Digital@INSEAD is hosting a free TECH TALK X webinar “The Dual Race to AI & Global Leadership” on Wednesday, 19 February 2025  7.00 am ET / 1.00 pm CET (Duration: 60 min). The TECH TALK will be featuring a discussion between Tim Gordon (MBA’00D), Partner, Best Practice AI and Theos Evgeniou, INSEAD Professor of Technology & Business and Director of Executive Programs in AI. Tim, an INSEAD alumnus with over 20 years of international experience in digital transformation, global strategy and innovation, will join Theos to explore the two critical AI races reshaping our world: ...

Ketamine has received a Hollywood makeover. It used to be known as a rave drug (street name special K) and cat anesthetic. However, in recent years, some doctors have prescribed ketamine to treat conditions from post-traumatic stress disorder to depression. “The practice is not without controversy,” notes Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Professor Hiro Furukawa. ‘Should we give a hallucinogen to patients in compromised mental states?’ wonder ketamine’s skeptics. The controversy came to ...

About The Study: The findings of this cross-sectional study of Black and white women with breast cancer suggest that perceived stress, perceived inadequate social support, perceived racial and ethnic discrimination, and neighborhood deprivation were associated with deleterious alterations to the systemic and tumor immune environment, particularly for Black women. Understanding biology as a possible mediator of cancer health disparities may inform prevention and public health interventions. Corresponding Author: To contact ...

About The Study: This cohort study of Finnish children and adolescents found that higher physical activity and lower screen time from childhood were associated with perceived stress and depressive symptoms in adolescence. These findings emphasize reducing screen time and increasing physical activity to promote mental health in youth. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Eero A. Haapala, PhD, email eero.a.haapala@jyu.fi. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.60012) Editor’s Note: Please see the ...

  At $144 billion, type 2 diabetes was the most expensive single health condition. Emergency department care had the fastest growth. SEATTLE, Wash., Feb. 14, 2025 – Researchers present the most comprehensive study on U.S. health care spending and variations across 3,110 counties by four payers, 148 health conditions, 38 age/sex groups, and seven types of care. That’s according to the newest and most extensive studies published in JAMA and JAMA Health Forum today. As part of this study, researchers ...

About The Study: Broad variation in health care spending was observed across U.S. counties. Understanding this variation by health condition, sex, age, type of care, and payer is valuable for identifying outliers, highlighting inequalities, and assessing health care gaps.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Joseph L. Dieleman, PhD, email dieleman@uw.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jama.2024.26790) Editor’s ...

About The Study: In this cross-sectional study, variation in health care spending among U.S. counties was largely related to variation in service utilization. Understanding the drivers of spending variation in the U.S. may help policymakers assess the allocation of health care resources. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Joseph L. Dieleman, PhD, email dieleman@uw.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2024.5220) Editor’s ...

Digital@INSEAD is hosting a free INTHECASE webinar, “Scaling Affordable Healthcare: Balancing Purpose, Innovation & Growth” on Thursday, 20 February 2025 at 9.00 am ET  / 3.00 pm CET  (60 min).   Register and join the webinar for an engaging discussion on Access Afya’s journey to scale its affordable healthcare model while staying true to its mission of serving underserved communities. Explore how the company: Balances mission and growth Navigates the complexities of scaling up Leverages technology and data to improve care delivery With a proven business model in Kenya, ...

The body regulates its metabolism precisely and continuously, with specialised cells in the pancreas constantly monitoring the amount of sugar in the blood, for example. When this blood sugar level increases after a meal, the body sets a signal cascade in motion in order to bring it back down. In people suffering from diabetes, this regulatory mechanism no longer works exactly as it should. Those affected therefore have too much sugar in their blood and need to measure their blood sugar level and inject themselves with insulin in order to regulate it. This is ...

Tumor metastasis, recurrence, and therapeutic resistance are the main reasons for the failure of clinical cancer treatment. Studies have found that the presence of cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) with stemness characteristics in malignant tumors is a key factor leading to the above undesirable results. However, there are significant limitations to current strategies with traditional molecular drugs for combating CSCs, such as the unsatisfactory in vivo stemness-suppressing efficiency, and the lack of powerful tumor-specific lethal action, resulting in remaining massive bulk tumor cells that can convert to CSCs via epithelial-to-mesenchymal ...

Palmyra is one of the most famous sites in Syria for its extraordinary heritage and archaeological remains. Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1980, the city saw much of its heritage destroyed during the war. Following the liberation of Syria from the Assad regime on 8 December, a multidisciplinary team has carried out a field study in Palmyra to assess the current state of the archaeological monuments and the surrounding residential areas, comparing them with their condition before the start of the Syrian uprising in 2011. The report is an initiative of Palmyrene Voices of the NGO Heritage for Peace in collaboration with the CSIC's Milà i Fontanals Institution. ‘We ...

University of Virginia Brain Institute and School of Medicine researchers have received an initial $9.3 million award from the National Institutes of Health for a $30 million clinical trial to determine if the powerful anesthetic ketamine can save patients from prolonged, life-threatening grand mal seizures that won’t respond to other treatments. “Status epilepticus,” as the seizures are known, are seizures that last more than five minutes or that strike repeatedly without the ...

