Hastily introduced 'fake news' laws could damage efforts to counter disinformation, UNESCO reports warn

by Sophie Armour, University of Sheffield

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Measures designed to curb the spread of disinformation related to the coronavirus could criminalize legitimate journalism, reports published by UNESCO have warned.

The research, produced in collaboration with the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), by experts attached to the University of Sheffield's Centre for Freedom of the Media, showed so-called 'fake news laws' could undermine freedom of expression and critical journalism designed to ensure that accurate information reaches the public, and that governments are held to account for their management of the pandemic.

Instead, the researchers suggest incentives and empowerment measures to strengthen the role of independent news media to counter disinformation, as false rumors and conspiracy theories about the origins of and potential cures for COVID-19 spread online.

Dr. Julie Posetti and Professor Kalina Bontcheva's two policy briefs on the 'disinfodemic' are calling on governments around the world to provide publicly-funded, no-strings-attached 'rescue packages' for independent journalism and news outlets to ensure the sustainability of journalism as a public good, as the pandemic adds to financial pressures on media organizations.

The UNESCO-commissioned reports also highlight the need for transparency from governments, recommending they release open data sources on rates of infection, mortality and recovery, and on issues such as equipment shortages. Such an approach would encourage public trust and support the work of fact-checkers, according to the experts.

The policy briefs also call on tech and social media corporations to extend programmes designed to compensate independent media organizations for the revenues social sites make from news content. WhatsApp, Facebook, Google and Twitter have pledged some funding to fact-checking organizations and local journalism—but the experts are urging them to go further and support independent journalism projects focused on investigating the themes and networks behind COVID-19 disinformation, ensuring that funds are offered with 'no strings attached."

The researchers urge social media and other internet communications companies to apply the lessons learned during the urgent response to the COVID-19 disinfodemic and apply them with the same level of urgency and thoroughness to political disinformation that threatens democracy internationally.

Dr. Posetti and Professor Bontcheva were commissioned to produce the reports as part of the United Nations' response to the coronavirus crisis, with the aim of helping the UN, governments, journalists, civil society and internet communications companies respond, while protecting freedom of expression rights in the process.

The experts use the term 'disinfodemic' to describe the falsehoods being spread about the pandemic because of the huge 'viral load' of potentially deadly disinformation. The disinfodemic often sees falsehoods hidden amid true information, and concealed under the guise of familiar formats. Fake news is shared via well-known distribution methods—ranging from false or misleading memes and fake sources, through to trapping people into clicking on links connected to criminal phishing expeditions. It can be shared by individuals, organized groups, some news media and official channels—wittingly or unwittingly.

Dr. Julie Posetti, Global Director of Research at the International Center for Journalists, said: "There is a grave risk that laws designed to curtail COVID-19 disinformation could also damage the ability of free and quality journalism to counter the disinfodemic.

"Instead, governments around the world must use their political power and economic recovery packages to empower legitimate journalism to help prevent the spread of potentially deadly misinformation and disinformation."

Professor Kalina Bontcheva, Head of the Natural Language Processing Research Group at the Department of Computer Science at the University of Sheffield, said: "Before it is too late, policy actions are vital to ensure that independent journalism is considered an essential service in the public interest, that journalists are recognized as key workers, and that they are given all necessary assistance and protection under national emergency conditions.

"The tech and social media giants have a key role to play in supporting the spread of accurate information by providing no-strings-attached funding for independent news media and fact-checking organizations both during and after the pandemic."

Guy Berger, Director for Policies and Strategies regarding Communication and Information at UNESCO, said that free and professional journalism should be considered "an ally in the fight against disinformation, especially because the news media works openly in the public sphere, whereas much disinformation is under the radar, on social messaging apps."

He added: "As a power against disinformation even when it publicizes verified information and informed opinion that annoys those in power, the media deserves to be recognized and supported by governments as an essential service at this time."

Facebook offers $100 mn to help virus-hit news media

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Provided by University of Sheffield 

Uber cuts 3,700 jobs amid pandemic slump

Uber is cutting 14 percent of its workforce as part of its response to the pandemic-induced economic slump

Uber said Wednesday it was cutting 3,700 jobs amid a huge slump in its ride-hailing operations during the pandemic.

The cuts amount to around 14 percent of Uber's global workforce, which does not include its contract drivers.

The company made the announcement in a regulatory filing, which also said chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi would waive his base salary for the remainder of the year.

The move comes a day ahead of Uber's earnings report, and follows a 17 percent staff cut by its US rival Lyft.

