The tobacco industry's past role in weight control related to smoking

Background: Smoking is thought to produce an appetite-suppressing effect by many smokers. Thus, the fear of body weight gain often outweighs the perception of health benefits associated with smoking cessation, particularly in adolescents. We examined whether the tobacco industry played a role in appetite and body weight control related to smoking and smoking cessation. Methods: We performed a systematic search within the archives of six major US and UK tobacco companies (American Tobacco, Philip Morris, RJ Reynolds, Lorillard, Brown & Williamson and British American Tobacco) that were Defendants in tobacco litigation settled in 1998. Findings are dated from 1949 to 1999. Results: The documents revealed the strategies planned and used by the industry to enhance effects of smoking on weight and appetite, mostly by chemical modifications of cigarettes contents. Appetite-suppressant molecules, such as tartaric acid and 2-acetylpyridine were added to some cigarettes. Conclusion: These tobacco companies played an active and not disclaimed role in the anti-appetite effects of smoking, at least in the past, by adding appetite-suppressant molecules into their cigarette

Simultaneous denoising and enhancement of signals by a fractal conservation law

In this paper, a new filtering method is presented for simultaneous noise reduction and enhancement of signals using a fractal scalar conservation law which is simply the forward heat equation modified by a fractional anti-diffusive term of lower order. This kind of equation has been first introduced by physicists to describe morphodynamics of sand dunes. To evaluate the performance of this new filter, we perform a number of numerical tests on various signals. Numerical simulations are based on finite difference schemes or Fast and Fourier Transform. We used two well-known measuring metrics in signal processing for the comparison. The results indicate that the proposed method outperforms the well-known Savitzky-Golay filter in signal denoising. Interesting multi-scale properties w.r.t. signal frequencies are exhibited allowing to control both denoising and contrast enhancement

The price of nicotine dependence: A comparison of the cost of nicotine across products in Switzerland, Germany, USA, Sweden, France and the UK, in 2019 [short report].

INTRODUCTION Tobacco cigarette taxes aim at reducing smoking, but smokers are still dependent on nicotine and need safe and cheap alternatives. As the costs play a role in the product chosen, we compared standardized nicotine costs across products and countries. METHODS We gathered prices of tobacco cigarettes, heated tobacco products (HTP), pharmaceutical nicotine replacement therapy (pNRT) gums, snus, and open and closed electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) in 6 countries (Switzerland, Germany, USA, Sweden, France, UK) in 2019. We compared the cost of a pack of cigarettes in Switzerland to the cost of equivalent doses of nicotine delivered by other products and across countries, normalizing to purchasing power GDP per capita to compute relative adjusted costs (RACs). RESULTS Adjusted tobacco cigarette cost was lowest in Switzerland, Germany, and Sweden; RAC for pNRT was 1.1 in Switzerland and 1.0 in Germany. In France and the UK, RACs for cigarettes were 1.5 and 2.1, while for pNRT they were cheaper (RAC: 0.04). In Switzerland, snus/nicotine pouches were the cheapest form of nicotine delivery (RAC: 0.2), open ENDS were a low-cost option for nicotine delivery in all countries (RAC: 0.2-0.3), and HTP cost more than regular tobacco products in most countries. CONCLUSIONS We found broad differences in costs of nicotine according to countries and products. This should be considered in future studies on smoking prevalence and in public health efforts

Re-analysing tobacco industry funded research on the effect of plain packaging on minors in Australia: Same data but different results

Introduction Our objective was to re-analyse the data used in an industry-funded working paper to study the effect of plain packaging on youth smoking prevalence in Australia, allowing for other tobacco control measures introduced over the period 2001-2013, and using a more appropriate method of analysis. Methods Monthly smoking prevalence and sample sizes from repeat cross-sectional surveys were reconstructed from the working paper by reverse engineering of the industry-presented data, and analysed as a time series using logistic regression. Power analysis presented in the industry-funded working paper was re-calculated. Results Smoking prevalence among minors in Australia declined from 11.6% to 5.6% over the 13-year period examined; an overall 52% relative reduction or an average annual reduction of 5.5% (95% confidence interval 4.6% to 6.4%). There was a 12.1% (-4.8% to 26.2%) relative reduction in smoking prevalence when plain packaging was introduced, though the reduction was not statistically significant. Re-calculated power values were much lower than those reported in the industry-funded paper, confirming the inconclusiveness of its findings, as pointed out in previous critiques. Conclusions Our findings suggest a decline of smoking prevalence in minors following the introduction of plain packaging in Australia. They differ substantially from those presented in an industry-funded study on the effects of plain packaging on smoking prevalence in minors in Australia, which used the same data

