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BACKGROUND: Past research indicates dual users of tobacco and alcohol find it harder to quit smoking and may be more likely to relapse. This study investigated whether post-quit alcohol use predicted smoking relapse among ex-smokers, and whether this relationship varied by length of smoking abstinence. METHOD: The study included 1064 ex-smokers (18+ years) from Canada (n = 340), US (n = 314), England (n = 261), and Australia (n = 149) who participated in the 2018 and 2020 International Tobacco Control Four Country Smoking and Vaping Survey, and we conducted analyses using multivariable logistic regression. We assessed alcohol consumption in 2018 using AUDIT-C and coded as never/low, moderate or heavy level and used alcohol consumption to predict smoking status in 2020. RESULTS: Overall 26 % and 21 % of ex-smokers consumed alcohol at a moderate and heavy level, respectively. Compared to never/low alcohol consumption, risk of smoking relapse among those who consumed alcohol at a moderate level was significantly lower within the first year of abstinence (OR = 0.34, 95 % CI = 0.14-0.81, p = 0.015) but higher thereafter (OR = 2.44, 95 % CI = 1.13-5.23, p = 0.023). The pattern of results was similar for those who consumed alcohol at a heavy level. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, baseline alcohol consumption of ex-smokers did not predict their smoking relapse risk. As expected, risk differed by smoking abstinence duration. However, the pattern was unexpected among the short-term quitters as the subgroup who drank moderately/heavily had lower relapse risk than their counterparts who never drink or at low level, underscoring the need to replicate this unexpected finding.

AIMS: This study examined whether nontobacco flavors are more commonly used by vapers (e-cigarette users) compared with tobacco flavor, described which flavors are most popular, and tested whether flavors are associated with: vaping satisfaction relative to smoking, level of enjoyment with vaping, reasons for using e-cigarettes, and making an attempt to quit smoking by smokers. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 1603 adults from Canada and the United States who vaped at least weekly, and were either current smokers (concurrent users) or former smokers (exclusive vapers). Respondents were categorized into one of seven flavors they used most in the last month: tobacco, tobacco-menthol, unflavored, or one of the nontobacco flavors: menthol/mint, fruit, candy, or "other" (eg, coffee). RESULTS: Vapers use a wide range of flavors, with 63.1% using a nontobacco flavor. The most common flavor categories were fruit (29.4%) and tobacco (28.7%), followed by mint/menthol (14.4%) and candy (13.5%). Vapers using candy (41.0%, p < .0001) or fruit flavors (26.0%, p = .01) found vaping more satisfying (compared with smoking) than vapers using tobacco flavor (15.5%) and rated vaping as very/extremely enjoyable (fruit: 50.9%; candy: 60.9%) than those using tobacco flavor (39.4%). Among concurrent users, those using fruit (74.6%, p = .04) or candy flavors (81.1%, p = .003) were more likely than tobacco flavor users (63.5%) to vape in order to quit smoking. Flavor category was not associated with the likelihood of a quit attempt (p = .46). Among exclusive vapers, tobacco and nontobacco flavors were popular; however, those using tobacco (99.0%) were more likely than those using candy (72.8%, p = .002) or unflavored (42.5%, p = .005) to vape in order to stay quit. CONCLUSIONS: A majority of regular vapers in Canada and the US use nontobacco flavors. Greater satisfaction and enjoyment with vaping are higher among fruit and candy flavor users. While it does not appear that certain

Contains fulltext : 118139.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access), PURPOSE: The majority of previous studies have observed an increased risk of mucinous ovarian tumors associated with cigarette smoking, but the association with other histological types is unclear. In a large pooled analysis, we examined the risk of epithelial ovarian cancer associated with multiple measures of cigarette smoking with a focus on characterizing risks according to tumor behavior and histology. METHODS: We used data from 21 case-control studies of ovarian cancer (19,066 controls, 11,972 invasive and 2,752 borderline cases). Study-specific odds ratios (OR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) were obtained from logistic regression models and combined into a pooled odds ratio using a random effects model. RESULTS: Current cigarette smoking increased the risk of invasive mucinous (OR = 1.31; 95 % CI: 1.03-1.65) and borderline mucinous ovarian tumors (OR = 1.83; 95 % CI: 1.39-2.41), while former smoking increased the risk of borderline serous ovarian tumors (OR = 1.30; 95 % CI: 1.12-1.50). For these histological types, consistent dose-response associations were observed. No convincing associations between smoking and risk of invasive serous and endometrioid ovarian cancer were observed, while our results provided some evidence of a decreased risk of invasive clear cell ovarian cancer. CONCLUSIONS: Our results revealed marked differences in the risk profiles of histological types of ovarian cancer with regard to cigarette smoking, although the magnitude of the observed associations was modest. Our findings, which may reflect different etiologies of the histological types, add to the fact that ovarian cancer is a heterogeneous disease.

Networks of the biopolymer actin, cross-linked by the compliant protein filamin, form soft gels. They can, however, withstand large shear stresses due to their pronounced nonlinear elastic behavior. The nonlinear elasticity can be controlled by varying the number of cross-links per actin filament. We propose and test a model of rigid filaments decorated by multiple flexible linkers that is in quantitative agreement with experiment. This allows us to estimate loads on individual cross-links, which we find to be less than 10 pN. © 2009 The American Physical Society.