Health Consequences Research Articles

Nitrogen dioxide exposure, health outcomes, and associated demographic disparities due to gas and propane combustion by U.S. stoves.

Gas and propane stoves emit nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution indoors, but the exposures of different U.S. demographic groups are unknown. We estimate NO2 exposure and health consequences using emissions and concentration measurements from >100 homes, a room-specific indoor air quality model, epidemiological risk parameters, and statistical sampling of housing characteristics and occupant behavior. Gas and propane stoves increase long-term NO2 exposure 4.0 parts per billion volume on average across the United States, 75% of the World Health Organization's exposure guideline. This increased exposure likely causes ~50,000 cases of current pediatric asthma from long-term NO2 exposure alone. Short-term NO2 exposure from typical gas stove use frequently exceeds both World Health Organization and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency benchmarks. People living in residences <800 ft2 in size incur four times more long-term NO2 exposure than people in residences >3000 ft2 in size; American Indian/Alaska Native and Black and Hispanic/Latino households incur 60 and 20% more NO2 exposure, respectively, than the national average.

Interstate Disparity in Combating COVID-19 in India: Efficiency Estimate Across States

Currently, COVID-19 is the most lethal menace in the world. Due to its health and economic consequences, it becomes a serious challenge for the economy. The present article aims to explore India’s interstate disparities of efficiency in combating COVID-19 based on secondary data. Besides, an attempt has been made to pinpoint the factors responsible for the inefficiency of resisting this deadly virus. The interstate efficiency measurement is facilitated by applying stochastic production frontier analysis. The empirical result divulges that among the Indian states, Bihar is the most efficient in combating COVID-19. The empirical estimation of the frontier model discloses that the number of doctors, nurses, police force, isolation beds and hotspots positively and significantly influence the recovery rate from COVID-19 in Indian states. The empirical results of the inefficiency effects model suggest that the share of elderly and urbanisation reversely influence the efficiency in combating the virus, while favourable sex ratio, literacy rate, regular salaried employment, digitalisation and ruralisation stimulate the efficiency of the concerned state. The study concludes that efficient utilisation, coupled with the advancement of the existing health infrastructure, is imperative for the acceleration of the recovery rate from this pandemic.

First report of KPC variants conferring ceftazidime-avibactam resistance in Colombia: introducing KPC-197.

Latin America and the Caribbean is an endemic region for carbapenemases. Increasingly high rates of Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC) have established ceftazidime-avibactam (CZA) as an essential antimicrobial for the treatment of infections due to MDR Gram-negative pathogens. Although other countries in the region have reported the emergence of CZA-resistant KPC variants, this is the first description of such enzymes in Colombia. This finding warrants active surveillance, as dissemination of these variants could have devastating public health consequences.

The Health Costs of Cost-Sharing

Abstract What happens when patients suddenly stop their medications? We study the health consequences of drug interruptions caused by large, abrupt, and arbitrary changes in price. Medicare’s prescription drug benefit as-if-randomly assigns 65-year-olds a drug budget as a function of their birth month, beyond which out-of-pocket costs suddenly increase. Those facing smaller budgets consume fewer drugs and die more: mortality increases 0.0164 percentage points per month (13.9%) for each ${\$}$100 per month budget decrease (24.4%). This estimate is robust to a range of falsification checks, and lies in the 97.8th percentile of 544 placebo estimates from similar populations that lack the same idiosyncratic budget policy. Several facts help make sense of this large effect. First, patients stop taking drugs that are both ‘high-value,’ and suspected to cause life-threatening withdrawal syndromes when stopped. Second, using machine learning, we identify patients at the highest risk of drug-preventable adverse events. Contrary to the predictions of standard economic models, high-risk patients (e.g., those most likely to have a heart attack) cut back more than low-risk patients on exactly those drugs that would benefit them the most (e.g., statins). Finally, patients appear unaware of these risks. In a survey of 65-year-olds, only one-third believe that stopping their drugs for up to a month could have any serious consequences. We conclude that, far from curbing waste, cost-sharing is itself highly inefficient, resulting in missed opportunities to buy health at very low cost (${\$}$11,321 per life-year).

