Continued Uncertainty Research Articles

COVID-19-related psychological distress, fear, and reassurance-seeking behavior in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT Background: The COVID-19 pandemic presented an unprecedented and dystopian situation for the entire population and had imminent mental health corollaries specific to different sociodemographic variables. Distress and fear related to COVID-19 and following reassurance-seeking behavior were prominent during the pandemic. However, even after the end of the acute phase, due to continued uncertainty about protection from COVID-19, psychological concerns surrounding COVID-19 persisted. Aim: To evaluate coronavirus-related psychological distress, fear, reassurance seeking, and their correlation with personality factors. Materials and Methods: A total of 727 individuals were taken from the community from May 2022 to October 2022 and were requested to fill out a Google Form online comprising basic sociodemographic details and the following scales: COVID-19-related psychological distress in healthy public (CORPD), Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S), Coronavirus Reassurance-Seeking Behavior Scale, and Big Five Personality Inventory. The information was then charted, tabulated, and statistically analyzed. Results: The levels of COVID-19-related psychological distress and fear were comparable to the levels present during a pandemic. Psychological distress, fear, and reassurance-seeking were positively correlated with each other. Females were vulnerable to fear. Younger age was associated with reassurance seeking. Extraversion personality traits positively predicted fear about COVID-19, while conscientiousness and openness negatively predicted fear. Agreeableness positively predicted reassurance-seeking behavior. Conclusion: Even after the declaration of the end of the COVID-19 pandemic and the return to the regular daily routine, people have COVID-19-related distress and fear in their minds. This indicates the need for continuation of mental health programs addressing these psychological issues related to COVID-19.

Determinants and impacts of supply chain responsiveness: an empirical research

PurposeThe aim of this study is to identify the factors affecting supply chain responsiveness. Additionally, it investigates the relationships between supply chain responsiveness, customer satisfaction and competitive power.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative method was adopted. Data were collected from 290 companies operating in Turkey and tested with structural equation modeling.FindingsThe results show that supply chain responsiveness is related to continuous process improvement, supplier integration and environmental uncertainty but not to customer integration. The findings also present relationships between supply chain responsiveness, customer satisfaction and competitive power.Practical implicationsThe findings indicate that decision-makers should invest in continuous process improvement and supplier integration. They also need to understand that their supply chain responsiveness depends on the environmental dynamism of their sectors, and they must direct their efforts accordingly. Finally, decision-makers wishing high customer satisfaction and competitive power must value supply chain responsiveness and take necessary actions to achieve it.Originality/valueA literature review for this study indicated very limited empirical evidence of the relationship between continuous process improvement, supplier integration, customer integration, environmental uncertainty and supply chain responsiveness. Similarly, there was a quest for more research on the relationships between supply chain responsiveness, customer satisfaction and competitive power. This work will enhance the literature by adding knowledge in these areas.

Schrems III avagy mi lesz veled transzatlanti adattovábbítás? - Gondolatkísérlet az EU-USA Adatvédelmi Keretrendszer Határozat érvényességéről

The United States of America and Europe are each other's most important cooperative partners. This naturally includes the economic relationship based on the transfer of personal data. Over the past nearly decade, this transatlantic data transfer has operated amid continuous legal uncertainties due to the repeated invalidation of the European Commission's adequacy decisions and issues related to the applicability of standard contractual clauses. The problem appears to be currently resolved thanks to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework Decision. However, this Commission decision has already been challenged, and a new procedure is expected to begin this year. The purpose of this study is to conduct a thought experiment to examine the validity of the mentioned decision, which could serve as guidance for future legal practice and provide forecasts for economic actors about expected developments. The paper's conclusion is that due to the unchanged violation of fundamental rights, the EU-US Data Privacy Framework Decision is likely invalid.

Developing a Hybrid Approach with Whale Optimization and Deep Convolutional Neural Networks for Enhancing Security in Smart Home Environments’ Sustainability Through IoT Devices

