Communication in the Gig Economy: Buying and Selling in Online Freelance Marketplaces

The proliferating gig economy relies on online freelance marketplaces, which support relatively anonymous interactions by text-based messages. Informational asymmetries thus arise that can lead to exchange uncertainties between buyers and freelancers. Conventional marketing thought recommends reducing such uncertainty. However, uncertainty reduction and uncertainty management theories indicate that buyers and freelancers might benefit more from balancing, rather than reducing, uncertainty, such as by strategically adhering to or deviating from common principles. With dyadic analyses of calls for bids and bids from a leading online freelance marketplace, this study reveals that buyers attract more bids from freelancers when they provide moderate degrees of task information and concreteness, avoid sharing personal information, and limit the affective intensity of their communication. Freelancers’ bid success and price premiums increase when they mimic the degree of task information and affective intensity exhibited by buyers. However, mimicking a lack of personal information and concreteness reduces freelancers’ success, so freelancers should always be more concrete and offer more personal information than buyers do. These contingent perspectives offer insights into buyer–seller communication in two-sided online marketplaces; they clarify that despite, or sometimes due to, communication uncertainty, both sides can achieve success in the online gig economy

Long-Term Stability of an Area-Reversible Atom-Interferometer Sagnac Gyroscope

We report on a study of the long-term stability and absolute accuracy of an atom interferometer gyroscope. This study included the implementation of an electro-optical technique to reverse the vector area of the interferometer for reduced systematics and a careful study of systematic phase shifts. Our data strongly suggests that drifts less than 96 $\mu$deg/hr are possible after empirically removing shifts due to measured changes in temperature, laser intensity, and several other experimental parameters.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PR

Resistance to wheat rusts identified in wheat/Amblyopyrum muticum chromosome introgressions

© 2020 The Authors. Crop Science © 2020 Crop Science Society of America Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) rusts are a worldwide production problem. Plant breeders have used genetic resistance to combat these fungi. However, single-gene resistance is rapidly overcome as a result of frequent occurrence of new virulent fungal strains. Thus, a supply of new resistance sources is continually needed, and new resistance sources are limited within hexaploid wheat genetic stocks. Wild relatives are able to be a resource for new resistance genes but are hindered because of chromosome incapability with domesticated wheats. Twenty-eight double-haploid hexaploid wheat/Amblyopyrum muticum (Boiss.) Eig introgression lines, with introgressions covering the majority of the T genome, were evaluated for resistance to Puccinia triticina Erikss., P. graminis Pers.:Pers. f.sp. tritici Erikss. & E. Henning, and P. striiformis Westend. f.sp. tritici Erikss. At the seedling level, four lines were resistant to races of P. triticina, six lines were resistant to P. graminis, and 15 lines were resistant to P. striiformis. At the adult stage, 16 lines were resistant to P. triticina. Line 355 had resistance to all three rusts and line 161 had resistance to all tested races of P. triticina. Some of these lines will require further work to reduce the size of the introgressed segment; however, lines 92 and 355 have very small fragments and can be used directly as new resistance donors

Transnational reflections on transnational research projects on men, boys and gender relations

This article reflects on the research project, ‘Engaging South African and Finnish youth towards new traditions of non-violence, equality and social well-being’, funded by the Finnish and South African national research councils, in the context of wider debates on research, projects and transnational processes. The project is located within a broader analysis of research projects and projectization (the reduction of research to separate projects), and the increasing tendencies for research to be framed within and as projects, with their own specific temporal and organizational characteristics. This approach is developed further in terms of different understandings of research across borders: international, comparative, multinational and transnational. Special attention is given to differences between research projects that are in the Europe and the EU, and projects that are between the global North and the global South. The theoretical, political and practical challenges of the North-South research project are discussed

The South Asian genome

Genetics of disease Microarrays Variant genotypes Population genetics Sequence alignment AllelesThe genetic sequence variation of people from the Indian subcontinent who comprise one-quarter of the world's population, is not well described. We carried out whole genome sequencing of 168 South Asians, along with whole-exome sequencing of 147 South Asians to provide deeper characterisation of coding regions. We identify 12,962,155 autosomal sequence variants, including 2,946,861 new SNPs and 312,738 novel indels. This catalogue of SNPs and indels amongst South Asians provides the first comprehensive map of genetic variation in this major human population, and reveals evidence for selective pressures on genes involved in skin biology, metabolism, infection and immunity. Our results will accelerate the search for the genetic variants underlying susceptibility to disorders such as type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease which are highly prevalent amongst South Asians.Whole genome sequencing to discover genetic variants underlying type-2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and related phenotypes amongst Indian Asians. Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust cBRC 2011-13 (JS Kooner [PI], JC Chambers)

Development of a self-report measure of capability wellbeing for adults: the ICECAP-A

Purpose The benefits of health and social care are not confined to patient health alone and therefore broader measures of wellbeing may be useful for economic evaluation.\ud This paper reports the development of a simple measure of capability wellbeing for adults (ICECAP-A).\ud Methods In-depth, informant-led, interviews to identify the attributes of capability wellbeing were conducted with 36 adults in the UK. Eighteen semi-structured, repeat interviews were carried out to develop a capability-based descriptive system for the measure. Informants were purposively selected to ensure variation in socio-economic status, age, sex, ethnicity and health. Data analysis was carried out inductively and iteratively alongside interviews, and findings were used to shape the questions in later interviews.\ud Results Five over-arching attributes of capability wellbeing were identified for the measure: ‘‘stability’’,‘‘attachment’’, ‘‘achievement’’, ‘‘autonomy’’ and ‘‘enjoyment’’. One item, with four response categories, was developed for each attribute for the ICECAP-A descriptive system.\ud Conclusions The ICECAP-A capability measure represents a departure from traditional health economics outcome measures, by treating health status as an influence over broader attributes of capability wellbeing. Further work is required to value and validate the attributes and test the sensitivity of the ICECAP-A to healthcare interventions

