Daily Values Research Articles

Toxic Metal Element Concentration in 31 Food Fishes from River Ganga: Risk Assessment on Human Consumption.

Consumption of toxic metal contaminated fish is a significant risk to human health. The Ganga river is one of the vital river systems in India, and it nurtures a rich biodiversity of flora and fauna. In the present study, screening of potential toxic metal elements (Cd, Cr, Mn, Cu, Pb, Ni, Zn, and As) was undertaken in 31 food fishes, especially the small indigenous fishes (SIFs) from the lower stretch of river Ganga by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The concentration of toxic metal elements varied among different fish species. Among the toxic metal elements studied, Cr, Zn, and As were found to be dominant in Eleotris fusca; Cd, Ni, and Pb were highest in Securicula gora; Cu was highest in Cabdio morar; and Mn was highest in Coilia dussumieri. The average pollution load index values (APLI) for all the fishes analyzed were less than one except for Eleotris fusca, which indicated no serious toxic metal element pollution load. The estimated daily intake values (EDI) for the toxic metal elements were found to be within the permissible maximum tolerable daily intake (MTDI). Among the fishes studied, only a few species showed hazard index (HI) greater than one, indicating non-carcinogenic health risks. Similarly, the target carcinogenic values (TCR) for most of the toxic metal elements were below the permissible limit (10-4) in the fishes that assures minimal cancer risk. This study provides a comprehensive data on the composition of potential toxic metal elements of 31 food fishes from the lower stretch of the river Ganga, the first of its kind, and suggests the necessity of periodic monitoring of these in the aquatic ecosystem.

A Spatial Risk Analysis of Springtime Daily Minimum Surface Air Temperature Values for Vineyard Site Selection: Applications to Pinot noir Grapevines throughout the Willamette Valley American Viticultural Area

A Spatial Risk Analysis of Springtime Daily Minimum Surface Air Temperature Values for Vineyard Site Selection: Applications to Pinot noir Grapevines throughout the Willamette Valley American Viticultural Area

Implementation of an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program at the Hospital and ICU Level of a Clinic in Sincelejo-Sucre

Objectives: In this retrospective observational study, the aim is to establish how the implementation of the use of antimicrobial stewardship programs at the hospital and intensive care unit level in a Sucre Clinic in Sincelejo has had a significant impact on the improvement of the rational use of antibiotics, due to the alarming situation of increasing antibiotic resistance. Materials and methods: The methodology used was to analyze the Excel database of the Clinic in such a way as to compare the data from 2017, the period prior to the implementation of the antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP), with the subsequent evolution between the years 2018 and 2022, in relation to the institutional records of four antibiotics—ceftriaxone3, ciprofloxacin4, meropenem5, and vancomycin6, measured in defined daily dose (DDD). Results: According to the defined daily dose values obtained for the four antibiotics, a reduction in the defined daily dose was identified in the post-implementation period. On the other hand, considering the DDD reported by the World Health Organization for each of the antibiotics, significant differences were verified in comparison with those obtained in the clinic in the hospitalization and intensive care unit services. Conclusions: In conclusion, in the clinic, a reduction in the defined daily dose was verified in the period after the implementation of the antimicrobial stewardship program compared to the previous period, both in the hospitalization and intensive care unit, as well as having a mild-to-large effect with Cohen’s D.

Variability of Ionospheric Total Electron Content Over Morocco During the Godzilla Sand and Dust Storm of June 2020