Even while living circumstances and construction techniques have generally improved, occupants of these spaces frequently feel unsatisfied with the sense of security they provide, which leads to looking for and eventually enacting ever-more-effective safety precautions. The continuous uncertainty that contemporary individuals experience, particularly with regard to their protection in places like cities, prompted the field of computing to design smart devices that attempt to reduce threats and ultimately strengthen people’s sense of protection. Intelligent apps were developed to provide protection and make a residence a smart and safe home. The proliferation of technology for smart homes necessitates the implementation of rigorous safety precautions to protect users’ personal information and avoid illegal access. The importance of establishing cyber security has been recognized by academic and business institutions all around the globe. Providing reliable computation for the Internet of Things (IoT) is also crucial. A new method for enhancing safety in smart home environments’ sustainability using IoT devices is presented in this paper, combining the Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA) with Deep Convolutional Neural Networks (DCNNs). WOA-DCNN hybridization seeks to enhance safety measures by efficiently identifying and averting possible attacks in real time. We show how effective the proposed approach is in defending smart home systems from a range of safety risks via in-depth testing and analysis. By providing a potential path for protecting smart home surroundings in a world that is growing more linked, this research advances the state of the art in IoT security.

Why do healthcare workers refuse tuberculosis preventive treatment (TPT)? a qualitative study from Puducherry, South India

BackgroundThe sustainable development goal (SDG) 3.3.2 prompted India to devise the National Strategic Plan 2017–2025, targeting tuberculosis (TB) eradication by 2030. The prevention pillar of this plan emphasises on Tuberculosis...

From Chrysalis to Taking Flight, the Metamorphosis of the ACGME During Dr Thomas Nasca's Tenure as CEO.

Thomas J. Nasca, MD, MACP, served as the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) for 17 years, with his tenure ending December 2024. During this time he led and supported significant changes in accreditation and medical education. This article will examine the changes during this period through the lens of key themes, including the redesign of the graduate medical education (GME) accreditation model and new and expanded roles that the ACGME assumed during 3 phases between 2007 and 2024: (1) the development years leading to the Next Accreditation System (NAS), (2) implementation of the NAS, and (3) the COVID-19 pandemic. Launched in 2012, the NAS redesigned accreditation as a balanced combination of assurance- and improvement-focused policies and activities. The NAS served as the foundation for harmonizing GME training through the creation of the single accreditation system. The ACGME also took on new roles within the professional self-regulatory system by tackling difficult issues such as wellness and physician suicide, as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion in medical education. In addition, the ACGME substantially expanded its role as facilitator and educator via the introduction of multiple resources to support GME. However, the medical education landscape remains complex and faces continued uncertainty, especially as it emerges from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The next ACGME President and CEO faces critical issues in GME.

PROFESSIONAL RESILIENCE OF EDUCATORS IN UKRAINIAN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS DURING THE WAR: PATHWAYS FOR SUPPORT AND DEVELOPMENT

This article explores the profound impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war on Ukraine’s higher education system, with a particular focus on educators and their ability to maintain effectiveness in an environment marked by continuous stress and uncertainty. The war has created unprecedented challenges for educators, not only disrupting the traditional educational process but also affecting their psycho-emotional state. Educators are now required to navigate a complex and rapidly changing landscape where the physical and psychological effects of war are ever-present, making resilience a critical factor for their professional survival and success. The article delves into the psycho-emotional well-being of educators, examining the stresses they face in wartime, including the trauma associated with the conflict, the uncertainty of the future, and the pressure to maintain academic standards under duress. A significant portion of the article is dedicated to the analysis of how educators can build professional resilience through targeted professional development programs. These programs are designed to support educators by enhancing their teaching skills, maintaining their psycho-emotional equilibrium, and helping them to adapt the educational process to the extreme conditions of war. In particular, the article presents an original professional development program titled «Resilient Teaching During the War: Course Design, Time Management, and Techniques to Improve Psychological Well-being». This program was developed specifically for educators in Ukraine’s higher education institutions and was piloted from April to June 2024. The program focuses on equipping educators with practical tools for managing stress, adjusting their teaching methods to wartime realities, and maintaining a sense of stability in the classroom despite the external chaos caused by the war.The key outcomes of this program reveal that participation in the training sessions significantly improved educators’ capacity to adapt the educational process to the rapidly evolving conditions of war. Educators who underwent the training demonstrated an increased ability to handle stress, manage their time effectively, and apply new, innovative teaching strategies that are better suited to the challenges posed by the war. Moreover, the training contributed to an overall improvement in the psycho-emotional well-being of participants, which in turn positively influenced their professional performance and their interactions with students. This underscores the importance of providing educators with psycho-emotional support and resources to cope with the extreme pressures of teaching during a military conflict.In conclusion, the research emphasizes that professional development programs tailored to the needs of educators in war-torn regions are essential for fostering both professional and personal resilience. Such programs should prioritize not only the development of teaching skills but also offer robust support systems for managing stress and trauma. Furthermore, they should provide educators with innovative pedagogical methods that are flexible enough to be adapted to the changing demands of teaching in a conflict zone. The article argues that investing in the resilience and well-being of educators is not only crucial for maintaining the quality of education during the war but also for ensuring the long-term recovery and stability of Ukraine’s higher education system in the post-war period.

