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Objective: This study examines the effects of having a tobacco free policy in three University of Alaska campuses two years postimplementation among students, faculty, and staff. It also identifies factors associated with tobacco cessation and ENDS use. Methods: Self-administered online survey was conducted in spring 2017 and 2018. Results: Most of the current tobacco users began using tobacco prior to policy implementation, while most current ENDS users in 2018 started using ENDS when the policy had been in place. Students and those who are younger are more likely to quit tobacco during policy implementation; and males, students, and those who are younger and current tobacco users are more likely to use ENDS. Conclusions: Study findings suggest that campus tobacco-free policy can promote tobacco cessation and help prevent tobacco initiation. However, such a policy does not necessarily affect ENDS use. Specific groups need additional interventions to assist in tobacco and ENDS cessation.

An interpretative phenomenological study of newlywed couple leisure was conducted to understand the role of leisure in the development of relationship dynamics and couple identity. Nine couples wer...

Tobacco supply remains a pressing challenge to tobacco control. Tobacco remains a dominant cash crop in many low- and middle-income countries, despite the evidence suggesting that it is not as profitable as industry claims and is harmful to health and the environment. In order to implement successful and sustainable alternative livelihood interventions, it is important to understand why farmers continue to grow tobacco. This study explores this question from the perspective of farmers in Indonesia and Philippines. This study was informed by interpretive description methodology. Data was collected through focus group discussions (FGDs) (n = 7) with farmers (n = ~60). The FGDs were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and then translated into English. An inductive thematic analysis of the data was conducted to identify and categorize the reason provided by participants. We identified two overarching themes: (1) perceived viability (profitability, ready market, and environmental factors) and (2) financial context. Financial context included lumpsum payments and access to financial loans and credit facilities in light of their lack of capital. These results highlight that, in addition to identifying viable alternatives to tobacco, institutional factors such as improved access to credit and well-developed supply chains are key to the successful uptake of alternative livelihoods.

Adaptive Optics (AO) systems aim at detecting and correcting for optical distortions induced by atmospheric turbulences. The Gemini Multi Conjugated AO System GeMS is operational and regularly used for science observations since 2013 delivering close to diffraction limit resolution over a large field of view. GeMS entered this year into a new era. The laser system has been upgraded from the old 50W Lockheed Martin Coherent Technologies (LMCT) pulsed laser to the Toptica 20/2W CW SodiumStar laser. The laser has been successfully commissioned and is now used regularly in operation. In this paper we first review the performance obtained with the instrument. I will go then into the details of the commissioning of the Toptica laser and show the improvements obtained in term of acquisition, stability, reliability and performance.

Sodium guide star technologies for Adaptive Optics (AO) have been around for over 20 years. During this time, the technologies for the lasers used to excite the mesospheric sodium have been in constant development, with the goals being not only to excite as much sodium as possible, but to do so efficiently, while producing a round guide star, and while offering a reliable facility. The first lasers in use were dye lasers with a liquid gain medium, while these lasers were able to produce sodium guide stars, the liquid dye used was toxic and flammable. The second generation of guide star lasers used sum-frequency-mixed solid-state lasers. These lasers provided excellent return but were notoriously difficult to calibrate and maintain, requiring a full-time laser engineer on staff. The current third generation of sodium guide star lasers use Raman fiber amplification to generate a laser that is very efficient at exciting sodium with a good spot profile and offer a high degree of reliability. The Gemini South observatory for the last few years has been in the process of obtaining one of these third-generation lasers, a Toptica Sodium Star 20/2 while maintaining its second-generation Lockheed Martin Coherent Technologies (LMCT) 50W CW Mode-locked laser. In October of 2017 successful on-sky commissioning of the Toptica laser was executed while the LMCT laser was still active and in operations. During the course of the commissioning run both lasers were used on sky in close in time in possible. We present a comparative study of the performance of each laser.

