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People's perceptions of their intelligence correlate only moderately with objective intelligence measures. On average, people overestimate themselves. According to the popular Dunning-Kruger effect, this is particularly true for low performers: across many domains, those in the lowest quartile overestimate their abilities the most. However, recent work using improved statistical approaches found little support for a Dunning-Kruger effect in general intelligence. We investigated accuracy and Dunning-Kruger effects for self-estimates of general, verbal, numerical, and spatial intelligence--domains that differed in how well they can be judged in the past. A total of 281 participants completed self-estimates and intelligence measures online. Self-estimates showed mostly moderate correlational accuracy that was slightly higher for numerical intelligence and lower for verbal intelligence. Across domains, participants rated their intelligence as above average. However, as their intelligence was indeed high, this was not an overestimation. While standard analyses indicated Dunning-Kruger effects in general, verbal, and spatial intelligence, improved statistical methods only yielded some support for one in verbal intelligence: people with lower verbal intelligence tended to have less self-knowledge about it. The generalizability of these findings is limited to young, highly educated populations. Nevertheless, our results contribute to a growing literature questioning the generality of the Dunning-Kruger effect.

Context: We addressed the issue of person-job-fit by focussing on both professional success and work satisfaction. Publications studying the predictive validity of (cognitive) ability, personality, or vocational interest alone have shown relationships with professional success or work satisfaction for each predictor separately. Nevertheless, these predictors have rarely been studied simultaneously. Methods: To this end we tested the incremental validity of abilities, traits, and interests in a sample from diverse occupations -- In 648 apprentices and students from five different branches (Food, Tech, People, Office, Craft) the (incremental) contributions of 3 intelligence factors (verbal, numerical, spatial), 3 alternative abilities (social-emotional, creative, practical), 4 conscientiousness facets, other big five factors (O, E, A, N), and of 14 professional interests were analysed regarding prediction of GPA in professional schools and school/job satisfaction. Results: Intelligence and conscientiousness were best predictors, followed by social-emotional competence and interests, whereas other traits provided marginal contributions. Predictors varied between branches, mostly following expectations. The test battery allowed a very good prediction of apprenticeship success (max. 37%), but for some branches prediction was considerably lower. Conclusion: Criteria for person-job-fit are not swappable, neither are the predictors. Professional success was mostly predicted by a different predictor set--namely ability and the personality dimension of conscientiousness--then satisfaction, which was mostly predicted by non-interest in a certain occupation. As a practical implication, we conclude that choosing the right candidate for a certain branch one needs to use a broad set of predictor variables. Besides cognitive ability also personality and vocational interests had predictive validity for an individuals person-job-fit.

This article introduces a new scale for the assessment of Appreciation for Creative Personality (ACP). The ACP scale is a brief 13-item forced-choice measure that assesses interindividual differences in the preference for interacting with creative people. ACP is considered an important factor of creative climate at the level of interpersonal interaction. Individuals who score high on ACP are thought to foster a creative climate in that they value creative traits in others. In two studies, the psychometric characteristics of the ACP scale were probed. The scale showed a clear unidimensional structure with evidence of good reliability and convergent, discriminant, and criterion validity. The ACP was substantially related to Big Five openness to experience, but predicted relevant criteria over and above openness, supporting the conceptual distinction between ACP and openness. In dyadic data analyses, participants' openness to experience was significantly associated with their parents' ACP, which shows that the ACP scale captured shared interpersonal variance. Moreover, parental ACP indirectly predicted participants' everyday creative activities via the path of openness. These findings suggest that the ACP scale is a useful tool for the study of social-environmental climate for creativity from an interpersonal perspective.

