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More than 50 million people in the world are estimated to be in a situation of modern slavery, the most extreme form of labour exploitation. Many of them are working in sectors such as mining and agriculture, which produce price-sensitive commodity products and where workers are particularly vulnerable. Against this challenge, we analyse a successful intervention against modern slavery in a place that has been labelled the “ground zero of modern slavery in the US”. The Fair Food Programme was established in the tomato growing industry in Immokalee, Florida, and is based on an innovative joint action between farmers, buyers, and workers. We use an agent-based model built on qualitative field data to explain the success of the programme and to investigate whether the programme could be successfully transferred to other contextual settings. We model several market structures and measure the time it takes for all actors in the system to join the Fair Food Programme after a shock event (such as a case of modern slavery being discovered) triggered a dynamic of joint action. Our model shows that a high heterogeneity in farmer sizes leads to an increase in the time taken for them all to join the Fair Food Programme, while a high heterogeneity in buyer sizes speeds up reaching the tipping point towards joint action. We discuss these results and their implications for the transferability of the Fair Food Programme as a voluntary, incentive-driven approach towards tackling modern slavery, to other locations and contexts.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory and demyelinating disease which leads to impairment in several functional systems including cognition. Alteration of brain networks is linked to disability and its progression. However, results are mostly cross-sectional and yet contradictory as putative adaptive and maladaptive mechanisms were found. Here, we aimed to explore longitudinal reorganization of brain networks over 2-years by combining diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), resting-state functional MRI (fMRI), magnetoencephalography (MEG), and a comprehensive neuropsychological-battery. In 37 relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) and 39 healthy-controls, cognition remained stable over-time. We reconstructed network models based on the three modalities and analyzed connectivity in relation to the hierarchical topology and functional subnetworks. Network models were compared across modalities and in their association with cognition using linear-mixed-effect-regression models. Loss of hub connectivity and global reduction was observed on a structural level over-years (p .010), which was similar for functional MEG-networks but not for fMRI-networks. Structural hub connectivity increased in controls (p = .044), suggesting a physiological mechanism of healthy aging. Despite a general loss in structural connectivity in RRMS, hub connectivity was preserved (p = .002) over-time in default-mode-network (DMN). MEG-networks were similar to DTI and weakly correlated with fMRI in MS (p .050). Lower structural (β between .23-.33) and both lower (β between .40-.59) and higher functional connectivity (β = -.54) in DMN was associated with poorer performance in attention and memory in RRMS (p .001). MEG-networks involved no association with cognition. Here, cognitive stability despite ongoing neurodegeneration might indicate a resilience mechanism of DMN hubs mimicking a physiological reorganization observed in healthy aging.

Supplemental material, sj-docx-4-tan-10.1177_17562864221118729 for ‘That would have been the perfect thing after diagnosis’: development of a digital lifestyle management application in multiple sclerosis by Nicole Krause, Karin Riemann-Lorenz, Anne Christin Rahn, Jana Pöttgen, Sascha Köpke, Björn Meyer, Frithjof Thale, Herbert Temmes, Markus van de Loo, Stefan M. Gold and Christoph Heesen in Therapeutic Advances in Neurological Disorders

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-tan-10.1177_17562864221118729 for ‘That would have been the perfect thing after diagnosis’: development of a digital lifestyle management application in multiple sclerosis by Nicole Krause, Karin Riemann-Lorenz, Anne Christin Rahn, Jana Pöttgen, Sascha Köpke, Björn Meyer, Frithjof Thale, Herbert Temmes, Markus van de Loo, Stefan M. Gold and Christoph Heesen in Therapeutic Advances in Neurological Disorders

Additional file 1 Supplementary document with technical derivations, proofs, and additional simulation study results.

Supplemental material, sj-docx-3-tan-10.1177_17562864221118729 for ‘That would have been the perfect thing after diagnosis’: development of a digital lifestyle management application in multiple sclerosis by Nicole Krause, Karin Riemann-Lorenz, Anne Christin Rahn, Jana Pöttgen, Sascha Köpke, Björn Meyer, Frithjof Thale, Herbert Temmes, Markus van de Loo, Stefan M. Gold and Christoph Heesen in Therapeutic Advances in Neurological Disorders

Supplemental material, sj-docx-2-tan-10.1177_17562864221118729 for ‘That would have been the perfect thing after diagnosis’: development of a digital lifestyle management application in multiple sclerosis by Nicole Krause, Karin Riemann-Lorenz, Anne Christin Rahn, Jana Pöttgen, Sascha Köpke, Björn Meyer, Frithjof Thale, Herbert Temmes, Markus van de Loo, Stefan M. Gold and Christoph Heesen in Therapeutic Advances in Neurological Disorders

Recent estimates suggest that more than 40 million people worldwide are in situations of modern slavery and other forms of labor exploitation. UN Sustainable Development Goal 8.7 addresses this problem and urges stakeholders to take effective measures to end all forms of labor exploitation by 2030. Labor exploitation is often a direct consequence of forced migration, and humanitarian operations have a key role to play in tackling this issue worldwide. Academic research can facilitate this by providing the necessary decision-making tools to support antislavery practitioners in humanitarian organizations and governments. For effective resource allocation, these practitioners need tools to help them systematically identify and assess the risks of labor exploitation in an area. In this paper, we develop a multi-method approach that combines various data sources to capture the issue’s complex and multidimensional nature. Through satellite remote sensing, we first identify 50 informal settlements hosting migrant workers in the strawberry production area of Southern Greece. We then apply a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) method to a subset of six informal settlements in order to evaluate their labor exploitation risks based on eight criteria. In addition to being practically implemented by a humanitarian organization and a government agency in Greece, our paper advances research on humanitarian operations and labor exploitation by elucidating how a multi-method approach can be used for data-driven prioritization of interventions against labor exploitation. Our approach offers opportunities for other applications in the field of humanitarian operations.

© 2020 The Authors. Business Strategy and Development published by ERP Environment and John Wiley & Sons Ltd The United Kingdom's Modern Slavery Act exposed companies to a new ethical challenge in their supply chains. An estimated 40.3 million people worldwide are in modern slavery, working in a range of supply chains, including construction and facilities management. In this article, we show how the UK construction and facilities management sector responded to this challenge through an intra-industry initiative and went through a process of collaborative sense-making and sector-wide agreement on a joint approach to challenge modern slavery in the sector's operations and supply chains. The research takes an engaged research approach whereby the researchers have been able to gain deep and continued access to the phenomenon from participation in a multi-company initiative on the implementation of responses to the UK Modern Slavery Act in supply chain and procurement activities of their sector. We identify and discuss key areas for supply chain and procurement practitioners tasked with addressing a human rights topic in their operations and supply chains: Motivation, risk hot-spots, challenges and response and provide a rich understanding of an intra-industry initiative which creates a basis for further research on collective sustainability approaches by businesses who are otherwise commercial competitors. The study's results and insights are useful for policymakers and practitioners who are aiming to apply market-based approaches for sustainability improvements in supply chains.