Detection of florfenicol resistance in opportunistic Acinetobacter spp. infections in rural Thailand

Florfenicol (Ff) is an antimicrobial agent belonging to the class amphenicol used for the treatment of bacterial infections in livestock, poultry, and aquaculture (animal farming). It inhibits protein synthesis. Ff is an analog of chloramphenicol, an amphenicol compound on the WHO essential medicine list that is used for the treatment of human infections. Due to the extensive usage of Ff in animal farming, zoonotic pathogens have developed resistance to this antimicrobial agent. There are numerous reports of resistance genes from organisms infecting or colonizing animals found in human pathogens, suggesting a possible exchange of genetic materials. One of these genes is floR, a gene that encodes for an efflux pump that removes Ff from bacterial cells, conferring resistance against amphenicol, and is often associated with mobile genetic elements and other resistant determinants. In this study, we analyzed bacterial isolates recovered in rural Thailand from patients and environmental samples collected for disease monitoring. Whole genome sequencing was carried out for all the samples collected. Speciation and genome annotation was performed revealing the presence of the floR gene in the bacterial genome. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined for Ff and chloramphenicol. Chromosomal and phylogenetic analyses were performed to investigate the acquisition pattern of the floR gene. The presence of a conserved floR gene in unrelated Acinetobacter spp. isolated from human bacterial infections and environmental samples was observed, suggesting multiple and independent inter-species genetic exchange of drug-resistant determinants. The floR was found to be in the variable region containing various mobile genetic elements and other antibiotic resistance determinants; however, no evidence of HGT could be found. The floR gene identified in this study is chromosomal for all isolates. The study highlights a plausible impact of antimicrobials used in veterinary settings on human health. Ff shares cross-resistance with chloramphenicol, which is still in use in several countries. Furthermore, by selecting for floR-resistance genes, we may be selecting for and facilitating the zoonotic and reverse zoonotic exchange of other flanking resistance markers between human and animal pathogens or commensals with detrimental public health consequences.

Caregiver and Child Mental Health During 3 Years of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdowns (stay-at-home orders) had significant mental health consequences in 2020 to 2021 for caregivers and children. Little is known about "postlockdown" periods in 2022 to 2023. We investigated the mental health experiences of Australian families throughout the 3 years of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2023), by demographic characteristics and lockdown length. A total N = 12 408 caregivers (N = 20 339 children, aged 0-17 years) completed Australia's only representative, repeated, cross-sectional, National Child Health Poll across 6 waves (June 2020-April 2023). Caregivers reported mental health for themselves (Kessler-6, poor versus not) and each child (self-rated mental health, poor/fair versus good/very good/excellent), and perceived impacts of the pandemic on own/child mental health (negative versus none/positive). Binary logistic models were fitted to predict marginal probabilities of each mental health measure by state/territory group (proxy for lockdown length), over time, adjusted for potential demographic confounders. Poor caregiver Kessler-6 was similar between genders but more common for sole caregivers, and those with a home language other than English and lower education. Poor/fair child self-rated mental health was similar between genders and increased with child age. Perceived negative impacts were more common for females and socially advantaged caregivers. Overall, negative mental health experiences increased with lockdown length, peaking with the height of lockdown in July 2021, before declining. Negative mental health experiences of Australian caregivers and children decreased during postlockdown periods of 2022-2023; however, social gradients persisted. These data can inform more precise mental health policies that enable better use of limited mental health infrastructure.

