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Formative Evaluation of a Food Access Enhanced Nutrition Education Program

Many low-income populations have limited access to healthful foods, which is associated with poor health outcomes. Federal nutrition education programs often do not address access to healthier foods. Integrating an affordable Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program within these nutrition education programs may increase program impact. There is a need to understand how this program should be designed to meet customer needs and be successfully delivered through existing federal nutrition education programming. As part of a larger randomized trial testing a CSA program delivered through an Extension model in four US states, this mixed-methods formative evaluation included: 1) survey of low income adults (n=262) participating in federal nutrition programs across North Carolina, 2) choice experiment to determine program preferences among a low income population (n= 42) in four US states, and 3) in-depth interviews of Extension community nutrition educators (n=20) in four states followed by focus groups to understand perceived barriers and facilitators to implementing the proposed program. Nutrition Educators showed strong interest in the idea of a CSA plus education program. Making the program convenient, educational, and involving children was important, with staff time and program logistics being potential issues. The choice experiment indicated that the ideal CSA program would be a large mixed variety box, distributed 2 times per month, less than $15, no more than 10 minutes further than the supermarket from their home, and less expensive but no more than 20% more expensive than supermarket prices. There were statistically significant differences in willingness to participate given certain program scenarios across race and household size. The survey indicated high overall interest (85%), and more interest in the nutrition education program if there was a CSA (84%). There were statistically significant differences in willingness to participate by Race (p=.03), but not by Age (p=.70) or BMI (p=.057). Adaptations of the typical CSA disbursement frequency and price points may be needed to be attractive to low income populations. Results of this research were used to inform the larger randomized trial of CSA program impact on dietary intake and economic opportunity for farmers.Doctor of Philosoph

Formative Evaluation of a Food Access Enhanced Nutrition Education Program

Many low-income populations have limited access to healthful foods, which is associated with poor health outcomes. Federal nutrition education programs often do not address access to healthier foods. Integrating an affordable Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program within these nutrition education programs may increase program impact. There is a need to understand how this program should be designed to meet customer needs and be successfully delivered through existing federal nutrition education programming. As part of a larger randomized trial testing a CSA program delivered through an Extension model in four US states, this mixed-methods formative evaluation included: 1) survey of low income adults (n=262) participating in federal nutrition programs across North Carolina, 2) choice experiment to determine program preferences among a low income population (n= 42) in four US states, and 3) in-depth interviews of Extension community nutrition educators (n=20) in four states followed by focus groups to understand perceived barriers and facilitators to implementing the proposed program. Nutrition Educators showed strong interest in the idea of a CSA plus education program. Making the program convenient, educational, and involving children was important, with staff time and program logistics being potential issues. The choice experiment indicated that the ideal CSA program would be a large mixed variety box, distributed 2 times per month, less than $15, no more than 10 minutes further than the supermarket from their home, and less expensive but no more than 20% more expensive than supermarket prices. There were statistically significant differences in willingness to participate given certain program scenarios across race and household size. The survey indicated high overall interest (85%), and more interest in the nutrition education program if there was a CSA (84%). There were statistically significant differences in willingness to participate by Race (p=.03), but not by Age (p=.70) or BMI (p=.057). Adaptations of the typical CSA disbursement frequency and price points may be needed to be attractive to low income populations. Results of this research were used to inform the larger randomized trial of CSA program impact on dietary intake and economic opportunity for farmers.Doctor of Philosoph

The Role Of Translation Initiation Regulating Kinases, Lk6 And Tor, On Nociceptor Development And Function In Drosophila Melanogaster

Chronic pain affects over 100 million adults in the United States and costs the US over $500 billion dollars annually due to expenses associated with healthcare and lost productivity. Effective treatments for chronic pain are lacking due to our incomplete understanding of the complex mechanisms that underly the development of chronic pain. To improve treatments, it is important to characterize the signaling pathways responsible for changes in nociceptor sensitivity. This project used a model organism, Drosophila melanogaster, and focused on characterizing the involvement of two kinases, Lk6 and Tor, that are known to positively regulate the rate of translation initiation through interaction with eIF4E. Expression levels of Lk6 and Tor in the nociceptors of Drosophila larvae were altered using the GAL4/UAS-RNAi system. The results suggest nociceptor-specific knockdown of Lk6 played an important role in the development of thermal nociceptor sensitization following UV-induced tissue injury, while playing no role in baseline nociceptor sensitivity. Nociceptor-specific knockdown of Tor showed phenotypes that suggested the involvement of the Tor signaling pathway in baseline nociceptor sensitivity, and it is hypothesized that Tor would also play a role in the translation of mRNAs known to be involved in nociceptor plasticity

