Smoking Situations Research Articles

Improved random forest model for smoke detection and early warning based on sparrow search algorithm

Smoke detection technology is of great significance in the field of fire safety, aiming at the timely detection of smoke released from fires or other combustion events to safeguard people's lives and properties. In this paper, a smart smoke alarm device is developed based on AI algorithm using UCL open source dataset, which is processed by AI recognition after collecting data through IoT to achieve accurate judgement of smoke situation. The dataset is divided by 6:4 ratio, and the training set confusion matrix shows that all 1159 smoke alarm tests are correctly predicted, of which 445 times predict no smoke and 714 times predict smoke, with an accuracy rate of 100%. The test set confusion matrix shows that only 1 out of 1158 tests was incorrectly predicted, of which 184 predicted no smoke, 312 predicted smoke, and 1 was misjudged as no smoke even though it should have been smoke, with an accuracy rate of 99.7%. The successful application of this technology provides a reliable guarantee for fire warning and demonstrates the great potential of AI in the field of security.

Using Smartphone Survey and GPS Data to Inform Smoking Cessation Intervention Delivery: Case Study.

Interest in quitting smoking is common among young adults who smoke, but it can prove challenging. Although evidence-based smoking cessation interventions exist and are effective, a lack of access to these interventions specifically designed for young adults remains a major barrier for this population to successfully quit smoking. Therefore, researchers have begun to develop modern, smartphone-based interventions to deliver smoking cessation messages at the appropriate place and time for an individual. A promising approach is the delivery of interventions using geofences-spatial buffers around high-risk locations for smoking that trigger intervention messages when an individual's phone enters the perimeter. Despite growth in personalized and ubiquitous smoking cessation interventions, few studies have incorporated spatial methods to optimize intervention delivery using place and time information. This study demonstrates an exploratory method of generating person-specific geofences around high-risk areas for smoking by presenting 4 case studies using a combination of self-reported smartphone-based surveys and passively tracked location data. The study also examines which geofence construction method could inform a subsequent study design that will automate the process of deploying coping messages when young adults enter geofence boundaries. Data came from an ecological momentary assessment study with young adult smokers conducted from 2016 to 2017 in the San Francisco Bay area. Participants reported smoking and nonsmoking events through a smartphone app for 30 days, and GPS data was recorded by the app. We sampled 4 cases along ecological momentary assessment compliance quartiles and constructed person-specific geofences around locations with self-reported smoking events for each 3-hour time interval using zones with normalized mean kernel density estimates exceeding 0.7. We assessed the percentage of smoking events captured within geofences constructed for 3 types of zones (census blocks, 500 ft2 fishnet grids, and 1000 ft2 fishnet grids). Descriptive comparisons were made across the 4 cases to better understand the strengths and limitations of each geofence construction method. The number of reported past 30-day smoking events ranged from 12 to 177 for the 4 cases. Each 3-hour geofence for 3 of the 4 cases captured over 50% of smoking events. The 1000 ft2 fishnet grid captured the highest percentage of smoking events compared to census blocks across the 4 cases. Across 3-hour periods except for 3:00 AM-5:59 AM for 1 case, geofences contained an average of 36.4%-100% of smoking events. Findings showed that fishnet grid geofences may capture more smoking events compared to census blocks. Our findings suggest that this geofence construction method can identify high-risk smoking situations by time and place and has potential for generating individually tailored geofences for smoking cessation intervention delivery. In a subsequent smartphone-based smoking cessation intervention study, we plan to use fishnet grid geofences to inform the delivery of intervention messages.

A study on the current situation and causes of smoking among college students

The total number of smokers worldwide is now more than one billion, accounting for about a quarter of the world's population, and tobacco use causes more than five million deaths worldwide each year. While smoking brings people pleasure, the toxic substances produced by the ignition of cigarettes can cause a variety of diseases. The data was collected from each school through a questionnaire and distributed online. For the questionnaire data, this paper uses C5.0 decision tree, chi-square test, logistic regression, and structural equation modeling to investigate the basic situation, causes, and influencing factors of smoking among college students, and to provide useful reference for improving the smoking situation among college students. In this paper, Fujian Medical University, Sunshine College, Fujian Information Vocational and Technical College, Fujian Arts Vocational College, Fujian Early Childhood Teacher's College, Jimei University, Chengyi College of Jimei University, and Jiageng College of Xiamen University were selected as the overall sample.

