Daily Amount Research Articles

Homogenous Climatic Regions for Targeting Green Water Management Technologies in the Abbay Basin, Ethiopia

Spatiotemporal climate variability is a leading environmental constraint to the rain-fed agricultural productivity and food security of communities in the Abbay basin and elsewhere in Ethiopia. The previous one-size-fits-all approach to soil and water management technology targeting did not effectively address climate-induced risks to rain-fed agriculture. This study, therefore, delineates homogenous climatic regions and identifies climate-induced risks to rain-fed agriculture that are important to guide decisions and the selection of site-specific technologies for green water management in the Abbay basin. The k-means spatial clustering method was employed to identify homogenous climatic regions in the study area, while the Elbow method was used to determine an optimal number of climate clusters. The k-means clustering used the Enhancing National Climate Services (ENACTS) daily rainfall, minimum and maximum temperatures, and other derived climate variables that include daily rainfall amount, length of growing period (LGP), rainfall onset and cessation dates, rainfall intensity, temperature, potential evapotranspiration (PET), soil moisture, and AsterDEM to define climate regions. Accordingly, 12 climate clusters or regions were identified and mapped for the basin. Clustering a given geographic region into homogenous climate classes is useful to accurately identify and target locally relevant green water management technologies to effectively address local-scale climate-induced risks. This study also provided a methodological framework that can be used in the other river basins of Ethiopia and, indeed, elsewhere.

Optimalisasi Keuntungan Penjualan Pada Usaha Pabrik Tempe Pak Bibit

Optimizing Sales Results Using the Simplex Method in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) for Tempe Production. Linear programming is a mathematical formulation method that employs linear equations to determine optimal values while maximizing or minimizing the objective function within certain constraints. In this study, linear programming is applied to SMEs engaged in tempe production, particularly at Tempe Pak Bibit SME. In their production process, SMEs often face challenges in determining the daily tempe production quantity and prioritizing production items that yield maximum profits. This research aims to provide valuable insights to assist the decision-making process in optimizing tempe production, achieving optimal production results, and maximizing sales profits for Tempe Pak Bibit SME. The results obtained through the simplex method indicate a cost of Rp. 749.454,5, with a production of 58 round-shaped tempe units and 4 square-shaped tempe units per production batch.

Optimal dietary protein level for the growth and metamorphosis of bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) tadpoles

This study investigated the effects of dietary protein levels on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, digestive enzyme activity, and metamorphosis rate of the bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) tadpoles. Seven isolipidic and isoenergetic diets were formulated with 24.61%, 28.49%, 33.74%, 37.50%, 44.06%, 48.39% and 53.92% crude protein. Triplicate replicates of tadpoles (growth stage 25 and 0.009 g) were fed with experimental diets two times daily for 11 weeks, and the daily feeding amount was 6.50% of the tadpole's body weight. Weight gain (WG), specific growth rate (SGR), the total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) and catalase (CAT) activity in the liver, the intestinal trypsin activity (TPS) and metamorphosis rate at stage 42 of bullfrog tadpoles all increased with increasing dietary protein level from 24.61% to 44.06% and then decreased. Based on the second-order polynomial regression analysis of the weight gain and metamorphosis rate at stage 41 vs. dietary protein level, the optimal dietary protein level for bullfrog tadpoles was 42.49% and 46.50%, respectively. In conclusion, the optimum dietary protein level of bullfrog tadpoles was estimated to be 42.49%–46.50% of the diet.

The Effect of Nutrition Label Type and Consumer Characteristics on the Identification of Healthy Foods in Finland

Front-of-package (FOP) nutrition labels are gaining importance as healthy eating nudge. As a European Union-wide FOP system is under discussion, it is important to examine the understanding of FOPs in various European countries. This study investigates consumer understanding of four FOPs (Heart Symbol, Keyhole, Nutri-Score, Guideline Daily Amounts) and associated consumer characteristics (age, gender, household income, health interest, unhealthy = tasty belief, environmental concern in food choice) in Finland. In an online experiment, 2428 participants ranked products (yoghurt or granola) according to healthiness first without, then with a randomized FOP. Heart Symbol appeared as the most efficient FOP in nutritional assessment of yoghurts. In granolas, Heart Symbol and Nutri-Score performed equally. FOPs were less helpful for older consumers in both product categories and for men in yoghurts. There is a connection between FOP understanding and consumer attitudes. The results contribute to public policy and food industry in FOP implementation.

