SUSTAINABLE SERVICES AND INITIATIVES IN JAPANESE AND AUSTRALIAN CONVENIENCE STORES

(1) Background: The present study aimed to investigate the association between home-related factors, community environmental factors, and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) intake among Northeastern Chinese children. (2) Methods: Cross-sectional. Children with complete data were included in the analysis (n = 901). A questionnaire modified according to BEVQ-15 measured the intake of SSBs. Logistic regression was applied to determine the factors associated with the consumption of SSBs. IBM SPSS Statistics 23.0 was applied to perform all statistical analyses. (3) Results: The mean total amount of SSBs consumed on a weekly basis was 2214.04 ± 2188.62 mL. Children’s weekly pocket money, frequency of SSBs purchase, SSBs availability at home, the number of accessible supermarkets, and frequency of weekly visits to convenience stores were all found to be associated with a high intake of SSBs among all children. Among children of normal weight, the findings indicated that weekly pocket money, SSBs availability at home, and number of accessible supermarkets were associated with a high SSBs intake. At the same time, frequency of SSBs purchase, mother’s SSBs intake, and frequency of weekly visits to convenience stores were associated with a high SSBs intake among children with obesity. (4) Conclusions: Given the potential negative health effects of high SSBs intake, it is crucial to pay attention to home-related factors and community environment.

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Vulnerability Assessment of Ubiquitous Cities Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process

Future Internet ◽

10.3390/fi12120235 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (12) ◽

pp. 235

Author(s):

Muhammad Atiq Ur Rehman Tariq ◽

Cheuk Yin Wai ◽

Nitin Muttil

Keyword(s):

Analytic Hierarchy Process ◽

Information And Communication Technologies ◽

Natural Hazards ◽

Communication Technologies ◽

Analytic Hierarchy ◽

Information And Communication ◽

The Analytic Hierarchy Process ◽

Sustainable Services ◽

Hierarchy Process ◽

Insight Into

Urbanization is a challenge faced by most countries worldwide and leads to several problems. Due to rapid communication capabilities, conforming the megacities into Ubiquitous cities (U-cities) seems to be a potential solution to mitigate the problems caused by urbanization. Extensive reliance and dependencies of U-cities on information and communication technologies (ICTs) bring forth a new set of risks and vulnerabilities to these megacities. This research investigates the vulnerabilities of ICTs against man-made and natural hazards in a systematic way using the Analytic Hierarchy Process. The study identifies the vulnerabilities of different ICTs in U-cities and helps in improving the system’s resistivity against various hazards. The task is performed by evaluating the level of disruption on the different technologies and areas under the identified man-made and natural hazards. The research provides an insight into the working mechanisms of involved ICTs. It also helps to manage U-cities with more secure and sustainable services. The research identified that the new ICTs-based hazards have emerged and have become among the most influential hazards. The research has concluded that the vulnerabilities of U-cities are significantly different from that of conventional cities and need further studies to develop further understandings. The research recommends similar vulnerability studies for regional areas as well.

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Evaluation of a Mystery Shopper Intervention to Reduce Sales of Alcohol to Minors in Zacatecas and Guadalupe, Mexico

Journal of Drug Education ◽

10.1177/0047237920981776 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 004723792098177

Author(s):

Mallie J. Paschall ◽

Joel W. Grube ◽

Ted R. Miller ◽

Christopher L. Ringwalt ◽

Deborah A. Fisher ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Experimental Evaluation ◽

Middle Income ◽

Middle Income Countries ◽

Convenience Stores ◽

Quasi Experimental ◽

Mystery Shopper ◽

Low And Middle Income

We report the results of a quasi-experimental evaluation of a mystery shopper intervention in Zacatecas and Guadalupe, Mexico. Underage youth attempted to purchase beer at 50 Modelorama stores and 32 Oxxo stores (intervention groups), and at 19 comparison convenience stores in March, July, and August 2018. After each attempt, intervention store operators were informed if a sale was made. Modelorama operators also received training and were warned that repeated sales to minors could jeopardize their franchise. Average sales rates to minors were 63.8% at Modeloramas, 86.5% at Oxxo stores, and 98.2% at comparison stores. The findings suggest that mystery shopper interventions with training, feedback to store operators, and sanctions after repeated sales to underage youth may reduce sales to minors in low- and middle-income countries.

