Heated debates on regulations of heated tobacco products in South Korea: the news valence, source and framing of relative risk/benefit.

BACKGROUND: We analyse news representations of the regulation of heated tobacco products (HTPs) in South Korea, the country where HTP use is among the highest in the world despite conflicts between the government and the HTP manufacturers. METHODS: We analysed a total of 571 print and TV news covering HTP regulations, published between 2017 and 2018, the time period when HTPs were introduced to the country and various regulations of HTPs were proposed and implemented. We assessed the prevalence and associations among specific types of HTP regulations that were discussed, valence towards regulation, sources, framing of the relative health risks/benefits of HTPs compared with conventional cigarettes. RESULTS: Taxation (55.2%) and warning labels (25.7%) were two regulation topics covered the most. Almost equal proportions of pro-regulation (2.5%) and anti-regulation valence (2.2%) were found in taxation-related news, while pro-regulation valence appeared more frequently for other restrictions, including warning labels (pro=9.5% vs anti=1.4%), marketing restrictions (pro=6.9% vs anti=0%) and integration of HTPs into smoke-free policies for cigarettes (pro=8.7% vs anti=0%). The government (59%), followed by the tobacco industry (39.4%), was the source cited most often across news stories while the presence of tobacco control advocates was low (4.9%). As for framing, there was no significant difference in the prevalence of stories mentioning reduced harm (31.7%) and equal or more harm (33.6%) of HTPs compared with cigarettes. CONCLUSIONS: We provide implications for governments and tobacco control advocates on building consensus for applying cigarette equivalent taxes and pictorial warning labels to HTPs.

News Media Presentations of Heated Tobacco Products (HTPs): A Content Analysis of Newspaper and Television News Coverage in South Korea.

Our content analysis of newspaper and television news stories in South Korea examines the quantity and nature of news about novel heated tobacco products (HTPs), which heat instead of burn tobacco and that manufacturers claim are less harmful than cigarettes. The amount of news coverage peaked when the government introduced new regulations, suggesting that HTP news was driven largely by new policies. Indeed, HTPs were more likely to be presented as a policy rather than a health issue. When it comes to news sources, government agencies and HTP manufacturers were referenced most often in the news. As for benefits of HTPs, news stories focused on reduced harm, greater social acceptability, and convenience, while discussions of drawbacks included potentially being equally or more harmful than cigarettes, the possibility of extensive future regulations, and HTPs' unknown health effects. Findings suggested that certain journalistic practices, such as relying heavily on established routine sources, focusing on the stories that could attract large audiences, and representing the perspectives of the publishers and the primary audiences, might have affected the nature of HTP discourse.

DIBALH: from known fundamental to an unusual reaction; chemoselective partial reduction of tertiary amides in the presence of esters.

This study presents a quick and reliable approach to the chemoselective partial reduction of tertiary amides to aldehydes in the presence of readily reducible ester groups using commercial DIBALH reagent. Moreover, the developed method was also extended to multi-functional molecules bearing ester moieties, which were successfully chemoselectively reduced to the corresponding aldehydes.

Haemocompatibility evaluation of silica nanomaterials using hemorheological measurements.

Silica nanomaterials (NMs) are widely used in semiconductor, agriculture, cosmetics, and biomedical applications, in addition to other industries. We investigated the toxic effect of silica NMs on rheological characteristics of human red blood cells (RBCs), including hemolysis, deformability, aggregation, and morphological changes. Red blood cells were exposed to silica nanoparticles (d =∼200 nm) or silica nanowires (d =∼200 nm, l = 1µm or 10µm) at a range of concentrations and incubation times. Rheological characteristics were measured using microfluidic-laser diffractometry and aggregometry. Overall, at a concentration greater than 12.5 µg/ml, the hemolytic activity was shown to be in the order of nanoparticles, short nanowires, and long nanowires. Elongation index (EI) values were insignificant in the RBCs exposed to each of the silica NMs at a concentration of 12.5 µg/ml. Aggregation index (AI) values decreased in the short silica nanowires at a concentration of 12.5 µg/ml compared to other silica NMs. Therefore, the safe concentration of silica NMs for toxicity, in this study, was considered less than 12.5 µg/ml. These hemorheological results provided insight into the interaction between RBCs and silica NMs; they will also help assess the risk of NMs' toxicity in the blood.