Op-ed: The important role data scientists have in defeating COVID vaccine skepticism
The COVID-19 pandemic has been the most significant public health event in the United States since the 1918 H1N1 (Spanish) influenza pandemic.
The INFORMS Analytics+ Conference showcased how companies are turning advanced analytics and AI into measurable operational results
In most emergency departments, beds are a hot commodity. But some patients don’t actually need a bed for their treatment – and accurately identifying those people is a low-lift but effective way to increase efficiency without sacrificing care quality, finds a study recently published in the journal Management Science.
The researchers developed a simple decision tree, informed by mathematical and machine learning models, to help staff decide whether a patient truly needs a bed or can be routed to a “vertical processing pathway” – that is, an area where they can be treated sitting up. Many hospitals already have such an area but don’t necessarily have a systematic way to decide which patients are treated there.
American teenagers start their school day too early.
Medical experts have been clear for years: sleep cycle changes during puberty make it hard for teenagers to learn in the early morning. Later school start times have been linked to better sleep, improved mental health, stronger academic performance and even safer driving.
Most school district leaders know about this problem and care about fixing it. But changing the schedule can feel operationally impossible.
An audio journey of how data and analytics save lives, save money and solve problems.

Jeff Cohen
Chief Strategy Officer
INFORMS
Catonsville, MD
[email protected]
443-757-3565
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The COVID-19 pandemic has been the most significant public health event in the United States since the 1918 H1N1 (Spanish) influenza pandemic.
After a major investment in AI, Amazon says it blocked 10 billion attempted counterfeit listings in 2020. But shoppers should still beware.
Gaza militants have launched their “Sword of Jerusalem” rocket war with Israel by firing a symbolic salvo at Jerusalem and bigger ones elsewhere. Israel’s “Guardian of the Walls” operation responded with Iron Dome interceptors at home and airstrikes in Gaza.
On 15 August 2020, the Danish Heath Authority (Sundhedsstyrelsen) issued regulations, that among other things, required enforcement of physical distancing, both onboard trains and in public facilities. In many cases, the regulations set a target of 50% capacity. This was enacted on longer distance trains by implementing mandatory seat reservations, which were offered at no charge with a mobile phone app. However, on suburban trains and metros, there are no customer service personnel (conductors) onboard trains, and thus no one available to enforce these reservations. Copenhagen suburban trains have passenger counting technology, and so the national railway company, DSB, implemented a mobile phone app that could display the current occupation percent of individual trains in real time.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said Tuesday that more than 79,000 residents were receiving the COVID-19 vaccine each day.

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