Briefing: How long-term monitoring of SuDS will inform next-generation guidance and modelling tools

Sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) are becoming more commonplace in urban environments due to the additional benefits they can provide alongside their core stormwater management function. In Mansfield, UK, Severn Trent Water is investing £76 million in retrofitting hundreds of SuDS to provide flood risk reduction to 90 000 people while simultaneously creating 5 ha of biodiversity-rich habitat. However, there is continued uncertainty about the long-term performance of these nature-based assets in comparison to traditional grey infrastructure. Through a new industrial–academic partnership, a long-term evaluation of SuDS performance across Mansfield will be used to inform the next generation of design guidance and modelling tools.

Key Uncertainties and Modeling Needs for Managing Living Marine Resources in the Future Arctic Ocean

AbstractEmerging fishing activity due to melting ice and poleward species distribution shifts in the rapidly‐warming Arctic Ocean challenges transboundary management and requires proactive governance. A 2021 moratorium on commercial fishing in the Arctic high seas provides a 16‐year runway for improved scientific understanding. Given substantial knowledge gaps, characterizing areas of highest uncertainty is a key first step. Marine ecosystem model ensembles that project future fish distributions could inform management of future Arctic fisheries, but Arctic‐specific variation has not yet been examined for global ensembles. We use the Fisheries and Marine Ecosystem Intercomparison Project ensemble driven by two Earth System Models (ESMs) under two Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP1‐2.6 and SSP5‐8.5) to illustrate the current state of and uncertainty among biomass projections for the Arctic Ocean over the duration of the moratorium. The models generally project biomass increases in more northern Arctic ecosystems and decreases in southern ecosystems, but wide intra‐model variation exceeds projection means in most cases. The two ESMs show opposite trends for the main environmental drivers. Therefore, these projections are currently insufficient to inform policy actions. Investment in sustained monitoring and improving modeling capacity, especially for sea ice dynamics, is urgently needed. Concurrently, it will be necessary to develop frameworks for making precautionary decisions under continued uncertainty. We conclude that researchers should be transparent about uncertainty, presenting these model projections not as a source of scientific “answers,” but as bounding for plausible, policy‐relevant questions to assess trade‐offs and mitigate risks.

Evaluating the responsiveness of Caribbean stock markets – The case of COVID-19

The Caribbean stock markets have been largely ignored by scholars, partly due to the conventional view of a weak and inefficient system, and low integration to the world financial system. This paper examines the major announcements related to COVID-19 as exogenous shocks and their impacts on stock market returns in the two most developed stock markets in the Caribbean region. Using the standard event methodology and a dynamic difference in differences model, we confirm a significant decline in stock returns in response to negative announcements of COVID-19-related news. Other positive news such as the announcements of re-opening of the economy and vaccine had a positive impact on stock returns. The Jamaica stock markets are likely to be weakly efficient and exhibit low responsiveness to major COVID-19-related events and news. Most sectors in the Caribbean economy experienced significant losses to stock returns resulting from these shocks. The banking, conglomerates, and property sectors continued to be subdued in the face of continued uncertainty and unpredictability of the overall impact of COVID-19. The energy and communication sectors seemed to be either the most resilient or most asymmetrically informed sectors as they are found not to be affected by COVID-19-related announcements. The manufacturing, property, and non-banking sectors are found to recover quickly from the shocks. Our analysis provides further insight in terms of portfolio investment strategies in the Caribbean region.

'Acceleration' of the food delivery marketplace: Perspectives of local authority professionals in the North-East of England on temporary COVID regulations.

