The Explanation Matters: Enhancing AI Adoption in Human Resource Management

Artificial intelligence (AI) has ubiquitous applications in companies, permeating multiple business divisions like human resource management (HRM). Yet, in these high-stakes domains where transparency and interpretability of results are of utmost importance, the black-box characteristic of AI is even more of a threat to AI adoption. Hence, explainable AI (XAI), which is regular AI equipped with or complemented by techniques to explain it, comes in. We present a systematic literature review of n=62 XAI in HRM papers. Further, we conducted an experiment among a German sample (n=108) of HRM personnel regarding a turnover prediction task with or without (X)AI-support. We find that AI-support leads to better task performance, self-assessment accuracy and response characteristics toward the AI, and XAI, i.e., transparent models allow for more accurate self-assessment of one’s performance. Future studies could enhance our research by employing local explanation techniques on real-world data with a larger and international sample

Redox and pH gradients drive amino acid synthesis in iron oxyhydroxide mineral systems

Iron oxyhydroxide minerals, known to be chemically reactive and significant for elemental cycling, are thought to have been abundant in early-Earth seawater, sediments, and hydrothermal systems. In the anoxic Fe^(2+)-rich early oceans, these minerals would have been only partially oxidized and thus redox-active, perhaps able to promote prebiotic chemical reactions. We show that pyruvate, a simple organic molecule that can form in hydrothermal systems, can undergo reductive amination in the presence of mixed-valence iron oxyhydroxides to form the amino acid alanine, as well as the reduced product lactate. Furthermore, geochemical gradients of pH, redox, and temperature in iron oxyhydroxide systems affect product selectivity. The maximum yield of alanine was observed when the iron oxyhydroxide mineral contained 1:1 Fe(II):Fe(III), under alkaline conditions, and at moderately warm temperatures. These represent conditions that may be found, for example, in iron-containing sediments near an alkaline hydrothermal vent system. The partially oxidized state of the precipitate was significant in promoting amino acid formation: Purely ferrous hydroxides did not drive reductive amination but instead promoted pyruvate reduction to lactate, and ferric hydroxides did not result in any reaction. Prebiotic chemistry driven by redox-active iron hydroxide minerals on the early Earth would therefore be strongly affected by geochemical gradients of E_h, pH, and temperature, and liquid-phase products would be able to diffuse to other conditions within the sediment column to participate in further reactions

In our own backyard: urban health inequities and Aboriginal experiences of neighbourhood life, social capital and racism.

This report is about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who live in urban areas. Thus it contributes to filling the gap in literature and knowledge about the health and everyday life experience of urban Indigenous peoples.This study, the Adelaide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health (AATSIH) project, was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and focused on neighbourhood life, social capital, experiences of racism and health. This was a ‘companion’ project to another NHMRC project (the General Location and Health project (the General L&H project) – see Baum, Ziersch, Zhang et al, 2007) that explored neighbourhood life and social capital for the general population in four contrasting socio-economic areas in Adelaide

How Do French–English Bilinguals Pull Verb Particle Constructions Off? Factors Influencing Second Language Processing of Unfamiliar Structures at the Syntax-Semantics Interface

An important challenge in bilingualism research is to understand the mechanisms underlying sentence processing in a second language and whether they are comparable to those underlying native processing. Here, we focus on verb-particle constructions (VPCs) that are among the most difficult elements to acquire in L2 English. The verb and the particle form a unit, which often has a non-compositional meaning (e.g., look up or chew out), making the combined structure semantically opaque. However, bilinguals with higher levels of English proficiency can develop a good knowledge of the semantic properties of VPCs (Blais and Gonnerman, 2013). A second difficulty is that in a sentence context, the particle can be shifted after the direct object of the verb (e.g., The professor looked it up). The processing is more challenging when the object is long (e.g., The professor looked the student’s last name up). This shifted structure favors syntactic processing at the expense of VPC semantic processing. We sought to determine whether or not bilinguals’ reading time (RT) patterns would be similar to those observed for native monolinguals (Gonnerman and Hayes, 2005) when reading VPCs in sentential contexts. French–English bilinguals were tested for English language proficiency, working memory and explicit VPC semantic knowledge. During a self-paced reading task, participants read 78 sentences with VPCs that varied according to parameters that influence native speakers’ reading dynamics: verb-particle transparency, particle adjacency and length of the object noun phrase (NP; 2, 3, or 5 words). RTs in a critical region that included verbs, NPs and particles were measured. Results revealed that RTs were modulated by participants’ English proficiency, with higher proficiency associated with shorter RTs. Examining participants’ explicit semantic knowledge of VPCs and working memory, only readers with more native-like knowledge of VPCs and a high working memory presented RT patterns that were similar to those of monolinguals. Therefore, given the necessary lexical and computational resources, bilingual processing of novel structures at the syntax-semantics interface follows the principles influencing native processing. The findings are in keeping with theories that postulate similar representations and processing in L1 and L2 modulated by processing difficulty

Infrared Emission from the Nearby Cool Core Cluster Abell 2597

We observed the brightest central galaxy (BCG) in the nearby (z=0.0821) cool core galaxy cluster Abell 2597 with the IRAC and MIPS instruments on board the Spitzer Space Telescope. The BCG was clearly detected in all Spitzer bandpasses, including the 70 and 160 micron wavebands. We report aperture photometry of the BCG. The spectral energy distribution exhibits a clear excess in the FIR over a Rayleigh-Jeans stellar tail, indicating a star formation rate of ~4-5 solar masses per year, consistent with the estimates from the UV and its H-alpha luminosity. This large FIR luminosity is consistent with that of a starburst or a Luminous Infrared Galaxy (LIRG), but together with a very massive and old population of stars that dominate the energy output of the galaxy. If the dust is at one temperature, the ratio of 70 to 160 micron fluxes indicate that the dust emitting mid-IR in this source is somewhat hotter than the dust emitting mid-IR in two BCGs at higher-redshift (z~0.2-0.3) and higher FIR luminosities observed earlier by Spitzer, in clusters Abell 1835 and Zwicky 3146.Comment: Accepted at Ap

