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Background Policies to reduce red meat intake are important for mitigating climate change and improving public health. We tested the impact of taxes and warning labels on red meat purchases in the United States. The main study question was, will taxes and warning labels reduce red meat purchases? Methods and findings We recruited 3,518 US adults to participate in a shopping task in a naturalistic online grocery store from October 18, 2021 to October 28, 2021. Participants were randomized to one of 4 conditions: control (no tax or warning labels, n = 887), warning labels (health and environmental warning labels appeared next to products containing red meat, n = 891), tax (products containing red meat were subject to a 30% price increase, n = 874), or combined warning labels + tax (n = 866). We used fractional probit and Poisson regression models to assess the co-primary outcomes, percent, and count of red meat purchases, and linear regression to assess the secondary outcomes of nutrients purchased. Most participants identified as women, consumed red meat 2 or more times per week, and reported doing all of their household's grocery shopping. The warning, tax, and combined conditions led to lower percent of red meat-containing items purchased, with 39% (95% confidence interval (CI) [38%, 40%]) of control participants' purchases containing red meat, compared to 36% (95% CI [35%, 37%], p = 0.001) of warning participants, 34% (95% CI [33%, 35%], p < 0.001) of tax participants, and 31% (95% CI [30%, 32%], p < 0.001) of combined participants. A similar pattern was observed for count of red meat items. Compared to the control, the combined condition reduced calories purchased (-312.0 kcals, 95% CI [-590.3 kcals, -33.6 kcals], p = 0.027), while the tax (-10.4 g, 95% CI [-18.2 g, -2.5 g], p = 0.01) and combined (-12.8 g, 95% CI [-20.7 g, -4.9 g], p = 0.001) conditions reduced saturated fat purchases; no condition affected sodium purchases. Warning labels decreased the perceived healthfulness and environmental sustainability of red meat, while taxes increased perceived cost. The main limitations were that the study differed in sociodemographic characteristics from the US population, and only about 30% to 40% of the US population shops for groceries online. Conclusions Warning labels and taxes reduced red meat purchases in a naturalistic online grocery store. Trial Registration: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ NCT04716010., Author(s): Lindsey Smith Taillie 1,2,*, Maxime Bercholz 1, Carmen E. Prestemon 1, Isabella C. A. Higgins 1,3, Anna H. Grummon 4, Marissa G. Hall 1,3,5, Lindsay M. Jaacks 6 Introduction [...]

Background: Rejection from parents can lead transgender (trans) youth and young adults to experience poor health outcomes, while parental and sibling acceptance and support can be protective against poor health outcomes. The role of family in adult trans women's lives has been minimally investigated. Aim: This study aimed to explore experiences of familial rejection, acceptance, and support in the lives of trans women sex workers living with HIV in the Dominican Republic. Method: In-depth interviews were conducted with 21 trans women ages 23 to 49 in Santo Domingo in 2019. We conducted a qualitative analysis of the interviews. We developed narrative summaries and a case-based matrix to analyze data within and across participants and confirm patterns and themes in the data. Results: Familial rejection and acceptance were processes with most participants receiving acceptance from at least one family member over time as well as receiving emotional and instrumental support. Poor health outcomes influenced by rejection and lack of support included suicide attempts, depression, and substance use. Conversely, acceptance and support bolstered well-being and provided housing stability and assistance with HIV treatment. Conclusion: Family rejection and acceptance play an important role throughout the life course. Working with families to become accepting of their trans family members could improve trans women's health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Pictorial warnings on tobacco products are promising for motivating behavior change, but few studies have examined pictorial warnings for sugary drinks, especially in naturalistic environments. This study aimed to examine the impact of pictorial warnings on parents' purchases of sugary drinks for their children in a naturalistic store laboratory. Methods and findings Parents of children ages 2 to 12 (n = 325, 25% identifying as Black, 20% Hispanic) completed a shopping task in a naturalistic store laboratory in North Carolina. Participants were randomly assigned to a pictorial warnings arm (sugary drinks displayed pictorial health warnings about type 2 diabetes and heart damage) or a control arm (sugary drinks displayed a barcode label). Parents selected 1 beverage and 1 snack for their child, as well as 1 household good; one of these items was selected for them to purchase and take home. The primary outcome was whether parents purchased a sugary drink for their child. Secondary outcomes included reactions to the trial labels, attitudes toward sugary drinks, and intentions to serve their child sugary drinks. Pictorial warnings led to a 17-percentage point reduction in purchases of sugary drinks (95% CI for reduction: 7% to 27%), with 45% of parents in the control arm buying a sugary drink for their child compared to 28% in the pictorial warning arm (p = 0.002). The impact of pictorial warnings on purchases did not differ by any of the 13 participant characteristics examined (e.g., race/ethnicity, income, education, and age of child). Pictorial warnings also led to lower calories (kcal), purchased from sugary drinks (82 kcal in the control arm versus 52 kcal in the pictorial warnings arm, p = 0.003). Moreover, pictorial warnings led to lower intentions to serve sugary drinks to their child, feeling more in control of healthy eating decisions, greater thinking about the harms of sugary drinks, stronger negative emotional reactions, greater anticipated social interactions, lower perceived healthfulness of sugary drinks for their child, and greater injunctive norms to limit sugary drinks for their child (all p 0.05). Conclusions Pictorial warnings reduced parents' purchases of sugary drinks for their children in this naturalistic trial. Warnings on sugary drinks are a promising policy approach to reduce sugary drink purchasing in the US. Trial registration The trial design, measures, power calculation, and analytic plan were registered before data collection at www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT04223687., Author(s): Marissa G. Hall 1,2,3, Anna H. Grummon 4,5, Isabella C. A. Higgins 1,3, Allison J. Lazard 2,6, Carmen E. Prestemon 3, Mirian I. Avendaño-Galdamez 3, Lindsey Smith Taillie 3,7,* [...]