"Today's cost cutting move ahead of tomorrow's earnings is a painful, but unfortunately a necessary, move for Dara & co. to make in this unprecedented COVID-19 environment," said Daniel Ives at Wedbush Securities.

"On the other side of this dark valley, the Uber business model will likely look a lot different for the next few years (at least) and the company must rationalize costs and a smaller operation to focus on attaining profitability in this 'new normal' backdrop."

Uber cuts marketing staff to reduce costs

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© 2020 AFP

Canadian team first in world to treat COVID-19 with specialized dialysis
by Lawson Health Research Institute MAY 7, 2020

This modified dialysis device gently removes a patient's blood, 'reprograms' white blood cells and returns them to fight hyperinflammation. Credit: Lawson Health Research Institute
As part of a randomized controlled trial, a team from Lawson Health Research Institute is the first in the world to treat a patient with COVID-19 using a modified dialysis device. The device gently removes a patient's blood, modifies white blood cells and returns them to fight hyperinflammation. It is being tested with critically ill patients at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC).


Evidence suggests that COVID-19 causes a heightened immune response, termed a 'cytokine storm,' in the most severely ill patients. Treatment options to address this hyperinflammatory state are currently limited and there are concerns about global drug shortages.

"Working in the intensive care unit (ICU), I was aware that more treatment options were needed in the fight against COVID-19," says Dr. Chris McIntyre, lead researcher, Lawson Scientist and LHSC Nephrologist. "This led to the idea of treating a patient's blood outside of the body. We could reprogram white blood cells associated with inflammation to alter the immune response."

The research uses a modified version of a standard dialyzer called an extracorporeal leukocyte modifying device. It gently removes blood in a much slower circuit than standard dialysis. Through a process using specific levels of biochemical components, it targets and transforms white blood cells associated with inflammation before releasing them back into circulation. The hope is that these 'reprogrammed' cells will now fight hyperinflammation—rather than promoting it—in affected organs like the lungs.

Dr. Chris McIntyre, Scientist at Lawson Health Research Institute, is the first in the world to treat a patient with COVID-19 using a modified dialysis device. Credit: Lawson Health Research Institute

The clinical trial will include up to 40 critically ill patients with COVID-19 at LHSC's Victoria Hospital and University Hospital. Research participants will be randomized to receive either standard supportive care or standard supportive care in combination with this novel treatment. The research team will compare patient outcomes to determine if the treatment is effective.

"The ultimate goal is to improve patient survival and lessen their dependency on oxygen and ventilation," explains Dr. McIntyre. "If effective, it's possible that this treatment could be combined with other therapies. For example, this could be used to modulate inflammatory consequences while an antiviral drug is used to reduce the viral load."

Led by Lawson's Kidney Clinical Research Unit, this new trial was accelerated from initial conception to treatment of the first patient in only 40 days. It represents an important research collaboration with a multidisciplinary team. The trial is leveraging insights gained from another local study led by Dr. Douglas Fraser which is analyzing blood samples from COVID-19 patients at LHSC to better understand the cytokine storm.

"We're identifying which cytokines or biomarkers are important to the hyperinflammatory response seen in COVID-19 patients," says Dr. Fraser, Scientist at Lawson and Paediatric Critical Care Physician at LHSC. "With the knowledge we're gaining, we can study a patient's blood to determine whether this extracorporeal treatment is making a difference."

If successful, the treatment also has potential to be used with other conditions like sepsis.

Provided by Lawson Health Research Institute

Antioxidant reverses damage to fertility caused by exposure to bisphenol A

A study shows that administering coenzyme Q10 reverses damage done to germinative cells by BPA, a contaminant found in many kinds of plastic Credit: Maria Fernanda Hornos Carneiro & Nara Shin

Exposure to bisphenol A (BPA), an industrial chemical used to make certain plastics and resins, inner coatings for food cans and bottle tops, thermal paper used in store receipts, dental sealants and other products is a concern because of possible adverse health effects, including a reduction in fertility.

A study performed at Harvard Medical School (HMS) in the United States by Maria Fernanda Hornos Carneiro and her research group shows that the harmful effects of BPA can be reversed by administering a supplement known as CoQ10 (coenzyme Q10), a substance naturally produced by the human body and found in beef and fish. Hornos Carneiro is a former São Paulo Research Foundation—FAPESP scholarship awardee.

The article published in the journal Genetics is the first to present this strategy for reversing the effects of BPA in the organism. In this study, the researchers tested the antioxidant action of CoQ10 in nematodes of the species Caenorhabditis elegans exposed to BPA.

As an excellent antioxidant, CoQ10 is an electron donor. By donating its electrons, it stabilizes free radicals, reducing the oxidative stress and cell damage caused by BPA.