Background: Although the issue of high mental health burden among veterinarians is well-documented in previous studies, little is known about the specific occupational stress factors associated with mental health issues. Therefore, the aims of this study were twofold: (1) to assess occupational stress factors within the veterinary profession, with a particular emphasis on comparing the expectations of veterinary students with the experiences of practicing veterinarians and (2) to link the experienced stress with mental health indicators in veterinarians. Methods: All registered veterinarians and veterinary-medicine students in Austria were invited to participate in a cross-sectional online survey. The data collection took place during the winter of 2022/2023 and included standardized questionnaires on mental well-being (WHO-5), depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), stress (PSS-4), and insomnia (ISI-2). Additionally, participants were asked about various estimated (students) or experienced (vets) occupational stress factors, which were to be rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from "not at all" to "very strongly". An open question invited respondents to identify in free text further experienced/anticipated sources of work-related stressors in veterinary practice. Results: A total of 430 students and 440 veterinarians participated in the study. The results of a repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicate that the burden of bureaucracy is perceived as less stressful by students than experienced by veterinarians, all other areas are perceived as more stressful by students than by veterinarians. In veterinarians, bureaucracy is experienced as the most burdensome, followed by animal suffering, and communication with animal owners. Further analysis of possible associations between the extent of perceived stressors and indicators of mental health shows that while bureaucracy is the most burdensome, it has the smallest correlation with mental health indicators. On the other hand, financial concerns, which are not ranked among the main stressors, have the strongest correlation with impaired mental health. Conclusion: The results suggest that financial security for veterinarians is crucial to safeguard their mental health. The training of veterinary medicine students and practicing veterinarians in the areas of administration, time management, handling animal suffering, and communication with animal owners might be beneficial in reducing their job-related stressors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) has long been considered as a degenerative disease of cartilage tissue resulting from bodily wear and tear. However, there is accumulating evidence that inflammation plays a key role in the pathogenesis of OA. In knee OA, the most common form of OA, exercise therapy as an effective component of early treatment addresses functional deficits, pain and inflammation. Since inflammation is critical for the development and progress of OA, anti-inflammatory therapies must be combined strategically. In the course of the NUMOQUA project, an anti-inflammatory therapeutic diet named 'Austrian Osteoarthritis Cuisine' was developed. It is based on the framework of the New Nordic Diet combined with the food-based dietary guidelines of Austria, the guidelines for OA, the Austrian food culture and the principles of a sustainable diet. The present study examines the implementation of the 'Austrian OA Cuisine' combined with the evidence-based training programme GLA:D® (Good Life with osteoArthritis in Denmark) in Austrian patients with knee OA and the effects on quality of life, nutritional and inflammatory status, as well as oxidative stress parameters. Methods: A total of 60 participants aged 50 to 75 with knee OA will be included and randomly assigned either to the intervention group or the control group. All participants will undergo the GLA:D® programme in the first 6 weeks. Additionally, the intervention group will receive nutritional group training and individual nutritional counselling on the 'Austrian OA Cuisine' over 9 months. The control group will receive general information about a healthy lifestyle. Measurements at baseline and at 4 follow-up dates include nutritional, inflammatory and oxidative stress markers. Furthermore, anthropometric, behavioural and clinical data will be obtained. The recruitment process lasted from autumn 2022 to January 2024, followed by the intervention until October 2024. Discussion: The prevalence of OA is expected to increase in the future due to ongoing demographic changes and rising obesity rates. The expected results will provide important evidence on whether this interdisciplinary therapeutic approach could be a new, cost-effective and sustainable strategy to address the disease process of OA without negative side effects. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05955300. Date of registration: 23rd of October 2023. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A male advantage in spatial abilities is assumed to underlie their superior performance in complex mathematical problems. In this study we investigated whether sex differences in mental rotation (MR) tasks are related to female underachievement and whether training effects of a MR training can be generalized across achievers and underachievers. Moreover, the cortical activation pattern (assessed via EEG) of gifted achievers and underachievers as well as average intelligent achievers was studied before and after a 2-week MR training. The EEG was measured in a sample of 39 male and 41 female adolescents while performing MR tasks in a 2D and 3D presentation mode. Findings suggest that sex differences in the 2D MR tasks are related to female underachievement. Overall, brighter female underachievers profited most from the training. Neurophysiologically results provide evidence that achievers and underachievers as well as brighter and less intelligent individuals show distinct cortical activation. (Contains 2 tables and 3 figures.)

