Cigarette Packets Research Articles

M by Fritz Lang (Germany, 1931) phenomenology of evil: A serial killer and his social group

In 1931 an unknown murderer of little girls (Peter Lorre) is terrorizing the city of Berlin. We see him entice a new victim, the little Elsie Beckmann, who is coming home from school: whistling a tune by Grieg, he buys her a balloon from a blind beggar. When her corpse is discovered, the police undertake a major mobilization aimed at seeking the serial killer in the criminal underworld; meanwhile, the ever more terrified population starts to see the dangerous murderer in everyone. Since the roundups and incursions into the seediest parts of town disturb the gangsters’ activities, the leaders of organized crime, headed by Schränker (Gustav Gründgens), take it upon themselves also to hunt down the solitary child‐killer, engaging the community of beggars. Every corner of the city is catalogued and sifted by the dual activity of the police and the gangsters. The ‘monster’, a former psychiatric patient, mild and harmless in manner, is finally tracked down via two parallel routes: the clue of a cigarette packet enables Inspector Lohmann (Otto Wernicke) to track down the serial killer's address, while the blind beggar recognizes the whistled tune. The murderer is identified by a ‘slap’ from a young criminal which leaves an M marked in chalk on a shoulder of the man's overcoat. Thus he is caught and undergoes a kind of trial at the hands of the gangsters who tie him up in order to lynch him, but they are interrupted by the arrival of the forces of law and order.

Could cigarette packaging be used as a tool to make prevention of smoke-induced respiratory diseases?

The most important consequences of smoking are chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer (LC). Although the use of shocking images and warning messages on cigarette packaging is a valid tool of smoke dishabituation, unfortunately, millions of people go on smoking. Our hypotheses is that cigarette packet covers could also be used to give further messages, especially meant to spur also a screening of smoke-induced respiratory diseases. Messages on cigarette packaging suggesting smokers to perform a spirometry and a chest X-ray may persuade them not only to quit their habit but also to have a screening for COPD and LC prevention. If our hypotheses is taken into account it will have a strong worldwide impact.

Smugglers’ tales: How lipstick, bananas and cigarette packets were used as decoys for sharing forbidden information

Smugglers’ tales: How lipstick, bananas and cigarette packets were used as decoys for sharing forbidden information

Does the hand that controls the cigarette packet rule the smoker? Findings from ethnographic interviews with smokers in Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and the USA

Throughout the twentieth century, packaging was a carefully cultivated element of the appeal of the cigarette. However, the tobacco industry's control over cigarette packaging has been steadily eroded through legislation that aims to rebrand the packet from a desirable to a dangerous commodity—epitomized in Australia's introduction of plain packaging in 2012. Evident in both the enactment of cigarette packaging legislation and industry efforts to overturn it is the assumption that packets do things—i.e. that they have a critical role to play in either promoting or discouraging the habit. Drawing on 175 ethnographic interviews conducted with people smoking in public spaces in Vancouver, Canada; Canberra, Australia; Liverpool, England; and San Francisco, USA, we produce a ‘thick description’ of smokers' engagements with cigarette packets. We illustrate that despite the very different types of cigarette packaging legislation in place in the four countries, there are marked similarities in the ways smokers engage with their packets. In particular, they are not treated as a purely visual sign; instead, a primary means through which one's own cigarette packet is apprehended is by touch rather than by sight. Smokers perceive cigarette packets largely through the operations of their hands—through their ‘handiness’. Thus, our study findings problematize the assumption that how smokers engage with packets when asked to do so on a purely intellectual or aesthetic level reflects how they engage with packets as they are enfolded into their everyday lives.

Prevention of sexually transmitted infections using mobile devices and ubiquitous computing.

