Positive smoker identity as a barrier to quitting smoking: findings from a national survey of smokers in England

It has been proposed that positive smoker identity may be an important factor undermining smoking cessation but very little research exists on this. This study tested the hypothesis that a simple measure of positive smoker identity would predict quit attempts over and above other known predictors in a population sample. More tentatively it explored whether this measure would also predict quit success

Usability testing of a smoking cessation smartphone application ('SmokeFree Baby'): a think-aloud study with pregnant smokers

BACKGROUND: Only a few digital interventions have been developed for pregnant smokers, and little is known about the acceptability and usability of smartphone apps to aid cessation in pregnancy. This study aimed to explore pregnant smokers’ views on the design, content and usability of a pregnancy-specific smoking cessation app in order to inform intervention development and optimisation. METHODS: Ten interviews were conducted and the ‘think-aloud’ protocol was used in order to explore participants’ views about a smoking cessation smartphone app (‘SmokeFree Baby’). The data were subsequently thematically analysed. Participants were 18 and over, pregnant, and daily or weekly cigarette smokers. RESULTS: Three main themes were identified: views about the design elements, mode of delivery and content of the intervention. App design was considered as an important element that might influence potential users’ engagement with the intervention. Participants felt that the intervention content was educational, motivational and non-judgemental. However, it was emphasised that the app should provide further options for personalisation and include more practical features. CONCLUSIONS: Delivering smoking cessation support via a smartphone app can be feasible and acceptable for pregnant smokers. They appear to value content that is motivational, educational and personalised, and meeting these requirements may be important for user experience and promoting engagement with the intervention

Profile of menthol cigarette smokers in the months following the removal of these products from the market: a cross-sectional population survey in England

Introduction: In May 2020, the EU Tobacco Products Directive ban on the sale of menthol cigarettes was implemented in England. This study examined the prevalence of menthol cigarette smoking after the ban, according to sociodemographic and smoking characteristics. / Methods: Cross-sectional data came from a representative survey of current smokers (18+) in England (unweighted n=2681) between July 2020 and June 2021. The weighted prevalence of menthol cigarette smoking as a proportion of total cigarette smoking was calculated, log-binomial regression explored trends over time, and χ2 statistics assessed the relationship between menthol smoking, sociodemographic and smoking characteristics. Sources of purchase of menthol cigarettes were explored. / Results: Between July 2020 and June 2021, 15.7% (95% CI 14.5 to 17.1) of smokers reported smoking menthol cigarettes. The fitted non-linear trend supported no initial change followed by a possible reduction across April–June 2021 and fit the data better than linear and null (no change) models (χ2(2)=2519.7, p=0.06; χ2(3)=2519.7, p=0.006). Menthol cigarette smoking was more common among younger groups (16–24=25.2%; 25–34=19.9%) and women (19.4%). Menthol cigarette smokers showed lower cigarette dependence compared with other smokers. Past-6-month purchases of menthol cigarettes from any illicit or cross-border source declined from 30.1% in the last 6 months of 2020 to 17.5% in the first 6 months of 2021. / Conclusions: A substantial minority of current smokers in England reported menthol cigarette smoking between July 2020 and June 2021, despite the ban, possibly reflecting mitigation of restrictions by a variety of licit means, such as legal menthol accessories. The reduction in menthol smoking across April–June 2021 warrants further monitoring

The Impact of Noise Label on Beampattern and SINR of MVDR Beamformer

Minimum Variance Distortionless Response (MVDR) is basically a unity gain adaptive beamformer which is suffered from performance degradation due to the presence of interference and noise. Also, MVDR is sensitive to errors such as the steering vector errors, and the nulling level. MVDR combined with a linear antenna array (LAA) is used to acquire desired signals and suppress the interference and noise. This paper examines the impact of the noise variance label (σn2) and the number of interference sources by using Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR) and array beampattern as two different Figure-of-Merits to measure the performance of the MVDR beamformer with a fixed number of array elements (L). The findings of this study indicate that the MVDR have successfully placed nulls in the nonlook angle with average SINR of 99.6, 49.6, 24.9 dB dB for σn2.of -50, 0, 50 dB, respectively. Also, the MVDR provides accurate majorlobe to the real user direction, even the σn2 are bigger than desired signal power. The proposed method was found to perform better than some existing techniques. Based on this analysis, the beampattern is not heavily relies on the σn2. Moreover, the SINR strongly depends on the σn2 and the number of SNOIs

Smoking and quitting behaviour by sexual orientation: a cross-sectional survey of adults in England

Objective: To assess associations between sexual orientation and smoking and quitting behaviour among adults in England. Methods: Data were collected from 112,537 adults (≥16y) participating in a nationally-representative monthly cross-sectional survey between 07/2013 and 02/2019. Sexual orientation was self-reported as heterosexual, bisexual, lesbian/gay, or prefer-not-to-say. Main outcomes were smoking status, e-cigarette use, cigarettes per day, time to first cigarette, motivation to stop smoking, motives for quitting, use of cessation support, and past‐year quit attempts. Associations were analysed separately for men and women using multivariable regression models adjusted for relevant covariates. Results: Smoking prevalence is now similar between gay (21.6%), prefer-not-to-say (20.5%) and heterosexual men (20.0%), and lesbian (18.3%) and heterosexual women (16.9%), but remains higher among bisexual men (28.2%, ORadj 1.41, 95%CI 1.11; 1.79) and bisexual women (29.8%, ORadj 1.64, 95%CI 1.33; 2.03) and lower among prefer-not-to-say women (14.5%, ORadj 0.85, 95%CI 0.72; 0.99). Among smokers, bisexuals were less addicted than heterosexuals, with bisexual men smoking fewer cigarettes per day (Badj -2.41, 95%CI -4.06; -0.75) and bisexual women less likely to start smoking within 30 minutes of waking (ORadj 0.66, 95% CI0.45; 0.95) than heterosexuals. However, motivation to stop smoking and quit attempts did not differ significantly. Conclusions: In England, differences in smoking prevalence among people with different sexual orientations have narrowed, primarily driven by a larger decline in smoking rates among sexual minority groups than heterosexuals. Bisexual men and women remain more likely to smoke but have lower levels of addiction while being no less likely to try to quit

