Cable television and neighborhood health centers : promises and realities

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1982.MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCHBibliography: leaves 42-43.by Katherine Elizabeth Lo.M.C.P

Exploring Social Justice, Design,and HCI

The aim of this one-day workshop is to share existing research, discuss common practices, and to develop new strategies and tools for designing for social justice in HCI. This workshop will bring together a set of HCI scholars, designers, and community members to discuss social justice perspectives on interaction design and technology. We will explore theoretical and methodological approaches in and around HCI that can help us generatively consider issues of power, privilege, and access in their complexity. We will discuss the challenges associated with taking a justice approach in HCI, looking toward existing practices we find both productive and problematic. This workshop will bridge current gaps in research and practice by developing concrete strategies for both designing and evaluating social change oriented work in HCI, where agendas are made clear and researchers are held accountable for the outcomes of their work by members of their field site and the research community

A mixed-methods study to determine the impact of COVID-19 on food security, food access and supply in regional Australia for consumers and food supply stakeholders

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the Australian food supply through changed consumer purchasing patterns, and potentially, household food security. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of COVID-19 on the prevalence of food insecurity and food supply issues, and perspectives of food supply stakeholders in regional Australia. Methods: A mixed-methods consumer survey and in-depth interviews with food supply stakeholders were conducted in regional Australia, more specifically South West Western Australia between May and July 2020, immediately after the 1st wave of the pandemic. Results: The prevalence of food insecurity was 21% among consumers, and significantly more prevalent for those aged less than 30 years and living with a disability. Most consumers (73%) agreed that the COVID-19 pandemic had impacted the food supply. Food insecure respondents were more likely to report that food was more expensive, resulting in changes to the types and quantities of food bought. Food supply stakeholders perceived that consumers increased their intention to buy locally grown produce. Panic buying temporarily reduced the availability of food for both food suppliers and consumers, regardless of their food security status. Conclusions: This study provided novel insights from South West Australian consumer and food supply stakeholder perceptions. Food insecure consumers provided insights about the high cost of food and the subsequent adaptation of their shopping habits, namely type and amount of food purchased. Stakeholder perceptions largely focused on supply chain issues and corroborated consumer reports

Food supply impacts and solutions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic : a regional Australian case study

This study aimed to explore how food supply chains were impacted by COVID-19 and identify how the region could be better prepared for future crises. An online survey was completed by 107 consumers. In-depth interviews were conducted with 27 food supply stakeholders working in food production, distribution, retail, hospitality, institutions (i.e., childcare), logistics/freight and local government. Pre-COVID-19, farmer-direct distribution options and hospitality businesses comprised a substantial proportion of local food producer businesses. During the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers favoured local food supply options, farmers collaborated, and produce usually destined for export was redirected into local markets. Critical food supply actions included keeping borders open to food freight, enhancing social capital through real-time business communication, and business flexibility. Solutions included business adaptation, for example, farmers selling produce boxes and hospitality businesses selling excess stock, COVID-safe delivery, and collaboration through digital networks. To better prepare the region for future crises, actions to support communities could include a community approach to agriculture, increasing food supply diversity, facilitating transport to aid food distribution and purchasing, and more effective messaging to discourage panic buying. Actions to support retailers could include increasing access to wholesalers through online platforms. Actions to support producers could include improving infrastructure, such as more regional distribution facilities

Online Media Forums as Separate Social Lives: A Qualitative Study of Disclosure Within and Beyond Reddit

Social media websites and web forums increasingly resemble massive media-sharing spaces where participants must manage self-presentation by targeting data disclosures to anticipated audiences. To explore the dynamics of selective disclosure, we conducted a qualitative study with participants on the social news site, reddit, and examined how people discuss its content in conversation on the website, in other websites, and in face-to-face conversation. We conducted 24 interviews with users and analyzed a supplementary corpus of popular reddit threads and reddit Internet Relay Chat logs. We also made regular use of the website to ground our understanding of the community. In our inductive analysis we found that many reddit users described deliberate social choices to compartmentalize discussions involving content on the website from their social lives beyond.ye

