New Haven’s Mayor Toni Harp touts tax on soda
Mayor Toni Harp wants to do something that no one in the country has done before.
Implement a special statewide soda tax.
Saturday, February 8, 2014
McDonald's Opens First Restaurant In Vietnam
McDonald's Opens First Restaurant In Vietnam
"US fast-food giant McDonald's has opened its first restaurant in communist Vietnam nearly 40 years after the end of the war which ended in defeat for America.
The arrival of one of the most enduring symbols of US capitalism in Ho Chi Minh City - formerly known as Saigon from where American troops dramatically withdrew in 1975 - is the result of a business partnership with the son-in-law of Vietnam's powerful Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung."
Extra Wide Seats For Fat Fans Are Half-Price For World Cup
Outrage: Extra Wide Seats For Fat Fans Are Half-Price For World Cup
Brazilian law requires that at least 1 percent of World Cup capacity be devoted to seats for fans with disabilities, including obesity. And those fans get seats for half-price."
Zombie allusions: They just keep on coming™-hitting the wall, getting culled
Collapse of zombie firms ‘shows pick-up in the wider economy’
The number of companies collapsing into administration surged to its highest level for nearly two years at the end of 2013 as a raft of so-called “zombie” firms hit the wall in the run up to Christmas.
He said a painful, but necessary “cull in zombie businesses” was under way as firms that have failed to invest in their businesses during the recessionary years or have survived by servicing interest only bank loans struggle to compete in the new economic conditions.
He added: “Companies have been addressing their stressed balance sheets by using administration as a restructuring procedure to reposition their business model to benefit from the recovering economy.”
Need another reason to work out?™ Higher central fat mass and lower peripheral lean mass are independent determinants of endothelial dysfunction in the elderly
Atherosclerosis. 2014 Jan 17;233(1):310-318. doi: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2013.12.002. [Epub ahead of print]
Higher central fat mass and lower peripheral lean mass are independent determinants of endothelial dysfunction in the elderly: The Hoorn study.
Beijers HJ1, Ferreira I2, Bravenboer B3, Henry RM4, Schalkwijk CG5, Dekker JM6, Nijpels G6, Stehouwer CD5.
Author information
- 1Department of Medicine, Catharina Hospital, Postbox 1350, 5602 ZA Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Electronic address: hanneke.beijers@catharina-ziekenhuis.nl.
- 2Department of Internal Medicine, Maastricht University Medical Centre (MUMC+), Maastricht, The Netherlands; Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Medical Technology Assessment, MUMC+, Maastricht, The Netherlands; Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht (CARIM), MUMC+, Maastricht, The Netherlands; Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), MUMC+, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
- 3Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital (AZVU), Brussel, Belgium.
- 4Department of Internal Medicine, Maastricht University Medical Centre (MUMC+), Maastricht, The Netherlands.
- 5Department of Internal Medicine, Maastricht University Medical Centre (MUMC+), Maastricht, The Netherlands; Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht (CARIM), MUMC+, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
- 6Institute for Research in Extramural Medicine, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
To investigate whether an adverse body composition is associated with endothelial dysfunction (ED) and the extent to which any such association could be explained by low-grade inflammation (LGI) and/or insulin resistance (HOMA2-IR).
METHODS:
We studied 475 individuals from the Hoorn Study [mean (range) age, 68.9 (60-87) years, 245 women). Body composition was assessed by whole body dual-energy absorptiometry. Endothelial dysfunction was measured functionally, by flow-mediated dilation (FMD) and by circulating biomarkers. Associations were examined with multiple linear regression models and mediation analyses according to the ab product of coefficients method.
RESULTS:
After adjustment for age, sex, glucose metabolism status, prior cardiovascular disease and lifestyle factors, total and central fat mass were positively associated with the ED score [β = 0.16 (95% CI 0.04-0.29) and β = 0.18 (0.05-0.31), respectively] and inversely, although not statistically significantly, with FMD. Peripheral fat mass was not associated with the ED score or FMD. There was a significant favourable association between peripheral lean mass and FMD [β = 0.13 (0.00-0.26)], but not with the ED score. The association between total and central fat mass and the ED score was, to a great extent, mediated by LGI and HOMA2-IR. In contrast, LGI or HOMA2-IR did not mediate the association between peripheral lean mass and FMD.
CONCLUSION:
Higher levels of central, but not peripheral fat mass were adversely associated with ED, which was attributable to body composition-related LGI and insulin resistance. In contrast, peripheral lean mass was beneficially associated with ED, but this seemed to be unrelated to LGI or insulin resistance.
