Warmer weather, looser restrictions draw students to gather outdoors
Loosening restrictions and the warmer weather are beginning to draw students outside where experts say gathering is safer — but still not risk free.
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.
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Loosening restrictions and the warmer weather are beginning to draw students outside where experts say gathering is safer — but still not risk free.
Tens of millions of people across the U.S. have received a coronavirus vaccine. So far, the majority of doses have been either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, both of which use mRNA to generate an immune response. These gene-based vaccines have been in the works for decades, but this is the first time they have been used widely in people.
The various Covid-19 vaccines currently being distributed around the globe have the potential to end the worst pandemic in a century. They also will mean hundreds of billions dollars in sales for the pharmaceutical companies that make them.
Good evening. I’m Deborah Netburn, a science and features writer at the Los Angeles Times, filling in for Thuc Nhi Nguyen for a few days. You may remember me from my previous stints with the newsletter — it’s nice to be back! It’s Monday, March 15, and here’s what’s happening with the coronavirus in California and beyond.
Developing the vaccines was a gamble for the all the companies that tried, even with most drug makers accepting government grands.

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