The effects of paternal dietary fat versus sugar on offspring body composition and anxiety-related behavior

Increasing evidence suggests that the pre-conception parental environment has long-term consequences for offspring health and disease susceptibility. Though much of the work in this field concentrates on maternal influences, there is growing understanding that fathers also play a significant role in affecting offspring phenotypes. In this study, we investigate effects of altering the proportion of dietary fats and carbohydrates on paternal and offspring body composition and anxiety-related behavior in C57Bl/6-JArc mice. We show that in an iso-caloric context, greater dietary fat increased body fat and reduced anxiety-like behavior of studs, whereas increased dietary sucrose had no significant effect. These dietary effects were not reflected in offspring traits, rather, we found sex-specific effects that differed between offspring body composition and behavioral traits. This finding is consistent with past paternal effect studies, where transgenerational effects have been shown to be more prominent in one sex over the other. Here, male offspring of fathers fed high-fat diets were heavier at 10 weeks of age due to increased lean body mass, whereas paternal diet had no significant effect on female offspring body fat or lean mass. In contrast, paternal dietary sugar appeared to have the strongest effects on male offspring behavior, with male offspring of high-sucrose fathers spending less time in the closed arms of the elevated plus maze. Both high-fat and high-sugar paternal diets were found to reduce anxiety-like behavior of female offspring, although this effect was only evident when offspring were fed a control diet. This study provides new understanding of the ways in which diet can shape the behavior of fathers and their offspring and contribute to the development of dietary guidelines to improve obesity and mental health conditions, such as anxiety.

Epigenetic Modifications of White Blood Cell DNA Caused by Transient Fetal Infection with Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) infections cause USD 1.5–2 billion in losses annually. Maternal BVDV after 150 days of gestation causes transient fetal infection (TI) in which the fetal immune response clears the virus. The impact of fetal TI BVDV infections on postnatal growth and white blood cell (WBC) methylome as an index of epigenetic modifications was examined by inoculating pregnant heifers with noncytopathic type 2 BVDV or media (sham-inoculated controls) on Day 175 of gestation to generate TI (n = 11) and control heifer calves (n = 12). Fetal infection in TI calves was confirmed by virus-neutralizing antibody titers at birth and control calves were seronegative. Both control and TI calves were negative for BVDV RNA in WBCs by RT-PCR. The mean weight of the TI calves was less than that of the controls (p &lt; 0.05). DNA methyl seq analysis of WBC DNA demonstrated 2349 differentially methylated cytosines (p ≤ 0.05) including 1277 hypomethylated cytosines, 1072 hypermethylated cytosines, 84 differentially methylated regions based on CpGs in promoters, and 89 DMRs in islands of TI WBC DNA compared to controls. Fetal BVDV infection during late gestation resulted in epigenomic modifications predicted to affect fetal development and immune pathways, suggesting potential consequences for postnatal growth and health of TI cattle.

Screening and identification of an aflatoxin B1-degrading strain from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and biodegradation products analysis

This research aimed to address the issue of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) contamination, which posed severe health and economic consequences. This study involved exploring unique species resources in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, screening strains capable of degrading AFB1. UPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS and NMR were employed to examine the degradation process and identify the structure of the degradation products. Results showed that Bacillus amyloliquefaciens YUAD7, isolated from yak dung in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, removed 91.7% of AFB1 from TSB-AFB1 medium with an AFB1 concentration of 10 μg/mL (72 h, 37°C, pH 6.8) and over 85% of AFB1 from real food samples at 10 μg/g (72 h, 37°C), exhibiting strong AFB1 degradation activity. Bacillus amyloliquefaciens YUAD7’s extracellular secretions played a major role in AFB1 degradation mediated and could still degrade AFB1 by 43.16% after boiling for 20 min. Moreover, B. amyloliquefaciens YUAD7 demonstrated the capability to decompose AFB1 through processes such as hydrogenation, enzyme modification, and the elimination of the -CO group, resulting in the formation of smaller non-toxic molecules. Identified products include C12H14O4, C5H12N2O2, C10H14O2, C4H12N2O, with a structure consisting of dimethoxyphenyl and enoic acid, dimethyl-amino and ethyl carbamate, polyunsaturated fatty acid, and aminomethyl. The results indicated that B. amyloliquefaciens YUAD7 could be a potentially valuable strain for industrial-scale biodegradation of AFB1 and providing technical support and new perspectives for research on biodegradation products.

