The Big Drink Debate: perceptions of the impact of price on alcohol consumption from a large scale cross-sectional convenience survey in north west England

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A large-scale survey was conducted in 2008 in north west England, a region with high levels of alcohol-related harm, during a regional 'Big Drink Debate' campaign. The aim of this paper is to explore perceptions of how alcohol consumption would change if alcohol prices were to increase or decrease.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A convenience survey of residents (≥ 18 years) of north west England measured demographics, income, alcohol consumption in previous week, and opinions on drinking behaviour under two pricing conditions: low prices and discounts and increased alcohol prices (either 'decrease', 'no change' or 'increase'). Multinomial logistic regression used three outcomes: 'completely elastic' (consider that lower prices increase drinking and higher prices decrease drinking); 'lower price elastic' (lower prices increase drinking, higher prices have no effect); and 'price inelastic' (no change for either).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of 22,780 drinkers surveyed, 80.3% considered lower alcohol prices and discounts would increase alcohol consumption, while 22.1% thought raising prices would decrease consumption, making lower price elasticity only (i.e. lower prices increase drinking, higher prices have no effect) the most common outcome (62%). Compared to a high income/high drinking category, the lightest drinkers with a low income (adjusted odds ratio AOR = 1.78, 95% confidence intervals CI 1.38-2.30) or medium income (AOR = 1.88, CI 1.47-2.41) were most likely to be lower price elastic. Females were more likely than males to be lower price elastic (65% vs 57%) while the reverse was true for complete elasticity (20% vs 26%, P < 0.001).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Lower pricing increases alcohol consumption, and the alcohol industry's continued focus on discounting sales encourages higher drinking levels. International evidence suggests increasing the price of alcohol reduces consumption, and one in five of the surveyed population agreed; more work is required to increase this agreement to achieve public support for policy change. Such policy should also recognise that alcohol is an addictive drug, and the population may be prepared to pay more to drink the amount they now feel they need.</p

Behavioral, cognitive, and adaptive development in infants with autism spectrum disorder in the first 2 years of life

BACKGROUND: To delineate the early progression of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptoms, this study investigated developmental characteristics of infants at high familial risk for ASD (HR), and infants at low risk (LR). METHODS: Participants included 210 HR and 98 LR infants across 4 sites with comparable behavioral data at age 6, 12, and 24 months assessed in the domains of cognitive development (Mullen Scales of Early Learning), adaptive skills (Vineland Adaptive Behavioral Scales), and early behavioral features of ASD (Autism Observation Scale for Infants). Participants evaluated according to the DSM-IV-TR criteria at 24 months and categorized as ASD-positive or ASD-negative were further stratified by empirically derived cutoff scores using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule yielding four groups: HR-ASD-High, HR-ASD-Moderate (HR-ASD-Mod), HR-ASD-Negative (HR-Neg), and LR-ASD-Negative (LR-Neg). RESULTS: The four groups demonstrated different developmental trajectories that became increasingly distinct from 6 to 24 months across all domains. At 6 months, the HR-ASD-High group demonstrated less advanced Gross Motor and Visual Reception skills compared with the LR-Neg group. By 12 months, the HR-ASD-High group demonstrated increased behavioral features of ASD and decreased cognitive and adaptive functioning compared to the HR-Neg and LR-Neg groups. By 24 months, both the HR-ASD-High and HR-ASD-Moderate groups demonstrated differences from the LR- and HR-Neg groups in all domains. CONCLUSIONS: These findings reveal atypical sensorimotor development at 6 months of age which is associated with ASD at 24 months in the most severely affected group of infants. Sensorimotor differences precede the unfolding of cognitive and adaptive deficits and behavioral features of autism across the 6- to 24-month interval. The less severely affected group demonstrates later symptom onset, in the second year of life, with initial differences in the social-communication domain. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s11689-015-9117-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Interleukin-4 can induce interleukin-4 production in dendritic cells

The presence of interleukin-4 (IL-4) during the generation of dendritic cells (DC) from precursor cells results in measurable increases of IL-12 in supernatants but IL-4 secretion has not been reported. However, DC have IL-4 receptors and are able to make IL-4. We therefore sought evidence for autocrine effects of IL-4 on DC. IL-4 gene expression was low in DC generated from bone-marrow stem cells in the presence of granulocyte–macrophage colony-stimulating factor but was up-regulated by exposure of the developing DC to IL-4. Exposure to IL-4 also induced intracellular IL-4 production in DC. The intracellular IL-4 induced in the presence of IL-4 was increased following further DC maturation with tumour necrosis factor-α. By contrast, in supernatants of DC, IL-4 was rarely detected and only at late culture periods. However, after exposure of DC to IL-4, cell-bound IL-4 was detected transiently, which suggested binding and internalization of the cytokine. Binding via IL-4 receptor-α was indicated from phosphorylation of the signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) protein 6, which is known to mediate IL-4 function. Cytokine persisting within the supernatants of the cells may therefore be unrepresentative of the actual production and function of IL-4 in the cells; IL-4 may be produced in DC in response to exposure to IL-4 but may then be lost from the supernatants during cell binding and activation of the cells