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In this study, we investigated the impact of three different perceived risk and environmental attitude on the fertilizer reduction behavior in vegetable production and the interplay between perceived risk and environmental attitude. We found that perceived economic risk can exert a significant and negative effect on farmers’ fertilizer reduction behavior (−0.39) and perceived social and psychological risks has a relatively weak negative impact with coefficients of −0.25 and −0.23, respectively. A more friendly environmental attitude can significantly and positively affect farmers’ fertilizer reduction behavior. Furthermore, environmental attitude has a moderating effect on the association between perceived risk and farmer’s fertilizer reduction behavior, but just significant for economic and social risk. In other words, a better environmental attitude could reduce the negative effect of perceived risk. This study promoted our new understanding of the risk perception’s impact on farmers’ behavior.

BackgroundCraving associated with drug-related memory is one of the key factors that induce the relapse of methamphetamine (MA). Disruption or modulation of the reconsolidation of drug-related memory may serve as an option for clinical treatment of MA addiction. This protocol proposes to use virtual reality (VR) to retrieve drug-associated memory and then use transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) at the neural circuit that encodes the reward value of drug cues to provide a non-invasive intervention during reconsolidation. We aim to evaluate the effectiveness of TMS treatment after VR retrieval on the reduction of cue reactivity and craving of MA.MethodsThis is a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled, parallel group trial, targeting participants with MA use disorder aged from 18 to 45 years old. Forty-five eligible volunteers in Shanxi Drug Rehabilitation Center will be recruited and be randomly allocated into three parallel groups, receiving either 1) MA-related cues retrieval in VR combined with active TMS (MA VR scene + TBS) or 2) sham TMS (MA VR scene + sham TBS), or 3) neutral cues retrieval in VR combined with active TMS (neutral VR scene + TBS). Two sessions of post-VR-retrieval TBS will be scheduled on two separate days within 1 week. The primary outcome will detect the memory-related activity by the electroencephalography (EEG) reactivity to drug cues in VR scenes. Secondary outcomes are the self-reported MA craving in VR scene, the physiological parameter (cue-induced heart rate) and the scores of psychological questionnaires including anxiety, depression, and mood. All primary and secondary outcomes will be assessed at baseline, 1-week, and 1-month post-intervention. Assessments will be compared between the groups of 1) MA VR scene + TBS, 2) MA VR scene + sham TBS and 3) neutral VR scene + TBS.DiscussionThis will be the first study to examine whether the TMS modulation after VR retrieval can reduce self-reported craving and drug-related cue reactivity. It will promote the understanding of the neural circuit mechanism of the reconsolidation-based intervention and provide an effective treatment for MA use disorder patients.Clinical Trial Registration[Chinese Clinical Trial Registry], identifier [ChiCTR1900026902]. Registered on 26 October 2019.

BackgroundIn recent years, much research has examined the effects of various interventions and treatments for smoking cessation. The results suggest that interventions targeting changes of nicotine content can help smokers reduce tobacco use or quit smoking. A number of clinical studies show that smokers who received an immediate reduction in nicotine content to very low levels have significantly greater reductions in the number of cigarettes smoked and toxic substance exposure compared to those with gradual reductions. However, from the perspective of smoking craving, whether the immediate and gradual reduction in nicotine content reduce smoking by reducing cravings needs further investigation.Methods74 eligible Participants were randomly allocated to one of the two experimental conditions: (1) immediate reduction to 0.1 mg of nicotine per cigarette (n = 40); (2) gradual reduction from 1.0 (0.8 g ~ 1.2 mg) to 0.1 mg of nicotine per cigarette (n = 34). All participants completed 1-week baseline period during which they smoked their usual cigarette, followed by 16-week of interventions. The primary outcomes included cigarette cravings and number of cigarettes smoked per day (CPD); secondary outcomes included the number of cigarette-free day and emotional states.ResultsAmong the 52 participants [51 (98.1%) men; mean (SD) age, 33.44 (6.71) years; mean (SD) CPD, 16.83 (9.94)] who completed the trial, significantly lower cravings for cigarettes were observed in the immediate (n = 25) vs. gradual nicotine reduction group (n = 27) in the morning (t = −2.072, p = 0.039) and after dinner (t = –2.056, p = 0.041). Compared with the baseline daily smoking, the number of cigarettes smoked per day was significantly reduced at the beginning of week 12 in the immediate nicotine reduction group (p = 0.001) and at week 16 in the gradual nicotine reduction group (p < 0.001). The number of participants with any cigarette-free day was not significantly different between the groups (p = 0.198). The number of cigarette-free days was significantly more in the immediate vs. gradual nicotine reduction group (p = 0.027).ConclusionsThe significantly lower cravings were observed in the immediate vs. gradual nicotine reduction group, and led to faster reduction in the number of CPD, and a significant increase in the number of cigarette-free days. These findings add to the evidence base for reduced nicotine content in cigarettes.Clinical Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: ChiCTR2100048216.

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