Digital@INSEAD is hosting a free TECH TALK X webinar, “The Future of Agentic AI & Autonomous Organizations” on Thursday, 27 February 2025 at 9.00 am ET  / 3.00 pm CET (60 min). AI is evolving beyond tools and assistants – it is becoming autonomous. But what is holding enterprises back from fully leveraging Agentic AI? Join in the free webinar for a deep dive with Rotem Alaluf, CEO of Wand – a pioneering platform for enterprise-grade AI systems – and Peter Zemsky, ...

Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) is a vital cash-crop for four to six million small-holder farmers across the tropics, and supports a global chocolate industry valued at over USD 100 billion annually. The combination of millions of farmers relying on cocoa for their livelihoods, and increasing global demand for the crop, has driven cocoa plantation expansion and intensification of farming practices, often at the expense of biodiversity and long-term sustainability. A new research study led by the University ...

A recent study reveals that age plays a significant role in the outcomes of intermittent fasting. Researchers from Technical University of Munich (TUM), LMU Hospital Munich, and Helmholtz Munich discovered that chronic intermittent fasting disrupted the development of insulin-producing beta cells in young mice. The findings raise concerns about potential risks for humans, especially teenagers. “Intermittent fasting is known to have benefits, including boosting metabolism and helping with ...

Astrophysicists have unearthed a surprising diversity in the ways in which white dwarf stars explode in deep space after assessing almost 4,000 such events captured in detail by a next-gen astronomical sky survey. Their findings may help us more accurately measure distances in the Universe and further our knowledge of “dark energy”.  The dramatic explosions of white dwarf stars at the ends of their lives have for decades played a pivotal role in the study of dark energy – the mysterious force responsible for the accelerating expansion of the Universe. They also provide the origin of many elements in our ...

Pangolins are unique as they are the only mammal to be covered in scales. Even though they are scaly, photos of them are typically met with “awwws” from the viewers who find them adorable. Importantly, though, pangolins play an essential role in maintaining their ecosystem. Their other “unique trait” is that they are the most trafficked wild animal in the world, with more than 900,000 poached in the past two decades. Much of this is due to their high value for use in traditional medicine that ...

We hope to be cured when we stay in hospital. But too often, we acquire new infections there. Such ‘healthcare-associated infections’ (HAI) are a growing problem worldwide, taking up an estimated 6% of global hospital budgets. In the EU alone, HAIs add up to more than 3.5 million cases per year, resulting in 2.5 million disability-adjusted life years, a cost of up to €24 billion, and 90,000 deaths. They are likewise the sixth leading cause of death in the US. Patients with lowered immune defenses, and in some hospitals, ...

RICHLAND, Wash.—Sometimes, in order to go big, you first have to go small. That’s what researchers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have done with their latest innovation in energy storage.  With a goal to speed the time to discovery of new grid energy storage technology, the team designed a compact, high-efficiency flow battery test system that requires an order of magnitude less starting material while delivering results equal to the standard lab-scale ...

Collaboration efforts between the Texas A&M University Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering and the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) have led to innovative research on how petroleum coke is processed. This almost $3 million three-year research project will convert petroleum coke to graphite for energy storage. The newer process uses a lower temperature and shorter time to produce graphite from petroleum coke.  This new catalytic graphitization technology will ...

UCL Press Release Under embargo until Friday 14 February 2025, 00:01 UK time / 19:01 Thursday 13 February US Eastern time   Ancient Egyptian mummified bodies smell ‘woody,’ ‘spicy’ and ‘sweet’, finds a new study led by researchers from UCL and the University of Ljubljana, revealing new details about mumification practices. The research, published in Journal of the American Chemical Society, is the first time that the smells of mummified bodies have been systematically studied combining a mix of instrumental and sensory techniques, including an electronic ‘nose’ ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA – An electrospray engine applies an electric field to a conductive liquid, generating a high-speed jet of tiny droplets that can propel a spacecraft. These miniature engines are ideal for small satellites called CubeSats that are often used in academic research. Since electrospray engines utilize propellant more efficiently than the powerful, chemical rockets used on the launchpad, they are better suited for precise, in-orbit maneuvers. The thrust generated by an electrospray emitter is tiny, so electrospray engines typically use an array of emitters that are uniformly ...

Genital human papillomavirus is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States and is thought to be responsible for more than 99% of cervical cancers. HPV screening usually entails a speculum-based exam, which is an uncomfortable experience for most patients, especially those who have physical disabilities. In two studies, published in Preventive Medicine Reports and JAMA Network Open, University of Michigan researchers are the first to demonstrate in the U.S. that self-sampling is just as effective as speculum-based testing for HPV detection. Most people who have HPV are usually unaware that they have it.  By ...

The chemical compound sulforaphane found in broccoli sprouts can be linked to improved blood sugar levels in prediabetes, a precursor to type 2 diabetes. This has been shown in a study conducted at the University of Gothenburg. The broccoli compound had a more significant effect on blood sugar levels in certain people. Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have previously identified sulforaphane as an antidiabetic agent in type 2 diabetes. A patient study conducted in 2017 demonstrated significantly lower blood sugar in people with diabetes after they took large ...

Aging is a privilege, but it also brings risks—including an increased likelihood of developing age-related diseases including cancer. Researchers at The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) have created a landmark atlas of how healthy breast tissue ages, revealing key cellular, molecular, and genetic changes that may tip the balance toward breast cancer development. Their findings, published recently in Nature Aging, provide a valuable open-access resource for the scientific community to explore aging and its role in increased cancer risk.  Rewriting ...