Fairness-Aware Ranking in Search & Recommendation Systems with Application to LinkedIn Talent Search

We present a framework for quantifying and mitigating algorithmic bias in mechanisms designed for ranking individuals, typically used as part of web-scale search and recommendation systems. We first propose complementary measures to quantify bias with respect to protected attributes such as gender and age. We then present algorithms for computing fairness-aware re-ranking of results. For a given search or recommendation task, our algorithms seek to achieve a desired distribution of top ranked results with respect to one or more protected attributes. We show that such a framework can be tailored to achieve fairness criteria such as equality of opportunity and demographic parity depending on the choice of the desired distribution. We evaluate the proposed algorithms via extensive simulations over different parameter choices, and study the effect of fairness-aware ranking on both bias and utility measures. We finally present the online A/B testing results from applying our framework towards representative ranking in LinkedIn Talent Search, and discuss the lessons learned in practice. Our approach resulted in tremendous improvement in the fairness metrics (nearly three fold increase in the number of search queries with representative results) without affecting the business metrics, which paved the way for deployment to 100% of LinkedIn Recruiter users worldwide. Ours is the first large-scale deployed framework for ensuring fairness in the hiring domain, with the potential positive impact for more than 630M LinkedIn members.Comment: This paper has been accepted for publication at ACM KDD 201

Linking pseudouridine synthases to growth, developmentand cell competition

Eukaryotic pseudouridine synthases direct RNA pseudouridylation and bind H⁄ACA small nucleolar RNA (snoRNAs), which, in turn, may act as precursors of microRNA-like molecules. In humans, loss of pseudouridine synthase activity causes dyskeratosis congenita (DC), a complex systemic disorder characterized by cancer susceptibility, failures in ribosome biogenesis and telomere stability, and defects in stem cell formation. Considering the significant interest in deciphering the various molecular consequences of pseudouridine synthase failure, we performed a loss of function analysis of minifly (mfl), the pseudouridine synthase gene of Drosophila, in the wing disc, an advantageous model system for studies of cell growth and differentiation. In this organ, depletion of the mfl-encoded pseudouridine synthase causes a severe reduction in size by decreasing both the number and the size of wing cells. Reduction of cell number was mainly attributable to cell death rather than reduced proliferation, establishing that apoptosis plays a key role in the development of the loss of function mutant phenotype. Depletion of Mfl also causes a proliferative disadvantage in mosaic tissues that leads to the elimination of mutant cells by cell competition. Intriguingly, mfl silencing also triggered unexpected effects on wing patterning and cell differentiation, including deviations from normal lineage boundaries, mingling of cells of different compartments, and defects in the formation of the wing margin that closely mimic the phenotype of reduced Notch activity. These results suggest that a component of the pseudouridine synthase loss of function phenotype is caused by defects in Notch signalling

Registro de variedades de avena (Avena sp).

Se presenta el historial seguido en el desarrollo de 2 nuevas variedades de avena: ICA-Soracá e ICA-Gualcalá. De la misma manera, se presentan las características agronómicas de estas variedades mejoradas, incluyendo datos de rendimiento tanto en forraje verde como en grano y las características de calidad

Corrosion mechanisms in titanium oxide-based films produced by anodic treatment

Thanks to its excellent corrosion resistance, good mechanical properties and biocompatibility, titanium has been widely used as dental implant material. A passive oxide film formed on titanium surface is responsible for its high corrosion resistance. This study has evaluated the surface characteristics of oxide layers formed on commercially pure titanium samples by anodic treatment and the effect of anodic treatment on their corrosion behaviour. FEG-SEM and XRD were used to evaluate the micromorphology and crystalline structure of these oxide films. Their corrosion resistance was evaluated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and potentiodynamic polarization curves. EIS was performed for different times of immersion and a new equivalent electrical circuit (EEC) is proposed to fit the experimental data of the anodic oxide films. It was concluded that the morphology, composition, and structure of the outer porous layer of the anodic layer determine the corrosion protection of the material. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.This work is supported by FCT with the reference project UID/EEA/04436/2013, by FEDER funds through the COMPETE 2020 Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalizacao (POCI) with the reference project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006941. Part of this work was done within the Scientific Community on Surface Modification of Materials funded by FWO-Flanders (grant number WO.039.14N), and within the scope of the EU-funded COST MP1407 "E-MINDS. CQE is financed by FCT under contract UID/QUI/00100/2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Aniridia congénita y microcefalia en dos gemelas

Revisar casos y literatura sobre presencia de aniridia y microcefalia

Tractography of the Spider Monkey (\u3cem\u3eAteles geoffroyi\u3c/em\u3e) Corpus Callosum Using Diffusion Tensor Magnetic Resonance Imaging

The objective of this research was to describe the organization, connectivity and microstructure of the corpus callosum of the spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi). Non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion-tensor imaging were obtained from three subjects using a 3T Philips scanner. We hypothesized that the arrangement of fibers in spider monkeys would be similar to that observed in other non-human primates. A repeated measure (n = 3) of fractional anisotropy values was obtained of each subject and for each callosal subdivision. Measurements of the diffusion properties of corpus callosum fibers exhibited a similar pattern to those reported in the literature for humans and chimpanzees. No statistical difference was reached when comparing this parameter between the different CC regions (p = 0.066). The highest fractional anisotropy values corresponded to regions projecting from the corpus callosum to the posterior cortical association areas, premotor and supplementary motor cortices. The lowest fractional anisotropy corresponded to projections to motor and sensory cortical areas. Analyses indicated that approximately 57% of the fibers projects to the frontal cortex and 43% to the post-central cortex. While this study had a small sample size, the results provided important information concerning the organization of the corpus callosum in spider monkeys

Heat Treated NiP–SiC Composite Coatings: Elaboration and Tribocorrosion Behaviour in NaCl Solution

Tribocorrosion behaviour of heat-treated NiP and NiP–SiC composite coatings was investigated in a 0.6 M NaCl solution. The tribocorrosion tests were performed in a linear sliding tribometer with an electrochemical cell interface. It was analyzed the influence of SiC particles dispersion in the NiP matrix on current density developed, on coefficient of friction and on wear volume loss. The results showed that NiP–SiC composite coatings had a lower wear volume loss compared to NiP coatings. However, the incorporation of SiC particles into the metallic matrix affects the current density developed by the system during the tribocorrosion test. It was verified that not only the volume of co-deposited particles (SiC vol.%) but also the number of SiC particles per coating area unit (and consequently the SiC particles size) have made influence on the tribocorrosion behaviour of NiP–SiC composite coatings