What Are We Augmenting? A Multidisciplinary Analysis of AI-based Augmentation for the Future of Work.

While augmentation is commonly presented as a desirable path in AI development and implementation, we have not yet found a shared definition for this concept. As the verb “to augment” needs to be followed by a target, we raise the question: What is augmented with AI? Building on a literature review of the augmentation narratives in five different disciplines – i.e., labor economics, computer science, philosophy, management, and information systems – we identify eleven distinct augmentation perspectives taken by scholars of those fields, including the underlying theoretical concepts that indicate what is intended to be augmented. This paper contributes to theory by “going beyond augmentation as collaboration” and helping us to move “towards collaboration for augmentation”

IMEP Interlaboratory Comparisons – A Tool to Establish Confidence in Measurements

The International Measurement Evaluation Programme (IMEP) is owned by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre. IMEP organises interlaboratory comparison (ILC) in support of the policies of the European Union, covering a wide range of measurement tasks from food safety to environmental pollution. IMEP can be considered as a whole metrological process underlining the need for reliability and comparability of measurements. The article describes shortly the history and purpose of IMEP, and furthermore sums up its activities, links and impacts on the European measurement community

IMEP-30: Total Arsenic, Cadmium, Lead, and Mercury, as well as Methylmercury and Inorganic Arsenic in Seafood - Interlaboratory Comparison Report

This report presents the results of an ILC which focussed on the determination of total As, Cd, Pb , and Hg, as well as methylmercury and inorganic arsenic in seafood. The test material used in this exercise was the Certified Reference Material (CRM) DOLT-4, dogfish liver of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC). Each participant received one bottle containing approximately 20 g of test material. Fifty-seven laboratories from 29 countries registered to the exercise and all of them reported results. The assigned values and their associate uncertainties for total As, Cd, Pb, Hg and Methylmercury are the certified values taken from the DOLT-4 certificate. An attempt was made to establish an assigned value for inorganic As (iAs) using the results provided by a group of five laboratories expert in the field. Unfortunately, contrary to what was expected, the results obtained by the expert laboratories for iAs showed a large spread and no assigned value could be established.JRC.DG.D.6-Food Safety and Qualit

IMEP-31: Total Arsenic, Cadmium, Copper, Lead and Mercury, as well as Extractable Cadmium and Lead in Mineral Feed - Interlaboratory Comparison Report

The Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM) of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), a Directorate-General of the European Commission, operates the International Measurement Evaluation Programme® IMEP. It organises interlaboratory comparisons (ILC's) in support to EU policies. This report presents the results of an ILC which focussed on the determination of total As, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Hg, as well as extractable Cd and Pb in mineral feed according to Directive 2002/32/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on undesirable substances in animal feed. The test material used in this exercise was the Certified Reference Material (CRM) BCR-032 (Moroccan phosphate rock) from the IRMM. The material was relabelled and each participant received one bottle containing approximately 100 g of test material. Fifty-six laboratories from 26 countries registered to the exercise and 51 of them reported results. Total As, Cd, Cu and Hg were certified in BCR-032 in 1979. The material was re-analysed by two expert laboratories and As an Cd values could be confirmed. Copper could not be analysed in time by an expert laboratory, and thus it was decided to use the indicative value from the certificate as assigned value. The assigned values for total Hg and total Pb were determined at IRMM by a primary method. The same method was used to determine extractable Cd and Pb, whose mass fractions appeared to be identical to the respective total mass fractions and thus the same assigned values were used. The standard deviation for proficiency assessment was set at 11 % for total As, 10 % for total and extractable Cd, 9 % for total Cu, and at 15 % for total Hg based on the modified Horwitz equation and/or the outcome of previous ILCs organised by IMEP. For total and extractable Pb, was set at 25 %. The majority of the laboratories reported uncertainties with their results and were rated with z- and ζ-scores (zeta-scores) in accordance with ISO 13528. Performances appear to be good for total & extractable Cd and total & extractable Pb, the percentage of satisfying z-scores ranging between 85 % and 89 %. Share of satisfactory z-scores are significantly lower for total As (61 %), Cu (67 %) and in particular for Hg (47 %). No distinct reason could be given, but it seems altogether that the analytical methods were not always adjusted to the inorganic test material, reflected by some influence of applied technique and inappropriate choice of reference material.JRC.DG.D.6-Food Safety and Qualit

IMEP-112: Total and Inorganic Arsenic in Wheat, Vegetable Food and Algae. Report of the Twelfth Interlaboratory Comparison Organised by the European Reference Laboratory for Heavy Metals in Feed and Food.

