‘The volume of the problem is astonishing’: Amazon’s battle against fakes may be too little, too late
After a major investment in AI, Amazon says it blocked 10 billion attempted counterfeit listings in 2020. But shoppers should still beware.
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.
Diversity alone won’t get the votes for funding public education. It takes communities that are more integrated and connected, where residents have a sense of shared stake.
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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.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has toyed with the idea of mandating that all college students at state schools be vaccinated prior to their return to campus in the fall. Although elected officials often veer into areas that are outside their purview, in this case, a statewide requirement makes good public health sense.

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