ALBERT

Description: The Chinese government projected 30% of total consumed potatoes as a staple food (PSF) by 2020. We comprehensively assessed the potential impacts of PSF on rice and flour consumption, rice and wheat planting, energy and nutrient supply, irrigation-water, chemical nitrogen (N), phosphorus pentoxide (P2O5) and potassium oxide (K2O) fertilizer inputs and total greenhouse gases (GHG) emission for potatoes, rice and wheat, by assuming different proportions of potato substitutes for rice and flour. The results showed that per capita, 2.9 ± 0.3 and 4.7 ± 0.5 kg more potatoes per year would enter the Chinese staple-food diet, under the government’s target. PSF consumed are expected to reach 5.2 ± 0.7 Tg yr−1, equivalent to substituting potatoes for 4.2 ± 0.8–8.5 ± 0.8 Tg yr−1 wheat and 5.1 ± 0.9–10.1 ± 1.8 Tg yr−1 rice under different scenarios. While this substitution can increase the nutrient supply index by 63% towards nutrient reference values, it may induce no significant effect on staple-food energy supply with lower chemical fertilizer (except for K2O) and irrigation-water inputs and GHG emissions in different substitution scenarios than the business as usual scenario. The reduction in rice and wheat demands lead to wheat in the North China Plain and early rice decrease by 6.1–11.4% and 12.1–24.1%, respectively. The total GHG reduction is equal to 1.1–9.0% of CO2 equivalent associated with CH4 and N2O emitted from the Chinese agroecosystem in 2005. The saved irrigation water for three crops compared to 2012 reaches the total water use of 17.9 ± 4.9–21.8 ± 5.9 million people in 2015. More N fertilizer, irrigation-water, and GHG can be reduced, if the PSF ratio is increased to 50% together with potato yield improves to the optimal level. Our results implied that the PSF policy is worth doing not only because of the healthier diets, but also to mitigate resource inputs and GHG emissions and it also supports agricultural structure adjustments in the areas of irrigated wheat on the North China Plain and early rice across China, designed to increase the adaptability to climate change.

Description: Background: Bullying victimization and its effect on symptoms of depression have received attention from researchers, but few studies have considered the potential mechanism. The aim of this study was to examine a moderated mediation model for the association between bullying victimization and depressive symptoms in terms of it being mediated by social anxiety, and investigated whether sleep duration would show moderating effects in this relationship. Methods: In this study, there were 2956 students, who completed three questionnaires, including a bullying victimization scale, as well as a social anxiety and epidemiologic studies depression scale. Results: Bullying victimization’s effects on depressive symptoms were mediated by social anxiety. Furthermore, sleep duration moderated the relationship between bullying victimization and depressive symptoms. Conclusions: The research contributes by clarifying the mechanisms underlying the relationship between bullying victimization and depressive symptoms.