BackgroundPopulation-based studies characterising outcomes of COVID-19 in European settings are limited, and effects of socio-economic status (SES) on outcomes have not been widely investigated. AimWe describe the epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 cases, highlighting incidence and mortality rate differences across SES during the first wave in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.MethodsThis population-based study reports individual-level data of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases diagnosed from 24 February to 4 May 2020, notified to the Public Health Agency of Barcelona and followed until 15 June 2020. We analysed end-of-study vital status and the effects of chronic conditions on mortality using logistic regression. Geocoded addresses were linked to basic health area SES data, estimated using the composed socio-economic index. We estimated age-standardised incidence, hospitalisation, and mortality rates by SES.ResultsOf 15,554 COVID-19-confirmed cases, the majority were women (n = 9,028; 58%), median age was 63 years (interquartile range 46-83), 8,046 (54%) required hospitalisation, and 2,287 (15%) cases died. Prevalence of chronic conditions varied across SES, and multiple chronic conditions increased risk of death (≥ 3, adjusted odds ratio 2.3). Age-standardised rates (incidence, hospitalisation, mortality) were highest in the most deprived SES quartile (incidence 1,011 (95% confidence interval (CI) 975-1,047); hospitalisation 619 (95% CI 591-648); mortality 150 (95% CI 136-165)) and lowest in the most affluent (incidence 784 (95% CI 759-809); hospitalisation 400 (95% CI 382-418); mortality 121 (95% CI 112-131)).ConclusionsCOVID-19 outcomes varied markedly across SES, underscoring the need to implement effective preventive strategies for vulnerable populations.We assess the feasibility of reaching the herd immunity threshold against SARS-CoV-2 through vaccination, considering vaccine effectiveness (VE), transmissibility of the virus and the level of pre-existing immunity in populations, as well as their age structure. If highly transmissible variants of concern become dominant in areas with low levels of naturally-acquired immunity and/or in populations with large proportions of  less then  15 year-olds, control of infection without non-pharmaceutical interventions may only be possible with a VE ≥ 80%, and coverage extended to children.

There is a lack of qualitative research developing sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) warning labels with their intended end users. We sought to identify promising SSB warning elements for improving label effectiveness and for future testing in policy and institutional settings.

Mixed methods design using ten focus groups, a design task and a survey. The design task was used to generate ideas for an icon that would dissuade SSB consumption. The survey and focus group guide assessed participant perceptions of SSB warning label mock-ups of text (loss frame, gain frame and loss frame with attribution), colour and icon options.

Three large public universities in California from February to March 2018.

Young adult SSB consumers (n 86) enrolled in one of three diverse California public universities.

Participants perceived the following elements as most effective for reducing SSB consumption loss-frame text with attribution to a credible source, yellow and red colour for label background and an image or icon to accompany the text. Preferred images included sugar near or inside of an SSB, intuitive shapes like a triangle with exclamation mark or octagon and a visual indicator of SSB sugar content compared with recommended limits. Support was high for using SSB warning labels in university cafeterias and on bottles/cans.

Loss-frame text with a credible source, yellow or red label colour and icons could potentially enhance effectiveness of SSB warning labels and warrant further testing.

Loss-frame text with a credible source, yellow or red label colour and icons could potentially enhance effectiveness of SSB warning labels and warrant further testing.

To test whether point-of-sale (POS) information about the nutrition content of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) promotes healthier drink choices among teenagers, and explore whether POS intervention effects vary based on prior exposure to a sugary drink public health campaign (13 Cancers).

Between-subjects online experiment with three POS signage conditions no signage (control); sugar content (SC) and Health Star Rating (HSR). Selleckchem SB415286 Participants viewed their assigned POS sign alone, then alongside a drinks product display and chose which drink they would buy. Perceptions of various drink products and campaign recall were assessed.

Australia.

Adolescents aged 13-17 years (n 925) recruited via an online panel.

POS signs did not promote a significant reduction in preference for SSB (cf. control condition). Cognitive and emotional responses to POS signs were strongest for the SC sign, which was rated higher than the HSR sign on various perceived effectiveness measures. Participants who saw the SC sign rated SSB as less healthy (cf. control condition) and were more likely to accurately estimate the number of teaspoons of sugar in soft drink (cf. HSR sign and control conditions). There was no significant interaction between prior exposure to the 13 Cancers campaign and POS signage condition regarding preferences for and perceptions of SSB.

SSB POS interventions may not have the desired effect on adolescents’ drink preferences. Testing SSB POS signs in real-world retail settings is needed to determine whether positive educational impacts extend to promoting healthier drink purchases and reduced SSB consumption among teenagers.

SSB POS interventions may not have the desired effect on adolescents’ drink preferences. Testing SSB POS signs in real-world retail settings is needed to determine whether positive educational impacts extend to promoting healthier drink purchases and reduced SSB consumption among teenagers.Accurate control and measurement of real-time sample temperature are critical for the understanding and interpretation of the experimental results from in situ heating experiments inside environmental transmission electron microscope (ETEM). However, quantifying the real-time sample temperature remains a challenging task for commercial in situ TEM heating devices, especially under gas conditions. In this work, we developed a home-made micro-electrical-mechanical-system (MEMS) heater with unprecedented small temperature gradient and thermal drift, which not only enables the temperature evolution caused by gas injection to be measured in real-time but also makes the key heat dissipation path easier to model to theoretically understand and predict the temperature decrease. A new parameter termed as “gas cooling ability (H)”, determined purely by the physical properties of the gas, can be used to compare and predict the gas-induced temperature decrease by different gases. Our findings can act as a reference for predicting the real temperature for in situ heating experiments without closed-loop temperature sensing capabilities in the gas environment, as well as all gas-related heating systems.