Feasibility of an Intervention Delivered via Mobile Phone and Internet to Improve the Continuity of Care in Schizophrenia: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study

Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness associated with a heavy symptom burden and high relapse rates. Digital interventions are increasingly suggested as means to facilitate continuity of care, relapse prevention, and long-term disease management for schizophrenia spectrum disorders. In order to investigate the feasibility of a mobile and internet-based aftercare program, a 2-arm randomized controlled pilot study was conducted. The program could be used by patients for six months after inpatient treatment and included psychoeducation, an individual crisis plan, optional counseling via internet chat or phone and a supportive monitoring module. Due to the slow pace of enrollment, recruitment was stopped before the planned sample size was achieved. Reasons for the high exclusion rate during recruitment were analyzed as well as attitudes, satisfaction, and utilization of the program by study participants. The data of 25 randomized patients suggest overall positive attitudes towards the program, high user satisfaction and good adherence to the monitoring module. Overall, the results indicate that the digital program might be suitable to provide support following discharge from intensive care. In addition, the study provides insights into specific barriers to recruitment which may inform future research in the field of digital interventions for severe mental illness.

Monitoring the Short-term Variations in the Stability of the Nigerian GNSS CORS Diurnal Coordinates

Positioning, based on GNSS reference network technology, is becoming a routine operation within and outside the spatial industry. The expanding user base and diverse range of applications employing this technology can impose significant expectations on the providers of reference network services. In positioning and navigation, the requirement for high accurate coordinate estimates cannot be over-emphasized. This is ensured by the provision of accurate and reliable corrections from the zero-order GNSS reference stations. It is therefore expedient to study the diurnal coordinates of such stations to guarantee reliable information for positioning and navigation applications. In this study, observation data from the Nigerian permanent GNSS continuously operating reference stations located at different states around Nigeria was processed. The hourly and diurnal (daily) coordinate solutions obtained were analysed for the purpose of monitoring the short-term stability of the network coordinates using a two-year (2012-2013) test data. The daily precise point positioning results were processed, analysed, and presented as coordinate time series using RTKPLOT. Python programming language was used to write custom modules to visualize the time series graphs at 30 seconds epochs in order to determine points and epochs where and when the condition for stability defaulted. The stations; FPNO, GEMB, and MDGR were found to be most stable in the Easting component; GEMB and MDGR were the most stable in the Northing component while in the Up component the station GEMB was the most stable. The outcome of the study will assist in detecting stations that are non-operational, performing diurnal PPP processing to detect stations that are unstable, and reporting reference stations that experience sudden coordinate changes. The developed monitoring module can be implemented by the reference stations operators as an automated program for setting up an intelligent alert system to trigger a warning whenever there is unexpected coordinate breach.

Mathematical model of remote monitoring for grounding devices on overhead power line poles by measuring grounding device resistance

We report that we have built a mathematical model of a remote monitoring module for the purpose of control grounding devices located on overhead power line poles. The invention is based on measuring grounding device resistance. Resistance measurements conducted by the said monitoring module go directly to a power company’s control room. All measurements are being conducted and transferred to a control room with a specific frequency.

Measuring Student Involvement When Taking Tests in E-learning Courses

The ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has significantly affected the education process of young people in primary, secondary, and tertiary education, as well as those who improve their competences through various courses and trainings. The practically incessant lockdown in education has resulted in a situation in which distance learning, which most often plays a supplementary role, now constitutes the basic form of education. This situation has forced the selection and adaptation of the available e-learning tools to the types of classes and levels of education. Despite great progress in the development of e-learning technologies, constant stimulation and maintenance of students’ interest in the content presented and monitoring their activity still pose a problem, which also concerns the education of computer science students in issues related to computer graphics. Currently, the preferred model of distance learning is based on various technologies and IT tools that enable the implementation of synchronous and asynchronous work. Prompt acquisition of data on students’ activity allows trainers to adjust the form and content of the presented material to their expectations. It also makes it possible to identify issues that pose great difficulties to students. This paper discusses modern solutions and trends in designing e-learning courses based on the new interactive e-learning platform Quizer. The aim of the research is to determine the course effectiveness using the user activity-monitoring module designed and implemented for the Quizer e-learning platform. The correctness of the answers correlates with the number of attempts to answer it (−0.65). The time devoted to a given question was usually high for questions with low correctness of answers.

Mathematical model of a remote monitoring module by wire temperature of an overhead power line

In continuation of the previously published research results (Energy Safety and Energy Economy, iss. 2, 2021), we have developed wire temperature-based mathematical models for overhead power line monitoring. Mathematical models simulate allowable amperage load considering the temperature and an allowable wire sag considering the temperature and amperage. The proposed mathematical models became a base for overhead power line remote control tools being currently tested at power utility companies.