The largest percentage of mortality from tobacco smoking is cardiovascular-related. It is not known whether regular participation in exercise mitigates the adverse influence of smoking on vasculature. The purpose of this study is to determine if regular aerobic exercise is associated with reduced arterial stiffness in young men who are cigarette smokers. Using a cross-sectional observational study design, the sample included 78 young men (22±5 years) with the following classification: sedentary smokers (n=12); physically active smokers (n=25); sedentary non-smokers (n=20); and physically active non-smokers (n=21). Arterial stiffness was assessed by brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV). There were no group differences in height, body fatness, systolic and diastolic blood pressure. As expected, both physically active groups demonstrated greater VO2max and lower heart rate at rest than their sedentary peers. The sedentary smokers demonstrated greater baPWV than the sedentary non-smokers (1,183±33.5 vs. 1,055±25 cm/sec). baPWV was not different between the physically-active smokers and the physically-active non-smokers (1,084±26 vs. 1,070±28.6 cm/sec). Chronic smoking is associated with arterial stiffening in sedentary men but a significant smoking-induced increase in arterial stiffness was not observed in physically active adults. These results are consistent with the idea that regular participation in physical activity may mitigate the adverse effect of smoking on the vasculature. / text

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Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / Cigarette smoke creates a molecular field of injury in epithelial cells that line the respiratory tract. We hypothesized that transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) will enhance our understanding of the field of molecular injury in response to tobacco smoke exposure and lung cancer pathogenesis by identifying gene expression differences not interrogated or accurately measured by microarrays. We sequenced the high- molecular weight fraction of total RNA (>200 nt) from pooled bronchial airway epithelial cell brushings (n = 3 patients per pool) obtained during bronchoscopy from healthy never smoker (NS) and current smoker (S) volunteers and smokers with (C) and without ( C) lung cancer undergoing lung nodule resection surgery. RNA-seq libraries were prepared using two distinct approaches, one capable of capturing non-polyadenylated RNA (the prototype NuGEN Ovation RNA-seq protocol) and the other designed to measure only polyadenylated RNA (the standard Illumina mRNA-seq protocol) followed by sequencing generating approximately 29 million 36 nt reads per pool and approximately 22 million 75 nt paired-end reads per pool, respectively. The NuGEN protocol captured additional transcripts not detected by the Illumina protocol at the expense of reduced coverage of polyadenylated transcripts, while longer read lengths and a paired-end sequencing strategy significantly improved the number of reads that could be aligned to the genome. The aligned reads derived from the two complementary protocols were used to define the compendium of genes expressed in the airway epithelium (n = 20,573 genes). Pathways related to the metabolism of xenobiotics by cytochrome P450, retinol metabolism, and oxidoreductase activity were enriched among genes differentially expressed in smokers, whereas chemokine signaling pathways, cytokine-cytokine receptor interactions, and cell adhesion molecules were enriched among genes differentially expressed in smokers with lung cancer. There was a significant correlation between the RNA-seq gene expression data and Affymetrix microarray data generated from the same samples (P < 0.001); however, the RNA-seq data detected additional smoking- and cancer-related transcripts whose expression was were either not interrogated by or was not found to be significantly altered when using microarrays, including smoking- related changes in the inflammatory genes SIOOA8 and SIOOA9 and cancer-related changes in MUC5AC and secretoglobin (SCGB3Al). Quantitative realtime PCR confirmed differential expression of select genes and non-coding RNAs within individual samples. These results demonstrate that transcriptome sequencing has the potential to provide new insights into the biology of the airway field of injury associated with smoking and lung cancer. The measurement of both coding and non-coding transcripts by RNA-seq has the potential to help elucidate mechanisms of response to tobacco smoke and to identify additional biomarkers of lung cancer risk and novel targets for chemoprevention. / 2031-01-01

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2007. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 75 p. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 48-54).

Smoking patterns were described and compared retrospectively for 5395 participants in the Lung Health Study at 12 and 24 months. 3592 participants were assigned to a special intervention (SI) group that received a counseling assisted smoking cessation intervention that included nicotine gum and 1803 participants were assigned to a usual care (UC) group that received no assistance in quitting smoking. Participants were smokers diagnosed with mild to moderate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and averaged 31.4 cigarettes/day at entry. Significant differences were found regarding smoking outcomes and smoking patterns between groups as well as within each group. Counseling assisted participant's continuous abstinence rate at 24 months was 25.1% compared to 3.5% for unassisted smokers. Counseling assisted men were more successful at remaining abstinent at 24 months (27.1%) compared to (21.8%) for counseling assisted women. No gender differences were found for unassisted smokers. Abstinence rates were biochemically validated. Differences were also found in smoking patterns between groups for those unable to achieve continuous abstinence at 24 months. Counseling assisted participants smoked fewer cigarettes, made more quit attempts, smoked fewer months and stayed quit longer. Mixed results were found for baseline demographic and smoking history variables. Age started smoking, other smokers in the household, education and social support were not significant. Cigarettes smoked per day, previous quit attempts, longest period quit and alcoholic drinks per week were significant. / Graduation date: 1992

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-155).

This study investigated the relationship between smoking cessation and cognitive factors of attributional style, self-efficacy and locus of control. The roles of examined as they contributed to the prediction of smoking status. Questionnaires designed to measure these cognitivevariables, were administered to participants of smoking cessation programs at two times during the study; immediately before participation in the smoking cessation program and immediately after completion of the program. Smoking status was assessed at these times, as well as via telephone twice after the program's completion. Subjects were obtained from 16 American Cancer Society smoking cessation clinics in the Southern California area. The results of stepwise discriminant analyses of variance successfully predicted smoking status at end-of-clinic and follow-up periods, using a combination of demographic, smoking behavior and cognitive predictors. Cross-validations of the predictive models also were able to predict smoking status at end-of-clinic and follow-up. Additional analyses included stepwise discriminant demographic and smoking behavior variables styles, as well as demographic and smoking behavior Cognitive Factors 5 analyses of participants who relapsed at follow-up, and a comparison of those who completed the program versus those who dropped out prematurely. Both analyses resulted in obtaining significant discriminant functions. A final analysis compared pre- and post-treatment responses on the cognitive measures via a 2 X 2 multiple analysis of variance (group X time). A significant interaction between group and time of assessment was obtained. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2008. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on September 8, 2008) Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2005. Directed by Boris Mizaikoff. / Hunt, William, Committee Member ; Weck, Marcus, Committee Member ; Mizaikoff, Boris, Committee Chair ; Janata, Jiri, Committee Member ; Orlando, Thomas, Committee Member. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2009. / Title from title screen. Vita. CD-ROM. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.