Retail price and point of sale display of tobacco in the UK: a descriptive study of small retailers

Background

Since the implementation of the 2002 Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act, point-of-sale (PoS) tobacco displays are one of few remaining means of communication between the tobacco industry and customers in the UK. This study aimed to explore the characteristics of tobacco displays in a UK city, and particularly to assess the tobacco prices and promotional offers, types and pack sizes on display.

Methods

Digital pictures of PoS displays were taken in 117 small retail shops in Nottingham in mid 2010. Data were analysed using Windows Photo Gallery software and SPSS version 16.

Results

Just over half (52%) of cigarette packs on display were packs of 20, and 43% packs of 10. Cigarette prices differed substantially between brands, ranging from £4.19 to £6.85 for 20-packs, and from £2.12 to £3.59 for 10-packs. Forty four percent of cigarette packs and 40% of RYO (Roll-Your-Own) tobacco pouches, almost exclusively lower priced brands, were displayed with a pricemark, implying a promotional price offer. Eighty percent of 20-pack cigarette brand or brand variants on sale were priced below the EU-defined Most Popular Price Category (MPPC) for the UK in 2010; 45% were priced below the Weighted Average Price (WAP), which replaced the MPPC in 2011.

Conclusion

PoS displays communicate value by displaying a high proportion of lower cost brands, and smaller and hence lower-cost packs, and by displaying price discounts on packs. The MPPC substantially overestimated the prices at which most 20-cigarette packs were available. Removal of PoS displays will prevent this means of price marketing but our study also suggests that minimum pricing of 20-pack cigarettes, prohibition of sale of cigarettes in packs less than 20, and plain packaging to prevent pricemarking are necessary if price is to be used effectively as a tobacco control measure.     

A Continuous Culture System for Assessing Microbial Activities in the Piezosphere

Continuous culture under elevated pressures is an important technique for expanding the exploration of microbial growth and survival in extreme environments associated with the deep biosphere. Here we present a benchtop stirred continuous culture bioreactor capable of withstanding temperatures ranging from 25 to 120°C and pressures as high as 69 MPa. The system is configured to allow the employment of media enriched in dissolved gases, under oxic or anoxic conditions, while permitting periodic sampling of the incubated organisms with minimal physical/chemical disturbance inside the reactor. In a pilot experiment, the fermentative growth of the thermopiezophilic bacterium Marinitoga piezophila was investigated continuously for 382 h at 65°C and at pressures ranging from 0.1 to 40 MPa while the medium flow rate was varied from 2 to 0.025 ml/min. The enhanced growth observed at 30 and 40 MPa and 0.025 ml/min supports the pressure preferences of M. piezophila when grown fermentatively. This assay successfully demonstrates the capabilities of the bioreactor for continuous culturing at a variety of dilution rates, pressures, and temperatures. We anticipate that this technology will accelerate our understanding of the physiological and metabolic status of microorganisms under temperature, pressure, and energy regimes resembling those of the Earth''s piezosphere.     

The effect of O2 and pressure on thiosulfate oxidation by Thiomicrospira thermophila

Microbial sulfur cycling in marine sediments often occurs in environments characterized by transient chemical gradients that affect both the availability of nutrients and the activity of microbes. High turnover rates of intermediate valence sulfur compounds and the intermittent availability of oxygen in these systems greatly impact the activity of sulfur‐oxidizing micro‐organisms in particular. In this study, the thiosulfate‐oxidizing hydrothermal vent bacterium Thiomicrospira thermophila strain EPR85 was grown in continuous culture at a range of dissolved oxygen concentrations (0.04–1.9 mM) and high pressure (5–10 MPa) in medium buffered at pH 8. Thiosulfate oxidation under these conditions produced tetrathionate, sulfate, and elemental sulfur, in contrast to previous closed‐system experiments at ambient pressure during which thiosulfate was quantitatively oxidized to sulfate. The maximum observed specific growth rate at 5 MPa pressure under unlimited O₂ was 0.25 hr^?1. This is comparable to the μ_max (0.28 hr^?1) observed at low pH (<6) at ambient pressure when T. thermophila produces the same mix of sulfur species. The half‐saturation constant for O₂ () estimated from this study was 0.2 mM (at a cell density of 10⁵ cells/ml) and was robust at all pressures tested (0.4–10 MPa), consistent with piezotolerant behavior of this strain. The cell‐specific was determined to be 1.5 pmol O₂/cell. The concentrations of products formed were correlated with oxygen availability, with tetrathionate production in excess of sulfate production at all pressure conditions tested. This study provides evidence for transient sulfur storage during times when substrate concentration exceeds cell‐specific and subsequent consumption when oxygen dropped below that threshold. These results may be common among sulfur oxidizers in a variety of environments (e.g., deep marine sediments to photosynthetic microbial mats).     

A new reconstruction of Sts 14 pelvis (Australopithecus africanus) from computed tomography and three-dimensional modeling techniques

The purpose of this study is to propose a new reconstruction of the australopithecine Sts 14 pelvis from original fossils. Digital models created from CT images allow us to perform mirroring operations, select valid regions after digital interposition, and reassemble parts. The key-element of the reconstruction is the sacroiliac joint, restored from right and left articular surfaces, which places of the pubic symphysis close to the sagittal plane. The complete pelvis is obtained by 3D model mirroring of hip-bone and sacrum. The present reconstruction of the Sts 14 pelvis is consistent with Schmid's (1983) [Folia Primatol. 40, 283-306, 1983] and Häusler and Schmid's A.L. 288-1 [J. Hum. Evol. 29, 363-383, 1995] pelvic reconstructions by illustrating a relatively platypelloid shape of the pelvic cavity and laterally inclined iliac blades. The pelvic morphology suggests that australopithecines had a less posteriorly tilted sacrum in erect posture than modern humans. As compared with Lovejoy's [Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. Suppl. 50, 460, 1979] A.L. 288-1 pelvic reconstruction, the less transversely flattened shape of the Sts 14 pelvic cavity led to obstetrical mechanics characterized as in humans by ante-ischiatic birth and a curved trajectory. We deduce a human-like movement of rotation and flexion of the fetal skull in the Sts 14 pelvic cavity.