RET-rearranged non-small-cell lung carcinoma
Br J Cancer. 2014 Feb 6. doi: 10.1038/bjc.2014.36. [Epub ahead of print]
RET-rearranged non-small-cell lung carcinoma: a clinicopathological and molecular analysis.
Author information
- 1Division of Pathology and Clinical Laboratories, National Cancer Center Hospital, 1-1 Tsukiji 5-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan.
- 21] Division of Genome Biology, National Cancer Center Research Institute, Tokyo, Japan [2] Division of Translational Research, Exploratory Oncology Research and Clinical Trial Center, National Cancer Center, Tokyo, Japan.
- 3Division of Genome Biology, National Cancer Center Research Institute, Tokyo, Japan.
- 4Division of Thoracic Surgery, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
Abstract
Background:
To elucidate clinicopathological characteristics of non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) cases carrying RET rearrangements causing oncogenic fusions to identify responders to therapy with RET tyrosine kinase inhibitors.
Methods:
We investigated 1874 patients with carcinomas, including 1620 adenocarcinomas (ADCs), 203 squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs), 8 large cell carcinomas, and 43 sarcomatoid carcinomas (SACs). Fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) and/or reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) were performed to detect RET gene rearrangement.
Results:
In all, 22 cases (1.2%) showed RET rearrangements; all cases were of ADC histology. Of the 22 patients, 19 possessed KIF5B-RET fusion genes, whereas 3 possessed CCDC6-RET fusion genes. The RET-rearranged tumours were significantly more common in younger patients (P=0.038) and tended to occur in patients with no history of smoking (P=0.051). In addition, RET rearrangements were not associated with gender, occupational history (particularly radioactive exposure), tumour size, lymph node status, tumour stage, or patient survival. The predominant growth pattern in RET-rearranged ADCs was lepidic in 6 cases, papillary in 9 cases, acinar in 2 cases, micropapillary in 1 case, and solid in 4 cases. Cells with cytoplasmic mucin production were at least focally present in 12 of the 22 (54.5%) RET-rearranged ADC cases. Among the 21 analysed RET-rearranged tumours, RET immunopositivity was observed in 15 cases (71.4%), and was significantly associated with RET rearrangement (P<0.001).
Conclusions:
The RET rearrangements were observed in 1.2% of NSCLCs. All cases of RET rearrangement were ADCs. The RET rearrangements were more likely to be observed in younger patients. Although cytoplasmic mucin production was at least focally present in 54.5% of RET-rearranged ADCs, specific histological features were not detected.
Hand over Heart Primes Moral Judgments and Behavior
J Nonverbal Behav. 2014;38:145-165.
Hand over Heart Primes Moral Judgments and Behavior.
Author information
- 1University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Sopot, Poland ; SWPS, ul. Polna 16/20, 81-745 Sopot, Poland.
- 2University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Sopot, Poland.
Abstract
Morality is a prominent guide of both action and perception. We argue that non-emotional gestures can prime the abstract concept of honesty. Four studies demonstrated that the emblematic gesture associated with honesty (putting a hand on one's heart) increased the level of honesty perceived by others, and increased the honesty shown in one's own behavior. Target persons performing this gesture were described in terms associated with honesty, and appeared more trustworthy to others than when the same targets were photographed with a control gesture. Persons performing the hand-over-heart gesture provided more honest assessments of others' attractiveness, and refrained from cheating, as compared to persons performing neutral gestures. These findings suggest that bodily experience associated with abstract concepts can influence both one's perceptions of others, and one's own complex actions. Further, our findings suggest that this influence is not mediated by changes in affective states.
"Building the new Soviet Union was going to be hard work, so it should not entail tiring its citizens to the point of exhaustion..."
Patriot games: the innovation and drama of Soviet sports
As the Sochi Olympics begin, a new exhibition examines the first collision of art, sport and politics in Russia.
"One of the satisfactions of the utopia promised by the Bolsheviks in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution was a 37-hour working week. Building the new Soviet Union was going to be hard work, so it should not entail tiring its citizens to the point of exhaustion: the Stakhanovites were then still in short trousers. As a result of this directive, the Soviet people had – in theory, at least – time on their hands, and in the state’s view some of that leisure should most profitably be used in sport."