The Institute for Reference Materials and Measurands (IRMM) of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), a Directorate-General of the European Commission, operates the European Union-Reference Laboratory for Heavy Metals in Feed and Food (EU-RL-HM). Two of its core tasks are to provide advice to the Directorate General for Health and Consumers (DG SANCO) on scientific matters and to organise interlaboratory comparisons (ILC) among appointed National Reference Laboratories (NRLs). This report presents the results of the twelfth ILC of the EU-RL-HM (former CRL-HM) which focused on the determination of total and inorganic As in wheat, vegetable food and algae. The test items used in this exercise are: wheat, spinach (SRM 1570a from NIST) and an algae candidate reference material. The test items were processed (in the case of wheat), bottled and labelled at IRMM and dispatched to the participants the second week of May 2011. Each participant received three bottles containing approximately 20 g of wheat, 15 g of spinach and 5 g of algae,respectively. Participation in this exercise was not limited to the NRLs but was open to laboratories from all around the world, to be able to judge the state-of-the-art of the determination of total and, more in particular, inorganic As in several food commodities. Seventy-four laboratories from 31 countries registered to the exercise, of which – 64 reported results in wheat, 49 in spinach and 51 in algae for total As, and – 43 reported results in wheat, and 40 in spinach in algae for inorganic arsenic. Thirty of the participants were NRLs of the EU-RL-HM network, out of which 13 reported values for inorganic As. The assigned values for IMEP-112 were provided by the certificates when available and otherwise by a group of seven laboratories expert in the field. The uncertainties of the respective assigned values (uref) were derived from the standard deviation of the means provided by the experts (uchar) and from the contribution for homogeneity (ubb) and stability (ust). Laboratory results were rated with z-and ζ-scores (zeta-scores) in accordance with ISO 13528. The standard deviations for proficiency assessment (also called target standard deviation) were fixed by the advisory board of this ILC on the basis of the outcome of previous ILCs organised by the EU-RL-HM and on the state-of-the-art in this field of analysis to: - 15 % for total and inorganic arsenic in wheat. - 22% for total arsenic and 25 % for inorganic arsenic in vegetable food, to account for the difficulty introduced by the relatively low concentration of both measurands in this test material. - 15 % for total arsenic and 22 % for inorganic arsenic in algae. Most of the participants performed satisfactorily for total arsenic and for inorganic arsenic in vegetable food (75 and 85 %); 60 % did for inorganic arsenic in wheat but only 20 % of the laboratories reported satisfactory results in the algae test material.JRC.D.6-Food Safety and Qualit

IMEP-34: Heavy Metals in Toys according to EN 71-3:1994

The Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM) of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), a Directorate-General of the European Commission, operates the International Measurement Evaluation Programme (IMEP). It organises interlaboratory comparisons (ILC's) in support to EU policies. This report presents the results of an ILC which focussed on the determination of soluble antimony (Sb), arsenic (As), barium (Ba), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), and selenium (Se) according to European Standard EN 71-3:1994. The principle of the procedure in EN 71-3:1994 [1] consists in the extraction of soluble elements from toy material under the conditions simulating the material remaining in contact with stomach acid for a period of time after swallowing. Fifty eight participants from twenty six countries registered to the exercise, of which 54 reported results for As, Sb, Ba, Se and Hg and 58 for Cr, Pb, and Cd, respectively. The test item used was a certified reference material (CRM 623, comminuted paint flakes from alkyd resin paint), certified in 1998, which is not included anymore in the CRM catalogue. The validity of the certified values was assessed using some expert laboratories in the field. In most of the cases the results reported by the certifiers were not in agreement with the CRM reference values. The mean of the means reported by the expert laboratories was used as assigned value for the different measurands. The results reported by the expert laboratories for mercury were very scattered (RSD = 37.6 %). No assigned value could be attributed for mercury and therefore no scores were provided to the participants for this measurand. The associated uncertainties of the assigned values were obtained following the ISO GUM. Furthermore, participants were invited to report their measurement uncertainties. This was done by all laboratories having submitted results in this exercise. Laboratory results were rated with z- and zeta (ζ-) scores in accordance with ISO 13528. The standard deviations for proficiency assessment were based on the analytical correction laid down in EN 71-3:1994. The outcome of the exercise shows an improvement on the overall performance of the participants when compared to IMEP-24 (a proficiency test for heavy metals in toys run in 2009 in which, the same European standard was followed), particularly for cadmium, lead and to a lesser extent, for selenium and chromium. The share of satisfactory z-scores ranged from 65 to 79 %.JRC.D.5-Food Safety and Qualit

IMEP-113: determination of total cadmium and lead in baby food - Interlaboratory Comparison Report - December 2011

