King Rail (Rallus elegans) presence in the Midwestern United States is predicted by local-scale factors and avian community.

The King Rail (Rallus elegans) is a wetland dependent species of conservation concern. Our objective was to gain a better understanding of the breeding habitat associations of King Rails in the Midwestern United States and the relationship of this species to other obligate marsh birds using occupancy and MaxEnt models. To collect data pertaining to occupancy, we placed trail cameras at 50 random points in coastal wetlands in the western Lake Erie basin where calls of King Rails were continuously broadcast at night. Data pertaining to other marsh bird species were collected via call-broadcast surveys and camera surveys at each sample point. For MaxEnt modeling, we obtained presence data for King Rails and other obligate marsh birds from eBird and habitat data from GIS databases. Trail cameras and call-broadcast surveys captured 10 detections of King Rails at nine sites, an 18% naive occupancy rate. King Rail occupancy was positively related to amount of interspersion, average water depth, and percent cover of emergent vegetation at local scales within a 5-m radius. Our MaxEnt models indicated that, at a broader scale, the presence of other rail species such as the Sora (Porzana carolina) may be more important for predicting King Rail presence than other marsh birds or coarse wetland categories such as "emergent vegetation." Our results could help wetland managers to predict where King Rails occur and to adapt management plans to incorporate King Rail conservation.

King rail (Rallus elegans) home range and microhabitat characteristics in western Lake Erie coastal marshes.

The king rail (Rallus elegans) is a secretive marsh bird that is threatened or endangered in eight of nine states and provinces in the Laurentian Great Lakes (Great Lakes) region. Available survey data suggests that this species has undergone population declines across this region and these are believed to have been driven by habitat loss and degradation. An improved understanding of the amount and type of habitat king rails require during the breeding season at sites within the Great Lakes region would inform and improve progress toward conservation goals. During 2019-2021, we caught and radio-tagged 14 king rails in northwestern Ohio and southeastern Michigan within impounded coastal wetlands of western Lake Erie. We used radio telemetry to identify breeding season (May-August) home-range characteristics and third order habitat selection within home ranges (hereafter microhabitat). For the birds whose home range stabilized (N = 10), we found a mean home-range size of 8.8 ha (±1.63 [SE]; range = 1.9 to 15.8). We generated a classification tree to determine which habitat characteristics were associated with king rail presence within home ranges in our study. We found that vegetative density within home ranges was particularly associated with king rail presence. Phragmites australis was also associated with king rail presence, despite its invasiveness and negative ecological impacts in the region, and could be selectively maintained to benefit king rails. Our results suggest that managers may be able to provide microhabitat for king rails by maintaining water depths of 6 to 17 cm and by promoting native, robust vegetation in the genera Carex and Juncus. Our findings could help inform wetland managers and conservation planners in the Great Lakes region, particularly in western Lake Erie coastal marshes, of patch sizes, water depths, plant communities, and vegetative structure preferred by king rails.

Leveraging a Landscape-Level Monitoring and Assessment Program for Developing Resilient Shorelines throughout the Laurentian Great Lakes.

Traditionally, ecosystem monitoring, conservation, and restoration have been conducted in a piecemeal manner at the local scale without regional landscape context. However, scientifically driven conservation and restoration decisions benefit greatly when they are based on regionally determined benchmarks and goals. Unfortunately, required data sets rarely exist for regionally important ecosystems. Because of early recognition of the extreme ecological importance of Laurentian Great Lakes coastal wetlands, and the extensive degradation that had already occurred, significant investments in coastal wetland research, protection, and restoration have been made in recent decades and continue today. Continued and refined assessment of wetland condition and trends, and the evaluation of restoration practices are all essential to ensuring the success of these investments. To provide wetland managers and decision makers throughout the Laurentian Great Lakes basin with the optimal tools and data needed to make scientifically-based decisions, our regional team of Great Lakes wetland scientists developed standardized methods and indicators used for assessing wetland condition. From a landscape perspective, at the Laurentian Great Lakes ecosystem scale, we established a stratified random-site-selection process to monitor birds, anurans, fish, macroinvertebrates, vegetation, and physicochemical conditions of coastal wetlands in the US and Canada. Monitoring of approximately 200 wetlands per year began in 2011 as the Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Monitoring Program. In this paper, we describe the development, delivery, and expected results of this ongoing international, multi-disciplinary, multi-stakeholder, landscape-scale monitoring program as a case example of successful application of landscape conservation design.

Detection of Influenza A viruses at migratory bird stopover sites in Michigan, USA.