In January 2021, we assessed the implications of temporary regulations in the United Kingdom allowing pubs and restaurants to operate on a takeaway basis without instigating a change of use. Local authorities (LAs) across the North-East of England were unaware of any data regarding the take-up of these regulations, partially due to ongoing capacity issues; participants also raised health concerns around takeaway use increasing significantly. One year on, we repeated the study aiming to understand the impact of these regulations on the policy and practice of key professional groups. Specifically, we wanted to understand if LAs were still struggling with staff capacity to address the regulations, whether professionals still had public health trepidations, and if any unexpected changes had occurred across the local food environment because of the pandemic. We conversed with 16 public health professionals, planners and environmental health officers across seven LAs throughout the North-East of England via focus groups and interviews. Data collated were analysed via an inductive and semantic, reflexive-thematic approach. Through analysis of the data, three themes were generated and are discussed throughout: popular online delivery services as a mediator to increased takeaway usage; potential long-term health implications and challenges; continued uncertainty regarding the temporary regulations. This paper highlights important changes to local food environments, which public health professionals should be aware of, so they are better equipped to tackle health inequalities across urban and sub-urban areas.

A candidate panel of eight urinary proteins shows potential of early diagnosis and risk assessment for diabetic kidney disease in type 1 diabetes

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) poses a significant health challenge for individuals with diabetes. At its initial stages, DKD often presents asymptomatically, and the standard for non-invasive diagnosis, the albumin-creatinine ratio (ACR), employs discrete categorizations (normal, microalbuminuria, macroalbuminuria) with limitations in sensitivity and specificity across diverse population cohorts. Single biomarker reliance further restricts the predictive value in clinical settings. Given the escalating prevalence of diabetes, our study uses proteomic technologies to identify novel urinary proteins as supplementary DKD biomarkers. A total of 158 T1D subjects provided urine samples, with 28 (15 DKD; 13 non-DKD) used in the discovery stage and 131 (45 DKD; 40 pDKD; 46 non-DKD) used in the confirmation. We identified eight proteins (A1BG, AMBP, AZGP1, BTD, RBP4, ORM2, GM2A, and PGCP), all of which demonstrated excellent area-under-the-curve (AUC) values (0.959 to 0.995) in distinguishing DKD from non-DKD. Furthermore, this multi-marker panel successfully segregated the most ambiguous group (microalbuminuria) into three distinct clusters, with 80% of subjects aligning either as DKD or non-DKD. The remaining 20% exhibited continued uncertainty. Overall, the use of these candidate urinary proteins allowed for the better classification of DKD and offered potential for significant improvements in the early identification of DKD in T1D populations.

PENGARUH PENGUMUMAN DIVIDEN TERHADAP ABNORMAL RETURN DAN TRADING VOLUME ACTIVITY PADA PASAR MODAL INDONESIA TAHUN 2020-2021

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a broad impact on all sectors in Indonesia. Many investors responded by selling their shares to minimize potential losses that could be caused by continued economic uncertainty. Market conditions that continue to experience significant decline have triggered a crisis in the capital market. In an effort to calm panic in the market, dividend announcements are considered an effective strategy because they have a positive signal that can provide confidence to investors and act as a counterweight to market volatility. Therefore, this research aims to determine the effect of dividend announcements on abnormal returns and trading volume activity in the Indonesian capital market in 2020-2021. This research uses the event study method which studies the capital market's reaction to an event whose information is published as an announcement. The research results show that there is an influence of dividend announcements on abnormal returns in the Indonesian capital market, especially in the energy and consumer cyclicals sectors and there is an influence of dividend announcements on trading volume activity in the Indonesian capital market, especially in the basic materials and technology sectors. "Pengumuman dividen ; Abnormal return ; Trading volume activity ; Covid-19"

Redox conditions of Datangpo-type manganese ores constrained by statistical analysis of pyrite framboids and iron isotopes

Datangpo-type manganese ores which originated in the Cryogenian Datangpo Formation, are overlaid and underlaid by Nantuo diamicite and Tiesi'ao silistones, respectively. A thorough understanding of the manganese mineralization process is currently limited by the continued uncertainty regarding the metallogenic redox condition of the Mn-bearing rock series. This study employed statistical analysis of pyrite framboid sizes and iron isotope (δ56Fe) to determine the redox conditions and constrain the mineralization process of Datangpo-type manganese ores in South China, considering the Gaolou in Chongqing, Yanglizhang in Guizhou, and Minle and Zhenxing in Hunan as examples. The results showed that Tiesi'ao siltstones mainly developed relatively larger diameter (7.29–7.68 μm) framboidal pyrites, whereas mudstones in the Datangpo Formation developed relatively smaller diameter (2.63–5.56 μm) framboidal pyrites. Furthermore, manganese ores produce non-framboidal pyrites. In three profiles, framboidal pyrite concentrations were found to be negatively correlated with Mn contents. These characteristics suggested that siltstones, mudstones, and manganese ores were deposited in oxic-anoxic, dysoxic-euxinic, and oxic-dysoxic conditions, respectively. The δ56Fe of whole rocks (δ56FeWR) exhibited a range from −0.73 ‰ to +0.48 ‰ (average of −0.32 ‰), whereas pyrite (δ56FePy) varied from +0.03 ‰ to +0.83 ‰ (average of +0.36 ‰). Furthermore, δ56FePy in manganese ore (average = +0.27 ‰) were lighter than those in mudstone (average = +0.49 ‰). The results of this study demonstrated that oxidation deposition played a role in pyrite formation, with manganese ores exhibiting more oxic conditions compared to mudstones. The findings of this study suggested that idiomorphic pyrite formation was similar to that of manganese ore, in which Mn precipitated in the form of manganese (hydro)oxides under oxic seawater, and then converted into rhodochrosite under anoxic sulfidic diagenetic conditions, with the involvement of microbes. This research has the potential to enhance comprehension regarding redox conditions and the regulation of sedimentary manganese ores via redox transformation.

