Evaluation of a Sparkling Water Promotion Intervention on Sales at Convenience Stores in the Southeastern US.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the feasibility of in-store signage promoting sparkling water and the impact of this signage on sparkling water sales in convenience stores. DESIGN: We conducted a randomized control trial. SETTING: Convenience stores in North Carolina. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-four convenience stores in neighborhoods with a higher proportion of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-eligible households. INTERVENTION(S): The 24 eligible stores were randomized to receive the in-store signage promoting sparkling water or to the control condition of no change. One poster was hung on the beverage cooler doors in front of the sparkling water selections at each of the 12 participating stores. Weekly sales data and fidelity checks were collected. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The primary outcome measure was sales of total water, and the subanalysis was sales of sparkling water. ANALYSIS: T tests were conducted to assess changes in total water and sparkling water sales between intervention and control stores. RESULTS: In-store signage did not significantly increase sales of sparkling water, or all water, during the intervention. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Signage alone may not be enough to impact healthy beverage purchasing, and signage should be paired with other promotional components to increase healthy beverage purchases in convenience stores.

Dynamic risk and differential impacts of probation: Examining age, race, and gender as responsivity factors.

OBJECTIVE: Juvenile courts that apply the risk-need-responsivity (RNR) model should periodically reassess youths and observe reductions in risk. There is a gap in knowledge concerning the reliable implementation of the specific responsivity principle of the RNR model, which emphasizes considering youths' unique characteristics to support rehabilitation success. In the present study, we aimed to identify whether specific responsivity factors (i.e., age, gender, and race/ethnicity) and supervision experiences (i.e., time under supervision and participation in judicial programs) effect changes in risk scores. HYPOTHESES: We anticipated that (a) time under supervision would be negatively associated with dynamic risk, (b) participation in judicial programs would be positively associated with dynamic risk, and (c) race/ethnicity (not age or gender) would moderate the relationship between supervision experiences and dynamic risk. METHOD: The sample consisted of 360 youths who served probation in a midwestern court. We tested multilevel models to determine differential impacts of supervision experiences on dynamic risk across responsivity factors, controlling for initial risk scores and offense seriousness. RESULTS: Partially confirming our hypotheses, results showed that spending longer periods on probation and being referred to judicial programs were both associated with negative changes in risk scores (i.e., risk scores increased over time). There was no effect of age or gender; however, race/ethnicity predicted dynamic risk. The average change in risk score was 1.81 units lower for historically marginalized youths (b = -1.82, SE = 0.68, p = .01), and the magnitude of the effect was significantly driven by multiracial youths. As expected, race/ethnicity moderated the relationship between time on probation and changes in risk scores. CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicate that improper application of the specific responsivity principle of the RNR model may diminish desired rehabilitation outcomes. Closing this theory-to-practice gap would improve court supervision experiences for all youths. In future studies, researchers should continue investigating specific responsivity factors and the dynamic validity of risk assessment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Predictors of the outcome of physiotherapy following a meniscus tear: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Physiotherapy is indicated for treatment of a painful degenerative knee meniscus tear. Predicting the outcome remains uncertain. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this systematic review was to identify which predictive factors are associated with the outcome of physiotherapy for degenerative knee meniscus tear. METHODS: A systematic electronic literature search was undertaken of PubMed, CINAHL, Medline with AMED and EMBASE via Ovid from inception to July 2021. Studies of adults receiving physiotherapy which presented data on the association of baseline variables and the treatment outcome were included. Study quality was assessed using CASP (Critical Appraisal Skills Programme) tools. Data were narratively analysed. RESULTS: 1051 titles were retrieved and screened for eligibility. Fifteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Nine studies investigated just degenerative tears. The evidence-base was of low/moderate quality. Across all studies, seven and five studies (100%) reported no association between mechanical symptoms or gender respectively (p > 0.05). There was no association with osteoarthritis in 80%, age in 71%, or body mass index in 60% of studies (p > 0.05). Four studies (80%) reported that higher baseline pain was associated with cross-over to surgery, greater improvement with surgery or less improvement in pain score (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Patient demographic characteristics provide minimal association with outcome following physiotherapy for degenerative meniscus tear. The evidence-base is limited in size and quality. A large adequately powered prospective cohort study investigating a broad range of predictive factors is warranted to develop a predictive model to better stratify those most likely to benefit from physiotherapy.

Estimates of individual muscle power production in normal adult walking.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to determine the contribution of individual hip muscles to the net hip power in normal adult self-selected speed walking. A further goal was to examine each muscle's role in propulsion or support of the body during that task. METHODS: An EMG-to-force processing (EFP) model was developed which scaled muscle-tendon unit (MTU) force output to gait EMG. Active muscle power was defined as the product of MTU forces (derived from EFP) and that muscle's contraction velocity. Passive hip power was estimated from passive moments associates with hip position (angle of flexion (extension)) and the hip's angular velocity. Net hip EFP power was determined by summing individual active hip muscle power plus the net passive hip power at each percent gait cycle interval. Net hip power was also calculated for these study participants via inverse dynamics (kinetics plus kinematics, KIN). The inverse dynamics technique - well accepted in the biomechanics literature - was used as a "gold standard" for validation of this EFP model. Closeness of fit of the power curves of the two methods was used to validate the model. RESULTS: The correlation between the EFP and KIN methods was sufficiently close, suggesting validation of the model's ability to provide reasonable estimates of power produced by individual hip muscles. Key findings were that (1) most muscles undergo a stretch-shorten cycle of muscle contraction, (2) greatest power was produced by the hip abductors, and (3) the hip adductors contribute to either hip adduction or hip extension (but not both). CONCLUSIONS: The EMG-to-force processing approach provides reasonable estimates of individual hip muscle forces in self-selected speed walking in neurologically-intact adults.

An EMG-to-Force Processing approach for estimating in vivo hip muscle forces in normal human walking.

The force of a single muscle is not directly measurable without invasive methods. Yet invasive techniques are not appropriate for clinical use, thus a non-invasive technique that combined the electromyographic (EMG) signal and a neuromuscular model was developed to determine in vivo active muscle forces at the hip. The EMG-to-force processing (EFP) model included active and passive moment components, and the net EFP moment was compared with the hip moment obtained with standard inverse dynamics techniques ("gold standard"). The two methods were compared at percent gait cycle intervals, and the correlation coefficient between methods was excellent (r2=91). The closeness of fit confirms that the approach is a reasonable approximation of net moment and, possibly, individual muscle forces. The greatest estimated hip force was produced by a hip abductor. A novel finding was that the hip adductors did not behave a single synergistic group. The Adductor Magnus synergistically assisted other hip extensors, and produced forces that were out-of-phase with the other hip adductor forces. Rectus Femoris was only active during hip flexion (not knee extension).