"BPA has oxidation potential as it's chemically unstable and produces reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. When the antioxidant reserves in cells [electron donors] run out, the amount of reactive oxygen and nitrogen increases. Because of their chemical instability, they 'poach' electrons from mitochondria and other cellular organelles, cell membranes, proteins, and even DNA, damaging cells significantly and potentially causing cell death. If this problem becomes extensive, it poses a major threat to the organism," Hornos Carneiro told.

The study measured the number of fertilized eggs laid and hatched and the number of progeny that reached adulthood. The problems detected can be compared to difficulty in becoming pregnant, miscarriages and chromosome anomalies in humans.

"BPA is a chemical contaminant that acts as an endocrine disruptor, causing cellular oxidative stress [an imbalance between oxidant and antioxidant molecules], which results in damage to gametes and embryos," said Hornos Carneiro, who conducted the study under the supervision of HMS Professor Monica Paola Colaiácovo. "In the study, the worms exposed to BPA and given CoQ10 displayed lower egg cell death rates, less DNA breakage and fewer abnormalities in chromosomes during cell division, as well as less cellular oxidative stress."

In the experiment, worms were exposed to different combinations of BPA, CoQ10 and a solvent (DMSO): solvent only, solvent and CoQ10, BPA only, and BPA plus CoQ10.

The amount of exposure to BPA mimicked the estimated amount in humans. "We know it's practically impossible to avoid exposure to BPA and similar contaminants in this day and age, so we looked for a strategy to minimize the harm done. Many studies have shown that age reduces fertility in women, and because exposure to BPA [and other endocrine disruptors] occurs throughout life, it's not yet possible to estimate separately the extent to which observed infertility is due to exposure to toxic chemicals in the external environment and how much is due to aging," Hornos Carneiro said.

The nematodes used in the study were transgenic, with a fluorescent protein sequence inserted into their DNA to enable in vivo observation of protein expression. Fluorescent antibodies were also used, as well as advanced microscopy and molecular biology techniques. The researchers were thereby able to observe in real time the effects produced at the cellular and molecular levels during the process of cell division (meiosis) and embryo formation in the worms.

Estrogen mimic

According to Hornos Carneiro, BPA's chemical structure is similar to that of estrogen, a female sex hormone that plays a key role in ovulation. As a result, BPA can bind to estrogen receptors in humans, leading to a number of significant effects. "Depending on the tissue, the effects may be pro-estrogenic or anti-estrogenic, with an impact not just on the reproductive system but also on other systems and processes that are important to a person's health," she said.

Hornos Carneiro is currently a professor in the School of Chemistry and Pharmacy at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. She conducted the study at the University of São Paulo's Ribeirão Preto School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (FCFRP-USP) in Brazil with the support of a FAPESP scholarship for postdoctoral research internship abroad.

DNA breakage and mitochondrial dysfunction

According to Hornos Carneiro, exposure of the worms to BPA alone resulted in more DNA breaks. "This was potentially due to the action of reactive oxygen species formed as a result of the presence of the contaminant in the organism," she said. "We found that the breaks were not correctly repaired in this group of worms."

The damage was observed by monitoring a protein involved in DNA breakage and repair when genetic material is exchanged between homologous chromosomes during meiosis.

This exchange of genetic material, known as crossing over, is important for increasing genetic diversity and driving evolution. "One hypothesis is that the increase in DNA breakage [and inefficient repair] was due to a rise in gonad oxidative stress caused by BPA," she said.

Another finding was that mitochondrial dysfunction increased. Mitochondria are energy-producing organelles in cells. "Because of oxidative stress, mitochondrial membrane potential was significantly altered in the worms exposed only to BPA, while in the group that received the CoQ10 supplement, this marker was much improved," Hornos Carneiro said.

Effect on embryos

The effect of BPA on embryos was also studied in this experiment. As a hermaphrodite, C. elegans self-fertilizes, and it is therefore possible to observe in its gonads all stages of germinative cell development in meiosis up to the polar corpuscle and embryo formation.

"In the study, we observed embryo formation in vivo using a technique called live imaging," Hornos Carneiro explained. "The benchmark for analysis of the occurrence of defects was the first cell division [the precise moment at which the unicellular embryo divides in two]. In the group exposed only to BPA, a larger number of defects were observed, such as formation of chromatin bridges and cell division cessation."

