Beliefs about gender differences in methods and causes of suicide.

Forty undergraduate students (20 males, 20 females) made judgments about the relationship between an individual's gender and the method of suicide most likely to be chosen by that individual. The perceived relationship between different precipitating events for suicide and the method of suicide were also examined, as were the participants' judgments about the moral justification of suicide in response to different traumatic situations. The results indicated clear and consistent beliefs about the relationship between the gender of the potential suicide victim, the method of suicide likely to be chosen, and whether or not the cause of the suicide was judged harshly or sympathetically. Understanding how the gender of an at-risk individual interacts with an observer's beliefs and moral perspective should help us predict when suicide threats will be taken seriously and what form of intervention will take place.

Little Cigars are More Toxic than Cigarettes and Uniquely Change the Airway Gene and Protein Expression.

Little cigars (LCs) are regulated differently than cigarettes, allowing them to be potentially targeted at youth/young adults. We exposed human bronchial epithelial cultures (HBECs) to air or whole tobacco smoke from cigarettes vs. LCs. Chronic smoke exposure increased the number of dead cells, lactate dehydrogenase release, and interleukin-8 (IL-8) secretion and decreased apical cilia, cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein levels, and transepithelial resistance. These adverse effects were significantly greater in LC-exposed HBECs than cigarette exposed cultures. LC-exposure also elicited unique gene expression changes and altered the proteomic profiles of airway apical secretions compared to cigarette-exposed HBECs. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis indicated that LCs produced more chemicals than cigarettes, suggesting that the increased chemical load of LCs may be the cause of the greater toxicity. This is the first study of the biological effects of LCs on pulmonary epithelia and our observations strongly suggest that LCs pose a more severe danger to human health than cigarettes.