Background Recognizing that the Philippine 1991 tobacco tax sharing law favoured the development of tobacco, the Sin Tax Law, a separate law on restructuring cigarette tax, expanded the use of such to also cover shifting farmers to viable alternative livelihood. Aside from health-driven supply reduction objectives, this is crucial as evidence shows that tobacco production is continuously declining starting decades ago, requiring to actively shift farmers. Methods Data on tobacco excise tax earmarking and utilization, farmers´ production and shifting behaviours, labor improvement and poverty alleviation indicators, and LGU capacity were analysed to determine potential program mismatches and perverse incentives. Supporting qualitative data were used to identify policy and structural gaps to address these. Results Financing livelihood projects becomes the least priority (only 6% average share i funds), as a result of LGU´s final allocation being determined by their share in total tobacco leaf production, which actually put pressure on their farmers to increase production volume. Meanwhile, infrastructure continue to get bulk of sin tax earmarking and are linked to its political benefits. Last, the provision of cooperative and agro-industrial projects in selected areas were shifting behaviour is heavy can still be improved. Conclusions As the two tobacco tax sharing laws fund both programs to develop tobacco and to shift tobacco farmers to other livelihood, a schizophrenic management exists. Key structural and policy ingredients have to be present to reverse this. First is the need to establish institutional support to manage alternative livelihood funds, in order to balance the powers of National Tobacco Administration over tobacco growing areas. Allocation should not be based on production volume but rather on a systemic or comprehensive welfare assessment of shifted farmers. As livelihood programs are most commonly coursed through civil society organizations and cooperatives, trainings on local budget engagement, tobacco interference, and enterpreneurial skills, have to be offered.

Southeast Asia has been the source of some recent encouraging developments on the health front, particularly in the area of tobacco control. In December 2012, the Philippines passed a landmark sin tax legislation that restructures the decade-old tax system for tobacco and alcohol products, updates the tax rates and indexes them for automatic increases, and earmarks its incremental proceeds for universal health financing. In August 2013, Malaysia proposed to exclude tobacco from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), a bid to protect tobacco control measures from any state-to-state or investor–state challenge. Earlier in July 2012, it was reported that Health Ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed to withdraw tobacco from the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA). While their actual Joint Statement made no mention of trade, the language referring to tobacco control was clear (ASEAN, 2012). Of foremost interest in these developments is the increasing awareness of the linkages between public health regulation and economic policy. Health arguments are being advanced to affect economic policy, with the ultimate objective of reorienting incentives to improve health outcomes. Specifically, tax, trade and investment policies are being targeted. However, the likely impact on tobacco control may not be as straightforward. There are two ways in which trade and investment agreements can be bad for tobacco control. One, when trade liberalisation or the lowering of tariffs leads to more competition that results in cheaper products that can trigger more consumption. Two, when clauses like investor protection and intellectual property protection in these agreements place limits on a country’s capacity to regulate. In the case of ASEAN countries, a study by Drope and Chavez (2015) has shown that the impact on affordability and consumption of trade liberalisation has been mixed. Where liberalisation has been deepest (Malaysia), cigarette prices have become less affordable and consumption has been on the decline, while the least liberalised and a state monopoly, to boot (Vietnam), has experienced fluctuations in affordability and increased consumption. Given this, it is yet unclear whether the total exclusion of tobacco in trade agreements like AFTA is the most effective way of curbing tobacco use. On the other hand, new generation free trade agreements (FTAs) contain investment chapters that provide very liberal protection to investments – including the ability to lodge claims against a country in international arbitration not governed by domestic law. The TPPA, of which Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam are a part, and where others like the Philippines intend to join, is a potential red flag as it could provide broader investor protection than is already contained in many current arrangements. That said, these countries already have existing agreements with countries where big tobacco corporations are based (for instance, Switzerland – Philip Morris International/PMI and Japan Tobacco International, and the United Kingdom – British American Tobacco/BAT), so even sans the newer more ambitious FTAs, the potential risks already exist. Therefore, a specific carveout of tobacco from new agreements will have to consider existing ones as well. On the issue of foreign direct investment (FDI), most low- and middle-income countries are in the business of attracting FDI as a development strategy. To induce these FDIs, various incentives in the form of tax holidays, subsidies and privileges are provided. All this helps to lower production costs and ultimately product prices, and affect increases in demand. The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC Article 5.3) (WHO 2003) explicitly proscribes the giving of incentives to the tobacco industry. Transnational tobacco companies have invested substantially in most Southeast Asian countries even before open trade, the objective being to establish strategic presence, a trend that continues even after the period of liberalisation (Drope and Chavez, 2015). In certain cases, like in the Philippines (where PMI invested in a manufacturing plant in 2000 and 2007), these investments, while located in special protected zones, were made without any incentives asked for or granted, highlighting the priority placed on getting domestic market space (Chavez et al., 2014; Drope et al., 2014). The Philippine sin tax example provides interesting insights into the political dynamics of FDI. In the 1990s and 2000s, PMI was among the biggest supporters of sin tax reform. This support was part of the attempt to break the stranglehold of Fortune Tobacco, with the tax reform expected to introduce more competition by applying non-discriminatory rates between local and imported brands. In 2010, PMI and FTC created a joint venture, the Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corporation (PMFTC), which gave PMI a foothold in the local market. When the sin tax campaign was revived, PMI through PMFTC became the most rabid opposition. BAT, trying to enter the market, was the only industry player supportive of the reform. Clearly, for FDI market entry is primary, but once in, FDI will protect its business to the full extent. Taxation is considered the most effective tobacco control measure in terms of affecting prices and affordability, and in turn reducing consumption and the prevalence of smoking (WHO, 2015). However, it is highly unpopular and difficult to introduce. In the region, Malaysia and Singapore have been known for substantial increases in their tobacco taxes by 2010 (Drope and Chavez, 2015). The Philippine sin tax reform met success through the earmarking of the revenue to universal health to generate public support. It was also a successful coming-together of two sets of policy reform advocates – on public health, including tobacco control, and economic reforms, specifically tax reform (Chavez et al., 2014). For sure, the tobacco industry remains a powerful political and economic actor in the region. The experience in the region shows not just the difficulty of instituting tobacco control measures, but also the complexity of issues implied in them. At the same time, the public health challenge of tobacco use is immense. One in five ASEAN citizens smoke; more than 500 Indonesian deaths daily are accounted for by smoking; tobacco-related healthcare costs can be as high as US$1.78 billion for Indonesia; and both youth smoking and youth intention to smoke are high (Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance [SEATCA], 2014). The complex linkage of public health and economic policy is evident in the way countries respond to communicable diseases, like MERS, SARS and HIV-AIDS, among others. Countries’ capacity to deal with these diseases is often linked to the impact on economic productivity, and health costs. In the context of freer mobility and greater regional connectivity, disease spread across borders and how it affects travel, tourism and the regional economy becomes an equally legitimate concern. To ASEAN’s (2014) credit, NCDs are likewise given a prominent emphasis in line with ‘health promotion, and healthy lifestyle’. It is most aggressive in tobacco control, having identified Focal Points on Tobacco Control and making direct references to FCTC (ASEAN, 2013). The consideration of tobacco exclusion from AFTA is the boldest statement made on tobacco control thus far. Unfortunately, the increased activism of ASEAN health officials on tobacco control is undermined by their lack of mandate on economic issues. Trade is the domain of economic ministers; hence, health ministers calling for the withdrawal of tobacco from AFTA is more a symbolic rather than a binding move. Moreover, there had been no discussion between the two sets of ministers to find ways to pursue it in the agenda. The vital role of ASEAN cannot be overemphasised. Its significance does not stop with the negotiation and signing of various trade and economic agreements, but extends to the need to ensure that other development goals are met. Better understanding of existing economic policy is needed to inform public health measures. More importantly, there is need to link and harmonise public health and economic objectives. For this, better coordination and cooperation among different policymakers and stakeholders are crucial.

