Fabrication and Crystal Structure of Sol-Gel Deposited BST Thin Films with Compositional Gradient

In the present research technology of compositionally graded barium strontium titanate Ba1-xSrxTiO3 thin films deposited on stainless steel substrates by sol-gel spin coating followed with thermal annealing at T = 650°C is reported. Results of thermal behavior of the sol-gel derived powders with compositions used for fabrication of graded structure (i.e. with Sr mole fraction x = 0.5, 0.4 and 0.3) are described. X-ray diffraction studies of the phase composition and crystal structure of such complex thin film configuration are given. It was found that gel powders exhibited a large total weight loss of about Δm ≈ 44-47%. Three stages of weight loss took place at temperature ranges: below T ≈ 300°C, at ΔT ≈ 300-500°C and between T = 600°C and T = 800°C. Phase analysis has shown that the dominating phase is Ba0.67Sr0.33TiO3 compound while the second phase is Ba0.7Sr0.3TiO3 or Ba0.5Sr0.5TiO3 for "up-graded" and "down-graded" structure, respectively

Quantum superadditivity in linear optics networks: sending bits via multiple access Gaussian channels

We study classical capacity regions of quantum Gaussian multiple access channels (MAC). In classical variants of such channels, whilst some capacity superadditivity-type effects such as the so called {\it water filling effect} may be achieved, a fundamental classical additivity law can still be identified, {\it viz.} adding resources to one sender is never advantageous to other senders in sending their respective information to the receiver. Here, we show that quantum resources allows violation of this law, by providing two illustrative schemes of experimentally feasible Gaussian MACs.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Ethical problems of palliative care in the period of its evolutionary transformation

Our long-time experience in palliative care allowed us to notice changes in ethics of palliative medicine. In the handbook of palliative medicine, its authors R.G.Twycross and D.Frampton in 1995 did formulate the following ethical postulate: respect for life, acceptance of death of a patient as an unavoidable event, respect for a patient as a person, beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice. In addition, they stressed prohibition of euthanasia as a rule. Nine years later, however, in the Oxford handbook of palliative care, its authors: M.S.Watson, C.T.Lukas, M.A.Hoy and J.N.Back described their ethical basis, which were slightly different but quite similar to those of T.L.Beauchamp and J.F.Childers: autonomy of a patient, beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice and the trust. Their set of principles may induce controversy because of unlimited patient's autonomy and absence of physician's autonomy. Further, it may permit euthanasia, which is excluded by palliative medicine

Ethical aspect of quality of life of palliative care patients

In the paper, we attempt a semantic analysis of patient quality of life, which plays an important role in evaluating the patient’s condition and health. The issue seems to be the most important in palliative-hospice care, where doctors work with seriously or terminally ill patients. One of the aims of this branch of medicine is to improve quality of life. This may be achieved, among others, by recognizing the current problems the patient is facing pertaining to family and social relations, beliefs, views or religion. Moreover, by monitoring the behavior of patients and symptoms of their illnesses, the best therapy methods may be selected. Patient quality of life assessment may also enable comparing health care units of the same specialization and be used for the selection of the best standards of care. When discussing the broader meaning of "quality of life", we caution against equating quality of life with the value of life. The main arguments are as follows: subjective character of evaluation of quality of life and, in the future, the possibility of postulates for shortening life of poor quality of life patients when funds for their treatment are insufficient. When accepting quality of life as equal to the value of life, it may result in eliminating unprotected and helpless patients and allowing only the strong to live. Later, this may result in the discrimination of seriously and terminally ill people, even those who do not wish to shorten their lives despite experiencing burdensome symptoms and being aware of the incurable nature of their illness

Infection control : point prevalence study versus incidence study in Polish long-term care facilities in 2009-2010 in the Małopolska Region

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the epidemiology of infection in Polish long-term care facilities (LTCFs) and to analyse the capabilities and legitimacy of implementing continuous targeted surveillance. METHODS: The study investigated the relationship between the presence of infection and health status, tested using a point prevalence study (PPS) and incidence study. A 1-day PPS was carried out in October 2009, with prospective continuous surveillance between December 2009 and November 2010. Infections were defined according to McGeer’s criteria. RESULTS: The surveillance encompassed 193 people. The prevalence was 14.0 % in residential homes (RHs) and 18.7 % in the nursing home (NH). Various types of infections (in the PPS) were observed significantly more frequently in patients with asthma, wounds, atherosclerosis of lower extremities, tracheotomy tubes and conditions in patients hospitalised in intensive care units (ICUs) up to 1 year before the PPS day. The incidence rate was 2.7/1,000 patient days (pds). CONCLUSIONS: The factors determined to be important for the risk of infection (in the continuous study) include the general status of patients, expressed using Barthel, abbreviated mental and Katz scales, as well as limited physical activity, stool incontinence and urinary catheterisation. In the PPS study, only a slight relationship was shown between the general status of residents and the risk of infection. None of the general status scales used clinically were shown to be helpful in estimating that risk, similarly to the five-point physical activity scale. Prospective continuous surveillance shows a possibility of limiting the range of infection control in the LTCFs within targeted surveillance in a population of patients that requires intensive nursing procedures. As a marker, one could point to the low score in the Barthel or Katz scales or low physical activity/bedridden persons