During sand and dust storm (SDS) events, atmospheric suspension and transport of sand and dust brings a reasonable amount of electrification in the atmosphere which plays a very important role in the atmosphere-ionosphere coupling. The Godzilla SDS began on 5<sup>th</sup> June 2020 in Algeria following a decrease in pressure and spread to other areas across the Sahara between 6<sup>th</sup> and 28<sup>th</sup> June 2020. Using SDS data from Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite mission and Vertical Total Electron Content (VTEC) data from four GNSS receiver stations: IFR1 (Ifrane Seismic), MELI (Melilla), TETN (Tetouan) and OUCA (Ouca) over Morocco, we investigate the possible ionospheric TEC variability over the four GNSS receiver stations during the Godzilla SDS event which was tracked using the Sentinel-5P Satellite mission. Solar wind parameters: Horizontal component of Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF-Bz), interplanetary Electric Field (IEF-Ey) and solar wind speed (V) and geomagnetic indices: Disturbance Storm Time (Dst) and Planetary K (Kp) indices were examined and showed very minimal geomagnetic influence during the period. We observed major ionospheric disturbances over the four Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver stations on 16<sup>th</sup>, 17<sup>th</sup>, 18<sup>th</sup>, 21<sup>st</sup>, 22<sup>nd</sup>, 23<sup>rd</sup> 25<sup>th</sup> and 26<sup>th</sup> June 2020: the period with the Sentinel-5P Aerosol Index (SAI) of more than 4 as recorded by the Sentinel-5P Satellite engine. The daily VTEC values over the four GNSS receiver stations recorded continuous electron density perturbations during these days. Apart from the ionospheric TEC perturbations, significant enhancements and decreases in daily maximum VTEC values over the four GNSS receiver stations were also noted. These were attributed to the changes in the atmospheric electric fields generated by the SDS event. The VTEC plots for each day exhibited similar trends, hence exhibited the same ionospheric dynamics. VTEC depletions of depths 3 to 6 TECU over all the four GNSS receiver stations were noted on 12<sup>th</sup>, 14<sup>th</sup>, 17<sup>th</sup>, 20<sup>th</sup> and 25<sup>th</sup> June 2020. Nighttime VTEC enhancements were also noted and majorly occurred between 20:00 and 21:00 UT on 9<sup>th</sup>, 13<sup>th</sup>, 15<sup>th</sup>, 17<sup>th</sup>, 19<sup>th</sup>, 20<sup>th</sup> and 21<sup>st</sup> June 2020. This was attributed to the development of the electron avalanche processes including dust and electron absorption or losses and the active conversion to electron dissociative attachment leading to electron excitation. In conclusion, the Godzilla SDS of June 2020 led to the electron density perturbations over Morocco.

Hazardous wildfire smoke events can alter dawn soundscapes in dry forests of central and eastern Washington, United States

As global wildfire activity increases, wildlife are facing greater exposure to hazardous smoke pollution – with unknown consequences for biodiversity. Research on the effects of smoke on wild animals is extremely limited, in part due to the inherent logistical challenges of observing how animals respond to smoke in real time. Passive acoustic monitoring may be a powerful tool to safely and effectively monitor biodiversity before, during, and after major smoke events. In this study, we used data collected from a large-scale network of bioacoustic recorders at 92 sites in central and eastern Washington state during August–September, 2019–2020 to investigate the effect of wildfire smoke on dawn soundscapes and, by extension, acoustically active wildlife. We used acoustic indices to document and characterize changes in soundscapes related to smoke exposure, including the Acoustic Complexity Index (ACI), Bioacoustic Index (BI), and Normalized Difference Soundscape Index (NDSI). Higher values of these indices likely indicate higher levels of biodiversity in our study area. We hypothesized that wildfire smoke would reduce bird vocalizations, leading to declines in ACI, BI, and NDSI at dawn, when birds are most active. We used linear and quantile regression models to test for an effect of daily exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), a marker of wildfire smoke, on the mean daily values and the upper 90th percentile of each index at dawn. We also conducted a before-during-after analysis of a particularly hazardous smoke event that impacted our study area on September 12–14, 2020. We did not observe linear effects of daily PM2.5 on average or peak daily values of acoustic indices; however, we did observe a significant reduction in ACI and BI during the three-day smoke event in 2020 and in the two weeks following this air pollution episode. Our results indicate that, on average, ACI and BI were reduced by 2.7 % and 15.9 % during and 1.5 % and 11.0 % afterward, respectively. These findings add further evidence that wildfire smoke alters soundscapes, likely due to changes in the presence, abundance, or behavior of acoustically active animals. Furthermore, our study demonstrates that wildfire smoke may have delayed and/or cumulative effects on acoustically active wildlife. Our study highlights the potential for passive acoustic monitoring to document wildlife responses to smoke pollution and identify potentially relevant exposure periods.