HIV ARV drug stock-outs in the Central African Republic and the politics of global public health
Glob Public Health. 2014 Feb 5. [Epub ahead of print]
Towards the embodiment of biosocial resistance? How to account for the unexpected effects of antiretroviral scale-up in the Central African Republic.
Author information
- a Department of Medication and Population Health, Faculty of Pharmacy , Université de Montréal , Montreal , Canada.
Abstract
At the fringes of the unprecedented medication scale-up in the treatment of HIV, many African countries have experienced dramatic antiretroviral drug stock-outs. Usually considered the result of irrational decisions on behalf of local politicians, programme managers and even patients (who are stigmatised as immoral), these problems seem not to be so exceptional. However, ethnographic attention to the social consequences of the presence and absence of antiretroviral drugs in the Central African Republic (CAR) suggests that these stock-outs entail far more than logistical failures. In 2010 and 2011 in the CAR, major antiretroviral treatment (ARV) stock-outs resulted in the renewal of 'therapeutic' social ties and also significant social resistance and defiance. While this paper explores reasons for the shortage, its focus is on subsequent popular reactions to it, particularly among people who are HIV-positive and dependent on ARVs. The exceptional and ambiguous consequences of these drug stock-outs raise new concerns relevant to the politics of global public health.
Whole genome sequencing of bacteria in cystic fibrosis as a model for bacterial genome adaptation and evolution
Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther. 2014 Feb 6. [Epub ahead of print]
Whole genome sequencing of bacteria in cystic fibrosis as a model for bacterial genome adaptation and evolution.
Author information
- Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergents, CNRS-IRD, UMR 7278, IHU Méditerranée Infection, Faculté de Médecine et de Pharmacie, Aix-Marseille Université, 27 Bd Jean-Moulin, Marseille Cedex 05 13385, France.
Abstract
Cystic fibrosis (CF) airways harbor a wide variety of new and/or emerging multidrug resistant bacteria which impose a heavy burden on patients. These bacteria live in close proximity with one another, which increases the frequency of lateral gene transfer. The exchange and movement of mobile genetic elements and genomic islands facilitate the spread of genes between genetically diverse bacteria, which seem to be advantageous to the bacterium as it allows adaptation to the new niches of the CF lungs. Niche adaptation is one of the major evolutionary forces shaping bacterial genome composition and in CF the chronic strains adapt and become less virulent. The purpose of this review is to shed light on CF bacterial genome alterations. Next-generation sequencing technology is an exciting tool that may help us to decipher the genome architecture and the evolution of bacteria colonizing CF lungs.
Principles and ethics in scientific communication in biomedicine
Acta Inform Med. 2013 Dec;21(4):228-33. doi: 10.5455/aim.2013.21.228-233. Epub 2013 Dec 4.
Principles and ethics in scientific communication in biomedicine.
Author information
- Institute of Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University "Ss Cyril and Methodius" Skopje, Republic of Macedonia.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION AND AIM:
To present the basic principles and standards of scientific communication and writing a paper, to indicate the importance of honesty and ethical approach to research and publication of results in scientific journals, as well as the need for continuing education in the principles and ethics in science and publication in biomedicine.
METHODS:
An analysis of relevant materials and documents, sources from the internet and published literature and personal experience and observations of the author.
RESULTS:
In the past more than 20 years there is an increasingly emphasized importance of respecting fundamental principles and standards of scientific communication and ethical approach to research and publication of results in peer review journals. Advances in the scientific community is based on honesty and equity of researchers in conducting and publishing the results of research and to develop guidelines and policies for prevention and punishment of publishing misconduct. Today scientific communication standards and definitions of fraud in science and publishing are generally consistent, but vary considerably policies and approach to ethics education in science, prevention and penal policies for misconduct in research and publication of results in scientific journals.
CONCLUSION:
It is necessary to further strengthen the capacity for education and research, and raising awareness about the importance and need for education about the principles of scientific communication, ethics of research and publication of results. The use of various forms of education of the scientific community, in undergraduate teaching and postgraduate master and doctoral studies, in order to create an ethical environment, is one of the most effective ways to prevent the emergence of scientific and publication dishonesty and fraud.
Friday, February 7, 2014
"...the data contained in biomedical databases is surprisingly likely to be incorrect or incomplete."
Am J Law Med. 2013;39(4):497-538.
The use and misuse of biomedical data: is bigger really better?
Author information
- 1Law-Medicine Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Law, USA.
- 2Case Western Reserve University, USA.