BackgroundAdvances in the development of information and communication technologies have facilitated social interrelationships, but also sexual contacts without appropriate preventive measures. In this paper, we will focus on situations in which people use applications to meet sexual partners nearby, which could increase their chance of exposure to sexually transmitted infections (STI). How can we encourage users to adopt preventive measures without violating their privacy or infringing on the character of the application?MethodsTo achieve the goal of preventing STI, we have used the design and creation methodology and have developed a prototype software package. This prototype follows the RESTful services principles and has two parts: an Android OS application with emphasis on ubiquitous computing and designed according to General Responsibility Assignment Software Patterns (GRASP), and a server with a web page. To choose the preventive messages, we performed a test in 17 men who have sex with men (MSM).ResultsOur software sends preventive notifications to users when it detects situations such as the activation of particular applications on their smartphones, or their proximity to areas with a high probability of intercourse (hot zones). The underlying idea is the same as that for warning messages on cigarette packets, since users read the message just when they are going to smoke. The messages used have been selected from a list that has been rated by the users themselves. The most popular message is “Enjoy sex and enjoy life. Do not expose yourself to HIV”. The user is unaware of the software, which runs in the background.ConclusionsUbiquitous computing may be useful for alerting users with preventive and educational messages. The proposed application is non-intrusive because: 1) the users themselves decide to install it and, therefore, users’ privacy rights are preserved; 2) it sends a message that helps users think about taking appropriate preventive measures; and 3) it works in the background without interfering with users unless a trigger situation is detected. Thus, this type of application could become an important tool in the complex task of STI prevention.

Women and smoking — Prices and health warning messages: Evidence from Spain

ObjectiveIn Spain, fewer men are smoking every year yet the number of women smokers remains relatively high. This paper examines the impact of two anti-smoking policies (increased prices and obligatory pictorial health warning labels) on womens smoking decisions; generation cohorts are used to elucidate the determinants of those decisions. Data sourceWe have drawn 48,755 observations of women living in Spain from the Spanish National Health Surveys of 2001, 2003, 2006 and 2011. Data synthesisAmong the main results, we highlight that belonging to a particular generation modulates the manner in which individual characteristics and tobacco policies determine smoking decisions. For example, women's smoking was not considered as socially acceptable until the 1960s and therefore older women have lower smoking rates. However, for the younger female cohorts (generations X and Y) smoking was seen as an act of rebellion and modernity, so women belonging to these groups, irrespective of educational level, are more likely to smoke. ConclusionsThe price of cigarettes and pictorial health warning labels on cigarette packets also influence the smoking behaviour of Spanish women.

Study on Aluminium Coating Process of Holographic Anti-Counterfeiting Cigarette Packet

The paper is an applied research on the application of laser holographic anti-counterfeiting technology in the production of cigarette. Parameters in the aluminium coating process are adjusted to search the optimal production option. Data from different proofing machines are collected to find out the relationship between the thickness of the aluminum layer with its square resistance; then a curve can be drawn and the optimum conditions for the aluminum coating process is determined. Experiments showed that control of the square resistance can effectively solve the color difference in the proofing process. The study lays a foundation for stable production of cigarette packet, and provides a reference for other scholars engaged in related research.

Standardised (plain) cigarette packaging increases attention to both text-based and graphical health warnings: experimental evidence

ObjectiveTo investigate whether standardised cigarette packaging increases the time spent looking at health warnings, regardless of the format of those warnings. Study designA factorial (two pack styles x three warning types) within-subject experiment, with participants randomised to different orders of conditions, completed at a university in London, UK. MethodsMock-ups of cigarette packets were presented to participants with their branded portion in either standardised (plain) or manufacturer-designed (branded) format. Health warnings were present on all packets, representing all three types currently in use in the UK: black & white text, colour text, or colour images with accompanying text. Gaze position was recorded using a specialised eye tracker, providing the main outcome measure, which was the mean proportion of a five-second viewing period spent gazing at the warning-label region of the packet. ResultsAn opportunity sample of 30 (six male, mean age = 23) young adults met the following inclusion criteria: 1) not currently a smoker; 2) <100 lifetime cigarettes smoked; 3) gaze position successfully tracked for > 50% viewing time. These participants spent a greater proportion of the available time gazing at the warning-label region when the branded section of the pack was standardised (following current Australian guidelines) rather than containing the manufacturer's preferred design (mean difference in proportions = 0.078, 95% confidence interval 0.049 to 0.106, p < 0.001). There was no evidence that this effect varied based on the type of warning label (black & white text vs. colour text vs. colour image & text; interaction p = 0.295). ConclusionsDuring incidental viewing of cigarette packets, young adult never-smokers are likely to spend more time looking at health warnings if manufacturers are compelled to use standardised packaging, regardless of the warning design.