Calculation of Productivity Loss at Batching Plant Due to Production Decline

The Batching Plant owned by PT Semen Indogreen Sentosa was established in the Binjai-Langsa Section on the Trans Sumatera Toll Road Project specifically to handle the demand for ready-mix concrete in the project. However, several obstacles in the project have caused a decrease in production from the batching plant, necessitating an evaluation of productivity loss due to these issues. The productivity loss calculation was conducted by sampling one of the batching plants over a 1-month working period using three approaches/methods: Zink’s Method, Thomas Baseline Technique, and Ibbs Statistical Approach. The calculation results from these three approaches provided a range of minimum daily productivity values, which should be 4.40 w-h/m3 - 2.48 w-h/m3, which can then be used as a reference for evaluation purposes, claims, etc.

The Effect of Grass Juices on The Agricultural Properties of Legumes Grown in Different Root Media

The consumption of grass juices obtained from cereals for health purposes is increasing day by day. For this purpose, research on different plant solutions has gained momentum. In our study, barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and oat (Avena sativa L.) grass juices grown in hydroponic conditions were used. Obtained grass juices were applied to pea and lupine seeds in 100% soil (control), 100% pumice, 100% perlite, 100% tea waste and 100% cocopeat substrate. Germination percentage, germination rate, average daily germination, peak value, germination value, root dry and fresh weight, stem dry and fresh weight, root and stem length, plant yield, grass yield, plant yield seed rate, macro and micro (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Cu, Zn and Mn) mineral substance contents were investigated pea and lupine. Grass juices were obtained by mowing barley and oat seeds sown in 30 × 50 × 7 cm plastic tubs in ten days and passing them through a juicer. Pea and lupine 25 seeds, which were placed in each pot, were grown in different root media (100% soil, 100% cocopeat, 100% pumice, 100% perlite, and 100% tea waste) under in vitro conditions. 150 ml of water (control), barley grass juice, oat grass juice and barley + oat grass juice were applied to the seeds according to their subjects. The experiment was carried out in 400 pots with 10 replications x 2 species x 4 treatments x 5 media, according to the factorial fully randomised design. As a result of the research, germination physiology (germination percentage, germination rate, average daily germination, peak value and germination value), mineral substance content (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Cu, Zn and Mn), growth and yield parameters at (root dry and wet weight, stem dry and wet weight, root and stem length, plant yield, grass yield, plant yield seed rate) barley grass juice application was found to be more effective than other applications after control. In all parameters examined in the research, it was determined that the five different medias used as growing media followed the order of soil>cocopeat>pumice>perlite>tea waste, and after the control and the best growing medium was cocopeat.

Variation Characteristics and Source Analysis of Atmospheric Ozone Pollution in Guanzhong Region

Guanzhong urban agglomeration has a good development foundation and great development potential, and it has a unique strategic position in the national all-round opening up pattern. In recent years, the problem of near-surface ozone （O3） in the Guanzhong Region has become increasingly prominent, which has become a bottleneck affecting the continuous improvement of air quality. In order to effectively prevent and control O3 pollution, this study analyzed the characteristics of annual, monthly, and daily changes in O3 concentration in the Guanzhong Region based on the environmental monitoring data from 2018 to 2021. A geo-detector was used to study the driving factors of the spatial differentiation of O3 concentration, and the sources of O3 were analyzed using a backward trajectory model and emission inventory construction. The results showed that the daily and monthly variation in O3 concentration in the Guanzhong Region were unimodal. The daily maximum value appeared at 15：00, the minimum value appeared at 07：00, the peak value of the monthly average appeared in June, and the valley value appeared in December. The O3 concentration was highest in summer, followed by that in spring, and the lowest in winter. The days of O3 exceeding the standard showed mainly mild pollution, and moderate and above pollution showed a trend of decreasing first and then increasing. The O3 concentration in the Guanzhong Region was mainly closely related to precursors and meteorological factors, and the explanatory power of the interaction of each factor was significantly greater than that of any single factor. The regional transport of O3 concentration in the Guanzhong Region was mainly affected by easterly airflow, followed by the northwest direction, with the potential source areas located mainly in Henan Province and Hubei Province. The main local sources of volatile organic compounds （VOCs） were solvent use sources, process sources, and mobile sources, and the main emission sources of nitrogen oxides （NOx） were mobile sources and industrial production combustion sources. The research results have a guiding significance for O3 joint prevention and control in the Guanzhong Region.

