Patient characteristics associated with the acceptability of teleconsultation: a retrospective study of osteoporotic patients post-COVID-19

Background: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teleconsultations (TCs) have become common practice for many chronic conditions, including osteoporosis. While satisfaction with TCs among patients increases in times of emergency, we have little knowledge of whether the acceptability of TCs persists once in-person visits return to being a feasible and safe option. In this study, we assess the acceptability of TCs across five dimensions for osteoporosis care among patients who started or continued with TCs after the COVID-19 pandemic had waned. We then explore the patient characteristics associated with these perceptions. Methods: Between January and April 2022, 80 osteoporotic patients treated at the Humanitas Hospital in Milan, Italy, were recruited to answer an online questionnaire about the acceptability of TCs for their care. The acceptability of TCs was measured using a modified version of the Service User Technology Acceptability Questionnaire (SUTAQ), which identifies five domains of acceptability: perceived benefits, satisfaction, substitution, privacy and discomfort, and care personnel concerns. Multivariable ordinary least squares (OLS) linear regression analysis was performed to assess which patient characteristics in terms of demographics, socio-economic conditions, digital skills, social support, clinical characteristics and pattern of TC use were correlated with the five domains of acceptability measured through the SUTAQ. Results: The degree of acceptability of TCs was overall good across the 80 respondents and the five domains. Some heterogeneity in perceptions emerged with respect to TCs substituting for in-person visits, negatively impacting continuity of care and reducing the length of consultations. For the most part, acceptability was not affected by patient characteristics with a few exceptions related to treatment time and familiarity with the TC service modality (i.e., length of osteoporosis treatment and number of TCs experienced by the patient). Conclusions: TCs appear to be an acceptable option for osteoporosis care in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study suggests that other characteristics besides age, digital skills and social support, which are traditionally relevant to TC acceptability, should be taken into account in order to better target this care delivery modality

A participatory process to design an app to improve adherence to anti-osteoporotic therapies: A development and usability study

Objective: The aim of the study was to develop an app to improve patients’ adherence to therapy for osteoporosis and to test its usability. Methods: In Phase I, the app functions needed to improve medication adherence were identified through a focus group with six patients with osteoporosis and a joint interview with two bone specialists. The app prototype was then developed (Phase II) and refined after its feasibility testing (Phase III) for 13–25 days by eight patients. Finally, the app underwent usability testing (Phase IV) for 6 months by nine other patients. The mHealth App Usability Questionnaire (MAUQ) was used to collect the assessment of the app by the 17 patients. Results: The final version of the app provided information on osteoporosis, allowed patients to contact the bone specialist for an additional consultation, and generated a reminder for taking medications accompanied by feedback on adherence. The assessment of the app was positive but evaluations differed between the feasibility and usability testing, with the former displaying a significantly (p ≤.05) better assessment across all MAUQ items. Conclusions: In this study, we tested an app for improving adherence to medical therapies in patients with osteoporosis. The usability testing revealed a lower “patient-centered” performance of the app as compared to that observed during the feasibility phase. Future developments of the study include increasing the testing cohort and adding a technical support during the usability testing

Climate Change: An Educational Proposal Integrating the Physical and Social Sciences

The scientific community has been debating climate change for at least twenty years. The EU has recommended a set of innovative reforms to science teaching, incorporating environmental issues in the scientific curriculum, answering the need for making school a place of civic education. This paper focuses on the presentation of materials designed to foster both deep understanding of the basic concepts involved in climate change as well as critical thinking for addressing some cognitive and emotional barriers that have been proved to hinder individual behavioural reactions

Mixed-Integer Linear optimization algorithm for Volt/Var Control on a distribution grid with renewable penetration

Nowadays, the diffusion of renewable energy sources and electric vehicles are turning the traditional passive distribution networks into active grids, requiring Distribution Management System (DMS) to exploit Information and Communication Technology (ICT) improvements to get a smarter control through wider communication and local monitoring. In this paper, a Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) algorithm is developed to perform Volt/Var Optimization (VVO), providing the optimal setting for all the available controllable devices which minimizes power losses and violations of network constraints. Necessary linearization affects acceptably the accuracy of the computed outcomes and the resulting fast computational time makes it suitable for online application within a real DMS

The Challenge of Contemporary Society on Science Education: The Case of Global Warming

The big problems that contemporary society needs to address (e.g. climate change) challenge our traditional idea of education and require to revise the goals of science education research. Such problems are indeed so complex as to require a wide range of competencies to be engaged in producing and implementing solution strategies. Science education is forced to take into account the many dimensions that characterize contemporary science and to face the task of bringing together the potential of all the different perspectives (Tasquier & Nonni, 2011). An example of this kind of research, concerning environmental problems, will be briefly described and its first encouraging results illustrated

Optimal Sizing of a Storage System Coupled with Grid Connected Renewable Generation Respecting Day-ahead Dispatch Profile

The importance of compensating fluctuations of Renewable Energy Sources (RESs) is growing together with their increasing spread in electrical networks. This work proposes a model for the optimal sizing of a storage system coupled with a PhotoVoltaic (PV) power plant. The goal of the optimization is to find the best compromise between maximizing the revenue from selling all the RES energy production, needing larger batteries to satisfy network requirements, and their consequent increasing cost. The model of the storage system combined with the PV plant has been developed in GAMS (General Algebraic Modeling System) in order to determine the optimal control strategy in each condition and with all possible battery sizes. Several simulations have been performed on various daily scenarios in order to represent all possible conditions that can occur during a year

Domestic low-tech anaerobic digesters in Guiné-Bissau : a bench-scale preliminary study on locally available waste and wastewater

Solid organic waste (SOW) and sewage (SEW), in developing contexts as Guine\ub4-Bissau, can be converted into biogas in domestic low-tech anaerobic digesters (AD), avoiding their dispersion in the environment (cause of infective diseases) and simultaneously providing local sustainable/clean fuel to substitute firewood (cause of deforestation and respiratory diseases). Here, SOW and SEW, sampled from local markets/households of Bissau City, were processed in a bench-scale reactor, to define the potentials of low-tech mesophilic (30\u201337 C) AD in removing pathogen microbial population, responsible for infective diseases spreading through untreated SOW/SEW and in domestic fuel generation in substitution to firewood. Pathogens removal above 99.9 % were obtained for E. coli and Streptococci. Considering a target scenario (4-persons household unit), a low-tech AD of 2.35 m3 functional volume, co-digesting 32 L day-1 of SEW and 8 kg day-1 of SOW, would produce about 1:5 Sm3 biogasday1 and substitute nearly 11 kg day-1 of firewood for cooking needs, avoiding black carbon particles emissions and inhalation in households. Alternatively, ten biogas lamps could work for 3 h day-1 or a 1-kW electric power generator run for over 2 h day-1 , with important socio-economic benefits. Finally, firewood substitution and the use of digestate as soil conditioner can simultaneously contribute in limiting deforestation and desertification, particularly in transition sub-Saharan tropical areas, such as Guine\ub4-Bissau