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Using point-of-sale data to examine tobacco pricing across neighbourhoods in Scotland

Tobacco Control ◽

10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2019-055484 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. tobaccocontrol-2019-055484 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Niamh K Shortt ◽

Helena Tunstall ◽

Richard Mitchell ◽

Emma Coombes ◽

Andy Jones ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Purchase Price ◽

Retail Outlet ◽

Point Of Sale ◽

Deprived Neighbourhoods ◽

Convenience Stores ◽

Neighbourhood Level ◽

Outlet Density ◽

Urban Rural ◽

Multivariable Regression ◽

Total Sales

ObjectivesTo assess the geographical variation in tobacco price (cigarettes and roll-your-own (RYO) tobacco) in convenience stores across Scotland and how this relates to neighbourhood income deprivation, tobacco retail outlet density and urban/rural status.MethodsTobacco price data from 124 566 shopping baskets purchased in 274 convenience stores during 1 week in April 2018 were obtained through an electronic point-of-sale system. These data were combined with neighbourhood-level measures of income deprivation, tobacco retail outlet density and urban/rural status. We examined brand price for 12 of the most popular cigarette brands and 3 RYO brands and variations in purchases by price segment; multivariable regression analysis assessed associations between area variables and tobacco price.ResultsMost stores sold tobacco in all price segments. The lowest priced subvalue brands were the most popular in all neighbourhoods but were most dominant in shops in more deprived neighbourhoods. When total sales were assessed, overall purchase price varied significantly by neighbourhood income deprivation; packets of 20 cigarettes were 50 pence (5.6%) lower and RYO 34 pence (2.7%) lower among shops in the two highest income deprivation quintiles relative to the lowest. Analysis of individual brands showed that for 3 of the 12 cigarette brands considered, average prices were 12–17 pence lower in more deprived neighbourhoods with the most popular RYO brand 15 pence lower. There was limited evidence of a relationship with tobacco retail outlet density.ConclusionAcross Scottish convenience stores, the purchase price of cigarettes and RYO was lower in more income-deprived neighbourhoods. The lower prices primarily reflect greater sales of cheap brands in these areas, rather than retailers reducing the prices of individual brands.

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Diversity minimization through part combination – a Portuguese railway infrastructure case study

Journal of Computational Design and Engineering ◽

10.1093/jcde/qwaa009 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 86-94

Author(s):

Diogo Rechena ◽

Luís Sousa ◽

Virgínia Infante ◽

Elsa Henriques

Keyword(s):

Economies Of Scale ◽

Product Family ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Added Value ◽

Small Scale ◽

Railway Infrastructure ◽

Sustainable Services ◽

Market Needs ◽

Design Diversity ◽

Requirement Changes

Abstract With increasing market needs for product and service variety, companies struggle to provide diversity in cost-effective ways. Through standardization of components with a low perceived added value, companies can take advantage of economies of scale while maintaining product diversity. Railway infrastructure managers face similar challenges of providing economically sustainable services while dealing with the costs of maintaining the system diversity. Typically, unintended design diversity stems from design practices in which existing solutions are not reused for new problems and new solutions are rarely planned considering the dynamics of requirement changes. In this paper we provide a methodology to assess how to standardize different designs to minimize design diversity and to assess design divergence in a product family. The developed methodology is able to take into account any set of standardization compatibility constraints that the user can define. The methodology was applied in the context of a small-scale railway infrastructure manager using a dataset of 223 unique designs of functionally similar components from its electrification system. Depending on the activated compatibility constraints, results indicate that over 60% of components can be reduced to a set of 86 unique designs.

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