Identification of Vital Genes for NSCLC Integrating Mutual Information and Synergy

Lung cancer, amongst the fast growing malignant tumors, has become the leading cause of cancer death, which deserves attention. From a prevention and treatment perspective, advances in screening, diagnosis, and treatment have driven a reduction in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) incidence and improved patient outcomes. It is of benefit that the identification of key genetic markers contributes to the understanding of disease initiation and progression. In this work, information theoretical measures are proposed to determine the collaboration between genes and specific NSCLC samples. Top mutual information observes genes of high sample classification accuracy, such as STX11, S1PR1, TACC1, LRKK2, and SRPK1. In particular, diversity exists in different gender, histology, and smoking situations. Furthermore, leading synergy detects a high-accuracy combination of two ordinary individual genes, bringing a significant gain in accuracy. We note a strong synergistic effect of genes between COL1A2 and DCN, DCN and MMP2, and PDS5B and B3GNT8. Apart from that, RHOG is revealed to have quite a few functions in coordination with other genes. The results provide evidence for gene-targeted therapy as well as combined diagnosis in the context of NSCLC. Our approach can also be extended to find synergistic biomarkers associated with different diseases.

Study on the willingness to quit smoking and its influencing factors among current smokers in rural areas in China

Objective: To study the willingness of current smokers to quit smoking in rural areas and related factors to provide a reference for tobacco control. Methods: The data were collected from the China Chronic Disease and Risk Factor Surveillance in 2018. A multi-stage stratified cluster sampling was used to select 184 509 residents (≥18 years old); among the residents, 10 241 current smokers in rural areas were included in the study. χ2/F test was used to analyze the factors such as willingness to quit smoking and demographic information, tobacco use, cognition of tobacco-related hazard knowledge, the prevalence of chronic diseases, and other factors. Unconditional multifactor logistic regression analysis was used in multivariate analysis. Results: A total of 3 453 (37.46%) considered quitting smoking in the next 12 months. Logistic regression analysis showed that occasional smokers were more willing to quit smoking than daily smokers (OR=0.693, 95%CI: 0.494-0.971), and those who smoked less than 1 pack per day were more willing to quit than those who smoked 1 pack or more per day (OR=0.628,95%CI: 0.511-0.771), those who had quit smoking within 12 months were more willing to quit than those who had not quit within 12 months (OR=0.438, 95%CI: 0.357-0.537), and those with high awareness of tobacco hazards were more willing to quit smoking (OR=1.056, 95%CI: 1.028-1.086). The differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusions: The willingness of current smokers in rural areas to quit smoking is related to the smoking situation, smoking intensity, previous smoking cession experience, and knowledge of the specific health effects of smoking. It suggests that health education should be strengthened through more efficient health communication methods in rural areas and provide brief smoking cessation interventions to improve rural smokers' willingness to quit smoking.

Situations of Passive Smoking by Urine Cotinine Levels and Recognition of Passive Smoking in High School Students -Effectiveness of Smoking Prevention Education Using a Video Made by High School Students

We investigated a situation of passive smoking and its damaging effects among high school students. Urine cotinine concentration was measured and quantified. Additionally, we evaluated the awareness of passive smoking and smoking regulations in high school students, and the educational effect on passive smoking using a questionnaire survey and educational videos produced by high school students. We conducted a self-reporting questionnaire survey with high school students before and after watching the video produced by the high school students. We gathered the scores of the Kano Social Nicotine Dependence Questionnaire (KTSND) and awareness of smoking restrictions. Consent was obtained through the questionnaire before watching the video and collecting urine samples. Urine cotinine concentrations from 54 samples were evaluated and indicated within the low value. The KTSND score significantly decreased for those who responded to both questionnaires, after watching the video. Furthermore, analysis of the KTSND questionnaire items showed a significant decrease in scores for lifestyle, stress, and smoking location. This suggests that the video produced in this study has a certain amount of educational effect on passive smoking and that the student-led educational method is effective. The survey using the KTSND revealed that there were some students who were not exposed to passive smoking, but instead had high smoking tolerance. Going forward, it will be necessary to promote education on passive smoking and smoking prevention by incorporating the video lecture and urine cotinine concentration was measured, as in this study, to encourage behavior that decreases passive smoking among high school students.

