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

Nursing brain drain from India

In response to recent findings regarding migration of health workers out of Africa, we provide data from a survey of Indian nurses suggesting that up to one fifth of the nursing labour force may be lost to wealthier countries through circular migration

A controlled clinical application of motor learning principles with apraxia of speech

Adults with acquired apraxia of speech (AOS) often do not generalise effects of treatment to untreated speech behaviours. Recent studies suggest that using the principles of motor learning (PML) approach may optimise retention and generalisation in AOS. PML guide the structure of motor practice along with the frequency and type of feedback provided during practice. This study aimed to investigate the effects of order of stimulus presentation and feedback frequency, on the acquisition, retention, and generalisation of speech skills in persons with acquired AOS plus aphasia. Four participants with AOS participated in a crossover design with multiple baselines across behaviours to compare two sets of motor learning principles– random order of stimulus presentation with low frequency feedback (R-L) ), considered more beneficial for learning, versus blocked order with high frequency feedback, considered less beneficial. All participants demonstrated significantly improved performance with treated words for both treatment regimes, both throughout treatment and on retention probes. There was a trend for better retention for some participants following the R-L condition. Performance data from treatment sessions did not support more rapid acquisition under either regime. Three of four participants showed generalisation of treatment effects to untreated related words, regardless of treatment conditions. Consistent with previous studies, individuals with chronic AOS responded positively to articulation-based intervention. The limited difference between the treatment conditions tested here suggests that the practice schedule and feedback frequency may be less important than the amount of practice provided; although the interaction of these principles and treatment dosage with other factors such as disorder severity require further investigation

Immunosurveillance of alglucerase enzyme therapy for Gaucher patients: induction of humoral tolerance in seroconverted patients after repeat administration.

Alglucerase, a macrophage-targeted enzyme replacement therapy for Gaucher disease, has been successfully used for several years to improve clinical symptoms and reverse disease progression. As part of an immunosurveillance program, 1,122 Gaucher patients were monitored for antibody response to glucocerebrosidase, the active component of alglucerase. Seroconversion was detected in 142 patients (12.8%) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and confirmed by radioimmunoprecipitation. The majority (75%) of the seroconverted population had no detectable levels of circulating inhibitory antibody as assessed by in vitro inhibition of enzymatic activity of the therapeutic molecule. Of the remaining patients with putative inhibitory antibodies, the majority had only low levels of serum inhibitory activity, which was transient. A very small number of patients were identified as developing true neutralizing antibodies, as defined by the development of antibodies that impacted clinical efficacy. Many of the patient antibody responses were also diminished with time. Eighty-two of the 142 seroconverted patients have stopped producing antibody to the molecule and appear tolerized. The mean time for humoral tolerization was 28 months from initiation of therapy. Of 64 seroconverted patients followed for at least 30 months of therapy, the tolerization rate was 93%. These results show that although 12.8% of the patients on therapy developed antibodies to the molecule, 90% of these patients became tolerized over time