Enhancing solar steam generation in hydrogel evaporator by bio-based microfluidic component

The hydrogel-based evaporator exhibits exceptional water activation capabilities, enabling it to surpass the previously established upper limits of evaporation rates in interfacial solar steam generation (ISSG). Although hydrogels possess a pronounced affinity for water, this characteristic could result in temporary expansion and heat loss, which hinder their capacity to sustain rapid and efficient evaporation over prolonged durations. Herein, polyacrylamide-based photothermal hydrogel with customized microfluidic components achieved long-term operation. The photothermal hydrogel showed high sunlight absorbance (∼95.5%) and its surface temperature spontaneously could reach 44.1 °C under one sun simulated irradiation (1.0 kW/m2). The efficient regulation of water transport was accomplished by Nafion-modified corn straw, i.e., a microfluidic component. This hydrogel-based evaporator demonstrated an increasing evaporation rate from 2.03 to 2.42 kg/m2/h during 12 h of continuous solar illumination. Notably, the microfluidic component resulted in controlled water transport enabling programmable adjustment of the hydrogel evaporator, allowing it to be reused multiple times in practical applications around the clock. The daily potable freshwater production amount reached 7.84 kg/m2/h in outdoor seawater desalination experiments. This research provides a paradigm approach to address freshwater scarcity on a global scale by using waste biomass to fully compensate for the shortcomings of hydrogels in ISSG systems.

Future projections of extreme precipitation in Tropical America and Panama under global warming based on 150‐year continuous simulations using 20‐km and 60‐km atmospheric general circulation models

AbstractThis study explores future changes in extreme precipitation across tropical America and Panama using 150‐year continuous experiments run on the Meteorological Research Institute atmospheric general circulation model at horizontal resolutions of 20 km (AGCM20) and 60 km (AGCM60). Tropical America is a warming hotspot where the mean seasonal precipitation amounts are decreasing, but annual maximum daily precipitation amounts are following an increasing trend. In Panama, future climates simulated using AGCM20 and AGCM60 show an increase in December–January–February (DJF) precipitation over eastern Panama, and a decrease in June–July–August (JJA) precipitation over western areas near the Pacific coast. Annual maximum daily precipitation increases on the eastern side of the country in both models. The mean annual maximum daily precipitation for tropical America shows decadal oscillations, similar to the global mean but with smaller amplitude variations. The mean annual maximum daily precipitation for Panama shows large oscillations, even for the 10‐year running mean. For tropical America, the mean annual maximum daily precipitation has a linear relationship with surface air temperature that is independent of the Representative Concentration Pathway scenarios, but this is not the case for Panama. Temporal correlations between the tropical America mean annual maximum daily precipitation and annual mean surface air temperature in the historical experiments have a geographical distribution similar to that of the sea surface temperature anomalies during negative El Niño/Southern Oscillation events, but not in the future experiments. The correlation between the Panama mean annual maximum daily precipitation and surface air temperature in both the historical and future experiments has a geographical distribution similar to that of the temporal correlation for the tropical America mean in the historical experiment. The annual maximum daily precipitation in Panama is projected to increase during negative El Niño events in the future, as observed in the historical climate.