Aspects of 2nd‐ to 5th‐century ce Roman production technology and knowledge transfer in southern Austria (known as Noricum) were examined. With no evidence for workshops identified in the study area, 44 grey ware bowls from two sites at Aguntum and Lavant were studied macroscopically, and combined with optical microscopy, X‐ray powder diffraction, prompt gamma activation, neutron activation and scanning electron microscopy, in order to understand whether one (large) workshop supplied these bowls, or whether the bowls were produced by several (small) workshops nearby. Combined with information from the geological background, the results were used to tentatively indicate the production location. The results indicate that the grey ware bowls from Aguntum and Lavant were produced by local workshops nearby. The bowls were manufactured with similar clay sources, tempered with crushed calcite‐marble rocks from the Tauern Window, their surface smoothed and burnished, and fired between 800 and 850°C in a reducing atmosphere of an open fire. This is taken to suggest that Roman potters, who were located at Aguntum and Lavant, shared strategies of raw materials selection, paste preparation, finishing and firing, and transferred technological knowledge through time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Abstract: Samples from a pristine raised peat bog runoff in Austria, the Tannermoor creek, were analysed for their iron linked to natural organic matter (NOM) content. Dissolved organic carbon<0.45μm (DOC) was 41–64mgL−1, iron 4.4–5.5mgL−1. Samples were analysed applying asymmetric field flow fractionation (AsFlFFF) coupled to UV–vis absorption, fluorescence and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The samples showed an iron peak associated with the NOM peak, one sample exhibiting a second peak of iron independent from the NOM peak. As highland peat bogs with similar climatic conditions and vegetation to the Tanner Moor are found throughout the world, including areas adjacent to the sea, we examined the behaviour of NOM and iron in samples brought to euhaline (35‰) conditions with artificial sea salt. The enhanced ionic strength reduced NOM by 53% and iron by 82%. Size exclusion chromatography (SEC) of the samples at sea-like salinity revealed two major fractions of NOM associated with different iron concentrations. The larger one, eluting sharply after the upper exclusion limits of 4000–5000gmol−1, seems to be most important for iron chelating. The results outline the global importance of sub-mountainous and mountainous raised peat bogs as a source of iron chelators to the marine environment at sites where such peat bogs release their run-offs into the sea. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: For the reconstruction of Alpine tectonics of the Eastern Alps, the evaporitic Permian to Lower Triassic Haselgebirge Formation plays a key role in (1) the origin of Haselgebirge bearing nappes, (2) the inclusion of magmatic and metamorphic rocks revealing tectonic processes not preserved in other units, and (3) the debated mode of emplacement of the nappes, namely gravity-driven or tectonic. Within the Moosegg quarry of the central Northern Calcareous Alps gypsum/anhydrite bodies are tectonically mixed with lenses of sedimentary rocks and decimeter- to meter-sized tectonic clasts of plutonic and subvolcanic rocks and rare metamorphics. We examined various types of (1) widespread biotite–diorite, meta-syenite, (2) meta-dolerite and rare ultramafic rocks (serpentinite, pyroxenite) as well as (3) rare metamorphic banded meta-psammitic schists and meta-doleritic blueschists. The apparent 40Ar/39Ar biotite ages from three biotite–diorite, meta-dolerite and meta-doleritic blueschist samples with variable composition and fabrics range from 248 to 270Ma (e.g., 251.2±1.1Ma) indicating a Permian age of cooling after magma crystallisation or metamorphism. The chemical composition of biotite–diorite and meta-syenite indicates an alkaline trend interpreted to represent a rift-related magmatic suite. These, as well as Permian to Jurassic sedimentary rocks, were incorporated during Cretaceous nappe emplacement forming the sulphatic Haselgebirge mélange. The scattered 40Ar/39Ar white mica ages of a meta-doleritic blueschist (of N-MORB origin) and banded meta-psammitic schist are ca. 349 and 378Ma, respectively, proving the Variscan age of pressure-dominated metamorphism. These ages are similar to detrital white mica ages reported from the underlying Rossfeld Formations, indicating a close source–sink relationship. According to our new data, the Haselgebirge bearing nappe was transported over the Lower Cretaceous Rossfeld Formations, which include many clasts derived from the Haselgebirge Formation and its exotic blocks deposited in front of the incoming nappe comprising the Haselgebirge Formation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study investigates whether family businesses (FBs) differ from non-family businesses (NFBs) regarding the institutionalisation of management accounting. Furthermore, it analyses whether FB-specific contextual factors such as the ex-istence of non-family