The deadly outbreak of meningitis in Kent has fuelled concerns about how far the disease will spread and seen the return of people wearing masks and queueing for vaccines. The scenes are reminiscent of the Covid crisis, but meningitis is very different. Here we look at how the outbreak has unfolded. What is meningitis? Meningitis is a potentially lethal but uncommon disease caused by viruses and b...
The deadly outbreak of meningitis in Kent has fuelled concerns about how far the disease will spread and seen the return of people wearing masks and queueing for vaccines. The scenes are reminiscent of the Covid crisis, but meningitis is very different. Here we look at how the outbreak has unfolded. What is meningitis? Meningitis is a potentially lethal but uncommon disease caused by viruses and bacteria that trigger inflammation of the meninges, the protective linings that cover the brain. The Kent outbreak is driven by meningococcal bacteria which are found in the nose and throat of about 10% of the population. There are multiple strains of meningococcal bacteria known as MenA, MenB, MenC, MenW, MenX and MenY. The culprit in the Kent outbreak is MenB. Meningococcal bacteria have lived in humans for centuries and public health officials have extensive experience with the disease. “With this particular organism, we’ve got several hundred years of history now, and we can absolutely predict what factors are likely to have played into the outbreak,” said Prof Sir Andrew Pollard at the University of Oxford, the director of the Oxford Vaccine Group. The situation with Covid was radically different. The pandemic was driven by a new, highly transmissible airborne virus that public health officials scrambled to understand on the fly. No country had tackled Covid before and no one had prior immunity. Who is at risk? Meningitis is more common in babies, teenagers and young adults than in the rest of the population. Babies are vulnerable because their immune system is not fully developed. But teenagers and young people are among the most exposed to the bacteria, largely because of their living conditions and social behaviour. In student populations, about 25% carry the bugs, and can potentially pass them on. How does bacterial meningitis spread? Meningococcal bacteria spread through close and prolonged contact. That can arise through living in the same household or student acc...
This interactive model has a limit on the number of drivers that can be modified in a single scenario. When the limit is reached those drivers not yet modified become disabled for modification. Your options are: Create new scenarios to try different combinations of driver modifications Reset one of your driver modifications in this scenario in order to modify another driver
This interactive model has a limit on the number of drivers that can be modified in a single scenario. When the limit is reached those drivers not yet modified become disabled for modification. Your options are: Create new scenarios to try different combinations of driver modifications Reset one of your driver modifications in this scenario in order to modify another driver
BING-JHEN HONG/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Two Democratic senators have written to Nvidia ( NVDA ) inquiring about the company's licensing deal with AI startup Groq to check if the deal violates antitrust laws by improperly avoiding a merger review. "We write to request additional information regarding the terms of NVIDIA’s recent deal with Groq, an artificial intelligence (AI) chip startup ...
BING-JHEN HONG/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Two Democratic senators have written to Nvidia ( NVDA ) inquiring about the company's licensing deal with AI startup Groq to check if the deal violates antitrust laws by improperly avoiding a merger review. "We write to request additional information regarding the terms of NVIDIA’s recent deal with Groq, an artificial intelligence (AI) chip startup and NVIDIA competitor, to assess the agreement’s implications for competition in the AI chip sector," said Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut in a letter to Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang. Last year in December, Nvidia entered into a non-exclusive licensing agreement with Groq for its inference technology. As part of the agreement, Groq’s Founder Jonathan Ross, President Sunny Madra and other members of the Groq team were to join Nvidia. Reportedly, Nvidia was acquiring assets from Groq for $20B. "We are concerned that this takeover could stifle competition, further entrenching NVIDIA’s dominance in the AI chip industry and ceding our technological leadership to China," said the senators in the letter. Senators asked several questions in the letter including: Why did Nvidia license Groq’s technology and hire its key employees rather than acquiring the company? Was the transaction structured this way to avoid antitrust scrutiny? What are the specific terms of the deal between NVIDIA and Groq, including cost structures? The senators also asked: Who will own Groq’s language processing unit, or LPU, intellectual property? Will LPU design architectures continue to be licensed to third-party companies? Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Seeking Alpha. In recent years, several big tech companies have all reached licensing and hiring deals with startups that allegedly circumvented antitrust scrutiny. Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson said in January that his agency is reviewing such types of deals...
