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The underlying data and additional materials in connection with this publication are available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4609834 The code used for data analysis is available at: https://github.com/ZHAW-Services-Research-Data/SWITCH-Innovation-Lab-Repositories-Data-Quality, This report is the result of the SWITCH Innovation Lab “Repositories & Data Quality”, a project that ran from October 2020 until February 2021 as a collaboration between SWITCH and ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences. Its aim was to complement previous studies on research data management issues (conducted in part as earlier SWITCH Innovation Labs) and to identify relevant data sources for researchers in the social sciences and humanities (SSH) in Switzerland. More particularly, the project focused on the reuse of existing data sets by SSH researchers and the criteria they applied when choosing a suitable data source for their work and research. Some of the steps in this task consisted of finding the locations where valuable data is shared, published and accessed as well as conducting a more specific investigation into data availability, modes of accessibility and aspects related to assessing data quality. For this purpose, the project team designed and carried out an online survey targeted specifically at active SSH researchers in Switzerland. To disseminate the survey questionnaire towards this target audience, mailing lists of several research organizations in these fields were utilized. The survey ran for about 8 weeks until early February 2021 and received responses from 260 participants. Some of the main findings include a generally high number of researchers making use of existing data for their own work. Central data providers such as FORSbase, FSO and the GESIS data archive are the most frequently named sources. Trust in these data sources and sufficient additional materials like documentation and methodologies are key criteria for selecting data for reuse. Some data sources could provide desired data sets but are hardly accessible and reusable for researchers (if at all). This mainly includes administrative data and records of (Swiss) public authorities and offices, as well as historic assets from archives, libraries and museums. Furthermore, qualita

We present the setup of an observational study that aims to examine the application of wearables in ambulatory palliative care to monitor the patients’ health status – especially during the transition phase from hospital to home since this phase is critical and often patients are re-hospitalised. Following an user-centred design approach, we performed interviews with patients recruited at the Clinic of Radiation Oncology of the University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland. The patient group was perceived as vulnerable and varied largely in physiological burden and mental aspects. Special needs concern primarily obtrusiveness of the system and sensitivity in the work with this patient group. With the deployment of the system, we gathered first experiences: the first patient was tracked over 12 weeks resulting in 84 tracked days, 181 digital questionnaire answers, 40908 collected GPS points, 861 hours of heart rate measurements and positive feedback of the patient.

Cancer related fatigue is a chronic disease that may persist up to 10 years after successful cancer treatment and is one of the most prevalent problems in cancer survivors. Cancer related fatigue is a complex symptom that is not yet explained completely and there are only a few remedies with proven evidence. Patients do not necessarily follow a treatment plan with regular follow ups. As a consequence, physicians lack of knowledge how their patients are coping with their fatigue in daily life. To overcome this knowledge gap, we developed a smartphone-based monitoring system. A developed Android app provides activity data from smartphone sensors and applies experience based sampling to collect the patients’ subjective perceptions of their fatigue and interference of fatigue with the patients’ daily life. To evaluate the monitoring system in an observational study, we recruited seven patients suffering from cancer related fatigue and tracked them over two to three weeks. We collected around 2700 h of activity data and over 500 completed questionnaires. We analysed the average completion of answering the digital questionnaires and the wearing time of the smartphone. A within-subject analysis of the perceived fatigue, its interference and measured physical activity yielded in patient specific fatigue and activity patterns depending on the time of day. Physical activity level correlated stronger with the interference of fatigue than with the fatigue itself and the variance of the acceleration correlates stronger than absolute activity values. With this work, we provide a monitoring system used for cancer related fatigue. We show with an observational study that the monitoring system is accepted by our study cohort and that it provides additional details about the perceived fatigue and physical activity to a weekly paper-based questionnaire.

Increasing enforcement of safety standards – such as the new ISO 26262 – requires developers of embedded systems to supplement their development processes with safety-related activities, such as hazard analysis or creation of technical safety concepts. Since these activities are often only loosely coupled with core development tasks, their addition reduces efficiency and causes a lack of consistency and traceability. This paper presents an approach to the integration of architectural modelling, modelling of failure nets, allocation safety mechanisms to architectural elements, and finally traceability to requirements and test coverage. The presented methodology gives clear instructions for the comprehensive usage of existing techniques. The process is demonstrated using a real-world example from the automotive sector. In two industrial projects a significant increase of productivity could be achieved, solely using standard tools such as DOORS and IQ-RM. Nevertheless, the paper concludes with some suggestions for further enhancement of the method through formalization, e.g. using SysML, and tool integration.

Mobile health is a promising strategy aiming to anticipate and prevent the deterioration of health status in palliative cancer patients. A prerequisite for successful implementation of this technology into clinical routine is a high level of usability and acceptance of devices.

