Economic barriers to prevent the smuggling of health goods in Iran.

INTRODUCTION: In recent years, smuggling of health goods has apparently increased in the country. Despite the preventive and regulatory measures taken to combat this problem, the outcomes seem to be undesirable. This study thus aims to identify and elucidate the role of economic barriers in the prevention of smuggling health goods in Iran. METHOD: We conducted semistructured interviews with 29 purposefully identified key informants in the detection, prevention and control of health goods smuggling in different organisations, between May 2021-January 2022. An inductive data-driven thematic analysis approach was further adopted to identify patterns of meaning, using MAXQDA 2020 software to facilitate data management. RESULTS: We identified four main themes representing the economic barriers to prevent the smuggling of health goods in Iran; Monetary and financial policy, which includes subthemes of financial rules and procedures, market regulation, economic incentives and imbalanced development; Behavioural patterns, consisting of consumer behaviour, the opportunism of smugglers, the behaviour of statesmen and politicians; Economic diplomacy, categorised into international relations and interactions, relations and interactions in the national arena, interaction with non-governmental organisations and Health economic monitoring and evaluation including transparency of statistics and economic information and supervision. CONCLUSION: Smuggling health goods has become a concerning challenge in the health sector. It is, therefore, imperative to develop and implement appropriate policies and operations towards security and international cooperation, lobbying and coalition-building. Demonopolisation, creating competitive and dynamic markets, removal of rent-seeking layers at all levels, and the use of commercial diplomacy to reduce the burden of smuggling in the health sector of Iran, and perhaps beyond might be of sizeable use to combat such challenge.

Are Dutch adults equally susceptible to nudging and pricing strategies? Secondary analyses of the Supreme Nudge parallel cluster-randomised controlled supermarket trial.

BACKGROUND: Supermarket interventions are promising to promote healthier dietary patterns, but not all individuals may be equally susceptible. We explored whether the effectiveness of nudging and pricing strategies on diet quality differs by psychological and grocery shopping characteristics. METHODS: We used data of the 12-month Supreme Nudge parallel cluster-randomised controlled supermarket trial, testing nudging and pricing strategies to promote healthier diets. Participants were Dutch speaking adults aged 30-80 years and regular shoppers of participating supermarkets (n = 12) in socially disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Data on psychological characteristics (food-related behaviours; price sensitivity; food decision styles; social cognitive factors; self-control) and grocery shopping characteristics (time spent in the supermarket; moment of the day; average supermarket visits; shopping at other retailers; supermarket proximity) were self-reported at baseline. These characteristics were tested for their moderating effects of the intervention on diet quality (scored 0-150) in linear mixed models. RESULTS: We included 162 participants from intervention supermarkets and 199 from control supermarkets (73% female, 58 (± 10.8) years old, 42% highly educated). The interventions had no overall effect on diet quality. Only five out of 23 potential moderators were statistically significant. Yet, stratified analyses of these significant moderators showed no significant effects on diet quality for one of the subgroups and statistically non-significant negative effects for the other. Negative effects were suggested for individuals with lower baseline levels of meal planning (ß - 2.6, 95% CI - 5.9; 0.8), healthy shopping convenience (ß - 3.0, 95% CI - 7.2; 1.3), and healthy food attractiveness (ß - 3.5, 95% CI - 8.3; 1.3), and with higher levels of price consciousness (ß - 2.6, 95% CI - 6.2; 1.0) and weekly supermarket visits (ß - 2.4, 95% CI - 6.8; 1.9). CONCLUSIONS: Adults with varying psychological and grocery shopping characteristics largely seem equally (un)susceptible to nudging and pricing strategies. It might be that certain characteristics lead to adverse effects, but this is not plausible, and the observed negative effects were small and statistically non-significant and may be explained by chance findings. Verification of these findings is needed in real-world trials based on larger sample sizes and with the use of more comprehensive interventions. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Dutch Trial Register ID NL7064, 30th of May, 2018, https://onderzoekmetmensen.nl/en/trial/20990.

Consumption of antibiotics in Brazil - an analysis of sales data between 2014 and 2019.

