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Abstract Population sizes of many birds are declining alarmingly and methods for estimating fluctuations in species’ abundances at a large spatial scale are needed. The possibility to derive indicators from the tendency of specific species to co‐occur with others has been overlooked. Here, we tested whether the abundance of resident titmice can act as a general ecological indicator of forest bird density in European forests. Titmice species are easily identifiable and have a wide distribution, which makes them potentially useful ecological indicators. Migratory birds often use information on the density of resident birds, such as titmice, as a cue for habitat selection. Thus, the density of residents may potentially affect community dynamics. We examined spatio‐temporal variation in titmouse abundance and total bird abundance, each measured as biomass, by using long‐term citizen science data on breeding forest birds in Finland and France. We analyzed the variation in observed forest bird density (excluding titmice) in relation to titmouse abundance. In Finland, forest bird density linearly increased with titmouse abundance. In France, forest bird density nonlinearly increased with titmouse abundance, the association weakening toward high titmouse abundance. We then analyzed whether the abundance (measured as biomass) of random species sets could predict forest bird density better than titmouse abundance. Random species sets outperformed titmice as an indicator of forest bird density only in 4.4% and 24.2% of the random draws, in Finland and France, respectively. Overall, the results suggest that titmice could act as an indicator of bird density in Northern European forest bird communities, encouraging the use of titmice observations by even less‐experienced observers in citizen science monitoring of general forest bird density.

Course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) courses incorporate high-impact pedagogies that have been shown to increase undergraduate retention among underrepresented minorities and women. As part of the Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity program at the University of Detroit Mercy, a CURE metagenomics course was established in the winter of 2019. Students investigated the bacterial community composition in a eutrophic cove in Lake Saint Clair (Harrison Township, MI, United States) from water samples taken in the summer and winter. The students created 16S rRNA libraries that were sequenced using next-generation sequencing technology. They used a public web-based supercomputing resource to process their raw sequencing data and web-based tools to perform advanced statistical analysis. The students discovered that the most common operational taxonomic unit, representing 31% of the prokaryotic sequences in both summer and winter samples, corresponded to an organism that belongs to a previously unidentified phylum. This result showed the students the power of metagenomics because the approach was able to detect unclassified organisms. Principal Coordinates Analysis of Bray–Curtis dissimilarity index data showed that the winter community was distinct from the summer community [Analysis of Similarities (ANOSIM) r = 0.59829, n = 18, and p < 0.001]. Dendrograms based on hierarchically clustered Pearson correlation coefficients of phyla were divided into a winter clade and a summer clade. The conclusion is that the winter bacterial population was fundamentally different from the summer population, even though the samples were taken from the same locations in a protected cove. Because of the small class sizes, qualitative as well as statistical methods were used to evaluate the course’s impact on student attitudes. Results from the Laboratory Course Assessment Survey showed that most of the respondents felt they were contributing to scientific knowledge and the course fostered student collaboration. The majority of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the course incorporated iteration aspects of scientific investigations, such as repeating procedures to fix problems. In summary, the metagenomics CURE course was able to add to scientific knowledge and allowed students to participate in authentic research.

(1) Background: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) vaccines have a significant impact on reducing morbidity and mortality from infection. However, vaccine hesitancy remains an obstacle in combating the pandemic. The Arab American (AA) population is understudied; thus, we aimed to explore COVID-19 attitudes within this community. (2) Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. An anonymous online survey was distributed to members of different AA associations and to the community through the snowball method. (3) Results: A total of 1746 participants completed the survey. A total of 92% of respondents reported having received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. A total of 73% reported willingness to receive a booster, and 72% plan to give their children the vaccine. On multivariate analysis, respondents were more likely to be vaccine-hesitant if they were hesitant about receiving any vaccine in general. They were less likely to be vaccine-hesitant if they were immigrants, over the age of 40, up to date on their general vaccination and if they believed that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective in preventing an infection. The belief that all vaccines are effective at preventing diseases was also associated with lower hesitancy. (4) Conclusions: This sample of AAs have higher vaccination rates and are more willing to vaccinate their children against COVID-19 when compared to the rest of the population. However, a reemergence of hesitancy might be arising towards the boosters.

