Research papers

How artificial intelligence will change the future of marketing

Thomas H. Davenport, Abhijit Guha, Dhruv Grewal, Timna Breßgott

Abstract In the future, artificial intelligence (AI) is likely to substantially change both marketing strategies and customer behaviors. Building from not only extant research but also extensive interactions with practice, the authors propose a multidimensional framework for understanding the impact of AI involving intelligence levels, task types, and whether AI is embedded in a robot. Prior research typically addresses a subset of these dimensions; this paper integrates all three into a single framework. Next, the authors propose a research agenda that addresses not only how marketing strategies and customer behaviors will change in the future, but also highlights important policy questions relating to privacy, bias and ethics. Finally, the authors suggest AI will be more effective if it augments (rather than replaces) human managers.

Global, Regional, and National Cancer Incidence, Mortality, Years of Life Lost, Years Lived With Disability, and Disability-Adjusted Life-Years for 29 Cancer Groups, 1990 to 2017

Christina Fitzmaurice, Degu Abate, Naghmeh Abbasi, Hedayat Abbastabar, Foad Abd-Allah, Omar Abdel‐Rahman, Ahmed Abdelalim, A…

Importance Cancer and other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are now widely recognized as a threat to global development. The latest United Nations high-level meeting on NCDs reaffirmed this observation and also highlighted the slow progress in meeting the 2011 Political Declaration on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases and the third Sustainable Development Goal. Lack of situational analyses, priority setting, and budgeting have been identified as major obstacles in achieving these goals. All of these have in common that they require information on the local cancer epidemiology. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study is uniquely poised to provide these crucial data. Objective To describe cancer burden for 29 cancer groups in 195 countries from 1990 through 2017 to provide data needed for cancer control planning. Evidence Review We used the GBD study estimation methods to describe cancer incidence, mortality, years lived with disability, years of life lost, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs). Results are presented at the national level as well as by Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income, educational attainment, and total fertility rate. We also analyzed the influence of the epidemiological vs the demographic transition on cancer incidence. Findings In 2017, there were 24.5 million incident cancer cases worldwide (16.8 million without nonmelanoma skin cancer [NMSC]) and 9.6 million cancer deaths. The majority of cancer DALYs came from years of life lost (97%), and only 3% came from years lived with disability. The odds of developing cancer were the lowest in the low SDI quintile (1 in 7) and the highest in the high SDI quintile (1 in 2) for both sexes. In 2017, the most common incident cancers in men were NMSC (4.3 million incident cases); tracheal, bronchus, and lung (TBL) cancer (1.5 million incident cases); and prostate cancer (1.3 million incident cases). The most common causes of cancer deaths and DALYs for men were TBL cancer (1.3 million deaths and 28.4 million DALYs), liver cancer (572 000 deaths and 15.2 million DALYs), and stomach cancer (542 000 deaths and 12.2 million DALYs). For women in 2017, the most common incident cancers were NMSC (3.3 million incident cases), breast cancer (1.9 million incident cases), and colorectal cancer (819 000 incident cases). The leading causes of cancer deaths and DALYs for women were breast cancer (601 000 deaths and 17.4 million DALYs), TBL cancer (596 000 deaths and 12.6 million DALYs), and colorectal cancer (414 000 deaths and 8.3 million DALYs). Conclusions and Relevance The national epidemiological profiles of cancer burden in the GBD study show large heterogeneities, which are a reflection of different exposures to risk factors, economic settings, lifestyles, and access to care and screening. The GBD study can be used by policy makers and other stakeholders to develop and improve national and local cancer control in order to achieve the global targets and improve equity in cancer care.

Exploring the Use of Technology in Teaching Physics at Senior High Schools in the Cape Coast Metropolis of Ghana

Isaac Sonful Coffie, Bans Bandoh Frempong, Isaac Asare, Eric Appiah, Isaac Taylor

Technology has profound and lasting influence in classroom as being a powerful tool that can change the way lessons are taught by facilitating both teachers’ instruction practices and students’ learning processes. The purpose of this study was to explore the use of technology in teaching physics within the Cape Coast Metropolis in the Central Region of Ghana.The study employed descriptive cross-sectional survey. The population for the study was Senior High School (SHS) physics teachers and students of the Cape Coast Metropolis in Ghana. The sample size for the study was made up of 20 teachers and 100 final year students. The main instrument used for the study was a questionnaire for both the teachers and the students. Data were analyzed using means, standard deviations and frequencies. It was found that the physics teachers hardly use modern and digital forms of technology in teaching physics.