Refuting tobacco-industry funded research: empirical data shows decline in smoking prevalence following introduction of plain packaging in Australia

Introduction Country legislation to introduce plain packaging of tobacco products has been vigorously attacked by the tobacco industry claiming that there is no measurable impact on smoking rates on the basis of two industry-funded working papers which examined trends in smoking prevalence in Australia. Objective: To assess the effect of plain packaging on smoking prevalence in Australia, taking into account key tobacco control measures, with the aim of investigating the findings of the industry-funded study. Methods Monthly smoking prevalence and sample sizes from repeat cross-sectional surveys were reconstructed from the published working paper using an original reverse-engineering technique that achieved nearly 100% accuracy and analysed as a time series using logistic regression. Indicator variables reflecting comprehensive smoke-free policy, graphic health warnings, 25% taxation increase, and introduction of plain packaging were constructed from official information. Results Smoking prevalence declined from 25% to 18% over the 13 year period – an overall 28% relative reduction or average 2.8% (95% confidence interval 2.6% - 2.9%) annual reduction. A significantly improved fit was obtained by the full model which included terms for tax increase (4.8%, 2.7% - 6.8% reduction), comprehensive smoke-free policy (4.5%, 1.7% - 7.2% reduction) and plain packaging (3.7%, 1.1% - 6.2% reduction) in addition to an adjusted average annual reduction of 1.7% (1.3% - 2.2%). Conclusions A significant decline in smoking prevalence in Australia followed introduction of plain packaging after adjustment for the impact of other tobacco control measures. This conclusion is in marked contrast to that from the industry-funded analysis

Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) for purifying colloidal clusters

Colloidal particles are considered to be essential building blocks for creating innovative self-assembled and active materials, for which complexity beyond that of compositionally uniform particles is key. However, synthesizing complex, multi-material colloids remains a challenge, often resulting in heterogeneous populations that require post-synthesis purification. Leveraging advances brought forward in the purification of biological samples, here we apply fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) to sort colloidal clusters synthesized through capillary assembly. Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of FACS in sorting clusters based on size, shape, and composition. Notably, we achieve a sorting purity of up to 97% for clusters composed of up to 9 particles, albeit observing a decline in purity with increasing cluster size. Additionally, dimers of different colloids can be purified to over 97%, while linear and triangular trimers can be separated with up to 88% purity. This work underscores the potential of FACS as a promising and little-used tool in colloidal science to support the development of increasingly more intricate particle-based building blocks.ISSN:1744-683XISSN:1744-684

The whole truth and nothing but the truth? The research that Philip Morris did not want you to see.

The tobacco industry maintained, for many years, that it was unaware of research about the toxic effects of smoking. By the 1970s, however, the industry decided that it needed this information but they were unwilling to seek it in a way that was open to public scrutiny. By means of material from internal industry documents it can be revealed that one company, Philip Morris, acquired a research facility, INBIFO, in Germany and created a complex mechanism seeking to ensure that the work done in the facility could not be linked to Philip Morris. In particular it involved the appointment of a Swedish professor as a 'co-ordinator', who would synthesise reports for onward transmission to the USA. Various arrangements were made to conceal this process, not only from the wider public, but also from many within Philip Morris, although it was known to some senior executives. INBIFO appears to have published only a small amount of its research and what was published appears to differ considerably from what was not. In particular, the unpublished reports provided evidence of the greater toxicity of sidestream than mainstream smoke, a finding of particular relevance given the industry's continuing denial of the harmful effects of passive smoking. By contrast, much of its published work comprises papers that convey a message that could be considered useful to the industry, in particular casting doubt on methods used to assess the effects of passive smoking