Antioxidant reverses BPD-induced fertility damage in worms

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More information: Maria Fernanda Hornos Carneiro et al, Antioxidant CoQ10 Restores Fertility by Rescuing Bisphenol A-Induced Oxidative DNA Damage in the Caenorhabditis elegans Germline, Genetics (2019). DOI: 10.1534/genetics.119.302939

Journal information: Genetics 

Provided by FAPESP 

Clay layers and distant pumping trigger arsenic contamination in Bangladesh groundwater

by Columbia University

Workers install a monitoring well near the study site in Bangladesh. Credit: Rajib Mozumder

Well water contaminated by arsenic in Bangladesh is considered one of the most devastating public health crises in the world. Almost a quarter of the country's population, an estimated 39 million people, drink water naturally contaminated by this deadly element, which can silently attack a person's organs over years or decades, leading to cancers, cardiovascular disease, developmental and cognitive problems in children, and death. An estimated 43,000 people die each year from arsenic-related illness in Bangladesh.


To avoid arsenic contamination, many Bangladeshi households access water via private wells drilled to 300 feet or less, beneath impermeable clay layers. Such clay layers have been thought to protect groundwater in the underlying aquifers from the downward flow of contaminants. However, a study published in Nature Communications this week suggests that such clay layers do not always protect against arsenic, and could even be a source of contamination in some wells.

Clay layers had previously been suspected of contaminating groundwater with arsenic in parts of Bangladesh, the Mekong delta of Vietnam and the Central Valley of California, but the new paper provides the most direct evidence so far.

"Our findings challenge a widely held view, namely that impermeable clay layers necessarily protect an aquifer from perturbation," said Alexander van Geen, a research professor at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory who has been studying arsenic contamination of drinking water for two decades. "In this context, we show from several different angles—failed attempts to lower local exposure, high-resolution drilling, monitoring, and groundwater dating—that this is actually not the case for groundwater arsenic, because distant municipal pumping can trigger remotely the release of arsenic below such a clay layer."

The researchers were inspired to conduct the study after two manually pumped community wells drilled to intermediate depths in the vicinity of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, suddenly failed, producing water with elevated concentrations of arsenic after having generated clean water for many months.

Most sand contains arsenic, but it is not a problem until the arsenic is released into drinking water in some way, typically through response to reactive carbon. The sources of this reactive carbon remain poorly understood, despite decades of study. One possibility is that it travels into the sediment with the downward flowing of surface waters, but the researchers showed with groundwater dating that such flow was not responsible in the case of their study area. Another is that reactive carbon is released as plant matter breaks down underground. The third theory, demonstrated for the first time in the new paper, is that excessive municipal pumping can compress the clay layers, squeezing out reactive carbon, which then releases arsenic from local sediments.


Indeed, the researchers found that the recent changes in arsenic near Dhaka were the result of pumping from deeper aquifers to satisfy the municipal supply of the city. Because of this deep municipal pumping, water levels under Dhaka itself are a hundred meters below what they would naturally be—the aquifer just doesn't refill fast enough. This depressed area is called the Dhaka "cone of depression," and it extends approximately 20 kilometers around the city.

Samples of clay and aquifer sand cuttings collected at five-foot intervals near the study site in Bangladesh. Grey sand is often associated with elevated arsenic in groundwater and orange sand consistently with low arsenic in groundwater. Credit: Rajib Mozumder

"In Dhaka, the pumping probably accelerated the release of arsenic and allowed us to document the changes within a decade," said van Geen. "We wouldn't have figured this out without having been there monitoring wells for at least 10 years. Monitoring is not very exciting, but because of the monitoring we discovered something fascinating."

The research team's findings are especially worrisome for local households on the outskirts of Dhaka that have been privately re-installing wells to access relatively shallow aquifers beneath the impermeable clay layer.

Even in the absence of deep pumping for municipal needs, long-term diffusion of dissolved organic carbon from clay layers could explain why private wells screened just below a clay layer in other sedimentary aquifers are more likely to be contaminated with arsenic than deeper wells, according to the paper.

While the geochemical conditions surrounding every aquifer are different, the problem of arsenic and other contaminants leaking into deep aquifer groundwater is not unique to Dhaka. "It's a warning and it means that in some areas you need to probably test wells more frequently than others," said van Geen.

The problem is not unique to Bangladesh, either. With groundwater pumping from aquifers expected to continue throughout the world, more global monitoring for contamination by arsenic from compacting clay layers may be necessary, according to the paper's authors.

The dilemma of how to provide Bangladesh's population with clean water remains. Deep wells are currently supplying some of the safest water in Bangladesh, said Charles Harvey, a professor of civil engineering at MIT who has long studied arsenic in drinking water but did not contribute to this research. "Most of them seem to be fine, but this raises the alarm that maybe they won't stay fine."