RoB 2: a revised tool for assessing risk of bias in randomised trials

Jonathan A C Sterne, Jelena Savović, Matthew J. Page, Roy G. Elbers, Natalie Blencowe, Isabelle Boutron, Christopher J Cates…

Assessment of risk of bias is regarded as an essential component of a systematic review on the effects of an intervention. The most commonly used tool for randomised trials is the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool. We updated the tool to respond to developments in understanding how bias arises in randomised trials, and to address user feedback on and limitations of the original tool.

Principles of Bone Biology

John P. Bilezikian, Martin, John P., Rosen, Clifford J.

Oceanography and Marine Biology

Wernberg, Thomas, Coleman, Melinda A., Babcock, Russell C., Bell, Sahira Y., id_orcid 0000-0001-9237-7507, Bolton, John J., …

Coastal plankton show fluctuations in abundance and species composition. Resting stage (cyst) production is a common strategy adopted by hundreds of plankton species to ensure reproduction and to avoid adverse conditions. During the resting period, these species are normally absent from the water column, and cysts produced in the plankton accumulate in the sediment where they wait for the return of suitable conditions. A portion of the cyst bank does not hatch, instead undergoing a dormancy that may extend for decades. Confined coastal areas accumulate cysts in sediment due to one or more possibilities, including reduced water movement/hydrodynamics, high population density, abundance of cyst-producing species, and the absence or scarcity of possible cyst consumers in the benthos. The pelagic-benthic nexus, which affects both the sediment and the water column (and possibly sea ice) is still poorly understood. In fact, the presence of cysts in the life cycle of organisms is likely to have considerable consequences for the ecology of coastal plankton, as well as the evolution and biogeography of species. This review aims to depict the presence (and even abundance) of resting stages in marine environments and their impact on ecosystem functioning. The review starts with a description of encysted resting stages in all marine planktonic taxa, listing a total of 501 species with known cysts, and methods and tools for their collection and study. The physiology and timing of the rest period is then described for various taxa, followed by a discussion of the evolutionary implications of resting. The presence of encysted stages in different realms and phyla of plankton suggests an ancient origin and a successive diversification of morphologies that, today, roughly characterise each taxa. Ecological and biogeographical implications stem from this general framework and support the hypothesis of seasonal occurrences of planktonic life in ecosystems where productivity is suspended for a long time (e.g. in polar seas). The potential to suspend or resume life has implications for human activities, such as the risk of translocations through ship ballast water and contamination of water and seafood with toxins but also the benefit of cysts for the production of aquaculture feed. The review concludes with perspectives on present knowledge and outstanding questions to address in future studies.

Biology and Ecology of the Globally Significant Kelp Ecklonia radiata

Thomas Wernberg, Melinda A. Coleman, Russell C. Babcock, Sahira Bell, John J. Bolton, Sean D. Connell, Catriona L. Hurd, Cra…

Ecklonia radiata is one of the most widespread kelps globally, dominating temperate reefs throughout much of Australasia and southeastern Africa. Throughout much of its range, it is the only laminarian kelp and hence plays a key role in facilitating biodiversity and driving food webs, and it underpins immense ecological and socioeconomic values. This review synthesises the growing literature on E. radiata from its phylogeny and distribution through to its biology, ecology and recent changes. 266 It provides an assessment of the state of knowledge and identifies gaps in our understanding of this important species. Despite being tolerant of a wide range of abiotic conditions, recent environmental change has caused direct and indirect loss of E. radiata forests, with extensive areas transitioning to turf and urchin barrens. Ongoing climate change may require application of multifaceted and novel strategies to increase its resistance and resilience to future conditions. By integrating variation across space, time and environmental change, this review provides a description of the current status and possible future trajectories of E. radiata forests.

Assessment of students performances in biology: Implication for measurements and evaluation of learning

Ado Abdu Bichi, Rahinatu Hassan Ibrahim, Fatima Ibrahim

Scienceeducation is believed to be a vital tool for individual and societal development at large. The persistent low levels of students’ achievement in sciences at the various public examinations in Nigeria have continued to draw the attention of major stakeholders in education. This study examined academic achievement of Senior Secondary School students in biology and gender difference in students’ achievement was examined. Ex-post facto design of descriptive research was adopted for the study. A proforma was used to collect data from a sample of two hundred (200) students, selected using stratified random sampling procedure from the Science secondary schools in Kano state Nigeria. The data collected were the students’ performances in biology achievement tests. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and independent-sample t-test. Overall results showed that the test internal consistency reliability is low and unsatisfactory; the students performed below average (M=47.02, SD=16.493 (47%). Similarly, gender difference exists in biology performance with another significant difference between performance of urban and rural school students. The study concludes that, biology test used in Kano state qualifying examinations to assess students potential ability in biology is not a reliable measurement tool and that, academic performance of students in biology is unsatisfactory and evidence of differential performance between gender and schools locations. The implication for measurements and evaluation of learning as well as recommendations has been discussed.

