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ObjectiveTo estimate the prevalence of JUUL use and identify demographic and psychosocial correlates of use among youth and young adults in the USA.MethodsA national, probability-based sample was recruited via address-based sampling, with subsamples recruited from an existing probability-based online panel. Participants (N=14 379) ages 15–34 were surveyed about JUUL use, tobacco use, electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) harm perceptions, sensation seeking and demographic characteristics. Data were collected February–May 2018. Χ2 analyses assessed differences in JUUL use by demographic and psychosocial characteristics. Logistic regressions identified significant correlates of ever and current JUUL use.ResultsOverall, 6.0% reported ever JUUL use, and 3.3% reported past 30-day (ie, current) use. Rates were higher among participants aged 15–17 and 18–21 years, with 9.5% and 11.2% reporting ever use, and 6.1% and 7.7% reporting current use, respectively. Among current users aged 15–17 years, 55.8% reported use on 3 or more days in the past month, and over a quarter reported use on 10–30 days. Significant correlates of use included younger age, white race, greater financial comfort, perceptions of ENDS as less harmful than cigarettes, household ENDS use, high sensation seeking and current combustible tobacco use.ConclusionJUUL use was significantly higher among young people, with those under 21 having significantly higher odds of ever and current use. Frequency of use patterns suggest youth may not be experimenting with the device but using it regularly. Given the high nicotine content of JUUL, there is concern over the potential for addiction and other serious health consequences among young people. Findings suggest strong regulatory actions are needed to prevent youth and young adult uptake.

ObjectiveTo examine consumer perceptions, attitudes and behaviours regarding the heated tobacco product, IQOS, as well as to document the product’s marketing strategies to determine its potential for appealing to youth and young adults.MethodTruth Initiative, in collaboration with Flamingo, collected qualitative data via: (1) expert interviews, (2) semiotic analysis of IQOS packing and marketing materials, and (3) 12 focus groups with adults in Switzerland (ages 19–44 years; June 6–9, 2016) and Japan (ages 20–39 years; June 22–24, 2016) (n=68 for both groups).ResultsExpert interviews and IQOS packing and marketing analyses revealed the product is being marketed as a clean, chic and pure product, which resonated very well in Japan given the strong cultural values of order, cleanliness, quality and respect for others. Focus groups results indicated Japanese IQOS users used the product for socialising with non-smokers. Focus group participants in both Japan and Switzerland reported lower levels of satisfaction with the product relative to combustible cigarettes, although many found the product packaging to be appealing. While participants identified several benefits and barriers related to IQOS, few reported any potential health benefits of use compared with combustible tobacco products.ConclusionIQOS was marketed as a sophisticated, high tech and aspirational product. Because youth and young adults are more interested in such product positioning, this approach raises some concern about youth appeal. This research shows cultural factors appeared to affect the appeal of this messaging, indicating that prevalence and uptake data will likely not be similar from country to country.

This study’s objective was to describe long-term trends and patterns in first cigarette use (cigarette initiation) and daily cigarette use (daily initiation) among youth and young adults in the U.S. We used cross-sectional survey data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2002–2015, to estimate annual incidence of first cigarette use (N = 270,556) and first daily cigarette use (N = 373,464) for each year by age groups, race/ethnicity and gender, examining trends over time and the average annual change in initiation for each group. Several clear patterns emerged: 1) cigarette initiation and daily initiation significantly decreased over time among those aged 12–14 and 15–17 and these trends were consistent among nearly all racial/ethnic and gender subgroups; 2) among 18–21 year olds, cigarette initiation sharply increased through 2009, surpassing rates among 15–17 year olds, and sharply declined through 2015 while remaining higher than rates among the younger group, and this trend was consistent for almost all racial/ethnic subgroups; 3) daily initiation for those aged 18–21 significantly declined, and this was significant among most subgroups 4) there was no change in cigarette initiation and daily initiation for 22–25 year olds overall and most subgroups; 5) there was a significant increase in cigarette initiation for 22–25 year old Hispanics males and daily initiation for 22–25 year old males. This study provides a comprehensive look at trends in cigarette and daily initiation among U.S. youth and young adults. Despite notable declines in smoking initiation among youth and young adult populations over the last two decades, targeted prevention and policy efforts are needed for subgroups at higher risk, including young adults and Hispanic males.

The study addresses an urgent need in public health for timely information on how youth and young adults use tobacco and nicotine products. We found that youth, particularly adolescents, moved frequently between using ENDS and combustible tobacco products either alone or together. Importantly, the utility of current-use states for predicting future use states declined for time horizons longer than 1 year. Our results demonstrate a need for caution in interpreting product transitions. Longitudinal data with frequent observations and coverage of a wide range of possible product types is required to fully characterize usage patterns in youth.

Tunnel diode oscillators have been used in many types of experiments that measure the properties of materials. We present the details of an apparatus that extend these tunnel diode techniques to measure the properties of materials in pulsed magnetic fields. In the most common version of this method, a sample is placed in the inductor of a small rf tank circuit powered by a tunnel diode and the conductivity, magnetization, or penetration depth is measured. We explain in this article how the sample and configuration of the radio frequency fields determine which property is measured. Our major innovations are to stabilize the tunnel diode oscillator during a magnet pulse by using compensated coils in the tank circuit and the development of two methods, one digital and one analog, to measure the frequency and amplitude shifts in the oscillator during the short (10 s of ms) magnet pulse. We illustrate the power of this new measurement method by showing preliminary results of the superconducting transition and the Shubnikov–de Haas effect in the organic conductor κ-(ET)2Cu(NCS)2. The Shubnikov–de Haas effect shows particularly high amplitude oscillations due to magnetic breakdown orbits.

Radiation tolerance is a critical performance criterion of photovoltaic devices for space power applications. In this paper we demonstrate the intrinsic radiation tolerance of an ultra-thin solar cell geometry. Device characteristics of GaAs solar cells with absorber layer thicknesses 80 nm and 800 nm were compared before and after 3 MeV proton irradiation. Both cells showed a similar degradation in Voc with increasing fluence; however, the 80 nm cell showed no degradation in Isc for fluences up to 1014 p+ cm−2. For the same exposure, the Isc of the 800 nm cell had severely degraded leaving a remaining factor of 0.26.

Findings from this study confirm that a carefully designed anti-tobacco public education campaign aimed at youth and young adults is a key population-level intervention within the context of an expanding tobacco product landscape and a cluttered media environment. As tobacco use patterns shift and new products emerge, evidence-based public education campaigns can play a central role in helping the next generation to reject tobacco. Public education mass media campaigns are a key component to changing tobacco use attitudes and behavior, particularly among youth and young adults.