Development and validation of clinical profiles of patients hospitalized due to behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia.

Patients hospitalized on acute psychogeriatric wards are a heterogeneous population. Cluster analysis is a useful statistical method for partitioning a sample of patients into well separated groups of patients who present common characteristics. Several patient profile studies exist, but they are not adapted to acutely hospitalized psychogeriatric patients with cognitive impairment. The present study aims to partition patients hospitalized due to behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia into profiles based on a global evaluation of mental health using cluster analysis. Using nine of the 13 items from the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales for elderly people (HoNOS65+), data were collected from a sample of 542 inpatients with dementia who were hospitalized between 2011 and 2014 in acute psychogeriatric wards of a Swiss university hospital. An optimal clustering solution was generated to represent various profiles, by using a mixed approach combining hierarchical and non-hierarchical (k-means) cluster analyses associated with a split-sample cross-validation. The quality of the clustering solution was evaluated based on a cross-validation, on a k-means method with 100 random initial seeds, on validation indexes, and on clinical interpretation. The final solution consisted of four clinically distinct and homogeneous profiles labeled (1) BPSD-affective, (2) BPSD-functional, (3) BPSD-somatic and (4) BPSD-psychotic according to their predominant clinical features. The four profiles differed in cognitive status, length of hospital stay, and legal admission status. In the present study, clustering methods allowed us to identify four profiles with distinctive characteristics. This clustering solution may be developed into a classification system that may allow clinicians to differentiate patient needs in order to promptly identify tailored interventions and promote better allocation of available resources

Structure of shells in complex networks

In a network, we define shell $\ell$ as the set of nodes at distance $\ell$ with respect to a given node and define $r_\ell$ as the fraction of nodes outside shell $\ell$. In a transport process, information or disease usually diffuses from a random node and reach nodes shell after shell. Thus, understanding the shell structure is crucial for the study of the transport property of networks. For a randomly connected network with given degree distribution, we derive analytically the degree distribution and average degree of the nodes residing outside shell $\ell$ as a function of $r_\ell$. Further, we find that $r_\ell$ follows an iterative functional form $r_\ell=\phi(r_{\ell-1})$, where $\phi$ is expressed in terms of the generating function of the original degree distribution of the network. Our results can explain the power-law distribution of the number of nodes $B_\ell$ found in shells with $\ell$ larger than the network diameter $d$, which is the average distance between all pairs of nodes. For real world networks the theoretical prediction of $r_\ell$ deviates from the empirical $r_\ell$. We introduce a network correlation function $c(r_\ell)\equiv r_{\ell+1}/\phi(r_\ell)$ to characterize the correlations in the network, where $r_{\ell+1}$ is the empirical value and $\phi(r_\ell)$ is the theoretical prediction. $c(r_\ell)=1$ indicates perfect agreement between empirical results and theory. We apply $c(r_\ell)$ to several model and real world networks. We find that the networks fall into two distinct classes: (i) a class of {\it poorly-connected} networks with $c(r_\ell)>1$, which have larger average distances compared with randomly connected networks with the same degree distributions; and (ii) a class of {\it well-connected} networks with $c(r_\ell)<1$

Dynamical chaos and power spectra in toy models of heteropolymers and proteins

The dynamical chaos in Lennard-Jones toy models of heteropolymers is studied by molecular dynamics simulations. It is shown that two nearby trajectories quickly diverge from each other if the heteropolymer corresponds to a random sequence. For good folders, on the other hand, two nearby trajectories may initially move apart but eventually they come together. Thus good folders are intrinsically non-chaotic. A choice of a distance of the initial conformation from the native state affects the way in which a separation between the twin trajectories behaves in time. This observation allows one to determine the size of a folding funnel in good folders. We study the energy landscapes of the toy models by determining the power spectra and fractal characteristics of the dependence of the potential energy on time. For good folders, folding and unfolding trajectories have distinctly different correlated behaviors at low frequencies.Comment: 8 pages, 9 EPS figures, Phys. Rev. E (in press