Elastic manufacturing: provisioning and deprovisioning production capacity to vary product volume and mix

PurposeAdvancements in responsive manufacturing have been supporting companies over the last few decades. However, manufacturers now operate in a context of continuous uncertainty. This research paper explores a mechanism where companies can “elastically” provision and deprovision their production capacity, to enable them in coping with repeated disruptions. Such a mechanism is facilitated by the imitability and substitutability of production resources.Design/methodology/approachAn inductive study was conducted using Gioia methodology for this theory generation research. Respondents from 20 UK manufacturing companies across multiple industrial sectors reflected on their experience during COVID-19. Resource-based view and resource dependence theory were employed to analyse the manufacturers' use of internal and external production resources.FindingsThe study identifies elastic responses at four operational levels: production-line, factory, company and supply chain. Elastic responses that imposed variable-costs were particularly well-suited for coping with unforeseen disruptions. Further, the imitability and substitutability of manufacturers helped others produce alternate goods during the crisis.Originality/valueWhile uniqueness of production capability helps manufacturers sustain competitive advantage against competitors during stable operations, imitability and substitutability are beneficial during a crisis. Successful manufacturing companies need to combine these two approaches to respond effectively to repeated disruptions in a context of ongoing uncertainties. The theoretical contribution is in characterising responsive manufacturing in terms of resource heterogeneity and resource homogeneity, with elastic resourcing as the underlying mechanism.

Active uncertainty reduction for safe and efficient interaction planning: A shielding-aware dual control approach

The ability to accurately predict others’ behavior is central to the safety and efficiency of robotic systems in interactive settings, such as human–robot interaction and multi-robot teaming tasks. Unfortunately, robots often lack access to key information on which these predictions may hinge, such as other agents’ goals, attention, and willingness to cooperate. Dual control theory addresses this challenge by treating unknown parameters of a predictive model as stochastic hidden states and inferring their values at runtime using information gathered during system operation. While able to optimally and automatically trade off exploration and exploitation, dual control is computationally intractable for general interactive motion planning, mainly due to the fundamental coupling between the robot’s trajectory plan and its prediction of other agents’ intent. In this paper, we present a novel algorithmic approach to enable active uncertainty reduction for interactive motion planning based on the implicit dual control paradigm. Our approach relies on sampling-based approximation of stochastic dynamic programming, leading to a model predictive control problem that can be readily solved by real-time gradient-based optimization methods. The resulting policy is shown to preserve the dual control effect for a broad class of predictive models with both continuous and categorical uncertainty. To ensure the safe operation of the interacting agents, we use a runtime safety filter (also referred to as a “shielding” scheme), which overrides the robot’s dual control policy with a safety fallback strategy when a safety-critical event is imminent. We then augment the dual control framework with an improved variant of the recently proposed shielding-aware robust planning scheme, which proactively balances the nominal planning performance with the risk of high-cost emergency maneuvers triggered by low-probability agent behaviors. We demonstrate the efficacy of our approach with both simulated driving studies and hardware experiments using 1/10 scale autonomous vehicles.

