Digital natives aren't concerned much about privacy, or are they?

Voice assistants have become embedded in people's private spaces and domestic lives where they gather enormous amounts of personal information which is why they evoke serious privacy concerns. The paper reports the findings from a mixed-method study with 65 digital natives, their attitudes to privacy and actual and intended behaviour in privacy-sensitive situations and contexts. It also presents their recommendations to governments or organisations with regard to protecting their data. The results show that the majority are concerned about privacy but are willing to disclose personal data if the benefits outweigh the risks. The prevailing attitude is one characterised by uncertainty about what happens with their data, powerlessness about controlling their use, mistrust in big tech companies and uneasiness about the lack of transparency. Few take steps to self-manage their privacy, but rely on the government to take measures at the political and regulatory level. The respondents, however, show scant awareness of existing or planned legislation such as the GDPR and the Digital Services Act, respectively. A few participants are anxious to defend the analogue world and limit digitalization in general which in their opinion only opens the gate to surveillance and misuse.

Development of an Early Warning System to Prevent Crises in the Palliative Home Care Setting of Patients and Their Informal Caregivers: Protocol for a Mixed Method Study.

BACKGROUND: Most people wish to die at home, but most people in Switzerland die in hospitals or nursing homes. Family caregivers often offer support so patients with palliative care needs can stay at home for as long as possible. However, crises and unplanned hospital admissions often occur in this setting because of family caregiver strain and symptom severity in patients. The so-called smart devices such as wearables or smartphones offer the opportunity to continuously monitor certain parameters and recording symptom deteriorations. By providing professionals with this information in a timely manner, crises in the home could be avoided. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this interdisciplinary study is to explore the symptom burden of people with palliative care needs who are cared for at home and to understand the development of crises in the home care setting. On the basis of the findings from this study, we will develop an early warning system to stabilize the home care situation and to prevent critical events from happening, thereby reducing avoidable hospitalizations. METHODS: A mixed method study is being conducted consisting of 4 main consecutive phases: (1) developing the monitoring system; (2) pretesting the system and adapting it to user needs; (3) conducting the study in the palliative home care setting with approximately 40 patients; and (4) distinguishing symptom patterns from the collected data specific to crisis emergence, followed by the development of an early warning system to prevent such crises. In study phase 3, each patient will receive an upper arm sensor and a symptom diary to assess symptom burden related to patients and family caregivers. A within-case analysis will be conducted for each patient's situation followed by a cross-case comparison to identify certain symptom patterns that may predict symptom deterioration (study phase 4). RESULTS: The collaboration with the local mobile palliative care team for participant recruitment and data collection has been established. Recruitment is forthcoming. CONCLUSIONS: We expect the findings of this study to provide holistic insight into symptom burden and the well-being of patients with palliative care needs and of their family caregivers. This information will be used to develop an early warning system to avoid the occurrence of potential crises, thereby improving palliative care provision at home. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID):  PRR1-10.2196/13933.

Climate change and One Health.

The journal The Lancet recently published a countdown on health and climate change. Attention was focused solely on humans. However, animals, including wildlife, livestock and pets, may also be impacted by climate change. Complementary to the high relevance of awareness rising for protecting humans against climate change, here we present a One Health approach, which aims at the simultaneous protection of humans, animals and the environment from climate change impacts (climate change adaptation). We postulate that integrated approaches save human and animal lives and reduce costs when compared to public and animal health sectors working separately. A One Health approach to climate change adaptation may significantly contribute to food security with emphasis on animal source foods, extensive livestock systems, particularly ruminant livestock, environmental sanitation, and steps towards regional and global integrated syndromic surveillance and response systems. The cost of outbreaks of emerging vector-borne zoonotic pathogens may be much lower if they are detected early in the vector or in livestock rather than later in humans. Therefore, integrated community-based surveillance of zoonoses is a promising avenue to reduce health effects of climate change.

The seasonal sea-ice zone in the glacial Southern Ocean as a carbon sink.

Reduced surface-deep ocean exchange and enhanced nutrient consumption by phytoplankton in the Southern Ocean have been linked to lower glacial atmospheric CO2. However, identification of the biological and physical conditions involved and the related processes remains incomplete. Here we specify Southern Ocean surface-subsurface contrasts using a new tool, the combined oxygen and silicon isotope measurement of diatom and radiolarian opal, in combination with numerical simulations. Our data do not indicate a permanent glacial halocline related to melt water from icebergs. Corroborated by numerical simulations, we find that glacial surface stratification was variable and linked to seasonal sea-ice changes. During glacial spring-summer, the mixed layer was relatively shallow, while deeper mixing occurred during fall-winter, allowing for surface-ocean refueling with nutrients from the deep reservoir, which was potentially richer in nutrients than today. This generated specific carbon and opal export regimes turning the glacial seasonal sea-ice zone into a carbon sink.