Better to be poor in Nigeria - teens in Baltimore face worse conditions

© Reuters/Lee Celano

A global study of adolescents from low-income neighborhoods revealed that teenagers from Baltimore, a city located just 40 miles from the US capital, are faring worse than their counterparts in Nigeria.

Many people tend to associate child poverty with desperate scenes out of Africa or India. But according to a recent WAVE study, an international survey that examined the living conditions of 15-19 year olds in poor areas in Baltimore, Shanghai, Johannesburg, New Delhi and Ibadan (third largest city in Nigeria), the problem is much closer to home than many people realize.

In the five neighborhoods examined in the study, poverty was the common thread that linked these culturally diverse locations. Differences among the teens in these urban areas became obvious, however, when it came to how they perceived their state of well-being.

Teens from Baltimore and Johannesburg, South Africa, viewed their communities more negatively than the other locations in the study.

The two cities showed the lowest number of teenagers who felt safe in their neighborhoods (percentages ranged from 43.9 percent among males in Johannesburg to 66.1 percent of females in Baltimore), as well as the highest averages for witnessing violence (8.9 percent for males and 7.0 percent among females in Johannesburg; 7.0 percent among males and 6.3 percent among females in Baltimore).

© www.jahonline.org

These two cities also showed "poor perceptions about their physical environments, their sense of social cohesion, and their sense of safety within their neighborhoods."

In Baltimore, teenagers exhibited high rates of mental health problems, drug abuse, sexual violence and teen pregnancy. In comparison, teens in New Delhi, despite residing in a much poorer country than the United States, showed fewer signs of such social behavior.

The lead author of the study, Kristen Mmari, assistant professor at Johns Hopkins Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, said the perception teenagers have of their communities plays a large role in how they behave.

"For example, a young man in New Delhi and a young man in Baltimore may both live in neighborhoods with poor living conditions and little opportunity, but because the teenager in New Delhi is able to see his environment in a more positive light, he is less likely to experience to adverse health problems," Mmari told Vocativ. "He paints a different picture."

Also, the prevalence of violence and weak social cohesion, which ranks higher in Baltimore and Johannesburg than in the three other cities, also has an impact. In Baltimore, a high number of teenagers from impoverished homes grow up in single-parent homes, in many cases with the father in prison, while many adolescents in Johannesburg have lost a parent to HIV/AIDS.

© AFP Photo / Pius Utomi Ekpei

"When you look at how they perceive their environments, kids in both Baltimore and Johannesburg are fearful. They don't feel safe from violence," Mmari said. This is something we didn't really see in other cities. In Shanghai, for example, there wasn't a great deal of violence. You'd ask kids about their safety concerns, and they would say something like, 'I'm afraid of crossing a busy street.'"

The study indicates a connection between the prevalence of violence and weak social bonds with issues of a sexual nature. Fifty percent of adolescent girls in Baltimore, and 29 percent in Johannesburg, had been pregnant, while more than 10 percent of teenage girls in both cities said they have been raped or assaulted by someone in the previous year.

The study tends to show that the issue of poverty, together with its many disturbing social symptoms, is a worldwide phenomenon. The results also show that the total wealth of a nation is not necessarily linked to the social circumstances of a large portion of its population.

The study concluded that individuals from Baltimore and Johannesburg give their neighborhoods the lowest ratings, while people from Ibadan and Shanghai recorded the highest ratings. Citizens from New Delhi ranked in the mid-range.

"It is worth noting that in spite of its location in a high-income country, the Baltimore neighborhood had some of the lowest ratings," Freya Sonenstein, of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, wrote in the study's introduction. "In contrast,Ibadan with its high ratings is located in a lower middle-income country with substantially fewer resources."

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Richard III DNA shows British Royal family may not have royal bloodline

The University of Leicester has studied the DNA of Richard III and found that there could be a break in the royal bloodline.

© The Society of Antiquities.

