The GIBACHT fellowship: a multilateral initiative for strengthening capacity in biosafety and biosecurity towards pandemic preparedness.

The German Biosecurity Programme was launched in 2013 with the aim to support partner countries overcome biological threats including natural outbreaks or the intentional misuse of highly pathogenic agents. As part of this programme, this paper describes the development and implementation of a multilateral biosafety and biosecurity training initiative, called 'Global Partnership Initiated Biosecurity Academia for Controlling Health Threats' (GIBACHT). To achieve its objectives, GIBACHT implemented a blended-learning approach with self-directed, distance-based learning phases and three training-of-trainer workshops.

Acetylcholinesterase activity in muscle tissue of Norway lobster Nephrops norvegicus: Importance of body size, season, sex and naturally occurring metals.

The aim of the present study was to determine the levels of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity in the tail muscle tissue of wild populations of Nephrops norvegicus from the Northern Adriatic, and correlate it to body size, seasons, sex and the content of mercury, arsenic, cadmium, lead and copper. The animals of both sexes were collected in spring and autumn from two relatively distant fishing grounds. A marked variability of muscle AChE activity was found (0.

Psychometric evaluation of the Persian version of the European Health Literacy Instrument (P-HLS-EU-Q47).

Health literacy is one of the most critical determinants of health for effectively improving health services and reducing health inequalities. The importance of accurate measurement cannot be overstated. The European 47-item Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q47) can provide precise measurements of health literacy.

Measuring Comprehensive, General Health Literacy in the General Adult Population: The Development and Validation of the HLS-Q12 Instrument in Seventeen Countries.

Background: For improving health literacy (HL) by national and international public health policy, measuring population HL by a comprehensive instrument is needed. A short instrument, the HLS-Q12 based on the HLS-EU-Q47, was developed, translated, applied, and validated in 17 countries in the WHO European Region.

Methods: For factorial validity/dimensionality, Cronbach alphas, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), Rasch model (RM), and Partial Credit Model (PCM) were used.

HLS-NAV-Validation of a New Instrument Measuring Navigational Health Literacy in Eight European Countries.

To manoeuvre a complex and fragmented health care system, people need sufficient navigational health literacy (NAV-HL). The objective of this study was to validate the HLS-NAV measurement scale applied in the European Health Literacy Population Survey 2019-2021 (HLS). From December 2019 to January 2021, data on NAV-HL was collected in eight European countries.

The HLS-COM-P, a New Instrument for Measuring Communicative Health Literacy in Interaction with Physicians: Development and Validation in Nine European Countries.

Background: Sufficient communicative health literacy (COM-HL) is important for patients actively participating in dialogue with physicians, expressing their needs and desires for treatment, and asking clarifying questions. There is a lack of instruments combining communication and HL proficiency. Hence, the aim was to establish an instrument with sufficient psychometric properties for measuring COM-HL.

Physico-Chemical and Ecotoxicological Evaluation of Marine Sediments Contamination: A Case Study of Rovinj Coastal Area, NE Adriatic Sea, Croatia.

Comprehensive spatial and temporal data on sediment quality in the Adriatic Sea are lacking. Therefore, prior to planned anthropogenic interventions in the local marine environment, such as deepening of the Rovinj harbour, the results of physicochemical and ecotoxicological analyses of five local coastal sediments were compared with regional averages and SQGs of neighbouring countries. Analyses of sediment grain size, content of metals and heavy metals, PAHs and PCBs were performed according to standard protocols.

Organizational Health Literacy in Schools: Concept Development for Health-Literate Schools.

(1) Background: Health literacy is considered a personal asset, important for meeting health-related challenges of the 21st century. Measures for assisting students' health literacy development and improving health outcomes can be implemented in the school setting. First, this is achieved by providing students with learning opportunities to foster their personal health literacy, thus supporting behavior change.

Adaptation of the Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HLS-Q) for Russian-Speaking Populations-International Collaboration across Germany, Israel, Kazakhstan, Russia, and the USA.