Abstract
Very large biomedical research databases, containing electronic health records (EHR) and genomic data from millions of patients, have been heralded recently for their potential to accelerate scientific discovery and produce dramatic improvements in medical treatments. Research enabled by these databases may also lead to profound changes in law, regulation, social policy, and even litigation strategies. Yet, is "big data" necessarily better data? This paper makes an original contribution to the legal literature by focusing on what can go wrong in the process of biomedical database research and what precautions are necessary to avoid critical mistakes. We address three main reasons for approaching such research with care and being cautious in relying on its outcomes for purposes of public policy or litigation. First, the data contained in biomedical databases is surprisingly likely to be incorrect or incomplete. Second, systematic biases, arising from both the nature of the data and the preconceptions of investigators, are serious threats to the validity of research results, especially in answering causal questions. Third, data mining of biomedical databases makes it easier for individuals with political, social, or economic agendas to generate ostensibly scientific but misleading research findings for the purpose of manipulating public opinion and swaying policymakers. In short, this paper sheds much-needed light on the problems of credulous and uninformed acceptance of research results derived from biomedical databases. An understanding of the pitfalls of big data analysis is of critical importance to anyone who will rely on or dispute its outcomes, including lawyers, policymakers, and the public at large. The Article also recommends technical, methodological, and educational interventions to combat the dangers of database errors and abuses.
Texas' CPRIT board adopts 103-pages of rule changes to restore credibility
CPRIT board adopts 103-pages of rule changes to restore credibility
"The governing board of Texas’ cancer-fighting agency on Friday approved rule changes based on a 2013 law designed to reform the institute’s operations.
Officials of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas say the 103 pages of new rules will help restore credibility and confidence in the agency’s grant-making process."
"Childhood obesity and lack of exercise are early risk factors that could affect the condition of our arteries."
Researcher warns of childhood risk factors for arterial disease
Childhood obesity and lack of exercise are early risk factors that could affect the condition of our arteries. According to a dissertation by Tampere University medical licentiate Heikki Aatola, if people don’t change their unhealthy lifestyles, younger people will be at greater risk of succumbing to ailments such as coronary artery disease.
"Many parents are familiar with the mantra "Eat your vegetables, they’re good for you." There’s good reason why it has become a household refrain. The risk of developing vascular disease declines if good lifestyle habits are established from early childhood. New research continues to reinforce this finding.
“In particular insufficient physical exercise and obesity are key risk factors for vascular health,” Aatola said.
His dissertation argues that children should eat lots of vegetables and fruit.
"Children who eat lots of fruit and vegetables have healthier arteries in adulthood than those who don’t eat as much," he explained."
Obesity is now a disease. Is laughter the best medicine?
Rambam Maimonides Med J. 2014 Jan 21;5(1):e0007. doi: 10.5041/RMMJ.10141. eCollection 2014.
Laugh Away the Fat? Therapeutic Humor in the Control of Stress-induced Emotional Eating.
Author information
- 1University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States and.
- 2Department of Human Nutrition & Metabolism, Braun School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel.
Abstract
This review explores the potential overlap between the fields of nutrition and therapeutic humor, together with the role of humor as a possible tool for aiding those in whom emotions, particularly negative ones, trigger eating as a means to improve mood. We review emotional eating, obesity, and the hypothesized mechanisms of emotional eating. We then review the field of therapeutic humor and its ability to de-stress individuals, possibly through endorphin and opioid systems, both of which are also involved in eating behavior. Finally, we present a novel hypothesis that people may be trained to use humor as a "food substitute" at best, or to blunt hunger stimuli, to achieve similar advantages, without the side effect of weight gain.
From Stanford: Alveolar progenitor and stem cells in lung development, renewal and cancer
Nature. 2014 Feb 5. doi: 10.1038/nature12930. [Epub ahead of print]
Alveolar progenitor and stem cells in lung development, renewal and cancer.
Author information
- 11] Department of Biochemistry and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305-5307, USA [2] Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305-5307, USA.
- 2Department of Biochemistry and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305-5307, USA.