Food labels, genetic information, and the right not to know.

Many people believe that individuals have a right not to know their genetic disease risk. Here it is argued that, if this is correct, individuals also have a right not to know their diet-related disease risk. Reasons to remain ignorant are analogous in the case of risk related to diet and genetic susceptibilities. It follows that any policy to promote healthy diets (e.g. through "judgmental" food labels, such as traffic light labels, or, hypothetically, scary pictures similar to those found in cigarette packets) ought to protect the individual right not to know.

Health Awareness and Youth: A Study on the Impact of Visual and Caption in the Cigarette Packets on Youth

In recent times smoking has been considered as a synonym of youth. The Government of India has taken initiative to create awareness about the health consequences of smoking. The image on the cigarette packets to gorier and disturbing pictures is an example for the same. In this paper the researchers analyzed the impact of the warning caption and image on the cigarette packets on the youth. Based on survey method and focus group discussion it was found that the warning captions and visuals are not communicating the message in an appropriate way.

Financial Measures for Adjustment to Smoke Ban

According to the recent estimate, there are about 1.2 million smokers in the Republic of Croatia, i.e. almost every third adult aged 18 to 65 smokes. Research has shown that Croatia with 2.086 consumed cigarettes per citizen is considerably above the European average of 1.673 consumed cigarettes per citizen annually. The research done by ESPAD (The European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs) has shown disconcerting records by which about 70% of the young reported that they have ever been smoking at the age of 15 and about 30% of the same population smoke on regular basis. The smoker average in secondary schools stands at about 15% in the first grade increasing to 40% of the school leavers population. Approximately 60-70% of the children have been assumed passive smokers from young age on because their parents or other household members smoke.Paving the way gradually for smoke ban in public places in the Republic of Croatia began already by the end of the 90s of the last century with the Law on Tobacco Products Usage Restriction (NN 128/99 - The Official Gazette). However, inspite of the law the condition of that period did not change. It was much more ignored than respected. Nowadays, almost ten years afterwards the government of the Republic of Croatia has passed a new, stricter Law on Tobacco Products Usage Restriction (NN 125/08 - The Official Gazette) in accordance with the acquis communautaire.The Law stipulates complete smoke ban in public with intention to protect 68% of nonsmokers from tobacco smoke and to reform the rest 32% of smokers. Similar law was enacted in the USA with exception concerning performers in theatre production performance. This loophole in the law was abused by the catering establishment printing playbills to encourage customers to self-acting with an inevitable prop cigarette before a smoke ban. Psychiatric hospitals in Croatia are the only exceptions to smoke ban and the question arises how Croatian caterers will use this loophole in the law.In order to adjust to the European Union as much as possible, the government proposes the so called tobacco taxation that is a medical tax on tobacco but the citizens as tobacco product consumers have resisted since the taxes would drastically increase the price of tobacco products.By 2009, according to the plan, 5 kuna from the cigarette packet price will have been directed to medical budget, in 2010 this will have amounted to 6 kuna and in 2011 to 7 kuna from each cigarette packet price, which implies increase in prices. The first justification for this is that the money, collected in such a manner, will be used for curing smoking-related diseases. The second justification is that the cigarette price affects the number of tobacco addicts directly, in other words, the number of addicts will, if only minimally, decrease with increase in tobacco products prices.