The portrait of Richard from The Society of Antiquities

When the body of Richard III was discovered in a car park in Leicester in 2012 archaeologists knew it was a momentous find.

But little did they realise that it might expose the skeletons in the cupboard of the British aristocracy, and even call into question the bloodline of the Royal family.

In order to prove that the skeleton really was Richard III, scientists needed to take a DNA sample and match it to his descendants.

Genetic testing through his maternal DNA proved conclusively that the body was the King. However, when they checked the male line they discovered something odd. The DNA did not match showing that at some point in history an adulterous affair had broken the paternal chain.

Although it is impossible to say when the affair happened, if it occurred around the time of Edward III (1312- 1377) it could call into question whether kings like Henry VI, Henry VII and Henry VIII had royal blood, and therefore the right to rule.

Without his claim to royalty, Henry VII is unlikely to have been able to raise an army for the Battle of Bosworth Field, in which Richard III was killed, and the history of England could have been very different.

And it has implications for our own Royal Family who also share a direct bloodline to the Tudors.

Kevin Schurer, Professor of English Local History, at the University of Leicester said: "The first thing we need to get out of the way is that we are not indicating that Her Majesty should not be on the throne.

"There are 19 links where the chain could have been broken so it is statistically more probable that it happened at a time where it didn't matter. However there are parts of the chain which if broken could hypothetically affect royalty."

Because Richard III was childless, scientists looked at the descendants of Edward III, his great great grandfather.

Genetically, fathers pass on a copy of their Y chromosome to their sons, so Richard and Edward should carry the same DNA. Likewise, any descendent of Edward's would share the same Y chromosome as Richard, and a match would prove his royal descent.

However scientists were intrigued to find that the DNA did not match, suggesting a 'non-paternity event' somewhere between Edward III and his descendants. In other words, someone was unknowingly illegitimate.

If the illegitimate baby was Edward's son John of Gaunt (1340 - 1399) or his son Henry IV (1366 - 1413) then the royal blood line would be lost.

Prof Schurer added: "If there is one particular link that has more significance than any other it has to be the link between Edward III and his son John of Gaunt.

"John of Gaunt was the father of Henry IV, so if John of Gaunt was not actually the child of Edward III, arguably Henry IV had no legitimate right to the throne and therefore neither did Henry V, Henry VI and indirectly, the Tudors.

"Likewise if the break is in the part of Richard III this would also ask questions about legitimacy of the claims of Richard and his brother Edward.

"However you are never going to get an answer without exhuming a dead person."

Henry VII (1457 - 1509) claimed a right to the throne through his wife Elizabeth of York, who was the daughter of Edward IV (1422 - 1483). Her royal line also came through Edward III, via Edmund, Duke of York, the brother of John of Gaunt.

Henry also had a royal bloodline through Margaret Beaufort, his mother, who was the great great great great granddaughter of Edward I (1239 - 1307), but the Beauforts were banned by statute from ruling by Henry IV.

Tudor historian and author Elizabeth Norton said the research could have wide implications for British history.

"This is a very interesting finding. There are huge arguments about whether Elizabeth of York was legitimate," said Ms Norton, "This might suggest that she did not have a royal blood line and if so then the Tudors did not either."

However she believes that the break is unlike to have happened with John of Gaunt.

"John of Gaunt and his wife are really a love story," she said, "He married her and legitimised the children he had with her. So it's unlikely that the link was broken there."

The DNA results also revealed new details about the appearance of Richard III. It proves he is likely to have had blue eyes and blond hair, which may have darkened over time.

Experts say a portrait of Richard (see image above) which hangs in the Society of Antiquities in London is the closest representation of the former King.

Dr Turi King, of the department of genetics at the University of Leicester added: "There are no contemporary portraits of Richard. They all post-date his death by about 25-30 years onwards.