Effect of sodium alginate-based superabsorbent hydrogel on tomato growth under different water deficit conditions

The main challenge facing agriculture today is water scarcity. At present, agriculture consumes around 70 % of the planet's freshwater, much of which is lost through evaporation, leaching and runoff. This wastage, combined with the increased frequency and severity of droughts linked to climate change, is having a considerable negative impact on crops. As a result, the food security of people living in regions with limited water resources is threatened. In this regard, efficient water management using water-saving materials and soil additives such as superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) are recognized as an effective strategy to boost water use efficiency by plants and improve agricultural productivity. The present study fits with this strategy and aims to investigate the effect of new sodium alginate-based hydrogel-treated sandy loam soil on seed emergence and growth of tomatoes as a crop model under different water-deficit stress levels. A set of pot experiments was conducted in a greenhouse chamber using sandy loam soil amended with two levels of hydrogel (0.1 % and 0.5 % by weight) along with untreated control, all under water-deficit stress at three levels: 30 % of the daily amount of required irrigation water (DARW) for different growing cycles (severe stress), 70 % DARW (mild stress), and 100 % DARW (normal irrigation conditions). The germination test showed the absence of phytotoxicity of the developed hydrogel and confirmed its suitability in protecting seedlings from drought stress. Greenhouse experiment results demonstrated that water stress and levels of applied hydrogel significantly (P < 0.05) affected plant growth parameters such as plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves, chlorophyll content, fresh weight, and dry weight compared with the treatments without SAPs. The developed sodium alginate-based SAPs showed relevant agronomical benefits under drought stress by retaining more water and nutrients, thus it had the potential to be used in agriculture for better water management along with significant environmental benefits.

Spatial distribution, source identification, and risk assessment of polychlorinated organic pollutants (PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs) in the sediments of the largest urban water supply area (Iznik lake) in the Marmara region, Bursa, Türkiye

Iznik lake is the biggest lake in the Marmara region, which is the most industrialized and populated area of Türkiye. The lake is one of Türkiye's most important water supply areas and is located nearby the Iznik district of Bursa, with a population of about 45,000. It is being used for irrigation and fishery production, but not for drinking water. In this paper, the distribution, pollution source, and risk assessment of polychlorinated dibenzodioxins/furans (PCDD/Fs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (DL-PCBs) in the surface sediments of Iznik lake and streams (both flowing to and flowing from the lake) were investigated. Six surface sediments collected from the lake and four surface sediments collected from the streams were analyzed in high-resolution gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HR/GC–MS) system in accordance with EPA 1613 and EPA 1668 methods. The concentration ranges of the ∑PCDD/Fs is 21.4 pg/g d.w. (inside the lake (IZ-6)) – 54.5 pg/g d.w. (Gülayağı stream (IZ-8)) and ∑DL-PCBs is 13.5 pg/g d.w. (inside the lake (IZ-3)) – 46.3 pg/g d.w. (Olukdere (IZ-7)) respectively, with 2.68 pg TEQ/g d.w. on average. The results showed that the high chlorinated (Hepta – Octa CDD/Fs) dioxins/furans and pentachlorinated PCBs (PCB 118 and 105) are dominant in the sediments. A detailed assessment of PCDD/F congener profiles observed in the lake sediments speculated that the wastewater discharges to the lake could be the main pollution source, while other sources such as open burning activities, runoff of pesticide residues from agricultural areas and atmospheric deposition may have some contribution also. The health risk assessment performed for polluted sediment demonstrated that, in the worst case, dioxin-like (PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs) concentration was a total intake of 0.37 pg TEQ/kg body weight/day, no exceeds the tolerable daily intake amount, where fish consumption accounts for nearly all of the total intake.

Optimizing economic management paths on consumer conformity psychology from a psychological perspective

BackgroundConforming consumption refers to the phenomenon that individuals, influenced by the behavior of external groups, exhibit a consumption behavior that conforms to public opinion or the majority in their perception, judgment, and understanding. It is a common phenomenon among most individuals. Blindly following can stifle individual motivation and creativity, so it is necessary to restrain the mentality of consumer conformity.Subjects and MethodsTo study the impact of optimizing economic management paths on consumer conformity psychology from the perspective of consumer psychology, a questionnaire survey was conducted on 60 consumers. According to the survey results, consumers were divided into a control group and a path optimization group. Based on consumer behavior, an analysis of consumer conformity was conducted.ResultsThere is a significant difference in the economic management methods between the control group and the path optimization group (P&lt;0.05). The average daily consumption amount of the control group is 110 yuan, while the average daily consumption amount of the path optimization group is 52 yuan, which is significantly lower than the control group. The frequency of herd consumption in the path optimization group is 2 times a month, while the frequency of herd consumption in the control group is 5 times a month.ConclusionsUnder different economic management paths, there are differences in consumer behavior, and optimizing economic management paths from the perspective of consumer psychology can effectively avoid excessive consumption.

Which adjustment methods are suitable for the wind-induced errors of Geonor T-200BM3 precipitation weighing gauges in a periglacial site?

Single Alter shielded T-200BM3 weighing precipitation gauges are widely used in the measurement of all precipitation types (rainfall, snow and mixed precipitation) in unattended boreal or alpine regions, but their original datasets must be adjusted for undercatch errors caused by wind in snowy, windy and harsh environments. Therefore, previous researchers have developed many adjustment methods for all precipitation types on different time scales. However, which adjustment method is suitable for T-200BM3 weighing gauge wind-induced error adjustment in harsh alpine regions is unclear. Therefore, precipitation measurement intercomparison experiments were conducted in the Qilian Mountains from July 2018 to July 2021, and eight adjustment methods; were evaluated for wind-induced errors for daily, individual precipitation event, hourly, and half-hourly time scales. Z2004 outperformed the other adjustment methods in regard to the daily measurements of snow and mixed precipitation. Regarding individual snowfall events, M2007 reduced the absolute value of RMSE (bias) from 1.44 to 1.32 mm (0.77–0.24 mm) and could be recommended for snowfall event adjustment. K2017-1 attained a better performance than K2017-2 in regard to half-hourly snowfall and mixed sample adjustment and was more suitable for half-hourly snowfall sample adjustment. K2017-1 reduced the absolute value of bias from 0.07 to 0.00 mm for snowfall. Finally, Z2004, M2007, and K2017-1 yielded better adjustment results for the daily accumulation precipitation amount (>2 mm d−1), individual snowfall events (>2 mm per event), and half-hourly accumulation snowfall or mixed samples (>1 mm 30 min−1), respectively. However, further intercomparison in different climate regions is needed for trace precipitation samples.

Formulation of anti-malaria capsules based on the fruit of Picralima nitida (Stapf) T. Durand and H. Durand (Apocynaceae

Malaria is a parasitic disease that is widely spread throughout the world. The annual number of cases is estimated at around 500 million; the African continent is the most affected, accounting for 95% of cases. For the treatment, WHO recommends artemisinin-based combinations; unfortunately, the cost of these combinations is relatively high, making them difficult to afford. This justifies the search for new antimalarial drugs. A large number of plant species in Cameroon have been identified as anti-malarial medicinal plants. Picralima nitida is one of the plants traditionally used to treat malaria in traditional medicine, and its in vitro and in vivo antimalarial activity and toxicological profile have already been scientifically demonstrated. The aim of the present study was to formulate capsules based on the aqueous extract of Picralima nitida fruit, in an attempt to rationalize its use in the treatment of malaria. The aqueous extract of Picralima nitida fruit was prepared by maceration and then stabilized; its physicochemical characteristics were determined. The daily quantity of extract required for the treatment of malaria was determined in milligrams of total alkaloids. Finally, the extract was stabilized before being filled into capsules using European pharmacopoeia techniques. The capsules were also tested according to European Pharmacopoeia 11th edition techniques. The extract was obtained in 6.25% yield. The extract was soft, hygroscopic, brown in color, very bitter in flavor and caramel in odor. The following phytochemical groups were present in the extract: alkaloids, phenolic compounds, flavonoid tannins, anthocyanins, saponins, terpenes, sterols. Total alkaloid content was 0.11g per gram of extract. To stabilize the extract and make it suitable for capsule filling, 25% colloidal silica and 13% microcrystalline cellulose were added. The stabilized extract showed good flowability (flow time 6s, Carr index 11.8% and Hausner index 1.13), a moderately fine powder texture (d50 &lt; 300um) and homogeneous distribution. The daily dose determined for a 60 kg adult was 3900mg of extract, corresponding to 313 mg of total alkaloids, which could be divided into 8 N°0 or 12 N°00 capsules. On inspection, the capsules were found to comply with the requirements of the 11th edition of the European Pharmacopoeia. The characteristics of the formulated capsules are favorable to make them a good candidate for the various phases of clinical trials with a view to making them an improved traditional medicine (ITM)

