Healthcare workers (HCWs) were at increased risk for mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic, with prior data suggesting women may be particularly vulnerable. Our global mental health study aimed to examine factors associated with gender differences in psychological distress and depressive symptoms among HCWs during COVID-19. Across 22 countries in South America, Europe, Asia and Africa, 32,410 HCWs participated in the COVID-19 HEalth caRe wOrkErS (HEROES) study between March 2020 and February 2021. They completed the General Health Questionnaire-12, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and questions about pandemic-relevant exposures. Consistently across countries, women reported elevated mental health problems compared to men. Women also reported increased COVID-19-relevant stressors, including insufficient personal protective equipment and less support from colleagues, while men reported increased contact with COVID-19 patients. At the country level, HCWs in countries with higher gender inequality reported less mental health problems. Higher COVID-19 mortality rates were associated with increased psychological distress merely among women. Our findings suggest that among HCWs, women may have been disproportionately exposed to COVID-19-relevant stressors at the individual and country level. This highlights the importance of considering gender in emergency response efforts to safeguard women’s well-being and ensure healthcare system preparedness during future public health crises.

Continental paleoclimate proxies with near-global coverage are rare. Land snail δ18O is one of the few proxies abundant in Quaternary sediments ranging from the tropics to the high Arctic tundra. However, its application in paleoclimatology remains difficult, attributable in part to limitations in published calibration studies. Here we present shell δ18O of modern small (<10 mm) snails across North America, from Florida (30°N) to Manitoba (58°N), to examine the main climatic controls on shell δ18O at a coarse scale. This transect is augmented by published δ18O values, which expand our coverage from Jamaica (18°N) to Alaska (64°N). Results indicate that shell δ18O primarily tracks the average annual precipitation δ18O. Shell δ18O increases 0.5–0.7‰ for every 1‰ increase in precipitation δ18O, and 0.3–0.7‰ for every 1°C increase in temperature. These relationships hold true when all taxa are included regardless of body size (ranging from ~1.6 to ~58 mm), ecology (herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores), or behavior (variable seasonal active periods and mobility habits). Future isotopic investigations should include calibration studies in tropical and high-latitude settings, arid environments, and along altitudinal gradients to test if the near linear relationship between shell and meteoric precipitation δ18O observed on a continental scale remains significant.

This paper presents the results of an investigation of the flow around rectangular and chamfered cavities at high subsonic and low supersonic speeds. Pressures measured on the faces of the cavities are integrated to find the pressure drag of the cavities. The types of cavity tested range from simple sawcuts to cavities so long that the two ends can be regarded as independent and the results for these are compared with the sum of the drags of isolated forward and rear facing steps.

Although the Reynolds numbers of the tests are similar to those in flight conditions the maximum depth of the cavities tested is only 6 mm so that the pressure resolution on the vertical faces of the cavities is limited. In spite of this it is estimated that the maximum error in the drag of any particular cavity is less than the skin friction drag on a smooth surface equal in area to half the plan area of the cavity.

We investigated the interactions of water soluble single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) with unicellular organisms, in particular a ciliated protozoan (Tetrahymena thermophila) and a bacteria (Escherichia coli), which are common constituents of natural fresh water. The ciliates could effectively incorporate SWNT into natural organic matter (NOM), and therefore into normal ecological processes. Further, SWNT induced the ciliates to egest viable bacteria in membrane-enclosed vesicles. The egested bacteria aggregates had escaped digestion by the protozoan and were able to proliferate and resist antibiotic/disinfectant treatments, which may have important implications to public health. This work highlights the importance of studies on nanoparticle ecotoxicology.

Phosphorus (P) is an essential nutrient in livestock production, involved in most metabolic processes in the body, and with an impact on bone development and growth. Diet supplementation with P can improve productivity, but at excess levels the P utilization can be low, and the high P excretion will lead to environmental pollution (Tamminga, 2003). P supplementation also adds substantially to the cost of feed. Using the isotopic dilution technique (Vitti et al., 2000), we have studied the effect of different P levels in diet on P absorption and excretion in Brazilian sheep, and identified the level at which true P absorption saturates.