Long-term Impact of Tropical Cyclones on Disease Exacerbation Among Children with Asthma in the Eastern United States, 2000-2018.

Tropical cyclones are associated with acute increases in mortality and morbidity, but few studies have examined their longer-term health consequences. We assessed whether tropical cyclones are associated with a higher frequency of symptom exacerbation among children with asthma in the following 12 months in eastern United States counties, 2000-2018. We defined exposure to tropical cyclones as a maximum sustained windspeed >21 meters/second at the county center and used coarsened exact matching to match each exposed county to one or more unexposed counties. We used longitudinal, de-identified administrative claims data to estimate the county-level, monthly risk of experiencing at least one asthma exacerbation requiring medical attention among commercially insured children aged 5-17 with prior diagnosis of asthma. We used a difference-in-differences approach implemented via a Poisson fixed effects model to compare the risk of asthma exacerbation in the 12 months before versus after each storm in exposed versus unexposed counties. Across 43 tropical cyclones impacting the eastern United States, we did not observe evidence of an increase in the risk of symptom exacerbation in the 12 months following the storm (random-effects meta-analytic summary estimate: risk ratio = 1.03 [95% confidence interval = 0.96, 1.10], I2 = 17%). However, certain storms, such as Hurricane Sandy, were associated with a higher risk of symptom exacerbation. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that some tropical cyclones are detrimental to children's respiratory health. However, tropical cyclones were not associated in aggregate with long-term exacerbation of clinically apparent asthma symptoms among a population of children with commercial health insurance.

The Role of Perceived Negative Partner Behavior in Daily Snacking Behavior: A Dynamical Systems Approach.

Past work suggested that psychological stress, especially in the context of relationship stress, is associated with increased consumption of energy-dense food and when maintained for long periods of time, leads to adverse health consequences. Furthermore, this association is moderated by a variety of factors, including emotional over-eating style. That being said, few work utilized a dynamical system approach to understand the intraindividual and interindividual fluctuations within this process. The current study utilized a 14-day daily diary study, collected between January-March 2020, where participants reported their partner's negative relationship behavior and their own snacking behavior. A differential equation model was applied to the daily dairy data collected. Results showed that snacking behavior followed an undamped oscillator model while negative relationship behavior followed a damped coupled oscillator model. In other words, snacking behavior fluctuated around an equilibrium but was not coupled within dyadic partners. Negative relationship behavior fluctuated around an equilibrium and was amplified over time, coupled within dyadic partners. Furthermore, we found a two-fold association between negative relationship behavior and snacking: while the association between the displacement of negative relationship behavior and snacking was negative, change in negative relationship behavior and snacking were aligned. Thus, at any given time, one's snacking depends both on the amount of negative relationship behaviors one perceives and the dynamical state a dyad is engaging in (i.e., whether the negative relationship behavior is "exacerbating" or "resolving"). This former association was moderated by emotional over-eating style and the latter association was not. The current findings highlight the importance of examining dynamics within dyadic system and offers empirical and methodological insights for research in adult relationships.

Impact of physical and sexual abuse on risk of hospitalisations for physical and mental illnesses: insights from two large prospective cohort studies

