Afro-Americans More Prone To Asthma
Asthma a leading chronic disease affects some populations more severely than others. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have observed that Afro-American children are twice likely to be asthmatic than the white Americans and Afro-Americans stand a 10 times greater chance of death due to asthma complications. Scientists from the University of California, San Francisco have taken it upon themselves to address this claim by looking for reasons in the genetic makeup of the most prone population and also at Mexican American and Puerto Rican children’s genes to better understand drug responses in each population.
Marquitta White, a renowned Geneticist, recently published findings that since the majority of genetic studies have been studied in Caucasian or European descent populations, the results and medications vary greatly from those of the Afro-American populations and is the main reason for poor care and responsiveness to available medication and 
treatments. For example, there is a common asthma medication called Advair that particularly specifies that it is not suitable for African Americans and that it poses an 8 fold risk of death. Albuterol another commonly administered drug for asthma has adverse effects on Puerto Rican and African American children. Both these populations have a high mortality rate.
It is essential to include minority populations too in clinical studies. The case is a reminder of the time when heart diseases were studied only in men due to which women underwent a very difficult time of diagnosis and treatment. Disease etiology and treatment need to be studied in individual populations due to the differences in genetic makeup. Genetics of a population contributes greatly to their well-being, survival traits and health risks. Asthma often is associated with the environment the patients live in and mostly are observed in those with a history of asthma in the family. Way back in 1993, the Congress had passed a legislation that publicly funded medical studies must include more minorities, although this has not yet been put to practice effectively.
Read More : Denmark’s New Grocer: WeFood
The is now recruiting a new brand of Jihadists with a criminal record. The suicide bombers in Brussels and those of the November 2015 Paris attack were ex-convicts. Two of the suicide bombers in Brussels were brothers of which one had been convicted of assault and bank robbery while the other was involved in a carjacking. These new recruits are both gangsters and terrorists. The Lantin Prison is one of Belgium’s largest prisons meant to serve as a short stay prison for those awaiting trial or sentencing. It is said by the Brussel investigators that it was here in the prison walls that Ibrahim el-Bakraoui was transformed from a criminal to a violent Jihadist.
Massay an ex-social worker who became a prison guard 5 years ago states his observation in the French prisons. Being a gentle and empathetic person he can identify those radical prisoners who try to radicalize inmates by imparting that they are being mistreated. Massay qualified his Master’s degree in criminology and focuses on terrorism, radicalization and school bullying. He can identify these elements by the choice of books they read and recommend to fellow inmates and sometimes even to other prison guards. Prison guards are expected to report incidents of radicalization but most fail to distinguish between radicalization and a person merely trying to rediscover .
The United States along with 19 other countries pledged to work speedily towards clean energy technologies through “Mission Innovation” that the joint effort has been named. The 20 governments realize that the pace of innovation is lacking and there needs to be a significant transformation in the scale. The announcement was made at the beginning of the 12-day climate change discussions in Paris that was attended by representatives from almost 200 countries. Mission Innovation intends to increase the annual funding on energy research from $10 billion to $20 billion collectively.