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Aim: The first coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in Taiwan occurred in May 2021 and many individuals were infected. All COVID-19 patients were quarantined in designated facilities until they fully recovered to prevent the spread of the disease. Prolonged quarantine could adversely affect these patients. In this study, we focused on investigating changes in the quality of life and mental health of individuals discharged from hospital after recovering from COVID-19. Methods: This study employed a longitudinal design and surveyed individuals discharged from a teaching hospital in northern Taiwan in 2021 within one week of their discharge and again after one month. An online questionnaire comprising the participants' background, respiratory function (COPD Assessment Test), quality of life (WHOQoL-BREF), and emotional problems (DASS-21) was administered to the participants. Results: A total of 56 participants actively took part in both surveys. We observed that participants with abnormal respiratory function had a lower physical and psychological quality of life, especially those with severe symptoms requiring endotracheal intubation during the treatment period of COVID-19. Additionally, approximately 30% of participants experienced anxiety problems throughout this study period. Finally, patients with COVID-19 symptoms exhibited a lower quality of life and higher levels of severe emotional problems. Conclusions: According to our findings, it is necessary to monitor and provide appropriate interventions for individuals who have recovered from COVID-19, especially those who experienced severe symptoms that required endotracheal intubation during COVID-19 treatment. These interventions, such as symptom management and psychological support, can help improve their quality of life and reduce emotional problems. Therefore, after the participants are discharged, hospitals should regularly track the patients' status and provide appropriate support or referrals to help these individuals. Otherwise, future research could include more participants and follow up with them for longer to investigate the longitudinal impact of COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The COVID‐19 outbreak in Taiwan had a significant impact on medical services. These changes posed a threat to nurses' mental health. Resilience may protect nurses from the psychological impact of COVID‐19. This study aimed to understand nurses' resilience and its relationship with nurses' characteristics (life and work situations) and mental health (depression, anxiety and stress) during the outbreak. Design: A cross‐sectional study. Methods: This study surveyed the nurses at a hospital from 9 August 2021, to 20 August 2021. The content of the questionnaire included nurses' characteristics, resilience and mental health. Results: There was an association between higher resilience and lower mental health problems. We also found that some nurses' characteristics were positively correlated with mental health problems. Conclusion: Some nurses' life and work situations predicted high levels of mental health problems during the pandemic. Additionally, higher levels of resilience were associated with lower levels of mental health problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the factors associated with nurses' intent to use physical restraint. Design and Methods: This cross‐sectional study used a questionnaire to survey 403 nurses from a hospital in northern Taiwan. Findings: Nurses who participated in a simulation training program had better knowledge and behavioral intent toward physical restraint use. Seniority and workplace significantly influenced the knowledge of physical restraint use, whereas workplace and clinical ladder level significantly shaped nurses' attitude toward it. Practice Implications: The results showed that the simulated physical restraint training program was effective. The impact of nurses' workplace, seniority, and clinical ladder level on an educational intervention should be considered before formulating a plan to reduce physical restraint use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, two selected mapping (SLM)-based schemes are proposed to reduce the peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) in the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. One is SLM-based partial data circulation (PDC) scheme. The other is SLM-based PDC with hamming coded side information (SI) scheme. In the PDC scheme, the partial samples within the data sequence are scrambled by circularly shifting to obtain a set of candidate sequences and, then, each sequence is combined with the corresponding SI to form the candidate OFDM symbol. With the selection of the candidate OFDM symbols with the lowest PAPR, the PAPR of the transmitted signal could be greatly reduced. In the other scheme, hamming code is used to protect the SI to improve the system performance. Simulation results show that the proposed method could reduce PAPR and it has a better bandwidth efficiency and less modules of inverse fast Fourier transform than that with the SLM-based dummy sequence insertion scheme. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]