Double-Position Positioning Test and Analysis on Holographic / Protruding Lettering of Cigarette Packet Based on Machine Vision

In order to improve production quality and efficiency of cigarette trademark, new type reel cigarette trademark on soft package adopts production mode of reel to reel, which becomes the development trend. This technique makes higher requirements on double-position connection lettering and detection technology of holographic / concave and protruding lettering. This experiment uses on-line quality examination system to conduct the relevant examinations on double-position lettering of holographic / protruding lettering of cigarette packet and makes the analysis. The experiment shows that: holographic lettering quality varies with the amount of lettering and lettering speed. For protruding lettering unit, electrified aluminium in vertical direction has a better result than that in horizontal direction. This study lays a foundation for normal production of machine and further quality inspection after lettering.

Implicit associations and compensatory health beliefs in smokers: Exploring their role for behaviour and their change through warning labels

Smokers might think that the negative effects of smoking can be compensated for by other behaviours, such as doing exercise or eating healthily. This phenomenon is known as compensatory health beliefs (CHBs). Graphic warning labels on cigarette packets emphasize the negative effects of smoking, which may impact CHBs. Research so far has assessed CHBs explicitly only via questionnaires, although implicit cognition might be an important factor in continuing to smoke. This study investigated the impact of graphic warning labels on CHBs, by testing CHBs both implicitly and explicitly. The study had a three-group experimental design. ANOVAs and multiple regression analyses were run on the results. We assessed explicit CHBs among non-smokers, smokers, and smokers confronted with graphic warning labels (N = 107; 47 females, 23.89 years old, 78 daily smokers). Implicit associations between smoking and CHB-specific behaviours (e.g., eating healthy food) were measured using a Single-Target Implicit Association Test. After the experiment, participants were able to choose between a healthy and unhealthy food reward. Non-smokers and smokers differed in explicit CHBs but not in implicit cognitions. Warning labels influenced implicit associations among smokers but did not affect explicit CHBs. Most interestingly, implicit associations and explicit CHBs predicted food choice and smoking among smokers not confronted with warning labels. Graphic warning labels could be used in interventions to inhibit automatic associations between smoking and healthy behaviours. Unlearning implicit cognitions might in turn affect explicit CHBs, thus decreasing their role in reducing the negative feelings caused by smoking.

Determination of Nicotine, Tobacco-Specific Nitrosamine and Mutagenic Activity of Whole Tobacco in Japanese Cigarettes

To measure the nicotine and tobacco-specific nitrosamine (TSNA) contents in whole tobacco from a variety of Japanese domestic cigarette brands and to determine mutagencity. The test cigarettes were the top ten best selling cigarette brands in Japan in 2006. The nicotine content in whole tobacco was measured by a modified version of the CORESTA Recommended method. The level of TSNA was measured by a modified version of the Health Canada method. Mutagenicity was assessed using the Salmonella typhimurium strains TA100, TA98 and YG1024 with the metabolic activation system (S9mix) by preincubation assays. The nicotine content in the test cigarettes averaged 15.7±1.2 mg/g, and was in the range between 13.7 and 17.2 mg/g. The level of TSNA averaged 1,750 ng/g, and was in the range between 931 and 2,490 ng/g. Mutagenicity was pseudopositive in several samples of the YG1024 tester strain with and without S9mix. The cigarettes brands were categorized into four groups (Ultra-low, Low, Medium, and High) based on the nominal nicotine yield figures printed on the cigarette packets. The nicotine content in whole tobacco of the High group was the highest. However, the level of TSNA of the high group was the lowest. The analyses of hazardous chemical compounds in whole tobacco can contribute to the reduction and regulation of the toxicity of tobacco products.