management and the level of family influence affect the establishment of discrete management accounting departments. Six hypotheses are formulated and tested based on survey results from 479 firms from Austria and 418 firms from Germany. Our results indicate that FBs establish fewer manage-ment accounting departments than NFBs do and that the heads of management accounting in FBs are less likely to hold a university degree compared with their counterparts in NFBs. Moreover, within FBs, larger firm size and the existence of non-family management are positively correlated with the establishment of management accounting departments, where firm size acts as the strongest pre-dictor. As firm type (FB vs. NFB) emerged as a significant contextual factor for the institutionalisation of management accounting, this factor should be included in future studies of the organisation and set-up of the corporate management accounting function. Moreover, deeper investigation into the drivers and outcomes of FB-specific management accounting institutionalisation is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To provide comprehensive data on potential sex differences in maternal and neonatal characteristics, short-term morbidity and neurodevelopmental outcome within an entire geographically determined collective of infants born at a gestational age <32 weeks. Methods: Between 2003 and 2008, we prospectively enrolled all infants born in Tyrol at <32 weeks of gestation; the association between sex, and a wide set of pre- and postnatal factors, post-discharge morbidity and neurodevelopmental outcome was analysed. Results: Girls less frequently suffered from early-onset sepsis than boys (p = 0.030). After adjustment for multiple corrections (Bonferroni's p = 0.003), no sex differences were seen within any maternal or neonatal parameter. Analysis of morbidity revealed a higher readmission rate in boys (p < 0.0001), which was primarily caused by a greater incidence of respiratory problems (p = 0.003). Boys did not show a greater adverse neurodevelopmental outcome at the age of 12 or 24 months. Conclusion: Parents of boys should be prepared for a potentially higher frequency of readmission after initial discharge, but our data currently give no reason for parents of boys to be disproportionately anxious about their neurodevelopmental outcome. Whether boys also enjoy a rosy prognosis for developmental outcome at school age remains to be elucidated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Northern Calcareous Alps are part of the Eastern Alps in Austria and Germany. The Mesozoic units of this fold-and-thrust belt were detached, thrusted and stacked along the evaporitic Haselgebirge Formation. Exposed in salt mines, rocksalt and mudrock form a two component tectonite: The rock type “haselgebirge” consists of 10–70 wt % halite with silt- to gravel- or block-sized components within a halite matrix, and the “kerngebirge” with >70 wt % halite. All rock types studied are fault rocks. By use of a temperature-independent subgrain size piezometer, the paleo-differential stress of halite was calculated at ca. 2.5 MPa in Altaussee and ca. 4.5 MPa in Berchtesgaden. Including data from a grain-size piezometer, temperatures were estimated at ca. 150 ± 20 °C and 110 ± 10 °C. This implies very high strain rates, which are about 10−10–10−9 s−1. During the tectonic movement, the halite deformed, recrystallized, and crystallized as veins in mudrock fractures. We interpret high overpressure of the pore fluid to have significantly contributed to fracturing of the mudrock. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The paper focuses on modelling the development of the orogen-parallel fault-controlled overdeepened Upper Enns Valley, Eastern Alps. A decrease in relief in the Middle Miocene, an increasing relief from Pliocene to recent times and the interplay between tectonically controlled differential uplift and denudation resulted in a morphology that is reflected by planation surfaces on valley slopes at elevations of about 1100 m. The Upper Enns Valley separates the crystalline basement of the Niedere Tauern in the south from the Greywacke Zone and the Northern Calcareous Alps in the north. The Upper Pleistocene Ramsau Conglomerate covers the Greywacke Zone on the northern valley slope and is suggested to have important information for reconstruct the history of overdeepening of the Upper Enns Valley in several steps. The formation of the Enns Valley started in Early to Middle Miocene and continued to recent times. Valley formation occurred under uplift along the ENE-trending, orogen-parallel transtensional Salzach-Enns strike-slip zone. The southern block suffered a much higher exhumation than the northern block. We interpret the asymmetric drainage pattern, with short northern tributaries to the Enns Valley and long southern ones, to indicate northward tilting of the entire region. Furthermore, Quaternary processes, such as uplift and cyclic glaciations, interfered with neotectonic activity. The provenance of the Upper Pleistocene Ramsau Conglomerate from the southern side of the valley and the presence of a terrace at 