EU law and emotion data

This article sheds light on legal implications and challenges surrounding emotion data processing within the EU's legal framework. Despite the sensitive nature of emotion data, the GDPR does not categorize it as special data, resulting in a lack of comprehensive protection. The article also discusses the nuances of different approaches to affective computing and their relevance to the processing of special data under the GDPR. Moreover, it points to potential tensions with data protection principles, such as fairness and accuracy. Our article also highlights some of the consequences, including harm, that processing of emotion data may have for individuals concerned. Additionally, we discuss how the AI Act proposal intends to regulate affective computing. Finally, the article outlines the new obligations and transparency requirements introduced by the DSA for online platforms utilizing emotion data. Our article aims at raising awareness among the affective computing community about the applicable legal requirements when developing AC systems intended for the EU market, or when working with study participants located in the EU. We also stress the importance of protecting the fundamental rights of individuals even when the law struggles to keep up with technological developments that capture sensitive emotion data.Comment: 8 pages, 2023 11th International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction (ACII

Innovation letter: experimenting with competing techno-legal standards for robotics

Effective Protection of Fundamental Rights in a pluralist worl

Coleópteros hipogeos protegidos o que requieren medidas de conservación en Cataluña

Coleòpters hipogeus protegits o que requereixen mesures de conservació a Catalunya La fauna hipogea es caracteritza per una estreta adaptació a les condicions adverses del domini subterrani. Tal grau d’especialització, però, fa que esdevingui especialment vulnerable a l’alteració del seu hàbitat. En l’àmbit de Catalunya hi ha diferents normes legislatives per a la conservació d’invertebrats amenaçats. De fet, bona part de les espècies de coleòpters incloses en el Decret 328/1992, del Pla d’Espais d’Interès Natural, (PEIN) o en el futur Catàleg de la Fauna Amenaçada de Catalunya (CFAC) estan associades al domini subterrani. El present treball recopila la normativa aplicable i altres documents relatius a la protecció de la fauna de coleòpters hipogeus de Catalunya. S’hi aporten dades faunístiques i biogeogràfiques actualitzades, així com la informació disponible sobre l’estat de conservació de les espècies considerades, la majoria endemismes circumscrits a una àrea reduïda. Finalment, es comenten breument els resultats del seguiment d’algunes d’aquestes espècies portat a terme durant els últims anys pel Departament d’Artròpodes del Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona, en col·laboració amb l’Associació Catalana de Biospeleologia.Species of hypogean beetles that are protected or that require conservation measures  in Catalonia Hypogean species are characterized by their good  adaptation  to the adverse conditions of their subterranean habitats. Such specialization, however, makes them particularly vulnerable to alterations in their habitat. In the Autonomous Community of Catalonia, several legislative tools have been developed to  protect  threatened invertebrates and most  beetle species included in Decree 328/1992 protecting Areas of Natural Interest in Catalonia (PEIN) or considered in the future decree on the protection of Catalan invertebrates (CFAC) are linked to subterranean habitats. In the present revision we compile regulations and other documents relating to the protection of beetle hypogean fauna in Catalonia.  We provide updated faunistic and biogeographic data as well as information on the conservation status of the species, most of which are endemisms confined to a small area. Some of these species have been monitored in recent years by the Arthropod Department of the Natural Sciences Museum of Barcelona (in collaboration with the Catalan Biospeleology Association) and the results of these studies are briefly discussed.La fauna hipogea se caracteriza por una estrecha adaptación a las condiciones adversas del dominio subterráneo. Tal grado de especialización, sin embargo, hace que resulte especialmente vulnerable a las alteraciones de su hábitat. En el ámbito de Cataluña existen diferentes normas legislativas para la conservación de invertebrados amenazados. De hecho, gran parte de las especies de coleópteros contempladas en el Decreto 328/1992, del Plan de Espacios de Interés Natural (PEIN), o en el futuro Catálogo de la Fauna Amenazada de Cataluña (CFAC) están asociadas al dominio subterráneo. El presente trabajo recopila la normativa aplicable y otros documentos relativos a la protección de la fauna de coleópteros hipogeos de Cataluña. Se aportan datos faunísticos y biogeográficos actualizados, así como la información disponible sobre el estado de conservación de las especies consideradas, la mayoría endemismos circunscritos a un área reducida. Por último, se comentan brevemente los resultados del seguimiento de algunas de estas especies realizado durante los últimos años por el Departamento de Artrópodos del Museo de Ciencias Naturales de Barcelona, en colaboración con la Asociación Catalana de Biospeleología

The disconnect between the goals of trustworthy AI for law enforcement and the EU research agenda

In this paper, we investigate whether AI deployment for law enforcement will enable or impede the exercise of citizens' fundamental rights by juxtaposing the promises and policy goals with the crude reality of practices, funded projects, and practicalities of law enforcement. To this end, we map the projects funded by H2020 in AI for law enforcement and juxtapose them to the goals and aims of the EU in terms of Trustworthy AI and fundamental rights. We then bring forward existing research stressing that AI implementation in sensitive domains such as defense and law enforcement does not come without drawbacks, especially regarding discrimination, surveillance, data protection, and human dignity. We thoroughly analyze and assess human-centric and socially-driven lens risks and threats of using AI factors from an ethical, legal, and societal perspective (ELSA), including organizational and gender worries. Effective Protection of Fundamental Rights in a pluralist worl

Estudio multicéntrico de conciliación de la medicación en onco-hematología pediátrica

