Check the Summary in less than 1 minute!
Research in Details
Research #1
EQUITY - New research infuses equity principles into the algorithm development process.
Author(s): Vishwali Mhasawade, Yuan Zhao & Rumi Chunara
Date of publication: July 2021
SUMMARY
Researchers have found a new approach to incorporating the larger web of relevant data for predictive modeling for individual and community health outcomes. The researchers organized existing work into a taxonomy of the types of tasks for which machine learning and AI are used that span prediction, interventions, identifying effects and allocations, to show examples of how a multi-level perspective can be leveraged. In this study, the authors also show how the same framework is applicable to considerations of data privacy, governance, and best practices to move the healthcare burden from individuals, toward improving equity.
Research #2
ECONOMICS - New theory of decision-making seeks to explain why humans don't make optimal choices.
Author: Mina Mahmoudi, Mark Pingle & Rattaphon Wuthisatian
Date of publication: June, 2022
SUMMARY
A new theory of economic decision-making offers an explanation as to why humans, in general, make decisions that are simply adequate, not optimal. In a research published in the Review of Behavioral Economics, Dr. Mahmoudi theorizes an aspect of relative thinking explaining people may use ratios in their decision-making when they should only use absolute differences. The inverse is also possible. To explain this behavioral anomaly, Dr. Mahmoudi has developed a ratio-difference theory that gives weight to both ratio and difference comparisons. This theory seeks to more accurately capture the manner by which a boundedly rational decision-maker might operationally distinguish whether one alternative is better than another.
Research #3
ENVIRONMENT- New ultrafast water disinfection method is more environmentally friendly.
Author (s): Ting Wang & Xing Xie
Date of publication: January, 2023.
Summary
Researchers have found a way to use small shocks of electricity to disinfect water, reducing energy consumption, cost, and environmental impact. The technology could be integrated into the electric grid or even powered by batteries. The researchers created a locally enhanced electric field (LEEFT) that brought the electricity directly to the bacteria. The electrodes have gold nanotips that build up concentrated charges instantly when connected to electricity, enabling the charges to travel to the membrane and kill the bacteria much faster.
Research #3
ENERGY - China's stricter clean heating policies may have saved thousands of lives.
Author(s): Congbo Song, Bowen Liu, Kai Cheng, Matthew A. Cole, Qili Dai, Robert J. R. Elliott, & Zongbo Shi
Date of publication: February, 2023
SUMMARY
China's stricter clean heating policies have improved air quality in northern China, particularly in Beijing and surrounding cities -- potentially reducing 23,000 premature deaths due to air pollution in 2021 than in 2015, a new study reveals. Whilst coal has been the main heating energy source in northern China -- accounting for 83% of the total heating area in 2016, new policies have encouraged the use of cleaner fuels such as gas and electricity, reducing the dependence of urban areas on coal and rural areas on biomass.
Research #5
EQUITY - Social isolation triggers astrocyte-mediated deficits in learning and memory.
Author(s): Yi-Ting Cheng, Junsung Woo, Estefania Luna-Figueroa, Ehson Maleki,, Akdes Serin Harmanci, & Benjamin Deneen
Date of publication February 2023
SUMMARY
Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine working with animal models report in the journal Neuron that during social isolation, astrocytes become hyperactive, which in turn suppresses brain circuit function and memory formation. Importantly, inhibiting astrocyte hyperactivity reversed the cognitive deficits associated with social deprivation. Looking for a deeper understanding of the mechanism by which astrocytes of socially-isolated mice cause learning and memory deficits, the researchers studied calcium ions (Ca2+), which previous studies had shown play a central role in astrocyte-mediated learning and memory behaviors.