1100 m indicates that the Enns Valley was filled from the present base at ca. 820 m above sea level up to that elevation during Late Pleistocene times. Post-Ramsau Conglomerate glacial overdeepening scoured the Enns Valley and resulted in epigenetic and regressive incision of southern tributaries. The channels of the southern tributaries have knick zones, reflecting gradient changes between flat and steep reaches. The suggested continuity of the southern planation surfaces and the top of the Ramsau Conglomerate (at ca. 1100 m) is interpreted to represent a relic former valley bottom. Although close to the Salzach-Enns fault, pronounced knick zones along southern tributaries are interpreted to result from glacial overdeepening rather than from neotectonic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 39-km-long deep seismic reflection profile recorded during two field campaigns in 1996 and 2002 provides a first detailed image of the deep crust at the eastern margin of the Eastern Alps (Austria). The ESE–WNW-trending, low-fold seismic line crosses Austroalpine basement units and extends approximately from 20 km west of the Penninic window group of Rechnitz to 60 km SSE of the Alpine thrust front.The explosive-source seismic data reveals a transparent shallow crust down to 5 km depth, a complexly reflective upper crust and a highly reflective lowermost crust. The upper crust is dominated by three prominent west-dipping packages of high-amplitude subparallel reflections. The upper two of these prominent packages commence at the eastern end of the profile at about 5 and 10 km depth and are interpreted as low-angle normal shear zones related to the Miocene exhumation of the Rechnitz metamorphic core complex. In the western portion of the upper crust, east-dipping and less significant reflections prevail. The lowermost package of these reflections is suggested to represent the overall top of the European crystalline basement.Along the western portion of the line, the lower crust is characterised by a 6–8-km-thick band of high-amplitude reflection lamellae, typically observed in extensional provinces. The Moho can be clearly defined at the base of this band, at approximately 32.5 km depth. Due to insufficient signal penetration, outstanding reflections are missing in the central and eastern portion of the lower crust. We speculate that the result of accompanying gravity measurements and lower crustal sporadic reflections can be interpreted as an indication for a shallower Moho in the east, preferable at about 30.5 km depth.The high reflectivity of the lowermost part of the lower crust and prominent reflection packages in the upper crust, the latter interpreted to represent broad extensional mylonite zones, emphasises the latest extensional processes in accordance with eastward extrusion. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

An identification scheme based on restriction fragment length polymorphism of polymerase chain reaction products (PCR-RFLP) was developed to differentiate isolates of the genera Catnpylobacter, Arcobacter and Helicobacter. Based on the 16S rRNA gene of these genera, PCR amplified a 1216-bp fragment. The amplicons were digested with the restriction enzymes RsaI and EcoRV. Additional differentiation was obtained using a PCR-assay based on the hippuricase gene. Genotyping was performed on several reference strains from the National Collection of Typing Culture (NCTC), London, and on 130 field isolates. In parallel, a phenotypic differentiation was performed, in order to compare the results. In 119 cases (91.5%) the results obtained from the genotypic characterization were concordant with those from phenotypic testing. Co-infections with Campylobacter jejuni and Carnpylobacter coli in two samples and seven hippurate-negative C. jejuni-strains were identified by the genotypic method. Furthermore, PCR-RFLP assays identified an atypical isolate as Campylobacter fetus/hyointestinalis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a survey that focuses on the role of Austrian physicians in educating their patients about HIV-related risk behaviors and dealing with AIDS issues. In Austria, health care is nationalized and general practitioners, internists, and dermatologists play the role of family physicians and are available to all citizens. They are in a good position to educate their patients about HIV prevention. For these reasons, these three groups of physicians were chosen for this survey. The questionnaire in the survey included approximately 100 questions grouped into different sections. The first section dealt with demographic and professional details of the physicians and their practices. The second section contained questions related to experience of physicians with HIV-positive patients. The respondents estimated that they saw from 20 to 3,200 patients per month, with an average of 529. Nineteen physicians indicated experience with at least one HIV-infected patient in their office. Fourteen of these 19 physicians reported that the HIV-infected patients had informed them about their HIV status, whereas 5 of the 19 physicians had diagnosed persons as HIV-positive.