Purpose: This research and analysis seek to determine the frequency and total number of miscarriages among women of reproductive age over a span of six years in MBAL "NiaMed", locally and globally. Material/Methods: In an observational study, researchers collected data from scientific articles and workplace sources to investigate miscarriages. The study concentrated on women of reproductive age who had experienced pregnancy-related issues, with all information derived from scientific literature and medical records. Results: Both locally and globally, the incidence of spontaneous abortions remains high despite advances in medical prophylaxis and prevention of reproductive failures. The rates per 1,000 women are 53.7 in Russia, 33 in Mexico, and 11.9 in Bulgaria. This is compared with the local incidence at MBAL "NiaMed" among women who have had two or more miscarriages. Conclusion: Miscarriages represent a major global health concern, impacting millions of women annually. Identifying risk factors and implementing effective interventions can decrease miscarriage rates and enhance pregnancy outcomes. Essential components of a comprehensive strategy to tackle this issue include public health initiatives, better access to healthcare services, and ongoing research into potential treatments.

Abstract How does personally tailored climate impact information affect attitudes towards climate policy paths? We developed an online tool to depict the outcomes of downscaled climate models and a personalised vulnerability estimate. A survey representing Finnish public was conducted to find out the attitudes towards climate policies and psychological distance of climate change among different demographic groups before and after using the tool. We found that tailored information increases knowledge on climate impacts, but the effect on policy attitudes depends on demographic attributes (especially age and income) and related personal vulnerability. After using the tool, the respondents’ confidence in their knowledge increased and the potential of climate policies to alleviate changes in the environment was perceived as higher. Most respondents perceived climate impacts as spatially proximal, while temporally and socially there was more variation. For those with low vulnerability levels, climate impacts appeared as more distant after obtaining tailored information.

Media pembelajaran memiliki peran penting pada saat pembelajaran berlangsung dikelas yaitu salah satunya kahoot, media ini masih banyak belum digunakan oleh guru disekolah padahal kahoot merupakan media edukasi online berbasis kuis dengan berbagai fitur yang interaktif sehingga dapat menarik minat belajar siswa dan suasana pembelajaran dikelas menjadi menyenangkan. Terutama pada pembelajaran IPAS, sangat diperlukan media ajar yang menarik seperti media kahoot ini untuk terciptanya minat belajar sehingga siswa memahami materi yang diajarkan dengan baik. Oleh karena itu peneliti tertarik melakukan penelitian untuk mengetahui apakah ada Pengaruh Media Pembelajaran Kahoot Terhadap Hasil Belajar Siswa Kelas V Dalam Pembelajaran IPAS di SDN Ciracas 15 Pagi. Dalam penelitian ini, pendekatatan penelitian yang digunakan adalah kuantitatif eksperimen dan metode quasi eksperimen yaitu terdapat 2 kelompok sampel, kelompok pertama berlaku sebagai menerima perlakuan dan kelompok yang kedua sebagai kelompok control (tidak diberi perlakuan) dengan desain penelitian PostTest Only Control Design dengan pengambilan sampel menggunakan teknik purposive sampling untuk melihat pengaruh media Kahoot dikelas. Pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan mengerjakan soal kepada siswa yang terpilih sebagai sampel pada penelitian ini. Berdasarkan hasil olah data yang didapat dari penelitian ini yaitu memperoleh hasil nilai rata-rata post test sebesar 63.23 pada kelas control dan rata-rata hasil post test sebesar 68.60 pada kelas eksperimen. Hal tersebut menunjukan bahwa terdapat pengaruh pada kelompok yang diberi perlakuan menggunakan media kahoot, dan menunjukan bahwa hasil belajar IPAS siswa kelas eksperimen dalam kategori “baik”.

Wheat is an important agricultural commodity in Indonesia, yet the country remains heavily reliant on imports to meet domestic demand. The diverse agroclimatic conditions in the highlands and lowlands pose significant challenges for national wheat production. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of wheat lines in two distinct altitude environments: Cipanas (1120 m above sea level) and Cisarua (600 m above sea level). An augmented randomized complete block design (RCBD) assessed 50 F6 wheat lines derived from the HP1744/”Selayar” cross. The results revealed significant variability in agronomic traits attributable to altitude differences. However, genotype-by-environment (GxE) interactions were found to be non-significant for all evaluated characters. Broad-sense heritability was classified as medium for the grain-filling period in Cipanas and seed weight of the main panicle in Cisarua, while all other traits exhibited low heritability. Based on the stress sensitivity index (SSI), 14 lines (28%) were identified as tolerant to higher temperatures in the medium-altitude environment, particularly in terms of seed weight of the main panicle. These findings are of utmost importance as they underscore the need to consider genetic and environmental factors in developing wheat cultivars suitable for Indonesia’s diverse agro-climatic conditions.