Summary: Background: Sugar‐sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption remains high among US children. Warning labels on SSBs hold promise for reducing consumption, but their impact may differ by SSB category. Objectives: This study examined the effects of pictorial warnings on parents' beverage purchases and perceptions across SSB categories. Methods: Parents of children ages 2–12 (n = 326) visited a convenience store laboratory in North Carolina. Participants were randomly assigned to see SSBs carrying either pictorial warning labels or control labels. Parents purchased a beverage for their child and completed a survey. Results: Responses from parents in the control arm suggest underlying perceptions of flavoured milk (2.8 on scale ranging from 1 to 5), flavoured water (2.6), and fruit‐flavoured drinks (2.5) as the most healthful SSB categories. Compared to the control, pictorial warnings led to the largest reductions in purchases of fruit drinks (−61%), soda (−36%) and flavoured milk (−32%). Warnings also lowered the perceived healthfulness of flavoured water (d = −0.34), flavoured milk (d = −0.28), sports drinks (d = −0.25), and a reduction in intentions to give one's child sports drinks (d = −0.30), flavoured water (d = −0.24) and sweet tea (d = −0.22, all p < 0.05). Conclusions: Warning labels may have heterogeneous effects across SSB categories. Future research should assess the psychological mechanisms underlying these heterogeneous effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Here, we jointly summarise scientific evidence for genetic variation in resistance to infection with Mycobacterium bovis, the primary agent of bovine tuberculosis (TB), provided by two recent and separate studies of Holstein-Friesian dairy cow populations in Great Britain (GB) and Ireland. Methods The studies quantified genetic variation within archived data from field and abattoir surveillance control programmes within each country. These data included results from the single intradermal comparative tuberculin test (SICTT), abattoir inspection for TB lesions and laboratory confirmation of disease status. Threshold animal models were used to estimate variance components for responsiveness to the SICTT and abattoir confirmed M. bovis infection. The link functions between the observed 0/1 scale and the liability scale were the complementary log-log in the GB, and logit link function in the Irish population. Results and discussion The estimated heritability of susceptibility to TB, as judged by responsiveness to the SICTT, was 0.16 (0.012) and 0.14 (0.025) in the GB and Irish populations, respectively. For abattoir or laboratory confirmation of infection, estimates were 0.18 (0.044) and 0.18 (0.041) from the GB and the Irish populations, respectively. Conclusions Estimates were all significantly different from zero and indicate that exploitable variation exists among GB and Irish Holstein Friesian dairy cows for resistance to TB. Epidemiological analysis suggests that factors such as variation in exposure or imperfect sensitivity and specificity would have resulted in underestimation of the true values.