BACKGROUND: Antibiotic consumption is a driver for the increase of antimicrobial resistance. The objective of this study is to analyze variations in antibiotic consumption and its appropriate use in Brazil from 2014 to 2019. METHODS: We conducted a time series study using the surveillance information system database (SNGPC) from the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency. Antimicrobials sold in retail pharmacies were evaluated. All antimicrobials recorded for systemic use identified by the active ingredient were eligible. Compounded products and formulations for topic use (dermatological, gynecological, and eye/ear treatments) were excluded. The number of defined daily doses (DDDs)/1,000 inhabitants/day for each antibiotic was attributed. The number of DDDs per 1,000 inhabitants per day (DDIs) was used as a proxy for consumption. Results were stratified by regions and the average annual percentage change in the whole period studied was estimated. We used the WHO Access, Watch, and Reserve (AWaRe) framework to categorize antimicrobial drugs. RESULTS: An overall increase of 30% in consumption from 2014 to 2019 was observed in all Brazilian regions. Amoxicillin, azithromycin and cephalexin were the antimicrobials more consumed, with the Southeast region responsible for more than 50% of the antibiotic utilization. Among all antimicrobials analyzed 45.0% were classified as watch group in all Brazilian regions. CONCLUSION: We observed a significant increase in antibiotics consumption from 2014 to 2019 in Brazil restricted to the Northeast and Central West regions. Almost half of the antibiotics consumed in Brazil were classified as watch group, highlighting the importance to promote rational use in this country.

Nationwide law enforcement impact on the pet bird trade in China.

Conservation enforcement is a direct strategy to combat illegal wildlife trade in open markets. Yet, its large-scale effectiveness has not been widely assessed due to the lack of extensive market data. Between August 2016 and June 2017, a national coordinated enforcement campaign led by the leading Chinese authority to combat illegal migratory bird trade coincided with the largest-ever pet bird market survey across China by voluntary birdwatchers before and after the enforcement, which served as a unique natural experiment. Across 73 markets from 22 Chinese provinces, the dataset contains 140,723 birds of 346 species from 48 families and recorded a drastic decline in bird abundance traded after enforcement. Notably, species protected under China's Wildlife Protection Law declined significantly, while commercially bred species increased, although responses to enforcement were spatially heterogeneous. Our model showed that the national protection level was the best predictor for the trend of traded species, even after accounting for confounding factors such as regional baseline enforcement pressure and wild native bird populations. However, the widely traded native songbirds were not offered adequate national protection. Future policies should consider the pet bird trade patterns, target key areas of trade, and develop a more systematic market survey design to monitor trade.

Specialist vape store audit reveals poor compliance with new e-cigarette regulations.

AIM: Regulations announced in mid-2023 aimed to reduce youth vaping by curtailing the availability of cheap high-nicotine e-cigarettes (vapes). This study tested compliance with the new regulations for single-use vapes, which came into force on 21 December 2023. METHODS: A 20-year-old "mystery shopper" visited 96% of specialist vape retailers (SVRs) in Wellington, Porirua, Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt (N=74) in January 2024, and observed i) R18 signage, ii) age verification practices, and ii) prices and brands of the cheapest available vaping products. Low-price vapes were purchased and inspected for compliance with new nicotine limits and safety regulations. RESULTS: All but three stores (96%) displayed an R18 sign; however, signage in 29 stores (39%) was suboptimal. Only one store (1.4%) requested age identification (ID) on entry to the R18 premises. In 50% of stores, ID was requested when a purchase was made; however, a third of those retailers proceeded with the sale despite the buyer not providing ID. Single-use vapes remained available for NZ$10 or less in most stores, and reusable starter kits were also widely available for NZ$10-20. Discounted high-nicotine products were sold for as little as NZ$2.50 each. Most low-price products did not comply with the updated regulations. CONCLUSION: Cheap, high-nicotine vaping products remained widely available following the introduction of stricter regulations in December 2023; products for sale included discounted and non-compliant vapes. The majority of SVRs had poor age verification practices. There is an urgent need to clarify rules, increase enforcement efforts and disallow discounting and giveaways of vapes.

Genetic tracing of the illegal trade of the white-bellied pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis) in western Central Africa.