Estimation of acceptable daily intake values based on modeling and in vivo mutagenicity of NDSRIs of fluoxetine, duloxetine and atomoxetine

Nitrosamine drug substance related impurities or NDSRIs can be formed if an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) has an intrinsic secondary amine that can undergo nitrosation. This is a concern as 1) nitrosamines are potentially highly potent carcinogens, 2) secondary amines in API are common, and 3) NDSRIs that might form from such secondary amines will be of unknown carcinogenic potency. Approaches for evaluating NDSRIs include read across, quantum mechanical modeling of reactivity, in vitro mutation data, and transgenic in vivo mutation data. These approaches were used here to assess NDSRIs that could potentially form from the drugs fluoxetine, duloxetine and atomoxetine. Based on a read across informed by modeling of physicochemical properties and mechanistic activation from quantum mechanical modeling, NDSRIs of fluoxetine, duloxetine, and atomoxetine were 10-100-fold less potent compared with highly potent nitrosamines such as NDMA or NDEA. While the NDSRIs were all confirmed to be mutagenic in vitro (Ames assay) and in vivo (TGR) studies, the latter data indicated that the potency of the mutation response was ≥4400 ng/day for all compounds-an order of magnitude higher than published regulatory limits for these NDSRIs. The approaches described herein can be used qualitatively to better categorize NDSRIs with respect to potency and inform whether they are in the ICH M7 (R2) designated Cohort of Concern.

Random Forest and Feature Importance Measures for Discriminating the Most Influential Environmental Factors in Predicting Cardiovascular and Respiratory Diseases.

Several studies suggest that environmental and climatic factors are linked to the risk of mortality due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases; however, it is still unclear which are the most influential ones. This study sheds light on the potentiality of a data-driven statistical approach by providing a case study analysis. Daily admissions to the emergency room for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases are jointly analyzed with daily environmental and climatic parameter values (temperature, atmospheric pressure, relative humidity, carbon monoxide, ozone, particulate matter, and nitrogen dioxide). The Random Forest (RF) model and feature importance measure (FMI) techniques (permutation feature importance (PFI), Shapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) feature importance, and the derivative-based importance measure (κALE)) are applied for discriminating the role of each environmental and climatic parameter. Data are pre-processed to remove trend and seasonal behavior using the Seasonal Trend Decomposition (STL) method and preliminary analyzed to avoid redundancy of information. The RF performance is encouraging, being able to predict cardiovascular and respiratory disease admissions with a mean absolute relative error of 0.04 and 0.05 cases per day, respectively. Feature importance measures discriminate parameter behaviors providing importance rankings. Indeed, only three parameters (temperature, atmospheric pressure, and carbon monoxide) were responsible for most of the total prediction accuracy. Data-driven and statistical tools, like the feature importance measure, are promising for discriminating the role of environmental and climatic factors in predicting the risk related to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Our results reveal the potential of employing these tools in public health policy applications for the development of early warning systems that address health risks associated with climate change, and improving disease prevention strategies.

The effect of PV generation's hourly variations on Israel's solar investment

Limited by sunniness and conversion efficiency, one installed MW of photovoltaic (PV) capacity can only produce ωt MWh of electricity in daytime hour t, where ωt = positive fraction that we call PV's hourly effective capacity (HEC). Based on a sample of commercially operating PV plants in Israel, HEC rises throughout the 08:00–11:00 period, peaks in the 11:00–14:00 period and then declines in the 14:00–18:00 period. Further, HEC values in spring and summer exceed those in autumn and winter, thus motivating our research question: do HEC variations by hour and season adversely affect the plans for and assessment of PV investment in Israel? An affirmative answer would cause concerns regarding Israel's announced policy of relying on increasing market penetration of PV generation transitionally supported by merchant natural-gas-fired generation (NG) to achieve a low-carbon electricity future. Hence, we propose a two-stage model of Israel's forthcoming Cournot wholesale electricity market with independent power producers (IPPs) operating PV and NG power plants. By comparing the model's solutions under alternative HEC scenarios, we find that the level of detail in modelling the HEC variations by hour and season does not materially affect the optimal PV and NG investments, thus lending support to the use of relatively simple models with only two daily non-seasonal HEC values to assess Israel's announced policy of deep decarbonization. Our methodology is general and real-world relevant because it can be readily adapted for applications in other regions with ample sunshine and wholesale electricity market competition (e.g., California, Texas and Australia).

