You can't see what you can't see: Experimental evidence for how much relevant information may be missed due to Google's Web search personalisation

The influence of Web search personalisation on professional knowledge work is an understudied area. Here we investigate how public sector officials self-assess their dependency on the Google Web search engine, whether they are aware of the potential impact of algorithmic biases on their ability to retrieve all relevant information, and how much relevant information may actually be missed due to Web search personalisation. We find that the majority of participants in our experimental study are neither aware that there is a potential problem nor do they have a strategy to mitigate the risk of missing relevant information when performing online searches. Most significantly, we provide empirical evidence that up to 20% of relevant information may be missed due to Web search personalisation. This work has significant implications for Web research by public sector professionals, who should be provided with training about the potential algorithmic biases that may affect their judgments and decision making, as well as clear guidelines how to minimise the risk of missing relevant information.Comment: paper submitted to the 11th Intl. Conf. on Social Informatics; revision corrects error in interpretation of parameter Psi/p in RBO resulting from discrepancy between the documentation of the implementation in R (https://rdrr.io/bioc/gespeR/man/rbo.html) and the original definition (https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1852106) as per 20/05/201

Василь Васильович Тарновський: духовні витоки українського патріотизму та благодійності

Context: Climate change can directly affect habitats within ecological networks, but may also have indirect effects on network quality by inducing land use change. The relative impact of indirect effects of climate change on the quality of ecological networks currently remains largely unknown. Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the relative impact of direct and indirect effects of climate change on a network of breeding habitat of four meadow bird species (Black-tailed godwit, Common redshank, Eurasian oystercatcher and Northern lapwing) in the Netherlands. Methods: Habitat models were developed that link meadow bird breeding densities to three habitat characteristics that are sensitive to environmental change (landscape openness, land use and groundwater level). These models were used to assess the impact of scenarios of landscape change with and without climate change on meadow bird breeding habitat quality for a case study area in the peat meadow district of the Netherlands. Results: All scenarios led to significantly reduced habitat quality for all species, mainly as a result of conversion of grassland to bioenergy crops, which reduces landscape openness. Direct effects of climate change on habitat quality were largely absent, indicating that especially human adaptation to climate change rather than direct effects of climate change was decisive for the degradation of ecological network quality for breeding meadow birds. Conclusions: We conclude that scenario studies exploring impacts of climate change on ecological networks should incorporate both land use change resulting from human responses to climate change and direct effects of climate change on landscapes

Gender and age differences in the recurrence of sickness absence due to common mental disorders: a longitudinal study

Background: Common mental disorders (CMDs) are an important cause of sickness absence and long-term work disability. Although CMDs are known to have high recurrence rates, little is known about the recurrence of sickness absence due to CMDs. The aim of this study was to investigate the recurrence of sickness absence due to CMDs, including distress, adjustment disorders, depressive disorders and anxiety disorders, according to age, in male and female employees in the Netherlands. Methods: Data on sickness absence episodes due to CMDs were obtained for 137,172 employees working in the Dutch Post and Telecommunication companies between 2001 and 2007. The incidence density (ID) and recurrence density (RD) of sickness absence due to CMDs was calculated per 1000 person-years in men and women in the age-groups of < 35 years, 35-44 years, 45-54 years, and >= 55 years. Results: The ID of one episode of CMDs sickness absence was 25.0 per 1000 person-years, and the RD was 76.7 per 1000 person-years. Sickness absence due to psychiatric disorders (anxiety and depression) does not have a higher recurrence density of sickness absence due to any CMDs as compared to stress-related disorders (distress and adjustment disorders): 81.6 versus 76.0 per 1000 person-years. The ID of sickness absence due to CMDs was higher in women than in men, but the RD was similar. Recurrences were more frequent in women < 35 years and in women between 35 and 44 years of age. We observed no differences between age groups in men. Recurrences among employees with recurrent episodes occurred within 3 years in 90% of cases and the median time-to-onset of recurrence was 11 (10-13) months in men and 10 (9-12) months in women. Conclusions: Employees who have been absent from work due to CMDs are at increased risk of recurrent sickness absence due to CMDs and should be monitored after they return to work. The RD was similar in men and in women. In women < 45 years the RD was higher than in women >= 45 years. In men no age differences were observed

Hypothyroidism in an Area of Endemic Goiter and Cretinism in Central Java, Indonesia

In an area of severe endemic goiter in Central Java, Indonesia, clinical overt or mild hypothyroidism appeared to be present in 7 out of 20 cretins and also in 12 out of 94 non-cretinous subjects, all 5–20 years of age, living in the village of Sengi. Hypothyroidism was not found in a control group of 70 subjects of the same age living in Londjong just outside the edemia. In hypothyroid subjects the plasma PBI-concentration was 0.98 ± 0.32 µg/100 ml (mean ± SD) vS 2.72 ± 1.24 µg/100 ml in euthyroid subjects from Sengi and 4.86 ± 0.80 µg/100 ml in controls from Londjong. Values for T3 were 56.3 ± 31.7 ng/100 ml in hypothyroids, 140.5 ± 38.5 ng/100 ml in euthyroids from Sengi and 121.6 ± 27.4 ng/100 ml in controls. The TSH levels (geometric mean and range) in these 3 groups were, respectively, 210.1 (108.0–342), 15.6(3.0– 372) and 4.1 (0.8–7.0) µU/ml. The differences between themean concentration of PBI, T3 and TSH in the hypothyroid and euthyroid groups were highly significant (P < 0.001). These data strengthen the clinical diagnosis of hypothyroidism in cretins as well as in non-cretinous subjects. All hypothyroid subjects had a PBI < 1.8 µg/100 ml and T3 < 120 ng/100 ml and TSH < 100 µU/ml. In 8 hypothyroid subjects, restudied 18 months after iodized oil injection, hypothyroidism was either corrected or markedly improved. It therefore appears that iodine deficiency per se in post natal life may lead to (juvenile) hypothyroidism, which can be corrected by iodine therapy. Our findings have implications for the definition and diagnosis of endemic cretinism. Not all hypothyroid subjects in an area of endemic iodine deficiency should be classified as cretins