The white-bellied pangolin is subject to intense trafficking, feeding both local and international trade networks. In order to assess its population genetics and trace its domestic trade, we genotyped 562 pangolins from local to large bushmeat markets in western central Africa. We show that the two lineages described from the study region (WCA and Gab) were overlapping in ranges, with limited introgression in southern Cameroon. There was a lack of genetic differentiation across WCA and a significant signature of isolation-by-distance possibly due to unsuspected dispersal capacities involving a Wahlund effect. We detected a c. 74.1-82.5% decline in the effective population size of WCA during the Middle Holocene. Private allele frequency tracing approach indicated up to 600 km sourcing distance by large urban markets from Cameroon, including Equatorial Guinea. The 20 species-specific microsatellite loci provided individual-level genotyping resolution and should be considered as valuable resources for future forensic applications. Because admixture was detected between lineages, we recommend a multi-locus approach for tracing the pangolin trade. The Yaoundé market was the main hub of the trade in the region, and thus should receive specific monitoring to mitigate pangolins' domestic trafficking. Our study also highlighted the weak implementation of CITES regulations at European borders.

Foreign executives, digital transformation, and innovation performance: Evidence from Chinese-listed firms.

This study investigates the effect of foreign executives on firms' innovation performance and the mediation role of digital transformation in Chinese-listed firms from 2011 to 2021. Our findings indicate that the presence of foreign executives in top management teams promotes firms' innovation performance by enhancing digital transformation. Further analyses show that foreign executives contribute significantly to improving firms' radical innovation performance rather than incremental innovation performance. We also examine the moderating effect of negative performance feedback and financing constraints between foreign executives and innovation performance, finding that foreign executives can promote innovation performance particularly in firms with negative performance feedback and weak financing constraints.

Medicines prices in International (Geary-Khamis) Dollar. The comparison between regulated and deregulated markets.

BACKGROUND: Affordability of medicines is key for effective healthcare. Thus, we compared medicine prices using International Dollar (I$), which allows confronting the values of different currencies. Besides, we intended to verify if pharmaceutical market deregulation leads to lower medicines prices. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted the study between December 2019 and September 2022 collecting data from 21 countries. From the preliminary sampling of 30 medicines, we selected 10 brand names (5 Rx and 5 OTC brands) for the analysis. In each country, we collected price information from 3 pharmacies and then converted them to the I$ using the rates published by the International Monetary Fund. RESULTS: There were differences between regulated and deregulated markets in prices presented in I$. For instance, Aspirin C® (10 soluble pills) was on average I$ 5.41 in Finland (regulated market) and I$ 13.25 in Brazil. The most expensive Xarelto® 20 x 28 pills (I$ 538.40) was in Romania, which in the case of other medicines, was in the group of cheaper countries. There was no statistical significance in price comparison between regulated and deregulated markets. In some cases, however, regulated markets offered lower prices of the same medicine than deregulated markets. CONCLUSION: The analysis revealed differences in I$ prices between countries. Pharmaceutical market regulation does not mean higher prices of medicines. There is a need for affordable medicines. Hence, decision-makers should work on the medicines prices and adjust them to the local economies. I$ could be important in creating pharmaceuticals prices, and the conducted study should encourage other researchers to present their results using this currency.

Breaking through the limitation of carbon price forecasting: A novel hybrid model based on secondary decomposition and nonlinear integration.

Carbon trading is one of the pivotal means of carbon emission reduction. Accurate prediction of carbon prices can stabilize the carbon market, mitigate investment risks, and promote green development. In this study, firstly, the IVMD and ICEEMDAN are used to decompose carbon price quadratically; secondly, the Dispersion entropy is used to identify the sequence frequency, and then the SOA-LSSVM model and TCN model are used to predict the high-frequency and low-frequency sequences, respectively; finally, the prediction results are integrated by SOA-GRU. As a result, the hybrid IVMD-ICEEMDAN-SOALSSVM/TCN-SOAGRU model was constructed. This framework consistently performs best under two carbon markets, the CEEX Guangzhou and the EU ETS, compared with 21 comparative models, with MAPEs of 0.42% and 0.83%, respectively. The main contributions are as follows: (1) A novel IVMD-ICEEMDAN secondary decomposition method is proposed, which improves the problem of poorly determining the value of the decomposition modal number K in the traditional VMD method and improves the efficiency of the carbon price sequence decomposition. (2) A hybrid forecasting model of LSSVM and TCN is proposed, effectively capturing the features of different sequences. (3) Optimization for LSSVM and GRU using SOA improves the stability and adaptability of the model. The article provides governments, enterprises, and investors with novel and effective carbon price forecasting tool.