Development of Augmented Reality-based Learning Media to Improve Students' Understanding of Moral Affairs Lessons in Class IX MTs

The product developed in this media is an Augmented Reality-based learning medium that is an application. Basically, Augmented Reality media is a software to create 3D image, video, text and audio devices into a program created.The study aims to determine the effectiveness and level of students' understanding of the material of faith to the last days using the Augmented Reality media. Research and development techniques, or simply "research and development," are employed in this kind of study. The development product validated by the media expert receives a 79% rating with a valid category, while the media validation receives a 97.5% rating with the highly valid category used. Samples from class IX students are then used, using one group pretest and posttest design patterns. Dick and Carey's nine-stage development design model is used. The daily repeat values before and after the therapy were the data, which were then subjected to t test analysis. The study's findings demonstrated the high degree of efficacy and comprehension of the augmented reality-based learning resources employed, particularly in the academic areas

Surface energy balance in a suburban area of the megacity of São Paulo - Seasonal variation and closure

The study addressed the seasonal variation and closure of the Surface Energy Balance (SEB) in a suburban area of the Megacity of São Paulo. This area consists of a combination of buildings and vegetation classified into local climate zone typologies 5 (38.5%), 6 (26.7%), and 8 (11.2%), along with areas exclusively with vegetation representing 12.1%. The investigation is based on high-quality measurements taken during February (rainy summer) and August (dry winter) between 2013 and 2015. The greatest seasonal variation was observed in latent heat flux, reaching 64.7% for daily values and 63.9% for daytime values. The smallest was observed by sensible heat flux, reaching 20.3% and 24.1%, respectively. This suggests that seasonal variation in temperature and humidity plays a crucial role in energy distribution, generating uncertainties in the closure of the energy balance. The largest difference between energy input and output was seen in August, reaching 25% for daily values and 45% for daytime values. The gap saw in closure is consistently larger in winter. The results contributed to improving understanding of energy exchanges in the surface-canopy-atmosphere system, being essential in the development of more correct meteorological and hydrological models.

Wpływ działalności antropogenicznej w dorzeczu górnego Dunaju na reżim temperatury wody Dunaju w Bratysławie

The man activity in the basin affects the water temperature in the increasingly higher levels (construction of water reservoirs, construction of thermal and nuclear power plants or drainage of waste water to streams). In this paper, we focused our attention on the evaluation of the impact of anthropogenic activity to increase the thermal load of the Danube River for the period 1926–2020 at the Bratislava (Slovakia) station. In the first part, the long-term trends of a series of monthly and annual water temperatures in the Danube (period 1931–2020) are identified. In the second part, the dependence of the range of daily water temperature values is analysed at the temperature of the atmosphere in Vienna. The impact of an increase in the temperature of the Danube water due to human activity was tried to identify for lower, average, and higher flows (for Danube discharge at Bratislava water gauge 1500 m3s-1, 2000 m3s-1, and 3000 m3s-1) by comparing two periods: 1932–1961, and 1991–2020. As the effect of water heating in the river stream is most noticeable during low flow (dry) periods and high air temperatures, only daily water and air temperature data from the warm months between May and September were used in the calculations. At monthly flow rates of 1500 m3s-1, the water temperature was, on average, 0.5°C higher during the period of 1991–2020 than it was during the period of 1932–1960. This growth could be attributed to human activities in the Danube basin above Bratislava (warming of water in the built tanks, the wastewater flow to the Danube flow, etc.)

A STUDY ON PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF 5 EQUITY GROWTH MUTUAL FUND SCHEMES IN INDIA

A mutual fund, which is another name for an investing business, is a type of financial instrument that pools the capital of multiple participants and uses it to purchase money market instruments and government securities. To put it simply, the management of the fund uses the funds raised to buy bonds and equities. The purchase of securities is known as the portfolio of the fund. Additionally, the investors split the revenue from this joint investment after subtracting any necessary taxes and levies. NAV is used to compute these costs and levies (Net Asset Value). The purpose of this study is to examine the performance of a five selective Indian mutual fund schemes during a three-year period from 2020 to 2023 using their daily Net Asset Value (NAV). The selected mutual considered for the study are private sector equity growth mutual fund schemes. The funds' performance is evaluated using the Sharpe index, Treynor index, and Jensen alpha, and the results will help investors make smarter investing decisions. The study aims to study the best performer among these 5 mutual funds i.e., HDFC, ICICI, AXIS, KVB and KOTAK MAHINDRA based on the study period. NAV = Value of Securities – Liabilities / No. of units outstanding shares) Keywords: Equity Growth Mutual Fund, performance, risk and return, banks in the private sector, Jenson's, Treynor's, and Sharpe's ratios.

