Regulating Advertisements: The Case of Smoking Cessation Products

In this paper we investigate how direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of pharmaceutical products in affected by regulations of the Food and Drug Administration and by market conditions. We focus on a relatively under-studied segment of the pharmaceutical market -- the market for smoking cessation products. Because of their proven effectiveness, these products could be the key to meeting public health goals to reduce smoking. However, in many ways, smoking cessation products have been more heavily regulated than cigarettes. Our empirical analysis uses data on advertising expenditures and data from an archive of print advertisements. The archive includes all smoking cessation product advertisements that appeared in over 13,000 issues of 28 magazines between January 1985 and May 2002. Our study period begins shortly atfer the first nicotine replacement product was introduced, and covers the evolution of the market as new products are introduced while some of the older products move from prescription to over-the-counter (OTC) status. OTC status eases the disclosure requirements imposed on advertisements of prescription pharmaceuticals, substantially reducing the costs of a print advertisement. Our results suggest that OTC status is associated with an increase in advertising expenditures and the number and pages of magazine advertisements. A current proposal to reduce disclosure requirements on all DTC advertisements of prescription drugs could have similar effects. Our results also suggest that advertising increase with the introduction of new products and with market competition.

The adaptive geometry of boreal conifers

Accurate and unbiased radiative energy transfer models are critical to our understanding of ecosystem primary productivity, carbon cycling, and climate change. Much of the current research in this area is based on models parameterized for grasslands and broadleaf forests. However, many temperate montane and boreal forests are dominated by conifers, which present unique challenges to modellers. We propose two fundamentally different strategies by which plant canopies optimize solar radiation interception. Laminar canopies (e.g., grasslands, broadleaf trees) are .solar panels. that directly intercept incoming radiant energy. By contrast, conifer canopies are conical anechoic (.without echo.) surfaces that intercept radiant energy by scattering it through the canopy. The properties of anechoic surfaces are well known in acoustical and electrical engineering, but have not been applied in environmental biophysics. We discuss the physical principles of anechoic surfaces, and demonstrate how these principles apply to conifer trees and canopies. A key feature of anechoic interception is low radiance over all wavelengths, which is an emergent property of the system. Using empirical data from boreal forest stands in Riding Mountain National Park (Manitoba, Canada), we demonstrate that conifer canopies have very low near-infrared radiance compared to laminar broadleaf canopies. Vegetation index values for conifers are thereby reduced, resulting in underestimates of primary productivity and other biophysical parameters. We also discuss the adaptive significance of boreal conifer geometry, and consider factors driving selection of laminar versus anechoic canopy architectures

Superparamagnetic magnetization equation in two dimensions

An equation for the dependence of magnetization on magnetic field in the case of two-dimensional (base plane) anisotropy has been derived. The resulting equation is expressed as an infinite series of modified Bessel functions, unlike the elementary function expressions that are applicable to the one-dimensional (axially anisotropic) and three-dimensional (isotropic) cases. Nevertheless, in the low-field limit, the series can be effectively truncated to give an approximate solution, while, in the high-field limit, an alternative expression has been derived which represents the limiting function as the field strength tends to infinity. The resulting expressions can be used to describe the superparamagnetic magnetization and susceptibility as a function of magnetic field in situations where the magnetic moments are constrained to lie in a plane, with no preferred direction within the plane. This can therefore be applied to two-dimensional structures, such as magnetic thin films, where magnetostatic energy confines the moments to the plane of the film, or to three-dimensional structures with planar magnetocrystalline anisotropy

Elective colostomy closure in an AIDS patient.

This article describes a 27-year-old patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) who underwent emergency sigmoid colostomy, Hartmann\u27s pouch, and presacral drainage for rectal perforation. Three months later, he underwent uneventful elective colostomy closure, a procedure previously unreported in an AIDS patient. He remained without gastrointestinal symptoms for 14 months after colostomy closure until he died from central nervous system toxoplasmosis. A diagnosis of AIDS alone should not preclude colostomy closure in AIDS patients

Remarks on 2+1 Self-dual Chern-Simons Gravity

We study 2+1 Chern-Simons gravity at the classical action level. In particular we rederive the linear combinations of the ``standard'' and ``exotic'' Einstein actions, from the (anti) self-duality of the ``internal'' Lorentzian indices. The relation to a genuine four-dimensional (anti)self-dual topological theory greatly facilitates the analysis and its relation to hyperbolic three-dimensional geometry. Finally a non-abelian vector field ``dual'' action is also obtained.Comment: 16+1 pages, LaTeX file, no figures, clarifications and comments added, typos corrected and one reference adde