Effect of advertising for a state-based health insurance marketplace on information-seeking behavior

Introduction • Kentucky was an early success stories under the Affordable Care Act through its statebased marketplace, known as kynect • The state sponsored an award-winning multimedia campaign to create awareness and educate its residents about the opportunity to gain coverage • In 2015, the new administration failed to renew a contract that resulted in the cancellation of television advertising for the final four weeks of the 2016 open enrollment period • We leverage this change to identify whether a dose-response relationship exists between state-sponsored television advertising and information seeking about health insurance Methods • Advertising data from 10 media markets across Kentucky was obtained for October 2013 through January 2016 from Kantar Media/CMAG through a partnership with the Wesleyan Media Project • State-level information-seeking was derived from reports made by the Office of the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services obtained via public records request • Policy variable – state-level population-weighted average count of kynect ads per week • Outcomes – 1) calls to the kynect call center, 2) page views (number of individual pages viewed), 3) visits (including repeats from the same IP address), 4) unique visitors (excluding repeats) for the kynect web site • Linear regression models used to describe how changes in kynect advertising volume affected these outcomes, adjusting for other advertising (healthcare.gov, insurers, insurance agencies, nonprofits, and other state governments), open enrollment periods, and other relevant time periods (e.g., week of Thanksgiving, week of Christmas, etc.) Results • Advertising for kynect fell from an average of 58.8 and 52.3 ads per week during the 2014 and 2015 open enrollment periods, respectively, to 19.4 during the first nine weeks of the 2016 open enrollment period and none during the last four weeks • Each additional kynect ad per week during open enrollment was associated with – 7,973 additional page views for kynect website – 390 additional visits for kynect website – 388 additional unique visitors for kynect website • Advertising was not significantly associated with calls to the kynect call center Conclusions • State-sponsored television advertising was a key driver of information-seeking behavior in Kentucky during the 2014-2016 open enrollment periods • Our findings add to previous evidence indicating that government-sponsored media campaigns are associated with increased enrollment for health insurance exchanges • Reductions in public outreach efforts could have negative effects on the individual market if consumers are uncertain about the continued availability of coverage and so-called “healthy procrastinators” fail to enroll as a result, contributing to lower enrollment and potentially a worse risk pool for insurers Implications • Misconceptions about eligibility and deadlines for enrollment in health insurance coverage are barriers to having all eligible individuals covered • Given the uncertain future of the ACA and the individual non-group market for health insurance in the United States, our findings indicate that state-sponsored media campaigns can be an effective strategy for encouraging information-seeking behavio

Prioritizing management actions for the Fraser River estuary

Conservation research has predominantly focused on identifying where and why species or habitats are under threat. While this is a crucial first step, it does not tell us how to optimize the allocation of resources in order to conserve threatened biodiversity. The time is ripe to focus on identifying the key management actions needed to respond to multiple threats and emerging risks. Using state-of-the-art techniques in conservation decision science, priority threat management assessment, and expert elicitation, we seek to identify the most ecologically effective and at the same time, least costly management actions needed to ensure the long-term persistence of at risk biodiversity of the Fraser River Estuary. This estuary is the mouth of the largest salmon bearing river in the world and a stopover point for more than one million migratory birds. Many species on the estuary are at risk due to water pollution and loss of habitat resulting from industrial and urban development, exploitation of fish stocks, and climate change. This study region serves as a prime example of a complex system under siege from multiple threats but with limited scientific data. We show that such systems can be analyzed to generate management actions ranked according to estimated cost, ecological benefits, the probability of success. Importantly, this analysis can clarify what can and cannot be achieved for different levels of conservation investment, and can be used to leverage increased investment in conservation management

The Early Impact of the Affordable Care Act upon Colorectal Cancer Screening Utilization in Florida

Background: Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. Although preventable and curable through screening, early detection and treatment, a lack of health insurance is a major obstacle to receiving colorectal cancer screening (CRCS). Despite the Affordable Care Act (ACA) increasing access to health insurance by mandating coverage of CRCS, disparities in utilization rates continue. Therefore, researchers sought to better understand ACA related facilitators and impediments that affect the utilization of CRCS and collect specific recommendations from healthcare professionals to increase screening utilization rates in Florida. Methods: Researchers conducted in-depth interviews with 22 healthcare professionals. Data were coded and analyzed using an applied thematic analysis approach and interpreted according to levels of the Social Ecological Model. Results: Eight physicians and nurses, 7 healthcare workers/care coordinators, 5 administrators and insurers, and 2 health advocates completed interviews. In their view, the early days of the ACA facilitated CRCS uptake through use of frontline staff, patient provider communication, and increased access to healthcare. Barriers that remained, included out of pocket patient costs, limited Medicaid expansion, acceptance of ACA plans by only certain providers and removal of patient incentives. Recommendations for increasing CRCS included more promotion and awareness, removing costs and ensuring patient navigation. Conclusions: The ACA offered increased access to healthcare coverage, utilization of CRCS and encouraged better communication between healthcare providers and patients. However, persistent barriers remain and include varied CRCS-related patient costs and restricted provider networks included in ACA sponsored plans. Continued healthcare policy reform is needed to make CRCS affordable for all Americans