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Social media posts that portray vaping in positive social contexts shape people's perceptions and serve to normalize vaping. Despite restrictions on depicting or promoting controlled substances, vape-related content is easily accessible on TikTok. There is a need to understand strategies used in promoting vaping on TikTok, especially among susceptible youth audiences. This study seeks to comprehensively describe direct (ie, explicit promotional efforts) and indirect (ie, subtler strategies) themes promoting vaping on TikTok using a mixture of computational and qualitative thematic analyses of social media posts. In addition, we aim to describe how these themes might play a role in normalizing vaping behavior on TikTok for youth audiences, thereby informing public health communication and regulatory policies regarding vaping endorsements on TikTok. We collected 14,002 unique TikTok posts using 50 vape-related hashtags (eg, #vapetok and #boxmod). Using the k-means unsupervised machine learning algorithm, we identified clusters and then categorized posts qualitatively based on themes. Next, we organized all videos from the posts thematically and extracted the visual features of each theme using 3 machine learning-based model architectures: residual network (ResNet) with 50 layers (ResNet50), Visual Geometry Group model with 16 layers, and vision transformer. We chose the best-performing model, ResNet50, to thoroughly analyze the image clustering output. To assess clustering accuracy, we examined 4.01% (441/10,990) of the samples from each video cluster. Finally, we randomly selected 50 videos (5% of the total videos) from each theme, which were qualitatively coded and compared with the machine-derived classification for validation. We successfully identified 5 major themes from the TikTok posts. Vape product marketing (1160/10,990, 8.28%) reflected direct marketing, while the other 4 themes reflected indirect marketing: TikTok influencer (3775/14,002, 26.96%), general vape (2741/14,002, 19.58%), vape brands (2042/14,002, 14.58%), and vaping cessation (1272/14,002, 9.08%). The ResNet50 model successfully classified clusters based on image features, achieving an average F -score of 0.97, the highest among the 3 models. Qualitative content analyses indicated that vaping was depicted as a normal, routine part of daily life, with TikTok influencers subtly incorporating vaping into popular culture (eg, gaming, skateboarding, and tattooing) and social practices (eg, shopping sprees, driving, and grocery shopping). The results from both computational and qualitative analyses of text and visual data reveal that vaping is normalized on TikTok. Our identified themes underscore how everyday conversations, promotional content, and the influence of popular figures collectively contribute to depicting vaping as a normal and accepted aspect of daily life on TikTok. Our study provides valuable insights for regulatory policies and public health initiatives aimed at tackling the normalization of vaping on social media platforms.

We aimed to determine (1) the most commonly used brands of electronic vaping products (EVPs) by young adults in Texas during Spring 2023, and (2) if brand preferences differ by sociodemographic characteristics, current cigarette smoking, and current cannabis vaping. Participants were 2,491 18-25-year-olds (Mean age = 20.6; 62.9% female; 29.7% sexual gender minority; 35.9% non-Hispanic White, 45.0% Hispanic/Latino, 3.5% non-Hispanic Black, 11.6% non-Hispanic Asian, and 4.0% two or more races or another race/ethnicity) enrolled in 21 Texas colleges during February-March 2023 who used EVPs in the past 30-days. Esco Bar was the most popular EVP brand (32.5%), followed by Elf Bar (19%), Vuse (10.1%), and all other brands were used by < 10% of participants. Nearly 20% of participants reported not having a usual brand. Participants who used Esco Bar, Elf Bar, and Puff Bar were younger (i.e., 18-20 years old), female, and Hispanic/Latino. Vuse, JUUL, and Smok were used by participants who were older (i.e., 21-25 years old), male, non-Hispanic white, used EVPs daily, and currently smoked cigarettes. The present study extends prior research by providing contemporary data on young adult EVP brand preferences in Texas during Spring 2023. Many of the brands commonly used by young adults (e.g., Esco Bar, Elf Bar) are not currently authorized for marketing or sale by the Food and Drug Administration. Findings underscore a need for additional enforcement efforts that prohibit the distribution and sale of these products to, in turn, prevent EVP use among young adults.