Introduction: Influenza A viruses have the potential to cause devastating illness in humans and domestic poultry. Wild birds are the natural reservoirs of Influenza A viruses and migratory birds are implicated in their global dissemination. High concentrations of this virus are excreted in the faeces of infected birds and faecal contamination of shared aquatic habitats can lead to indirect transmission among birds via the faecal-oral route. The role of migratory birds in the spread of avian influenza has led to large-scale surveillance efforts of circulating avian influenza viruses through direct sampling of live and dead wild birds. Environmental monitoring of bird habitats using molecular detection methods may provide additional information on the persistence of influenza virus at migratory stopover sites distributed across large spatial scales. Materials and methods: In the current study, faecal and water samples were collected at migratory stopover sites and evaluated for Influenza A by real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR. Results and Discussion: This study found that Influenza A was detected at 53% of the evaluated stopover sites, and 7% and 4.8% of the faecal and water samples, respectively, tested positive for Influenza A virus. Conclusion: Environmental monitoring detected Influenza A at stopover sites used by migratory birds.

Potential for gulls to transport bacteria from human waste sites to beaches.

Contamination of recreational beaches due to fecal waste from gulls complicates beach monitoring and may pose a risk to public health. Gulls that feed at human waste sites may ingest human fecal microorganisms associated with that waste. If these gulls also visit beaches, they may serve as vectors, transporting fecal microorganisms to the beach where they may subsequently contaminate sand and water. In this study, samples collected from landfills, treated wastewater storage lagoons, and public beaches demonstrated a spatial and temporal overlap of markers for gull and human-associated microorganisms. In addition, markers for gull, fecal indicator bacteria, and the human-associated marker, HF183, were detected in gull feces and cloacae samples. Further, HF183 was detected in cloacae samples from gulls that were documented by radio-telemetry traveling between human waste sites and public beaches. This study highlights the potential for gulls that visit human waste sites to disperse human-associated microorganisms in the beach landscape.

[Renal transplanted adolescents' perception of the relationship to the interdisciplinary health care team]. / Die Beziehung zum interdisziplinären Behandlungsteam aus Sicht nierentransplantierter Jugendlicher.

Various studies have demonstrated that the experience of a supportive relationship improves adherence of chronically ill adolescents. Their experience of the professional relationship in the context of the interdisciplinary treatment setting is still rarely investigated. The aim of this descriptive cross-sectional study in adolescents with renal transplant was to explore how they experience the relationship to the exponents of the different professionals of the health care team. Twenty-seven adolescents, aged 12 to 18, years were investigated by the Family System Test (FAST). The analysis showed that to them, both the pediatric-nephrological specialized nurses and the doctors are attachment figures in a comparable manner. The emotional relationship to the nurses was stronger, whereas in their behavior decisions the influence of the doctors was more pronounced. The adolescents' wish is an equally friendly-professional, yet low hierarchical relationship. These results demonstrated that the patient group specialized primary nursing concept established at the Zurich University Children's Hospital is approved and that interdisciplinarity is important for the care of chronically ill adolescents.

Transtheoretical model-based exercise counselling for older adults in Switzerland: Quantitative results over a 1-year period.

OBJECTIVES: To develop and test a counselling programme based on the Transtheoretical Model of behavioural change, for promoting exercise in people over the age of 65. METHOD: The sample (n = 448) consisted of women and men aged between 65 and 92, recruited from Swiss GPs' practices between 2000 and 2004. After a baseline measurement (T1) and an initial counselling session, they received two counselling sessions, followed by a 12-month follow-up (T2). Changes in exercise behaviour were recorded by means of stage classification and the time spent on everyday moderate-intensity activities that increase the breathing rate. RESULTS: At T1 there was a tendency for women to be less physically active than men. T1 to T2 the proportion of inactive people fell from 12.2% to 4.2%, and the proportion of people sufficiently active rose from 19.0 % to 31.3 %. The changes in stage were significant in both men and women. At T2 more than half of the participants in the study spent more time exercising. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that, with counselling, the exercise behaviour of the elderly can be positively influenced over a 1-year period.

[Outcomes and experiences of caring for families with children with cleft lip and palate at the Children's Hospital of Zurich]. / Die Arbeit mit Familien von Kindern mit Lippen-Kiefer-Gaumenspalte: Erste Ergebnisse betreffend Evaluation eines Praxisentwicklungsprojektes aus dem Kinderspital Zürich.

The development and establishment of Advanced Nursing Practice is an important step toward an effective and sustainable care. Five diploma nurses of the Children's Hospital of Zurich started an ANP project in the field of children with cleft lip and palate under the guidance of an ANP Nurse. The purpose of this project was to address the needs of the families and to establish state-of-the-art care. Action research methodology built the background because it offers methods that connect theory and practice. Family management and organizational elements (project team, organization and new services) were the basic elements of the project. The goal of this paper is to present the first evaluation of this project. For instance, today, the families have the opportunity to visit the hospital before the first surgery. For the children, pain management and nutrition after surgery were adapted to state of the art knowledge. The evaluation also shows areas that need to be further developed in the future. The results emphasize, that the ANP-team projects with family management as core activity empowered the team members and led to an adaptation of nursing practices towards the needs of the families.