Physical abuse can lead to severe health consequences that extend beyond immediate harm. We explored the associations of physical abuse experienced during childhood and adulthood with a wide range of adult health conditions requiring hospital treatment. We utilised data from a sub-cohort of 157,366 UK Biobank participants (46.4% of the baseline population; age range 45-81; 89,101 women) and repeated analyses in an independent population of 85,929 adults from the Finnish Public Sector (FPS) study (age range 17-78; 68,544 women). Participants in both cohorts reported instances of physical and sexual abuse at study baseline. Follow-up included 77 common health conditions ascertained from linkage data to national hospital and mortality registries. Mean follow-up duration was 4.6 years (SD 0.14) in UK Biobank and 10.6 years (4.3) in FPS. Physical and sexual abuse was associated with 22 mental and physical health conditions. After multivariable adjustments, participants who experienced abuse during both early and later stages of life had a 2.12- (95% confidence interval 1.39-3.23) to 3.37-fold (1.52-7.45) increased risk of mental and behavioural disorders, a 1.46 (1.20-1.79) to 1.83 (1.05-3.20) times increased risk of metabolic, haematologic, and respiratory diseases, and a 1.24 (1.07-1.45) times higher risk of inflammatory diseases compared with non-exposed participants. The absolute risk difference between these groups was greatest for metabolic and haematologic conditions (rate 381 and risk difference 160 per 100,000 person-years). Frailty, comorbidities, and competing risk of death did not modify these associations, but the possibility of bias or residual confounding cannot be excluded. Repeated exposure to physical and sexual abuse amplifies the risk of hospitalisations from mental disorders and physical diseases spanning diverse organ systems. Addressing this issue may necessitate multifaceted strategies, including shifts in societal norms, legal measures, and increased healthcare provision for affected individuals and their families. Wellcome Trust, UK Medical Research Council, U.S. National Institute on Aging, Academy of Finland.

The Impact of Bladder Problems on Well-Being in Multiple Sclerosis - A Cross-Sectional Study

BackgroundPersons with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) frequently suffer bladder problems that are not identified and managed optimally, reducing quality of life and increasing risk of health consequences. ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate associations between bladder problems and well-being of pwMS. MethodsThe study included 1,872 pwMS from France, Germany, Italy, and the UK self-reporting on demographics, MS status, bladder problems and management, and well-being. Logistic regressions were performed to investigate associations with self-reported well-being. ResultsPopulation mean age was 51 years and 79% were women. Among pwMS, 55% reported bladder problems indicating overactive bladder (OAB), and 40% reported self-experienced urinary retention. Self-management of bladder problems was reported by 32%, 33% were yet to have problem resolution, and 45% reported a wish to receive bladder management help. Additionally, 35% of pwMS reported that bladder problem onset preceded awareness of a link to MS. OAB, problem self-management and urinary complications were significantly associated with lower well-being. ConclusionBladder problems affect pwMS across disease subtypes and many attempt self-management. Consequently, pwMS with bladder problems are more likely to experience lower well-being, suggesting an unmet need. Raising awareness of the link between bladder problems and well-being could benefit pwMS living with bladder problems.

THE ACUTE AND LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF REPEATED SUB-CONCUSSIVE IMPACTS ON MENTAL HEALTH OF ATHLETES: A NARRATIVE REVIEW

INTRODUCTION &amp; AIMS Sub-concussive impacts—traumatic blows to the head that fail to present clinically as concussions—may be contributing factors that lead to long-term negative health consequences seen in athletes, including cognitive and emotional disturbances. The aim of this project is to consolidate the current body of literature examining the relationship between sub-concussive impacts and mental health in athletes via a narrative review examining the acute and long-term effects of sub-concussive impacts in athletes. METHODS Two undergraduate research cadets assisted the research team with identifying and organizing relevant literature in the topic area. This systematic search was first conducted in April 2023 with a final search conducted in August 2023 using a combination of manual searching and databases (e.g., PubMed). Studies were saved and exported to Excel for further analysis. Inclusion criteria included the need for the study to have been conducted in an athletic population with mental health outcomes being surveyed as a result of concussion or sub-concussion head impacts. Components of the articles were documented in an Excel spreadsheet with considerations for year of publication, country of origin, study design, sport, and purpose of study. RESULTS Fifty-seven studies were thoroughly reviewed via a full-text analysis to determine whether inclusion criteria were met. Six studies were included in the final review. Despite a consistent positive association between history of concussion and depression being identified, limited and inconsistent findings were observed in studies evaluating sub-concussive impacts. Definitions varied for what constituted a sub-concussive head injury, further diluting the availability of high-quality research in this topic area. CONCLUSION This narrative review has identified a limited amount of research conducted on the impact of sub-concussive head injuries on the mental health of athletes. This warrants further investigation as the implications of concussion and sub-concussive head impacts continue to affect the lives of athletes everywhere.