Elevated blood homocysteine levels appear to be a risk factor for atherosclerosis. A study of 750 people with atherosclerosis and 800 without found that those with the highest blood homocysteine levels had twice the risk of atherosclerosis compared to those with lower levels. This risk was independent of other risks but also seemed to magnify other risks such as smoking and hypertension. Those who took vitamins had lower homocysteine levels and a lower risk of atherosclerosis, but this group was relatively small. Several B vitamins are involved in the metabolism of homocysteine., Context. -- Elevated plasma homocysteine is a known risk factor for atherosclerotic vascular disease, but the strength of the relationship and the interaction of plasma homocysteine with other risk factors are unclear. Objective. -- To establish the magnitude of the vascular disease risk associated with an increased plasma homocysteine level and to examine interaction effects between elevated plasma homocysteine level and conventional risk factors. Design. -- Case-control study. Setting. -- Nineteen centers in 9 European countries. Patients. -- A total of 750 cases of atherosclerotic vascular disease (cardiac, cerebral, and peripheral) and 800 controls of both sexes younger than 60 years. Measurements. -- Plasma total homocysteine was measured while subjects were fasting and after a standardized methionine-loading test, which involves the administration of 100 mg of methionine per kilogram and stresses the metabolic pathway responsible for the irreversible degradation of homocysteine. Plasma cobalamin, pyridoxal 5&apos;-phosphate, red blood cell folate, serum cholesterol, smoking, and blood pressure were also measured. Results. -- The relative risk for vascular disease in the top fifth compared with the bottom four fifths of the control fasting total homocysteine distribution was 2.2 (95% confidence interval, 1.6-2.9). Methionine loading identified an additional 27% of atrisk cases. A dose-response effect was noted between total homocysteine level and risk. The risk was similar to and independent of that of other risk factors, but interaction effects were noted between homocysteine and these risk factors; for both sexes combined, an increased fasting homocysteine level showed a more than multiplicative effect on risk in smokers and in hypertensive subjects. Red blood cell folate, cobalamin, and pyridoxal phosphate, all of which modulate homocysteine metabolism, were inversely related to total homocysteine levels. Compared with nonusers of vitamin supplements, the small number of subjects taking such vitamins appeared to have a substantially lower risk of vascular disease, a proportion of which was attributable to lower plasma homocysteine levels. Conclusions. -- An increased plasma total homocysteine level confers an independent risk of vascular disease similar to that of smoking or hyperlipidemia. It powerfully increases the risk associated with smoking and hypertension. It is time to undertake randomized controlled trials of the effect of vitamins that reduce plasma homocysteine levels on vascular disease risk.

Abstract Bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) causes an economically important endemic disease (BVD) of cattle in Ireland and worldwide. Systematic eradication by detection and removal of infectious (BVDV carrier) cattle has been successful in several regions. We therefore assessed the benefits (disease losses avoided) and costs (testing and culling regime) of a potential eradication programme in Ireland. Published bio-economic models of BVDV spread in beef suckler herds and dairy herds were adapted to estimate potential benefits of eradication in Ireland. A simple model of BVDV spread in beef finisher herds was devised to estimate the benefits of eradication in this sector. A six year eradication programme consisting of 5 inter-related virological and serological testing programmes is outlined and costed. We found that the annualised benefits of BVDV eradication in Ireland exceeded the costs by a factor of 5 in the beef suckler sector and a factor of 14 in the dairy sector. Corresponding payback periods were 1.2 and 0.5 years respectively. These results highlight the significant economic impact of BVDV on the Irish cattle industry and suggest a clear economic benefit to eradication using the proposed approach. This type of cost-benefit analysis is considered an essential prerequisite prior to undertaking an eradication campaign of this magnitude.

Bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) causes an economically important endemic disease (BVD) of cattle in Ireland and worldwide. Systematic eradication by detection and removal of infectious (BVDV carrier) cattle has been successful in several regions. We therefore assessed the benefits (disease losses avoided) and costs (testing and culling regime) of a potential eradication programme in Ireland. Published bio-economic models of BVDV spread in beef suckler herds and dairy herds were adapted to estimate potential benefits of eradication in Ireland. A simple model of BVDV spread in beef finisher herds was devised to estimate the benefits of eradication in this sector. A six year eradication programme consisting of 5 inter-related virological and serological testing programmes is outlined and costed. We found that the annualised benefits of BVDV eradication in Ireland exceeded the costs by a factor of 5 in the beef suckler sector and a factor of 14 in the dairy sector. Corresponding payback periods were 1.2 and 0.5 years respectively. These results highlight the significant economic impact of BVDV on the Irish cattle industry and suggest a clear economic benefit to eradication using the proposed approach. This type of cost-benefit analysis is considered an essential prerequisite prior to undertaking an eradication campaign of this magnitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the use of single intradermal cervical comparative tuberculin test (SICCT) and its adverse effect as a consequence of tuberculin testing in cattle population in 2003 under the bovine tuberculosis eradication programme in Ireland. Basing on animal level tuberculin test data from restricted herds in three counties, the author's found no adverse effect reported or detected. They indicate that the data on multiple births and overall culling rate is within stated optimal rates.