To address the rise in non-communicable diseases (NCDs), governments are now being urged to 'put forward a multisectoral approach for health at all government levels, to address NCD risk factors and underlying determinants of health comprehensively and decisively' [UN, 2011. Political Declaration of the High-Level Meeting of the General Assembly on the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (No. A/66/L.1). New York, NY: United Nations]. There is a global consensus that whole-of-government approaches (WG) can be particularly effective in regulating products such as tobacco, pre-packaged foods and alcohol, which are or can be major risk factors for NCDs. Despite the overwhelming push towards interagency arrangements for health policymaking and implementation, including in contemporary efforts to prevent and control NCDs, there has been minimal investigation into how countries have pursued WG and which types of institutional designs and arrangements offer particular utility to achieve health objectives. This article examines these issues through a case study concerning the interagency mechanism that the Philippine government currently utilizes to govern tobacco control, the Interagency Committee-Tobacco (IAC-T). We conducted key informant interviews (n = 33) with government officials, and representatives from civil society organizations, health professional associations and intergovernmental organizations. We targeted informants who have been involved in the work of the IAC-T and/or tobacco control policy more broadly. We also analysed public documents to contribute to our analysis of the structure, functioning and legal status of the IAC-T. Our findings highlight two salient challenges that arose in the Philippines case: (1) the inclusion of industry representation on the IAC-T and (2) the attempt to consolidate the responsibilities of the different departments through a policy of 'balance' between health and commercial interests. We analyse how health proponents navigated this challenging institutional arrangement and the various barriers they faced in achieving the intended health objectives. We draw from this case to discuss the lessons that can inform broad calls for WG to NCDs.

Conventional wisdom, or “the generally accepted belief, opinion, judgment, or prediction about a particular matter” (“Conventional wisdom,” Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online), is one shortcut to un...

