Food insufficiency and Twitter emotions during a pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic initially caused worldwide concerns about food insecurity. Tweets analyzed in real-time may help food assistance providers target food supplies to where they are most urgently needed. In this exploratory study, we use natural language processing to extract sentiments and emotions expressed in food security-related tweets early in the pandemic in U.S. states. The emotion joy dominated in these tweets nationally, but only anger, disgust, and fear were also statistically correlated with contemporaneous food insufficiency rates reported in the Household Pulse Survey; more nuanced and statistically stronger correlations are detected within states, including a negative correlation with joy.

Local food in times of crisis: The impact of COVID‐19 and two reinforcing primes

Using an online survey experiment and a sample of 1650 participants from the Mid‐Atlantic region in the United States, we investigate the effects of COVID‐19 and two reinforcing primes on preferences for local food and donations to support farmers, farmers markets, and a food‐relief program. At the beginning of the survey, we induce a subset of participants to think about the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on either their personal life, finances, and health or on their local community and its members. Both primes increase participants' levels of anxiety and slightly reduce their sense of community. Additionally, both primes significantly decrease the hypothetical price premium participants are willing to pay for local food, that is, both for fruits and vegetables and for meat products. The primes do not significantly affect the amount donated to charitable organizations, except when controlling for participants' own experiences with COVID‐19. While priming increases donations for some participants, it decreases donations for those with a "strong” COVID‐19 experience, especially for the food relief program. [EconLit Citations: C90, Q19].

The Role of Community Food Services in Reducing US Food Insufficiency in the COVID-19 Pandemic

(p. 2 2016) suggest that "both public and private food assistance programs serve as important mechanisms to tackle the problem of hunger and food insecurity in the United States." Using the HPS data, Bauer (2020) shows that low-income households with children are more likely to suffer food insufficiency and enroll in food assistance programs (e.g., SNAP, WIC, and Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer) during the pandemic. Instead of using the free food access variables from the HPS, we therefore draw on the 2019 County Business Patterns data (US Census Bureau, 2019) to shed light on the role of preexisting Community Food Services (CFS) in mitigating food vulnerability in the states during the current pandemic. [...]while the number of such establishments per 10,000 persons may have changed between 2019 (the most recent year for which data are available at the time of this writing) and March 2020, we suggest that once we control for the main driving forces, such as the spread of the disease and unemployment, which can affect both food insufficiency and CFS capacity, the 2019 CFS establishments per 10,000 persons variable is a reasonable proxy for the amount of experience a given state has with CFS and related establishments and its capacity to deliver free food through such a venue.

Immune response to third SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in seronegative kidney transplant recipients: Possible improvement by mycophenolate mofetil reduction.

Modification of vaccination strategies is necessary to improve the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs). This multicenter observational study analyzed the effects of the third SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in previously seronegative KTRs with the focus on temporary mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) dose reduction within propensity matched KTRs. 56 out of 174 (32%) previously seronegative KTRs became seropositive after the third vaccination with only three KTRs developing neutralizing antibodies against the omicron variant. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that initial antibody levels, graft function, time after transplantation and MMF trough levels had an influence on seroconversion (P < .05). After controlling for confounders, the effect of MMF dose reduction before the third vaccination was calculated using propensity score matching. KTRs with a dose reduction of ≥33% showed a significant decrease in MMF trough levels to 1.8 (1.2-2.5) µg/ml and were more likely to seroconvert than matched controls (P = .02). Therefore, a MMF dose reduction of 33% or more before vaccination is a promising approach to improve success of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in KTRs.

Local food in times of crisis: The impact of COVID-19 and two reinforcing primes.

Using an online survey experiment and a sample of 1650 participants from the Mid-Atlantic region in the United States, we investigate the effects of COVID-19 and two reinforcing primes on preferences for local food and donations to support farmers, farmers markets, and a food-relief program. At the beginning of the survey, we induce a subset of participants to think about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on either their personal life, finances, and health or on their local community and its members. Both primes increase participants' levels of anxiety and slightly reduce their sense of community. Additionally, both primes significantly decrease the hypothetical price premium participants are willing to pay for local food, that is, both for fruits and vegetables and for meat products. The primes do not significantly affect the amount donated to charitable organizations, except when controlling for participants' own experiences with COVID-19. While priming increases donations for some participants, it decreases donations for those with a "strong" COVID-19 experience, especially for the food relief program. [EconLit Citations: C90, Q19].

Impaired Immune Response to SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination in Dialysis Patients and in Kidney Transplant Recipients.

