Associations between shopping patterns, dietary behaviors, and Geographic Information System-assessed store accessibility among small food store customers

Objective: To examine associations between Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-assessed accessibility to small food stores, shopping patterns, and dietary behaviors among small food store customers. Design: Residential addresses and customer shopping patterns (frequency of shopping, previous purchase of fruits and vegetables) were gathered through customer intercept surveys. Addresses were geocoded and GIS-assessed distance and driving time from the participants' residence to the store were calculated. Dietary status and behaviors were assessed using an objective non-invasive measure of skin carotenoids, the National Cancer Institute Fruit and Vegetable Screener, and items to assess sugary beverage intake. Associations between distance and driving time, demographics, shopping frequency, prior reported purchase of fruits and vegetables at the store, and dietary behaviors were examined. Setting: Small food stores (n=22) across North Carolina. Participants: Cross-sectional convenience samples of English-speaking customers aged 18 or older (n=692). Results: Participants living closer to the small store had lower income and formal education were more likely to be Black, more likely to have previously bought fruits and vegetables at the store, and more frequently shopped at the store. In adjusted models, skin carotenoids (n=644) were positively associated with distance to the store from home in miles (p = 0.01). Conclusions: Customers who lived closer to the stores were more frequent shoppers and more likely to have previously purchased fruits and vegetables at the store yet had lower skin carotenoids. These results support continued efforts to examine how to increase the availability and promotion of healthful foods at small food retail stores

A four-year observational study to examine the dietary impact of the North Carolina Healthy Food Small Retailer Program, 2017–2020

Background: The North Carolina (NC) Healthy Food Small Retailer Program (HFSRP) was passed into law with a $250,000 appropriation (2016–2018) providing up to$25,000 in funding to small food stores for equipment to stock healthier foods and beverages. This paper describes an observational natural experiment documenting the impact of the HFSRP on store food environments, customers’ purchases and diets. Methods: Using store observations and intercept surveys from cross-sectional, convenience customer samples (1261 customers in 22 stores, 2017–2020; 499 customers in 7 HFSRP stores, and 762 customers in 15 Comparison stores), we examined differences between HFSRP and comparison stores regarding: (1) change in store-level availability, quality, and price of healthy foods/beverages; (2) change in healthfulness of observed food and beverage purchases (“bag checks”); and, (3) change in self-reported and objectively-measured (Veggie Meter®-assessed skin carotenoids) customer dietary behaviors. Differences (HFSRP vs. comparison stores) in store-level Healthy Food Supply (HFS) and Healthy Eating Index-2010 scores were assessed using repeated measure ANOVA. Intervention effects on diet were assessed using difference-in-difference models including propensity scores. Results: There were improvements in store-level supply of healthier foods/beverages within 1 year of program implementation (0 vs. 1–12 month HFS scores; p = 0.055) among HFSRP stores only. Comparing 2019 to 2017 (baseline), HFSRP stores’ HFS increased, but decreased in comparison stores (p = 0.031). Findings indicated a borderline significant effect of the intervention on self-reported fruit and vegetable intake (servings/day), though in the opposite direction expected, such that fruit and vegetable intake increased more among comparison store than HFSRP store customers (p = 0.05). There was no significant change in Veggie Meter®-assessed fruit and vegetable intake by customers shopping at the intervention versus comparison stores. Conclusions: Despite improvement in healthy food availability, there was a lack of apparent impact on dietary behaviors related to the HFSRP, which could be due to intervention dose or inadequate statistical power due to the serial cross-sectional study design. It may also be that individuals buy most of their food at larger stores; thus, small store interventions may have limited impact on overall eating patterns. Future healthy retail policies should consider how to increase intervention dose to include more product marketing, consumer messaging, and technical assistance for store owners

Assessing Preliminary Impact of the North Carolina Community Transformation Grant Project Farmers' Market Initiatives Among Rural Residents

Objective: Using the Social Determinants of Health as the study's theoretical underpinning, the authors examined the impact of the North Carolina Community Transformation Grant Project farmers' market initiatives on changes in awareness and use of farmers' markets, and fruit and vegetable consumption. Methods: During the farmers' market season, the researchers conducted a random digit-dial telephone survey among residents in 3 rural North Carolina counties to examine changes in farmers' market awareness, shopping, and fruit and vegetable consumption. They examined change over 1 year using t tests, chi-square tests, and propensity score matching. Results: In 1 county there were increases in farmers' market shopping and fruit and vegetable consumption, and in 1 county there were decreases in farmers' market shopping and fruit and vegetable consumption. Conclusions and Implications: The impact of farmers' market initiatives may be affected by county-specific socioeconomic contexts

Preferred Healthy Food Nudges, Food Store Environments, and Customer Dietary Practices in 2 Low-Income Southern Communities

Objective To examine how food store environments can promote healthful eating, including (1) preferences for a variety of behavioral economics strategies to promote healthful food purchases, and (2) the cross-sectional association between the primary food store where participants reported shopping, dietary behaviors, and body mass index. Methods Intercept survey participants (n = 342) from 2 midsized eastern North Carolina communities completed questionnaires regarding preferred behavioral economics strategies, the primary food store at which they shopped, and consumption of fruits, vegetables, and sugary beverages. Results Frequently selected behavioral economic strategies included: (1) a token and reward system for fruit and vegetable purchases; and (2) price discounts on healthful foods and beverages. There was a significant association between the primary food store and consumption of fruits and vegetables (P = .005) and sugary beverages (P = .02). Conclusions and Implications Future studies should examine associations between elements of the in-store food environment, purchases, and consumption