Fine as a type of disciplinary penalty against prisoners of war

The article examines national legislation and international legal acts operating in the field of international humanitarian law, in particular, regarding the treatment of prisoners of war. It has been emphasized that in the modern legal science of Ukraine there are no relevant scientific works devoted to the study of issues of bringing prisoners of war to disciplinary responsibility.&#x0D; Emphasis is placed on the fact that the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War of 1949, in the conditions of martial law in our country, played an important role, determined the need and became the basis for the creation of appropriate national legislation regulating social relations in this area.&#x0D; It has been established that the legal position of prisoners of war is not the same and depends on their military rank, in particular, this is clearly expressed, for example, when they are recruited to work, brought to disciplinary responsibility, etc.&#x0D; It has been found that the fine, as a disciplinary sanction that can be applied to prisoners of war, from the point of view of its content and method of presentation, is characterized by its incomprehensibility, uncertainty and lack of terms used in its description in the national legislation. It has been concluded that the domestic legislator almost completely adopted (copied) this regulatory provision from the international legal act, without taking into account the realities and specifics of domestic legislation. In this regard, concerns have been expressed about its possible practical application in the form in which it currently exists.&#x0D; It has been established that the fine for prisoners of war, in contrast to convicts, is assigned according to the system of penalty days, and consists in assigning to the prisoner of war the daily amount of the fine, determined in accordance with the legislation in the national currency of Ukraine. A clearly defined number of days (term), during which he or she is obliged to pay the corresponding amount of money has been set.&#x0D; Emphasis is placed on the imperfection of national legislation, in particular, in the part of defining and applying fines to prisoners of war, on the basis of which the author has proposed appropriate changes and additions to it.

An association between auditory responsiveness of children and duration of entertainment screen time in the early years of life

Objective To examine whether the responsiveness of young children to simple sounds was associated with entertainment screen time (EST), opportunities for social interaction, and social and communication skills. Design Parents completed a questionnaire covering, for years one and two, the number of times the child met with other children; the number of words the child spoke; and the daily amount of EST. Social, attention and communication skills were assessed. Study sample Participants were 118 children, aged 15 to 46 months. They were initially assessed behaviourally using simple sounds. Children who responded to such sounds were denoted the Responsive group. Children who did not were assessed using familiar songs and denoted the Unresponsive group. Results The two groups did not differ significantly in mean age or the number of opportunities to meet other children. The Unresponsive group had significantly fewer words than the Responsive group at 12 and 24 months and had significantly higher EST than the Responsive group for years 1 and 2. The Unresponsive group showed lower social, attention and communication skills than the Responsive group. Conclusions High EST was associated with poorer auditory and social skills. Hence, it may be wise to limit the EST of young children.

State Of Play On The Management Of Solid Biomedical Waste At The Barumbu Mother And Child Hospital Center And Medical Services Center In The City Of Kinshasa In DR Congo

Objective: To evaluate the management of solid bio-medical waste (BMW) at the Barumbu Mother and Child Hospital (MCH) and Medical Services Center.Methods: Transversal descriptive study made from May 19 to July 19, 2023. Of the 417 questionnaires distributed to providers, 272 responses were obtained, representing a response rate of 65.2%. Data collection was done by survey questionnaire, direct observations and daily weighing. Data analysis is done by Epi-info 7.2.5 and Excel 2016 software.Results: The average estimated daily amounts of BMW at MCH Barumbu and Medical Services Center are 0.45 kg/bed and 0.97 kg/bed, respectively. The sorting was not suitable at 65%, lack of packaging and color code. The insufficiency of material resources was criticized at 88%. 55.5% of accidents/injuries were recorded. The storage area was not secure. 88.97% of staff were unaware of management standards, 99.3% were aware of the health risks associated with hospital waste and 13.97 were trained. It is noted that the financial resources allocated to the management of BMW are insufficient.Conclusion: Improving the management of BMW inevitably requires the removal of constraints that would require the involvement of managers at all levels.

