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Background: An accurate perception of death risk is a prerequisite for advanced cancer patients to make informed end-of-life care decisions. However, there is to date no suitable scale to measure death risk perception. This study was to develop and psychometrically test the death risk perception scale (DRPS) for advanced cancer patients. Methods: Process of instrument development and psychometric evaluation were used. First, qualitative research, a literature review, brainstorming, a Delphi study, and cognitive interviews were conducted to construct a pretest scale of death risk perception. Second, a scale-based survey was administered to 479 advanced cancer patients. Item, exploratory factor, and confirmatory factor analyses were employed to optimize the scale. The Cronbach's alpha was calculated as a reliability analysis. The validity analysis included construct, convergent, discriminant, and content validity values. Results: A three-dimension, 12-item scale was developed, including deliberative, affective, and experiential risk perception. The confirmatory factor analysis supported the three-factor model with satisfactory convergent and discriminant validity levels. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for internal consistency was 0.807 and scale-level content validity index was 0.98. Conclusions: The 12-item DRPS is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing the level of death risk perception in advanced cancer patients. More studies are needed to examine its structure and robustness prior to use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: An accurate perception of death risk is a prerequisite for advanced cancer patients to make informed end-of-life care decisions. However, there is to date no suitable scale to measure death risk perception. This study was to develop and psychometrically test the death risk perception scale (DRPS) for advanced cancer patients. Methods: Process of instrument development and psychometric evaluation were used. First, qualitative research, a literature review, brainstorming, a Delphi study, and cognitive interviews were conducted to construct a pretest scale of death risk perception. Second, a scale-based survey was administered to 479 advanced cancer patients. Item, exploratory factor, and confirmatory factor analyses were employed to optimize the scale. The Cronbach's alpha was calculated as a reliability analysis. The validity analysis included construct, convergent, discriminant, and content validity values. Results: A three-dimension, 12-item scale was developed, including deliberative, affective, and experiential risk perception. The confirmatory factor analysis supported the three-factor model with satisfactory convergent and discriminant validity levels. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for internal consistency was 0.807 and scale-level content validity index was 0.98. Conclusions: The 12-item DRPS is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing the level of death risk perception in advanced cancer patients. More studies are needed to examine its structure and robustness prior to use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction to the article "BMC Palliat Care 23, 136 (2024)" in the BMC Palliative Care issue discusses the addition of equal contribution acknowledgment for the first and second authors, Guojuan Chen and Xiaoling Zhang.

The dual-site doping method combines three-fold benefits to enhance LiNi 0.9 Co 0.1 O 2 stability. [Display omitted] • A new Mg/Ta dual-site doping strategy was proposed for high-nickel LiNi 0.9 Co 0.1 O 2. • Mg2+ and Ta5+ ions reside in the 3a and 3b crystallographic sites respectively. • Mg2+ ions prevent Li+/Ni2+ anti-site exchange and inhibit detrimental phase transition. • Ta5+ ions expand layer spacing and induce LiTaO 3 surface coating and well-ordered structure. • The dual-site doping method combines three-fold benefits to enhance LiNi 0.9 Co 0.1 O 2 stability. Due to its high specific capacity and low cost, high-nickel layered oxide LiNi 0.9 Co 0.1 O 2 has found promising application as the cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries. However, the crystallographic instability induced by Li+/Ni2+ anti-site exchange, the interfacial parasitic reactions and the microcracking caused by internal stress jointly contribute to the mechano-chemical failure of LiNi 0.9 Co 0.1 O 2 , leading to its fast capacity decay and high thermal stability concern. In this regard, a Mg/Ta dual-site doping strategy was proposed for LiNi 0.9 Co 0.1 O 2 , for which Mg2+ was doped in situ during the synthesis of cathode precursor, while Ta5+ ions were incorporated after the precursor synthesis. This novel synthesis approach leads to unique dual-site occupations of Mg2+ and Ta5+ in the 3a and 3b crystallographic sites respectively. The Mg2+ ions residing in 3a site can function as pillar ions by preventing the Li+/Ni2+ anti-site exchange and inhibiting layered to rock-salt phase transition. The Ta5+ ions occupying 3b site not only leads to the expanded lithium layer spacing but also creates interfacial protection and well-ordered microstructure in LiNi 0.9 Co 0.1 O 2. Consequently, the dual-site-doped LiNi 0.9 Co 0.1 O 2 outperforms the pristine and single-site-doped samples. For instance, its full cell shows a greatly enhanced cycling stability from 57.3 % to 90.5 % after 300 cycles at 1C/1C and well improved thermal stability from 205.2 °C to 225.6 °C, compared to the pristine sample. This Mg/Ta dual-site doping strategy provides a facile and practical way to improve the electrochemical and thermal performances of high-nickel layered cathode material LiNi 0.9 Co 0.1 O 2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]