INTRODUCTION: Digital health information sources are playing an increasingly prominent role in health promotion, public health and in healthcare systems. Consequently, digital health literacy skills are likewise becoming increasingly important. METHODS: Using a concept validation approach, the aim of the study was to validate a digital health literacy measure applied in the European Health Literacy Survey 2019-2021 (HLS19) of the WHO M-POHL Network, analyzing data from 28,057 respondents from 13 European countries. RESULTS: The scale displayed high internal consistency. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) strengthened the hypothesized one-factor structure. In most countries, the data displayed acceptable fit to the unidimensional Rasch partial credit model (PCM). Pearson correlation with a measure of general health literacy showed sufficient discriminant validity, and a social gradient was found. Testing for predictive validity showed that the scale score predicts health-related outcomes. DISCUSSION: The study shows that considerable proportions of the general adult populations across countries in Europe have limited DHL skills. The level of DHL has direct potential consequences for some forms of health service utilization, in some countries. Implications of the study include recommendations for improving digital health literacy, promoting organizational health literacy and quality assurance for digital health information and resources.

• MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Factor Analysis, Statistical MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Adolescent MeSH
• Young Adult MeSH
• Surveys and Questionnaires standards   MeSH
• Psychometrics MeSH
• Reproducibility of Results MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Health Literacy * statistics & numerical data   MeSH
• Check Tag
• Adult MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Adolescent MeSH
• Young Adult MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Validation Study MeSH
• Geographicals
• Europe MeSH

Most studies that address the relationship between socio-economic characteristics and soil erosion focus on the effects of soil erosion on socio-economic conditions at different levels, from global to smallholder. Few, if any, efforts are made to address the influence of socio-economic variables on the soil erosion rate as an indicator of landscape degradation. The present study was carried out using spatial data from 402 catchments that cover Poland, to find out how socio-economic variables, which include area-weighted average income per capita (PLN km-2), area-weighted average gross domestic product (PLN km-2), population density (person km-2), and human development index can drive the soil erosion rate (kg ha-1 yr-1), along with annual precipitation, soil and geomorphological variables that include soil organic carbon content, soil water content, clay ratio, stream gradient, and terrain slope. The results showed that the soil erosion rate is indirectly driven by the socio-economic variables in the study catchments, as it is alleviated by increasing population density, the area-weighted average gross domestic product, and the human development index. Furthermore, analyzing the incremental relationship between soil erosion rate and the area-weighted average of socio-economic variables revealed that no uniform change can be observed in the relationship between the area-weighted average socio-economic variables and soil erosion in the study catchments.

• MeSH
• Soil Erosion MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Environmental Monitoring MeSH
• Soil * MeSH
• Socioeconomic Factors MeSH
• Carbon * analysis   MeSH
• Conservation of Natural Resources MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Geographicals
• Poland MeSH

Larger species tend to feed on abundant resources, which nonetheless have lower quality or degradability, the so-called Jarman-Bell principle. The "eat more" hypothesis posits that larger animals compensate for lower quality diets through higher consumption rates. If so, evolutionary shifts in metabolic scaling should affect the scope for this compensation, but whether this has happened is unknown. Here, we investigated this issue using termites, major tropical detritivores that feed along a humification gradient ranging from dead plant tissue to mineral soil. Metabolic scaling is shallower in termites with pounding mandibles adapted to soil-like substrates than in termites with grinding mandibles adapted to fibrous plant tissue. Accordingly, we predicted that only larger species of the former group should have more humified, lower quality diets, given their higher scope to compensate for such a diet. Using literature data on 65 termite species, we show that diet humification does increase with body size in termites with pounding mandibles, but is weakly related to size in termites with grinding mandibles. Our findings suggest that evolution of metabolic scaling may shape the strength of the Jarman-Bell principle.