Le Suicide de Monsieur F

July–August 2013 • 33 fiction photo: darren harmon Le Suicide de Monsieur F Farzad Salamifar In front of me I saw a pile of words shaped like a human carcass. Tall and lanky as he was, he resembled a moving, loosely cemented stack of bricks, a walking tower of words. H e was a peculiar type, this Monsieur F. And it was basically through my acquaintance with him that I came to realize what bliss death can constitute for certain people, so dense an amalgam are their lives of suffering, of torment and love, because of the futile attempt that is their very coming into existence. Time has density, and revelation is no miracle. There are rare moments that happen in each of our lives when, in the space of seconds, we gain the insight that an entire lifetime could not bring us. They may occur in the nocturnal silence of an insomnia attack, they may seize us in the crowd of a shopping center, or we may meet them in the face of Misery lying by the sidewalk cuddling his dog. Fleeting. They are fugitive by nature, therefore never caught when sought. That is why they never happen on the wooden benches of a church or in the self-imposed, well-simulated ecstasy of a religious prayer. They come to us as unremarkably as remembrance but awake in us all our latent knowledge, our half-forgotten experiences, accompanied by an exceptional vigilance of the senses—with an optional touch of intuition— and open to our everydayness doors to the cosmic. All of us have at least once lived these dense moments that, unfolded, are as rich as years. Monsieur F’s unexpected departure left me with a heavy burden on my shoulders and a bunch of scattered notes in my hands that lack any sort of connection whatsoever—and yet seem to me to be related by the same single essence, like some random pages torn out of what must have once been a whole book. Scribbles on the backs of torn cigarette packets, hardly decipherable words that he wrote in the margins of my college books, mysteriously unfinished sentences on the backs of Hy-Vee receipts . . . Despite our not very profound friendship—and his many eccentricities that would usually exasperate me—I feel a great responsibility to conjure his presence by sewing up all his pieces of writing and, eventually, the conversations we had. The result will probably resemble a crazy quilt of incongruent discourse, the seams too 34 worldliteraturetoday.org visible and the stitches way too loose. But writing , reporting, is the only way I can rid myself of the debt that weighs in my head, clouding my sight of the day and bleaching the sleep out of my nights. Relate to unburden . . . but also write to stop the bleeding, surtout to stop the bleeding. But how I got to know him . . . I met him at a bar. A stranger is not difficult to distinguish in Iowa City and in the United States in general, where, despite their apparent diversity, there is an unworded solidarity among people, in their appearance, in the way they walk, they speak, they look, that is intended to demarcate those who have not belonged to this society and who probably never will. At first, amid that Friday-night tumult, I didn’t realize that I was the unwanted addressee of his quiet soliloquy: stooping over a glass of drink, with his elbows on the counter, columns supporting a domed back, he seemed to be whispering an ancient prayer in that small, singleperson temple walled by a fragile body: “It all starts with a look, just like cancer with a cell; and then it takes over a whole body, a whole life. Just like a crack in a dam. It starts with a smile, like spring with a blossom; and then it takes over a whole prairie. It all starts with a look, with a word, with a ‘hello,’ and your whole life is taken over by a person.” Casting a gaze all around me, I saw no one in the range of his speech. He was one of those sorts who is...

Graphic imagery is not sufficient for increased attention to cigarette warnings: the role of text captions

The present study aims to assess the extent to which attention to UK cigarette warnings is attributable to the graphic nature of the content. A visual dot probe task was utilised, with the warnings serving as critical stimuli that were manipulated for the presence of graphic versus neutral image content, and the accompanying text caption. This mixed design yielded image content (graphic versus neutrally-matched images) and presence (versus absence) of text caption as within subjects variables and smoking status as a between-participants variable. The experiment took place within the laboratories of a UK university. Eighty-six psychology undergraduates (51% smokers, 69% female), predominantly of Caucasian ethnicity took part. Reaction times towards probes replacing graphic images relative to probes replacing neutral images were utilised to create an index of attentional bias. Bias scores (M = 10.20 ± 2.56) highlighted that the graphic image content of the warnings elicited attentional biases (relative to neutral images) for smokers. This only occurred in the presence of an accompanying text caption [t (43) = 3.950, P < 0.001] as opposed to when no caption was present [t (43) = 0.029, P = 0.977]. Non-smokers showed no biases in both instances. Graphic imagery on cigarette packets increases attentional capture, but only when accompanied by a text message about health risks.

