609 research outputs found
Medications Use and Patient Outcomes at Two Indianapolis Area Skilled Nursing Facilities: a Retrospective Chart Review
Background: Residential health care has changed over time. Skilled nursing facilities (SNF) as an alternative to standard long-term care are understudied. Objective: To describe current prescribing patterns of medication use in two Indianapolis SNFs.
Method: Chart review to examine associations between medication use and outcomes such as weight changes, falls and re-hospitalization. Discharged patients had to be residents for at least 14 days.
Results: 35 charts were reviewed. 17 (48.6%) patients were male, 22 (62.9%) were Caucasian, 15 (42.9%) had Medicaid, 6 subjects (17%) visited the emergency department, 5 (14.3%) visited the hospital during their stay at the selected facilities, 14 (40%) suffered falls, 23 (65.7%) took antidepressants, 15 (42.9%) received antibiotics and 4 (11.4%) had high anticholinergic burden. Duration of stay ranged from 14-362 days (median 41), age ranged from 40-95 (median 75), number of diagnoses 4-23, mean 12 (±4.105), weight change from loss of 52# to gain of 35.7# (median -5.6), Beer’s violations 0-3, mean 0.46 (±0.761) for patients aged ≥65 and the maximum scheduled medications at one time 3-24, mean 9.26 (±4.273). Of the 15 (42.9%) patients that received antibiotics there were 24 instances of use, 19 (79.2%) of those fit the facilities criteria for appropriate use of antibiotics.
Conclusion: There are few associations between exposures: use of antibiotics or antidepressants, anticholinergic burden, or deviations from Beer’s criteria. This may be due to small sample size or be an indication of careful prescribing at these facilities
Double bracket dissipation in kinetic theory for particles with anisotropic interactions
We derive equations of motion for the dynamics of anisotropic particles
directly from the dissipative Vlasov kinetic equations, with the dissipation
given by the double bracket approach (Double Bracket Vlasov, or DBV). The
moments of the DBV equation lead to a nonlocal form of Darcy's law for the mass
density. Next, kinetic equations for particles with anisotropic interaction are
considered and also cast into the DBV form. The moment dynamics for these
double bracket kinetic equations is expressed as Lie-Darcy continuum equations
for densities of mass and orientation. We also show how to obtain a
Smoluchowski model from a cold plasma-like moment closure of DBV. Thus, the
double bracket kinetic framework serves as a unifying method for deriving
different types of dynamics, from density--orientation to Smoluchowski
equations. Extensions for more general physical systems are also discussed.Comment: 19 pages; no figures. Submitted to Proc. Roy. Soc.
Trends in fire patterns in a southern African savanna under alternative land use practices
Climate, topography, vegetation and land use interact to influence fire regimes. Variable fire regimes may promote landscape heterogeneity, diversification in vegetation pattern and biotic diversity. The objective was to compare effects of alternative land use practices on landscape heterogeneity. Patch characteristics of fire scars were measured from 21 annual burn maps produced from 1972 to 2001 Landsat imagery. Trends in fire patterns under alternative land use practices were compared across a 250,000 ha savanna in southern Africa partitioned into three land use zones. Zone 1, Madikwe Game Reserve (MGR), has had mostly prescribed fires since 1993. Zone 2, cattle farms near MGR in South Africa (SAF), has experienced occasional fires. Zone 3, communal grazing lands in neighboring Botswana (BOT), has had the fewest fires. Cattle ranching was the predominant land use throughout the study area until 1992, when land use switched to conservation and eco-tourism in MGR. Sixteen landscape metrics were applied to this data set to uncover trends in the patch characteristics of the fire scars. A principal components analysis (PCA) reduced the dimensionality of the results so trends in the 10 most important size, shape, and proximity metrics could be better interpreted. The PCA results showed that more burning over time in MGR, and to a lesser extent in SAF, increased patch size, size variability, shape complexity and proximity, while fire exclusion in BOT produced no change or decreasing trends. We tested for significant differences in these metrics between the three land use zones and between two periods, 1972–1992 and 1993–2001. Most patch characteristics in MGR and SAF differed significantly from those in BOT, especially during the latter period, while between MGR and SAF they did not. Patch area, shape complexity and core area increased significantly between periods in MGR, while patch size, size variability and core area increased significantly between periods in SAF. In BOT, no patch characteristics changed significantly between periods. Within the time span analyzed for the study area, we conclude that increased fire occurrence promoted landscape heterogeneity while fire exclusion did not
A cautionary note on methods of comparing programmatic efficiency between two or more groups of DMUs in data envelopment analysis
In some applications of data envelopment analysis (DEA) there may be doubt as to whether all the DMUs form a single group with a common efficiency distribution. The Mann-Whitney rank statistic has been used to evaluate if two groups of DMUs come from a common efficiency distribution under the assumption of them sharing a common frontier and to test if the two groups have a common frontier. These procedures have subsequently been extended using the Kruskal-Wallis rank statistic to consider more than two groups. This technical note identifies problems with the second of these applications of both the Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis rank statistics. It also considers possible alternative methods of testing if groups have a common frontier, and the difficulties of disaggregating managerial and programmatic efficiency within a non-parametric framework. © 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
