Testing the impact of overt and covert ordering interventions on sustainable consumption choices: A randomised controlled trial.

Food products have significant impacts on the environment over their life cycle. We investigated whether displaying products in ascending order of carbon footprint in an online supermarket environment can shift consumer choices towards more sustainable options. We examined whether the effect of the ordering intervention differs when the ordering is overt (information about the ordering is explicit), compared to when it is covert (participants not told about the ordering). We conducted a three-arm parallel-group randomised trial using 1842 online participants from England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Participants shopped for a meal, choosing one product from each of six product categories in a simulated online supermarket. Six products were listed vertically on each product-category page. Products were randomly ordered for the control arm but ordered by carbon footprint in the covert and overt ordering arms. In the overt ordering arm, a statement was displayed at the top of each product page about the ordering of products. The primary outcome was whether one of the three most sustainable products was chosen in each product category. There was no effect of the covert ordering on the probability of choosing more sustainable products compared with the control arm (OR = 0.97, 95% CI 0.88-1.07, p = 0.533). Furthermore, we did not find evidence that the effects of the covert ordering and overt ordering differed (p = 0.594). Within the control condition, products in different positions were chosen with similar frequencies, suggesting that product positioning does not have an impact on choices. This may explain why re-ordering products had no effect. In the overt condition, only 19.5% of people correctly answered that the products were ordered according to sustainability in a follow-up question, suggesting that they didn't notice the statement. Results suggest that choices for grocery products might be too ingrained to be changed by subtle rearrangements of choice architecture like the ordering interventions, and highlight the difficulty of conveying information effectively to consumers in the online grocery shopping environment.

Haloarchaea swim slowly for optimal chemotactic efficiency in low nutrient environments.

Archaea have evolved to survive in some of the most extreme environments on earth. Life in extreme, nutrient-poor conditions gives the opportunity to probe fundamental energy limitations on movement and response to stimuli, two essential markers of living systems. Here we use three-dimensional holographic microscopy and computer simulations to reveal that halophilic archaea achieve chemotaxis with power requirements one hundred-fold lower than common eubacterial model systems. Their swimming direction is stabilised by their flagella (archaella), enhancing directional persistence in a manner similar to that displayed by eubacteria, albeit with a different motility apparatus. Our experiments and simulations reveal that the cells are capable of slow but deterministic chemotaxis up a chemical gradient, in a biased random walk at the thermodynamic limit.

Traffic light labelling of meals to promote sustainable consumption and healthy eating.

The focus of the present study is to examine the impact of behavioral interventions designed to encourage consumer change around food choices in line with more sustainable consumption as well as healthy eating. More specifically, as a potential method of persuasion, we test the effect of the provision of information using traffic light labelling attached to different meal options signalling their impact on the environment (e.g. carbon emission levels) as well as on their health (e.g., calorific content). While traffic light labelling has shown some success in encouraging both healthy and sustainable food consumption, there is still limited work demonstrating the impact on choice behavior. The present study includes two experiments (Experiment 1, N = 120 [approximately 40 per condition], Experiment 2, N = 297 [approximately 95 per condition]). They examined the impact of the presentation of single (traffic light labelling of calorific content, traffic light labelling of carbon emission levels) and dual (both calorific content and carbon emission levels) traffic light labels in a hypothetical simulated canteen environment. For some participants, the traffic light labels were supplemented with additional information which either contained general information regarding calorific content and carbon emissions, or specific reference values regarding the relationship between particular calorific or carbon emission levels to other activities (i.e. walking, driving). The Results from both experiments show that, compared to baseline, the presence of traffic light labels led to positive shifts towards lower carbon emission and lower calorific content meals. Both general and specific information supported positive behavioral change towards healthier and sustainable meal choices. The findings are discussed in relation to existing work examining the impact of behavioral interventions designed to support positive change in consumer behavior.

Cell morphology governs directional control in swimming bacteria.

The ability to rapidly detect and track nutrient gradients is key to the ecological success of motile bacteria in aquatic systems. Consequently, bacteria have evolved a number of chemotactic strategies that consist of sequences of straight runs and reorientations. Theoretically, both phases are affected by fluid drag and Brownian motion, which are themselves governed by cell geometry. Here, we experimentally explore the effect of cell length on control of swimming direction. We subjected Escherichia coli to an antibiotic to obtain motile cells of different lengths, and characterized their swimming patterns in a homogeneous medium. As cells elongated, angles between runs became smaller, forcing a change from a run-and-tumble to a run-and-stop/reverse pattern. Our results show that changes in the motility pattern of microorganisms can be induced by simple morphological variation, and raise the possibility that changes in swimming pattern may be triggered by both morphological plasticity and selection on morphology.

Giving birth: the voices of Ecuadorian women.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this ethnographic study was to describe the perceptions of Ecuadorian childbearing women BACKGROUND: No studies published in English could be found documenting the perspectives of Ecuadorian childbearing women about their birth experiences. METHOD: Thirty-two women who had recently given birth in Guayaquil, Ecuador participated in audiotaped interviews, which were analyzed as appropriate for ethnographic inquiry. RESULTS: "Enduring birth to obtain the gift" was the overarching theme. Supporting themes included caring for self and accessing prenatal care to have a healthy newborn; relying on God to ensure positive maternal/newborn outcomes; submission of self to healthcare providers because of fear, pain, and lack of education; and valuing motherhood. The focus was on the well-being of the child rather than the quality of the birth experience. IMPLICATIONS FOR CLINICAL PRACTICE: With a growing population of women of childbearing age immigrating into the United States from Central and South America, the need for culturally competent care is increasing. Sensitivity to the cultural beliefs and practices of Hispanic and other culturally diverse childbearing women is critical. Women's reliance on God to ensure positive outcomes should be respected. The provision of education and supportive care will help ensure positive outcomes in culturally diverse women.

Disruption of polycystin-1 function interferes with branching morphogenesis of the ureteric bud in developing mouse kidneys.

The polycystic kidney disease (PKD1) gene-encoded protein, polycystin-1, is developmentally regulated, with highest expression levels seen in normal developing kidneys, where it is distributed in a punctate pattern at the basal surface of ureteric bud epithelia. Overexpression in ureteric epithelial cell membranes of an inhibitory pMyr-GFP-PKD1 fusion protein via a retroviral (VVC) delivery system and microinjection into the ureteric bud lumen of embryonic day 11 mouse metanephric kidneys resulted in disrupted branching morphogenesis. Using confocal quantitative analysis, significant reductions were measured in the numbers of ureteric bud branch points and tips, as well as in the total ureteric bud length, volume and area, while significant increases were seen as dilations of the terminal branches, where significant increases in outer diameter and volumes were measured. Microinjection of an activating 5TM-GFP-PKD1 fusion protein had an opposite effect and showed significant increases in ureteric bud length and area. These are the first studies to experimentally manipulate polycystin-1 expression by transduction in the embryonic mouse kidney and suggest that polycystin-1 plays a critical role in the regulation of epithelial morphogenesis during renal development.