Unraveling the impact of environmental provisions in preferential trade agreements on green total factor energy efficiency.

Environmental provisions in Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) have increased in recent years, however, their impact on green total factor energy efficiency (GTFEE) remains underexplored. Utilizing comprehensive data on countries' engagement with PTAs' environmental provisions, along with environmental legislative information and green trade data, this study employs various quantitative and qualitative research methods to investigate heterogeneity influence, mechanism, nonlinear relationship, and combined effect of PTAs' environmental provisions on GTFEE. The empirical results indicate that: (1) Environmental provisions within PTAs significantly enhance the GTFEE of participating countries, which is more pronounced in North-South PTAs, particularly when these provisions are closely tied to trade issues. (2) Environmental provisions in PTAs improve the GTFEE by promoting environmental legislation, facilitating green goods trade, and fostering cleaner energy structures in participating countries. (3) As the number of PTAs' environmental provisions increases in participating countries, their effect on GTFEE follows a pattern of initial inhibition, followed by promotion, and ultimately insignificance. (4) The combined effect of different types of environmental provisions in PTAs reveals three primary pathways contributing to improved GTFEE: the "environment", the "environment-trade synergy", and the "trade-safeguard synergy".

Attitudes of female market vendors of reproductive age towards use of mobile phones and access to family planning self-care interventions in Northern Uganda: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Mobile phones are potential digital technologies for accessing family planning self-care interventions. However, their utilization could be possible if women of reproductive age have positive attitudes towards the use of this technology for healthcare purposes. This study aimed to examine the relationship between attitudes towards the use of mobile phones and access to family planning self-care interventions among female market vendors of reproductive age in northern Uganda. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey design was used. Two hundred and five randomly selected female vendors from the Gulu city main market participated. A structured researcher-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. Descriptive statistics and standard multiple regression were performed, and the data were analysed using SPSS software version 15. RESULTS: Of the 205 participants, 112 (54.6%) reported using smartphones, and 147 (71.7%) were aware of family planning self-care interventions. Participants had moderate attitudes towards access to family planning self-care interventions (mean = 3.18), positive attitudes towards ease of use (mean = 3.31) and usefulness of mobile phones (mean = 3.30), strong positive attitudes towards privacy (mean = 4.04), and skills associated with using mobile phones (mean = 4.04). Furthermore, significant positive relationships existed between ease of use (p value = 0.000), skills (p value = 0.001), privacy (p value = 0.002) and access to family planning self-care interventions. There was, however, an insignificant positive relationship between mobile phone usefulness and access to family planning self-care interventions (p value = 0.189). CONCLUSIONS: Participants' positive attitudes towards the use of mobile phones could lead to access to FP self-care interventions, although uncertainty about the usefulness of the use of mobile phones for accessing FP self-care interventions exists. It is therefore important for healthcare practitioners, health development partners and the government to encourage and integrate the use of mHealth into regular FP self-care services and promotional activities while targeting underserved communities in Uganda.

Can digital economy foster synergistic increases in green innovation and corporate value? Evidence from China.

