals. Methods This is a cross-sectional study. We reviewed instructions for authors (IFAs) of CAM journals included in the Journal Citation Reports (2021) (https://jcr.clarivate.com) for general information and requirements for ER. We also browsed the manuscripts regarding randomized controlled trials published by CAM journals in Q1 and Q2 section from January to June, 2023, to check the actual situation of ethical requirement. Descriptive statistics and Fisher’s exact test were used for statistical analysis. Results 27 journals and 68 manuscripts were ultimately included. 92.6% (25/27) IFAs included keywords of ER, indicating the presence of ethical considerations. However, no specific ER was required for CAM (n = 0). We categorized journals by Geographic origin, JCR section, Year of electronic JCR, Types of studies, % of OA Gold to explore the factors that could influence CAM journals to have certain ethical review policies. The results showed there was no statistical significance in certain ethical review policy in any classification of journals (p > 0.05). All RCT manuscripts included in the study generally met the requirements of the published journals for ethical review. Conclusions All IFAs discussed ER, but the content was scattered, unfocused, and there were no specific ER requirements regarding CAM. Although the manuscripts basically met the requirements of the journal, it was not possible to get closer to the process of ER in the manuscript. To ensure full implementation of these policies in the future, CAM journals should require authors to provide more details, or to form a list of items necessary for CAM ethical review.

Motivated by the ethical dilemma in managerial financial reporting decisions, we explore and reveal an unintended “crash” consequence following accelerated patenting information dissemination. Employing the American Inventor’s Protection Act (AIPA) that accelerated the publication of patent applications, we find that accelerated dissemination of patenting information increases stock price crash risk. This effect is stronger when treated firms are technologically closer to their rival firms and more concerned about proprietary costs. Further analyses indicate that, the heightened crash risk following the AIPA is attributable to managers shifting towards less timely bad news disclosures. Overall, our study documents that accelerated dissemination of patenting information induces managers to strategically withhold negative information, which adds to the comprehension of what and how (un)ethical decisions are undertaken by managers.

© The Author 2017.The observation of replica bands in single-unit-cell FeSe on SrTiO3 by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy has led to the conjecture that the coupling between FeSe electrons and the STO phonons are responsible for the enhancement of T c over other FeSe-based superconductors. However the recent observation of a similar superconducting gap in single-unit-cell FeSe/STO raised the question of whether a similar mechanism applies. Here we report the ARPES study of the electronic structure of FeSe/STO. Similar to the results in FeSe/STO, clear replica bands are observed. We also present a comparative study of STO and STO bare surfaces, and observe similar replica bands separated by approximately the same energy, indicating this coupling is a generic feature of the STO surfaces and interfaces. Our findings suggest that the large superconducting gaps observed in FeSe films grown on different STO surface terminations are likely enhanced by a common mechanism.

© 2016 American Physical Society.An extreme magnetoresistance has recently been observed in several nonmagnetic semimetals. Increasing experimental and theoretical evidence indicates that the XMR can be driven by either topological protection or electron-hole compensation. Here, by investigating the electronic structure of a XMR material, YSb, we present spectroscopic evidence for a special case which lacks topological protection and perfect electron-hole compensation. Further investigations reveal that a cooperative action of a substantial difference between electron and hole mobility and a moderate carrier compensation might contribute to the XMR in YSb.

© 2015 Macmillan Publishers Limited All rights reserved. Genome-wide gene expression measurements have enabled comprehensive studies that integrate the changes of gene expression and phenotypic information to uncover their novel associations. Here we reported the association analysis between psychophysical phenotypes and genome-wide gene expression changes in human adaptation to one of the most extreme climates on Earth, the Antarctic Dome Argus. Dome A is the highest ice feature in Antarctica, and may be the coldest, driest and windiest location on earth. It is considered unapproachable due to its hostile environment. In 2007, a Chinese team of 17 male explorers made the expedition to Dome A for scientific investigation. Overall, 133 psychophysical phenotypes were recorded, and genome-wide gene expression profiles from the blood samples of the explorers were measured before their departure and upon their arrival at Dome A. We found that mood disturbances, including tension, depression, anger and fatigue, had a strong, positive, linear relationship with the level of a male sex hormone, testosterone, using the Pearson correlation coefficient analysis. We also demonstrated that significantly lowest-level Gene Ontology groups in changes of gene expression in blood cells with erythrocyte removal were consistent with the adaptation of the psychophysical characteristics. Interestingly, we discovered a list of genes that were strongly related to significant phenotypes using phenotype and gene expression PCC analysis. Importantly, among the 70 genes that were identified, most were significantly related to mood disturbances, where 42 genes have been reported in the literature mining, suggesting that the other 28 genes were likely novel genes involved in the mood disturbance mechanism. Taken together, our association analysis provides a reliable method to uncover novel genes and mechanisms related to phenotypes, although further studies are needed.

Motivated by the ethical dilemma in managerial financial reporting decisions, we explore and reveal an unintended “crash” consequence following accelerated patenting information dissemination. Employing the American Inventor’s Protection Act (AIPA) that accelerated the publication of patent applications, we find that accelerated dissemination of patenting information increases stock price crash risk. This effect is stronger when treated firms are technologically closer to their rival firms and more concerned about proprietary costs. Further analyses indicate that, the heightened crash risk following the AIPA is attributable to managers shifting towards less timely bad news disclosures. Overall, our study documents that accelerated dissemination of patenting information induces managers to strategically withhold negative information, which adds to the comprehension of what and how (un)ethical decisions are undertaken by managers.

Researchers have recently indicated that employee perceptions of their firm’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) may shape their work behaviors. However, why and when CSR perceptions lead to counterproductive work behavior, such as cyberloafing, remains unclear. In this article, we first investigate the mediating role of workplace boredom in explaining the effect of perceived CSR toward employees on cyberloafing behaviors. We further examine the moderating role of moral disengagement in this process. Overall, the results of our cross-sectional, experimental, and three-wave studies provide strong evidence for our hypothesized relationships. Our research suggests that moral disengagement weakens the effect of internal CSR on workplace boredom, such that for employees high in moral disengagement, the level of internal CSR has a weaker effect on workplace boredom.

The integration of the global economy has led to an increasingly strong connection between the futures and spot markets of commodities. First, based on one-minute high-frequency prices, this paper applies the thermal optimal path method to examine the lead-lag relationship between Chinese crude oil futures and spot from March 2018 to December 2021. Second, we apply the Mixed Frequency Data Sampling Regression model and indicators such as deviation degree to test the degree of prediction of high-frequency prices in the futures market to the spot market. The experimental results show that the futures markets lead the spot market most of the time, but the lead effect reverses when major events occur; 60-minute futures high-frequency prices are the most predictive of daily spot data; crude oil futures’ predictive power declined after the Covid-19 outbreak and is more predictive when night trading is available. This study has important implications, not only to guide investors but also to provide empirical evidence and valid information for policy makers.

This research aims to analyze the influencing factors of migrant children’s education integration based on the convolutional neural network algorithm. The attention mechanism, LSTM, and GRU are introduced based on the CNN algorithm, to establish an ALGCNN model for text classification. Film and television review data set, Stanford sentiment data set, and news opinion data set are used to analyze the classification accuracy, loss value, Hamming loss, precision, recall, and micro-F1 of the ALGCNN model. Then, on the big data platform, data in the Comprehensive Management System of Floating Population and Rental Housing, Student Status Information Management System, and Student Information Management System of Beijing city are taken as samples. The ALGCNN model is used to classify and compare related data. It is found that in the MR, STT, and MPQA data sets, the classification accuracy and loss value of the ALGCNN model are better than other algorithms. HL is the lowest, the Pre is second only to the BERT algorithm, and the Re and F1 are both higher than other algorithms. From 2015 to 2019, the number of migrant children in different grades of elementary school shows a gradual increase. Among migrant children, the number of migrant children from other counties in this province is evidently higher than the number of migrant children from other provinces. Among children of migrant workers, the number of immigrants from other counties in this province is also notably higher than the number of immigrants from other provinces. With the gradual increase in the years, the proportion of township-level expenses shows a gradual decrease, whereas the proportion of district and county-level expenses shows a gradual increase. Moreover, the accuracy of the ALGCNN model in migrant children and local children data classification is 98.6 and 98.9%, respectively. The proportion of migrant children in the first and second grades of a primary school in Beijing city is obviously higher than that of local children. The average final score of local children was greatly higher than that of migrant children, whereas the scores of migrant children’s listening methods, learning skills, and learning environment adaptability are lower, which shows that an effective text classification model is established based on the CNN algorithm. In short, the children’s education costs, listening methods, learning skills, and learning environment adaptability are the main factors affecting migrant children’s educational integration, and this work provides a reference for the analysis of migrant children’s educational integration.

The 2003 SARS pandemic heralded the return of quarantine as a vital part of twenty-first century public health practice. Over the last two decades, MERS, Ebola, and other emerging infectious diseases each posed unique challenges for applying quarantine ethics lessons learned from the 2003 SARS-CoV-1 outbreak. In an increasingly interdependent and connected global world, the use of quarantine to contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2, or COVID-19, similarly poses new and unexpected ethical challenges. In this essay, we look beyond standard debates about the ethics of quarantine and state power to explore a key quarantine principle, Reciprocity, and how it is being negotiated by healthcare workers, volunteers, and citizens in the context of the Wuhan, China, quarantine. We analyze Reciprocity through the lens of two Wuhan case studies: healthcare workers, particularly nurses, who are simultaneously essential workers and quarantined citizens, asked by their hospital administration to shave their heads because adequate PPE was not available, and citizen-to-citizen mutual aid societies attempting to fill gaps in essential supplies left unfilled by the state. We analyze social media and video-blogs from Wuhan, on the platforms of Douyin and Sina Weibo, to understand how people define and respond to ethical and legal obligations in the wake of COVID-19. It is no surprise that quarantine principles from the 2003 SARS outbreak are inadequate for COVID-19 and that both infectious disease outbreak responses and ethics must adapt to the virtual age. We offer ideas to strengthen and clarify Reciprocal obligations for the state, hospital administrators, and citizens as the globe prepares for the next wave of COVID-19 circulating now.

This paper identifies brand age as an important factor in consumers’ brand evaluations following unethical firm behavior. In two experiments, we assess the effect of brand age on three types of brand evaluations: perceived quality, brand credibility, and behavioral intentions following a brand crisis. The findings suggest that disclosing an older brand’s age can not only improve consumers’ brand evaluations in general, but can also provide a buffering effect when the firm is involved in unethical behavior. Moreover, the relationship between brand age and consumers’ post-crisis intentions is mediated by perceived brand credibility. By exploring consumers’ attitudes following the most common firm response strategies, this research also identifies a boundary condition of the mitigating effect of brand age. Several significant implications for practitioners are discussed.