The research question van Geen would like to address next occupies the realm of behavioral economics: "How can you encourage people who have wells that are high in arsenic to do something about it?"


Explore furtherStudy zeroes in on source of arsenic in Bengal Basin's deep wells

More information: Nature Communications (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-16104-z
Journal information: Nature Communications

Provided by Columbia University

Carbon footprint hotspots: Mapping China's export-driven emissions

by University of Michigan

i Map shows sources of Chinese carbon dioxide emissions tied to products consumed overseas in 2012. Orange and red locations are hotspots for Chinese emissions that are tied to exports. A new University of Michigan-led study tracked Chinese emissions to a small number of coastal manufacturing hubs and showed that about 1% of the country’s land area is responsible for 75% of the export-linked CO2 emissions. Credit: From Yang et al., Nature Communications 2020The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted just how reliant the United States and other countries are on Chinese manufacturing, with widespread shortages of protective medical gear produced there.

But U.S. dependence on China extends far beyond surgical masks and N95 respirators. China is the largest producer of many industrial and consumer products shipped worldwide, and about one-quarter of the country's gross domestic product comes from exports.

It is also the world's largest emitter of climate-altering carbon dioxide gas, generated by the burning of fossil fuels. A new study details the links between China's exports and its emissions by mapping the in-country sources of carbon dioxide emissions tied to products consumed overseas.

University of Michigan researchers and their Chinese collaborators tracked these emissions to a small number of coastal manufacturing hubs and showed that about 1% of the country's land area is responsible for 75% of the export-linked CO2 emissions.

The study, scheduled for publication May 7 in Nature Communications, provides the most detailed mapping of China's export-driven CO2 emissions to date, according to corresponding author Shen Qu of the U-M School for Environment and Sustainability. The findings, which are based on 2012 emissions data, offer insights that can guide policymakers, he said.

"Developing localized climate mitigation strategies requires an understanding of how global consumption drives local carbon dioxide emissions with a fine spatial resolution," said Qu, a Dow Sustainability Postdoctoral Fellow at SEAS who combines the tools of input-output analysis and network analysis to uncover the role of international trade in global environmental impacts.

"The carbon footprint hotspots identified in this study are the key places to focus on collaborative mitigation efforts between China and the downstream parties that drive those emissions," he said.

The study found that the manufacturing hubs responsible for most of the foreign-linked emissions are in the Yangtze River Delta (including Shanghai, China's top CO2-emitting city), the Pearl River Delta (including Dongguan) and the North China Plain (including Tianjin). These cities have, or are close to, ports for maritime shipping.

The modeling study uses data from large-scale emissions inventories derived from 2012 surveys of individual firms in all Chinese industries that generate carbon dioxide emissions. Emissions levels have likely changed in response to recent U.S.-China trade disputes and the COVID-19 pandemic, which has significantly impacted Chinese manufacturing and exports.

Chinese CO2 emissions driven by foreign consumption totaled 1.466 megatons in 2012, accounting for 14.6% of the country's industrial-related carbon dioxide emissions that year. If the Chinese manufacturing hubs identified in the U-M study constituted a separate country, their CO2 emissions in 2012 would have ranked fifth in the world behind China, the United States, India and Russia, according to the authors.

The study also found that:

• Exports to the United States, Hong Kong and Japan were responsible for the biggest chunks of Chinese foreign-linked CO2 emissions, contributing about 23%, 10.8% and 9%, respectively.
• About 49% of the U.S.-linked CO2 emissions were driven by the production of consumer goods for the household.
• About 42% of the export-driven CO2 emissions in China are tied to electricity generation, with notable hotspots in the cities of Shanghai, Ningbo, Suzhou (Jiangsu Province) and Xuzhou. Much of that electricity is produced at coal-fired power plants.
• China is the world's largest steel producer and exporter. Cities that manufacture large amounts of iron and steel—and that use large amounts of coal in the process—were hotspots for export-driven CO2 emissions. Cement plants and petroleum refineries were also big contributors.

In the study, U-M researchers and their collaborators used carbon footprint accounting—i.e., consumption-based accounting—to track greenhouse gas emissions driven by global supply chains. They mapped those emissions at a spatial resolution of 10 kilometers by 10 kilometers, a level of detail that enabled them to identify specific source cities.

"Previous studies have linked greenhouse gas emissions to final consumption of products, but primarily at national or regional levels," said study co-author Ming Xu of the U-M School for Environment and Sustainability and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

"Given the increasing importance of non-state actors—provinces, states, cities and companies—in climate mitigation, it becomes increasingly important to be able to explicitly link the final consumers of products to the subnational actors that have direct control over greenhouse gas emissions."