"So what I was interested in doing was looking at what the DNA evidence could tell us about what his hard an eye colour was predicted to be and see which portrait that most closely matches.

"The DNA evidence indicates that he has a high probability of having blue eye colour and blond hair. That would be a childhood hair colour, and hair can darken with age."

Dr King is currently attempting to sequence the entire genome of Richard III to look for diseases and health issues that the King might have suffered.

The Royal Household said it did not wish to comment on the research, which is published in the journal and funded by the Wellcome Trust.

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Middle school girl disciplined for refusing weigh-in in front of her class

© The Des Moines Register

Iowa middle school student Ireland Hobert-Hochtold

During a check-up in her physical education class, Ireland Hobert-Hochtold told her teacher that she didn't want to take part in the FitnessGram program, a fitness measurement tool her school has used for at least four years.

Ireland's decision landed her in the principal's office.

"I don't feel like it's [the school's] business," Ireland told the Des Moines Register. "I feel like it's my doctor and my mom and my own business - or maybe not even my own, because I don't need to know that right now."

The FitnessGram program, which has been in existence since 1982, assesses six areas of health-related fitness - including body composition, flexibility, muscular strength and endurance, and aerobic capacity. Once physical education teachers conduct tests, they measure scores using the Healthy Fitness Zone standards. School administrators use the reports in letters addressed to parents that explain the importance of physical activity and outline "areas for improvement."

Right now, 21 states require schools to hold obesity screenings and send letters home in cases when students' BMI exceeds a certain level. BMI, however, often doesn't provide a holistic picture of fitness level. That's why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends supplementing BMI tests with assessments like skinfold thickness measurements.

While school officials tout the FitnessGram program as a tool in combating the nation's childhood obesity problem, the process has been likened to fat shaming. Critics point out that it may bring on body image problems in youngsters, compelling them to develop eating disorders.

Earlier this year, a third grader expressed her displeasure to the after receiving a letter from the New York City Department of Education that placed her in the "overweight" category. A mother in Florida also spoke out against the state's department of public health after receiving a letter that placed her physically fit daughter "at risk" for obesity. Upon visiting FitnessGram's website, the mother found out that "at-risk" actually meant "overweight."

Clinical psychologist Michael Feldman says that the BMI tests and letters could reinforce these negative feelings among youngsters, especially girls.

"[Fat letters] insinuate that children are to blame for their condition and that they lack awareness or willpower. And because "fat letters" are a collaboration between the child's school, parents and doctor, kids are likely to feel that school officials, health care professionals and possibly their own parents are ganging up on them over their weight," Feldman argued in a article last year. "This will simply validate their fears that they are somehow bad or subpar because their body is unacceptable."

According to the National Eating Disorders Association (NESA), many elementary and middle school-aged girls report concerns about their weight and body shape. More than 40 percent of girls in the first through third grade say they want to be thinner. Among 10-year-olds, more than 80 percent express wishes to be thinner. NESA has repeatedly warned against using the FitnessGram assessments, saying that could influence young students to skip meals, vomit, or take laxatives.

In Pleasant Hill, Iowa, Ireland's act of defiance against the FitnessGram program has compelled a couple of her classmates to take a similar position and refuse to participate. It also may prompt a policy change, as the school board will discuss whether to stop weighing kids in the school system. Last year, Massachusetts' school board voted 10 to 1 to stop sending "fat letters" after five years of doing the practice, citing parents' privacy concerns and the inadequacy of the BMI as an indicator of obesity.

Ireland's mother, Heather Hobert-Hoch, told the Des Moines Register that she fully support's her daughter's decision. "She doesn't want her weight taken anywhere," Hobert-Hoch said. "The family stopped using a scale years ago and Ireland has been very happy since then. It's very common among young girls, and even women, to become obsessed with the number on the scale."

Parent and eating disorder awareness groups have railed against similar well-meaning but insensitive efforts to combat childhood obesity - like a public health campaign in California that circulated an altered photo of an overweight girl on the web and a series of television ads in Georgia that said "Being fat takes the fun out of being a kid."