Evaluation of the Effective Cognition Area (ECA) of Signage Systems with Backlighting under Smoke Conditions

Signage systems are visual information systems that indicate the direction, allow for identification, and show safety information and regulations to occupants via graphics or text during emergencies. Wayfinding is difficult in large and complex buildings, such as large shopping malls. Occupants can be disoriented while searching for their way in such buildings. This problem can be more serious in emergency situations, such as fires, than in normal situations. Signage systems can be helpful in solving this problem. Domestic and overseas standards on emergency signage systems specify that the signage should be noticeable, easy to read, and easy to understand. However, most regulations do not quantify the effectiveness of such signage systems under emergency situations. To address these issues, in this study, several experiments were conducted considering the viewing distance and angle using a backlit signage system, and changes in cognition under smoke conditions were analyzed. First, the concept of effective cognition area (ECA) was introduced to analyze the relationship between the viewing distance and angle. Experiments were conducted using a backlit emergency exit sign, and the changes in the ECA in a smoke situation were analyzed. Finally, the results of this study were compared with those of previous studies. Furthermore, the extent to which occupants can recognize the signage system was quantified. If the concept of ECA developed in this study is applied to the development of emergency signage design, more diverse evacuation scenarios could be designed.

Risk Assessment of Passive Smoking Based on Analysis of Hair Nicotine and Cotinine as Exposure Biomarkers by In-Tube Solid-Phase Microextraction Coupled On-Line to LC-MS/MS.

Passive smoking due to environmental tobacco smoke is a serious public health concern because it increases the risk of lung cancer and cardiovascular disease. However, the current status and effect of passive smoking in various lifestyles are not fully understood. In this study, we measured hair nicotine and cotinine levels as exposure biomarkers in non-smokers and assessed the risk from the actual situation of passive smoking in different lifestyle environments. Nicotine and cotinine contents in hair samples of 110 non-smoker subjects were measured by in-tube solid-phase microextraction with on-line coupling to liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, and self-reported lifestyle questionnaires were completed by the subjects. Nicotine and cotinine were detected at concentrations of 1.38 ng mg−1 and 12.8 pg mg−1 respectively in the hair of non-smokers, with levels significantly higher in subjects who reported being sensitive to tobacco smoke exposure. These levels were also affected by type of food intake and cooking method. Nicotine and cotinine in hair are useful biomarkers for assessing the effects of passive smoking on long-term exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, and our analytical methods can measure these exposure levels in people who are unaware of passive smoking. The results of this study suggest that the environment and places of tobacco smoke exposure and the lifestyle behaviors therein are important for the health effects of passive smoking.

Use of heated tobacco products by people with chronic diseases: The 2019 JASTIS study.

Heated tobacco products (HTPs) have become popular recently. People with chronic disease, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease (CVD), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cancer, should quit smoking for treatment and recurrence of tobacco-related diseases. However, they have difficulty in quitting smoking, and they may start HTPs use to quit smoking. The purpose of this study is to examine the use of HTPs in people with chronic disease. We used data from an internet study, the Japan Society and New Tobacco Internet Survey (JASTIS). We analyzed 9,008 respondents aged 15–73 years in 2019 using logistic regression. Current use of tobacco products was defined as use within the previous 30 days. Prevalence of current HTP use including dual use and dual use with cigarettes was 9.0% and 6.1% respectively in total. By disease: hypertension 10.2% and 7.4%, diabetes 15.9% and 12.3%, CVD 19.2% and 15.7%, COPD 40.5% and 33.3%, and cancer 17.5% and 11.9%. Diabetes, CVD, COPD, and cancer were positively associated with current use of HTPs (odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs): 1.48 (1.06, 2.07), 2.29 (1.38, 3.80), 3.97(1.73, 9.11), and 3.58(1.99, 6.44), respectively) and dual use of cigarettes and HTPs (ORs and 95% CIs: 2.23 (1.61, 3.09), 3.58 (2.29, 5.60), 7.46 (3.76, 14.80), and 2.57 (1.46, 4.55), respectively) after adjusting for confounders. People with chronic disease were more likely to use HTPs and HTPs together with cigarettes. Further research on the smoking situation of HTPs in patients with chronic diseases is necessary.