Key Points Investors look to precious metals like gold and silver to hedge against inflation, but they aren't equally good choices. Another approach to accomplish that same objective is to buy a risk asset like XRP, which might rise faster than inflation. 10 stocks we like better than XRP › Over the long term, do you need to shore up your portfolio's defenses against risk or expose it to a bit mor...
Key Points Investors look to precious metals like gold and silver to hedge against inflation, but they aren't equally good choices. Another approach to accomplish that same objective is to buy a risk asset like XRP, which might rise faster than inflation. 10 stocks we like better than XRP › Over the long term, do you need to shore up your portfolio's defenses against risk or expose it to a bit more risk in the name of getting some more upside? With that framing, if you're looking to invest for a decade and you have $2,500 in hand, the choice between XRP (CRYPTO: XRP), the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEMKT: GLD) exchange-traded fund (ETF), and iShares Silver Trust (NYSEMKT: SLV) isn't really about picking a winner so much as it's about deciding how much uncertainty you can live with and allocating accordingly. Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue » The answer here varies by investor. Still, one of these three is the weakest option, and the other two could plausibly coexist in the same portfolio, depending on your risk tolerance. Let's sort through these options and determine which investment might be right for you. XRP is building something; gold doesn't need to XRP is the most dynamic of these three assets because it's a living blockchain in active development, with the company behind it, Ripple, spending billions of dollars to embed it into institutional finance. Last year, Ripple's acquisition of prime broker Hidden Road gave the network direct access to clearing and settlement infrastructure handling trillions in value annually. Ripple also bought a slew of other crypto businesses in 2025, giving it the ability to offer its clients in financial institutions crypto custody, treasury services, and a stablecoin payments company, among others. Between all those acquisitions and the upgrades Ripple...
LarryHerfindal General Mills ( GIS ) continued its losing streak to a ninth straight day on Thursday as the most recent quarterly results gave investors little hope that the company is successfully navigating a difficult consumer environment. “We started the year expecting that our investments, divestitures, and unfavorable timing comparisons would drive declines in our sales and earnings results ...
LarryHerfindal General Mills ( GIS ) continued its losing streak to a ninth straight day on Thursday as the most recent quarterly results gave investors little hope that the company is successfully navigating a difficult consumer environment. “We started the year expecting that our investments, divestitures, and unfavorable timing comparisons would drive declines in our sales and earnings results through our first three quarters, even as we improved our volume and market share. And that’s what we’ve seen play out,” conceded General Mills CEO Jeff Harmening. With net sales down 8%, lower operating profit, and a higher adjusted effective tax rate, adjusted earnings were down 37% in the fiscal third quarter and missed Wall Street’s expectations by 9 cents. And the company’s gloomy FQ3 performance is expected to spill over into FY26, with net sales expected to be down 4% and adjusted earnings to drop another 16% to 20%. “The weaker volume environment remains a headwind for General Mills, and as the company laps its pricing actions, we anticipate volumes remaining in decline while the price/mix drag moderates and potentially turns positive in FY27,” said Stifel’s Matthew Smith in a note to clients. Despite the FQ3 miss, Smith retains a Buy rating on GIS amid expectations for a “significant sequential improvement in Q4 benefitting from favorable comparisons, improved volume, and improved supply chain costs.” RBC Capital analyst Nik Modi is also bullish on General Mills ( GIS ), attributing a “mixed” quarter to weather conditions. While pressures stemming from consumer spending habits, a difficult pricing environment, and volume recovery remain, Modi believes General Mills’ FY26 guidance “finally considers the necessary level of reinvestment needed to direct the company towards topline growth while also embedding enough cushion for the company to deliver on its EPS target.” But not everyone is convinced General Mills ( GIS ) is out of the woods. UBS analyst Peter Grom, who...
Rush Enterprises ( RUSHA ) chief operating officer, Jason Wilder resigned . Michael J. McRoberts will support COO duties during the transition period. More on Rush Rush Enterprises, Inc. (RUSHA) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript Rush Enterprises sees Class 8 order momentum carrying into 2026 as industry clarity returns Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Rush Historical earnings data for Rush Dividend ...
Rush Enterprises ( RUSHA ) chief operating officer, Jason Wilder resigned . Michael J. McRoberts will support COO duties during the transition period. More on Rush Rush Enterprises, Inc. (RUSHA) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript Rush Enterprises sees Class 8 order momentum carrying into 2026 as industry clarity returns Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Rush Historical earnings data for Rush Dividend scorecard for Rush