Caponnetto, Pasquale
Maglia, Marilena
Prosperini, Gaetano
Busà, Barbara
Polosa, Riccardo
Funding for this research was provided by:
“Ricerca Scientifica Finanziata dall’Ateneo di Catania”. (21040100)
Article History
Received: 30 April 2018
Accepted: 20 August 2018
First Online: 31 August 2018
Ethics approval and consent to participate
: This study was approved by the local ERB (reference no. 80/A/2017/P0) and subjects gave written informed consent prior to participation in the study.
: "Not applicable"
: R. Polosa is full-time employee of the University of Catania, Italy. In relation to his work in the area of tobacco control, RP has received lecture fees and research funding from Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline, manufacturers of stop smoking medications. He has also received support from The Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives (CASAA) for publication and open access costs of one paper. He has also served as a consultant for Pfizer, Global Health Alliance for treatment of tobacco dependence, ECITA (Electronic Cigarette Industry Trade Association, in the UK), Arbi Group Srl., and Health Diplomat (consulting company that delivers solutions to global health problems with special emphasis on harm minimization). Lectures fees from a number of European electronic cigarette industry and trade associations (including FIVAPE in France and FIESEL in Italy) were directly donated to vapers advocacy no-profit organizations. He is also currently involved in the following pro bono activities: scientific advisor for LIAF, Lega Italiana Anti Fumo (Italian acronym for Italian Anti Smoking League) and for The Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives (CASAA); Chair of the European Technical Committee for standardization on “Requirements and test methods for emissions of electronic cigarettes” (CEN/TC 437; WG4). GP is full-time employee of the Catania University Hospitals Trust (MCAU Ospedale Cannizzaro, Catania, Italy). BB is full-time employee of the Catania University Hospitals Trust (ARNAS Garibaldi, Catania, Italy). PC and MM are part-time employees of the University of Catania; their research contracts are supported by university grant no. 21040100 of “Ricerca Scientifica Finanziata dall’Ateneo di Catania”. The authors declare that they have no competing interest.
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