Understanding factors relevant to poor sleep and coping methods in people with schizophrenia

Background Sleep disruption is pervasive in people with schizophrenia, but few studies have explored their sleep experiences. This study aims to identify factors relevant to sleep problems and explore coping methods used by community-dwelling people with schizophrenia. Methods Eighteen participants with schizophrenia were recruited from three mental health centers in Taiwan. They completed a semi-structured interview and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) assessment. The Person-Environment-Occupation model offered a framework to assess factors related to sleep. Thematic analysis was used for the qualitative data analysis. Results Factors related to sleep were classified under person, environment, and occupation domains. The person domain included three subthemes: psychiatric symptoms, unpleasant emotions, and frustration about sleep. The environment domain included three subthemes: sensory intrusions from the environment, quality of bedding, and roommates. The occupation domain included sleep interruption and sleep preparation. There were notable discrepancies in sleep quality between the participants’ narratives and their PSQI global scores. Regarding coping methods for poor sleep, sleep medication was the primary strategy while some participants also used other strategies, such as modifying the environment, adjusting routines, or engaging in activities that improve sleep quality. Conclusions Psychiatric symptoms and nightmares were identified as unique sleep disruptions in people with schizophrenia, and poor economic status was also found to impact their sleep. The sleep quality of people with schizophrenia tends to be poor, as identified by the PSQI, even though they may have positive perceptions of their sleep quality. Our participants appeared to prefer to take hypnotics to address their sleep problems, which may be due to limited knowledge about alternatives. Mental health professionals are encouraged to receive training in the application of non-pharmacological approaches to support their clients’ issues related to sleep

Restricted power domination and fault-tolerant power domination on grids

AbstractThe power domination problem is to find a minimum placement of phase measurement units (PMUs) for observing the whole electric power system, which is closely related to the classical domination problem in graphs. For a graph G=(V,E), the power domination number of G is the minimum cardinality of a set S⊆V such that PMUs placed on every vertex of S results in all of V being observed. A vertex with a PMU observes itself and all its neighbors, and if an observed vertex with degree d>1 has only one unobserved neighbor, then the unobserved neighbor becomes observed. Although the power domination problem has been proved to be NP-complete even when restricted to some special classes of graphs, Dorfling and Henning in [M. Dorfling, M.A. Henning, A note on power domination in grid graphs, Discrete Applied Mathematics 154 (2006) 1023–1027] showed that it is easy to determine the power domination number of an n×m grid. Their proof provides an algorithm for giving a minimum placement of PMUs. In this paper, we consider the situation in which PMUs may only be placed within a restricted subset of V. Then, we present algorithms to solve this restricted type of power domination on grids under the conditions that consecutive rows or columns form a forbidden zone. Moreover, we also deal with the fault-tolerant measurement placement in the designed scheme and provide approximation algorithms when the number of faulty PMUs does not exceed 3

Quantum correlation generation capability of experimental processes

Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) steering and Bell nonlocality illustrate two different kinds of correlations predicted by quantum mechanics. They not only motivate the exploration of the foundation of quantum mechanics, but also serve as important resources for quantum-information processing in the presence of untrusted measurement apparatuses. Herein, we introduce a method for characterizing the creation of EPR steering and Bell nonlocality for dynamical processes in experiments. We show that the capability of an experimental process to create quantum correlations can be quantified and identified simply by preparing separable states as test inputs of the process and then performing local measurements on single qubits of the corresponding outputs. This finding enables the construction of objective benchmarks for the two-qubit controlled operations used to perform universal quantum computation. We demonstrate this utility by examining the experimental capability of creating quantum correlations with the controlled-phase operations on the IBM Quantum Experience and Amazon Braket Rigetti superconducting quantum computers. The results show that our method provides a useful diagnostic tool for evaluating the primitive operations of nonclassical correlation creation in noisy intermediate scale quantum devices.Comment: 5 figures, 3 appendice

Effective Radiotherapy Cured Cauda Equina Syndrome Caused by Remitted Intracranial Germinoma Depositing

Cauda equina syndrome (CES) in children is very rare and can permanently disable. A remitted intracranial germinoma depositing on the spinal cord, leading to CES, has never been reported. We discuss the case of a 10-year-old girl who presented with sudden ataxia, low back pain, sensory deficits of the left lower extremity, and difficulty urinating and defecating 7 months after totally remitted intracranial germinoma postintracranial surgery and cranial irradiation. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain and spine showed multiple intradural extramedullary homogeneous masses from the cervical to lumbar levels, compressing the conus medullaris and cauda equina. After emergent craniospinal irradiation, the patient's neurologic symptoms dramatically subsided. A remitted intracranial germinoma depositing on her spinal cord could be the cause of CES. Early identification and a proper craniospinal irradiation may halt the progression of symptoms