Development of a gratitude intervention model and investigation of the effects of such a program on employee well-being, engagement, job satisfaction and psychological capital.

Background: In a demanding working life, it is important to determine how individuals can thrive at work. In a previous study we investigated whether a program of gratitude interventions can increase psychological wellbeing, engagement, job satisfaction, and psychological capital showing promising results.

The Objective: of the present study was to present the development of a manager coached group intervention program related to gratitude at workplaces and to investigate the effects of such a program on the same variables.

A systematic benchmarking framework for future assessments of soil health: An example from Denmark.

Based on current evidence and established critical thresholds for soil degradation indicators, it is concerning that over 60-70% of European soils are unhealthy due to unsustainable management and the impact of climate change. Despite European and national efforts to improve soil health, significant gaps remain. The proposal for a Soil Monitoring and Resilience Law, to be implemented by the European Union, seeks to establish a framework for soil monitoring and promote sustainable management practices to achieve healthy soils by 2050.

Urban birds' tolerance towards humans was largely unaffected by COVID-19 shutdown-induced variation in human presence.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and respective shutdowns dramatically altered human activities, potentially changing human pressures on urban-dwelling animals. Here, we use such COVID-19-induced variation in human presence to evaluate, across multiple temporal scales, how urban birds from five countries changed their tolerance towards humans, measured as escape distance. We collected 6369 escape responses for 147 species and found that human numbers in parks at a given hour, day, week or year (before and during shutdowns) had a little effect on birds' escape distances.

Stability of R-phycoerythrin from Furcellaria lumbricalis - Dependence on purification strategies and purity.

R-phycoerythrin (R-PE) is the most abundant, naturally occurring phycobiliproteins found in red algae. The spectroscopic and structural properties of phycobiliproteins exhibit unique absorption characteristics with two significant absorption maxima at 498 and 565 nm, indicating two different chromophores of R-PE, phycourobilin and phycoerythrobilin respectively. This study aimed to clarify how the stability of R-PE purified from F.

Reactions of wintering passerines to male calls of the European cuckoo Cuculus canorus.

The reaction of birds to the nest parasite, the European cuckoo Cuculus canorus, has been the subject of extensive testing in various aspects. However, while the cuckoo is a long-distance migrant, some of its hosts are sedentary species. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether species, primarily hosts, react to the presence of the cuckoo also in the winter season.

Trends in Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair Incidence, Comorbidity, Treatment, and Mortality: A Danish Nationwide Cohort Study, 1996-2018.

Background: Significant changes in Western populations' abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) epidemiology have been reported following the introduction of screening, endovascular AAA repair, and reduced tobacco consumption. We report incidence and mortality of AAA repair in Denmark from 1996 to 2018, where AAA screening was not implemented.

Methods: Nationwide cohort study of prospective data from population-based Danish registries covering 1996 to 2018.

Dense city centers support less evolutionary unique bird communities than sparser urban areas.

Urbanization alters avian communities, generally lowering the number of species and contemporaneously increasing their functional relatedness, leading to biotic homogenization. Urbanization can also negatively affect the phylogenetic diversity of species assemblages, potentially decreasing their evolutionary distinctiveness. We compare species assemblages in a gradient of building density in seventeen European cities to test whether the evolutionary distinctiveness of communities is shaped by the degree of urbanization.

Metal-Organic Framework Glass as a Functional Filler Enables Enhanced Performance of Solid-State Polymer Electrolytes for Lithium Metal Batteries.

Polymers are promising candidates as solid-state electrolytes due to their performance and processability, but fillers play a critical role in adjusting the polymer network structure and electrochemical, thermal, and mechanical properties. Most fillers studied so far are anisotropic, limiting the possibility of homogeneous ion transport. Here, applying metal-organic framework (MOF) glass as an isotropic functional filler, solid-state polyethylene oxide (PEO) electrolytes are prepared.

Host space, not energy or symbiont size, constrains feather mite abundance across passerine bird species.

Comprehending symbiont abundance among host species is a major ecological endeavour, and the metabolic theory of ecology has been proposed to understand what constrains symbiont populations. We parameterized metabolic theory equations to investigate how bird species' body size and the body size of their feather mites relate to mite abundance according to four potential energy (uropygial gland size) and space constraints (wing area, total length of barbs and number of feather barbs). Predictions were compared with the empirical scaling of feather mite abundance across 106 passerine bird species (26,604 individual birds sampled), using phylogenetic modelling and quantile regression.

Variation in bill surface area is associated with local climatic factors across populations of the plain laughingthrush.

Recent studies have found that avian bill and tarsus morphology may have evolved in response to climatic conditions, and these organs play important roles in thermoregulation and water retention in extreme environments. Here, we examined whether bill surface area and tarsus length were associated with climatic conditions in the plain laughingthrush, , which mainly occurs in north China and occupies several climatic zones from east to west. We measured bill surface area and tarsus length in 321 adults from 11 populations, almost encompassing all habitat types of the species.