Background: Patients with kidney failure on dialysis or after renal transplantation have a high risk for severe COVID-19 infection, and vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 is the only expedient prophylaxis. Generally, immune responses are attenuated in patients with kidney failure, however, systematic analyses of immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in patients on dialysis and in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) are still needed. Methods: In this prospective, multicentric cohort study, antibody responses to COVID-19 mRNA vaccines (BNT162b2 [BioNTech/Pfizer] or mRNA-1273 [Moderna]) were measured in 32 patients on dialysis and in 28 KTRs. SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies and neutralization capacity were evaluated and compared with controls (n=78) of a similar age range. Results: After the first vaccination, SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies were nearly undetectable in patients with kidney failure. After the second vaccination, 93% of the controls and 88% of patients on dialysis but only 37% of KTRs developed SARS-CoV-2-specific IgG above cutoff. Moreover, mean IgG levels were significantly lower in KTRs (54±93 BAU/ml) compared with patients on dialysis (503±481 BAU/ml; P<0.01). Both KTRs and patients on dialysis had significantly lower IgG levels compared with controls (1992±2485 BAU/ml; P<0.001 and P<0.01, respectively). Importantly, compared with controls, neutralizing antibody titers were significantly lower in KTRs and patients on dialysis. After the second vaccination, 76% of KTRs did not show any neutralization capacity against SARS-CoV-2, suggesting impaired seroprotection. Conclusions: Patients with kidney failure show a significantly weaker antibody response compared with controls. Most strikingly, only one out of four KTRs developed neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 after two doses of vaccine. These data suggest that vaccination strategies need modification in KTRs and patients on dialysis.Clinical Trial registry name and registration number: Vaccination Against COVID-19 in Chronic Kidney Disease, NCT04743947.

Factors Related to Profitability of Agritourism in the United States: Results from a National Survey of Operators

Agritourism is a growing area of the tourism sector with many positive social and economic benefits for farmers, their communities, and for tourists. While researchers have been studying the phenomenon for several decades, factors that lead to profitable outcomes for agritourism operators are still not well understood, hindering the effectiveness of agritourism development and the systems of support available to farmers. Using a survey of 1834 farms and ranches open to visitors in the United States, the goal of this study is to identify the factors that influence the profitability of agritourism operations. This study shows that several factors have positive associations with increased agritourism profitability, such as the number of years of experience of the operator, farm scale (acreage and total farm revenue), providing on-farm product sales, and offering events and entertainment. Off-farm product sales and being a female operator have a negative association with profitability in agritourism. We discuss the implications of our findings on agritourism operators, suggest their utility for tourism planning and rural community development professionals, and offer suggestions for future research.

Intensity of mycophenolate mofetil treatment is associated with an impaired immune response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in kidney transplant recipients.

Kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) are extremely vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infection and show an impaired immune response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. We analyzed factors related to vaccination efficiency in KTRs. In a multicenter prospective observational study (NCT04743947), IgG antibodies levels against SARS-CoV-2 spike S1 subunit and their neutralization capacity after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination were analyzed in 225 KTRs and compared to 176 controls. After the vaccination, 56 (24.9%) KTRs became seropositive of whom 68% had neutralizing antibodies. This immune response was significantly lower compared to controls (239 [78-519] BAU/ml versus 1826 [560-3180] BAU/ml for KTRs and controls, p < .0001). The strongest predictor for an impaired response was mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) treatment. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that MMF-free regimen was highly associated with seroconversion (OR 13.25, 95% CI 3.22-54.6; p < .001). In contrast, other immunosuppressive drugs had no significant influence. 187 out of 225 KTRs were treated with MMF of whom 26 (13.9%) developed antibodies. 23 of these seropositive KTRs had a daily MMF dose ≤1 g. Furthermore, higher trough MMF concentrations correlated with lower antibody titers (R -0.354, p < .001) supporting a dose-dependent unfavorable effect of MMF. Our data indicate that MMF dose modification could lead to an improved immune response.

Visualizing Spatial Economic Supply Chains to Enhance Sustainability and Resilience

This article presents a spatial supply network model for estimating and visualizing spatial commodity flows that used data on firm location and employment, an input–output table of inter-industry transactions, and material balance-type equations. Building on earlier work, we proposed a general method for visualizing detailed supply chains across geographic space, applying the preferential attachment rule to gravity equations in the network context;we then provided illustrations for U.S. extractive, manufacturing, and service industries, also highlighting differences in rural–urban interdependencies across these sectors. The resulting visualizations may be helpful for better understanding supply chain geographies, as well as business interconnections and interdependencies, and to anticipate and potentially address vulnerabilities to different types of shocks.