Ambient carbon monoxide and relative risk of daily hospital outpatient visits for respiratory diseases in Lanzhou, China.

At present, evidence of the associations between carbon monoxide (CO) and respiratory diseases (RD) in Northwest China is limited and controversial. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of ambient CO on outpatient visits for RD in Lanzhou, China. The daily amount of outpatient visits for total and cause-specific RD, air pollutant, and weather variables were collected in Lanzhou, China from 1st January 2013 to 31st December 2019. A generalized additive model and distributed lag nonlinear model were used to assess associations between CO and outpatient visits for RD. During the study period, a total of 1,623,361 RD outpatient visits were recorded. For each interquartile range (IQR) (0.77mg/m3) increase in CO, the relative risk (RR) was 1.163 (95% CI: 1.138, 1.188) for total RD at lag07, 1.153 (95% CI: 1.128,1.179) for upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) at lag07, 1.379 (95% CI: 1.338,1.422) for pneumonia at lag07, 1.029 (95% CI: 0.997,1.062) for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) lag04, 1.068 (95% CI: 1.028,1.110) for asthma lag03, and 1.212 (95% CI: 1.178,1.247) for bronchitis lag07, respectively. In the subgroup analyses, the impacts of CO were more pronounced on total RD, pneumonia, COPD, and bronchitis in males than females, while the opposite was true in URTI and asthma. The impact of CO on RD was the strongest for children under 15years-of-age. We also found significantly stronger effects during cold seasons compared to warm seasons. In addition, we observed a roughly linear exposure-response curve between CO and RD with no threshold effect. This study in Lanzhou revealed a remarkable association between CO level and an elevated risk of total and cause-specific RD outpatient visits, especially for pneumonia.

Consumer preference for nutrition front-of-pack-label formats in India: Evidence from a large-scale experimental survey

Global policy discourse emphasizes placing front-of-pack nutrition labels (FOPLs) on packaged foods, but debates continue to rage on the appropriate format. There are two key types of label formats, summary and informative. In developing countries, with mixed to low levels of education, it is advised that FOPLs need to be easily identifiable, understandable, and can influence purchase decisions. In this context, we tested the suitability of five FOPL formats in India through a randomized experimental design survey. Respondents were allocated to different groups representing the FOPLs and controls. A 15-treatment and 1 control cell between-subjects design was used for the study. Surveys were conducted on the field through face-to-face interactions with a total of 20,564 participants from all over India across regions, genders, age groups, and education levels. The results, which were validated using sub-sample tests, suggest that summary formats of Health Star Ratings and Warning Labels ranked higher on ease of identification and understanding and were also able to influence purchase intentions as compared to informative labels such as Multiple Traffic Lights, monochrome Guideline Daily Amounts, and Nutriscore. Our analysis reveals that summary FOPLs are more useful in influencing healthier food choices as compared to informative FOPL formats. The study's insights can help regulators design a policy that empowers consumers and nudges food brands toward healthier product reformulations.

Vegan Diet in Dermatology: A Review.

Diet is known to play a role in the development of skin disorders. While a vegan diet is frequently described as a risk factor for skin disease secondary to nutritional deficiency, this risk may be overestimated. This review aims to debunk myths and provide information on skin disorders and inflammatory skin conditions that have associations with specific nutritional deficiencies in the context of a vegan diet. A literature search was performed for each nutrient and inflammatory skin disease using the PubMed/MEDLINE database and public health website pages concerning a vegan diet. The literature has individual cases reporting skin disease due to deficiencies in vitamin B2 and vitamin A in patients following a vegan diet. The recommended daily amounts of nutrients and vitamins can be fulfilled on a vegan diet. Vegan diets also avoid food groups such as dairy and other animal-based products, which holds benefits in inflammatory skin diseases including acne, psoriasis, hidradenitis suppurativa, and atopic dermatitis. Overall, the risk of skin disease secondary to nutritional deficiency in patients following a vegan diet is very low and likely over-emphasized. A well-balanced and conscientiously planned vegan diet can adequately provide the necessary amounts of proteins, vitamins, and minerals to support skin health.