This report presents the results of the thirteen proficiency test (PT) which focussed on the determination of total Cd and Pb in baby food according to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 of 19 December 2006 setting maximum levels for certain contaminants in foodstuffs. The test material used in this exercise was baby food formula purchased in a local pharmacy and prepared by the Reference Material Unit of the IRMM for this exercise. Each participant received one bottle containing approximately 15 g of test material. Thirty five laboratories from 26 countries registered to the exercise and all of them reported results. Participants were asked to analyse the measurands in the powder and in the reconstituted form (powder diluted with water, 1:8 fold, to mimic the product as consumed). The assigned value for total Cd was determined by LGC Ltd (UK) and IRMM using direct isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The assigned value for total Pb was determined at IRMM using the same technique as for Cd. The standard deviation for proficiency assessment was set at 22 % of the assigned value based on the modified Horwitz equation. Laboratories were rated with z- and ζ-scores (zeta-scores) in accordance with ISO 13528. The outcome of this exercise is clearly influenced by the very low level of Cd and Pb content in the test material which triggered: - a high number of "less than" values; - overestimated values especially for lead very likely due to contamination. Reported results were satisfactory for total cadmium in both forms, (powder and in the reconstituted formula).JRC.D.5-Food Safety and Qualit

IMEP-33: Total Cadmium and Lead in Baby Food - Interlaboratory Comparison Report, December 2011

The Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM) of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), a Directorate-General of the European Commission, operates the International Measurement Evaluation Programme® (IMEP). It organises interlaboratory comparisons (ILC's) in support to EU policies. This report presents the results of an ILC which focussed on the determination of total Cd and Pb in baby food in support of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 of 19 December 2006 setting maximum levels for certain contaminants in foodstuffs. The test material used in this exercise was baby food formula purchased in a local pharmacy and prepared by the Reference Material Unit of the IRMM for this exercise. Each participant received one bottle containing approximately 15 g of test material. Sixty-six laboratories from 23 countries registered to the exercise and 61 of them reported results. Participants were asked to analyse the measurands in the powder and in the reconstituted form. The assigned value for total Cd was determined by LGC Ltd (UK) and IRMM using direct isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The assigned value for total Pb was determined at IRMM using the same technique as for Cd. The standard deviation for proficiency assessment ˆ was set at 22 % of the assigned value based on the modified Horwitz equation. Laboratories were rated with z- and ζ-scores (zeta-scores) in accordance with ISO 13528. Most of the participants reported uncertainties with their results. The outcome of this exercise is clearly characterised by the very low level of Cd and Pb content in the test material which triggered a high number of "less than" values, overestimation especially for lead very likely due to contamination, and a visible method influence in the case of lead. The results were also evaluated with regard to the reported limit of detection and some incoherencies were observed here as well.JRC.D.5-Food Safety and Qualit

In vitro analysis of the cytotoxicity and the antimicrobial effect of four endodontic sealers

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>The aim of this study was to investigate <it>in vitro </it>the cytotoxicity and antibacterial properties of four different endodontic sealers using human periodontal ligament fibroblast cell proliferation and visual analysis of growth inhibition.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A silicone (GuttaFlow), silicate (EndoSequence BC), zinc oxide eugenol (Pulp Canal Sealer EWT) and epoxy resin (AH Plus Jet) based sealer were incubated with PDL fibroblasts (10⁴cells/ml, n = 6) up to 96 h. Cell proliferation (RFU) was determined by means of the Alamar Blue assay. Cell growth and morphology was visualized by means of fluorescent dyes. Possible antibacterial properties of the different sealers were visualized by means of SEM (<it>Enterococcus faecalis; Parvimonas micra</it>).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Fibroblast proliferation depended on sealer and cultivation time. After 72 and 96 h GuttaFlow and EndoSequence BC showed relatively non-cytotoxic reactions, while Pulp Canal Sealer EWT and AH Plus Jet caused a significant decrease of cell proliferation (p < 0.001). Visualization of cell growth and morphology with various fluorescent dyes supplemented the results. No antibacterial effect of EndoSequence BC to <it>P. micra </it>was found, whereas GuttaFlow showed a weak, Pulp Canal Sealer EWT and AH Plus Jet extensive growth inhibition. Also, no antibacterial effect of GuttaFlow, EndoSequence BC or AH Plus Jet to <it>E. faecalis </it>could be detected.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These <it>in vitro </it>findings reveal that GuttaFlow and EndoSequence BC can be considered as biocompatible sealing materials. However, prior to their clinical employment, studies regarding their sealing properties also need to be considered.</p