GW190814: gravitational waves from the coalescence of a 23 solar mass black hole with a 2.6 solar mass compact object

We report the observation of a compact binary coalescence involving a 22.2–24.3 Me black hole and a compact object with a mass of 2.50–2.67 Me (all measurements quoted at the 90% credible level). The gravitational-wave signal, GW190814, was observed during LIGO’s and Virgo’s third observing run on 2019 August 14 at 21:10:39 UTC and has a signal-to-noise ratio of 25 in the three-detector network. The source was localized to 18.5 deg2 at a distance of - + 241 45 41 Mpc; no electromagnetic counterpart has been confirmed to date. The source has the most unequal mass ratio yet measured with gravitational waves, - + 0.112 0.009 0.008, and its secondary component is either the lightest black hole or the heaviest neutron star ever discovered in a double compact-object system. The dimensionless spin of the primary black hole is tightly constrained to �0.07. Tests of general relativity reveal no measurable deviations from the theory, and its prediction of higher-multipole emission is confirmed at high confidence. We estimate a merger rate density of 1–23 Gpc−3 yr−1 for the new class of binary coalescence sources that GW190814 represents. Astrophysical models predict that binaries with mass ratios similar to this event can form through several channels, but are unlikely to have formed in globular clusters. However, the combination of mass ratio, component masses, and the inferred merger rate for this event challenges all current models of the formation and mass distribution of compact-object binaries

Mutagenesis of squash (Cucurbita moschata) glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase (GPAT) to produce an enzyme with altered substrate selectivity

In an attempt to rationalize the relationship between structure and substrate selectivity of glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase (GPAT, 1AT, EC 2.3.1.15) we have cloned a number of cDNAs into the PET overexpression system using a PCR-based approach. Following assay of the recombinant enzyme we noted that the substrate selectivity of the squash (Cucurbita moschata) enzyme had altered dramatically. This form of GPAT has now been crystallized and its full three-dimensional structure elucidated. Since we now have two forms of the enzyme that display different substrate selectivities this should provide a powerful tool to determine the basis of the selectivity changes. Kinetic and structural analyses are currently being performed to rationalize the changes which have taken place

Analysis of the Structure, Substrate Specificity, and Mechanism of Squash Glycerol-3-Phosphate (1)-Acyltransferase.

Background: Glycerol-3-phosphate (1)-acyltransferase(G3PAT) catalyzes the incorporation of an acyl group from either acyl-acyl carrier proteins (acylACPs) or acyl-CoAs into the sn-1 position of glycerol 3-phosphate to yield 1-acylglycerol-3-phosphate. G3PATs can either be selective, preferentially using the unsaturated fatty acid, oleate (C18:1), as the acyl donor, or nonselective, using either oleate or the saturated fatty acid, palmitate (C16:0), at comparable rates. The differential substrate specificity for saturated versus unsaturated fatty acids seen within this enzyme family has been implicated in the sensitivity of plants to chilling temperatures. Results: The three-dimensional structure of recombinant G3PAT from squash chloroplast has been determined to 1.9 Å resolution by X-ray crystallography using the technique of multiple isomorphous replacement and provides the first representative structure of an enzyme of this class. Conclusions: The tertiary structure of G3PAT comprises two domains, the larger of which, domain II, features an extensive cleft lined by hydrophobic residues and contains at one end a cluster of positively charged residues flanked by a H(X)4D motif, which is conserved amongst many glycerolipid acyltransferases. We predict that these hydrophobic and positively charged residues represent the binding sites for the fatty acyl substrate and the phosphate moiety of the glycerol 3-phosphate, respectively, and that the H(X)4D motif is a critical component of the enzyme's catalytic machinery

Nurse forecasting in Europe (RN4CAST): Rationale, design and methodology

Background: Current human resources planning models in nursing are unreliable and ineffective as they consider volumes, but ignore effects on quality in patient care. The project RN4CAST aims innovative forecasting methods by addressing not only volumes, but quality of nursing staff as well as quality of patient care.Methods/Design: A multi-country, multilevel cross-sectional design is used to obtain important unmeasured factors in forecasting models including how features of hospital work environments impact on nurse recruitment, retention and patient outcomes. In each of the 12 participating European countries, at least 30 general acute hospitals were sampled. Data are gathered via four data sources (nurse, patient and organizational surveys and via routinely collected hospital discharge data). All staff nurses of a random selection of medical and surgical units (at least 2 per hospital) were surveyed. The nurse survey has the purpose to measure the experiences of nurses on their job (e.g. job satisfaction, burnout) as well as to allow the creation of aggregated hospital level measures of staffing and working conditions. The patient survey is organized in a sub-sample of countries and hospitals using a one-day census approach to measure the patient experiences with medical and nursing care. In addition to conducting a patient survey, hospital discharge abstract datasets will be used to calculate additional patient outcomes like in-hospital mortality and failure-to-rescue. Via the organizational survey, information about the organizational profile (e.g. bed size, types of technology available, teaching status) is collected to control the analyses for institutional differences.This information will be linked via common identifiers and the relationships between different aspects of the nursing work environment and patient and nurse outcomes will be studied by using multilevel regression type analyses. These results will be used to simulate the impact of changing different aspects of the nursing work environment on quality of care and satisfaction of the nursing workforce.Discussion: RN4CAST is one of the largest nurse workforce studies ever conducted in Europe, will add to accuracy of forecasting models and generate new approaches to more effective management of nursing resources in Europe. © 2011 Sermeus et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd