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Heavy alcohol use is a serious health issue in the United States with consequences such as illness, injury, and death. College students are among the most vulnerable to problems associated with risky drinking. This demographic is known as the Net Generation because members have grown up with digital technologies such as smartphones and apps. Thus, mobile health (mHealth) applications, successful in the delivery of health information and interventions to tech-savvy individuals, are a promising means of reaching them. To that end, we developed a smartphone application (SmarTrek) that targets college students and aims to reduce risky alcohol use. SmarTrek features are easy to use and have interactive components including text messages that incorporate motivational interviewing and ecological momentary interventions. We conducted iterative theater testing, field testing, and focus groups to evaluate the acceptability of SmarTrek with college students. We identified salient issues that might arise from SmarTrek use and modified the app based on feedback from participants. Participants were assigned to 2 groups (Group 1 [n = 4] and Group 2 [n = 6]). At baseline, participants completed 2 standardized surveys. Following their field testing, each group of participants was then invited to a focus group session of the app in which they provided feedback. The majority of participants (90%) agreed that SmarTrek was easy to use and that the information provided was useful and had a positive effect on decreasing their drinking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

The development of efficient and environmentally friendly photocatalysts is crucial for addressing global energy and environmental challenges. Perylene diimide, an organic supramolecular material, holds great potential for applications in mineralized phenol. In this study, through the integration of different mass ratios of unmodified perylenimide (PDI-NH) into the self-assembly of amino acid-substituted perylenimide (PDI-COOH), a novel supramolecular organic heterojunction (PDICOOH/PDINH) was fabricated. The ensuing investigation focuses on its visible-light mineralized phenol properties. The results show that the optimal performance is observed with a composite mass fraction of 10%, leading to complete mineralization of 5 mg/L phenol within 5 h. The reaction exhibits one-stage kinetics with rate constants 13.80 and 1.30 times higher than those of PDI-NH and PDI-COOH, respectively. SEM and TEM reveal a heterogeneous interface between PDI-NH and PDI-COOH. Photoelectrochemical and Kelvin probe characterization confirm the generation of a built-in electric field at the interface, which is 1.73 times stronger than that of PDI-COOH. The introduction of PDI-NH promotes π-π stacking of PDI-COOH, while the built-in electric field facilitates efficient charge transfer at the interface, thereby enhancing phenol decomposition. The finding demonstrates that supramolecular heterojunctions have great potential as highly effective photocatalysts for environmental remediation applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-term grazing alters soil resource availability and microbial biomass stoichiometry in grassland ecosystems. Exploring the relationship between soil stoichiometric imbalance and microbial carbon use efficiency ( CUE) in grazed desert steppe can help understand soil carbon dynamics from a microbial perspective. Based on a long-term grazing platform in Stipa breviflora desert steppe of Inner Mongolia established in 2004, taking heavy, moderate and light grazing intensities, using no grazing as a control, we measured soil available nutrients, microbial biomass and associated enzyme activities for their acquisition, and calculated soil microbial CUE using ecological stoichiometry. The results showed that grazing inhibited soil microbial CUE by 1.0%-- 10.3%. Soil C:N imbalance was significantly increased by 20.6% in the moderate grazing treatment, while both C:P imbalance and N:P imbalance were significantly increased by 20.7% and 25.2% in the heavy grazing treatment, indicating that soil microbial communities were more susceptible to N and P limitation. Soil microbial communities maintained their stoichiometric balance by regulating the threshold of elemental stoichiometry ratios and the production of extracellular enzymes. Structural equation modelling ( SEM) results indicated that stoichiometric imbalance indirectly affected microbial CUE by altering the threshold of elemental stoichiometry ratios, microbial biomass stoichiometry, and enzyme stoi-chiometry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Substance abuse in young adults is a public health issue with costs to the individual and society. There is mounting evidence that the increased uses of mHealth approaches have promise as a way to facilitate reductions in substance use. This systematic review evaluated the recent body of research on mHealth-based interventions for substance use, with aims of (a) examining the functionality and effectiveness of these interventions, (b) evaluating the available research on the effectiveness of these interventions for substance use, and (c) evaluating the design, methodology, results, theoretical grounding, limitations, and implications of each study. We identified eligible studies by searching electronic databases using Boolean methods. The reviewed studies (N = 12) indicated that that a wide range of Internet-based, text messaging, and smartphone application interventions have been developed to address substance use. Interventions had an assortment of features; participants in each study highlighted the ease and convenience of the interventions; and the majority of studies provided support for the efficacy of mHealth in reducing substance use. Mobile technology is a promising tool for reducing substance use and warrants further development. Future practice including the use of mHealth interventions can be an integral part of reducing substance use.