Performance Analysis of a Low-Interference N-Continuous OFDM Scheme

This paper investigates two issues of power spectrum density (PSD) and bit error rate (BER) of an N-continuous orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (NC-OFDM) aided low-interference time-domain scheme, when the smooth signal is designed by the linear combination of basis signals truncated by a window. Based on the relationship between the continuity and sidelobe decaying, the PSD performance is first analyzed and compared, in terms of the highest derivative order (HDO) N and the length of the smooth signal L. Since the high-order derivative of the truncation window has the finite continuity, the N-continuous signal has two finite continuities, which may have different continuous derivative orders. In this case, we develop a close PSD expression by introducing another smooth signal, which is also linearly combined by other basis signals, to explain the sidelobe decaying related to N and L. Then, in the context of BER, considering the multipath Rayleigh fading channel, based on the effect of the delayed tail of the smooth signal to the received signal, we provide a procedure for calculating the BER expressed in the form of an asymptotic summation.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

The development and usability evaluation of the symptom management module in the support system APP for parents of children with acute leukaemia

Background Childhood cancer is the second cause of death in children. Leukaemia is the most common childhood cancer, accounting for 31% of cancers in children under 14. It has become a global concern for children's health. During the treatment of children with acute leukaemia, symptom management is the most painful thing for children and their parents. The symptom brings pain to children, reduces their quality of life, and affects the disease's prognosis. Moreover, the symptom can lead to the termination of treatment, hospitalization prolongation, and treatment costs increase. Therefore, parents need to participate in the symptom management of their children. The parents of children with acute leukaemia bear the heavy blow of their children’s condition and limited knowledge of leukaemia. They do not have sufficient knowledge for the treatment, care, symptom prevention, recognition, and management of the symptom. Hence, these facts result in an extreme lack of confidence in participating in symptom management of their children. Therefore, symptom management in children with acute leukaemia needs to be highly concerned. With the progress of mobile health technology, more and more information means are applied in chronic disease management. However, few studies focus on symptom management support for parents of children with acute leukaemia. Funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, our research team has constructed the framework of the support system APP for parents of children with acute leukaemia. The symptom management module of the support system APP was reserved—this study aimed at the pain points in the symptom management of children with acute leukaemia. By applying mobile health technology, this study constructed the symptom management module in the support system APP for parents of children with acute leukaemia, realized the function of the symptom management module, and finished the usability evaluation of the symptom management module. This study will help improve the effectiveness of symptom management of children with acute leukaemia, enhance parents' symptom management ability, and save medical resources. Objectives This research aims to develop the symptom management module in the support system APP for parents of children with acute leukaemia and evaluate the usability of the symptom management module. Purpose one: To explore the parents’ symptom management needs for children with acute leukaemia; Purpose two: To construct the image-text knowledge base of the symptom management module in the support system APP; Purpose three: To develop the symptom management module in the support system APP; Purpose four: To evaluate the usability of the symptom management module in the support system APP. Methods The study was comprised of 4 parts： Part1: The analysis of parents’ symptom management needs for children with acute leukaemia By the qualitative interview, six healthcare providers of the haematology-oncology department and 14 parents of children with acute leukaemia were interviewed, all from the Children's Hospital of Fudan University and the Children's Hospital of Suzhou University. This study also selected two WeChat groups of the haematology-oncology department of the Children's Hospital of Fudan University and the Children's Hospital of Suzhou University to collect and analyze the chat records of parents of children with acute leukaemia. The content analysis method was used to analyze the data of the interviews and the WeChat group chat records. Hence, the symptoms suitable for parents to manage, the symptom management needs of parents of children with acute leukaemia, and their needs for the symptom management module were deeply understood. Part2: The construction of the image-text knowledge base The clinical manuals, guidelines, scientific literature, and monographs on symptom management of children with acute leukaemia were searched. Combined with the preliminary analysis of symptom management needs in parents of children with acute leukaemia, the framework of the image-text knowledge base was constructed. Then, the symptom management module's preliminary image-text knowledge base was finished. Two researchers and two healthcare providers revised the preliminary image-text knowledge base. Finally, the researcher composed the final image-text knowledge base and reviewed it with two scientific researchers. Part3: The development of the symptom management module in the support system APP Based on the final image-text knowledge base and the analysis of the symptom management needs in parents of children with acute leukaemia, the brainstorming discussion with the multidisciplinary development team was organized to generate the function