Sandra C. Jones

Regulation, public health and social marketing: a behaviour change trinity

Purpose – The paper aims to explore the apparent tension between upstream and downstream social marketing and propose these should be treated as contiguous and complementary.Design/methodology/approach – An environmental, population‐based framework is used to explore the varied roles social marketing might play in reducing public health problems.Findings – The paper concludes that social marketers should collaborate with public health researchers to identify and ameliorate the environmental determinants of risk behaviour and create a context where downstream interventions may flourish. It is argued that the upstream measures necessary to shape supportive environments should be regarded not as constraints diminishing voluntary behaviour, but instead as the pre‐requisites enabling full and free choices.Research limitations/implications – The call for a rapprochement between upstream and downstream social marketers, and greater integration of public health and social marketing goals lead to new research oppo...

Angiotensin type 1 receptor antagonist losartan, reduces MPTP-induced degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in substantia nigra

BackgroundRecent attention has focused on understanding the role of the brain-renin-angiotensin-system (RAS) in stroke and neurodegenerative diseases. Direct evidence of a role for the brain-RAS in Parkinsons disease (PD) comes from studies demonstrating the neuroprotective effect of RAS inhibitors in several neurotoxin based PD models. In this study, we show that an antagonist of the angiotensin II (Ang II) type 1 (AT1) receptor, losartan, protects dopaminergic (DA) neurons against 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) toxicity both in primary ventral mesencephalic (VM) cultures as well as in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) of C57BL/6 mice (Fig. 1).ResultsIn the presence of exogenous Ang II, losartan reduced MPP+ (5 μM) induced DA neuronal loss by 72% in vitro. Mice challenged with MPTP showed a 62% reduction in the number of DA neurons in the SNpc and a 71% decrease in tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunostaining of the striatum, whereas daily treatment with losartan lessened MPTP-induced loss of DA neurons to 25% and reduced the decrease in striatal TH+ immunostaining to 34% of control.ConclusionOur study demonstrates that the brain-RAS plays an important neuroprotective role in the MPTP model of PD and points to AT1 receptor as a potential novel target for neuroprotection.

Tobacco point of sale advertising increases positive brand user imagery

Objectives: To determine the potential impact of point of sale advertising on adolescents so as to inform changes to the Tobacco Control Act. Design: Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. In the control condition, students were exposed to a photograph of a packet of cigarettes; in the intervention condition, students were exposed to an ad for cigarettes, typical of point of sale advertising posters. All students then rated the brand user on a set of 12 bipolar adjectives. Two brands were used in the study: Benson & Hedges, and Marlboro. Subjects: One hundred year (grade) 6 and 7 students (age range 10–12 years), from four Western Australian metropolitan primary schools, participated in the study. Results: In a majority of the brand user descriptions, the cigarette advertisements increased brand user imagery in a positive way, especially for Benson & Hedges. For example, participants viewing the Benson & Hedges advertisement, as distinct from those viewing the Benson & Hedges pack only, were more likely to describe the Benson & Hedges user as relaxed, interesting, cool, rich, adventurous, and classy. Relative to the Marlboro pack only, the Marlboro ad increased positive perceptions of the Marlboro user on adventurous, interesting, and relaxed. Conclusions: The results presented here support restrictions being placed on advertising at point of sale, since such ads have the potential to increase positive brand user imagery directly in the situation where a product purchase can take place, and hence the potential to increase the likelihood of impulse purchasing.

Messages in alcohol advertising targeted to youth

Objective: To assess young peoples perceived messages in three ads for a vodka‐based, pre‐mixed alcohol beverage, and to assess the extent to which the ads appeared to be consistent with the industrys voluntary code.