The rapid evolution of the digital economy has significantly accelerated progress towards achieving green and sustainable processes, particularly in the field of green production. While existing research has delved into the effects of the digital economy on Green Innovation (GI) and the consequences of digital transformation on Corporate Value (CV), there remains a notable gap in the literature regarding the potential for synergistic enhancements in firms' GI&CV through the ongoing digital revolution. This study utilizes an evolutionary game model and employs system dynamics methods to simulate the dynamic evolution trajectory of the influence of the digital economy on the synergy between GI&CV. Subsequently, it empirically assesses the interconnected synergies between GI&CV using a dataset comprising information from Chinese listed firms spanning from 2011 to 2020, examining the impact of the digital economy on these synergies. Moreover, the study delves into the analysis of the transmission mechanism and conducts an extended investigation to further explore this phenomenon. The findings of this paper including: (1) The digital economy acts as a driving force behind the synergistic enhancement of firm GI&CV. Moreover, this effect is further augmented by governmental environmental regulation and green subsidy policies. (2) Drawing upon the information asymmetry theory and the resource-based theory, the regional marketization level and firms' digital transformation play intermediary roles. (3) The heterogeneity test indicate that firms situated in eastern regions and those classified as non-heavily polluted benefitted to a greater extent. This study sheds light on the incentive implications of digital economy for the synergistic upgrading of GI&CV, thereby extending the breadth of study on the consequences of digital economy. Moreover, it offers actionable suggestions for enterprises to leverage digital economy development towards achieving a synergistic improvement of GI&CV.

Dynamic interactions of carbon trading, green certificate trading, and electricity markets: Insights from system dynamics modeling.

In the context of the evolving landscape of reduction in carbon emissions and integration of renewable energy, this study uses system dynamics (SD) modeling to explore the interconnected dynamics of carbon trading (CT), tradable green certificate (TGC) trading, and electricity markets. Using differential equations with time delays, the study provides a comprehensive analysis of structural relationships and feedback mechanisms within and between these markets. Key findings reveal the intricate interplay between carbon prices, green certificate prices, and electricity prices under various coupling mechanisms. For example, under the three-market coupling mechanism, carbon trading prices stabilize around 150 Yuan/ton, while green certificate prices reach a peak of 0.45 Yuan/KWH, impacting electricity prices, which fluctuate between 0.33 and 1.09 Yuan / KWH during the simulation period. These quantitative results shed light on nuanced fluctuations in market prices and the dynamics of anticipated purchases and sales volumes within each market. The insights gleaned from this study offer valuable implications for policy makers and market stakeholders in navigating the complexities of carbon emission reduction strategies, the integration of renewable energy and market equilibrium. By understanding the dynamics of multi-market coupling, stakeholders can better formulate policies and strategies to achieve sustainable energy transitions and mitigate impacts of climate change.

The role of corporate governance structures in mediating the relationship between external supervision, credit appraisal measurement, capital adequacy, and performance of commercial banks in Nepal.

This study investigates the role of corporate governance structures as mediators between external supervision, credit appraisal measurement, capital adequacy, and the performance of commercial banks in Nepal. This research sheds light on the significance of effective corporate governance practices within Nepali commercial banks and how certain governance mechanisms may impact bank performance. A quantitative research design was employed, using data from commercial banks in Nepal for this study. Surveys were utilized to collect quantitative data. Structural equation modeling was used as a primary tool to assess the data. The findings add to existing literature about corporate governance and its effects on bank performance in emerging economies such as Nepal. The study's findings offer valuable insights into the significance of corporate governance structures, external supervision, credit appraisal measurement systems, and capital adequacy for commercial banks' performance in Nepal. The research methodology adds value to the existing literature using quantitative data collection methods. Its results may have practical ramifications for banks, regulators, and policymakers, suggesting effective governance practices as essential measures for increasing stability and performance at commercial banks.

"The ban is there, but it is not there": perceptions of cigarette users and tobacco vendors regarding ban on the sale of loose cigarettes in India.

Introduction: Banning the sales of loose cigarettes is recommended by Article 16 of the World Health Organization - Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. This study aims to understand the perceptions of cigarette users and tobacco vendors regarding such a ban. Methods: Using a systematic recruitment and interview protocol, we interviewed cigarette users (n = 28) and tobacco vendors (n = 28) from two Indian cities where sales of loose cigarettes were banned (Mumbai) or not banned (Delhi). Separate semi-structured interview guides were used for users and vendors. Interview questions focused on reasons for purchasing loose cigarettes, preference for buying and selling loose vs. packs, thoughts on the necessity of banning loose cigarettes, and the perceived impact of the policy ban for vendors and cigarette users. We performed thematic analysis and used NVivo for organizing transcript coding. Results: The main reasons users cited for purchasing loose cigarettes were financial constraints, social restrictions (fear of getting caught), and limiting cigarette consumption. In Mumbai, awareness of the existing ban was poor among both users and vendors. Those who were aware did not think the policy had been implemented. Users thought that loose cigarettes promoted smoking initiation and prevented them from quitting. Both users and vendors reported that a ban on loose cigarettes would reduce cigarette consumption and promote quit attempts as it would not be possible for everyone to purchase packs because of financial and social reasons. Conclusion: Users in both cities reported easy access to and widespread availability of loose cigarettes. Low awareness of the ban in Mumbai suggested inadequate enforcement. A country-wide ban on the sale of loose cigarettes could be highly effective in preventing smoking initiation and promoting quitting.

