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Objective: Negative reinforcement models suggest that negative affect should predict event-level substance use, however, supporting daily-life evidence is lacking. One reason may be an emphasis in ecological momentary assessment (EMA) research on use behavior, which is subject to contextual and societal constraints that other substance outcomes, such as craving, may not be subject to. Therefore, the present study tested momentary, within-person reciprocal relations among negative affect and craving for alcohol and cannabis in daily life. Method: Adults (N = 48) completed 60 days of EMA, consisting of four daily reports spanning 7 a.m.–11 p.m. assessing current negative affect and alcohol/cannabis craving. Preregistered analyses used dynamic structural equation modeling to test whether (a) within-person increases in negative affect co-occurred with within-person increases in alcohol and cannabis craving, and (b) within-person increases in negative affect predicted later within-person increases in craving (and vice versa), and (c) relations differed by substance use frequency. Results: Within-person increases in negative affect were contemporaneously associated with within-person increases in alcohol and cannabis craving. However, increases in negative affect did not prospectively predict increases in craving, and within-person increases in craving did not prospectively predict within-person increases in negative affect. Within-person relations were not moderated by substance use frequency. Conclusions: Negative affect and craving were associated in community adults. However, results advance a growing body of EMA work suggesting that the association of daily-life negative affect and substance use is, at best, not straightforward. Careful attention is needed to better translate existing negative reinforcement theory to the realities of daily life. Public Health Significance Statement: Negative reinforcement models of addiction suggest that negative affect should predict event-level substance use, however, supporting daily-life evidence is lacking, potentially due to an emphasis on use behavior, which is subject to contextual and societal constraints that other substance outcomes, such as craving, may not be subject to. Findings from the present study, however, suggest that within-person increases in negative affect were contemporaneously associated with within-person increases in alcohol and cannabis craving, but were not prospectively linked to one another throughout the day. Findings advance a growing body of EMA work suggesting that the association of daily-life negative affect and substance use is, at best, not straightforward, and careful attention is needed to better translate existing negative reinforcement theory to the realities of daily life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This report documents the development of the bus rapid transit information clearinghouse, which is a web-based informational tool on bus rapid transit systems. It may be accessed at the following website address: http://path.berkeley.edu/informationclearinghouse/. This web-based tool provides users with a comprehensive and organized first-stop way of performing bus rapid transit-related research and investigations. The initial version of the BRT Information Clearinghouse has three primary elements consisting of the Planning Support Tool, the Publications Database, and BRT Resources. The Planning Support Tool provides users directly with or pointers to information resources by walking users through the scope of a given situation and the nature of the issues being addressed to arrive at a set of resources to provide the necessary support. The Publications Database provides access to fully abstracted records of published and/or otherwise publicly available materials from professional journals, technical and trade magazines, academic publications, conference proceedings, technical reports, government documents, and links to related websites. Direct links to the documents (in PDF) are provided where available. In BRT Resources users will find access portals to BRT-related information including links for site-specific BRT systems around the world, BRT-focused websites, organizations, search engines and research databases, and technical information, assistance and training. We designed and administered a survey to transit industry professionals to review the Information Clearinghouse prior to its official release. Survey responses show that, overall, the Information Clearinghouse fills a gap in the set of informational tools that currently exist in the arena of bus rapid transit systems and that the Information Clearinghouse website is a valuable and useful part of this informational tool collection.

Over the past decades, novel parameter regionalisation techniques have been developed to predict streamflow in data-scarce regions. In this paper, we examined how the choice of gridded daily precipitation (P) products affects the relative performance of three well-known parameter regionalisation techniques (spatial proximity, feature similarity, and parameter regression) over 100 near-natural catchments with diverse hydrological regimes across Chile. We set up and calibrated a conceptual semi-distributed HBV-like hydrological model (TUWmodel) for each catchment, using four P products (CR2MET, RF-MEP, ERA5, and MSWEPv2.8). We assessed the ability of these regionalisation techniques to transfer the parameters of a rainfall-runoff model, implementing a leave-one-out cross-validation procedure for each P product. Despite differences in the spatio-temporal distribution of P , all products provided good performance during calibration (median Kling–Gupta efficiencies (KGE ′ s) > 0.77), two independent verification periods (median KGE ′ s >0.70 and 0.61, for near-normal and dry conditions, respectively), and regionalisation (median KGE ′ s for the best method ranging from 0.56 to 0.63). We show how model calibration is able to compensate, to some extent, differences between P forcings by adjusting model parameters and thus the water balance components. Overall, feature similarity provided the best results, followed by spatial proximity, while parameter regression resulted in the worst performance, reinforcing the importance of transferring complete model parameter sets to ungauged catchments. Our results suggest that (i) merging P products and ground-based measurements does not necessarily translate into an improved hydrologic model performance; (ii) the spatial resolution of P products does not substantially affect the regionalisation performance; (iii) a P product that provides the best individual model performance during calibration and verification does not necessarily yield the best performance in terms of parameter regionalisation; and (iv) the model parameters and the performance of regionalisation methods are affected by the hydrological regime, with the best results for spatial proximity and feature similarity obtained for rain-dominated catchments with a minor snowmelt component. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To foster poverty reduction in drought-prone Araucanía, the Chilean Irrigation Commission is planning an important expansion of irrigated areas. Scenarios incorporating climate change (2030–2059) were simulated for a pilot basin using the WEAP water allocation model, showing that larger irrigated areas, coupled with higher temperatures and less precipitation, are likely to cause severe seasonal water scarcity. As decision support for the planning of effective measures to increase drought resilience, we modelled the construction of two upstream reservoirs combined with higher irrigation efficiency. We find that unmet water demand can be reduced by up to 97.7% by these measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several letters to the editor is presented in response to the articles in the previous issues including "Northern Lights," by Pelle Noreth in the February 23, 2008 issue, "Innovation, Universities and Skills Committee review of Great Britain engineering," in the March 8, 2008 issue and one on Charles Curry's definition of an engineer in the February 23, 2008 issue.