A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence: On the Past, Present, and Future of Artificial Intelligence

Michael Haenlein, Andreas Kaplan

This introduction to this special issue discusses artificial intelligence (AI), commonly defined as “a system’s ability to interpret external data correctly, to learn from such data, and to use those learnings to achieve specific goals and tasks through flexible adaptation.” It summarizes seven articles published in this special issue that present a wide variety of perspectives on AI, authored by several of the world’s leading experts and specialists in AI. It concludes by offering a comprehensive outlook on the future of AI, drawing on micro-, meso-, and macro-perspectives.

Thermal biology of mosquito‐borne disease

Erin A. Mordecai, Jamie M. Caldwell, Marissa K. Grossman, Catherine A. Lippi, Leah R. Johnson, Marco Neira, Jason R. Rohr, S…

Mosquito-borne diseases cause a major burden of disease worldwide. The vital rates of these ectothermic vectors and parasites respond strongly and nonlinearly to temperature and therefore to climate change. Here, we review how trait-based approaches can synthesise and mechanistically predict the temperature dependence of transmission across vectors, pathogens, and environments. We present 11 pathogens transmitted by 15 different mosquito species - including globally important diseases like malaria, dengue, and Zika - synthesised from previously published studies. Transmission varied strongly and unimodally with temperature, peaking at 23-29ºC and declining to zero below 9-23ºC and above 32-38ºC. Different traits restricted transmission at low versus high temperatures, and temperature effects on transmission varied by both mosquito and parasite species. Temperate pathogens exhibit broader thermal ranges and cooler thermal minima and optima than tropical pathogens. Among tropical pathogens, malaria and Ross River virus had lower thermal optima (25-26ºC) while dengue and Zika viruses had the highest (29ºC) thermal optima. We expect warming to increase transmission below thermal optima but decrease transmission above optima. Key directions for future work include linking mechanistic models to field transmission, combining temperature effects with control measures, incorporating trait variation and temperature variation, and investigating climate adaptation and migration.

The potential for artificial intelligence in healthcare

Thomas H. Davenport, Ravi Kalakota

The complexity and rise of data in healthcare means that artificial intelligence (AI) will increasingly be applied within the field. Several types of AI are already being employed by payers and providers of care, and life sciences companies. The key categories of applications involve diagnosis and treatment recommendations, patient engagement and adherence, and administrative activities. Although there are many instances in which AI can perform healthcare tasks as well or better than humans, implementation factors will prevent large-scale automation of healthcare professional jobs for a considerable period. Ethical issues in the application of AI to healthcare are also discussed.

Integration of Practical Work into Teaching and Learning of Physics at the Senior High School Level

Donusem Yao Asamoah, Godwin Kwame Aboagye

Practical work forms an integral part of teaching and learning as enshrined in the teaching physics syllabus designed for senior high schools in Ghana. This presupposes that the final grade of students is influenced by their performance in physics practical work. Hence, practical work in physics needs to be utilised to improve students’ performance. This study, therefore, sought to examine how practical work is integrated into the teaching and learning of physics at the senior high school level in the Volta Region of Ghana. In all, 16 physics teachers and 212 science students randomly sampled took part in the study. It was found that though teachers accept practical work as an essential ingredient for students’ understanding of concepts, they are not up-to-date on how practical work should be integrated into the teaching and learning of physics as prescribed by the syllabus for physics. Also, the teaching of practical work is done via group work, hands-on activity, interactive demonstrations, discussion and lecture. It is recommended that teachers should adopt integrating practical work into lessons instead of separating them from theory.

Effects of audiovisual technological aids on students' achievement and interest in secondary school biology in Nigeria

Ebere Ibe, Joy Abamuche

While Science teaching and learning is changing at an amazing pace in developed countries, same cannot be said of developing countries. Nigeria secondary school classrooms have remained 'chalk and board' affair with students seated in rows copying notes. In a developing country such as Nigeria, teachers need sustained support from colleagues at tertiary level who are compliant with the new technologies to help them learn how best to integrate technology into their teaching. In this paper, we describe a study that employed quasi experiment of the non-equivalent control group design. 150 senior secondary two (SS2) students of two intact classes randomly selected from two schools were assigned one to experimental and other to control. . Training was given to a regular teacher of Biology that taught experimental group while the control group teacher did not receive training but given a template on the conduct of the study. Two instruments for data collection were Biology achievement test and Interest scale. Mean and Standard Deviation and ANCOVA were used for data analysis. Result revealed that group exposed to lessons with Audio-visual technological contents integrated achieved higher in test scores than the group not exposed to. It was recommended that classroom teachers keep pace with development trend by learning and using new technologies (Audio-visual) in instructional delivery.

EfficientNet: Rethinking Model Scaling for Convolutional Neural Networks

Mingxing Tan, Quoc V. Le

Convolutional Neural Networks (ConvNets) are commonly developed at a fixed resource budget, and then scaled up for better accuracy if more resources are available. In this paper, we systematically study model scaling and identify that carefully balancing network depth, width, and resolution can lead to better performance. Based on this observation, we propose a new scaling method that uniformly scales all dimensions of depth/width/resolution using a simple yet highly effective compound coefficient. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this method on scaling up MobileNets and ResNet. To go even further, we use neural architecture search to design a new baseline network and scale it up to obtain a family of models, called EfficientNets, which achieve much better accuracy and efficiency than previous ConvNets. In particular, our EfficientNet-B7 achieves state-of-the-art 84.3% top-1 accuracy on ImageNet, while being 8.4x smaller and 6.1x faster on inference than the best existing ConvNet. Our EfficientNets also transfer well and achieve state-of-the-art accuracy on CIFAR-100 (91.7%), Flowers (98.8%), and 3 other transfer learning datasets, with an order of magnitude fewer parameters. Source code is at https://github.com/tensorflow/tpu/tree/master/models/official/efficientnet.

Microbiome and skin biology

Nonhlanhla Lunjani, Carol Hlela, Liam O’Mahony

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The skin is home to a diverse milieu of bacteria, fungi, viruses, bacteriophages, and archaeal communities. The application of culture-independent approaches has revolutionized the characterization of the skin microbiome and have revealed a previously underappreciated phylogenetic and functional granularity of skin-associated microbes in both health and disease states. RECENT FINDINGS: The physiology of a given skin-niche drives the site-specific differences in bacterial phyla composition of healthy skin. Changes in the skin microbiome have consistently been associated with atopic dermatitis. In particular, Staphylococcus aureus overgrowth with concomitant decline in Staphylococcus epidermidis is a general feature associated with atopic dermatitis and is not restricted to eczematous lesions. Changes in fungal species are now also being described. Changes in the composition and metabolic activity of the gut microbiota are associated with skin health. SUMMARY: We are now beginning to appreciate the intimate and intricate interactions between microbes and skin health. Multiple studies are currently focused on the manipulation of the skin or gut microbiome to explore their therapeutic potential in the prevention and treatment of skin inflammation.

Stop explaining black box machine learning models for high stakes decisions and use interpretable models instead

Cynthia Rudin

Hydrogen energy, economy and storage: Review and recommendation

John Olorunfemi Abe, A.P.I. Popoola, Emmanuel Ajenifuja, Olawale Popoola

A Multicountry Study on Nursing Students’ Self‐Perceived Competence and Barriers to Evidence‐Based Practice

Leodoro J. Labrague, Denise M. McEnroe–Petitte, Melba Sheila D’Souza, Helen Shaji John Cecily, Dennis C. Fronda, Olaide B. E…

BACKGROUND: Nursing education and training are essential in the attainment of evidence-based practice (EBP) competence in nursing students. Although there is a growing literature on EBP among nursing students, most of these studies are confined to a single cultural group. Thus, cross-cultural studies may provide shared global perspectives and theoretical understandings for the advancement of knowledge in this critical area. AIMS: This study compared self-perceived EBP competence among nursing students in four selected countries (India, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, and Oman) as well as perceived barriers to EBP adoption. METHODS: A descriptive, cross-sectional, and comparative survey of 1,383 nursing students from India, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, and Oman participated in the study. The Evidence-Based Practice Questionnaire (EBP-COQ) and the BARRIERS scale were used to collect data during the months of January 2016 to August 2017. RESULTS: Cross-country comparisons revealed significant differences in EBP competence (F = 24.437, p < .001), knowledge (F = 3.621, p = .013), skills (F = 9.527, p < .001), and attitudes (F = 74.412, p < .001) among nursing students. Three variables including nursing students' gender (β = .301, p < .001), type of institution, (β = -0.339, p = .001), and type of nursing student (β = .321, p < .001) were associated with EBP competence. Barriers to EBP adoption included having no authority to change patient care policies (M = 1.65, SD = 1.05), slow publication of evidence (M = 1.59, SD = 1.01), and paucity of time in the clinical area to implement the evidence (M = 1.59, SD = 1.05). LINKING EVIDENCE TO ACTION: Both academe and hospital administration can play a pivotal role in the successful acquisition of EBP competence in nursing students.

Update of the statements on biology and clinical impact of occult hepatitis B virus infection

Giovanni Raimondo, Stephen Locarnini, Teresa Pollicino, Massimo Levrero, Fabien Zoulim, Anna S. Lok, Jean‐Pierre Allain, Tho…

In October 2018 a large number of international experts with complementary expertise came together in Taormina to participate in a workshop on occult hepatitis B virus infection (OBI). The objectives of the workshop were to review the existing knowledge on OBI, to identify issues that require further investigation, to highlight both existing controversies and newly emerging perspectives, and ultimately to update the statements previously agreed in 2008. This paper represents the output from the workshop.

High-fidelity simulation and nursing students’ anxiety and self-confidence: A systematic review

Leodoro J. Labrague, Denise M. McEnroe–Petitte, Ann Bowling, Chidozie Edwin Nwafor, Konstantinos Tsaras

BACKGROUND: As a complementary teaching pedagogy, high-fidelity simulation remains as an effective form of simulation modality. Empirical evidence has additionally shown high-fidelity simulation (HFS) to be an effective contributor to students' learning outcomes. PURPOSE: This paper critically appraised existing scientific articles that covered the influence of utilizing HFS on the effects of nursing students' anxiety and self-confidence during undergraduate nursing education. METHODS: This was a systematic review of scientific articles conducted from 2007 to 2017 on the topic of the influence of using HFS on students' self-confidence and anxiety. The literature of six electronic databases (Proquest, SCOPUS, MEDLINE, PubMed Central, CINAHL, and PsychINFO) was reviewed. RESULTS: Following the literature search, 35 articles were selected. This review provides updated evidence on the efficacy of HFS in reducing anxiety and enhancing self-confidence among nursing students when performing nursing duties or managing patients. Moreover, this review highlights the need for more research that examines the impact of HFS on students' anxiety. CONCLUSION: As this form of simulation is found to be effective in the enhancement of nursing student self-confidence and the reduction of their anxiety when caring for patients and/or employing nursing skills, the inclusion of simulation-based activities in all clinical nursing courses is vital.

Oncology Nursing Forum

Women in physics in Ghana: Our story

Aba Bentil Andam, Paulina Amponsah, Irene Nsiah-Akoto, Christiana Odumah Hood, Savannah Nyarko

The status of women physicists in academia and industry has improved over the last decade in Ghana but not without challenges. It will take some time before women are well represented, especially at the professorial level. Organizations such as the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) and the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS) are striving hard to minimize professional gaps between women and men. The Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, through its efforts to encourage women in physics and science in general has elected its second woman in 58 years as president, and GAEC is also encouraging and appointing women to managerial positions.

The Data Ocean Project

M-S. Barisits, F. Barreiro, T. A. Beermann, Karan Bhatia, K. De, A. Dubreuil, J. Elmsheuser, A. Klimentov, M. Lassnig, P. A.…

Transparent use of commercial cloud resources for scientific experiments is a hard problem. In this article, we describe the first steps of the Data Ocean R&amp;D collaboration between the high-energy physics experiment ATLAS together with Google Cloud Platform, to allow seamless use of Google Compute Engine and Google Cloud Storage for physics analysis. We start by describing the three preliminary use cases that were identified at the beginning of the project. The following sections then detail the work done in the data management system Rucio and the workflow management systems PanDA and Harvester to interface Google Cloud Platform with the ATLAS distributed computing environment, and show the results of the integration tests. Afterwards, we describe the setup and results from a full ATLAS user analysis that was executed natively on Google Cloud Platform, and give estimates on projected costs. We close with a summary and and outlook on future work.

High-performance medicine: the convergence of human and artificial intelligence

Eric J. Topol