Smoking as a method of coping for medical workers

Background: This article analyzes the professional stress at healthcare professionals (HCP), related to their job. Health care providers can serve as role models in promoting healthy lifestyles; however, HCP commitment to help individuals to quit smoking may be influenced by their own smoking behavior. Material and methods: In order to determine the level of perceptual stress, the Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSQ) was applied, PSQ developed by Levenstein et al. In order to determine the level of addiction to smoking, the Fagerstorm nicotine addiction test was applied. The research was attended by 210 subjects from 5 medical institutions: doctors, nurses, and resident doctors. Confidentiality is maintained. Results: The doctors accumulated 32% on the scale of severe dependence, 8% moderate dependence and only 9% mild dependence, after calculating the score and interpreting the data. The resident doctors have accumulated the maximum score on the scale of mild dependence, 7% moderate dependence and only 3% severe dependence, which speaks of the fact that they are the youngest category of medical workers at the beginning of their careers and still do not have good defense mechanisms. The nurses, who represent 9% of the entire group of subjects, accumulated 0% on the scale of severe dependence, 8% moderate dependence and 1% mild dependence. Conclusions: Comparative data on smoking dependence levels in doctors of 32% according to the perceived stress level 71% confirm this. Stressed health workers are more likely to smoke, have different social problems and are males. The results of research have shown that the prevalence of smokers among health care professionals is high (51%), implying the ineffectiveness of the current government anti-tobacco strategy. Introducing new pillar – Harm Reduction in National Antismoking Action Plan, along with prevention, cessation and protection from second-hand smoking, can improve current smoking situation in general. It would be helpful to implement training programs about Tobacco Harm Reduction for healthcare workers to improve their ability in smoking cessation counselling techniques to provide active support to their patients.

Parenting Styles as a Moderator of the Association between Pubertal Timing and Chinese Adolescents' Smoking Behavior.

Background: Pubertal timing refers to the timing of an individual regarding pubertal sexual maturation, both physiologically and psychologically. Existing research shows that pubertal timing is associated with behavioral problems. This study investigated the role of parenting style in the relationship between pubertal timing and Chinese adolescents’ smoking behavior. Methods: The study examined the association of pubertal timing, parenting style and adolescents’ smoking behavior, using the Pubertal Development Scale (Chinese version), Simplified Parenting Style Scale-Chinese version, and three items related to adolescents’ smoking situation. Participants were 1391 Chinese adolescents aged 11–16 years old (53.41% boys). Hierarchical linear regression analyses assessed the moderating role of parenting style on the association between pubertal timing and adolescent smoking behavior. Results: The results indicated that parenting style moderates the relationship between pubertal timing and adolescent smoking behavior. For male adolescents, father rejection moderated the relationship between early pubertal timing and smoking behavior. For female adolescents, father rejection, father emotional warmth, and mother emotional warmth moderated the relationship between pubertal timing and smoking behavior. Conclusions: Findings from the study highlight the importance of parenting style, which may influence the negative outcomes associated with early pubertal timing and can help improve interventions aimed at reducing these negative outcomes.

The Negative Impact of Parental Smoking on Adolescents' Health-Promoting Behaviors: A Cross-Sectional Study.

The literature has indicated that adolescents’ exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) and having smoking parents were positively associated with current tobacco smoking. Few studies have explored the association between parental smoking and adolescent’s health-promoting behaviors. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of SHS and the relationship between parental smoking at home and adolescent’s health-promoting behaviors in rural areas. Methods: A school-based and cross-sectional study was conducted from March to December 2019 in western coastal Yunlin County, Taiwan. A total of 1227 adolescents, including 51% boys, anonymously participated in this study. Three parental smoking situations and eight questions of adolescents’ habits extracted from previous studies were applied. A linear regression model was used to analyze the factors associated with adopting health-promoting behaviors. Results: More than half (67.7%) of adolescents experienced parental smoking at home, 90.2% reported their family smoked around them, and 48.8% of participants “sometimes” or “never” avoided SHS. Many participants showed a low frequency of water (49.6%), vegetable (49.1%), and fruit (63.2%) intake, using dental floss (84.7%), and regular exercise (60.6%). The determinants of adolescents’ health-promoting scores were highly associated with avoidance of SHS, less associated with parental smoking, and parents smoking at home and around adolescents. Conclusion: The findings showed that in the rural area, a high prevalence of parental smoking at home and parental smoking around adolescents was noted. It is an important issue that parental smoking was negatively associated with adolescent’s health-promoting behaviors.