Documenting Change from a Conversation Analytic Perspective: Introduction to the Spring Forum

Since its inception, Conversation Analysis (CA), which aims to describe the fine-grained machinery of talk (Sidnell, 2010), has uncovered an impressive range of “member’s methods”—how members of society accomplish social actions. The “lived work” of participants is, in fact, dynamic and complex: Facing new situations and unforeseen contingencies could inform how participants respond to similar situations in the future. And beyond tracing the emergence of new knowledge and practices, our understanding of member’s knowledge can also be extended by charting how novices of a community of practice develop competence and expand their repertoires. After all, novices do not become experts overnight; documenting the trajectories and evolutions of practices can provide important insights into the very process of becoming a competent member

Definitions, sources and self-reported consumption of regionally grown fruits and vegetables in two regions of Australia

Regional food systems are complex networks, with numerous retail sources that underpin a local economy. However, evidence is limited regarding how consumers define, identify, and source regionally grown fresh fruits and vegetables (RGFFV). A cross-sectional study was conducted in Tasmania (TAS) and South Western Australia (SWA) to compare how RGFFV are defined, identified and sourced by consumers, including self-reported consumption of selected RGFFV. Survey data were analyzed using the Chi-square test and t-tests. Results (TAS n = 120, SWA n = 123) identified that consumers had mixed perceptions of how RGFFV are defined, including produce sold at farmers markets, or grown within their region (TAS/SWA). RGFFV were commonly identified using product labelling (55% TAS, 69% SWA; p \u3e 0.05). Respondents reported frequently shopping for RGFFV at major supermarkets, with more TAS respondents shopping weekly in comparison to SWA respondents (67% vs. 38%; p \u3c 0.001). Supermarkets offered convenience and consumers enjoyed the experience of farmers’ markets, especially in TAS (42%) in comparison to SWA (21%; p = 0.012). The major RGFFV consumed were root vegetables and apples/pears, but consumers were frequently unsure about the produce’s provenance. Our findings indicate multiple opportunities to improve consumption of fresh, regional produce in TAS and SWA, which may positively impact regional economic growth and community health. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Australian consumer perceptions of regionally grown fruits and vegetables: Importance, enablers, and barriers

Fresh fruits and vegetables are a cornerstone of a balanced diet; their consumption has health, environmental, ethical, and economic implications. This pilot study aimed to: (i) measure fruit and vegetable consumption; (ii) understand consumer perceptions of the perceived importance of regionally grown fresh fruit and vegetables (RGFFV); and (iii) identify the barriers and enablers of access and consumption of RGFFV. The study took place in Tasmania (TAS) and South Western Australia (SWA). A 54-item survey included questions relating to purchasing and consumption patterns; barriers and enablers related to access and consumption of RGFFV; and sociodemographic information. Survey data were analyzed using Chi-square test and binary logistic regression. A total of n = 120 TAS and n = 123 SWA adult respondents participated. SWA respondents had higher intakes of fruit (p \u3c 0.001) and vegetables (p \u3c 0.001). Almost all respondents (97%) rated purchasing of RGFFV as important. Top enablers included produce freshness (97%), and to financially support local farmers (94%) and the local community (91%). Barriers included limited seasonal availability of the produce (26%), the belief that RGFFV were expensive (12%) and food budgetary constraints (10%). Recommendations include broader marketing and labelling of seasonal RGFFV; increasing ‘buy local’ campaigns; consumer information about how RGFFV benefits producers and communities; and pricing produce according to quality

Solution to a problem of Bollobás and Häggkvist on Hamilton cycles in regular graphs

We prove that, for large n, every 3-connected D-regular graph on n vertices with is Hamiltonian. This is best possible and verifies the only remaining case of a conjecture posed independently by Bollobás and Häggkvist in the 1970s. The proof builds on a structural decomposition result proved recently by the same authors