Mothers' parental divorce experience in childhood and their children's mental health: Mediating role of maternal education.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) of mothers have been shown to be associated with children's mental health and behavior problems. It is important to identify effective intervention points to prevent negative consequences among children. This study aimed to investigate whether mothers' education is protective against children's depressive symptoms in families with mothers who experienced parental divorce in childhood. Data from a cross-sectional study of 5th and 8th grade children and their caregivers in a prefecture in Japan were used. Final analytic sample consisted of 9666 child-caregiver pairs. Mediation analyses using inverse odds weighting were performed where the exposure was maternal experience of parental divorce in childhood, outcome was child depressive symptoms, and potential mediators were maternal education beyond high school, maternal mental health, and household income. Maternal experience of parental divorce was associated with an elevated risk of child depressive symptoms (risk ratio: 1.22, 95 % confidence interval (CI): 1.07-1.39). Mediation analyses indicated that the combination of maternal education, maternal depression and household income mediated about half of the total effect. In the model where maternal education was the sole mediator, maternal education mediated nearly half of the total effect (risk ratio: 1.10, 95 % CI: 1.01-1.20). Results should be cautiously interpreted given observational and cross-sectional nature of the data. Maternal education beyond high school may be protective against negative mental health consequences among children due to mothers' experience of parental divorce. Further studies are needed regarding potential mechanisms and the roles of other potential mediators.

Prolonged Grief Symptoms Predict Social and Emotional Loneliness and Depression Symptoms

A minority of bereaved individuals develops severe, persistent, and disabling grief, termed prolonged grief. The International Classification of Diseases eleventh edition (ICD-11) and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders fifth edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR) include such grief reactions as prolonged grief disorder (PGD). Loneliness is often experienced by bereaved persons and can have severe health consequences. Preliminary research suggests that loneliness may perpetuate grief, but prolonged grief may also aggravate loneliness. Since existing empirical research provides limited information on temporal relationships between both constructs, we aimed to fill this gap in knowledge. Bereaved adults (88% female, mean age 54 years) filled in questionnaires assessing general, social, and emotional loneliness and prolonged grief and depression symptoms across two time-points, six months apart. Cross-lagged panel model analyses showed that prolonged grief symptoms predicted more severe general, social, and emotional loneliness as well as more depression symptoms. Loneliness did not predict prolonged grief symptoms or depression symptoms. Depression symptoms did not predict prolonged grief symptoms or loneliness. Findings are inconsistent with the notion that loneliness causes prolonged grief and depression. Possibly, severe grief could lead to stigmatization, reduced social support, and feeling socially disconnected, perpetuating loneliness and depression symptoms.

Evolving methodology of national tobacco control investment cases

BackgroundThis article describes an investment case methodology for tobacco control that was applied in 36 countries between 2017 and 2022.MethodsThe WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) investment cases compared...

Fine grain emotion analysis in Spanish using linguistic features and transformers

Mental health issues are a global concern, with a particular focus on the rise of depression. Depression affects millions of people worldwide and is a leading cause of suicide, particularly among young people. Recent surveys indicate an increase in cases of depression during the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected approximately 5.4% of the population in Spain in 2020. Social media platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) have become important hubs for health information as more people turn to these platforms to share their struggles and seek emotional support. Researchers have discovered a link between emotions and mental illnesses such as depression. This correlation provides a valuable opportunity for automated analysis of social media data to detect changes in mental health status that might otherwise go unnoticed, thus preventing more serious health consequences. Therefore, this research explores the field of emotion analysis in Spanish towards mental disorders. There are two contributions in this area. On the one hand, the compilation, translation, evaluation and correction of a novel dataset composed of a mixture of other existing datasets in the bibliography. This dataset compares a total of 16 emotions, with an emphasis on negative emotions. On the other hand, the in-depth evaluation of this novel dataset with several state-of-the-art transformers based on encoder-only and encoder-decoder architectures. The analysis compromises monolingual, multilingual and distilled models as well as feature integration techniques. The best results are obtained with the encoder-only MarIA model, with a macro-average F1 score of 60.4771%.