Improper disclosure: Tobacco packaging and emission labelling regulations

Cigarette packets in many countries display emission numbers such as tar. These numbers may be misleading as they do not represent the amount of toxins delivered to human smokers. This study examined how consumers interpret and understand numerical and descriptive emission information. A discrete choice study was conducted among adult smokers (n=312) and non-smokers (n=291) in Ontario, Canada. Participants viewed groups of cigarette packets with emission labels from the European Union (EU), Canada and Australia. Participants completed ratings on perceived tar delivery, health risks, and usefulness and understandability of the information. Participants were significantly more likely to believe that Canadian and EU packets with lower emission numbers would have lower tar delivery (92.2% and 89.9%, respectively) and lower health risks (89.5% and 82.9%, respectively) than packets with higher numbers. Approximately 74% of participants rated the numerical Canadian label as providing the most useful information; however, 62% also rated this label as most difficult to understand. Most participants rated the descriptive Australian label as easiest to understand. Labels featuring quantitative emission values are associated with false beliefs regarding lower tar delivery and health risks. Descriptive statements about emissions are easier to understand and associated with more accurate beliefs.

Cigarette packet warning labels can prevent relapse: findings from the International Tobacco Control 4-Country policy evaluation cohort study

ObjectivesTo investigate the links between health warning labels (WLs) on cigarette packets and relapse among recently quit smokers.DesignProspective longitudinal cohort survey.SettingAustralia, Canada, the UK and the USA.Participants1936 recent ex-smokers (44.4%...

Healthy New Year

![][1]</img> An anxious face appears at the door and lets me in. She takes me through a small kitchen, hazy with cigarette smoke, where a number of other concerned faces look at me expectantly. I nod briefly before I'm led upstairs to a small sparse bedroom where a lady in her late fifties has finally given in to lung cancer. Her lifeless body looks cruelly destroyed by the illness. Before I leave I stop in the kitchen and try to find some suitable words of comfort to offer the gathered relatives. As I am talking I notice a cigarette packet lying eerily on its own on the table. It shouts a grisly warning — SMOKING KILLS. I wonder what these grieving … [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif

Can genetic risk information for age-related macular degeneration influence motivation to stop smoking? A pilot study

Smoking can increase the risk of macular degeneration and this is more than additive if a person also has a genetic risk. The purpose of this study was to examine whether knowledge of genetic risk for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) could influence motivation to quit smoking. A questionnaire-based study of hypothetical case scenarios given to 49 smokers without AMD. Participants were randomly allocated to a generic risk, high genetic risk, or low genetic risk of developing AMD scenario. Forty-seven percent knew of the link between smoking and eye disease. In all, 76%, 67%, and 46% for the high risk, generic, and low risk groups, respectively, would rethink quitting (P for trend = 0.082). In all, 67%, 40%, and 38.5%, respectively, would be likely, very likely, or would definitely quit in the following month (P for trend = 0.023). Few participants (<16% of any group) were very likely to or would definitely attend a quit smoking session with no difference across groups. In all, 75.5% of participants would consider taking a genetic test for AMD. In this pilot study, a trend was seen for the group given high genetic risk information to be more likely to quit than the generic or low genetic risk groups. Participants were willing to take a genetic test but further work is needed to address the cost benefits of routine genetic testing for risk of AMD. More generic risk information should be given to the public, and health warnings on cigarette packets that 'smoking causes blindness' is a good way to achieve this.