To holistically understand the biology of animals, we must unravel the complexities and specificities of host-microbe interactions across animal taxa. Birds represent enigmatic and scientifically compelling hosts in which to understand these interactions. Here, we present a brief summary of a series of conversations among avian microbiome researchers regarding methodological challenges facing the avian microbiome field, where most research to date has focused on bacterial communities of the gut. Collectively, we acknowledged a commonly shared but underreported issue facing the avian microbiome field: that of difficulty in obtaining high-quality and high-yield microbial DNA from avian fecal samples. We discuss some of the potential reasons underlying low DNA yields, such as inhibitory compounds and rapid DNA degradation, and provide recommendations for how researchers in the avian microbiome field might cope with these methodological challenges. Collective and dedicated efforts to address these challenges will be required for a robust understanding of host-microbe interactions in avian systems.
The purpose of this statement is to guide the design and conduct of high-quality sport and exercise science studies investigating the effects of varied ovarian hormone profiles on the health and athletic performance of elite female athletes. Beyond the menstrual cycle, these athletes present with a wide range of ovarian hormone profiles, including those associated with puberty and menarche, menstrual dysfunction, hormonal contraceptive use, pregnancy and postpartum, perimenopause, menopause and post-menopause. To effectively integrate knowledge of ovarian hormone profiles into high-performance sport and address the diverse needs of female athletes, future research and educational initiatives must encompass this broader spectrum of ovarian hormone profiles. However, to produce this knowledge, improvements in research design and conduct are necessary and can be facilitated by adopting reporting checklists as a structured approach to enhance transparency and reproducibility. We recommend that such quality assurance measures be integrated at the study design phase, along with clear research questions, appropriate study designs, and valid analysis methods. Consequently, the proposed guidelines aim to support researchers working in applied settings with elite female athletes in generating more robust and impactful evidence.
Land use and biodiversity conservation are increasingly recognized as ethical and value-laden topics rather than merely ecological or socio-technical problems. While this has increased multidisciplinary and participatory approaches in research, explicit engagement with environmental ethics, where those questions are scrutinized though an ethical lens, remains limited. To address this need, we reviewed how the environmental ethics literature defines and characterizes active human presence across different environments, how it frames human impacts on nonhumans, and the assumptions and normative implications articulated by these perspectives. Using a narrative approach, we identify four main narratives from environmental ethics on human and nonhuman coexistence: wilderness, rural stewardship, urban cohabitation, and relational narratives. By synthesizing these narratives, our findings offer conceptual tools that can support sustainability researchers, practitioners, and policymakers reflect more critically on the ethical dimensions of land-use decisions and better navigate contested visions of desirable landscape futures.
Given the current flux of information of varying quality and trustworthiness, critical reading skills (e.g., evaluating, comparing, and integrating information and related sources) are needed from an early age. While there is evidence that many parents support their children’s basic reading skills by teaching decoding or by reading books with their children, it is less clear how critical reading skills are supported at home during later school years. To address this gap, this study examined the prevalence, variability, and factor structure of a parental questionnaire on the home factors for critical reading using data from Finland. In addition, we investigated the roles of the child’s and parent’s genders, parents’ education levels, and the amount of reading materials at home in explaining the home factors for critical reading. To this end, parents of fourth graders (nG4 = 149), sixth graders (nG6 = 213), and eighth graders (nG8 = 226) responded to a questionnaire. The results suggested that, although on average, parents provided support for their children’s critical reading at each grade level, there was also variability across families. Differences between samples were limited to items related to media use; however, the factor structures differed across samples. The amount of reading materials at home was positively associated with the home factors for critical reading at each grade level. Together, these results indicate that the home factors for critical reading are present in Grades 4–8 but shifts structurally with age; moreover, access to print consistently relates to supportive practices.
The early childhood period is a critical stage in which the foundations of cognitive, social, and emotional development are established. Early numeracy skills acquired during this period are considered significant predictors of later academic success. Assessing children’s early numerical competencies is essential for both educators and researchers. However, the lack of reliable and valid teacher-report assessment tools makes the evaluation process challenging. The Teacher Rating Scale - Early Numeracy (TRS-EN) is a measurement tool based on teacher reports designed to evaluate children’s early numeracy skills. This study aims to translate and adapt the TRS-EN, originally developed in Finland and based on the English source version, into Turkish, and to provide evidence of its structural validity and reliability among Turkish preschoolers. The sample consisted of 331 children (48- to 72-month-olds). The results indicated that the structural validity of the TRS-EN was supported by a three-factor model: counting skills, numerical relational skills, and basic arithmetic skills. In addition, internal consistency for each factor was above α = 0.70 and the three-factor model was invariant for younger (48-60-month-old) and older (61-72-month-old) preschoolers. For test-retest reliability, there was a strong (r > .70, p < .001) correlation between TRS-EN scores over a one-month interval. The findings demonstrate that the TRS-EN is suitable for evaluating early numeracy skills among 48- to 72-month-old preschoolers and could therefore be recommended as a reliable tool to assess such skills.
