Changes in roll-your-own tobacco and cigarette sales volume and prices before, during and after plain packaging legislation in the UK

Background Plain packaging and minimum pack size legislation for tobacco products was introduced in the UK in May 2016, with a 1-year sell-off period until May 2017, during which both fully branded and plain packs of various sizes were legally available. This study investigates trends in prices of roll-your-own tobacco (RYO) before, during and after implementation of this legislation, and compares trends with those observed in the cigarette market. Methods We used Nielsen Scantrack data for the period from March 2013 to June 2018 to describe trends in UK inflation-adjusted prices and volumes of both RYO and cigarettes, and linear regression to estimate changes in prices associated with the introduction of plain packaging and the minimum pack sizes of 30 g RYO and 20 cigarettes. Results In contrast to a downward trend in cigarette sales volumes, RYO volumes rose throughout the study period. By the time plain packs accounted for 75% or more of sales, the average price of products sold in equivalent pack sizes had increased, relative to average prices in the year before implementation and with adjustment for tax changes, from 34.9 to 38.8 pence per gram for RYO (mean difference 4.26, 95% CI 3.99 to 4.53 pence, 12% increase), and from 38.6 to 41.13 pence for cigarettes (mean difference 2.53, 95% CI 2.24 to 2.83 pence, 7% increase) per cigarette. Conclusions New legislation resulted in higher prices for RYO and manufactured cigarettes. However, sales volumes of RYO continued to increase throughout the study period, perhaps because RYO remains a less expensive means of smoking tobacco

The emergent role of digital technologies in the context of humanitarian supply chains: a systematic literature review

The role of digital technologies (DTs) in humanitarian supply chains (HSC) has become an increasingly researched topic in the operations literature. While numerous publications have dealt with this convergence, most studies have focused on examining the implementation of individual DTs within the HSC context, leaving relevant literature, to date, dispersed and fragmented. This study, through a systematic literature review of 110 articles on HSC published between 2015 and 2020, provides a unified overview of the current state-of-the-art DTs adopted in HSC operations. The literature review findings substantiate the growing significance of DTs within HSC, identifying their main objectives and application domains, as well as their deployment with respect to the different HSC phases (i.e., Mitigation, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery). Furthermore, the findings also offer insight into how participant organizations might configure a technological portfolio aimed at overcoming operational difficulties in HSC endeavours. This work is novel as it differs from the existing traditional perspective on the role of individual technologies on HSC research by reviewing multiple DTs within the HSC domain

Intestinal microbiota influences non-intestinal related autoimmune diseases

Indexación: Scopus.The human body is colonized by millions of microorganisms named microbiota that interact with our tissues in a cooperative and non-pathogenic manner. These microorganisms are present in the skin, gut, nasal, oral cavities, and genital tract. In fact, it has been described that the microbiota contributes to balancing the immune system to maintain host homeostasis. The gut is a vital organ where microbiota can influence and determine the function of cells of the immune system and contributes to preserve the wellbeing of the individual. Several articles have emphasized the connection between intestinal autoimmune diseases, such as Crohn's disease with dysbiosis or an imbalance in the microbiota composition in the gut. However, little is known about the role of the microbiota in autoimmune pathologies affecting other tissues than the intestine. This article focuses on what is known about the role that gut microbiota can play in the pathogenesis of non-intestinal autoimmune diseases, such as Grave's diseases, multiple sclerosis, type-1 diabetes, systemic lupus erythematosus, psoriasis, schizophrenia, and autism spectrum disorders. Furthermore, we discuss as to how metabolites derived from bacteria could be used as potential therapies for non-intestinal autoimmune diseases. © 2018 Opazo, Ortega-Rocha, Coronado-Arrázola, Bonifaz, Boudin, Neunlist, Bueno, Kalergis and Riedel.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2018.00432/ful

Comparison between online and offline price of tobacco products using novel datasets

Price of tobacco products has traditionally been relevant both for the industry, to respond to policy changes, and for governments, as an effective tobacco control measure. However, monitoring prices across a wide range of brands and brand variants requires access to expensive commercial sales databases. This study aims to investigate the comparability of average tobacco prices from two commercial sources and an in-house monitoring database which provides daily data in real time at minimal cost. We used descriptive and regression analysis to compare the monthly average numbers of brands, brand variants, products and prices of cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco using commercial data from Nielsen Scantrack and Kantar Worldpanel, and an online price database (OPD) created in Nottingham, for the period from May 2013 to February 2017. There were marked differences in the number of products tracked in the three data sources. Nielsen was the most comprehensive and Kantar Worldpanel the least. Though average prices were very similar between the three datasets, Nottingham OPD prices were the highest and Kantar Worldpanel the lowest. However, regression analysis demonstrated that after adjustment for differences in product range, price differences between the datasets were very small. After allowing for differences in product range these data sources offer representative prices for application in price research. Online price tracking offers an inexpensive and near real-time alternative to the commercial datasets