Optimal entanglement witnesses from generalized reduction and Robertson maps

We provide a generalization of the reduction and Robertson positive maps in matrix algebras. They give rise to a new class of optimal entanglement witnesses. Their structural physical approximation is analyzed. As a byproduct we provide a new examples of PPT (Positive Partial Transpose) entangled states.Comment: 14 page

On structural physical approximations and entanglement breaking maps

Very recently a conjecture saying that the so-called structural physical approximations (SPAa) to optimal positive maps (optimal entanglement witnesses) give entanglement breaking (EB) maps (separable states) has been posed [J. K. Korbicz {\it et al.}, Phys. Rev. A {\bf 78}, 062105 (2008)]. The main purpose of this contribution is to explore this subject. First, we extend the set of entanglement witnesses (EWs) supporting the conjecture. Then, we ask if SPAs constructed from other than the depolarizing channel maps also lead to EB maps and show that in general this is not the case. On the other hand, we prove an interesting fact that for any positive map $\Lambda$ there exists an EB channel $\Phi$ such that the SPA of $\Lambda$ constructed with the aid of $\Phi$ is again an EB channel. Finally, we ask similar questions in the case of continuous variable systems. We provide a simple way of construction of SPA and prove that in the case of the transposition map it gives EB channel.Comment: 22 pages, improved version, accepted by Journal of Physics

Gaussian bosonic synergy: quantum communication via realistic channels of zero quantum capacity

As with classical information, error-correcting codes enable reliable transmission of quantum information through noisy or lossy channels. In contrast to the classical theory, imperfect quantum channels exhibit a strong kind of synergy: there exist pairs of discrete memoryless quantum channels, each of zero quantum capacity, which acquire positive quantum capacity when used together. Here we show that this "superactivation" phenomenon also occurs in the more realistic setting of optical channels with attenuation and Gaussian noise. This paves the way for its experimental realization and application in real-world communications systems.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, one appendi

The effect of chest compression frequency on the quality of resuscitation by lifeguards. A prospective randomized crossover multicenter simulation trial

BACKGROUND: The ability to perform high-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation is one of the basic skills for lifeguards. The aim of the study was to assess the influence of chest compression frequency on the quality of the parameters of chest compressions performed by lifeguards. METHODS: This prospective observational, randomized, crossover simulation study was performed with 40 lifeguards working in Warsaw, Wroclaw, and Poznan, Poland. The subjects then participated in a target study, in which they were asked to perform 2-min cycles of metronome-guided chest compressions at different rates: 80, 90, 100, 110, 120, 130, 140, and 150 compressions per minute (CPM). RESULTS: The study involved 40 lifeguards. Optimal chest compression score calculated by manikin software was achieved for 110-120 CPM. Chest compression depth achieved 53 (interquartile range [IQR] 52-54) mm, 56 (IQR 54-57) mm, 52.5 (IQR 50-54) mm, 53 (IQR 52-53) mm, 50 (IQR 49-51) mm, 47 (IQR 44-51) mm, 41 (IQR 40-42) mm, 38 (IQR 38-43) mm for 80, 90, 100, 110, 120, 130, 140 and 150 CPM, respectively. The percentage of chest compressions with the correct depth was lower for rates exceeding 120 CPM. CONCLUSIONS: The rate of 100-120 CPM, as recommended by international guidelines, is the optimal chest compression rate for cardiopulmonary resuscitation performed by lifeguards. A rate above 120 CPM was associated with a dramatic decrease in chest compression depth and overall chest compression quality. The role of full chest recoil should be emphasized in basic life support training

Schemes of transmission of classical information via quantum channels with many senders: discrete and continuous variables cases

Superadditivity effects in the classical capacity of discrete multi-access channels (MACs) and continuous variable (CV) Gaussian MACs are analysed. New examples of the manifestation of superadditivity in the discrete case are provided including, in particular, a channel which is fully symmetric with respect to all senders. Furthermore, we consider a class of channels for which {\it input entanglement across more than two copies of the channels is necessary} to saturate the asymptotic rate of transmission from one of the senders to the receiver. The 5-input entanglement of Shor error correction codewords surpass the capacity attainable by using arbitrary two-input entanglement for these channels. In the CV case, we consider the properties of the two channels (a beam-splitter channel and a "non-demolition" XP gate channel) analyzed in [Czekaj {\it et al.}, Phys. Rev. A {\bf 82}, 020302 (R) (2010)] in greater detail and also consider the sensitivity of capacity superadditivity effects to thermal noise. We observe that the estimates of amount of two-mode squeezing required to achieve capacity superadditivity are more optimistic than previously reported.Comment: 19 pages, 11 figure