Improved scaling of Time-Evolving Block-Decimation algorithm through Reduced-Rank Randomized Singular Value Decomposition

When the amount of entanglement in a quantum system is limited, the relevant dynamics of the system is restricted to a very small part of the state space. When restricted to this subspace the description of the system becomes efficient in the system size. A class of algorithms, exemplified by the Time-Evolving Block-Decimation (TEBD) algorithm, make use of this observation by selecting the relevant subspace through a decimation technique relying on the Singular Value Decomposition (SVD). In these algorithms, the complexity of each time-evolution step is dominated by the SVD. Here we show that, by applying a randomized version of the SVD routine (RRSVD), the power law governing the computational complexity of TEBD is lowered by one degree, resulting in a considerable speed-up. We exemplify the potential gains in efficiency at the hand of some real world examples to which TEBD can be successfully applied to and demonstrate that for those system RRSVD delivers results as accurate as state-of-the-art deterministic SVD routines.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure

Unbearable wearables

As wearable devices play an increasing role in the management of health and disease, adverse skin reactions to wearables have become more common. However, the management of allergic contact dermatitis is challenging and new treatment options more compatible with wearable devices are needed. In a 40-year-old woman with contact dermatitis to a continuous glucose monitoring device, topical clobetasol propionate 0.05% spray proved to be an effective treatment that was compatible with the application of adhesive wearables. This case demonstrates that spray formulations of topical steroids are a good option for the treatment of dermatitis under wearable devices such as continuous glucose monitors or ostomy appliance

Selbstmanagementförderung bei psychischen Gesundheitsproblemen - eine Literaturstudie

Selbstmanagementförderung ist ein Sammelbegriff für patientenzentrierte Interventionsstrategien in der Versorgung chronisch kranker Menschen. Erstmals in den 1960er-Jahren in diesem Kontext verwendet, wurde Selbstmanagementförderung im Zeitverlauf unterschiedlich konzeptualisiert und in nahezu allen Versorgungssettings sowie bei diversen Zielgruppen angewendet. Auffallend ist, dass Menschen mit anhaltenden und wiederkehrenden psychischen Gesundheitsproblemen in den Diskussionen über Selbstmanagementförderung lange Zeit unberücksichtigt bleiben. Psychische Beeinträchtigungen wurden oft nur als Störfaktoren eines effektiven Selbstmanagements bei chronischen körperlichen Erkrankungen diskutiert. Allmählich scheint sich dies zu ändern. Vor diesem Hintergrund wurde eine umfassende Literaturanalyse durchgeführt, (1) um den Diskussions- und Forschungsstand zum Thema Selbstmanagementförderung bei chronischer Krankheit zu kompilieren, (2) die zuvor skizzierten Entwicklungen im Diskursverlauf nachzuzeichnen und (3) den Stand der Auseinandersetzung mit Selbstmanagementförderung speziell im Mental Health Bereich zu dokumentieren. Ziel war es, Forschungsdesiderata zu identifizieren und Grundlagen für die Durchführung empirischer Untersuchungen zum Thema zu erarbeiten. Als Ergebnis der Analyse zeigt sich, dass die Selbstmanagementdebatte für den deutschsprachigen Raum noch wenig systemisch aufgearbeitet wurde. International mangelt es - trotz einer breiten und intensiv geführten Diskussion - an einem einheitlichen konzeptionellen Verständnis von Selbstmanagementförderung, weshalb unter diesem Sammelbegriff zahlreiche heterogene Interventionen mit mehr oder weniger positiven gesundheitsrelevanten Wirkungen beschrieben und diskutiert werden. Aus gesundheitspolitischer und -ökonomischer Sicht werden mit Selbstmanagementförderung Hoffnungen auf Einsparungen in der Versorgung chronisch Kranker verbunden, was das Interesse daran in Forschung und Praxis befördert hat. In den Diskussionen vernachlässigt werden vulnerable Gruppen und deren spezifischer Bedarf, darunter ethnische Minderheiten, Erkrankte aus unteren Sozialstatusgruppen und nicht zuletzt solche mit psychischen Gesundheitsproblemen. Dabei bestätigen erste Forschungsergebnisse, dass auch letztgenannte von der Förderung ihrer Selbstmanagementkompetenz profitieren können. Dringend angezeigt ist daher, die empirischen Forschungsaktivitäten zum Thema Selbstmanagementförderung für spezifische Patientengruppen oder bei psychischen Problemlagen zu intensivieren und systematisch zu verdichten. Probleme dürften sich dabei vor allem aus der unzureichenden Abgrenzung der Selbstmanagementförderung von anderen psychosozialen Interventionen ergeben. Für die konzeptionell-theoretische Diskussion zur Selbstmanagementförderung könnte sich der Recovery-Ansatz aufgrund seiner personenzentrierten Perspektive nicht allein im Mental Health Bereich künftig als hilfreiche Orientierung erweisen