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Merkel facing widespread public discontent over Russian sanctions

© Reuters / Francois Lenoir

Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel

German chancellor Angela Merkel may have hard time keeping Russia sanctions in place, as she is facing widespread public discontent, both within her nation and in the EU. The restrictive measures were introduced earlier this year and now their effects on the EU economy, and German in particular, are undermining trade. The EU is facing two possible options at this point, either a gradual revocation of the economic restrictions on Russia or a further tightening of the sanctions regime with the implementation of new restrictions, according to a report by Financial Times.

"Keeping sanctions in place is a challenge for German policy," says Gernot Erler, an MP of the opposition Social Democratic Party.

The current sanctions will expire one year after they have been imposed, meaning that without further escalation, the sanctions will begin to ease starting March 2015. There are only two possible scenarios for the outcome of the EU sanctions. The first being the case if Russian leader Vladimir Putin initiates yet another wave of military escalation in Eastern Ukraine. The other is if Putin explicitly shows his willingness to reach a negotiated solution, in which case the internal pressure in the EU to abolish the sanctions will be extremely high.

But what happens in case the tensions over the Ukrainian crisis remain at their current level, with neither side undertaking any major action in Eastern Ukraine?

A German ex-diplomat, quoted by FT, suggested that public opinion may change in favour of a more dovish approach. In his opinion, Germans are already asking why traditionally strong relations with Russia must be jeopardized. "They say, 'For God's sake let's forget about Crimea.' " It will be "increasingly difficult domestically speaking for Angela Merkel," he concludes.

The Merkel-led cabinet has four main political objectives, which are: detente in Ukraine, the Kremlin's non-involvement in other nations' domestic affairs, strengthening the EU and retaining a domestic power base. All of these goals will be hard to pursue at once due to several reasons. Eastern Europe's high reliance on the now-cut economic ties with Russia are negatively affecting the living standards of many people. Businesses involved in Russia, like the Eastern Committee, are actively lobbying in favour of the sanctions' revocation. Adding to this, the Russian government-owned media company, RT, is launching a German-language website in 2015, to explain to the German public the Kremlin's stance on international issues, while Russian businesses are lobbying their interests in Germany and Europe as well.

At this point the Merkel-led government is in better position than at the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis, as it has capitalized on the developments in Ukraine, winning over public opinion and consolidating the EU on its pro-Ukrainian stance. However, in a smoldering standoff with Russia time is on the latter's side, as in the absence of acts of explicit hostility, public opinion in Europe will slowly shift towards peace, with Crimea slowly being forgotten.

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Are you one of these "new technology rejecters"?: What will it take to get you to swallow GMO and Nanotech foods?

Dear reader: Are you one of these "new technology rejecters"?

Apparently will be the one getting a label if you don't want GMOs or nanoparticles in your food. Read on...

Previously, research from North Carolina State University and the University of Minnesota showed that people were willing to consume food with nanotechnology (particles, chips for purposes of tracking and changing texture, taste) - but they wanted it labeled and were willing to pay more to have nano-free or nano-labeled food.

The duo is back to tell you what it would take to get consumers to finally accept genetically modified organisms and nanotech in their food - with a dose of chiding, that is.

The researchers conducted what they say is a nationally representative survey of 1,117 U.S. consumers. Participants were asked to answer an array of questions that explored their willingness to purchase foods that contained GM tech and foods that contained nanotech.

The questions also explored the price of the various foods and whether participants would buy foods that contained nanotech or GM tech if the foods had enhanced nutrition, improved taste, improved food safety, or if the production of the food had environmental benefits. (Hopefully, the questions were asked in a purely theoretical light because so far, GMO and nanotech foods have delivered none of those things.)