Abstract
Alveoli are gas-exchange sacs lined by squamous alveolar type (AT) 1 cells and cuboidal, surfactant-secreting AT2 cells. Classical studies suggested that AT1 arise from AT2 cells, but recent studies propose other sources. Here we use molecular markers, lineage tracing and clonal analysis to map alveolar progenitors throughout the mouse lifespan. We show that, during development, AT1 and AT2 cells arise directly from a bipotent progenitor, whereas after birth new AT1 cells derive from rare, self-renewing, long-lived, mature AT2 cells that produce slowly expanding clonal foci of alveolar renewal. This stem-cell function is broadly activated by AT1 injury, and AT2 self-renewal is selectively induced by EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) ligands in vitro and oncogenic Kras(G12D) in vivo, efficiently generating multifocal, clonal adenomas. Thus, there is a switch after birth, when AT2 cells function as stem cells that contribute to alveolar renewal, repair and cancer. We propose that local signals regulate AT2 stem-cell activity: a signal transduced by EGFR-KRAS controls self-renewal and is hijacked during oncogenesis, whereas another signal controls reprogramming to AT1 fate.
From Kobe U-Hyogo: New applications of magnetic resonance imaging for thoracic oncology
Semin Respir Crit Care Med. 2014 Feb;35(1):27-40. doi: 10.1055/s-0033-1363449. Epub 2014 Jan 30.
New applications of magnetic resonance imaging for thoracic oncology.
Author information
- Division of Functional and Diagnostic Imaging Research, Department of Radiology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan.
Abstract
Since the clinical introduction of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the chest has been one of its most challenging applications, and since the 1980s many physicists and radiologists have been trying to evaluate images for various lung diseases as well as mediastinal and pleural diseases. However, thoracic MRI could not yield image quality sufficient for a convincing diagnosis within an acceptable examination time, so MRI did not find acceptance as a substitute for computed tomography (CT) and other modalities. Until the 2000, thoracic MRI was generally used only for select, minor clinical indications. Within the past decade, however, technical advances in sequencing, scanners and coils, adaptation of parallel imaging techniques, utilization of contrast media, and development of postprocessing tools have been developed. In addition, pulmonary functional MRI has been extensively researched, and MR is being assessed as a new research and diagnostic tool for pulmonary diseases. State-of-the art thoracic MRI now has the potential as a substitute for traditional imaging techniques and/or to play a complimentary role in patient management. In this review, we focus on these advances in MRI for thoracic oncologic imaging, especially for pulmonary nodule assessment, lung cancer staging, mediastinal tumor diagnosis and malignant mesothelioma evaluation, prediction of postoperative lung function, and prediction or evaluation of therapeutic effectiveness. We also discuss the potential and limitations of these advances for routine clinical practice in comparison with other modalities such as CT, positron emission tomography (PET), PET/CT, or nuclear medicine studies.
"As we enter the fourth decade of HIV and AIDS, sustainability of treatment and prevention programmes is a growing concern in an environment of shrinking resources."
Glob Public Health. 2014 Feb 5. [Epub ahead of print]
Meaningful change or more of the same? The Global Fund's new funding model and the politics of HIV scale-up.
Author information
- a Institute for International Health and Development , Queen Margaret University , Edinburgh , UK.
Abstract
As we enter the fourth decade of HIV and AIDS, sustainability of treatment and prevention programmes is a growing concern in an environment of shrinking resources. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) will be critical to maintaining current trajectories of scale-up and ultimately, ensuring access to HIV treatment and prevention for people in low/middle-income countries. The authors' prior research in India, Zambia and South Africa contributed evidence on the politics and impact of new institutional and funding arrangements, revealing a 'rhetoric-reality gap' in their impact on health systems, civil society participation, and achievement of population health. With its new funding strategy and disbursement model, the Fund proposes dramatic changes to its approach, emphasising value for money, greater fund predictability and flexibility and more proactive engagement in recipient countries, while foregrounding a human rights approach. This paper reviews the Fund's new strategy and examines its potential to respond to key criticisms concerning health systems impact, particularly the elite nature of this funding mechanism that generates competition between public and private sectors and marginalises local voices. The authors analyse strategy documents against their own research and published literature and reflect on whether the changes are likely to address challenges faced in bringing HIV programmes to scale and their likely effect on AIDS politics.
"...a rock opera on the ethics of genetics written by two academics and a drummer legend."
Camb Q Healthc Ethics. 2014 Feb 4:1-12. [Epub ahead of print]
Playing God.
Abstract
This article describes and introduces a new innovative tool for bioethics education: a rock opera on the ethics of genetics written by two academics and a drummer legend. The origin of the idea, the characters and their development, and the themes and approaches as well as initial responses to the music and the show are described, and the various educational usages are explored.
