SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL POSTERS ON CIGARETTE ADDICTION

Cigarette, which has 1.1 billion users globally, constitutes an important social health problem in Turkey and in the world and continues to find new addicts day by day. Worldwide, one person dies from smoking-related diseases every 4.5 seconds. In addition, more than 600,000 non-smokers die each year due to passive smoking. Many levels of government and non-governmental organizations carry out various studies and seek new methods to find a solution to this global problem. One of these methods is public service announcements and posters with social content, which are an important mass media tool. Social posters, which transform various persuasion methods into visual codes, are effective in raising awareness in societies with their striking and informative features in the context of health communication. Since posters with social content convey many implicit meanings with the literary and visual indicators they contain, the semiotic method is of great importance in the analysis of these meanings. In this research, samples of anti-smoking posters with social content, in which visual codes are intense, were examined and the connotations of the indicators in these posters were revealed. As a result of the examinations, it has been observed that fear-based persuasion methods are generally used in preventing smoking addiction and creating behavior change. As a result, it has been seen that the examined posters have many deep meanings that are overlooked at first glance. Keywords: Smoking addiction, social posters, social responsibility, semiotic analysis

The Cellular Effects of Nicotine and Tobacco Particulate Matter on Monoamine Transporters

<p>Cigarette smoking causes nearly 6 million deaths worldwide every year (WHO, 2011). Current smoking cessation therapies available to the public are only marginally effective (Jorenby, 2006; Balfour et al., 2000), partly due to our incomplete understanding of the molecular biology of smoking addiction. The majority of studies examining the molecular biology of smoking addiction have focused on nicotine alone. However, there is a growing body of evidence that non-nicotinic components of cigarette smoke contribute to smoking addiction. Nicotine has previously been shown to modulate the function of the monoamine transporters, but studies in the literature are often contradictory and this effect is not completely understood (see Danielson et al., 2011 for review). Furthermore, very few studies have examined the effects of non-nicotinic components of tobacco smoke on the monoamine transporters. This thesis has examined the effects of nicotine and a tobacco extract (TPM) on the dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine transporters (DAT, NET, and SERT). Changes in monoamine transporter function, protein expression, and mRNA expression were measured ex vivo in discrete regions of the rat brain following chronic and acute in vivo nicotine and TPM treatment, and in vitro nicotine and TPM treatment. We found that nicotine and TPM affect monoamine transporter function, in a time- and dose-dependent manner, and that intact whole brain circuitry is required for these effects to be seen. In particular, nicotine (0.35 mg/kg) and TPM (containing 0.35 mg/kg nicotine) significantly decreased DAT function in the NAc at 30 min. This effect did not result in a corresponding decrease in DAT protein expression and was mediated by nicotinic receptors containing β2 subunits. Furthermore, TPM caused some changes in monoamine transporter function and mRNA expression that were not observed with nicotine alone. In functional studies this effect was particularly seen in the striatum of rats treated with nicotine (0.35 mg/kg) or TPM (containing 0.35 mg/kg nicotine). Overall these data demonstrate that nicotine affects monoamine transporter function in a nicotinic receptor-dependent manner, and that nicotine and TPM have different effects on monoamine transporter function and expression. This is the first study to examine the effects of TPM on monoamine transporter function, and supports previous evidence of a contribution of non-nicotinic components of cigarette smoke to neuroadaptations related to smoking. Findings from this study contribute to knowledge on the molecular biology of smoking addiction, which could in future lead to the development of more effective smoking cessation therapies.</p>

The Cellular Effects of Nicotine and Tobacco Particulate Matter on Monoamine Transporters

<p>Cigarette smoking causes nearly 6 million deaths worldwide every year (WHO, 2011). Current smoking cessation therapies available to the public are only marginally effective (Jorenby, 2006; Balfour et al., 2000), partly due to our incomplete understanding of the molecular biology of smoking addiction. The majority of studies examining the molecular biology of smoking addiction have focused on nicotine alone. However, there is a growing body of evidence that non-nicotinic components of cigarette smoke contribute to smoking addiction. Nicotine has previously been shown to modulate the function of the monoamine transporters, but studies in the literature are often contradictory and this effect is not completely understood (see Danielson et al., 2011 for review). Furthermore, very few studies have examined the effects of non-nicotinic components of tobacco smoke on the monoamine transporters. This thesis has examined the effects of nicotine and a tobacco extract (TPM) on the dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine transporters (DAT, NET, and SERT). Changes in monoamine transporter function, protein expression, and mRNA expression were measured ex vivo in discrete regions of the rat brain following chronic and acute in vivo nicotine and TPM treatment, and in vitro nicotine and TPM treatment. We found that nicotine and TPM affect monoamine transporter function, in a time- and dose-dependent manner, and that intact whole brain circuitry is required for these effects to be seen. In particular, nicotine (0.35 mg/kg) and TPM (containing 0.35 mg/kg nicotine) significantly decreased DAT function in the NAc at 30 min. This effect did not result in a corresponding decrease in DAT protein expression and was mediated by nicotinic receptors containing β2 subunits. Furthermore, TPM caused some changes in monoamine transporter function and mRNA expression that were not observed with nicotine alone. In functional studies this effect was particularly seen in the striatum of rats treated with nicotine (0.35 mg/kg) or TPM (containing 0.35 mg/kg nicotine). Overall these data demonstrate that nicotine affects monoamine transporter function in a nicotinic receptor-dependent manner, and that nicotine and TPM have different effects on monoamine transporter function and expression. This is the first study to examine the effects of TPM on monoamine transporter function, and supports previous evidence of a contribution of non-nicotinic components of cigarette smoke to neuroadaptations related to smoking. Findings from this study contribute to knowledge on the molecular biology of smoking addiction, which could in future lead to the development of more effective smoking cessation therapies.</p>