• MeSH
• Biological Evolution * MeSH
• Diet * MeSH
• Isoptera genetics   metabolism   MeSH
• Mandible MeSH
• Body Size * MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH

Older adults face particular risks of exclusion from social relationships (ESR) and are especially vulnerable to its consequences. However, research so far has been limited to specific dimensions, countries, and time points. In this paper, we examine the prevalence and micro- and macro-level predictors of ESR among older adults (60+) using two waves of data obtained four years apart across 14 European countries in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). We consider four ESR indicators (household composition, social networks, social opportunities, and loneliness) and link them to micro-level (age, gender, socioeconomic factors, health, and family responsibilities) and national macro-level factors (social expenditures, unmet health needs, individualism, social trust, and institutional trust). Findings reveal a northwest to southeast gradient, with the lowest rates of ESR in the stronger welfare states of Northwest Europe. The high rates of ESR in the southeast are especially pronounced among women. Predictably, higher age and fewer personal resources (socioeconomic factors and health) increase the risk of all ESR dimensions for both genders. Macro-level factors show significant associations with ESR beyond the effect of micro-level factors, suggesting that national policies and cultural and structural characteristics may play a role in fostering sociability and connectivity and, thus, reduce the risk of ESR in later life.

• MeSH
• Retirement * MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Loneliness MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Socioeconomic Factors MeSH
• Aging * MeSH
• Health Surveys MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Geographicals
• Europe MeSH

In arthropod community ecology, species richness studies tend to be prioritised over those investigating patterns of abundance. Consequently, the biotic and abiotic drivers of arboreal arthropod abundance are still relatively poorly known. In this cross-continental study, we employ a theoretical framework in order to examine patterns of covariance among herbivorous and predatory arthropod guilds. Leaf-chewing and leaf-mining herbivores, and predatory ants and spiders, were censused on > 1000 trees in nine 0.1 ha forest plots. After controlling for tree size and season, we found no negative pairwise correlations between guild abundances per plot, suggestive of weak signals of both inter-guild competition and top-down regulation of herbivores by predators. Inter-guild interaction strengths did not vary with mean annual temperature, thus opposing the hypothesis that biotic interactions intensify towards the equator. We find evidence for the bottom-up limitation of arthropod abundances via resources and abiotic factors, rather than for competition and predation.

• MeSH
• Herbivory MeSH
• Arthropods * MeSH
• Spiders * MeSH
• Predatory Behavior MeSH
• Trees MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Letter MeSH

Sustainable and efficient forestry in a rapidly changing climate is a daunting task. The sessile nature of trees makes adaptation to climate change challenging; thereby, ecological services and economic potential are under risk. Current long-term and costly gene resources management practices have been primarily directed at a few economically important species and are confined to defined ecological boundaries. Here, we present a novel in situ gene-resource management approach that conserves forest biodiversity and improves productivity and adaptation through utilizing basic forest regeneration installations located across a wide range of environments without reliance on structured tree breeding/conservation methods. We utilized 4,267 25- to 35-year-old European larch trees growing in 21 reforestation installations across four distinct climatic regions in Austria. With the aid of marker-based pedigree reconstruction, we applied multi-trait, multi-site quantitative genetic analyses that enabled the identification of broadly adapted and productive individuals. Height and wood density, proxies to fitness and productivity, yielded in situ heritability estimates of 0.23 ± 0.07 and 0.30 ± 0.07, values similar to those from traditional "structured" pedigrees methods. In addition, individual trees selected with this approach are expected to yield genetic response of 1.1 and 0.7 standard deviations for fitness and productivity attributes, respectively, and be broadly adapted to a range of climatic conditions. Genetic evaluation across broad climatic gradients permitted the delineation of suitable reforestation areas under current and future climates. This simple and resource-efficient management of gene resources is applicable to most tree species.

• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

Functional traits respond to environmental drivers, hence evaluating trait-environment relationships across spatial environmental gradients can help to understand how multiple drivers influence plant communities. Global-change drivers such as changes in atmospheric nitrogen deposition occur worldwide, but affect community trait distributions at the local scale, where resources (e.g. light availability) and conditions (e.g. soil pH) also influence plant communities. We investigate how multiple environmental drivers affect community trait responses related to resource acquisition (plant height, specific leaf area (SLA), woodiness, and mycorrhizal status) and regeneration (seed mass, lateral spread) of European temperate deciduous forest understoreys. We sampled understorey communities and derived trait responses across spatial gradients of global-change drivers (temperature, precipitation, nitrogen deposition, and past land use), while integrating in-situ plot measurements on resources and conditions (soil type, Olsen phosphorus (P), Ellenberg soil moisture, light, litter mass, and litter quality). Among the global-change drivers, mean annual temperature strongly influenced traits related to resource acquisition. Higher temperatures were associated with taller understoreys producing leaves with lower SLA, and a higher proportional cover of woody and obligate mycorrhizal (OM) species. Communities in plots with higher Ellenberg soil moisture content had smaller seeds and lower proportional cover of woody and OM species. Finally, plots with thicker litter layers hosted taller understoreys with larger seeds and a higher proportional cover of OM species. Our findings suggest potential community shifts in temperate forest understoreys with global warming, and highlight the importance of local resources and conditions as well as global-change drivers for community trait variation.

