Search

Background: Sedentary behaviour is increasingly recognized as a public health risk that needs to be monitored at the population level. Across Europe, there is increasing interest in assessing population levels of sedentary time. This systematic literature review aims to provide an overview of all existing cross-European studies that measure sedentary time in adults, to describe the variation in population levels across these studies and to discuss the impact of assessment methods. Methods: Six literature databases (PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, SportDiscus and OpenGrey) were searched, supplemented with backward- and forward tracking and searching authors' and experts' literature databases. Articles were included if they reported on observational studies measuring any form of sedentary time in the general population in two or more European countries. Each record was reviewed, extracted and assessed by two independent researchers, and disagreements were resolved by a third researcher. The review protocol of this review is registered in the PROSPERO database under registration number CRD42014010335. Results: Of the 9,756 unique articles that were identified in the search, twelve articles were eligible for inclusion in this review, reporting on six individual studies and three Eurobarometer surveys. These studies represented 2 to 29 countries, and 321 to 65,790 participants. Eleven studies focused on total sedentary time, while one studied screen time. The majority of studies used questionnaires to assess sedentary time, while two studies used accelerometers. Total sedentary time was reported most frequently and varied from 150 (median) to 620 (mean) minutes per day across studies and countries. Conclusions: One third of European countries were not included in any of the studies. Objective measures of European adults are currently limited, and most studies used single-item self-reported questions without assessing sedentary behaviour types or domains. Findings varied substantially between studies, meaning that population levels of sedentary time in European adults are currently unknown. In general, people living in northern Europe countries appear to report more sedentary time than southern Europeans. The findings of this review highlight the need for standardisation of the measurement methods and the added value of cross-European surveillance of sedentary behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Physical inactivity is a well-known public health risk that should be monitored at the population level. Physical activity levels are often surveyed across Europe. This systematic literature review aims to provide an overview of all existing cross-European studies that assess physical activity in European adults, describe the variation in population levels according to these studies, and discuss the impact of the assessment methods. Methods: Six literature databases (PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, SportDiscus and OpenGrey) were searched, supplemented with backward- and forward tracking and searching authors' and experts' literature databases. Articles were included if they reported on observational studies measuring total physical activity and/or physical activity in leisure time in the general population in two or more European countries. Each record was reviewed, extracted and assessed by two independent researchers and disagreements were resolved by a third researcher. The review protocol of this review is registered in the PROSPERO database under registration number CRD42014010334. Results: Of the 9,756 unique identified articles, twenty-five were included in this review, reporting on sixteen different studies, including 2 to 35 countries and 321 to 274,740 participants. All but two of the studies used questionnaires to assess physical activity, with the majority of studies using the IPAQ-short questionnaire. The remaining studies used accelerometers. The percentage of participants who either were or were not meeting the physical activity recommendations was the most commonly reported outcome variable, with the percentage of participants meeting the recommendations ranging from 7 % to 96 % across studies and countries. Conclusions: The included studies showed substantial variation in the assessment methods, reported outcome variables and, consequently, the presented physical activity levels. Because of this, absolute population levels of physical activity in European adults are currently unknown. However, when ranking countries, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Portugal, and Spain generally appear to be among the less active countries. Objective data of adults across Europe is currently limited. These findings highlight the need for standardisation of the measurement methods, as well as cross-European monitoring of physical activity levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This introductory paper presents 20 river restoration cases throughout Europe that were investigated in the EU-funded research project REFORM. In the following, this special issue provides seven specific papers that highlight and discuss the effects of restoration on the investigated river-floodplain systems. Additionally, restoration success was estimated from a socio-economic perspective. The first part of this paper presents the overall study concept and the general sampling design of the field investigations. Each study site was examined with the same array of methods, covering habitat composition in the river and its floodplain, three aquatic and two floodplain-related organism groups, as well as food web composition and 'aquatic terrestrial' interactions as reflected by stable isotopes. An overview of the rivers and the study sites summarizes main attributes of all investigated