Household Smoking Situations and Factors Associated with Smoking Cessation among Adult Men in Coastal Fishing Communities

Objective: To investigate household smoking situations and factors associated with cessation, focusing on adult male smokers in low socioeconomic coastal fishing communities in southern Thailand. Materials and Methods: An epidemiological community cross-sectional approach was conducted in 371 adult male smokers aged between 20 and 60 years. A self-administered questionnaire was applied to gather the data. Demographic characteristics, household smoking, smoking history, smoking behaviors, and pulmonary symptom data were collected by the community research assistants. Statistical computing was performed with R studio, and a p-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results: The household smoking prevalence was 23.5%. Most smokers were categorized as having high pack-years, and the lowest age at first smoking was ten years old. Imitation and impetuous behaviors were the major leading causes of becoming a new smoker. The number of cigarettes smoked daily was the highest among individuals with more than 20 pack-years. Eighty-four-point-one percent of smokers desired to quit smoking for personal health reasons. Smokers in the 51 to 60 years age group were 49.62 times as likely as adolescents to cease smoking. Participants who first started smoking when they were older than 17 years of age had a 3.56-times higher chance of quitting smoking than those who started smoking when they were younger than 15 years of age (95% CI 1.51 to 8.37). Conclusion: The smoking situation in the coastal fishing communities of the southernmost provinces of Thailand is a worrisome problem. Smoking prevalence remains high, with prevalence increasing with age, and newer smokers starting at younger ages. A high proportion of smokers intended to cease smoking. Therefore, smoking cessation programs would be essential in the present study area. Keywords: Smoking situation, Cessation, Coastal fishing community, Southernmost Thailand

Long-term time trend of lead exposure in young German adults - Evaluation of more than 35Years of data of the German Environmental Specimen Bank.

Lead is a ubiquitous pollutant with well-known effects on human health. As there is no lower toxicological threshold for lead in blood and since data gaps on lead exposure still exist in many European countries, HBM data on lead is of high importance. To address this, the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative HBM4EU classified lead as a priority substance. The German Environmental Specimen Bank (German ESB) has monitored lead exposure since more than 35 years. Using data from the early 1980s to 2019 we reveal and discuss long-term trends in blood lead levels (BLLs) and current internal exposure of young adults in Germany. BLLs in young adults decreased substantially in the investigated period. As results from the ESB sampling site Muenster demonstrate, the geometric mean of BLLs of young adults decreased from 1981 (78,7μg/L) to 2019 (10.4μg/L) by about 87%. Trends in human exposure closely correlate with air lead levels (ALLs) provided by the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP). Hence, the decrease of BLLs largely reflects the drop in air lead pollution. Known associations of sex, smoking, alcohol consumption, and housing situation with BLLs are confirmed with data of the German ESB. Although internal lead exposure in Germany decreased substantially, the situation might be different in other European countries. Since 2010, BLLs of young adults in Germany levelled out at approximately 10μg/L. The toxicity of lead even at low levels is known to cause adverse health effects especially in children following exposure of the child or the mother during pregnancy. To identify current exposure sources and to minimize future lead exposure, continuous monitoring of lead intake and exposure levels is needed.