Global shortfalls in documented actions to conserve biodiversity.

Threatened species are by definition species that are in need of assistance. In the absence of suitable conservation interventions, they are likely to disappear soon1. There is limited understanding of how and where conservation interventions are applied globally, or how well they work2,3. Here, using information from the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List and other global databases, we find that for species at risk from three of the biggest drivers of biodiversity loss-habitat loss, overexploitation for international trade and invasive species4-many appear to lack the appropriate types of conservation interventions. Indeed, although there has been substantial recent expansion of the protected area network, we still find that 91% of threatened species have insufficient representation of their habitats within protected areas. Conservation interventions are not implemented uniformly across different taxa and regions and, even when present, have infrequently led to substantial improvements in the status of species. For 58% of the world's threatened terrestrial species, we find conservation interventions to be notably insufficient or absent. We cannot determine whether such species are truly neglected, or whether efforts to recover them are not included in major conservation databases. If they are indeed neglected, the outlook for many of the world's threatened species is grim without more and better targeted action.

A multifactor hybrid model for carbon price interval prediction based on decomposition-integration framework.

Carbon price is a pivotal element in the carbon trading sector. Accurate estimation of carbon price can offer precise guidance for the carbon market participants. This study introduces a novel prediction model encompassing both point and interval prediction for the carbon price. Firstly, to distill the volatility traits inherent in carbon price, the successive variational mode decomposition is utilized to adaptively decompose the carbon price into regular sequences. Secondly, to obtain the optimal input variables, the partial autocorrelation function and random forest are employed to filter the influencing factors and historical carbon price. Then, to avoid single model constraint, a combination model of categorical boosting and kernel extreme learning machine optimized by the sparrow search algorithm is employed for the point prediction, and the shapley additive explanation is employed to elucidate the model prediction process. Finally, to provide more efficient information, the adaptive bandwidth kernel density estimation is applied to the interval prediction. The data from Hubei carbon market is adopted as a case study, and the results indicate that the mean absolute error, mean absolute percentage error, root mean square error and R2 of the proposed model are 0.1022, 0.0022, 0.1262 and 0.9921, respectively. The historical carbon price, Brent crude oil futures settlement price and European Union allowance futures carbon price have a positive impact on carbon price, and Hushen 300 has a negative impact on carbon price. Compared with the constant kernel density estimation, the proposed model achieves higher interval coverage probability and lower interval width. Thus, the application of the hybrid model can promote the operational efficiency of the carbon market and facilitate the implementation of carbon emission reduction policies.

[Application of the cigarette purchase tasks in achieving China' s tobacco control goals].