Sosiaali- ja terveydenhuollon palvelujen ja rakenteen uudistus pyrkii rajoittamaan kustannusten kasvua ja edistämään palveluihin pääsyä. Sosiaali- ja terveydenhuollon palveluita kehitetään yhä asiakaslähtöisimmiksi, oikea-aikaisimmiksi, vaikuttavammiksi ja tehokkaammiksi digitalisaatiota hyödyntäen. Muutokset vaikuttavat etenkin terveydenhuollon työntekijöiden työtapoihin ja sisältöihin, sillä digitalisoituvat palvelut vaativat digitaalista osaamista. Aikaisemman tutkimustiedon mukaan työntekijän ikä ja valmistumisvuosi vaikuttavat hänen kykyynsä käyttää digitaalisia järjestelmiä, ja digitaaliseen osaamiseen liittyvät tietotaidot heikkenevät jo 45-ikävuodesta eteenpäin. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli selvittää sukupolvien välisiä eroja terveydenhuollon työntekijöiden digitaalisessa osaamisessa. Tutkimus toteutettiin poikkileikkaustutkimuksena. Tutkimuksen aineisto (n=817) kerättiin sähköisellä kyselylomakkeella terveydenhuollon ammattilaisilta yhdeksästä terveydenhuollon organisaatiosta kansallisesti. Kysely sisälsi taustakysymyksiä sekä kysymyksiä vastaajan itsearvioidusta digitaalisesta osaamisesta ja digitaaliseen osaamiseen vaikuttavista tekijöistä neliportaisella asteikolla. Aineisto analysoitiin tilastollisin menetelmin SPSS-ohjelmistolla. Tulosten perusteella voidaan todeta, että Z- ja Y-sukupolvet kokevat vahvempaa digitaalista osaamista, kuin X-sukupolvi ja suuret ikäluokat. Suuret ikäluokat arvioivat digitaaliseen osaamisen vaikuttavien tekijöiden tuen nuorempia sukupolvia merkittävämmäksi. Terveydenhuollossa olisikin tulevaisuudessa tärkeää kohdentaa osaamisen kehittämisen menetelmiä sukupolvien väliset digiosaamisen erot huomioiden. Organisaatioiden ja työyhteisöjen tulisikin tehdä aktiivista ja systemaattista työtä eri sukupolvien digitaalisen osaamisen tarpeiden tunnistamiseksi, jotta digitaalisia palveluja ja ratkaisuja otetaan jatkossa käyttöön entistä ennakkoluulottomammin.

Background Globally alcohol consumption is a leading risk factor for premature death and disability and is associated with crime, social and economic consequences. Local communities may be able to play a role in addressing alcohol-related issues in their area. Objectives To evaluate the effectiveness and cost–benefit of an asset-based community development approach to reducing alcohol-related harm and understand the context and factors that enable or hinder its implementation. Design A mixed-methods evaluation. Area-level quasi-experimental trial analysed using four different evaluation methods (a stepped-wedge design where each area was a control until it entered the intervention, comparison to matched local/national controls and comparison to synthetic controls), alongside process and economic evaluations. Setting Ten local authorities in Greater Manchester, England. Participants The outcomes evaluation was analysed at an area level. Ninety-three lay persons representing nineareas completed questionnaires, with 12 follow-up interviews in five areas; 20 stakeholders representing ten areas were interviewed at baseline, with 17 follow-up interviews in eight areas and 26 members of the public from two areas attended focus groups. Interventions Professionals in a co-ordinator role recruited and supported lay volunteers who were trained to become alcohol health champions. The champion’s role was to provide informal, brief alcohol advice to the local population and take action to strengthen restrictions on alcohol availability. Main outcome measures Numbers of alcohol-related hospital admissions, accident and emergency attendances, ambulance call-outs, street-level crime and antisocial behaviour in the intervention areas (area size: 1600–5500 residents). Set-up and running costs were collected alongside process evaluation data exploring barriers and facilitators. Data sources Routinely collected quantitative data on outcome measures aggregated at the intervention area and matched control and synthetic control areas. Data from policy documents, licensing registers, meeting notes, invoices, time/cost diaries, training registers, questionnaires, interviews, reflective diaries and focus groups. Results The intervention rolled out in nine out of ten areas, seven of which ran for a full 12 months. Areas with better-established infrastructure at baseline were able to train more champions. In total, 123 alcohol health champions were trained (95 lay volunteers and 28 professionals): lay volunteers self-reported positive impact. Champions engaged in brief advice conversations more readily than taking action on alcohol availability. There were no consistent differences in the health and crime area-level indicators between intervention areas and controls, as confirmed by using three different analysis methods for evaluating natural experiments. The intervention was not found to be cost-beneficial. Limitations Although the sequential roll-out order of the intervention was randomised, the selection of the intervention areas was not. Self-reported impact may have been subject to social desirability bias due to the project’s high profile. Conclusions There was no measurable impact on health and crime outcomes. Possible explanations include too few volunteers trained, volunteers being