BALTIMORE, MD, May 24, 2025 – Most anti-human trafficking efforts focus on breaking up sex sales; however, new research in the INFORMS journal Manufacturing & Service Operations Management is turning its attention to where trafficking truly begins – recruitment. Using machine learning to analyze millions of online ads, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have uncovered patterns that link deceptive job offers to sex trafficking networks. By mapping the connections between recruitment and sales locations, the study reveals a hidden supply chain – one that can now be exposed and interrupted earlier in the trafficking process.
Drugs being explicitly developed to treat rare diseases are getting more expensive.
Old technology is behind the recent ongoing delays and cancellations at Newark Liberty International Airport, but newer technology will be an important part of the solution.
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Stocks on Wall Street erased their losses for the year, a remarkable milestone for a market that was reeling just a few months ago as investors feared the damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
With the impact of COVID-19, Americans across the country went from wishing for the weekend, to living it daily. To many, it is feeling a bit like the film Groundhog Day. But the current state of the country won’t last forever, and before too long Americans will be back to counting down for the weekend. The typical countdown begins when they arrive to work on Monday. From there, it’s “hump day” on Wednesday and it continues until Friday finally arrives.
As Covid-19 cases took off in New York in March, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo imposed a lockdown of nonessential businesses to slow the spread of the coronavirus, calling it “the most drastic action we can take.” Now researchers say more targeted approaches — in New York and elsewhere — might have protected public health with less economic pain.
In the fight against the coronavirus, assuming the best-case scenario — the population continuing to maintain social distancing and hand hygiene; keeping the elderly protected by sheltering in place; wearing masks; robust testing; and “really good contact tracing” — we’ll see the virus smolder. Absent that good behavior, we may see a potentially devastating second wave in the fall.
The coronavirus appears to be in retreat in regions that moved decisively to contain it after being hit hard, including New York and New Jersey. But the virus is persisting — and, in some places, spreading aggressively — in parts of the South, Midwest and West, including in states that were among the last to impose shutdowns and the first to lift them.
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