Much of the conventional wisdom about the political economy of foreign direct investment suggests that many developing country governments lower regulatory and/or legislative standards in order to woo potential investors. Using the case of the tobacco industry's efforts to influence excise tax policy reforms in the Philippines, we find a much more complex reality. Over a period of more than 15 years of concerted efforts and significant financial investment, a large multinational tobacco firm was consistently unable to realize its tax policy goals with serious, negative implications for the firm. In the most recent major policy confrontation over excise tax reform that led to one of the largest tax increases on tobacco products ever in a developing country, a number of major variables mitigated the powerful firm's influence. These variables included strong support for tax reform from a number of influential political actors and a well-organized civil society movement, which led to broader public support for both public health and fiscal reasons. Global governance around economic policy and the effects of domestic institutional structures also had marked effects on the outcomes.

Why Nations Fail is an accessible book. Its 463 pages are balanced by flowing storytelling and clear argumentation. The political scientist and economist combination of Daron Acemoglu and James Rob...

In 2006, network news seemed to enter a new period of racial and gender diversity: Katie Couric was appointed anchor of the CBS Evening News, NBC’s Ann Curry filled multiple roles, and Martin Bashir anchored ABC’s Nightline. However, although researchers have analyzed representation on specific news programming (such as the evening newscast), talent demographics in the overall news picture have gone unexamined. This study involves a content analysis of all network news programs from a sample week in 2007, comparing results with similar data gathered in 1987. It finds in the 20-year period, networks have become more diverse, with women and minorities (men and women) anchoring and reporting on a regular basis across the news spectrum. At the same time, networks demonstrate a shift in news covered, with a move to what some have dubbed increased commercialization, or “soft” news. The study argues these findings indicate that our definition of news might be changing from the traditional hard/soft divide.

At global fora which discuss the regulation of international migration the Philippine government is typically hailed a “good practice example” for its institutional as well as legal framework and proactive interest in the welfare of its citizens. The Philippine history of migration policy making is indeed shaped by a shift from “exporting workers” to an increasingly comprehensive rights-sensitive approach that addresses most aspects of migration: the regulation of recruitment agencies, pre-migration training, insurance systems, overseas voting rights, consular services, social rights of the left behind, and re-integration of returned migrants. This state of affairs, however, has not always been like that and is largely the result of activism by the vibrant migrant rights movement in the Philippines which reaches across the world. The case of the Philippine also shows mixed approaches to government-social movement relations, characterized by both pressure politics and critical engagement. Considerable gaps and loopholes remain in this web of rights-based policy aspects. Structural weaknesses are major problems that need to be addressed if labor migration is to evolve into a truly choice-driven economic decision. Still, comparatively and historically speaking, the Philippines have come a long way. The combined effects of leadership from below and leadership from above had led to some concrete results – even if far from perfect – in the betterment of many migrants’ lives.

For more than two decades, public health scholars and proponents have demonstrated concern about the negative effects of trade liberalisation on tobacco control policies. However, there is little theoretically-guided, empirical research across time and space that evaluates this relationship. Accordingly, we use one major region that has experienced rapid and significant recent liberalisation, Southeast Asia, and examine key tobacco control-relevant outcomes between 1999 and 2012. While we find a modest increase in regional trade in tobacco products in some countries, the effects on tobacco affordability and consumption are very mixed with no clear link to liberalisation. We argue that widespread penetration of the region by transnational tobacco firms is likely mitigating the effects of trade liberalisation. Notably, tobacco control policies have also generally improved across the region, part of which is likely the result of successful regional and global efforts by civil society, governments and intergovernmental organisations. The results suggest that scholars and public health proponents should move the focus away from narrow economic aspects of liberalisation toward specific issues that are more likely to affect tobacco control, such as intellectual property rights protections and investor–state dispute settlement.

Relative abundances of the five stable isotopes of titanium (^46Ti to ^50Ti) are measured for 11 M dwarfs belonging to the thin disk (four stars), thick disk (three stars), the halo (one star), and either the thick or the thin disk (three stars). Over the metallicity range of the sample (-1, Comment: 33 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has made strides in regional integration and cooperation, aided by unique modes of governance privileging consensus and non-interference. However, the social dimension is in the early stages of development and is currently detached from economic integration initiatives. The movement of low- and unskilled workers, many of whom are undocumented, has received especially little attention in ASEAN. Their growing numbers underscore the importance of treating migration as integral rather than separate from labour and general social protection issues. The establishment of regional agreements on social protection and integration, with particular focus on migration and labour standards, should signal the recognition of the economic nature of migration, and help strengthen the relevance and profile of ASEAN among the citizens of member countries. While existing mechanisms can be used to push for this — from Track II discussions to regional coalition building — the political challenge lies in making the issue an active concern in official ASEAN agenda.