Oxygen uptake kinetics to assess cardiorespiratory fitness in obese patients

Indexación: Scopus.Background: The evaluation of cardiorespiratory fitness (RCC) using maximal or peak oxygen consumption (VO2), requires a high level of effort in obese patients. We propose a method to evaluate RCC using constant and moderate loads, called VO2 kinetics (tau). Aim: To determine the relationship between tau and peak VO2 in patients with obesity. Material and Methods: Forty patients (87% females) aged 37 ± 12 years and with a body mass index (BMI) of 34.6 ± 4.0 kg/m2, were divided into two groups according to the applied workload (0.5 and 0.8 Watts/kg body mass) using a cycle ergometer and Cortex Metalyzer 3b equipment. The protocol was started with 6 minutes at constant load and then increments of 20-25 Watts every two min were made until determination of the peak VO2. Results: The tau value was 51.8 ± 17.6 s, the absolute peak VO2 was 2.0 ± 0.7 L/min and the relative peak VO2 was 26.6 ± 30.0 ml/kg/min. There was a significant difference of tau medians between the group that used 0.5 and 0.8 Watts/kg (p = 0.002) and a significant inverse correlation between the absolute peak VO2 and the tau value for a load of 0.5 Watts/kg (rho = -0.415, p = 0.0327). Conclusions: The higher tau value, the lower the peak VO2 of an obese patient. It is suggested to apply loads of 0.5 Watts/kg for a VO2 kinetics test in obese patients or in subjects who do not wish to carry out higher physiological demands with a non-invasive and low risk procedure.https://scielo.conicyt.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-98872018000100015&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=e

The Dual AngII/AVP Receptor Gene N119S/C163R Variant Exhibits Sodium-Induced Dysfunction and Cosegregates With Salt-Sensitive Hypertension in the Dahl Salt-Sensitive Hypertensive Rat Model

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Carney triad. Report of one case

Indexación: Scopus.Carney described a disorder characterized by the presence of several uncommon tumors which were pulmonary chondromas, gastric sarcomas and extra-adrenal paragangliomas. We report a 14 year-old girl in whom multiple gastric tumors were discovered during a study of an iron deficiency anemia and was subjected to a partial gastrectomy. At 25 years of age, she developed several pulmonary chondromas and at 33 years, a mediastinal tumor with features of an extra-adrenal paraganglioma was found. At 35 years of age, a total gastrectomy was performed to remove a gastrointestinal stromal tumor with excision of peritoneal and lymph node metastasis. One year later, the patient died due to liver failure secondary to liver metastases.http://ref.scielo.org/4jhgg

Comparación de clima organizacional escolar y convivencia escolar en liceos prioritarios urbanos y rurales de las provincias de Curicó y Ñuble

98 p.El objetivo del presente estudio es describir organizaciones educacionales a partir de evaluaciones realizadas con el cuestionario de clima organizacional para instituciones educacionales chilenas y el cuestionario de convivencia escolar del MINEDUC (2002), evaluando si los resultados reflejan particularidades eventualmente asociadas a contextos rurales o urbanos. Para lo anterior, se utilizó una muestra total constituida por 175 profesores y 249 alumnos pertenecientes a 5 liceos prioritarios urbanos y rurales de la provincia de Curicó y Ñuble. El análisis de datos se realizó de manera distinta para clima y convivencia, para clima se realizó una prueba t para 2 muestras independientes, además de un análisis ANOVA y un procedimiento post-hoc de Tukey, para detectar las diferencias entre liceos, mientras que para convivencia se realizó un análisis de frecuencia de respuesta. Los resultados obtenidos respecto a clima indican que no existen diferencias significativas en el clima total entre liceos urbanos y liceos rurales, excepto en la variables motivación laboral. Sin embargo existen diferencias entre liceos por sí solos para las variables coordinación y apoyo de la dirección, motivación laboral y estilo de supervisión. Los resultados obtenidos en convivencia indican que los estudiantes de liceos rurales manifiestan tendencias más marcadas que los de liceos urbanos reportando por un lado el valor del respeto como algo central en las buenas relaciones interpersonales, y por otro, la violencia física o psicológica como manera de resolver conflictos entre compañeros. A partir de estos análisis se puede concluir que no existen diferencias significativas entre los contextos rurales y urbanos, y si las hubiera, a través de la medición de clima y convivencia no se podría detectar. Lo que se puede deber a que la influencia del contexto es mínima o muy difícil de determinar, o bien, que según la nueva definición de ruralidad planteada en el PNUD (2008), las diferencias entre el contexto rural y urbano están cada más acotadas. Finalmente, se concluye que al obtener información de clima y convivencia antes de iniciar una intervención en una institución escolar, dará la posibilidad de orientar esta intervención a aprovechar fortalezas o debilidades de los elementos interpersonales que afectan el funcionamiento de un establecimiento educacional. Palabras claves: Clima organizacional escolar, convivencia escolar, contextos educacionales./ ABSTRACT: The objective of this research is to describe organizations from diagnostic built with school organizational climate and school coexistence instruments, which reflect peculiarities associated with rural or urban contexts. The instruments used are the Litwin, Stringer and Newman´s organizational climate questionnaire arranged for Chilean educational institutions and the MINEDUC’s school coexistence questionnaire (2002). We used a total sample consists of 175 teachers and 249 students that belong to 5 priority urban and rural secondary schools in the provinces of Curicó and Ñuble. A t Test for 2 independent samples was made to analyze climate, also an ANOVA analysis and a post-hoc procedure of Tukey were applied. About coexistence was performed on an analysis of frequency response. The results about climate indicate no significant differences in total climate between both, urban and rural secundary high school, except in the work motivation variable. However, there are also differences between high schools alone in the coordination and management support, work motivation, and supervisory style variables. The results with respect to climate indicate no significant differences in the overall climate between urban high schools and rural secondary schools, except in the work motivation variable. but there are differences among secondary schools alone for variables structure, equipment and distribution of material, coordination and management support, work motivation, reward, and supervisory style. The results indicate that students living in rural secondary schools show trends more pronounced than those in urban high schools reporting on the one hand the value of respect as central to good relationships, and secondly, physical or psychological violence as a way of resolve conflicts among peers