Competencies to manage one's own and others' emotions are highly relevant in teacher education but to assess them in the context of a selection personality questionnaires are subject to faking. Situational judgment tests (SJTs) are considered to be less biased by faking, therefore we developed a novel SJT for emotion regulation that is implemented in the admission exam for teacher education. Often SJT development is criticized to be too a theoretical; therefore, we aimed at a theory-driven SJT of interpersonal vs. intrapersonal emotion regulation in pedagogical situations. We used a mixed approach of inductive and deductive item construction to improve test quality (item homogeneity and measurement fairness). The final test comprises 22 items with four response alternatives, each expressing one of four emotion regulation strategies. In two studies, we examined psychometric quality, fairness and validity of the test and relations with cognitive ability and personality. Results support a psychometrically sound and gender-fair measurement according to the 1PL Rasch model. Correlations with tests for emotion regulation, openness, agreeableness and the dark triad were observed. Interpersonal emotion regulation predicted higher altruistic professional motives, whereas intrapersonal emotion regulation predicted higher teacher self-efficacy. Both are (negative) predictors of the intention to quit teacher education. • Development of an SJT for interpersonal and intrapersonal emotion regulation for the use in teacher student selection • Theory-driven definition of the response alternatives • 1PL Rasch model show measurement fairness for men and women. • Inter- and intrapersonal emotion regulation are negatively correlated with the dark triad. • In longitudinal design the new SJT allow prediction of the intention to quit the teacher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although major efforts were undertaken over the last decades, both gender and diversity inequality are still important facts in particular in geosciences. E.g. in Austria, there is no female full professor in any field of geosciences, and there are only a few female associate professors. Why? Here, I report, close to the end of my professional career, on my personal experience on potential reasons and solutions. I have seen many cases where promising female PhD students with an incredibly high performance in research, expressed by high-ranked journal publications, stopped their academic career. The reasons are wide but have one not explicitly expressed core reason: missing stability. Successful female early career researchers (ECR) also want a family with children, and they then often decide for a stable position in industry, and/or follow the partner in contrast for deciding for an unstable, temporally limited academic career, always depending on reviews and scarce availability of postdoc positions. Further reasons are also manifold: harsh reviewers not taken into account at all the family status and children, A-type male group leaders, limited opportunities in small universities, which basically not allow easily establish temporarily part-time position for academic growing of female ECRs.How to solve the gender inequality? Beside solving it by any further legal rules, several points could help for highly performing PhD students at the transition to postdoc stage, where the wish is high for stability: (1) Establish academic grow postdoc positions for females, e.g. over ca. six years with the option for a stable long-term academic position, where female postdocs can choose by themselves how fast they grow and how they could interfer with their family affairs; (2) exclude unfair reviews and include female peer reviewers (with children); and (3) include (female) mentors for continuous support.In geosciences, the other major inequality is in the field of diversity, particularly for ECRs from developing countries. Inclusion of that group is a need for creating stability in their home countries. It remains difficult for many talented researchers to get PhD and/or post-doc positions in industrial countries. After master, the well-established typical career path of an EU early career researcher is to do a PhD in another university or country, to go for postdoc to a highly recognized university in an Anglosaxonian country, and return back to the home country. This scheme leaves very limited room for talented ECRs from developing countries. Compared to Seventies, much less ECRs are working and gaining experience at least in universities of Central Europe. What I observed from many cases of colleagues and from my own experience, from collaborative research with successful PhDs and postdocs, often life-long research cooperation developed, which could even result in economic success, when these former ECRs are making their career in the home country. How to overcome this decreasing diversity? Create a platform where ECRs from developing country can develop their abilities, select promising ECRs and support them with fellowships (e.g. through an EU programme), and financially support their return to the home country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a forum on a model for the Late Cretaceous subsidence of the Northern Calcareous Alps, Austria. Comment; Reply.

