Seasonal variation and living alone are related to pulmonary rehabilitation non-completion

AIM: To identify baseline characteristics that independently predict pulmonary rehabilitation non-completion and compare these findings against the participant's reasons for non-completion. METHODS: Participants with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) who attended a standardised twice weekly, eight week pulmonary rehabilitation program(located in the sub-tropics, latitude 27°29' South) between 2010 and 2012 were recruited. Thebaseline characteristics of program completers and non-completers were compared in a case-controlled design. Participants who attended < 12/16 sessions were classified as a non-completer. Non-completers(those who missed > 4 session of the program) were asked by one independent investigator to participate in a survey about their pulmonary rehabilitation experience. Baseline characteristics were assessed for differences between program completers and non-completers. The baseline characteristics included disease severity, exercise capacity, smoking history, participant's social support and the season when each participant commenced rehabilitation. Non-completers that agreed to participate in the survey were asked to indicate what personal factors or external factors contributed to their program non-completion. Comparisons of completers and non-completers baseline characteristics were performed using cross-tabulations and t-tests, with significant measures analysed in a multivariate binary logistic regression model. Non-completers survey responses were compared to the identified independent predictors using cross-tabulations.RESULTS: Twenty-six participants(23.4%) of the 111 participants with COPD [(mean ± SD) age was 67.4 ± 9.2 years and FEV1 54.6% ± 22.3%)], were classified as non-completers. Forty-five participants(40.5%) commenced pulmonary rehabilitation during winter. Thirty-six participants(32.4%) were living alone at program commencement. In the multivariate analysis(n = 111), only programs that commenced in winter(Exp B: 0.255, 95%CI: 0.090-0.727, P = 0.011) and participants that lived alone(Exp B: 2.925, 95%CI: 1.039-8.229, P = 0.042) were identified as independent predictors of program non-completion. Twenty participants of the twenty-six non-completers agreed to participate in the survey about their pulmonary rehabilitation experience. The reasons given for non-completion were grouped into: medical reasons(75%), other personal reasons(30%) and external barriers(45%), with ten non-completers reporting more than one reason.No participant reported living alone or that the program commenced during winter as a reason for noncompletion. There was no relationship between illness being the participant's reason for non-completion and the programs that commenced in winter(P = 0.135). CONCLUSION: Despite winter commencing programs and participants who lived alone being independent predictors of program non-completion, neither measure was reported by participants as a reason for noncompletion.

Nonlinear and non-CP gates for Bloch vector amplification

Any state r=(x,y,z)of a qubit,written in the Pauli basis and initialized in the pure state r=(0,0,1),can be prepared by composing three quantum operations:two unitary rotation gates to reach a pure state r=(x^(2)+y^(2)+z^(2))-1/2×(x,y,z)on the Bloch sphere,followed by a depolarization gate to decrease|r|.Here we discuss the complementary state-preparation protocol for qubits initialized at the center of the Bloch ball,r=0,based on increasing or amplifying|r|to its desired value,then rotating.Bloch vector amplification increases purity and decreases entropy.Amplification can be achieved with a linear Markovian completely positive trace-preserving(CPTP)channel by placing the channel’s fixed point away from r=0,making it nonunital,but the resulting gate suffers from a critical slowing down as that fixed point is approached.Here we consider alternative designs based on linear and nonlinear Markovian PTP channels,which offer benefits relative to linear CPTP channels,namely fast Bloch vector amplification without deceleration.These gates simulate a reversal of the thermodynamic arrow of time for the qubit and would provide striking experimental demonstrations of non-CP dynamics.

Interaction of Three Waves for the Extension(2+1)-Dimensional Sine-Gordon Equation

Exact solutions with three-wave form including three solitary wave, breather-type two-solitary wave, doubly breather-type of solitary wave, double-periodic kind of solitary wave are obtained using bilinear form and extended threewave approach with the aid of Maple. It is important that completed elastic collision, non-completed elastic collision,and fusion of three waves are investigated, respectively.