Coronavirus outbreak slashes China carbon emissions: study

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More information: Mapping global carbon footprint in China, Nature Communications (2020). doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-15883-9

AI devising a more equitable tax system

by Peter Grad , Tech Xplore

Credit: Salesforce

Everybody loves to hate taxes. And unless you are lucky enough to live in one of a small handful of countries with no income tax—Bermuda, Monaco or the United Arab Emirates, for instance—you likely dread Tax Day when you dig deep into your pockets and send a chunk of your hard-earned cash to government coffers.

Billions of words have been written about taxes. Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. proudly declared, "I like to pay taxes. With them, I buy civilization." But Mark Twain scowled, " The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin."

In the end, what we can most hope for is a fair tax system. Economists have opined about the most equitable system of taxation for ages. Tax too much and you reduce the incentive to earn more. Tax too little and those who are not rich suffer more. There has always been little agreement among economists on the best approach. Place 10 economists in a room, as the saying goes, and you will come up with 11 opinions.

Against that backdrop, scientists at the U.S. business technology company Salesforce devised an artificial intelligence system charged with testing and developing the ideal tax system in a simulated environment. The program, called AI Economist, applies reinforcement learning to help governments worldwide achieve a more equitable taxation system. Reinforcement learning is the application of reward and punishment to machine algorithms for the purpose of maximizing desirable outcomes. That concept was used in Google's DeepMind projects AlphaGo and AlphaZero.

The AI Economist team states in a report recently posted on the company's website: "Economic inequality is accelerating globally and is a growing concern due to its negative impact on economic opportunity, health and social welfare. Taxes are important tools for governments to reduce inequality. However, finding a tax policy that optimizes equality along with productivity is an unsolved problem."

Richard Socher, who heads up the six-person research team, further explained, "With the AI Economist, we've applied reinforcement learning algorithms to discover how novel tax frameworks can reduce inequality and improve economic productivity, and ultimately make the world a better place."

The program basically creates massive numbers of ecosystems with theoretical workers who trade currency and construct homes. Pay levels and skill sets vary and a "tax master" controlled by AI determines optimal tax rates. Millions of years of hypothetical economic models are constructed to determine the system that achieves the greatest productivity and the greatest income.

Salesforce researchers say economists tend to rely on theorems based on rational behavior. Machine learning allows them to introduce unexpected behaviors.

"Our model is incredibly powerful," said team member Nikhil Naik. "Our world today is getting more complex and economic theories of the future need to be able to seamlessly incorporate additional requirements such as environmental protection. In addition, economic agents often exhibit complex, irrational, competitive or collaborative behaviors. AI helps to model such complexity and a broad spectrum of behaviors."

The researchers say their models have achieved scenarios that are 16 percent more effective than real-world economic models created by economists.

Recognizing the problem of corruptive political considerations in tax policy, team member Alex Trott said, "It would be amazing to make tax policy less political and more data driven."

Salesforce is releasing all AI Economist code and encourages economists, governments and all other interested parties to try their hand at devising a better tax plan.

New models see coronavirus-induced recession, say economists

More information: blog.einstein.ai/the-ai-economist/

Vancouver Amazon VP quits in ‘dismay’ over apparent COVID-19 dismissals

By Tyler Orton | May 4, 2020



What happened: Vancouver-based vice-president leaves tech giant over concerns about how workers are being treated

Why it matters: Varying workplace responses to COVID-19 raises concerns over worker safety

A high-level Vancouver executive at Amazon Web Services (AWS) has quit his job in “dismay” over how his former parent company has been treating workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tim Bray, previously an AWS vice-president and distinguished engineer, revealed that May 1 marked his last day on the job after more than five years with the tech giant.


“I quit in dismay at Amazon firing whistleblowers who were making noise about warehouse employees frightened of COVID-19,” he said in a blog post published Monday (May 4).

Bray was referencing dismissals that unfolded last month, when warehouse workers reached out to the Amazon Employees for Climate Justice (AECJ) organization for support raising awareness over what they considered to be unsafe working conditions during the pandemic.

One warehouse worker had already been dismissed in the wake of internal company protests.

Some AECJ members in turn promoted a petition and organized a video call to bring attention to the issue.

They were subsequently dismissed for what Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq:AMZN) described as violating internal policies on commenting on the company publicly without authorization.

“VPs shouldn’t go publicly rogue, so I escalated through the proper channels and by the book,” Bray said in his post, adding he would not provide further details about those discussions other than that he believes he brought up his concerns to the appropriate people.

“That done, remaining an Amazon VP would have meant, in effect, signing off on actions I despised. So I resigned.”