Random Hamiltonian in thermal equilibrium
A framework for the investigation of disordered quantum systems in thermal
equilibrium is proposed. The approach is based on a dynamical model--which
consists of a combination of a double-bracket gradient flow and a uniform
Brownian fluctuation--that `equilibrates' the Hamiltonian into a canonical
distribution. The resulting equilibrium state is used to calculate quenched and
annealed averages of quantum observables.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures. To appear in DICE 2008 conference proceeding
Knee joint neuromuscular activation performance during muscle damage and superimposed fatigue
This study examined the concurrent effects of exercise-induced muscle damage and superimposed acute fatigue on the neuromuscular activation performance of the knee flexors of nine males (age: 26.7 ± 6.1yrs; height 1.81 ± 0.05m; body mass 81.2 ± 11.7kg [mean ± SD]). Measures were obtained during three experimental conditions: (i) FAT-EEVID, involving acute fatiguing exercise performed on each assessment occasion plus a single episode of eccentric exercise performed on the first occasion and after the fatigue trial; (ii) FAT, involving the fatiguing exercise only and; (iii) CON consisting of no exercise. Assessments were performed prior to (pre) and at lh, 24h, 48h, 72h, and 168h relative to the eccentric exercise. Repeated-measures ANOVAs showed that muscle damage within the FAT-EEVID condition elicited reductions of up to 38%, 24%) and 65%> in volitional peak force, electromechanical delay and rate of force development compared to baseline and controls, respectively (F[io, 80] = 2.3 to 4.6; p to 30.7%>) following acute fatigue (Fp; i6] = 4.3 to 9.1; p ; Fp, iq = 3.9; p <0.05). The safeguarding of evoked muscle activation capability despite compromised volitional performance might reveal aspects of capabilities for emergency and protective responses during episodes of fatigue and antecedent muscle damaging exercise
Relative "-Numerical Ranges for Applications in Quantum Control and Quantum Information
Motivated by applications in quantum information and quantum control, a new
type of "-numerical range, the relative "-numerical range denoted
, is introduced. It arises upon replacing the unitary group U(N) in
the definition of the classical "-numerical range by any of its compact and
connected subgroups .
The geometric properties of the relative "-numerical range are analysed in
detail. Counterexamples prove its geometry is more intricate than in the
classical case: e.g. is neither star-shaped nor simply-connected.
Yet, a well-known result on the rotational symmetry of the classical
"-numerical range extends to , as shown by a new approach based on
Lie theory. Furthermore, we concentrate on the subgroup , i.e. the -fold tensor product of SU(2),
which is of particular interest in applications. In this case, sufficient
conditions are derived for being a circular disc centered at
origin of the complex plane. Finally, the previous results are illustrated in
detail for .Comment: accompanying paper to math-ph/070103
Hamiltonian statistical mechanics
A framework for statistical-mechanical analysis of quantum Hamiltonians is
introduced. The approach is based upon a gradient flow equation in the space of
Hamiltonians such that the eigenvectors of the initial Hamiltonian evolve
toward those of the reference Hamiltonian. The nonlinear double-bracket
equation governing the flow is such that the eigenvalues of the initial
Hamiltonian remain unperturbed. The space of Hamiltonians is foliated by
compact invariant subspaces, which permits the construction of statistical
distributions over the Hamiltonians. In two dimensions, an explicit dynamical
model is introduced, wherein the density function on the space of Hamiltonians
approaches an equilibrium state characterised by the canonical ensemble. This
is used to compute quenched and annealed averages of quantum observables.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, references adde
High-fidelity fast quantum transport with imperfect controls
Effective transport of quantum information is an essential element of quantum
computation. We consider the problem of transporting a quantum state by using a
moving potential well, while maintaining the encoded quantum information. In
particular, we look at a set of cases where the input control defining the
position of the potential well is subject to different types of distortion,
each of which is motivated by experimental considerations. We show that even
under these conditions, we are able to perfectly transfer the quantum
information non-adiabatically over any given distance.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Quantum control of the hyperfine-coupled electron and nuclear spins in alkali atoms
We study quantum control of the full hyperfine manifold in the
ground-electronic state of alkali atoms based on applied radio frequency and
microwave fields. Such interactions should allow essentially decoherence-free
dynamics and the application of techniques for robust control developed for NMR
spectroscopy. We establish the conditions under which the system is
controllable in the sense that one can generate an arbitrary unitary on the
system. We apply this to the case of Cs with its dimensional
Hilbert space of magnetic sublevels in the state, and design control
waveforms that generate an arbitrary target state from an initial fiducial
state. We develop a generalized Wigner function representation for this space
consisting of the direct sum of two irreducible representation of SU(2),
allowing us to visualize these states. The performance of different control
scenarios is evaluated based on the ability to generate high-fidelity operation
in an allotted time with the available resources. We find good operating points
commensurate with modest laboratory requirements.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures; corrected typo
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