assumptions of the symptom management module. The multidisciplinary development team included three researchers, two healthcare providers, and two software engineers. By the human-centred concept and the agile development method, the researcher developed the symptom management module with software engineers through five steps: requirement confirmation, interface design, function realization, testing, and disclosure. Part4: The usability evaluation of the symptom management module in the support system APP The formative usability evaluation was implemented during the development of the symptom management module. The formative usability evaluation aimed to find the problems with the module's interface, font, and functions. Then the summarized usability evaluation was implemented when the module was completed. Five researchers, four healthcare providers, and ten parents of children with acute leukaemia were invited to evaluate the usability problems of the symptom management module by typical task analysis, Post-Study System Usability Questionnaire (PSSUQ), and semi-structured interviews. Results Part1: The analysis of symptom management needs in parents of children with acute leukaemia The qualitative study of parents of children with acute leukaemia precipitated: 1) the symptoms that parents participated or wanted to participate in, the preliminary symptom list suitable for parents to participate in (36 physiological symptoms and 5 psychological symptoms); 2) parents’ symptom management needs; 3) the functions of the symptom management module that parents needed. Moreover, the chat records of two WeChat groups were analyzed to supplement the parents’ symptom management needs. The qualitative results of healthcare providers presented: 1) the final symptom list suitable for parents of children with acute leukaemia to participate in (41 physiological symptoms and 6 psychological symptoms); 2) the symptom management-related knowledge that parents need ed to know; 3) the healthcare providers’ suggestion about the functions of the symptom management module. In conclusion, the final symptoms list suitable for parents to participate in (41 physiological symptoms and 6 psychological symptoms) was formed; Symptom management needs of parents of children with acute leukaemia (4 categories and 17 contents); Three main functions of the symptom management module (search function, symptom assessment and response function, and recommendation function). Part2: The construction of the image-text knowledge base The researcher constructed the framework of the image-text knowledge base, which included four categories and 17 contents. According to the framework, the preliminary image-text knowledge base was constructed. After the experts’ review and revision, the final image-text knowledge base was generated, including 41 image-text knowledge articles of physiological symptoms and 6 image-text knowledge articles of psychological symptoms. Part3: The development of symptom management module in the support system APP The functions assumptions of the symptom management module in the support system APP included (1) Active browsing and searching function; (2) Symptom assessment-based recommendation function ; (3) Content-based recommendation function. The functions of the developed symptom management module in support system APP included: (1) Active browsing and searching function: 1)Parents can directly browse the related image-text symptom management knowledge in the symptom management module; 2) Parents can search in the "Search" column, and the related image-text symptom management knowledge will emerge; (2) Symptom assessment-based recommendation function: After filling in the PROMIS (Patient-reported Outcomes Measurement Information System) pediatric self-reported / parent proxy-reported questionnaire in the APP, parents/children will be recommended the related symptom management knowledge according to the score of the PROMIS questionnaire; (3) Content-based recommendation function:1) If parents search for symptom-related information, the relevant image-text symptom management information will scroll in the "Recommended Articles" module in the APP home page; 2) When parents search for information related to chemotherapy drug, side effects related-symptoms of the chemotherapy drug will emerge in the search results; 3) There are physiological symptoms and psychological symptoms in the symptom management module, when it comes to a specific image-text symptom knowledge, the clickable related-symptom links (based on the symptom recommendation rule) are at the bottom of the image-text knowledge page. It will be linked to the other related symptom by clicking. Part4: The usability evaluation of the symptom management module in the support system APP In formative usability evaluation, six fundamental problems of the module interface were found and revised. After the development of the module, the summative usability evaluation was carried out. The scores of the PSSUQ after the test: researchers: 1)system usefulness is 5.2, information quality is 6.0, interface quality is 5.4, and overall evaluation is 6.0; 2) healthcare providers: system usefulness is 5.8, information quality is 6.0, interface quality is 5.9, and overall evaluation is 6.2; 3) parents: system usefulness is 5.8, information quality is 6.0, interface quality is 5.9, and overall evaluation is 6.2. The interview data with parents showed three topics related to usability: 1) " Awareness of symptoms management"; 2) " Advantages and benefits"; 3) " Disadvantages and obstacles." Conclusions Parents of children with acute leukaemia have various needs in symptom management. This study explored the suitable symptoms for parents to participate in (41 physiological and 6 psychological symptoms) and their needs in participation in their children’s symptom management. Based on these findings, the researcher constructed the image-text knowledge base and developed the symptom management module in the support system APP. The usability evaluation showed that the module had good usability and met the symptom management needs of parents of children with acute leukaemia