Climate Classification for Major Cities in China Using Cluster Analysis

Climate classification plays a fundamental role in understanding climatic patterns, particularly in the context of a changing climate. This study utilized hourly meteorological data from 36 major cities in China from 2011 to 2021, including 2 m temperature (T2), relative humidity (RH), and precipitation (PRE). Both original hourly sequences and daily value sequences were used as inputs, applying two non-hierarchical clustering methods (k-means and k-medoids) and four hierarchical clustering methods (ward, complete, average, and single) for clustering. The classification results were compared using two clustering evaluation indices: the silhouette coefficient and the Calinski–Harabasz index. Additionally, the clustering was compared with the Köppen–Geiger climate classification based on the maximum difference in intra-cluster variables. The results showed that the clustering method outperformed the Köppen–Geiger climate classification, with the k-medoids method achieving the best results. Our research also compared the effectiveness of climate classification using two variables (T2 and PRE) versus three variables, including the addition of hourly RH. Cluster evaluation confirmed that incorporating the original sequence of hourly T2, PRE, and RH yielded the best performance in climate classification. This suggests that considering more meteorological variables and using hourly observation data can significantly improve the accuracy and reliability of climate classification. In addition, by setting the class numbers to two, the clustering methods effectively identified climate boundaries between northern and southern China, aligning with China’s traditional geographical division along the Qinling–Huaihe River line.

Bioaccumulation of heavy metals, assessment of carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health risk in various spices

Spices consumption is the main pathway for human exposure to certain environmental pollutants. This study was aimed to evaluate the concentration of heavy metals such as cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganes (Mn), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) in different parts of various spices samples in Arba Minch Ethiopia. The average levels of metals in white cumin, fenugreek, black cumin, turmeric, basil, cardamom, and coriander were varied in the range 0.35–1.8, 1.02–11.96, 1.69–32.19, 20.74–38.98, 7.38–26.01, 2.96–9.57 and 5.38–44.63 mg/kg for Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb and Zn, respectively. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the robust linkage between Zn, Cr, and Mn in PC1, Cu and Pb in PC2, and Cd and Fe in PC3 comprising 39.10 %, 25.72 % and 18.57 % of the total variance, respectively. The average daily intake values were calculated in the range 5.22 × 10–5–2.69 × 10–4, 1.52 × 10–4–1.78 × 10–3, 2.53 × 10–4–4.81 × 10–3, 3.09 × 10–3–5.82 × 10–3, 1.1 × 10–3–3.88 × 10–3, 4.42 × 10–4–1.43 × 10–3, and 8.18 × 10–4–6.66 × 10–3, for Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb and Zn, respectively. The target hazard quotient (THQ) and hazard index (except in white cumin and fenugreek) for heavy metals in various spices were lower than the acceptable limit of unity (THQ and HI <1). The carcinogenic risk values were in the acceptable threshold limit (1 × 10–6–1 × 10–4), indicating that consuming different spices in the studied area will not pose a potential health risk to human health.