The Russian language is the eighth most spoken language in the world. Russian speakers reside in Russia, across the former Soviet Union republics, and comprise one of the largest populations of international migrants. However, little is known about their health literacy (HL) and there is limited research on HL instruments in the Russian language.

The effect of self-efficacy on health literacy in the German population.

Concerning the determinants of health literacy (HL) mostly socio-demographic or -economic factors have been considered, much less so psychological factors such as self-efficacy. To date, it has mostly been considered to explain the relationship of HL and health outcomes. However, self-efficacy could also be an important determinant for HL.

To Adapt or Not to Adapt: The Association between Implementation Fidelity and the Effectiveness of Diabetes Self-Management Education.

Self-management education (SME) is a key determinant of diabetes treatment outcomes. While SME programs are often adapted for implementation, the impact of adaptations on diabetes SME effectiveness is not well documented. This study evaluated the impact of the implementation fidelity of diabetes SME programs on program effectiveness, exploring which factors influence implementation fidelity.

A new, peculiar genus of Cossoninae (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) from Oman with description of a new species, larva and notes on biology.

A new genus and species of the subfamily Cossoninae, Omanocossonus sabulosus gen. et sp. nov.

[DNVF Memorandum Health Literacy (Part 1) - Background, Relevance, Research Topics and Questions in Health Services Research].

More than half of the German population has difficulties in dealing with health information. It is an important task of health services research to examine how healthcare professionals and health care organizations can meet this challenge. The DNVF Memorandum Health Literacy (Part 1) defines the terms of individual and organizational health literacy, presents the national and international state of research and ethical aspects of health literacy research in health care settings.

[DNVF Memorandum Health Literacy (Part 1) - Background, Relevance, Research Topics and Questions in Health Services Research: Short Version].

More than half of the German population has difficulties in dealing with health information. It is an important task of health services research to examine how healthcare professionals and health care organizations can meet this challenge. This short version of the DNVF Memorandum Health Literacy (Part 1) defines the terms of individual and organizational health literacy, presents the national and international state of research and ethical aspects of health literacy research in health care settings.

Health Literacy in Austria: Interventions and Research.

This report provides an overview of Austria's approaches to improve population health literacy (HL). The report suggests: a) research can trigger health policy responses to improve HL; b) linking HL improvement to other reform agendas can boost effectiveness, and c) coordination is required for continuously and systematically working towards better HL. Examples of strategic thematic approaches and interventions - especially in the fields of communication in healthcare, health information products, and organizational HL responsiveness - are provided, and Austria's role in preparing the next European HL survey, HLS19, is briefly described.

Health Literacy Measurement in General and Other Populations: Further Initiatives and Lessons Learned in Europe (and Beyond).

This chapter provides an overview of health literacy measurement initiatives with a focus on the European Health Literacy Survey (HLS-EU) - describing where measuring population health literacy started, where it currently is, and providing an outlook to the upcoming European HL survey. In the first part of the chapter, the methodology and the main results of the initial HLS-EU study from 2011 will be introduced. In the second part the worldwide impact of the HLS-EU study will be mapped.

Associations of health literacy with socioeconomic position, health risk behavior, and health status: a large national population-based survey among Danish adults.

Background: Health literacy concerns the ability of citizens to meet the complex demands of health in modern society. Data on the distribution of health literacy in general populations and how health literacy impacts health behavior and general health remains scarce. The present study aims to investigate the prevalence of health literacy levels and associations of health literacy with socioeconomic position, health risk behavior, and health status at a population level.

Health Literacy and Health Service Use in Germany.

Background: Health literacy (HL) is defined as the ability to process health-related information to make decisions to maintain health and improve quality of life. A growing number of studies demonstrate that people with lower HL are less likely to use preventive services but more likely to use curative, emergency, or hospital care.

Objective: This study investigated the relationship between HL and the use of different types of health services in a sample of the general German population, as we expected that the effect of HL on the frequency of use differs by type of health service.

Future directions for the concept of salutogenesis: a position article.

Aaron Antonovsky advanced the concept of salutogenesis almost four decades ago (Antonovsky, Health, Stress and Coping. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA, 1979; Unravelling the Mystery of Health. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA, 1987).