sites, with emphasis on the large-scale restoration projects. Some of the projects represent the 'state of the art' restoration approaches for two major European river types: gravel-bed mountain rivers and sand-bed lowland rivers. Concluding, restoration efforts had positive effects even in the small restoration projects investigated but did not increase with project size. No 'single best' measure could be identified, but river widening generally had a larger effect compared to other restoration measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two European qualification frameworks for higher education have been developed over the past decades. One of the goals of these are to promote common descriptions of learning outcomes at various levels within higher education. This article describes a) how national qualification frameworks have been perceived within bachelor nursing education, and b) the correspondence between learning outcomes and assessment methods. Evidently, a key factor for success is that the governing entities create a climate for good cooperation within and between the education institutions. However, our findings suggest that the communication between the experts and the educational institutions, who worked with the development and implementation of the national qualifications frameworks, has been far from good enough. Furthermore, there is a need to develop valid criteria for nursing competence, which in turn, could be integrated into the QFs and the NQFs. In this manner, on might secure that nursing education will uphold and meet the highest standards in all educational systems across Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The characterization of lake hydromorphology is crucial to understand the dynamics of biodiversity. In Europe, it is also a regulatory requirement of the Water Framework Directive. However, according to the literature, few methods include this characterization. The aim of this study is to review the state of the art of the methods currently used or under development in European countries to assess lake hydromorphological status for the implementation of the WFD. Our analysis is based on responses to a questionnaire distributed to national experts on hydromorphology of the 28 countries implementing the WFD. Our results highlighted significant progress in the assessment of hydromorphological features and processes. Water level regime, through the range of water flow or existing water management, and structure of the shore zone through macrophytes and substrate characteristics or measurement of lateral connectivity, are the most frequently assessed features. Stratification, surface/groundwater connection and planform pattern are the lake features most frequently omitted from the methods. However, in most of the countries, the development of methods was still in progress to meet the WFD requirement. Definition of reference condition is a central component of all WFD compliant assessment tools but this is a challenge particularly in the assessment of hydromorphological alteration of reservoirs. Similarly, demonstrating strong links between hydromorphological indicators and biological quality elements remains a challenge with many knowledge gaps still evident. These results highlight the need for rapid collection of new environmental data and the need for conceptual and applied research to make methodological progress in assessing lake hydromorphology and ensuring habitat quality., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Abstract: In 2009, following approval of the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD, 2008/56/EC), the European Commission (EC) created task groups to develop guidance for eleven quality descriptors that form the basis for evaluating ecosystem function. The objective was to provide European countries with practical guidelines for implementing the MSFD, and to produce a Commission Decision that encapsulated key points of the work in a legal framework. This paper presents a review of work carried out by the eutrophication task group, and reports our main findings to the scientific community. On the basis of an operational, management-oriented definition, we discuss the main methodologies that could be used for coastal and marine eutrophication assessment. Emphasis is placed on integrated approaches that account for physico–chemical and biological components, and combine both pelagic and benthic symptoms of eutrophication, in keeping with the holistic nature of the MSFD. We highlight general features that any marine eutrophication model should possess, rather than making specific recommendations. European seas range from highly eutrophic systems such as the Baltic to nutrient-poor environments such as the Aegean Sea. From a physical perspective, marine waters range from high energy environments of the north east Atlantic to the permanent vertical stratification of the Black Sea. This review aimed to encapsulate that variability, recognizing that meaningful guidance should be flexible enough to accommodate the widely differing characteristics of European seas, and that this information is potentially relevant in marine ecosystems worldwide. Given the spatial extent of the MSFD, innovative approaches are required to allow meaningful monitoring and assessment. Consequently, substantial logistic and financial challenges will drive research in areas such as remote sensing of harmful algal blooms, in situ sensor development, and mathematical models. Our review takes into account related legislation, and in particular the EU Water Framework , which deals with river basins, including estuaries and a narrow coastal strip, in order to examine these issues within the framework of integrated coastal zone management. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]