Decision Science Digest: September 30, 2024

BALTIMORE, MD, September 30, 2024 – 

EDITOR’S NOTE: Decision Science Digest is a periodic communique highlighting recent peer-reviewed research published by INFORMS, the largest association for the decision and data sciences, across its 17 journals. This issue highlights four press releases based on the findings of new peer-reviewed articles.

• Focusing on the Family: A Breakthrough in Genetic Testing that Provides Health Information to Everyone, Not Just One Person (INFORMS journal Manufacturing & Service Operations Management)
• Utilizing Drones to Save Lives and Fight the Opioid Epidemic: New Model Can Save up to 33 Lives per Year (INFORMS journal Operations Research)
• Generative AI Interprets Reactions to Polarizing Content: Social Media vs. Email (INFORMS journal Management Science)
• Identifying Depression and Preventing Suicide: New Model Utilizes Social Media Data to Save Lives (INFORMS journal Information Systems Research)

A Breakthrough in Genetic Testing: A New Model That Identifies Who to Test and in What Order to Inform Disease Risk for a Family

New research in the INFORMS journal Manufacturing & Service Operations Management offers a promising and powerful new approach to genetic testing. Knowing an individual’s genetic status can inform disease risk for family members, but current protocols for deciding whom to genetically test only consider one person at a time rather than designing an optimal testing plan for the entire family. In the paper, “Frontiers in Operations: Optimal Genetic Testing of Families,” researchers develop an optimal policy that significantly improves cost-effectiveness over existing policies. Their framework prioritizes testing family members who might otherwise not have been tested, which can lead to an overall improvement in familial health value. Link to full article.

Saving Lives By Using Drones: The New Drone Dispatching Model that Decreases Opioid Overdoses and Response Times

New research in the INFORMS journal Operations Research utilizes drones to fight the opioid crisis, dispatching the unmanned devices to quickly deliver a life-saving drug to a patient who is overdosing. The paper, “Drone-Delivery Network for Opioid Overdose: Nonlinear Integer Queueing-Optimization Models and Methods,” proposes a new emergency network design model that uses a fleet of drones to deliver naloxone. The model locates fixed (drone bases) and mobile (drones) servers and determines the drone dispatching decisions. The researchers used real data and found that utilizing this model and drones in Virginia Beach can decrease the response time by 82%, increase the survival chance by more than 273%, save up to 33 additional lives per year and provide up to 279 additional quality-adjusted life years annually. Link to full article.

Social Media vs. Email Communication: New Research Discovers Where Polarizing Content Thrives

New research in the INFORMS journal Management Science is utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) to interpret the reaction from consumers depending on how polarizing content is shared. In the article, “From Feeds to Inboxes: A Comparative Study of Polarization in Facebook and Email News Sharing,” the researchers used an approach combining generative AI and The New York Times data on alternative ways to share polarizing content. They found that highly polarized articles are more likely to be shared on Facebook versus email, even after accounting for factors such as topic, emotion and article age. The research found that social issues dominate Facebook shares and lifestyle topics are more prevalent in emails. The researchers say this work is both scalable and cost effective. Link to full article.

New Research Utilizes Social Media Data to Develop Models to Identify and Help Prevent Suicide

New research in the INFORMS journal Information Systems Research showcases a new method that could mean major developments for those suffering from mental health issues. In particular, suicidal ideation (SI), a psychiatric emergency requiring immediate intervention. Background literature in the paper, “KETCH: A Knowledge-Enhanced Transformer-Based Approach to Suicidal Ideation Detection from Social Media Content,” notes that those suffering from SI typically don’t seek help, but rather, in many cases, showcase their thoughts and feelings on social media. This article develops an approach to identify terms that may signal SI, allowing for a clear path to opportunities for timely detection and proactive intervention. Link to full article.

About INFORMS 

INFORMS advances and promotes the science and technology of decision-making to save lives, save money and solve problems. INFORMS members support organizations and governments at all levels as they work to transform data into information, and information into insights that lead to more efficient, effective, equitable and impactful results. INFORMS’ 12,000+ members comprise a diverse and robust international community of practitioners, researchers, educators and students from a variety of fields.  

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Contact:

Ashley Smith

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