unwilling to get involved in licensing decisions, or that the intervention has no direct impact on the selected outcomes. Future work Future similar interventions should use a coproduced community outcomes framework. Other natural experiment evaluations should use methodological triangulation to strengthen inferences about effectiveness. Trial registration This trial is registered as ISRCTN81942890. Funding This award was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Public Health Research programme (NIHR award ref: 15/129/03) and is published in full in Public Health Research; Vol. 12, No. 9. See the NIHR Funding and Awards website for further award information. Plain language summary What was the question? Alcohol consumption puts an individual’s health and social relationships at risk of harm. The more a person drinks, the more harmful it is. The harmful effects can place a burden on emergency services and hospitals. We wanted to find out whether community members can make a difference by taking action to address alcohol harm in their local area. What did we do? Local councils in Greater Manchester developed a project called Communities in Charge of Alcohol, where volunteers in targeted local areas were trained to become ‘alcohol health champions’. Alcohol health champions gave alcohol-related brief advice to people to help them drink less. They had a say about when, where and how alcohol is sold by reporting issues to their local council. We compared numbers of alcohol-related hospital admissions, accident and emergency attendances, ambulance call-outs and reports of crime and antisocial behaviour between areas that had alcohol health champions with other similar areas in England that did not. We calculated how much it costs to run and whether Communities in Charge of Alcohol could save society money. What did we find? Not as many volunteers came forward to become an alcohol health champion as hoped for. Those who did give alcohol-related brief advice to people. They preferred not to report issues about alcohol sales to their local council, either because it was too complicated or because they did not want to be called a ‘grass’. We did not find levels of alcohol harm changed in the Communities in Charge of Alcohol areas. Because of this, we could not demonstrate that Communities in Charge of Alcohol could save society money. What does this mean? Getting involved in alcohol licensing decisions needs to be made easier for communities, with more anonymity, through the support of professionals. More work needs to be done to understand whether giving brief advice can reduce alcohol harm in whole communities. Scientific summary Background The availability of, and access to, alcohol is a key determinant of alcohol harm, and powers exist within the Licensing Act 2003 of England and Wales that enable the public to influence the local sale and supply of alcohol. At an individual level, implementing programmes to promote early risk identification and brief advice have the potential to reduce alcohol consumption and prevent alcohol-related harm, but there is a dearth of evidence to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of lay people having a role. The Greater Manchester (GM) Combined Authority (GMCA) and Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership (GMHSCP) designed a new programme, ‘Communities in Charge of Alcohol’ (CICA) in 2017 to train lay volunteers to become alcohol health champions (AHCs), who would be able to (1) give alcohol-related brief advice to individuals and (2) help communities influence alcohol availability and strengthen restrictions in alcohol risk environments. Overall aims To evaluate the effectiveness and cost–benefit of implementing a locally delivered AHC intervention and understand the context and factors that enable or hinder the intervention. Objectives Relating to the outcome evaluation: to determine the effect on area-level key health performance indicators: alcohol-related hospital admissions (narrow measure), weekend accident and emergency (A&E) attendances (Friday 3 p.m.–Sunday 3 p.m.), weekday A&E attendances (Monday–Friday 9 a.m.–5 p.m. each day), weekend ambulance call-outs (Friday 3 p.m.–Sunday 3 p.m.), weekday ambulance call-outs (Monday–Friday 9 a.m.–5 p.m. each day) to determine the effect on key crime indicators (street-level crime data) at the weekend (Friday 3 p.m.–Sunday 3 p.m.) and weekday (Monday–Friday 9 a.m.–5 p.m. each day) to determine the effect on key antisocial behaviour (ASB) indicators (police recorded calls for service were classified as ASB according to the National Standard for Incident Recording). Relating to the process evaluation: to explore policy context and variation in licensing practice, including any impact of devolution in GM to explore barriers and facilitators at key stages of the implementation of the intervention: recruitment of AHCs to initial training and cascade training, delivery of initial training and cascade training, use of skills beyond the training in AHC activity, retention of AHCs to explore responses to AHC training, modelling of health behaviours, perceptions of community cohesion and development to determine numbers of brief interventions applied and community