Eat, drink and gamble: marketing messages about ‘risky’ products in an Australian major sporting series

BackgroundTo investigate the alcohol, gambling, and unhealthy food marketing strategies during a nationally televised, free to air, sporting series in Australia.Methods/approachUsing the Australian National Rugby League 2012 State of Origin three-game series, we conducted a mixed methods content analysis of the frequency, duration, placement and content of advertising strategies, comparing these strategies both within and across the three games.ResultsThere were a total of 4445 episodes (mean = 1481.67, SD = 336.58), and 233.23 minutes (mean = 77.74, SD = 7.31) of marketing for alcoholic beverages, gambling products and unhealthy foods and non-alcoholic beverages during the 360 minutes of televised coverage of the three State of Origin 2012 games. This included an average per game of 1354 episodes (SD = 368.79) and 66.29 minutes (SD = 7.62) of alcohol marketing; 110.67 episodes (SD = 43.89), and 8.72 minutes (SD = 1.29) of gambling marketing; and 17 episodes (SD = 7.55), and 2.74 minutes (SD = 0.78) of unhealthy food and beverage marketing. Content analysis revealed that there was a considerable embedding of product marketing within the match play, including within match commentary, sporting equipment, and special replays.ConclusionsSport is increasingly used as a vehicle for the promotion of range of ‘risky consumption’ products. This study raises important ethical and health policy questions about the extent and impact of saturation and incidental marketing strategies on health and wellbeing, the transparency of embedded marketing strategies, and how these strategies may influence product consumption.

How effective is the revised regulatory code for alcohol advertising in Australia

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS Australia, like several other countries, has a self-regulatory approach to advertising. However, in recent years the effectiveness of the regulatory system has been questioned, and there have been increasing public calls for an overhaul of the system. Following a formal review in 2003, the Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy proposed a revised Alcoholic Beverages Advertising Code (ABAC), which came into operation in 2004. DESIGN AND METHODS The purpose of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of this revised system. From May 2004 until March 2005 television and magazine advertising campaigns were monitored for alcohol products. Over this period 14 complaints against alcohol advertisements were lodged with the self-regulatory board, and the authors recruited an independent expert panel to assess the advertisements and complaints. RESULTS In eight of the 14 cases a majority of the judges perceived the advertisement to be in breach of the code, and in no cases did a majority perceive no breach. Conversely, however, none of the complaints were upheld by the Advertising Standards Board (ASB) and only one by the ABAC Panel. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS The results of this study suggest that the decisions made by the ASB in relation to complaints against alcohol advertisements are not in harmony with the judgement of independent experts, and that the ASB may not be performing an adequate job of representing community standards or protecting the community from offensive or inappropriate advertisements. Further, it appears that the revisions to the ABAC code, and associated processes, have not reduced the problems associated with alcohol advertising in Australia.

MATERNAL-FETAL TRANSFER OF 3H-LABELLED LEUCINE IN THE VIVIPAROUS LIZARD NIVEOSCINCUS METALLICUS (SCINCIDAE: LYGOSOMINAE)

The entry of radio-labelled leucine into maternal and embryonic compartments was studied in the viviparous lizard, Niveoscincus metallicus , following its injection into gravid females. The label appeared rapidly in the maternal bloodstream and liver, where much of it was incorporated into hepatic peptides and proteins. Uptake into amniotic fluid, yolk and yolk sac membranes, and embryos was also rapid and, depending on the stage of development of the embryo, between 21 and 44% of the label that entered the embryo was incorporated into proteinaceous material 2 b after the mother was injected. Transfer into the embryo was significantly associated with embryonic stage of development. It was highest in embryos between Stages 35 and 40 when growth and development are most rapid and structural complexity of the placentae is at its peak. It was least in embryos younger than Stage 35, when placental development is rudimentary, and in late Stage 40 embryos that had utilized their yolk and were close to birth weight. We conclude that there is strong evidence for organic matrotrophy in N. metallicus and suggest that it provides a mechanism for supplementing yolk reserves during development in an unpredictable climate.

Generation of reactive oxygen species in 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+) treated dopaminergic neurons occurs as an NADPH oxidase-dependent two-wave cascade.