Evacuation performance of participants in an offshore platform under smoke situations

The study of evacuation on offshore platforms under fire is significant but has received little attention by previous researchers. The evacuation process from offshore platforms under three distinct visibilities (>10 m, 1 m–10 m, <1 m) is investigated by a group of experiments and questionnaires with 120 participants. The group evacuation activities of the participants regarding the evacuation time, movement speed, typical behavior and route choice were recorded and studied by 48 cameras and wristbands with Bluetooth positioning function. We ignited smoke bombs often used in the fire drill to generate the smoke, which had a little irritating smell but is safe for people. We investigated the speed in running mode and walking fast mode, and the speed of participants with walking fast without smoke we obtained fits well with the data that IMO recommend. In addition, we found the speed of participants does not always decrease in the smoke environment, sometimes it increases when people are well aware of the surroundings. Finally, we study the relationship between personnel characteristics and evacuation behavior with the help of hypothesis testing. The study will be helpful to the guidelines of IMO to be revised in the future and develop efficient evacuation strategy to guide the evacuation under fire in offshore platforms.

Effect of a mobile just-in-time implementation intention intervention on momentary smoking lapses in smoking cessation attempts among Asian American young adults.

Identifying vulnerable windows for a given problematic behavior and providing timely and appropriate support are critical for building an effective just-in-time (JIT) intervention for behavioral change. We developed and evaluated an implementation intention (II) based, JIT cessation intervention prototype to support Asian American young adult smokers to prevent lapses in their cessation attempts in real-time. We examined how a JIT II reminder may prevent lapses during self-identified high-risk smoking situation (HRSS) as a microtemporal process. We also tested whether the effect of JIT reminder changes over the course of study and differed between those who used their own versus project loan phones. Asian American young adult smokers (N = 57) who were interested in quitting or reducing smoking participated in a 4 week, mobile-based, cessation study (MyQuit USC, MQU). MQU is a JIT mobile app that deploys a user-specified II reminder at user-specified HRSS and assesses momentary lapse status. Generalized mixed linear models were conducted to assess the effect of the JIT intervention on lapse prevention. We found a significant interaction effect (p = .03) such that receiving JIT reminder reduced the likelihood of lapses for participants using their own phones but not for the loaners. The results also showed that when participants enacted the suggested II, they were less likely to lapse (p < .001). The JIT effect did not change over time in study (p = .21). This study provides evidence that receiving a reminder of a smoker's own plan just before a self-identified risky situation on a familiar device and successfully executing specified plans can be helpful in preventing lapses. Our results highlighted factors to consider when designing and refining a JIT intervention.

Tobacco Control Politics in Indonesia: Regional and Global Perspective

The study examines tobacco control policies of Indonesia, national and international players, the role of political elite and social demography of smoking. The analysis explains the relation of national and international players associated with the tobacco industry, interest of local community, structural and political powers that limit the legislation on tobacco control. The current situation of smoking and tobacco use in the social system of Indonesia is alarming. Indonesia is the working ground of different multinational brands that have industries and production units of cigarettes. The economic perspectives of the tobacco industry involvement of government and political powers in this industry make it more complex. The study is based on qualitative sources that are evaluated for the tobacco industry and its implications on Indonesian society. The results provide a comprehensive overview of the tobacco industry and the role of different actors that can be regularized by imposing strict legislation. The study also provides recommendations to manage the tobacco industry that will guide the corrective path of reducing tobacco culture in the society.

Hipnoterapi Dengan Part Therapy Untuk Penurunan Perilaku Merokok

Smoking becomes big problems in the society. A smoker finds some difficulties in trying to quit smoking. This is because of the inner conflicts between making decision of quitting or continuing smoking. Therefore, it is necessary to look for interventions to solve these problems. This study aims to determine the effect of hypnotherapy with part therapy to decrease smoking behavior. This study was conducted on 2 smokers. The research design is single case experiment design with A-B-A-B-A design. Data analysis used simple descriptive test by presenting data using graph and histogram. The results showed that there are some differences in smoking behavior before and after intervention. The intention of smoking of MFH before intervention is more than 15 cigarettes per day (weight category) becomes medium category (4-15 sticks per day) after the interventions. Whereas, the NK before the interventions that is in medium category (4-15 cigarettes per day) becomes mild category (1-4 stems per day) after the intervention of smoking places. The places that are commonly used by MFH are private rooms, campus and food stalls, while NK used food stalls as the place to smoke. The smoking situation for MFH and NK is when they are hanging out with friends. The functions of smoking for MFH are for adding pleasure, pleasing feeling, and reducing anger and anxiety while the function of smoking for NK is for adding pleasure. After doing hypnotherapy with part therapy, the intention of smoking, smoking place, smoking situation and the function of smoking has decreased. However, in those factors the subject still do smoking behavior but in light intention. The physical and psychological changes after intervention of MFH are the subjects feel freshness and good breathing. MFH had self-awareness, more strong desire, and more healthy life with new pattern to stop smoking, while NK becomes fresher, good feeling, happy, and breathe smoothly, can refuse a friend's invitation to smoke, and has more to strength to quit smoking. Based on the research results, it can be concluded that there is influence of hypnotherapy with part therapy in decreasing smoking behavior. Smoking behavior after intervention was lower than before intervention