Process-based crop growth models have become indispensable tools for investigating the effects of genetic, management, and environmental factors on crop productivity. One source of uncertainty in crop model predictions is model parameterization, i.e. estimating the values of model input parameters, which is carried out very differently by crop modellers. One simple (SSM-iCrop) and one detailed (APSIM) maize (Zea mays L.) model were partially or fully parameterized using observed data from a 2-year field experiment conducted in 2016 and 2017 at the UFT (Universitäts- und Forschungszentrum Tulln, BOKU) in Austria. Model initialisation was identical for both models based on field measurements. Partial parameterization (ParLevel_1) was first performed by estimating only those parameters related to crop phenology. Full parameterization (ParLevel_2) was then conducted by estimating parameters related to phenology plus those affecting dry mass production and partitioning, nitrogen uptake, and grain yield formation. With ParLevel_1, both models failed to provide accurate estimation of LAI, dry mass accumulation, nitrogen uptake and grain yield, but the performance of APSIM was generally better than SSM-iCrop. Full parameterization greatly improved the performance of both crop models, but it was more effective for the simple model, so that SSM-iCrop was equally well or even better compared to APSIM. It was concluded that full parameterization is indispensable for improving the accuracy of crop model predictions regardless whether they are simple or detailed. Simple models seem to be more vulnerable to incomplete parameterization, but they better respond to full parameterization. This needs confirmation by further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New, remarkably dry parts of the Gamslöcher-Kolowrat Cave at 728 to 853 m depth have been explored in the Untersberg near Salzburg in Austria. This region is called the Desert, its greatest cavity is called the White Hall. The new cave part is characterized by various white speleothems. The predominant ones are snow-like calcite powder with an extremely low density, and fine gypsum needles. Gypsum also occurs in the form of balls stuck to vertical walls. In addition, fluorescent hydromagnesite crusts, Mg5(CO3)4(OH)2⋅4H2O, as well as the sodium sulfate mineral mirabilite were identified in this part of the cave. Mirabilite and gypsum needles differ from the gypsum balls in their isotopic sulfur signature (δ34S of -16.9‰ and -18.4‰ vs. +2.9‰). The unusually low sulfur isotopic compositional values are tentatively explained by a source of bacteriogenetic sulfur from sulfides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Successful estimation of nitrogen content in a range of winter wheat cultivars. • Extension of the CCCI-CNI approach to temperate cropping regions and until booting. • Importance of environmental conditions for spectral sensing. Spectral vegetation indices have proved versatile for rapid, non-destructive estimation of different canopy parameters. A combination of the canopy chlorophyll content index (CCCI) and the canopy nitrogen index (CNI) was used in previous studies to predict the canopy nitrogen (N) status of wheat until the end of stem elongation (Zadoks stage 13–37). The objective of this study was to evaluate and extend the CCCI-CNI approach to the end of booting (Zadoks 49) for winter wheat grown in temperate, high-yielding regions of Austria, where growing conditions, management practices, and N fertilization windows differ from the semi-arid cropping systems where the indices were developed. A comprehensive data set consisting of a time series of crop biomass, N concentration (%N), and spectral reflection measurements from three field experiment conducted during the growing seasons 2017/18, 2018/2019, 2019/20 with four winter wheat cultivars grown under four different N fertilisation levels in Tulln, Austria, was used for this study. While prediction of crop %N and N content (N cont) using the original parameter values was not satisfactory, modification of the regression model between CCCI and CNI resulted in a skilful prediction of a broad range of %N and N cont , with R2 values of 0.81 (RMSE = 0.72 %) and 0.96 (RMSE = 0.83 g m−2) for %N and N cont , respectively. The results indicate that CCCI-CNI is a promising index for estimating N cont of winter wheat of Austrian winter wheat until Zadoks stage 49, i.e. the end of the time when farmers make decisions about top dress N fertilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]