Non-Profit Hospitals, Tax Exemption, and Community Benefits

Research Associate Heather Devlin explores the recent literature on non-profit hospitals, tax exemption, and community benefit laws and their implications for Georgia. (January 2009

Reputation Agent: Prompting Fair Reviews in Gig Markets

Our study presents a new tool, Reputation Agent, to promote fairer reviews from requesters (employers or customers) on gig markets. Unfair reviews, created when requesters consider factors outside of a worker's control, are known to plague gig workers and can result in lost job opportunities and even termination from the marketplace. Our tool leverages machine learning to implement an intelligent interface that: (1) uses deep learning to automatically detect when an individual has included unfair factors into her review (factors outside the worker's control per the policies of the market); and (2) prompts the individual to reconsider her review if she has incorporated unfair factors. To study the effectiveness of Reputation Agent, we conducted a controlled experiment over different gig markets. Our experiment illustrates that across markets, Reputation Agent, in contrast with traditional approaches, motivates requesters to review gig workers' performance more fairly. We discuss how tools that bring more transparency to employers about the policies of a gig market can help build empathy thus resulting in reasoned discussions around potential injustices towards workers generated by these interfaces. Our vision is that with tools that promote truth and transparency we can bring fairer treatment to gig workers.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, The Web Conference 2020, ACM WWW 202

Peat Bog Wildfire Smoke Exposure in Rural North Carolina Is Associated with Cardiopulmonary Emergency Department Visits Assessed through Syndromic Surveillance

Background: In June 2008, burning peat deposits produced haze and air pollution far in excess of National Ambient Air Quality Standards, encroaching on rural communities of eastern North Carolina. Although the association of mortality and morbidity with exposure to urban air pollution is well established, the health effects associated with exposure to wildfire emissions are less well understood. Objective: We investigated the effects of exposure on cardiorespiratory outcomes in the population affected by the fire. Methods: We performed a population-based study using emergency department (ED) visits reported through the syndromic surveillance program NC DETECT (North Carolina Disease Event Tracking and Epidemiologic Collection Tool). We used aerosol optical depth measured by a satellite to determine a high-exposure window and distinguish counties most impacted by the dense smoke plume from surrounding referent counties. Poisson log-linear regression with a 5-day distributed lag was used to estimate changes in the cumulative relative risk (RR). Results: In the exposed counties, significant increases in cumulative RR for asthma [1.65 (95% confidence interval, 1.25–2.1)], chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [1.73 (1.06–2.83)], and pneumonia and acute bronchitis [1.59 (1.07–2.34)] were observed. ED visits associated with cardiopulmonary symptoms [1.23 (1.06–1.43)] and heart failure [1.37 (1.01–1.85)] were also significantly increased. Conclusions: Satellite data and syndromic surveillance were combined to assess the health impacts of wildfire smoke in rural counties with sparse air-quality monitoring. This is the first study to demonstrate both respiratory and cardiac effects after brief exposure to peat wildfire smoke

The State of Evaluation Research on Food Policies to Reduce Obesity and Diabetes Among Adults in the United States, 2000–2011

Introduction Improvements in diet can prevent obesity and type 2 diabetes. Although policy changes provide a foundation for improvement at the population level, evidence for the effectiveness of such changes is slim. This study summarizes the literature on recent efforts in the United States to change food-related policies to prevent obesity and diabetes among adults. Methods We conducted a systematic review of evidence of the impact of food policies. Websites of government, academic, and nonprofit organizations were scanned to generate a typology of food-related policies, which we classified into 18 categories. A key-word search and a search of policy reports identified empirical evaluation studies of these categories. Analyses were limited to strategies with 10 or more reports. Of 422 articles identified, 94 met these criteria. Using publication date, study design, study quality, and dietary outcomes assessed, we evaluated the strength of evidence for each strategy in 3 assessment categories: time period, quality, and study design. Results Five strategies yielded 10 or more reports. Only 2 of the 5 strategies, menu labeling and taxes on unhealthy foods, had 50% or more studies with positive findings in at least 2 of 3 assessment categories. Most studies used methods that were rated medium quality. Although the number of published studies increased over 11 years, study quality did not show any clear trend nor did it vary by strategy. Conclusion Researchers and policy makers can improve the quality and rigor of policy evaluations to synthesize existing evidence and develop better methods for gleaning policy guidance from the ample but imperfect data available

Gas generation and wind power: A review of unlikely allies in the United Kingdom and Ireland

No single solution currently exists to achieve the utopian desire of zero fossil fuel electricity generation. Until such time, it is evident that the energy mix will contain a large variation in stochastic and intermittent sources of renewable energy such as wind power. The increasing prominence of wind power in pursuit of legally binding European energy targets enables policy makers and conventional generating companies to plan for the unique challenges such a natural resource presents. This drive for wind has been highly beneficial in terms of security of energy supply and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, it has created an unusual ally in natural gas. This paper outlines the suitability and challenges faced by gas generating units in their utilisation as key assets for renewable energy integration and the transition to a low carbon future. The Single Electricity Market of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and the British Electricity Transmission Trading Agreement Market are the backdrop to this analysis. Both of these energy markets have a reliance on gas generation matching the proliferation of wind power. The unlikely and mostly ignored relationship between natural gas generation and wind power due to policy decisions and market forces is the necessity of gas to act as a bridging fuel. This review finds gas generation to be crucially important to the continued growth of renewable energy. Additionally, it is suggested that power market design should adequately reward the flexibility required to securely operate a power system with high penetrations of renewable energy, which in most cases is provided by gas generation

Unlearning Introductions: Problematizing Pedagogies of Inclusion, Diversity, and Experience in the Gender and Women’s Studies Introductory Course

This article interrogates the ways in which the ideas of diversity, experience, and inclusion became central to the introductory Gender and Women’s Studies (GWS) course at one institution and the way that various stakeholders define and interpret these terms. After providing a short local history and analyzing current and former instructors’ understandings of these concepts as they function in the GWS introductory classroom, the authors further explore these themes with two case studies: transgender inclusion and Native American feminisms. Résumé Cet article s’interroge sur la manière dont les idées sur la diversité, l’expérience, et l’inclusion sont devenues centrales au cours d’introduction Études sur le genre et les femmes (EGF) dans un établissement d’enseignement et sur la manière dont les divers intervenants définissent et interprètent ces termes. Après avoir fourni un bref historique local et analysé la compréhension de ces concepts par les professeurs actuels et anciens lorsqu’ils exercent dans le cours d’introduction EGF, les auteurs explorent ces thèmes plus avant dans le cadre de deux études de cas : l’inclusion transgenre et les féminismes autochtones

A Practical, Distributed Environment for Macintosh Software Development

We describe a development environment we created for prototyping software for the Macintosh. The programs are developed and executed on a large time-shared computer but can use the full facilities of the Macintosh. By using this system, we combine the advantages of the large system, such as large amounts of disk storage and automatic file backups, with the advantages of the Macintosh, such as advanced graphics, mouse control and sound synthesis. We also describe several projects that used the distributed development system. We conclude with a description of our future plans for this environment