Randomized factorial experiment of components of the SmokeFree Baby smartphone application to aid smoking cessation in pregnancy

Smartphone applications (apps) might be able to reach pregnant smokers who do not engage with face-to-face support. However, we do not know how far pregnant smokers will engage with smoking cessation apps or what components are likely to be effective. This study aimed to assess pregnant smokers’ engagement with the SmokeFree Baby app (v1) and to assess the short-term efficacy of selected components (“modules”) for smoking abstinence. Positive outcomes would provide a basis for further development and evaluation. SmokeFree Baby was developed drawing on behavior change theories and relevant evidence. Pregnant smokers (18+) who were interested in quitting and set a quit date were recruited. Following multiphase optimization development principles, participants (N = 565) were randomly allocated to one of 32 (2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2) experimental groups in a full factorial design to evaluate five modules (each in minimal and full version: identity, health information, stress management, face-to-face support, and behavioral substitution). Measures of engagement included duration and frequency of engagement with the app. Smoking abstinence was measured by self-reported number of smoke-free days up to 4 weeks from the quit date. Participants engaged with the app for a mean of 4.5 days (SD = 8.5) and logged in a mean of 2.9 times (SD = 3.1). Main effects of the modules on the number of smoke-free days were not statistically significant (identity: p = .782, health information: p = .905, stress management: p = .103, face-to-face support: p = .397, behavioral substitution: p = .945). Despite systematic development and usability testing, engagement with SmokeFree Baby (v1) was low and the app did not appear to increase smoking abstinence during pregnancy

Prevalence of psychiatric disorders among refugees and migrants in immigration detention: systematic review with meta-analysis

Stress and Psychopatholog

Structural and Co-conformational Effects of Alkyne-Derived Subunits in Charged Donor−Acceptor [2]Catenanes

Four donor−acceptor [2]catenanes with cyclobis(paraquat-p-phenylene) (CBPQT^(4+)) as the π-electron-accepting cyclophane and 1,5-dioxynaphthalene (DNP)-containing macrocyclic polyethers as π-electron donor rings have been synthesized under mild conditions, employing Cu^+-catalyzed Huisgen 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition and Cu^(2+)-mediated Eglinton coupling in the final steps of their syntheses. Oligoether chains carrying terminal alkynes or azides were used as the key structural features in template-directed cyclizations of [2]pseudorotaxanes to give the [2]catenanes. Both reactions proceed well with precursors of appropriate oligoether chain lengths but fail when there are only three oxygen atoms in the oligoether chains between the DNP units and the reactive functional groups. The solid-state structures of the donor−acceptor [2]catenanes confirm their mechanically interlocked nature, stabilized by [π···π], [C−H···π], and [C−H···Ο] interactions, and point to secondary noncovalent contacts between 1,3-butadiyne and 1,2,3-triazole subunits and one of the bipyridinum units of the CBPQT^(4+) ring. These contacts are characterized by the roughly parallel orientation of the inner bipyridinium ring system and the 1,2,3-triazole and 1,3-butadiyne units, as well as by the short [π···π] distances of 3.50 and 3.60 Å, respectively. Variable-temperature ^1H NMR spectroscopy has been used to identify and quantify the barriers to the conformationally and co-conformationally dynamic processes. The former include the rotations of the phenylene and the bipyridinium ring systems around their substituent axes, whereas the latter are confined to the circumrotation of the CBPQT^(4+) ring around the DNP binding site. The barriers for the three processes were found to be successively 14.4, 14.5−17.5, and 13.1−15.8 kcal mol^(-1). Within the limitations of the small dataset investigated, emergent trends in the barrier heights can be recognized:  the values decrease with the increasing size of the π-electron-donating macrocycle and tend to be lower in the sterically less encumbered series of [2]catenanes containing the 1,3-butadiyne moiety

Measurement Of The Complex Nonlinear Refractive-Index Of Single-Crystal P-Toluene Sulfonate At 1064-Nm

Z-scan at 1064 nm was used with single, 35 ps pulses to measure the nonlinear refraction and absorption in single crystal PTS (p-toluene sulfonate). Detailed analysis of the Z-scan data based on DELTAn = n2I + n3I2 and DELTAalpha = alpha2I + alpha3I2 yielded n2 = 5(+/-1) X 10(-12) cm2/W, alpha2 = 100(+/-20) cm/GW, n3 = 5(+/-1)X 10(-21) cm4/W2 and alpha3 = - 5 (+/- 1) cm3/GW.2 The resulting two photon figure of merit T for PTS is marginal for high throughput, all-optical waveguide switching at 1064 nm