• MeSH
• Nitrogen metabolism   MeSH
• Ecosystem * MeSH
• Global Warming MeSH
• Forests * MeSH
• Plant Leaves physiology   MeSH
• Soil chemistry   MeSH
• Plants * metabolism   MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Geographicals
• Europe MeSH

• Keywords
• Medicína pro veřejnost,
• MeSH
• Social Medicine MeSH

• NML Fields
• sociální lékařství

Adaptive responses are probably the most effective long-term responses of populations to climate change, but they require sufficient evolutionary potential upon which selection can act. This requires high genetic variance for the traits under selection and low antagonizing genetic covariances between the different traits. Evolutionary potential estimates are still scarce for long-lived, clonal plants, although these species are predicted to dominate the landscape with climate change. We studied the evolutionary potential of a perennial grass, Festuca rubra, in western Norway, in two controlled environments corresponding to extreme environments in natural populations: cold-dry and warm-wet, the latter being consistent with the climatic predictions for the country. We estimated genetic variances, covariances, selection gradients and response to selection for a wide range of growth, resource acquisition and physiological traits, and compared their estimates between the environments. We showed that the evolutionary potential of F. rubra is high in both environments, and genetic covariances define one main direction along which selection can act with relatively few constraints to selection. The observed response to selection at present is not sufficient to produce genotypes adapted to the predicted climate change under a simple, space for time substitution model. However, the current populations contain genotypes which are pre-adapted to the new climate, especially for growth and resource acquisition traits. Overall, these results suggest that the present populations of the long-lived clonal plant may have sufficient evolutionary potential to withstand long-term climate changes through adaptive responses.

• MeSH
• Biological Evolution * MeSH
• Ecosystem MeSH
• Festuca genetics   physiology   MeSH
• Climate Change * MeSH
• Selection, Genetic MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Geographicals
• Norway MeSH

MAIN CONCLUSION: We present an easy and effective procedure to purify plastids and mitochondria from Chromera velia. Our method enables downstream analyses of protein and metabolite content of the organelles. Chromerids are alveolate algae that are the closest known phototrophic relatives to apicomplexan parasites such as Plasmodium or Toxoplasma. While genomic and transcriptomic resources for chromerids are in place, tools and experimental conditions for proteomic studies have not been developed yet. Here we describe a rapid and efficient protocol for simultaneous isolation of plastids and mitochondria from the chromerid alga Chromera velia. This procedure involves enzymatic treatment and breakage of cells, followed by differential centrifugation. While plastids sediment in the first centrifugation step, mitochondria remain in the supernatant. Subsequently, plastids can be purified from the crude pellet by centrifugation on a discontinuous 60%/70% sucrose density gradient, while mitochondria can be obtained by centrifugation on a discontinuous 33%/80% Percoll density gradient. Isolated plastids are autofluorescent, and their multi-membrane structure was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. Fluorescent optical microscopy was used to identify isolated mitochondria stained with MitoTrackerTM green, while their intactness and membrane potential were confirmed by staining with MitoTrackerTM orange CMTMRos. Total proteins were extracted from isolated organellar fractions, and the purity of isolated organelles was confirmed using immunoblotting. Antibodies against the beta subunit of the mitochondrial ATP synthase and the plastid protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase did not cross-react on immunoblots, suggesting that each organellar fraction is free of the residues of the other. The presented protocol represents an essential step for further proteomic, organellar, and cell biological studies of C. velia and can be employed, with minor optimizations, in other thick-walled unicellular algae.

• MeSH
• Alveolata ultrastructure   MeSH
• Microalgae ultrastructure   MeSH
• Mitochondria ultrastructure   MeSH
• Plastids ultrastructure   MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH