Reducing school violence with AI and promising research fueling new innovations
“I believe in human-centered AI to benefit people in positive and benevolent ways.” -- Fei-Fei Li, co-director of Stanford's Human-Centered AI Institute
Today’s itinerary:
MAY 7, 2020
Photo courtesy Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing our lives in many ways. Can it be employed to help stop school violence? That’s the topic of a study published in the International Journal of Medical Informatics by researchers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. The study developed an AI system to analyze linguistic patterns to predict a student’s risk for violence and aggression at school and online.
Researchers used recorded interview content to develop the machine-learning algorithm for the system.
The study concluded that AI was successful in identifying 94% of cases identified by physicians. The researchers plan to widen the study to include other hospitals and school systems.
Through this study, the team “will be able to build artificial intelligence to augment human clinical judgment,” said Drew Barzman, a child forensic psychiatrist at CCHMC and lead author of the study.
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R2 Space receives contract for innovative satellite tech Ann Arbor’s R2 Space, a “space intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance provider,” has received a contract from the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to help accelerate the company’s satellite technology, RADAR. DIU’s goal is to leverage innovative commercial technologies for use by the US Department of Defense.
RADAR is billed as cutting-edge satellite tech that can image the earth “during the day, at night, and through the clouds.”
R2 Space, which was founded in 2018, established its headquarters in Ann Arbor last year with the support of the Michigan Economic Development Corp and Ann Arbor SPARK. The company works with “high-tech industries including aerospace, homeland security and defense technology.”
Fast Future U RESEARCH
WashU researchers use edited stem cells to reverse diabetes in mice Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have seen promising results from a recent study involving a rare form of diabetes called Wolfram syndrome caused by a defective gene. The team took stem cells from a human Wolfram patient, converted them into insulin-producing cells, and then used the CRISPR-Cas9 tool to correct the gene defect that caused the syndrome.
When they implanted the edited cells into diabetic mice, they were able to reverse the disease.
The scientists decided to focus their research on Wolfram syndrome because it involves a single gene mutation, making it easier to correct the defect. However, they’re hopeful that the same approach will eventually help those with more common forms of diabetes.
Innovation center at NC State to focus on “smart manufacturing” A new center of innovation at North Carolina State University will focus on “smart manufacturing.” The center, created in partnership with the Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CESMII), will train and sustain workers with expertise in the future of manufacturing, which leaders (and the rest of us) hope will be smart.
CESMII, founded in 2016, researches and develops technologies that process real-time information at manufacturing facilities. The goal is to improve processes, energy efficiency, equipment reliability, productivity, safety, quality, and yield. It also has the goal of linking manufacturers with academia, which sounds pretty smart to us.
UMKC works with governments on policies to handle tech and data The University of Missouri-Kansas City is partnering with local governments, including the city and neighboring Unified Government of Wyandotte County, on a model data-handling policy that helps guide the way they manage information.
The idea brings together professors and experts in the fields of emerging technology and law to create a set of principles and checklists to address the way governments handle data. That includes privacy, risk mitigation, and breach damage containment measures as it relates to collecting, storing, using, and transferring data.
Kate Garman was working for Kansas City, MO's innovation office on smart city initiatives when she saw the need for a policy. “It was paramount to understand privacy implications and how to balance that with transparency,” she said.
“Cities are experiencing so many common challenges when it comes to data, it only makes sense that we would collaborate together to workshop shared solutions,” said Denise Linn Riedl, a chief information officer who has worked on the project. “The more city teams and privacy experts shape and vet this model policy, the stronger it becomes.”
FUELING THE FUTURE
First-time institutional investment for 19-year-old company
Minneapolis-based OurFamilyWizard, a co-parenting platform, has received the first institutional funding in its 19-years of business. The amount of the investment is undisclosed and coincides with the appointment of a new CEO.
Search platform raises $35M
Pittsburgh’s Niche, a search platform designed to help customers find the right K-12 school or college, has landed $35 million in Series C funding led by Radian Capital.
Twin Cities credit unions announce merger
TruStoneFinancial Federal Credit Union has announced that it’s merging with FireflyCredit Union. The two companies are the Twin Cities’ third- and fourth-largest credit unions.
Ohio property management company makes acquisition
RL Property Management Group, based in Columbus, has acquired Core Select Property Group. The combined management company will oversee 450 rental properties in the city.
Raleigh startup gets patent and $2M investment
Mobile marketing startup Reveal Mobile has received a patent for its system of scoring the reliability of a mobile device’s location data. The company, based in Raleigh, also closed on a $2 million funding round.
FINAL APPROACH
Purdue's astounding startup success Purdue University ranks third in the nation for creating startups, according to a new study. Only MIT and Columbia beat the Boilermakers in creating startups between 2008 and 2018. IP Watchdog, a publication that reports on intellectual property, patents, and innovation, conducted the study.
Other interesting tidbits from the study: IP Watchdog says data-rich sectors using artificial intelligence and machine learning—especially in healthcare—will be the next frontier in university technology transfer. And there’s this doozy: Medical knowledge is doubling every 73 days.
IN-FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
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