An Analysis of Costs and Health Co-Benefits for a U.S. Power Plant Carbon Standard

Reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from power plants can have important “co-benefits” for public health by reducing emissions of air pollutants. Here, we examine the costs and health co-benefits, in monetary terms, for a policy that resembles the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan. We then examine the spatial distribution of the co-benefits and costs, and the implications of a range of cost assumptions in the implementation year of 2020. Nationwide, the total health co-benefits were $29 billion 2010 USD (95$2.3 to $68 billion), and net co-benefits under our central cost case were$12 billion (95% CI: -$15 billion to$51 billion). Net co-benefits for this case in the implementation year were positive in 10 of the 14 regions studied. The results for our central case suggest that all but one region should experience positive net benefits within 5 years after implementation

Crossing the line: Lived experience of sexual violence among trans women of colour from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds in Australia

The project aim was to increase understanding of the lived experience of being a trans woman of colour living in Australia, in relation to gender transitioning and experiences of sexual violence. The project used a sequential mixed methods design and a feminist intersectional approach to address this aim. The research design, data collection and analysis, and outcomes from the findings were underpinned by principles of integrated knowledge translation, which included input from an advisory group and trans community stakeholders, integrating lived experience into the knowledge production and translation process. Study methods included: thirty-one interviews with trans women of colour, and follow-up interviews with 19 women which included photovoice analysis of thirty-nine online forum threads, with 480 unique posters and 950 comments, in relation to discussion of trans sexual violence a national survey exploring sexual violence and women’s responses to violence that included trans women, cisgender heterosexual women and cisgender lesbian, bisexual or queer women. The research found that trans women of colour living in Australia are more likely than other women to report having been assaulted by a stranger. The report shows that trans women of colour are subject to pervasive violence both outside and inside the home, from verbal violence—such as catcalling—to assaults. As a result, there are very few places where trans women of colour are safe from abuse. This research demonstrates that the absence of culturally competent information and knowledge about transgender experience, accompanied by misinformation, can lead to stigma, prejudice and discrimination, results in unmet health and justice needs for trans women. This can have serious consequences for trans women’s physical and psychological wellbeing. The report includes recommendations for policy and practice

Familial t(1;11) translocation is associated with disruption of white matter structural integrity and oligodendrocyte–myelin dysfunction

Although the underlying neurobiology of major mental illness (MMI) remains unknown, emerging evidence implicates a role for oligodendrocyte–myelin abnormalities. Here, we took advantage of a large family carrying a balanced t(1;11) translocation, which substantially increases risk of MMI, to undertake both diffusion tensor imaging and cellular studies to evaluate the consequences of the t(1;11) translocation on white matter structural integrity and oligodendrocyte–myelin biology. This translocation disrupts among others the DISC1 gene which plays a crucial role in brain development. We show that translocation-carrying patients display significant disruption of white matter integrity compared with familial controls. At a cellular level, we observe dysregulation of key pathways controlling oligodendrocyte development and morphogenesis in induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) derived case oligodendrocytes. This is associated with reduced proliferation and a stunted morphology in vitro. Further, myelin internodes in a humanized mouse model that recapitulates the human translocation as well as after transplantation of t(1;11) oligodendrocyte progenitors were significantly reduced when compared with controls. Thus we provide evidence that the t(1;11) translocation has biological effects at both the systems and cellular level that together suggest oligodendrocyte–myelin dysfunction

Multiethnic Exome-Wide Association Study of Subclinical AtherosclerosisCLINICAL PERSPECTIVE

The burden of subclinical atherosclerosis in asymptomatic individuals is heritable and associated with elevated risk of developing clinical coronary heart disease (CHD). We sought to identify genetic variants in protein-coding regions associated with subclinical atherosclerosis and the risk of subsequent CHD

Correction: An Analysis of Costs and Health Co-Benefits for a U.S. Power Plant Carbon Standard.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0156308.]

Net benefits by IPM Region for a moderately stringent, highly flexible carbon standard in 2020 (2010 USD) using central estimates for both cost and health co-benefits.

<p>Net benefits by IPM Region for a moderately stringent, highly flexible carbon standard in 2020 (2010 USD) using central estimates for both cost and health co-benefits.</p

Health co-benefits of moderately stringent, highly flexible carbon standards by health endpoint for the central estimate and 95% confidence intervals.

<p>Estimates are rounded to two significant figures. Monetized values are in 2010 USD.</p

Monetized value of annual co-benefits, costs, and net co-benefits by cost case for U.S. and IPM regions in 2020 (million 2010 USD).

<p>All values are calculated and then rounded to two significant figures, so net co-benefits may not sum perfectly.</p