Abstract Background Breast cancer (BC) characteristics and outcomes in Canada related to race/ethnicity are not currently documented. Methods Age-specific and age-standardized BC incidence and mortality rates, age distribution of cases, proportions of stage, and molecular subtypes were calculated for women aged 20+, by race/ethnicity, using 2006 and 2011 Canadian Census Health and Environment Cohort databases of linked census, cancer, and death data. Results In 47 105 BC cases, age-specific incidence rates were higher in Filipina (rate ratio (RR) = 1.27, 95%CI, 1.11-1.46) and multiethnicity (RR = 1.57, 95% CI, 1.18-2.08) compared to White women aged 40-49; and Filipina (RR = 1.16, 95% CI, 1.02-1.31) and Arab (RR = 1.3, 95% CI, 1.02-1.65) women aged 50-59. Median age at diagnosis was 63 among White women and 52-60 among other race/ethnicity groups, with 22.4%-41.1% of cases (P < .001) diagnosed before age 50 compared to 16.6% among White women. BC was diagnosed at stage I less frequently among Filipina (38.6%), Black (39.2%), South Asian (40.6%), and First Nations (40.7%) compared to White (46.5%) and Chinese (49.6%) (P < .05) women. Black women had higher proportions of BC diagnoses at stages III and IV combined (26.3%) than White women (17.0%, P = .001). The proportion of triple-negative BC among Black women (20.5%) was higher than among White (9.5%, P < .001). Compared to White, age-specific BC mortality rates were higher among Black women aged 40-49 (RR = 1.4, 1.06-1.85) as well as First Nations (RR = 1.21, 1.01-1.45) and Métis (RR = 1.48, 1.15-1.91) women aged 60-69. Interpretation Compared to White women, other Canadian women had an earlier peak age of BC diagnosis and higher proportions of cases diagnosed under age 50. Although many race/ethnicity groups had lower BC incidence and mortality than White, the higher age-specific BC mortality among Black 40-49 and First Nations and Métis women 60-69 merits further investigation. This article focuses on whether breast cancer characteristics and outcomes differ by race and ethnicity in Canada.

The present study examined (1) intraindividual changes in the frequency of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) use across young adulthood, 18 to 30 years old, and (2) if depressive symptoms and sensation-seeking tendencies, independently and in interaction with one another, were associated with these changes. Data were from a longitudinal study of students recruited from 24 Texas colleges and followed across six waves from fall 2015 to spring 2019. Participants (n = 1298; 36.3% non-Hispanic white, 56.3% women) were 18 to 26 years old in fall 2015 and all reported past 30-day ENDS use on at least one wave. We used growth curve modeling for an accelerated longitudinal design to examine if ENDS use frequency changed with increasing age and if depressive symptoms and sensation seeking, independently and in interaction with one another, were associated with these changes. Results showed that ENDS use frequency increased with increasing age. Depressive symptoms and sensation seeking were not independently associated with more frequent ENDS use or an accelerated increase in ENDS use frequency across increasing age. However, a significant two-way interaction indicated that young adults with elevated depressive symptoms used ENDS more frequently, but only when they had higher levels of sensation seeking. Findings indicate that young adults with depressive symptoms are a heterogeneous population and that those with high levels of sensation-seeking tendencies are at elevated risk for more frequent ENDS use. Interventions for young adults high in both sensation-seeking and depressive symptoms may help prevent and decrease ENDS use.

Whilst public health measures were effective in reducing COVID-19 transmission, unintended negative consequences may have occurred. This study aims to assess changes alcohol consumption and the heavy episodic drinking (HED) during the pandemic. Data were from the Optimise Study, a longitudinal cohort of Australian adults September 2020-August 2022 that over-sampled priority populations at higher risk of contracting COVID-19, developing severe COVID-19 or experiencing adverse consequences of lockdowns. Frequency of alcohol consumption (mean number of days per week) and past-week HED were self-reported. Generalised linear models estimated the association between time and (1) the frequency of alcohol consumption and (2) heavy episodic drinking. Data from 688 participants (mean age: 44.7 years, SD:17.0; 72.7% female) and 10,957 surveys were included. Mean days of alcohol consumption per week decreased from 1.92 (SD: 1.92) in 2020 to 1.54 (SD:1.94) in 2022. The proportion of participants reporting HED decreased from 25.4% in 2020 to 13.1% in 2022. During two lockdown periods, known as \"lockdown five\", (OR:0.65, 95%CI [0.47,0.90]) and \"lockdown six\" (OR:0.76, 95%CI [0.67,0.87]), participants were less likely to report HED. Participants alcohol drinking frequency and HED decreased during the pandemic. This study provides a strong description of alcohol consumption during the pandemic and suggests that lockdowns did not have the unintended consequences of increased alcohol consumption.

The ability to learn through imitation is thought to be the basis of cultural transmission and was long considered a distinctive characteristic of humans. There is now evidence that both mammals and birds are capable of imitation. However, nothing is known about these abilities in the third amniotic class—reptiles. Here, we use a bidirectional control procedure to show that a reptile species, the bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps), is capable of social learning that cannot be explained by simple mechanisms such as local enhancement or goal emulation. Subjects in the experimental group opened a trap door to the side that had been demonstrated, while subjects in the ghost control group, who observed the door move without the intervention of a conspecific, were unsuccessful. This, together with differences in behaviour between experimental and control groups, provides compelling evidence that reptiles possess cognitive abilities that are comparable to those observed in mammals and birds and suggests that learning by imitation is likely to be based on ancient mechanisms.