To Flee or Not to Flee: How Age, Reproductive Phase, and Mate Presence Affect White Stork Flight Decisions.

Recognizing, assessing, and responding to threats is critical for survival in the wild. Birds, especially in their role as parents, must decide whether to flee or delay flight when threatened. This study examines how age, reproductive stage, and the presence of a mate influence flight initiation distance (FID) and nest recess duration in white storks.

A survey of preferences for respiratory support in the intensive care unit for patients with acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure.

Background: When caring for mechanically ventilated adults with acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure (AHRF), clinicians are faced with an uncertain choice between ventilator modes allowing for spontaneous breaths or ventilation fully controlled by the ventilator. The preferences of clinicians managing such patients, and what motivates their choice of ventilator mode, are largely unknown. To better understand how clinicians' preferences may impact the choice of ventilatory support for patients with AHRF, we issued a survey to an international network of intensive care unit (ICU) researchers.

In vitro protein digestibility of RuBisCO from alfalfa obtained from different processing histories: Insights from free N-terminal and mass spectrometry study.

Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate-carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO) from alfalfa is a potentially climate-friendly alternative protein with a promising amino acid composition. The balance between yield and purity is a challenge for alternative plant proteins, partly due to the naturally occurring antinutrients. Therefore, measuring the in vitro protein digestibility (IVPD) of RuBisCO with various purity levels is of interest.

Unleashing the sequestration potential of soil organic carbon under climate and land use change scenarios in Danish agroecosystems.

Future global climate changes are expected to increase soil organic carbon (SOC) decomposition. However, the combined effect of C inputs, land use changes, and climate on SOC turnover is still unclear. Exploring this SOC-climate-land use interaction allows us to understand the SOC stabilization mechanisms and examine whether the soil can act as a source or a sink for CO.

Defensive tolerance to parasitism is correlated with sexual selection in swallows.

Parasite-mediated sexual selection has been the topic of extensive research and enthusiastic debate for more than three decades. Here, we suggest that secondary sexual characters may not only signal parasite resistance but also defensive tolerance. We exemplify this possibility by analysing information on two sexually selected traits, annual reproductive success, and ectoparasitism in a barn swallow Hirundo rustica population followed for more than 30 years.

The effect of climate change on avian offspring production: A global meta-analysis.

Climate change affects timing of reproduction in many bird species, but few studies have investigated its influence on annual reproductive output. Here, we assess changes in the annual production of young by female breeders in 201 populations of 104 bird species (N = 745,962 clutches) covering all continents between 1970 and 2019. Overall, average offspring production has declined in recent decades, but considerable differences were found among species and populations.

Long-term consistency in susceptibility of prey species to predation by an avian predator.

Selection by predators affects prey through competition for limiting resources. This not only has consequences for direct mortality but also indirectly affects disturbance. Changes in the intensity of selection on prey by predators may affect the size of prey populations, with consequences for their short- or long-term interactions.

A qualitative content analysis of the experience of hypospadias care: The importance of owning your own narrative.

Objectives: There is a lack of studies on men's individual experiences of living with hypospadias. We aimed to explore the personal experiences of having hypospadias in relation to healthcare and surgery.

Subjects And Methods: Purposive sampling was used to include men (aged 18 and over) with hypospadias representing different phenotypes (from distal to proximal) and ages in order to maximise the variation and richness of our data.

Lockdown effects on fear revealed direct and indirect effects of human presence on perceived predation risk.

The Covid-19 lockdown reduced drastically human presence outdoors, providing an uncontrolled experiment for disentangling direct and indirect effects of human presence on animal fearfulness. We measured 18,494 flight initiation distances (FIDs, the distance at which individual animals fly away when approached by a human) from 1333 populations of 202 bird species taken in four European cities both before, during and after the lockdown. FIDs decreased during lockdown in rural habitats but increased in urban habitats, especially for singing birds.

A dataset of bird distributions in zoogeographical regions of China.

Background: China, the largest country in Asia, has a land area of approximately 9.6 million square kilometres. There are 1481 bird species (following the taxonomy of IOC World Bird List version 12.

EVI and NDVI as proxies for multifaceted avian diversity in urban areas.

Most ecological studies use remote sensing to analyze broad-scale biodiversity patterns, focusing mainly on taxonomic diversity in natural landscapes. One of the most important effects of high levels of urbanization is species loss (i.e.

A chromosome-level reference genome and pangenome for barn swallow population genomics.

Insights into the evolution of non-model organisms are limited by the lack of reference genomes of high accuracy, completeness, and contiguity. Here, we present a chromosome-level, karyotype-validated reference genome and pangenome for the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica). We complement these resources with a reference-free multialignment of the reference genome with other bird genomes and with the most comprehensive catalog of genetic markers for the barn swallow.