Introduction: Rates of opioid overdose deaths (OOD) have increased since the introduction of illicitly manufactured fentanyl in the U.S. drug supply. Though community-based naloxone distribution efforts have been found to effectively reduce OOD, no studies to date have examined their effects during the fentanyl era, nor in the epicenter of a state's overdose crisis. Thus, the current study assessed the impacts of both fentanyl and of subsequent grant-funded community-based naloxone distribution on OOD across Missouri's St. Louis region., Methods: Medical examiner data includes individuals who died within one of the five study counties (St. Louis City, St. Louis County, and Franklin, Jefferson, St. Charles counties [combined as "Collar Counties"]) between 2011 and 2022 due to an opioid overdose (N = 6,799). Naloxone distribution date and location data came from Missouri's university-based naloxone distribution team. We conducted a controlled interrupted time series using an autoregressive model via proc ARIMA to examine changes over time in the rate of OOD associated with the introduction of fentanyl (defined to be present in 25% of opioid overdose deaths; June 2015) and the start of naloxone distribution for each location (August 2017, October 2017, and January 2018, respectively)., Results: The introduction of fentanyl into the drug supply of St. Louis City was associated with an increased rate of OOD over time (p < .001). Naloxone distribution in the City was associated with an immediate decrease in OOD (p < .001) followed by a slowed increase in OOD (p < .001). These findings were not replicated in St. Louis County nor the Collar Counties., Conclusions: The effects of fentanyl and naloxone on OOD varied by region in Eastern Missouri. Specifically, fentanyl and naloxone effects were only found in a high-need urban area with existing harm reduction and street outreach programs, but not in surrounding suburban or rural areas. State-level naloxone distribution decision-makers should prioritize funding harm reduction services in both urban and non-urban settings to help increase targeted naloxone distribution to those actively using drugs. Additionally, interventions tailored for people who engage in solitary drug use - such as safe consumption spaces and overdose detection technologies - should receive increased investment and implementation, particularly in rural areas where harm reduction infrastructure is more scarce., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: College students are at risk for alcohol misuse and those who participate in organized sports are at even higher risk. Family history of alcohol problems (FH) and impulsivity are well-documented risk factors for alcohol use outcomes, but no research has examined the role of organized sports participation in moderating these associations. This study examined the associations between FH, alcohol consumption and alcohol use disorder (AUD) symptoms, the role of UPPS-P (Urgency, Premeditation, Perseverance, Sensation Seeking, Positive Urgency impulsive behavior scale) impulsivity dimensions in mediating the association between FH and alcohol use outcomes, and whether these associations vary by students' organized sports participation., Method: Participants ( N  = 3,959, 64.7% female, 51.8% White; Mean age = 18.48 years, SD = .40) were recruited from a large, public university and completed an online survey in the fall and spring semesters of their first year in college. Path analyses were conducted in Mplus., Results: FH was associated with higher levels of alcohol consumption and more AUD symptoms. Lack of premeditation, lack of perseverance, and negative urgency partially mediated the associations between FH and alcohol consumption and AUD symptoms. The association between negative urgency and AUD symptoms was stronger for organized sports participants., Conclusions: Impulsivity dimensions are risk factors for both alcohol consumption and AUD symptoms and serve as important pathways for the transmission of risk between generations. Prevention and intervention efforts aimed at reducing problematic alcohol use should target impulsivity generally, and particularly negative urgency among college students who participate in organized sports.