Objectives: To (1) evaluate existing eHealth/mHealth interventions developed to help manage cancer‐related fatigue (CRF); and (2) summarize the best available evidence on their effectiveness. Methods: A comprehensive literature search of PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library up to November 2016 was conducted. Study outcomes were extracted, tabulated, and summarized. Random effects meta‐analyses were conducted for the primary outcome (fatigue), and the secondary outcomes quality of life and depression, yielding pooled effect sizes (r), and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: For eHealth interventions, our search of published papers identified 9 completed studies and 6 protocols for funded projects underway. No studies were identified for mHealth interventions that met our inclusion criteria. A meta‐analysis of the 9 completed eHealth studies revealed a statistically significant beneficial effect of eHealth interventions on CRF (r = .27, 95% CI [.1109 – .4218], P < 0.01). Therapist‐guided eHealth interventions were more efficacious then self‐guided interventions (r = .58, 95% CI: [.3136 – .5985, P < 0.001). Small to moderate therapeutic effects were also observed for HRQoL (r = .17, 95% CI [.0384 – .3085], P < 0.05) and depression (r = .24, 95% CI [.1431 – .3334], P < 0.001). Conclusions: eHealth interventions appear to be effective for managing fatigue in cancer survivors with CRF. Continuous development of eHealth interventions for the treatment of CRF in cancer survivors and their testing in long‐term, large‐scale efficacy outcome studies is encouraged. The degree to which mHealth interventions can change CRF in cancer survivors need to be assessed systematically and empirically.

Background: Unplanned readmissions or emergency visits (EVs) after discharge from hospital are frequent in patients in palliative care. Strategies to anticipate and prevent rapid deterioration of health are needed. Objective: Assessing feasibility and predictive ability of remote monitoring using wearables. Design: Prospective observational feasibility study in a single center. Setting/Subjects: Thirty cancer patients with an estimated life expectancy of >8 weeks to <12 months, aged >18 years and being discharged from inpatient to outpatient care were included. Measurements: Patients were provided with a smartphone, including the preinstalled "Activity Monitoring" application and a sensor-equipped bracelet. Follow-up was 12 weeks. Both devices recorded several features (e.g., vital signs). Visual analog scale (VAS) for pain and distress was reported once daily and European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) once weekly. Statistical methods were applied to explore relationship between sensor data, self-reports, and EVs or readmissions or death. Results: Between February 2017 and May 2018, 30 patients were included. Twenty-five of 30 participants (83%) completed 12 weeks of follow-up. On average, bracelet was worn on 53% and smartphone on 85% of study days. Completion rate of daily digital questionnaires for subjective ratings was 73%. Eight unplanned hospital readmissions occurred. Ratings of pain, distress, and QLQ-C30 scores were not associated with readmission, whereas resting heart rate, resting heart rate variability, as well as speed of steps differed significantly in patients with and without readmission. Conclusions: Monitoring of palliative cancer patients using wearables is feasible. First results indicate that mobile health features might be promising biomarkers to predict unplanned readmissions.

Palliative care patients are a particularly vulnerable population and one of the critical phases in patients' trajectories is discharge from specialized in-patient palliative care into outpatient care, where availability of a palliative care infrastructure is highly variable. A relevant number of potentially avoidable readmissions and emergency visits of palliative patients is observed due to rapid exacerbation of symptoms indicating the need for a closer patient monitoring. In the last years, different mHealth technology applications have been evaluated in many different patient groups.

Patients in palliative care suffer from a life-threatening disease. Holistic treatment includes control of symptoms (e. g., pain, nausea, sleeplessness) as well as psychosocial and spiritual help which is also extended to the relatives of a patient. For advanced cancer patients in palliative care, a crucial phase is the transition from palliative care in the hospital to the home setting, where care around the clock is not guaranteed any more, leads to an increased number of unplanned hospital re-admissions and emergency visits. Physicians aim to fill this care gap by monitoring physical and social activities as well as vital signs. Daily monitoring data, provided to caregivers, could enable caregivers to timely intervene when symptoms of a patient deteriorate. Besides patients in palliative care, also cancer survivors suffering from cancer-related fatigue could benefit from activity monitoring. Up to now, the remedies and effective treatments for cancer-related fatigue are limited. Research still has to unveil the underlying mechanisms that lead to a state of chronic exhaustedness. Measures that help healthy people like regenerative sleep show no or little effect in fatigued patients. Besides psycho-stimulants that come with the risk of addiction, cognitive behavioural therapy and moderate physical exercise have been shown to be effective. However, research still has to investigate timing, frequency and intensity of physical activity and researchers need a better understanding how the fatigue evolves during the day and in long-term. This thesis investigates the possibilities and limitations of activity monitoring using wearable devices such as smartphones and an armworn devices that is capable of measuring vital signs such as heart rate. Three studies involving cancer patients are conducted: - An interview study including 12 cancer patients enabled a patient-centric design for an Android activity monitoring app for smartphones. - Only using the smartphone as monitor