Intra-growing season dry-wet spell pattern is a pivotal driver of maize yield variability in sub-Saharan Africa.

Climate variability plays a crucial role in the annual fluctuations of crop yields, posing a substantial threat to food security. Maize, the main cereal in sub-Saharan Africa, has shown varied yield trends during increasingly warmer growing seasons. Here we explore how sub-seasonal dry-wet spell patterns contribute to this variability, considering the spatial heterogeneity of crop responses, to map weather-related risks at a regional level.

Global Water Challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa and how to strengthen science-policy dialogues on transboundary governance and cooperation.

The United Nations Water Conference 2023 highlighted the need for concrete actions to boost integrated water resources management for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and called for strategies to enhance cooperation among stakeholders. Technical cooperation between countries and institutions in transboundary systems, e.g.

A decision support tool to enhance agricultural growth in the Mékrou river basin (West Africa).

We describe in this paper the implementation of E-Water, an open software Decision Support System (DSS), designed to help local managers assess the Water Energy Food Environment (WEFE) nexus. E-Water aims at providing optimal management solutions to enhance food crop production at river basin level. The DSS was applied in the transboundary Mékrou river basin, shared among Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger.

Identifying efficient agricultural irrigation strategies in Crete.

Water scarcity and droughts are a major concern in most Mediterranean countries. Agriculture is a major user of water in the region and releases significant amounts of surface and ground waters, endangering the sustainable use of the available resources. Best Management Practices (BMPs) can mitigate the agriculture impacts on quantity of surface waters in agricultural catchments.

Modelling water and nutrient fluxes in the Danube River Basin with SWAT.

This study provides an innovative process-based modelling approach using the SWAT model and shows its application to support the implementation of the European environmental policies in large river basins. The approach involves several pioneering modelling aspects: the inclusion of current management practices; an innovative calibration and validation methodology of streamflow and water quality; a sequential calibration starting from crop yields, followed by streamflow and nutrients; and the use of concentrations instead of loads in the calibration. The approach was applied in the Danube River Basin (800,000km), the second largest river basin in Europe, that is under great nutrients pressure.

Validation of the Artsana CSI 610 automated blood pressure monitor in adults according to the International Protocol of the European Society of Hypertension.

Background: There is evidence that blood pressure measurement outside the doctor's office can provide valuable information for the diagnostic evaluation of hypertensive patients and for monitoring their response to treatment. Home blood pressure monitoring devices have a major role in this setting, provided that their accuracy in measuring blood pressure is demonstrated by validation studies.

Objective: This study aimed at verifying whether the automatic electronic oscillometric blood pressure measuring device Artsana CSI 610 complied with the standard of accuracy indicated by the ESH International Protocol.