Dr. Jennifer Kuzma, senior author of a paper on the research and co-director of the Genetic Engineering in Society Center at NC State. (Her position reveals an obvious bias, but wait until you find out what label you get if you don't accept GMOs and nano foods.)

In general, people are willing to pay more to avoid GM or nanotech in foods, and people were more averse to GM tech than to nanotech.

However, it's not really that simple. There were some qualifiers, indicating that many people would be willing to buy GM or nanotech in foods if there were health or safety benefits.

They broke the participants up into four groups - guess which label you fall into?

• Eighteen percent of participants belonged to a group labeled the "new technology rejecters" - they would not buy GM or nanotech foods under any circumstances. (


• Nineteen percent of participants belonged to a group labeled the "technology averse," which would buy GM or nanotech foods only if those products conveyed food safety benefits.


• Twenty-three percent of participants were "price oriented," basing their shopping decisions primarily on the cost of the food - regardless of the presence of GM or nanotech.


• And 40 percent of participants were "benefit oriented," meaning they would buy GM or nanotech foods if the foods had enhanced nutrition or food safety.

Therefore, they concluded that if nutrition and safety were promised factors, people would gobble up the "benefits." Gotta love those labels...

Kuzma added:

This tells us that GM or nanotech food products have greater potential to be viable in the marketplace if companies focus on developing products that have safety and nutrition benefits - because a majority of consumers would be willing to buy those products.

From a policy standpoint, it also argues that GM and nanotech foods should be labeled, so that the technology rejecters can avoid them. (You can avoid them, but you will still get called names! )

Where, praytell, did they find the participants for this survey - certainly not in Hawaii, Oregon, or California, where GMOs are considered the bane of environment and health and where people take unadulterated food seriously. GMOs have not delivered on their promises of ending hunger, better health and better environment. The majority of the public remains unaware of unregulated nanotech in their food.

No, folks, the purpose of the survey on engineered foods is to engineer YOU. (But of course it has the added benefit of helping food producers to shape market to you.) To blindly accept what is unacceptable or thus, be cast aside.

The paper, Heterogeneous Consumer Preferences for Nanotechnology and Genetic-modification Technology in Food Products," is published online in the Lead author of the paper is Dr. Chengyuan Yue of the University of Minnesota. The paper was co-authored by Shuoli Zhao, a graduate student at UM. The research was supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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Starving cancer with a ketogenic diet and compressed oxygen: Dominic D'Agostino at TED

Dominic D'Agostino

Dr. D'Agostino is an Assistant Professor at the University of South Florida College Of Medicine, Molecular Pharmacology & Physiology where he develops and tests metabolic therapies, including alternative energy substrates and ketogenic agents for neurological disorders, cancer and wound healing. While studying the effects of gasses on the brains of Navy Seal divers, he developed an approach for metabolically starving cancer cells through diet and compressed oxygen, replacing chemotherapy, surgery, or radiation.

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100,000 Czech railway travelers stranded due to freezing cold weather

Around 100,000 passengers are stranded across the Czech Republic due to the disruption of the railway system

Around 100,000 passengers have been stranded across the Czech Republic due to the disruption of the railway service as a result of freezing cold weather.

"Several hundred passenger trains were cancelled or delayed," Czech Railways said on its website on Tuesday.

Czech railways authority said the disruption occurred after ice encased overhead power lines and brought railway traffic to a halt.

According to the officials, the freezing began on Monday and continued into Tuesday.

They added that people were forced to spend the night, when temperatures dropped to a low of minus 7.3 Celsius (19.4 Fahrenheit), in cold trains and at railway stations.

Czech Railways called on people to defer their trips to the time when the situation is normal.

The cold also caused power cuts and many road accidents across the country.

According to the authorities, flights at Prague's main Vaclav Havel airport were not disrupted by the cold weather.

The arctic weather also cancelled the departure of a group of soldiers heading for Afghanistan after their plane failed to take off from Prague-Kbely military airport.

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