Conciliación de la medicación; Pediatría; OncologíaMedication reconciliation; Pediatrics; OncologyConciliació de la medicació; Pediatria; OncologiaObjective To determine the prevalence of reconciliation errors on admission to hospital in the pediatric onco-hematological population in order to check whether they are similarly susceptible to these reconciliation errors as adults and to describe the characteristics of the patients who suffer them. Methods A 12-month prospective, multicentre study of medication reconciliation on admission in the pediatric onco-hematological population to assess the incidence of reconciliation errors and to describe the characteristics of the patients. Results Medication reconciliation was performed in 157 patients. At least a medication discrepancy was detected in 96 patients. Of the discrepancies detected, 52.1% were related to patient's new clinical situation or by the physician, while 48.9% were determined to be reconciliation errors. The most frequent type of reconciliation error was the “omission of a medication”, followed by “a different dose, frequency or route of administration”. A total of 77 pharmaceutical interventions were carried out, 94.2% of which were accepted. In the group of patients with a number equal to or greater than 4 drugs in home treatment, there was a 2.1-fold increase in the probability of suffering a reconciliation error. Conclusions In order to avoid or reduce errors in one of the critical safety points such as transitions of care, there are measures such as medication reconciliation. In the case of complex chronic pediatric patients, such as onco-hematological patients, the number of drugs as part of home treatment is the variable that has been associated with the presence of medication reconciliation errors on admission to hospital, and the omission of some medication was the main cause of these errors.Objetivo Determinar la prevalencia de errores de conciliación al ingreso hospitalario en la población pediátrica onco-hematológica para comprobar si ésta presenta una susceptibilidad similar a la de los adultos para sufrir estos errores de conciliación y describir las características de los pacientes que los sufren. Método Estudio prospectivo y multicéntrico, de 12 meses de duración, de conciliación de medicación al ingreso en población pediátrica onco-hematológica para evaluar la incidencia de errores de conciliación y describir las características de los pacientes en los que se producen. Resultados Se concilió la medicación de 157 pacientes. En 96 pacientes se detectó al menos 1 discrepancia de la medicación. De las discrepancias detectadas el 52,1% fueron justificadas por la nueva situación clínica del paciente o por el médico responsable mientras que el 48,9% se consideraron errores de conciliación. El tipo de error de conciliación más frecuente fue la «omisión de algún medicamento», seguido por «una dosis, frecuencia o vía de administración diferente». Se efectuaron un total de 77 intervenciones farmacéuticas, de las que se aceptaron el 94,2%. En el grupo de pacientes con un número igual o mayor a 4 fármacos en tratamiento domiciliario se observó un incremento de 2,1 veces la probabilidad de sufrir un error de conciliación. Conclusiones Para evitar o reducir los errores en uno de los puntos críticos de seguridad como son las transiciones asistenciales, existen medidas, como la conciliación de la medicación. En el caso de los pacientes pediátricos crónicos complejos, como los pacientes onco-hematológicos, el número de fármacos como parte del tratamiento domiciliario es la variable que se ha asociado a la presencia de errores de conciliación al ingreso hospitalario, siendo la omisión de algún medicamento la causa principal de estos errores

A Novel Role For Nanog As An Early Cancer Risk Marker In Patients With Laryngeal Precancerous Lesions

NANOG is a master regulator of embryonic stem cell pluripotency, found to be frequently aberrantly expressed in a variety of cancers, including laryngeal carcinomas. This study investigates for the first time the role of NANOG expression in early stages of laryngeal tumourigenesis and its potential utility as cancer risk marker. NANOG protein expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry using two large independent cohorts of patients with laryngeal precancerous lesions, and correlated with clinicopathological parameters and laryngeal cancer risk. NANOG expression was detected by immunohistochemistry in 49 (60%) of 82 laryngeal dysplasias, whereas expression was negligible in patient-matched normal epithelia. Strong NANOG expression was found in 22 (27%) lesions and was established as cut-off point, showing the most robust association with laryngeal cancer risk (P = 0.003) superior to the histological classification (P = 0.320) the current gold standard in the clinical practice. Similar trends were obtained using a multicenter validation cohort of 86 patients with laryngeal dysplasia. Our findings uncover a novel role for NANOG expression in laryngeal tumourigenesis, and its unprecedented application as biomarker for cancer risk assessment

Overtrusting robots: Setting a research agenda to mitigate overtrust in automation

There is increasing attention given to the concept of trustworthiness for artificial intelligence and robotics. However, trust is highly context-dependent, varies among cultures, and requires reflection on others’ trustworthiness, appraising whether there is enough evidence to conclude that these agents deserve to be trusted. Moreover, little research exists on what happens when too much trust is placed in robots and autonomous systems. Conceptual clarity and a shared framework for approaching overtrust are missing. In this contribution, we offer an overview of pressing topics in the context of overtrust and robots and autonomous systems. Our review mobilizes insights solicited from in-depth conversations from a multidisciplinary workshop on the subject of trust in human–robot interaction (HRI), held at a leading robotics conference in 2020. A broad range of participants brought in their expertise, allowing the formulation of a forward-looking research agenda on overtrust and automation biases in robotics and autonomous systems. Key points include the need for multidisciplinary understandings that are situated in an eco-system perspective, the consideration of adjacent concepts such as deception and anthropomorphization, a connection to ongoing legal discussions through the topic of liability, and a socially embedded understanding of overtrust in education and literacy matters. The article integrates diverse literature and provides a ground for common understanding for overtrust in the context of HRI.publishedVersio