The former tech executive the job provided a $1 million between salary and share vestings, but he was left uneasy after warehouse workers repeatedly raised concerns about the safety of Amazon’s fulfillment centres.

Amazon has previously stated all necessary safety precautions are being met at its warehouses.

“And at the end of the day, the big problem isn’t the specifics of COVID-19 response. It’s that Amazon treats the humans in the warehouses as fungible units of pick-and-pack potential. Only that’s not just Amazon, it’s how 21st century capitalism is done,” Bray said in his post.

“Amazon is exceptionally well-managed and has demonstrated great skill at spotting opportunities and building repeatable processes for exploiting them. It has a corresponding lack of vision about the human costs of the relentless growth and accumulation of wealth and power.”

He said the firing of those workers is “evidence of a vein of toxicity running through the company culture.”

But Bray had kinder words for AWS, the cloud-computing division of Amazon.

“It treats its workers humanely, strives for work/life balance, struggles to move the diversity needle (and mostly fails, but so does everyone else), and is by and large an ethical organization. I genuinely admire its leadership,” he said in his post.

“Of course, its workers have power. The average pay is very high, and anyone who’s unhappy can walk across the street and get another job paying the same or better.”

AWS, which has offices scattered across downtown Vancouver, is planning to take up 416,000 square feet in the redeveloped Canada Post building on West Georgia Street, with plans to add 3,000 more workers to the city in the coming years.

Amazon did not respond to a request from comment from Business in Vancouver prior to publication.

UPDATE (May 5, 6:50 a.m.): An Amazon spokeswoman said the company has no comment on the matter.

B.C. nurses, doctors cite protective equipment shortage, safety concerns

Ministry said ‘significant effort’ made to obtain sufficient protective gear

By Jeremy Hainsworth | May 5, 2020

iStock

B.C.’s nurses and doctors have added their voices to those of those across the country who say there are insufficient amounts of personal protective equipment (PPE) for those on the frontline of the pandemic response.

“Nurses are getting only one mask per shift. Others have been told to leave their used mask on a piece of paper towel when they go on a break,” B.C. Nurses Union president Christine Sorensen said.

About 90% of doctors surveyed by the Canadian Medical Association April 28 indicated greater availability of PPE would help reduce their anxiety around the pandemic.

Indeed, Doctors of B.C. president Dr. Kathleen Ross said, “We have continuing concerns about supplies of PPE, understanding there is a worldwide shortage. These shortages aren’t just in hospitals, there is also a lack of access and supply for community based specialists and family physicians around the province.

“We have raised these concerns with the Ministry of Health and health authorities,” Ross said.

Provincial medical health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has said currently postponed surgeries may be available this month.

But, said Ross, “when elective surgeries begin ramping up, additional pressure will be put on PPE supplies, which is causing additional concern.”

Sorenson said the union has received 1,700 complaints since March from nurses across B.C. health saying employers aren’t providing adequate numbers of gowns, gloves, face shields and N95 respirator masks. The union said the equipment is critical to protecting both nurses and their patients as the coronavirus pandemic continues.

Asked if there was a shortage of PPE, the Ministry of Health could not immediately answer.

“Healthcare workers are the frontline in our battle against COVID-19,”spokesperson Alex Peaker said. “They are responding courageously to monumental challenges during this unprecedented time. Their safety is our fundamental concern.

Peaker said the government “undertook a significant and active effort to acquire additional supply of personal protective equipment through all available options.”

As well, Peaker said, elective surgeries were postponed in preparation for COVID-19 and reduced hospital acute-care capacity to about 60%. “This protects healthcare workers, patients and the public.”

“We will continue to stand with and protect our healthcare workers, with the support of all British Columbians,” Peaker said.

Sorensen, however, questions what pandemic response measures or other disease transmission controls existed before the pandemic and how healthcare sector employers intend to respond as the pandemic continues.

“Respirators, masks and other PPE are meant to be the last line of defense for care providers, after all other control measures are in place,” Sorensen said. “The fact that some hospital emergency rooms still have triage desks without plexi-glass barriers, like the ones now present in grocery stores and food processing plants, is quite simply beyond me.”

Ross said PPE supplies are coordinated provincially through the Provincial Health Services Authority and distributed to health authorities.

Ross said doctors have been using virtual care options more often during the pandemic but said as restrictions ease, in-person care would increase creating a need for PPE in community practice.

“The process for acquiring PPE for community doctors is less clear than for those in facilities, as there is no real acquisition process yet in place, Ross said. “Community doctors are finding there is a lack of information about supply and most don’t know where to obtain PPE or who to ask.

She said discussions are ongoing as to where PPE can be sourced.