A stacked ensemble learning and non‐homogeneous hidden Markov model for daily precipitation downscaling and projection

AbstractGlobal circulation models (GCMs) are routinely used to project future climate conditions worldwide, such as temperature and precipitation. However, inputs with a finer resolution are required to drive impact‐related models at local scales. The non‐homogeneous hidden Markov model (NHMM) is a widely used algorithm for the precipitation statistical downscaling for GCMs. To improve the accuracy of the traditional NHMM in reproducing spatiotemporal precipitation features of specific geographic sites, especially extreme precipitation, we developed a new precipitation downscaling framework. This hierarchical model includes two levels: (1) establishing an ensemble learning model to predict the occurrence probabilities for different levels of daily precipitation aggregated at multiple sites and (2) constructing a NHMM downscaling scheme of daily amount at the scale of a single rain gauge using the outputs of ensemble learning model as predictors. As the results obtained for the case study in the central‐eastern China (CEC), show that our downscaling model is highly efficient and performs better than the NHMM in simulating precipitation variability and extreme precipitation. Finally, our projections indicate that CEC may experience increased precipitation in the future. Compared with ~26 years (1990–2015), the extreme precipitation frequency and amount would significantly increase by 21.9%–48.1% and 12.3%–38.3%, respectively, by the late century (2075–2100) under the Shared Socioeconomic Pathway 585 climate scenario.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Affecting Drinking in Daily Life

ABSTRACT More research is needed on the effects of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills on alcohol use. Even less is known about how the use of DBT skills affects drinking in the daily lives of individuals receiving treatment. The present study aims to examine the effects of DBT skills on daily quantity of drinks consumed using DBT diary cards. Forty-eight participants were recruited from a partial hospitalization program. DBT skill domains and daily quantity of drinks consumed were measured using the program’s DBT diary card. Multilevel modeling procedures were used to examine the effects of each DBT skills domain and total DBT skills used on the same and next-day quantity of drinks consumed when controlling for age and length of stay. Previous-day mindfulness skills were the only predictor to achieve significance when applying a p-value correction. Prior to a p-value correction same-day emotion regulation and distress tolerance skills were associated with decreases in drinking. Individual DBT skills may be associated with decreases in drinking behaviors and more research is needed to examine them as mechanisms of behavior change.

Salt content of prepacked cereal-based products and their potential contribution to salt intake of the Italian adult population: Results from a simulation study

Background and aimsHigh sodium intake is one of the main risk factors for noncommunicable diseases, and its consumption should be reduced. This study aimed to simulate changes in the daily salt intake of the Italian adult population based on consumption scenarios of prepacked cereal-based foods sold in Italy. Methods and resultsInformation on food packages was retrieved from 2893 cereal-based products. Potential changes in salt intake were simulated based on food consumption scenarios that consider the daily consumption of cereal-based products suggested in the Italian Dietary Guidelines and their current daily consumption by Italian adults. The highest salt content was retrieved in bread (median, 25th–75th percentile: 1.3, 1.1–1.4 g/100 g) and bread substitutes (1.8, 1.0–2.2 g/100 g). If the suggested daily amounts were consumed, bread would contribute to 44% of the 5 g salt/day target, whereas bread substitutes, breakfast cereals, biscuits and sweet snacks would marginally contribute (1–2%). Compared to bread with median salt content, a −44% and +10% salt intake would be observed if products within the first and the last quartile of salt content were chosen, respectively. However, considering the actual intake of Italian consumers, bread would cover 25% and bread substitutes 7% of the daily salt target. ConclusionFood labels have a pivotal role and efforts are required to encourage consumers to use them to make healthy choices. Moreover, these results may contribute to setting sodium benchmarks in cereal-based products and encourage the food industry to reduce the salt content in the products.