Zombie allusions: They just keep on coming-to Sochi, where the zombie apocalypse begins
The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia are underway and we're fairly convinced here at Chicagoist this is where the zombie apocalypse begins. (With NBC's Bob Costas the possible first casualty.)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, on the other hand, will likely escape Sochi unscathed and rule over the zombie horde with sheer animal magnetism, like he does this angry leopard in this Sochi wild animal sanctuary. Stick with the video and watch the leopard attack the cameraman as it defends its new master.
Will Your Child Be an Overweight Adult?
Will Your Child Be an Overweight Adult?
"crowdsourcing" technique helps uncover new predictors of obesity
As demonstration of this idea, the new PLOS study shows that crowdsourcing can find new predictors of obesity. “Parents should make note of these predictors,” a release from the Cornell lab states. Drawing on the new crowdsourced insights, the lab’s expert list of what parents should aim for now reads: “from-scratch-meals, healthy eating conversations, plenty of sleep, outdoor exercise, and healthy friendships with peers.”
"'Self-knowledge through numbers' can surely only exacerbate the malaise it claims to cure."
Quantified Self: The algorithm of life
Will the search for self-knowledge through numbers bring greater self-awareness or drive us to ultimate distraction?
"Perhaps the QS movement is nothing more than a problem masquerading as its own solution. “Self-knowledge through numbers” can surely only exacerbate the malaise it claims to cure. In the vain hope of realising the goal of a fully quantified self, new tracking devices are invented, marketed and implemented, more data accumulated and shared, which in turn highlight new gaps in self-knowledge, engender more devices and create more gaps in a torturously repetitive infinity."
From the Dept of Unintended Consequences: "Roll your own" resurgence followed '09 Fed tobacco tax hike
Tob Control. 2014 Feb 5. doi: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2013-051261. [Epub ahead of print]
US consumer interest in non-cigarette tobacco products spikes around the 2009 federal tobacco tax increase.
Author information
- Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, , Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES:
This quasi-experimental longitudinal study monitored aggregate Google search queries as a proxy for consumer interest in non-cigarette tobacco products (NTP) around the time of the 2009 US federal tobacco tax increase.
METHODS:
Query trends for searches mentioning common NTP were downloaded from Google's public archives. The mean relative increase was estimated by comparing the observed with expected query volume for the 16 weeks around the tax.
RESULTS:
After the tax was announced, queries spiked for chewing tobacco, cigarillos, electronic cigarettes ('e-cigarettes'), roll-your-own (RYO) tobacco, snuff, and snus. E-cigarette queries were 75% (95% CI 70% to 80%) higher than expected 8 weeks before and after the tax, followed by RYO 59% (95% CI 53% to 65%), snus 34% (95% CI 31% to 37%), chewing tobacco 17% (95% CI 15% to 20%), cigarillos 14% (95% CI 11% to 17%), and snuff 13% (95% CI 10% to 14%). Unique queries increasing the most were 'ryo cigarettes' 427% (95% CI 308% to 534%), 'ryo tobacco' 348% (95% CI 300% to 391%), 'best electronic cigarette' 221% (95% CI 185% to 257%), and 'e-cigarette' 205% (95% CI 163% to 245%).
CONCLUSIONS:
The 2009 tobacco tax increase triggered large increases in consumer interest for some NTP, particularly e-cigarettes and RYO tobacco.
Cryonics
Int J Technol Assess Health Care. 2014 Feb 5:1-7. [Epub ahead of print]
ATTITUDES AND ACCEPTANCE TOWARD THE TECHNOLOGY OF CRYONICS IN GERMANY.
Author information
- 1Institute of History, Theory and Ethics in Medicine, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University.
- 2Harris Interactive AG.
Abstract
Objectives: This study explores the awareness and the degree of acceptance of the idea of the medical technology cryonics-the freezing of a corpse to revive it in the future-among German citizens.
Methods: Data were collected on the basis of a representatively weighted online survey of 1,000 people aged between 16 and 69 years and resident in the Federal Republic of Germany.
Results: Forty-seven percent stated that they had already heard of cryonics; 22 percent could imagine having their bodies cryonized after their deaths. For 53 percent, participation in the latest technological developments which correlated with the approval of the conceivability of cryopreservation was important. The majority of the respondents were not skeptical or cautious about innovations in the medical field.
Conclusions: The study shows that cryonics is known and accepted to a certain extent. However, a large proportion of respondents did not believe that it was desirable to use medical technology to overcome death, and fundamentally rejected a post-mortal continuation of life.
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