Gold chain formation via local lifting of surface reconstruction by hot electron injection on H_2(D_2)/Au(111)

The hexagonal close packed surface of gold shows a 22 x root 3 "herringbone" surface reconstruction which makes it unique among the (111) surfaces of all metals. This long-range energetically favored dislocation pattern appears in response to the strong tensile stress that would be present on the unreconstructed surface. Adsorption of molecular and atomic species can be used to tune this surface stress and lift the herringbone reconstruction. Here we show that herringbone reconstruction can be controllably lifted in ultrahigh vacuum at cryogenic temperatures by precise hot electron injection in the presence of hydrogen molecules. We use the sharp tip of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) for charge carrier injection and characterization of the resulting chain nanostructures. By comparing STM images, rotational spectromicroscopy and ab initio calculations, we show that formation of gold atomic chains is associated with release of gold atoms from the surface, lifting of the reconstruction, dissociation of H_2 molecules, and formation of surface hydrides. Gold hydrides grow in a zipper-like mechanism forming chains along the [1 (1) over bar0] directions of the Au(111) surface and can be manipulated by further electron injection. Finally, we demonstrate that Au(111) terraces can be transformed with nearly perfect terrace selectivity over distances of hundreds of nanometers

Control of human endometrial stromal cell motility by PDGF-BB, HB-EGF and trophoblast-secreted factors

Human implantation involves extensive tissue remodeling at the fetal-maternal interface. It is becoming increasingly evident that not only trophoblast, but also decidualizing endometrial stromal cells are inherently motile and invasive, and likely contribute to the highly dynamic processes at the implantation site. The present study was undertaken to further characterize the mechanisms involved in the regulation of endometrial stromal cell motility and to identify trophoblast-derived factors that modulate migration. Among local growth factors known to be present at the time of implantation, heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor (HB-EGF) triggered chemotaxis (directed locomotion), whereas platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-BB elicited both chemotaxis and chemokinesis (non-directed locomotion) of endometrial stromal cells. Supernatants of the trophoblast cell line AC-1M88 and of first trimester villous explant cultures stimulated chemotaxis but not chemokinesis. Proteome profiling for cytokines and angiogenesis factors revealed neither PDGF-BB nor HB-EGF in conditioned media from trophoblast cells or villous explants, while placental growth factor, vascular endothelial growth factor and PDGF-AA were identified as prominent secretory products. Among these, only PDGF-AA triggered endometrial stromal cell chemotaxis. Neutralization of PDGF-AA in trophoblast conditioned media, however, did not diminish chemoattractant activity, suggesting the presence of additional trophoblast-derived chemotactic factors. Pathway inhibitor studies revealed ERK1/2, PI3 kinase/Akt and p38 signaling as relevant for chemotactic motility, whereas chemokinesis depended primarily on PI3 kinase/Akt activation. Both chemotaxis and chemokinesis were stimulated upon inhibition of Rho-associated, coiled-coil containing protein kinase. The chemotactic response to trophoblast secretions was not blunted by inhibition of isolated signaling cascades, indicating activation of overlapping pathways in trophoblast-endometrial communication. In conclusion, trophoblast signals attract endometrial stromal cells, while PDGF-BB and HB-EGF, although not identified as trophoblast-derived, are local growth factors that may serve to fine-tune directed and non-directed migration at the implantation site

The burden of diabetes mellitus during pregnancy in low- and middle-income countries : a systematic review

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The chaperone protein clusterin may serve as a cerebrospinal fluid biomarker for chronic spinal cord disorders in the dog

Chronic spinal cord dysfunction occurs in dogs as a consequence of diverse aetiologies, including long-standing spinal cord compression and insidious neurodegenerative conditions. One such neurodegenerative condition is canine degenerative myelopathy (DM), which clinically is a challenge to differentiate from other chronic spinal cord conditions. Although the clinical diagnosis of DM can be strengthened by the identification of the Sod1 mutations that are observed in affected dogs, genetic analysis alone is insufficient to provide a definitive diagnosis. There is a requirement to identify biomarkers that can differentiate conditions with a similar clinical presentation, thus facilitating patient diagnostic and management strategies. A comparison of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) protein gel electrophoresis profile between idiopathic epilepsy (IE) and DM identified a protein band that was more prominent in DM. This band was subsequently found to contain a multifunctional protein clusterin (apolipoprotein J) that is protective against endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-mediated apoptosis, oxidative stress, and also serves as an extracellular chaperone influencing protein aggregation. Western blot analysis of CSF clusterin confirmed elevated levels in DM compared to IE (p < 0.05). Analysis of spinal cord tissue from DM and control material found that clusterin expression was evident in neurons and that the clusterin mRNA levels from tissue extracts were elevated in DM compared to the control. The plasma clusterin levels was comparable between these groups. However, a comparison of clusterin CSF levels in a number of neurological conditions found that clusterin was elevated in both DM and chronic intervertebral disc disease (cIVDD) but not in meningoencephalitis and IE. These findings indicate that clusterin may potentially serve as a marker for chronic spinal cord disease in the dog; however, additional markers are required to differentiate DM from a concurrent condition such as cIVDD