Inhibitory control, the ability to suppress an automatic response in favour of a contextually appropriate alternative, is crucial for adaptive behaviour across animal species. While extensively studied in mammals and birds, research on reptiles remains limited, with comparisons hindered by methodological inconsistencies. Here, we assessed inhibitory control in two reptile species, Hermann’s tortoise ( Testudo hermanni ) and the bearded dragon ( Pogona vitticeps ), using the transparent cylinder test—a method widely employed with mammals, birds, and fish. This test evaluates the ability to inhibit reaching directly for visible food through a transparent barrier. Both species exhibited lower inhibitory control than most amniotes, supporting the prevalent hypothesis linking inhibitory capacity to brain size. However, exceptions observed in various species suggest ecological and non-cognitive factors also shape these abilities. Notably, bearded dragons outperformed tortoises, despite their smaller size. In tortoises, females surpassed males, highlighting sex-based inhibitory differences in non-avian reptiles. Additionally, a positive correlation between lateralization and inhibitory control was observed in both species, providing the first evidence of such a link in reptiles. These findings emphasize the role of lateralization in reptilian cognition and suggest that inhibitory control across vertebrates is influenced by diverse factors, including brain size, ecology, and sex.

There are numerous ways in which plants can influence the composition of soil communities. However, it remains unclear whether information on plant community attributes, including taxonomic, phylogenetic, or trait-based composition, can be used to predict the structure of soil communities. We tested, in both monocultures and field-grown mixed temperate grassland communities, whether plant attributes predict soil communities including taxonomic groups from across the tree of life (fungi, bacteria, protists, and metazoa). The composition of all soil community groups was affected by plant species identity, both in monocultures and in mixed communities. Moreover, plant community composition predicted additional variation in soil community composition beyond what could be predicted from soil abiotic characteristics. In addition, analysis of the field aboveground plant community composition and the composition of plant roots suggests that plant community attributes are better predictors of soil communities than root distributions. However, neither plant phylogeny nor plant traits were strong predictors of soil communities in either experiment. Our results demonstrate that grassland plant species form specific associations with soil community members and that information on plant species distributions can improve predictions of soil community composition. These results indicate that specific associations between plant species and complex soil communities are key determinants of biodiversity patterns in grassland soils.

To examine the relationship between current cigarette smoking patterns and three established risk factors for suicide using nationally representative data of high school students in the United States. We analyzed cross-sectional data from the national Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (YRBSS)-United States, 2017. Multivariable, logistic regressions examined the association between 3 cigarette smoking behaviors [i.e., past 30-day cigarette (n = 13,731), frequent (n = 1,093) and heavy (n = 880) smoking] and 3 risk factors for suicidal outcomes [feeling sad or hopeless, suicidal ideation, suicide plan] assessed over the previous year. Among high school cigarette smokers, smoking 11 or more cigarettes per day (i.e., heavy smoking) was associated with 3.43 (95% CI: 1.69, 6.94) greater odds of reporting feeling sad or hopeless, 2.97 (95% CI: 1.60, 5.51) greater odds of reporting suicidal ideations, and 2.11 (95% CI: 1.34, 3.32) greater odds of reporting having ever planned a suicide attempt, controlling for covariates. Our study shows that it is not simply cigarette smoking, but heavy cigarette smoking that is a risk factor for suicidal outcomes among adolescents. A comprehensive plan is needed to accommodate heavy adolescent smokers who are at increased suicidal risk.

Introduction Hispanic immigrants are more likely to breastfeed than are Hispanics born in the US, in part due to their acculturation. This paper aims to systematically review the existing literature on the association between acculturation and Hispanics’ breastfeeding behaviors. Methods The systematic search used major databases such as Medline and PubMed, and it followed the PRISMA checklist. The scientific quality of the studies was rated using the Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies. Results We identified 1943 potential citations, of which 18 studies met the eligibility criteria. Overall, while 13 studies suggested that high-acculturated Hispanics were less likely to breastfeed compared with low-acculturated, five studies did not find significant evidence of such an association. Moreover, 12 studies used a static measure or a linear scale, which is not optimal; only three studies utilized bi/multidimensional scales to assess acculturation. Intention to breastfeed was examined in six studies, but the results were inconsistent. Breastfeeding initiation was examined in 11 studies, and two out of eight studies that examined breastfeeding duration, specifically analyzed exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months. Discussion Our results agree with the general hypothesis that higher acculturation is inversely related to breastfeeding rates, independently of income. Researchers used different methodologies to study acculturation and breastfeeding practices, limiting our ability to reach more detailed conclusions. Owing to the lack of a standard methodology for measuring acculturation, future studies should utilize bi/multidimensional scales when studying breastfeeding, in particular, in relation to breastfeeding intention and exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months; preferably according to Hispanic subgroups.