Impact of Village-based Health Education of Tobacco Control on the Current Smoking Rate in Chinese Rural Areas

The number of smokers in Chinese rural areas is more than 200 million, which is twice that in cities. It is very significant to carry out tobacco control interventions in rural areas. We performed this community intervention study to evaluate the efficacy of village-based health education of tobacco control on the male current smoking rate in rural areas. The population of this study was the males above 15 years old from 6 villages in rural areas. The villages were randomly assigned to intervention group or control group（3 villages in each group）. Self-designed smoking questionnaire was applied. The intervention group received the village-based health education of tobacco control for one year. The primary outcome measurement was the male current smoking rate. In the baseline investigation, completed surveys were returned by 814 male residents from the control group and 831 male residents from the intervention group. The male current smoking rate in the control group and the intervention group was 61.2% and 58.5%, respectively, before intervention. There was no significant difference between these two groups（P〉0.05）. After one-year intervention, the current smoking rate in the intervention group（51.2%） was significantly lower than that in the control group（62.8%）（P〈0.001）. Our study suggested that the village-based health education of tobacco control was effective in lowering the male current smoking rate in rural areas, which could be a suitable and feasible way for tobacco control in the Chinese rural areas.

Small-scale fire tests in the underwater tunnel section model with new sidewall smoke extraction

The Shenzhen–Zhongshan Bridge is a 24‐km‐long bridge and tunnel system,including a 6.8-km-long super cross section subsea tunnel.To solve the smoke exhaust problem of a super large cross-section subsea tunnel,the tunnel has a new smoke exhaust system that combines a horizontal smoke exhaust cross section at the top and sidewall smoke exhaust holes.In order to evaluate the potential fire hazards of this type of tunnel,a 1:30 tunnel model was established and 140 smallscale experiments on underwater tunnel fires were conducted.By changing the fire power,fire location,and fan operation mode,different scenarios of submarine immersed tunnel fire were simulated and the related key parameters such as fire smoke diffusion behavior and smoke temperature distribution were studied.On this basis,the optimal smoke control strategy was proposed for different fire scenarios.The research results indicate that the new smoke exhaust system can fully utilize the smoke flow characteristics,significantly improve smoke exhaust efficiency,and increase available evacuation time,thus further enhancing the fire safety of super large cross-section subsea tunnels.

Widening socioeconomic disparity in lung cancer incidence among men in New South Wales, Australia, 1987–2011

Objective：We assessed the trends in lung cancer incidence over a 25-year period by socioeconomic groups for men in New South Wales（NSW）,Australia.Methods：Men diagnosed with lung cancer between 1987 and 2011 were divided into five quintiles according to an Index of Education and Occupation（IEO）.We assessed relative socioeconomic differences over time by calculating age-standardized incidence ratios（SIRs）by 5-year period of diagnosis,and estimated absolute differences by comparing the observed and expected numbers of cases using the highest IEO quintile as the reference.Results：Lung cancer incidence for men decreased from 1987 to 2011 for all IEO quintiles,with a greater rate of decline for men living in the highest IEO areas.Thus,the relative disparity increased significantly over the 25-year period（P=0.0006）.For example,the SIR for the lowest IEO quintile increased from 1.28 during 1987–1991 to 1.74during 2007–2011.Absolute differences also increased with the proportion of＂potentially preventable＂cases doubling from 14.5% in 1987–1991 to 30.2% in 2007–2011.Conclusions：Despite the overall decline in lung cancer incidence among men in NSW over the past 25 years,there was a significant increase in disparity across socioeconomic areas in both relative and absolute terms.