OBJECTIVE: To assess cigarette demand among Chinese smokers through a cigarette purchase task (CPT) and to evaluate cigarette prices under different hypothetical scenarios in order to meet the goals of smoking prevalence reduction in China. METHODS: In the study, 447 participants completed a hypothetical CPT at baseline assessments of a trial, thus, cigarette demand curves were individually fitted for each participant using an exponentiated version of the exponential demand model. Typically, five demand indices were derived, intensity (consumption when free), breakpoint (first price at which consumption is suppressed to 0), maximum output (Omax), maximum price (Pmax, price at which Omax occurred), and elasticity (the ratio of the change in quantity demanded to the change in price). A one-way analysis of variance was used to explore the correlations between the cigarette purchase task indices and socio-demographic and smoking characteristics. The one-way decay model was employed to simulate the smoking cessation rates and determine optimal cigarette prices in a series of scenarios for achieving 20% smoking prevalence. RESULTS: The price elasticity drawn from CPT was 0.54, indicating that a 10% price increase could reduce smoking by 5.4% in the participated smokers. Smokers with higher income were less sensitive to cigarette prices (elasticity=-2.31, P=0.028). Cigarette purchase task indices varied significantly among the smokers with different prices of commonly used cigarettes, tobacco dependence, and smoking volume. The smokers who consumed cigarettes of higher prices reported higher breakpoint, Omax and Pmax, but lower intensity (P=0.001). The smokers who were moderately or highly nicotine dependent reported higher intensity, breakpoint, Omax and Pmax, and they had lower intensity (P=0.001). The smokers who had a higher volume of cigarettes reported higher intensity and Omax, and lower intensity (P < 0.001). To achieve the goal of reducing smoking prevalence to 20% in mainland China, we estimated the desired increase on smoking cessation rate and prices accordingly in a series of scenarios, considering the gender variance and reduced smoking initiation. In scenario (a), to achieve a smoking prevalence goal of 20%, it would be necessary for 24.81% of the current smokers to quit smoking when there were no new smokers. Our fitting model yielded a corresponding value of 59.64 yuan (95%CI 53.13-67.24). Given the assumption in scenario (b) that only males quitted smoking, the desired cessation rates would be 25.82%, with a higher corresponding price of 62.15 yuan (95%CI 55.40-70.06) to induce desired cessation rates. In the proposed scenario (c) where 40 percent of the reduction in smoking prevalence came from reduced smoking initiation, and females and males equally quitted smoking due to increased cigarette prices, the price of a pack of cigarettes would be at least 37.36 yuan (95%CI 32.32-42.69) (equals to $ 5.20) per pack to achieve the cessation rate of 14.89 percent. In scenario (d) where only males quitted smoking due to increased cigarette prices considering the reduced smoking initiation, the respective smoking cessation rates should be 15.49% with the desired prices of 38.60 yuan (95%CI 33.53-44.02). After adjusting for education levels and income levels in scenario (c), the price of cigarettes would be at least 37.37 yuan/pack (equals to $ 5.20) (95%CI 30.73-44.94) and 37.84 yuan/pack (equals to $ 5.26) (95%CI 31.94-44.53), respectively. CONCLUSION: Cigarette purchase task indices are significantly associated with income levels and prices of commonly used cigarettes, levels of tobacco dependence, and smoking volume, which is inspiring in studying price factors that influence smoking behavior. It is suggested that higher cigarette prices, surpassing the current actual market level, is imperative in mainland China. Stronger policy stra-tegies should be taken to increase tobacco taxes and retail cigarette prices to achieve the Healthy China 2030 goal of reducing smoking prevalence to 20%.

Multi-source heterogeneous blockchain data quality assessment model for enterprise business activities.

Blockchain-based applications are becoming more and more widespread in business operations. In view of the shortcomings of existing enterprise blockchain evaluation methods, this paper proposes a multi-source heterogeneous blockchain data quality evaluation model for enterprise business activities, so as to achieve efficient evaluation of business activity information consistency, credibility and value. This paper proposes a multi-source heterogeneous blockchain data quality assessment method for enterprise business activities, aiming at the problems that most of the data in enterprise business activities come from different data sources, information representation is inconsistent, information ambiguity between the same block chain is serious, and it is difficult to evaluate the consistency, credibility and value of information. The method firstly proposes an entity information representation method based on the Representation learning for fusing entity category information (CEKGRL) model, which introduces the triad structure of related entities in blockchain, then associates them with enterprise business activity categories, and carries out similarity calculation through contextual information to achieve blockchain information consistency assessment. After that, a trustworthiness characterization method is proposed based on information sources, information comments, and information contents, to obtain the trustworthiness assessment of the business. Finally, based on the information trustworthiness characterization, a value assessment method is introduced to assess the total value of business activity information in the blockchain, and a blockchain quality assessment model is constructed. The experimental results show that the proposed model has great advantages over existing methods in assessing inter-block consistency, intra-block activity information trustworthiness and the value of blockchain.