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The smoking attitudes and behavior of two samples of British 15‐year‐olds (N = 278) were studied by questionnaire. “Smokers” (anyone who had smoked at all within the previous week) held less negative attitudes about smoking, were more likely to have a father who smoked, and anticipated less parental disapproval of their smoking. When asked to name their five best friends among their classmates, smokers were more likely to name other smokers than were nonsmokers. On the basis of these results, we argue that the notion of “peer group influence” should be reconceptualized in terms of intergroup processes and social identity concerns within the peer group.

Failure to successfully implement and sustain change over the long term continues to be a major problem in health and social care. Translating evidence into routine clinical practice is notoriously complex, and it is recognised that to implement new evidence-based interventions and sustain them over time, professional behaviour needs to change accordingly. A number of theories and frameworks have been developed to support behaviour change among health and social care professionals, and models of sustainability are emerging, but few have translated into valid and reliable interventions. The long-term success of healthcare professional behavioural change interventions is variable, and the characteristics of successful interventions unclear. Previous reviews have synthesised the evidence for behaviour change, but none have focused on sustainability. In addition, multiple overlapping reviews have reported inconsistent results, which do not aid translation of evidence into practice. Overviews of reviews can provide accessible succinct summaries of evidence and address barriers to evidence-based practice. We aim to compile an overview of reviews, identifying, appraising and synthesising evidence relating to sustained social and healthcare professional behaviour change.We will conduct a systematic review of Cochrane reviews (an Overview). We plan to systematically search the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. We will include all systematic reviews of randomised controlled trials comparing a healthcare professional targeted behaviour change intervention to a standard care or no intervention control group. Two reviewers will independently assess the eligibility of the reviews and the methodological quality of included reviews using the ROBIS tool. The quality of evidence within each comparison in each review will be judged based on the GRADE criteria. Disagreements will be resolved through discussion. Effects of interventions will be systematically tabulated and the quality of evidence used to determine implications for clinical practice and make recommendations for future research.This overview will bring together the best available evidence relating to the sustainability of health professional behaviour change, thus supporting policy makers with decision-making in this field.

The effects of the charged ion species 4He, 12C and 20Ne on glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) T98G, U87 and LN18 cell lines were compared with the effects of 200 kVp X-rays (1.7 keV/μm). These cell lines have different genetic profiles. Individual GBM relative biological effectiveness (RBE) was estimated in two ways: the RBE10 at 10% survival fraction and the RBE2Gy after 2 Gy doses. The linear quadratic model radiosensitivity parameters α and β and the α/β ratio of each ion type were determined as a function of LET. Mono-energetic 4He, 12C and 20Ne ions were generated by the Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences in Chiba, Japan. Colony-formation assays were used to evaluate the survival fractions. The LET of the various ions used ranged from 2.3 to 100 keV/μm (covering the depth-dose plateau region to clinically relevant LET at the Bragg peak). For U87 and LN18, the RBE10 increased with LET and peaked at 85 keV/μm, whereas T98G peaked at 100 keV/μm. All three GBM α parameters peaked at 100 keV/μm. There is a statistically significant difference between the three GBM RBE10 values, except at 100 keV/μm (P < 0.01), and a statistically significant difference between the α values of the GBM cell lines, except at 85 and 100 keV/μm. The biological response varied depending on the GBM cell lines and on the ions used.

Concurrent drinking and gambling is prevalent among young adults and may increase negative consequences associated with each behavior. The effects of alcohol, initial gambling outcomes, gambling-related cognitions, and impulsivity on gambling behavior were evaluated. Initial gambling outcomes, gambling-related cognitions, and impulsivity were also assessed as potential moderators of the relation between alcohol and gambling behavior. Participants (N = 130) were randomly assigned to receive active placebo or alcohol (0.84 g/kg and 0.76 g/kg for men and women, respectively) and were invited to wager on a simulated slot machine programmed to produce 1 of 3 initial outcomes (win, breakeven, or loss) before beginning a progressive loss schedule. Alcohol consumption was associated with larger average bets and more rapid loss of all available funds, though no evidence was found for predicted main effects and interactions for gambling persistence. The effect of impulsivity was moderated by beverage condition, such that higher levels of impulsivity were associated with larger average bets for participants in the placebo but not the alcohol group. Results have direct implications for individual-focused and public-health interventions.

Commentary to: Which cost of alcohol? What should we compare it against?

Food provides energy and nutrients, but its acquisition requires energy expenditure. In post-hunter-gatherer societies, extra-somatic energy has greatly expanded and intensified the catching, gathering, and production of food. Modern relations between energy, food, and health are very complex, raising serious, high-level policy challenges. Together with persistent widespread under-nutrition, over-nutrition (and sedentarism) is causing obesity and associated serious health consequences. Worldwide, agricultural activity, especially livestock production, accounts for about a fifth of total greenhouse-gas emissions, thus contributing to climate change and its adverse health consequences, including the threat to food yields in many regions. Particular policy attention should be paid to the health risks posed by the rapid worldwide growth in meat consumption, both by exacerbating climate change and by directly contributing to certain diseases. To prevent increased greenhouse-gas emissions from this production sector, both the average worldwide consumption level of animal products and the intensity of emissions from livestock production must be reduced. An international contraction and convergence strategy offers a feasible route to such a goal. The current global average meat consumption is 100 g per person per day, with about a ten-fold variation between high-consuming and low-consuming populations. 90 g per day is proposed as a working global target, shared more evenly, with not more than 50 g per day coming from red meat from ruminants (ie, cattle, sheep, goats, and other digastric grazers).

Abstract Aims Buying and consuming no- (per cent alcohol by volume, ABV = 0.0%) and low- (ABV = &gt;0.0% and ≤ 3.5%) alcohol beers could reduce alcohol consumption but only if they replace buying and drinking higher-strength beers. We assess whether buying new no- and low-alcohol beers increases or decreases British household purchases of same-branded higher strength beers. Methods Generalized linear models and interrupted time series analyses, using purchase data of 64,280 British households from Kantar Worldpanel’s household shopping panel, 2015–2018. We investigate the extent to which the launch of six new no- and low-alcohol beers affected the likelihood and volume of purchases of same-branded higher-strength beers. Results Households that had never previously bought a same-branded higher-strength beer but bought a new same-branded no- or low-alcohol beer were less than one-third as likely to go on and newly buy the same-branded higher-strength product. When they did later buy the higher-strength product, they bought half as much volume as households that had not bought a new same-branded no- or low-alcohol beer. For households that had previously purchased a higher-strength beer, the introduction of the new same-branded no- or low-alcohol beer was associated with decreased purchases of the volume of the higher-strength beer by, on average, one-fifth. Conclusions The increased availability of new no- and low-alcohol beers does not seem to be a gateway to purchasing same-branded higher-strength beers but rather seems to replace purchases of these higher-strength products. Thus, introduction of new no- and low-alcohol beers could contribute to reducing alcohol consumption.