awareness events organised/participated in to examine and quantify the amount and success of community involvement in licensing issues to determine whether there was a change in composite measures of alcohol availability. Relating to the economic evaluation: to identify set-up and running costs using a standardised costing exercise to resolve costs by sector (health, ambulance and police) before, during and after set-up to quantify benefits due to reduced hospital admissions, ambulance call-outs, A&E use, crime and ASB. Methods Communities in Charge of Alcohol was a complex intervention already planned by the GMCA in 10 small local authority areas (~1600–5500 residents each) and was outside direct researcher control. Intervention areas were chosen by each local authority public health team as having high levels of alcohol harm in comparison to the rest of the local authority. All intervention areas were at the bottom of the deprivation index, in deprivation decile 1 or 2. Using a stepped-wedge design, researchers were able to randomise the order of roll-out of intervention areas to bring a quasi-experimental approach to the evaluation. Two additional evaluation designs were used in order to triangulate findings, namely comparison to matched controls and comparison to synthetic controls. Ethical approval was received from the University of Salford Research Ethics Committee on 17 May 2017 (reference number: HSR1617–135) and obtained from the University of Bristol on 16 May 2019 (reference number: 82762). Outcome evaluation data sources Routinely collected data at the lower-layer super output area (LSOA) level for intervention areas was compared with control areas. Data sources were as follows: alcohol-related hospital admissions data – Public Health England (now Office for Health Improvement and Disparities) accident and emergency department attendance data – NHS Digital ambulance call-out data – North West Ambulance Service reported crime and ASB data – GM Police. Analysis spanned a 10-year period (7 years pre intervention and a maximum of 3 years post implementation), ending in January 2020. Data were analysed using log-rate growth models and time series analyses to quantify the effect of the CICA programme on key performance indicators. Process evaluation data sources Pre-implementation phase document review of local Statements of Licensing Policy (n = 9), alcohol availability composite score of on- and off-licensed premises (n = 9 areas), roll-out preparatory meeting notes. Train-the-Trainer attendance registers by area (n = 5, representing 9 areas, attended by 48 lay participants and 25 professional participants). Cascade training attendance registers by area (n = 11, representing 7 areas, attended by 47 lay participants and 3 professional participants). Pre- and post-training questionnaires (n = 93 lay people, 98% response rate). Baseline interviews with stakeholders (n = 20) (initial implementation phase); interviews with lay volunteer AHCs (n = 5, representing 3 areas) within 3–6 months of initial training (implementation phase). Follow-up interviews (12 months) with stakeholders (n = 11, representing eight areas), licensing officers (n = 6, representing six areas) and lay volunteer AHCs (n = 7, representing four areas); follow-up questionnaires with AHCs (n = 11); focus groups with local residents (n = 3 groups, representing two areas, with a total of 26 participants). Economic evaluation data sources Time and transportation costs incurred during project meetings aggregated from meeting minutes and stakeholder time/cost diaries. Invoices for the design, development and delivery of training packages and accreditation fees. Invoices for the qualification and assessment fees, time and miscellaneous (transportation, room hire, catering, printing costs). AHC time and costs aggregated from volunteer diaries and stakeholder time/cost diaries. Invoices for engagement materials (AUDIT-C scratchcards). Greater Manchester Combined Authority research team’s (formerly New Economy) cost–benefit analysis (CBA) tool was populated using aggregated outcome evaluation data to resolve costs for each key performance indicator before, during and after CICA setup. Results Nine out of 10 local authorities rolled out the CICA intervention on their given start date: seven areas completed a full year, carrying out cascade training in the first 12 months, two areas withdrew at 6 and 9 months and one area withdrew in the pre-implementation phase. There were 118 [interquartile range (IQR): 60–205] alcohol-related hospital admissions per month per pre-intervention LSOA, rising to 134 (IQR: 67–203) post intervention. Some outcomes had very small counts at the LSOA level; notably, there were only 2 (IQR: 1–3) weekend crimes per month pre-intervention and 4 (IQR: 2–6) post intervention. The primary, stepped-wedge analyses provide weak evidence of an average increase in alcohol-related hospital admissions following the implementation of CICA of about 13%, corresponding to about 20 admissions weekly, although the confidence interval was wide, −1.98 to 31.39, and not statistically significant (p~0.09), while the analysis that made use of local controls suggested a bigger effect, at 16.4% (7.33–26.16, p