Postnatal Development of the Striatal Cholinergic Interneuron

The early postnatal period is marked by the rapid acquisition of sensorimotor processing capabilities. Initially responding to a limited set of environmental stimuli with a restricted repertoire of behaviors, mammals exhibit a remarkable proliferation of sensorimotor abilities in the early postnatal period. Central to action selection, reinforcement, and contingency learning are a subcortical set of evolutionarily conserved nuclei called the basal ganglia. The striatum, which is the primary input nucleus of the basal ganglia, receives afferent innervation from throughout the CNS. Its projection neurons (SPNs) integrate these diverse inputs, regulating movement and encoding salient cue-outcome contingencies. Here, using electrophysiological, electrochemical, imaging, and behavioral approaches in mice, I will explore the postnatal maturation of the striatal cholinergic interneuron (ChI), a critical modulator of dopamine signaling, afferent excitation, and SPN excitability. In Chapter 1, I will set the stage for this exploration by reviewing the current literature on striatal postnatal development, including cellular physiology, axonal elaboration and synapse formation, and plasticity expression. I will survey striatal deficits observed in clinical neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism, ADHD, tic disorders, and substance use disorders. I will additionally summarize evidence that the striatum is uniquely vulnerable to physiological and immunological insult, as well as early life adversity. In Chapter 2, I turn my focus specifically to the striatal ChI, uncovering fundamental cell-intrinsic changes that occur postnatally in this population. I will also elaborate on the postnatal maturation of dopamine release properties and regulation thereof by cholinergic signaling from the ChI. In Chapter 3, I investigate the circuit connectivity and circuit-driven firing dynamics of ChIs as they mature postnatally. I utilize a brain slice preparation retaining thalmostriatal afferents in order to assay the ChI pause, a synchronized transient quiescence in ChIs thought to facilitate cue learning and behavioral flexibility. I find that the ChI pause is refined postnatally, dependent on developmental changes in thalamic input strength and the cell- intrinsic expression of specific ionic conductances. Finally, in Chapter 4, I present preliminary evidence that ChI circuit maturation as defined in preceding chapters is delayed by chronic stress exposure postnatally. Following the maternal separation model of early life stress, ChI intrinsic characteristics mature normally, but they retain heightened thalamic innervation and thalamus-driven pause expression

Comparing the Historic and Current Biodiversity of Three Piedmont Lakes and the Implications of Lake Expansion Via Dam Replacement on Avian and Aquatic Organisms

Undergraduate Theoretical Proposa

Spatial considerations for implementing two direct-to-consumer food models in two states

To open new markets, some farmers have adapted direct-to-consumer (DTC) models, such as Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), to reach new settings or audiences. We compared sociodemographic and geospatial contexts to farmers\u27 experience with one of two DTC innovations: a cost-offset CSA for low-income families and food boxes distributed through rural convenience stores. We geocoded addresses of thirteen farms and DTC pickup sites in two U.S. states (Vermont and Washington) and calculated road network distances from pickup to supermarket, farmers\u27 market, and farm. We compiled Census block-level demographic and transportation data, and compared it to postseason interviews to explore the effect of suitability of the pickup location; proximity to food retail; and potential farmer burden. Most pickup areas were heavily car-dependent, with low walkability and few public transportation options. Conventional sources of fresh produce were within six miles of most pickups, but farmers markets were further away. Despite modest profitability, both models were deemed worth pursuing, as they expanded farmers\u27 customer base. Farmers implementing the store-distributed food box were sensitive to market trends and customer needs in choosing pickup location. Farmers seemed more concerned with marketing in convenience store settings, and finding efficient ways to conduct recordkeeping than with delivery distances