Strict and Comprehensive Tobacco Control Policy is Needed: A Qualitative Study Exploring How People Responding a New Policy of Pictorial Health Warning on Cigarette Package in Indonesia

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the process on how smoker and nonsmoker responses to a Pictorial Health Warning (PHW) which is important for policy improvement. AIM: We aim to explore the nature of the reaction and the extent of impact of the PHW implementation on smoking habit in Indonesia. METHODS: We collected the data among adult aged 18+ years in Sleman District, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, involving 45 informants in in-depth interviews and 22 informants in four Focus Group Discussions, selected using the maximum variation sampling according to smoking status and area of residence. We discussed with respondents about the meaning of the PHWs, how they felt when seeing the PHWs, how those feelings emerged when seeing the PHWs, and the impact of seeing the PHWs. We analyzed the data using the content analysis. RESULTS: PHWs raised the intended negative emotional response, that wearing out over time. However, for smokers, the disease threat in the message was less obvious than to defeat smoking addiction. Smokers tried to manage their risk of illness themselves. Among non-smokers, they were more confident in being non-smokers. Both smokers and non-smokers thought that Government is half-hearted in controlling the smoking problem. Smokers were grateful, but non-smokers were sorry for this. CONCLUSIONS: The application of PHW threatens smokers but does not make them quit smoking because of the fear of defeating cigarette dependence. For non-smokers, they feel more confident to be a smoker-free. Respondents claim the government is not serious about controlling smoking.

Prevalence of Smoking among High School Students in Thimphu, Bhutan

Smoking is common among youths due to the increasing pace of modernization. It is also a major public health problem worldwide, causing preventable deaths and giving socio-economic burdens to society. Despite strict surveillance and the Tobacco Control Act of Bhutan, Bhutanese youths are increasingly found smoking. However, Bhutan has limited studies on smoking, particularly focusing on high school students. Thus, this study determined the prevalence of smoking among high school students of Thimphu, Bhutan. The self-structured questionnaires were distributed to a sample of 357 students determined using the Yamane formula. The result showed that the overall prevalence of smoking was 48.5%. More male students (63.6%) were found smoking than female students (28.3%). Students smoked different forms of tobacco products, such as cigarettes, cigars, hookah, and bidis, but commonly used tobacco product was cigarettes (63.4%). The most cited reasons for smoking were addiction, followed by peer pressure and outlook fashion. The risks of tobacco use are highest among those who start early and continue its use for a long period. Therefore, the early age of smoking initiation underscores the urgent need to intervene and protect high school students from falling prey to smoking addiction.

Opinions of Social Studies Teacher Candidates About Smoking Addiction

The aim of this study is to examine the opinions of social studies teacher candidates about smoking addiction. For the purpose of the study, phenomenological research design, which is one of the designs of qualitative research method, was used. The study group consisted of 20 volunteer teacher candidates (10 male and 10 female) who have been studying at Usak University Faculty of Education in the 2019-2020 academic year and who have been smoking for the last year. Data were collected with a semi-structured interview form. The interview form, which is a data collection tool, was prepared based on the opinions of three experts. 6 open-ended questions were asked to the participants according to expert opinions. The data was analyzed by content analysis.

Disruption of Cigarette Smoking Addiction After Dorsal Striatum Damage

Studies have shown that addictive behavior is associated with many brain regions, such as the insula, globus pallidus, amygdala, nucleus accumbens, and midbrain dopamine system, but only a few studies have explored the role of the dorsal striatum in addictive behavior. In June 2020, we started contacting 608 patients who were hospitalized between January 2017 and December 2019, and we recruited 11 smoking addicts with dorsal striatum damage and 20 controls with brain damage that did not involve the dorsal striatum (the damaged areas included the frontal lobe, temporal lobe, parietal lobe, brain stem, thalamus, internal capsule, and so on). All study participants had brain damage due to acute cerebral infarction. Disruption of smoking addiction was found to be significantly associated with the dorsal striatum (Phi = 0.794770, P = 0.000015). Our findings suggested that patients in the dorsal striatum group were more likely to discontinue smoking than those in the non-dorsal striatum group. The characteristics of this interruption is that smoking can be quit more easily and quickly without recurrence and that the impulse to smoke is reduced. These results suggest that the dorsal striatum is a key area for addiction to smoking.