Oral exposure to lead for Japanese children and pregnant women, estimated using duplicate food portions and house dust analyses

BackgroundLead is a toxic metal abundant in the environment. Consumption of food contaminated at low levels of lead, especially by small children and pregnant women, raises a health concern.MethodsDuplicated food portions and drinking water were collected over 3 days from 88 children and 87 pregnant women in Shimotsuke, Tochigi, Japan. Participants were recruited in this study between January 2014 and October 2015. Dust was also collected from their homes. Lead concentrations were measured and consequent oral lead exposure levels were estimated for this population at high risk to environmental toxicants. Lead concentrations of peripheral and cord blood, taken from children and pregnant women, and were also analyzed.ResultsLead concentrations in food, drinking water, and house dust were low in general. Oral lead exposure to lead was higher for children (Mean ± SEM; 5.21 ± 0.30 μg/kg BW/week) than in pregnant women (1.47 ± 0.13 μg/kg BW/week). Food and house dust were main sources of lead contamination, but the contribution of house dust widely varied. Means ± SEM of peripheral and cord blood lead concentrations were 0.69 ± 0.04 μg/dL and 0.54 ± 0.05 μg/dL, respectively for pregnant women and 1.30 ± 0.07 μg/dL (peripheral only) in children. We detect no correlation between smoking situations and blood lead concentration in pregnant women.ConclusionWe conclude that oral lead exposure levels for Japanese children and pregnant women were generally low, with higher concentrations and exposure for children than for pregnant women. More efforts are necessary to clarify the sources of lead contamination and reduce lead exposure of the population at high risk even in Japan.

Combined cell death of co-exposure to aldehyde mixtures on human bronchial epithelial BEAS-2B cells: Molecular insights into the joint action.

Aldehydes are common air pollutants and metabolites of the organism, which widely exist in many invivo (e.g. Alzheimer's disease) and invitro (e.g. cigarette smoke) situations. Individual aldehydes have been studied well alone, while their combined toxicity is still obscure. Here, we examined the combined apoptosis of aldehyde mixtures in BEAS-2B cells at smoking-related environmental/physiologically relevant concentrations, and the potential mechanism was investigated further based on the related signaling pathway. Co-exposure to aldehyde mixtures demonstrated significant synergistic interaction on apoptosis in a concentration-dependent manner, which differed from the expectation based on single aldehydes. Moreover, formaldehyde significantly potentiated the induction of death receptor-5, caspase 8/10, cleaved caspase 3/7/9, pro-apoptotic proteins (Bim, Bad and Bax), depolarization of MMP (mitochondrial membrane potential) and AIF (apoptosis-inducing factor) induced by acrolein, and synergistically decreased expressions of pro-survival proteins (Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL) and poly ADP-ribose polymerase. Therefore, aldehyde mixture-induced synergistic apoptosis was mediated both by TRAIL death receptor and mitochondrial pathway. Additionally, reactive oxygen species, Ca2+ levels, DNA damage, and phosphorylated MDM2 were all synergistically induced by aldehyde mixtures, while total p53, phosphorylated p53 and phosphorylated AKT (serine/threonine kinase) were inhibited. Antioxidants N-acetylcysteine suppressed the aldehyde mixture-induced ROS, DNA damage and apoptosis, and blocked the TRAIL death receptor and mitochondrial pathway, while it did not rescue the p53 and AKT pathway. Briefly, aldehyde mixtures induced synergistic apoptosis even at smoking-related environmental/physiologically relevant concentrations, which could be enhanced through ROS-mediated death receptor/mitochondrial pathway, and the down-regulation of phosphorylated AKT.