Real-time continuous perceived uncertainty annotation for spatial navigation studies in buildings

In order to study the complex psychological processes involved in human wayfinding in increasingly complex built environments, it is crucial to have continuous self-report measures. In this study, we developed two different methods for continuously measuring perceived uncertainty during wayfinding, one is real-time continuous annotation (RCUA) using a joystick device and the other is post-hoc continuous annotation (CUA) involving annotations while watching video footage of recent wayfinding activity. To evaluate the usability, reliability, and validity of both approaches, we conducted a study with 54 participants. We assessed the measures' reactivity during different sign-seeing events. We also evaluated the convergent validity of both measures by comparing their outcomes with a self-report questionnaire, and assessed their discriminative and predictive validity by comparing uncertain values between known groups and correlating those values with wayfinding performance. Our findings suggest that both approaches were valid at the task level, but RCUA was better at capturing fine-grained dynamics of human experience. These continuous uncertainty measures can provide valuable insights into the fleeting nature of human experience and help identify "problem spots" for wayfinding in complex buildings.

On the complexity of robust multi-stage problems with discrete recourse

We study the computational complexity of multi-stage robust optimization problems. Such problems are formulated with alternating min/max quantifiers and therefore naturally fall into a higher stage of the polynomial hierarchy. Despite this, almost no hardness results with respect to the polynomial hierarchy are known.In this work, we examine the hardness of robust two-stage adjustable and robust recoverable optimization with budgeted uncertainty sets. Our main technical contribution is the introduction of a technique tailored to prove Σ3p-hardness of such problems. We highlight a difference between continuous and discrete budgeted uncertainty: In the discrete case, indeed a wide range of problems becomes complete for the third stage of the polynomial hierarchy; in particular, this applies to the TSP, independent set, and vertex cover problems. However, in the continuous case this does not happen and problems remain in the first stage of the hierarchy. Finally, if we allow the uncertainty to not only affect the objective, but also multiple constraints, then this distinction disappears and even in the continuous case we encounter hardness for the third stage of the hierarchy. This shows that even robust problems which are already NP-complete can still exhibit a significant difference in computational complexity between column-wise and row-wise uncertainty.

Leading urban school teachers of Black and Brown students during social injustice and the pandemic

ABSTRACT This case study illustrates how leadership for learning and cultural competence could be used as theories of action during times of disruption to lead and transform urban teachers’ sense of self, sense of others, and motivation for change. The case study focuses on educators from a large urban charter school whose response to the pandemic and the social justice movements was using a year-long professional development to provide continuous support and foster a growth mindset among educators. Self-evaluation on the cultural proficiency scale showed that the principal and thirty teachers differed in their levels of proficiency. The principal and six teachers with middle and high levels of proficiency were then interviewed to probe their personal interpretations of the connections among their cultural competence, their awareness of structural inequities, and the ways this awareness might have impacted how they teach Black and Brown students in their classrooms. Regardless of where they were on the scale, Black and White educators benefited from self-reflections and group dialogue about how they value, model, and practice cultural proficiency with their Black and Brown students. These findings have implications for urban public charter school leadership during times of continued change and uncertainty.

Smartphone Apps for Containing the COVID-19 Pandemic in Germany: Qualitative Interview Study With Experts Based on Grounded Theory.

Smartphone apps, including those for digital contact tracing (DCT), played a crucial role in containing infections during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their primary function is to generate and disseminate information to disrupt transmissions based on various events, such as encounters, vaccinations, locations, or infections. Although the functionality of these apps has been extensively studied, there is still a lack of qualitative research addressing critical issues. We will demonstrate that the use of DCT presents a challenge due to the tension between continuous health monitoring and uncertainties related to transparency and user sovereignty. On one hand, DCT enables the monitoring of various risk factors, including data-based calculations of infection probabilities. On the other hand, continuous risk management is intertwined with several uncertainties, including the unclear storage of personal data, who has access to it, and how it will be used in the future. We focus on the German "Corona-Warn-App" and support our argument with empirical data from 19 expert interviews conducted between 2020 and 2021. The interviews were conducted using a semistructured questionnaire and analyzed according to the principles of grounded theory. Our data underscores 3 dimensions: transparency, data sovereignty, and the east-west divide. While transparency is considered an essential foundation for establishing trust in the use of DCT by providing a sense of security, data sovereignty is seen as a high value during the pandemic, protecting users from an undesired loss of control. The aspect of the east-west divide highlights the idea of incorporating sociocultural values and standards into technology, emphasizing that algorithms and data-driven elements, such as distance indicators, encounters, and isolations, are also influenced by sociocultural factors. The effective use of DCT for pandemic containment relies on achieving a balance between individual control and technological prevention. Maximizing the technological benefits of these tools is crucial. However, users must also be mindful of the information they share and maintain control over their shared data.