Parenting Skills for Mothers with Borderline Personality Disorder – a newly developed group training program

Background: Dysfunctional relationships and emotion dysregulation are hallmark features of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Women with BPD are, therefore, particularly challenged when raising a child. A group training program was developed for mothers with BPD to enhance their parenting skills and help them raise their children. The program is based on cognitive-behavioral principles and skills derived from Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). Methods: N = 15 mothers with BPD who had young children (aged 0–6 years) participated in a 12-week training program. To estimate the participants’ impairment, parental stress and psychological distress were assessed before the training. After the training, participants and trainers were asked to provide feedback regarding the evaluation of and the changes due to the training. Results: Participants’ self-reported stress related to parenting, as well as psychological distress and depressive symptoms, was high. Participants’ acceptance of the program was very good. Especially role plays were rated as useful. Trainers evaluated the program as helpful and reported visible changes in participants’ behavior and attitudes towards parenting. Conclusions: The results on the acceptance of the training program are promising

Product and rate determinations with chemically activated nucleotides in the presence of various prebiotic materials, including other mono- and polynucleotides

We are investigating the reactions of ImpN's in the presence of a number of prebiotically plausible materials, such as metal ions, phosphate, amines and other nucleotides and hope to learn more about the stability/reactivity of ImpN's in a prebiotic aqueous environment. We find that, in the presence of phosphate, ImpN's form substantial amounts of diphosphate nucleotides. These diphosphate nucleotides are not very good substrates for template directed reactions, but are chemically activated and are known to revert to the phosphoimidazolides in the presence of imidazole under solid state conditions. With respect to our studies of the oligomerization reaction, the determination of the dimerization rate constant of a specific ImpN (guanosine 5'-phospho 2 methylimidazolide) both in the absence and the presence of the template leads to the conclusion that at 37 C the dimerization is not template directed, although the subsequent polymerization steps are. In other words, this specific polynucleotide synthesizing system favors the elongation of oligonucleotides as compared with the formation of dimers and trimers. This favoring of the synthesis of long as opposed to short oligonucleotides may be regarded as a rudimentary example of natural selection at the molecular level

Phase-dependent exciton transport and energy harvesting from thermal environments

Non-Markovian effects in the evolution of open quantum systems have recently attracted widespread interest, particularly in the context of assessing the efficiency of energy and charge transfer in nanoscale biomolecular networks and quantum technologies. With the aid of many-body simulation methods, we uncover and analyse an ultrafast environmental process that causes energy relaxation in the reduced system to depend explicitly on the phase relation of the initial state preparation. Remarkably, for particular phases and system parameters, the net energy flow is uphill, transiently violating the principle of detailed balance, and implying that energy is spontaneously taken up from the environment. A theoretical analysis reveals that non-secular contributions, significant only within the environmental correlation time, underlie this effect. This suggests that environmental energy harvesting will be observable across a wide range of coupled quantum systems.Comment: 5 + 4 pages, 3 + 2 figures. Comments welcom