“ This will likely be through the emergency operations committees for each health authority,” Ross said. “We have asked health authorities to clarify this process.”

And, Ross explained, some health authorities are working with family practitioners but only in selected areas.

“This is a significant challenge, and we are working with the provincial government to develop plans that meet the needs of community doctors in a timely way,” Ross said.

Vancouver Coastal Health Authority and Fraser Health Authority referred questions to the ministry.

The B.C. Hospital Employers Association could not be immediately reached for comment.

jhainsworth@glaciermedia.ca

@jhainswo



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Anti-virus measures in place at Richmond's food-packing operations
There have been COVID-19 outbreaks at food processing facilities across the Lower Mainland, but Richmond seems to have avoided the same issues


By Alan Campbell, Richmond News | May 5, 2020

Social distancing and PPE is very evident at Organic Ocean's operations at Steveston Harbour. Photo submitted

While health authorities grapple with COVID-19 outbreaks at food processing facilities across the Lower Mainland, similar operations in Richmond appear to have side-stepped that particular landmine.

There are seven confirmed cases of the virus at Fraser Valley Specialty Poultry in Chilliwack, 54 at Superior Poultry in Coquitlam and 35 at United Poultry in Vancouver.

Some of those cases may be linked to temporary foreign workers, who often live in large numbers in the same accommodation.

However, according to the union which represents many of the employees at such facilities, there have been no reported cases of COVID-19 in Richmond.

Parm Kahlon, spokesperson for UFCW 1518 local – which has 112 members at Donald’s Fine Foods on Mitchell Island in north Richmond – said major changes have been made to the operations since the pandemic started.

“Staff are all wearing gloves and masks and using plexi-glass, all provided by the company,” Kahlon told the Richmond News.

“Staff benches and tables (in break rooms) have been removed and there are now tents now outside for breaks and lunches, where there is more space.”

Kahlon said the company has also created more distance between workers on production lines and is staggering break times to avoid large groups gathering.

The News has reached out to Donald's Fine Foods and several other Richmond processing plants for comment on their operations.

It has also contacted the Migrant Workers Centre - a B.C.-based non-profit which provides legal advocacy - to find out if temporary foreign workers are being employed at Richmond food processing/packing operations.

Meanwhile, another Richmond-based company in the food sector is thankful it got well ahead of the pandemic curve, when it outfitted all employees with PPE and totally re-worked its operations several months ago.

Guy Dean, president and general manager at Organic Ocean Seafood in Steveston Harbour, said his company has been working with a limited crew at the plant since March, when it also shut off access to the operations side for people who don’t need to touch the product.

The company specializes in high-end seafood, such as salmon, halibut, ling cod, sablefish and spot prawns and supplies some of the world’s top chefs, from across North America to Hong Kong and Singapore.

“We took COVID social and physical distancing very seriously at a very early stage, around the time the (World Health Organization) declared it a pandemic, but way before B.C. started making recommendations and orders,” said Dean.

“It was critical for us to have employee safety and to have protection of our resources. We locked down long before it became official.”

Dean said the company has an investor who was “very tuned in to what was happening around the world” and gave them an early heads up as to what was around the corner.

“We were well aware of what was coming and went out and got our PPE stock before anyone else had even considered it,” added Dean.

Ordinarily, Organic Ocean would have 17 employees at the Steveston plant, including office staff.

But they are now down to only four people at any one time in the operations side, normally there would be seven, while the office staff are all working from home.

“We work in teams and we had to split them up. We have a safety officer who jumps on it the second it’s not happening,” said Dean.

However, like most businesses that supply the restaurant trade, Organic Ocean has suffered a massive financial hit, losing about 80 per cent of its orders.

The company didn’t sit around waiting for a miracle, though, it pivoted 180 degrees and started doing home deliveries across the Lower Mainland.

“We had to re-invent ourselves,” said Dean, adding that they also donate produce to the Downtown Eastside in Vancouver.
“We

 took about two weeks to get something up and running which would normally take six months to a year.

“We got some of our business back in Singapore, but they relapsed. But Hong Kong and other locations are slowly coming back on line.”

As for the current push across B.C. to have the current restrictions on social activities – such as restaurants and bars – lifted, the new model of operating at Organic Ocean seems to be here to stay, for a very long time.

“We plan to listen to the science, which continues to tell us to be cautious,” added Dean.

“We may see some easing (in restrictions) and B.C. has done an amazing job. Hopefully we will see some food business return.

“We don’t see us changing those restrictions to staff any time soon. This is the new normal; our employees will be required to wear (PPE) in perpetuity.”

Richmond News