Comparison of Allen Carr's Easyway programme with a specialist behavioural and pharmacological smoking cessation support service: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: A combination of behavioural and pharmacological support is judged to be the optimal approach for assisting smoking cessation. Allen Carr's Easyway (ACE) is a single-session pharmacotherapy-free programme that has been in operation internationally for 38 years. We compared the effectiveness of ACE with specialist behavioural and pharmacological support delivered to the national standard in England. DESIGN: A two-arm, parallel-group, single-blind, randomized controlled trial. SETTING: London, UK, between February 2017 and May 2018. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 620 participants (310 in ACE and 310 in the combined behavioural and pharmacological support condition) were included in the analysis. Adult (≥ 18 years) smokers wanting to quit were randomized in a 1 : 1 ratio. Mean age for the total sample was 40.8 years, with 53.4% being male. Participant baseline characteristics (ethnicity, educational level, number of previous quit attempts, nicotine dependence) were evenly balanced between treatment groups. INTERVENTION AND COMPARATOR: The intervention was the ACE method of stopping smoking. This centres on a 4.5-6-hour session of group-based support, alongside subsequent text messages and top-up sessions if needed. It aims to make it easy to stop smoking by convincing smokers that smoking provides no benefits for them. The comparator was a specialist stop smoking service (SSS) providing behavioural and pharmacological support in accordance with national standards. MEASUREMENTS: The primary outcome was self-reported continuous abstinence for 26 weeks from the quit/quit re-set date verified by exhaled breath carbon monoxide measurement < 10 parts per million (p.p.m.). Primary analysis was by intention to treat. Secondary outcomes were: use of pharmacotherapy, adverse events and continuous abstinence up to 4 and 12 weeks. FINDINGS: A total of 468 participants attended treatment (255 ACE versus 213 SSS, P < 0.05). Of those who did attend treatment, 100 completed 6-month measures (23.7% ACE versus 20.7% SSS). Continuous abstinence to 26 weeks was 19.4% (60 of 310) in the ACE intervention and 14.8% (46 of 310) in the SSS intervention [risk difference for ACE versus SSS 4.5% (95% confidence interval (CI) = -1.4 to 10.4%, odds ratio (OR) = 1.38)]. The Bayes factor for superiority of the ACE condition was 1.24. CONCLUSION: There was no clear evidence of a difference in the efficacies of the Allen Carr's Easyway (ACE) and specialist smoking cessation support involving behavioural support and pharmacotherapy

Genome engineering of stem cells for autonomously regulated, closed-loop delivery of biologic drugs

Chronic inflammatory diseases such as arthritis are characterized by dysregulated responses to pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1 (IL-1) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α). Pharmacologic anti-cytokine therapies are often effective at diminishing this inflammatory response but have significant side effects and are used at high, constant doses that do not reflect the dynamic nature of disease activity. Using the CRISPR/Cas9 genome-engineering system, we created stem cells that antagonize IL-1- or TNF-α-mediated inflammation in an autoregulated, feedback-controlled manner. Our results show that genome engineering can be used successfully to rewire endogenous cell circuits to allow for prescribed input/output relationships between inflammatory mediators and their antagonists, providing a foundation for cell-based drug delivery or cell-based vaccines via a rapidly responsive, autoregulated system. The customization of intrinsic cellular signaling pathways in stem cells, as demonstrated here, opens innovative possibilities for safer and more effective therapeutic approaches for a wide variety of diseases

Elastic Cross Sections for Electron Collisions with Molecules Relevant to Plasma Processing

Absolute electron-impact cross sections for molecular targets, including their radicals, are important in developing plasma reactors and testing various plasma processing gases. Low-energy electron collision data for these gases are sparse and only the limited cross section data are available. In this report, elastic cross sections for electron-polyatomic molecule collisions are compiled and reviewed for 17molecules relevant to plasma processing. Elastic cross sections are essential for the absolute scale conversion of inelastic cross sections, as well as for testing computational methods. Data are collected and reviewed for elastic differential, integral, and momentum transfer cross sections and, for each molecule, the recommended values of the cross section are presented. The literature has been surveyed through early 2010.This work is accomplished as a collaboration through APAN (Asia-Pacific Atomic Data Network: a network for dissemination of collisional data relevant to plasmas, discharges, materials, and biosciences). H.C. acknowledges a support by the National Research Foundation of Korea (Grant No. 20100000035), and M.J.B. and S.J.B. support from the Australian Research Council Center of Excellence for Antimatter-Matter Studies. Collaboration between NIFS and NFRI is also acknowledged for the Korea-Japan exchanges

Witness preparation in the ICC: an opportunity for principled pragmatism

In January 2013, Trial Chamber V of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the cases of William Ruto and Joshua Sang and of Francis Muthaura and Uhuru Kenyatta, collectively known as the ‘Kenya decisions’, made a marked departure from the firm prohibition on ‘witness proofing’ established by the ICC's Pre-Trial and Trial Chamber I in the Lubanga decisions. This reversal illustrates the polarization of an issue that has caused considerable controversy in the international legal community and demonstrates the challenges faced by the Court in navigating such a controversy. While the practice may be viewed as a fault line between two different procedural cultures, forever destined to be subject to debate, this article explores an alternative view, examining the reasons for this turnaround and proposing an approach based on ‘principled pragmatism’. In doing so, it considers whether witness preparation is coming to be regarded as a necessary part of ICC practice

Electron scattering from pyrazine: Elastic differential and integral cross sections

We report on new measurements for elastic electron scattering from pyrazine. Absolute differential cross sections (DCSs) at seven discrete energies in the range 3-50 eV, and over the scattered electron angular range 10°-129°, were determined using a crossed electron-molecular beam spectrometer in conjunction with the well-established relative flow technique. Integral elastic cross sections were subsequently derived from those DCS data at each energy. Where possible comparison between the present results and those from sophisticated Schwinger multichannel and R-matrix computations is made, with generally quite good quantitative accord being found. Finally, in order to better study some of the rich resonance structure predicted by theory, results from elastic electron excitation functions are presented.Partial financial support from the Australian Research Council through its Centres of Excellence program is acknowledged

Absolute Electron Scattering Cross Sections for the CF2 Radical

Using a crossed electron-molecular beam experiment, featuring a skimmed nozzle beam with pyrolytic radical production, absolute elastic cross sections for electron scattering from the CF2 molecule have been measured. A new technique for placing measured cross sections on an absolute scale is used for molecular beams produced as skimmed supersonic jets. Absolute differential cross sections for CF2 are reported for incident electron energies of 30–50 eV and over an angular range of 20–135 deg. Integral cross sections are subsequently derived from those data. The present data are compared to new theoretical predictions for the differential and integral scattering cross sections, as calculated with the Schwinger multichannel variational method using the static-exchange and static-exchange plus polarization approximations