Risk of Natural Hazards Caused by Extreme Precipitation in Poland in 1951–2020

Extreme precipitation of a minimum daily value of &gt;30 mm often initiates natural hazards such as floods, which in turn may not only lead to property damage but also present a danger to people’s health and lives. This paper mainly focuses on examining the trends and frequency of extreme daily precipitation (EDPr) in Poland. Also, it determines natural risk zones caused by EDPr of &gt;30 mm, &gt;50 mm, &gt;70 mm, and &gt;100 mm. In Poland, a significant positive trend was found for EDPr &gt; 30 mm, &gt;50 mm, and &gt;70 mm in September, and for EDPr &gt;100 mm in May. The most frequently recorded EDPr in Poland was &gt;30 mm, the frequency of which ranged from 0.04% in February to nearly 3% in July. EDPr of &gt;100 mm was recorded in 4 months, from May to August. An increase in the frequency of monthly EDPr in Poland occurred mainly in the southwestern and western parts. In Poland, three hazard zones of various frequencies of EDPr events were determined. In Zone III, which is in the southwestern and southern parts of the country, EDPr events occurred far more often than in Zone I; on average, four times more in the spring–summer season and slightly more than five times more in the autumn–winter season. The obtained results may help in the building of modern management and monitoring systems for the prevention of natural hazards caused by extreme precipitation.

Differences in perceived energy and macronutrient requirements across divisions in NCAA athletes.

Sports nutrition is an impactful component to sports performance. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the sports nutrition knowledge of National Collegiate Athletic Association collegiate athletes and assess self-reported perceived requirements for energy and macronutrient intake. A secondary aim was to evaluate the awareness of physical and emotional perceptions associated with mindful eating. Participants included NCAA Division I (DI, n = 45), II (DII, n = 31), and III (DIII, n = 47) athletes. Athletes completed a validated questionnaire designed to assess sports nutrition knowledge and were asked questions about their perceived dietary energy and macronutrient requirements. Daily energy intake values were calculated using a recommended relative energy intake value of 40, 50, and 60 kcal/kg/day for low, moderate, and high activity levels, respectively. Carbohydrate recommendations were calculated using 4, 6, and 8 g/kg/day, protein recommendations were calculated using relative intakes of 1.4, 1.6, and 1.8 g/kg/day, and fat recommendations were calculated from a relative percentage of total predicted daily energy requirements, equating to 15, 25, and 30% of daily energy. Additionally, athletes completed a questionnaire to assess mindfulness regarding eating habits. Overall, athletes answered 45.5 ± 13.5% of questions correctly on the nutrition questionnaire with significant differences observed between male (48.6 ± 13.6%) and female athletes (43.6 ± 13.2%; p = 0.044), as well as significant differences observed between DI athlete scores (38.8 ± 14.1%) and DII athletes (47.7 ± 11.4%; p = 0.002), and DI athletes and DIII athletes (51.71 ± 11.83%; p = <0.001). All athletes significantly (p < 0.001) underestimated daily energy intake requirements (female, 2,112 ± 575 kcal/day; male, 3,283 ± 538 kcal/day). The mindfulness eating habits total score was significantly higher in male athletes (65.1 ± 6.5) compared to female athletes (60.9 ± 9.5; p = 0.009). Division I, II, and III collegiate athletes have poor sports nutrition knowledge, with Division I athletes having exhibited lower scores compared to Division II and III athletes on the sports nutrition knowledge questionnaire. Athletes from all levels of collegiate sports underestimated their energy and macronutrient requirements. Differences in mindful eating habits among female and male athletes were also evident.

How Salty Is Too Salty? Designing Sodium Warning Label Policies to Identify High-Sodium Items on Restaurant Menus in the United States.

Two U.S. cities require chain restaurants to label menu items that exceed 100% of the Daily Value (DV) for sodium, informing consumers and potentially prompting restaurant reformulation. To inform policy design for other localities, this study determined the percentage of the top 91 U.S. chain restaurants' menu items that would be labeled if a warning policy were established for menu items exceeding the thresholds of 20%, 33%, 50%, 65%, and 100% of the sodium DV for adults. We obtained U.S. chain restaurants' nutrition information from the 2019 MenuStat database and calculated the percentage of items requiring sodium warning labels across the food and beverage categories at all the restaurants and at the full- and limited-service restaurants separately. In total, 19,038 items were included in the analyses. A warning label covering items with >20%, >33%, >50%, >65%, and >100% of the sodium DV resulted in expected coverage of 42%, 30%, 20%, 13%, and 5% of menu items at all the restaurants, respectively. At each threshold, the average percentage of items labeled per restaurant was higher among the full-service restaurants than the limited-service restaurants. These results suggest that restaurant warning policies with a threshold of 100% of the sodium DV per item would cover a minority of high-sodium menu items and that lower thresholds should be considered to help U.S. consumers reduce their sodium consumption.