BackgroundReactive oxygen species (ROS), superoxide and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), are necessary for appropriate responses to immune challenges. In the brain, excess superoxide production predicts neuronal cell loss, suggesting that Parkinsons disease (PD) with its wholesale death of dopaminergic neurons in substantia nigra pars compacta (nigra) may be a case in point. Although microglial NADPH oxidase-produced superoxide contributes to dopaminergic neuron death in an MPTP mouse model of PD, this is secondary to an initial die off of such neurons, suggesting that the initial MPTP-induced death of neurons may be via activation of NADPH oxidase in neurons themselves, thus providing an early therapeutic target.MethodsNADPH oxidase subunits were visualized in adult mouse nigra neurons and in N27 rat dopaminergic cells by immunofluorescence. NADPH oxidase subunits in N27 cell cultures were detected by immunoblots and RT-PCR. Superoxide was measured by flow cytometric detection of H2O2-induced carboxy-H2-DCFDA fluorescence. Cells were treated with MPP+ (MPTP metabolite) following siRNA silencing of the Nox2-stabilizing subunit p22phox, or simultaneously with NADPH oxidase pharmacological inhibitors or with losartan to antagonize angiotensin II type 1 receptor-induced NADPH oxidase activation.ResultsNigral dopaminergic neurons in situ expressed three subunits necessary for NADPH oxidase activation, and these as well as several other NADPH oxidase subunits and their encoding mRNAs were detected in unstimulated N27 cells. Overnight MPP+ treatment of N27 cells induced Nox2 protein and superoxide generation, which was counteracted by NADPH oxidase inhibitors, by siRNA silencing of p22phox, or losartan. A two-wave ROS cascade was identified: 1) as a first wave, mitochondrial H2O2 production was first noted at three hours of MPP+ treatment; and 2) as a second wave, H2O2 levels were further increased by 24 hours. This second wave was eliminated by pharmacological inhibitors and a blocker of protein synthesis.ConclusionsA two-wave cascade of ROS production is active in nigral dopaminergic neurons in response to neurotoxicity-induced superoxide. Our findings allow us to conclude that superoxide generated by NADPH oxidase present in nigral neurons contributes to the loss of such neurons in PD. Losartan suppression of nigral-cell superoxide production suggests that angiotensin receptor blockers have potential as PD preventatives.

Annual reproductive cycle and annual cycles of reproductive hormones in plasma of female Niveoscincus metallicus (Scincidae) from Tasmania

Niveoscincus metallicus is a small viviparous skink common in Tasmania. We describe the annual reproductive cycle of female N. metallicus and relate this to changes in plasma levels of progesterone and estradiol. Vitellogenesis begins in autumn (March), with first matings in April, prior to entering winter torpor. Ovulation occurs in mid-September about two weeks after spring emergence. Size adjusted atresia of vitellogenic follicles was 8% in the population studied. No loss of embryos in utero was observed and young are born in January. Plasma estradiol levels are significantly elevated during the preovulatory phase. Progesterone concentrations are low through most of the year but rise during gestation and are highest during the second trimester, declining well before parturition.

Maternal effects associated with gestation conditions in a viviparous lizard, Niveoscincus metallicus

Viviparous squamates offer opportunities for exploring the importance of past maternal resources (yolk) and current resources (placentotrophy) to support embryonic growth during gestation, and to optimize offspring fitness. Both thermal and nutritional environment of the mother during gestation may be expected to be important in determining offspring fitness. Using a two-way factorial design, we have investigated possible interactions between food intake and thermal environment during gestation in the viviparous skink Niveoscincus metallicus . Among the females given restricted basking opportunities, fewer females gave birth, there was a significant increase in gestation length, and relative clutch mass was reduced due to smaller neonatal size; none of these parameters were influenced by nutritional status. Neonates from mothers given restricted basking opportunities were lighter, had shorter snout-vent lengths (SVL), and smaller fat bodies than neonates from mothers given optimal basking opportunities; their postnatal growth rate (over eight weeks) was also significantly lower and they showed a reduced incidence of basking behavior. There were interaction effects between thermal regime and food supply for neonate SVL and neonatal fat body weight. Sprint speed within 24 hours of birth was significantly increased in neonates from mothers given restricted thermal opportunities; however, for weeks 1-8 postnatally, there were no differences in sprint speed in offspring from any of the treatments. These results suggest that, contrary to our initial hypothesis, females maintained in nutritionally favorable conditions are unable to compensate for the gestational effects of a thermally poor environment. We now suggest that in Niveoscincus metallicus facultative placentotrophy may allow mothers to improve offspring fitness by increasing neonatal fat body size.