Worker/wrapper/makes it/faster

Much research in program optimization has focused on formal approaches to correctness: proving that the meaning of programs is preserved by the optimisation. Paradoxically, there has been comparatively little work on formal approaches to efficiency: proving that the performance of optimized programs is actually improved. This paper addresses this problem for a general-purpose optimization technique, the worker/wrapper transformation. In particular, we use the call-by-need variant of improvement theory to establish conditions under which the worker/wrapper transformation is formally guaranteed to preserve or improve the time performance of programs in lazy languages such as Haskell

Fourier analysis of 2-point Hermite interpolatory subdivision schemes

Two subdivision schemes with Hermite data on Z are studied. These schemes use 2 or 7 parameters respectively depending on whether Hermite data involve only first derivatives or include second derivatives. For a large region in the parameters space, the schemes are C1 or C2 convergent or at least are convergent on the space of Schwartz distributions. The Fourier transform of any interpolating function can be computed through products of matrices of order 2 or 3. The Fourier transform is related to a specific system of functional equations whose analytic solution is unique except for a multiplicative constant. The main arguments for these results come from Paley-Wiener-Schwartz theorem on the characterization of the Fourier transforms of distributions with compact support and a theorem of Artzrouni about convergent products of matrices

Does regulating private long-term care facilities lead to better care? a study from Quebec, Canada

Objective. In the province of Quebec, Canada, long-term residential care is provided by 2 types of facilities: publicly-funded accredited facilities and privately-owned facilities in which care is privately financed and delivered. Following evidence that private facilities were delivering inadequate care, the provincial government decided to regulate this industry. We assessed the impact of regulation on care quality by comparing quality assessments made before and after regulation. In both periods, public facilities served as a comparison group. Design: A cross-sectional study conducted in 2010-2012 that incorporates data collected in 1995-2000. Settings. Random samples of private and public facilities from 2 regions of Quebec. Participants. Random samples of disabled residents aged 65 years and over. In total, 451 residents from 145 care settings assessed in 1995-2000 were compared to 329 residents from 102 care settings assessed in 2010-2012. Intervention. Regulation introduced by the province in 2005, effective February 2007. Main outcome measure. Quality of care measured with the QUALCARE Scale. Results. After regulation, fewer small-size facilities were in operation in the private market. Between the 2 study periods, the proportion of residents with severe disabilities decreased in private facilities while it remained over 80% in their public counterparts. Meanwhile, quality of care improved significantly in private facilities, while worsening in their public counterparts, even after controlling for confounding. Conclusions. The private industry now provides better care to its residents. Improvement in care quality likely results in part from the closure of small homes and change in resident case-mix

The eSMAF: a software for the assessment and follow-up of functional autonomy in geriatrics

BACKGROUND: Functional status or disability forms the core of most assessment instruments used to identify mix and level of resources and services needed by older adults who possess common characteristics. The Functional Autonomy Measurement System (SMAF) is a 29-item scale measuring functional ability in five different areas. It has been recommended for use for home care, for allocation of chronic beds, for developing care plans in institutional settings and for epidemiological and evaluative studies. The SMAF can also be used with a case-mix classification system (Iso-SMAF) to allocate resources based on patients' functional autonomy characteristics. The objective of this project was to develop a software version of the SMAF to facilitate the evaluation of the functional status of older adults in health services research and to optimize the clinical decision-making process. RESULTS: The eSMAF was developed over an 24-month period using a modified waterfall software engineering process. Requirements and functional specifications were determined using focus groups of stakeholders. Different versions of the software were iteratively field-tested in clinical and research environments and software adaptations made accordingly. User documentation and online help were created to assist the deployment of the software. The software is available in French or English versions under a 30-day unregistered demonstration license or a free restricted registered academic license. It can be used locally on a Windows-based PC or over a network to input SMAF data into a database, search and aggregate client data according to clinical and/or administrative criteria, and generate summary or detailed reports of selected data sets for print or export to another database. CONCLUSION: In the last year, the software has been successfully deployed in the clinical workflow of different institutions in research and clinical applications. The software performed relatively well in terms of stability and performance. Barriers to implementation included antiquated computer hardware, low computer literacy and access to IT support. Key factors for the deployment of the software included standardization of the workflow, user training and support