The Prevalence of Sexual Harassment and Bullying Among Norwegian Afghanistan Veterans: Does Workplace Harassment Disproportionately Impact the Mental Health and Life Satisfaction of Female Soldiers?

Experiencing sexual harassment and bullying during military service can lead to negative consequences for a soldier's mental health and life satisfaction, including increased risk of depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress. No studies have to date investigated the prevalence and correlates of sexual harassment and bullying among Norwegian Afghanistan veterans, despite the increased global focus on these topics. In 2020, 6,205 Norwegian Afghanistan veterans (8.3% women) completed an online post-deployment survey, including questions about experiences of sexual harassment, bullying, mental health, and life satisfaction. Compared to their male counterparts, female veterans experienced significantly more sexual harassment and bullying during Afghanistan deployment (3.2% vs. 0.04% for experiencing sexual harassment, and 4.0% vs. 1.0% for bullying) and during other military services (14.3% vs. 0.4% for sexual harassment, and 15.9% vs. 3.7% for bullying). Sexual harassment was associated with younger age and experiencing childhood sexual harassment for both women and men, with men also having longer deployments. Bullying was associated with longer deployments and childhood sexual harassment for women, while men who reported bullying more often had longer deployments, held an officer rank, were less inclined to have a spouse/intimate partner, and reported childhood sexual harassment and bullying. Both sexual harassment and bullying were associated with increased risk of mental health problems and reduced life satisfaction for women, but this was only true for bullying among men. Despite lower reported rates of workplace harassment compared to studies from other cultures, this study demonstrates that sexual harassment and bullying in the military can negatively impact soldiers' mental health and life satisfaction. Notably, female veterans' mental health and life satisfaction appear to be particularly affected by sexual harassment during military service, an association not seen in males. This underscores the need for gender-specific, cultural, and context-sensitive prevention and support for workplace harassment experiences.

Critical factors for the rehabilitation of Hann Bay (Senegal, West Africa): Solutions for sustainable development

The advanced degradation of Hann Bay (Dakar, Senegal) has reached highly elevated levels, with serious environmental, health, and social consequences. Thus, this study focused on the determinants for rehabilitating Hann Bay and proposed solutions for sustainable development. The target area is currently home to 500,000 inhabitants and hundreds of industrial units, with virtually no suitable wastewater treatment systems. Socio-economic surveys and three rounds of effluent sampling were carried out between 2020 and 2022 at eleven sites in Hann-Bel Air, Dalifort Foirail, Thiaroye sur mer, Sicap Mbao, and Mbao. The study showed increased physicochemical, biological, and bacterial pollution of the heavily contaminated wastewater along the bay. The analytical results of the samples collected for the three series show that almost all sampling points exceed the limit value for TSS (50mg/l) and COD (200mg/l). This indicates that physicochemical and organic pollution are still present in the bay, causing fish to escape into the open sea. BOD measurements are also above the standard (N05-061; 80 mg/l) for series 1 and 2, showing an alteration in bay conditions. Analysis of the microbiological quality of the water in terms of oils and fats showed values well above the current standard (NS 05-061, 20-50 mg/l), which explains the frequent fish kills at the Hann marinas, Hann pêcheurs, and Cité ISRA sites. The same situation was observed in samples of fecal coliforms (CFU/100ml), helminth eggs (eggs/L), nitrogen, phosphorus, zinc, and lead at values outside the norm. Through socio-economic surveys of the populations and workers in the industrial units, the recommended solutions focus on protection and prevention measures, enforcement of regulations, communication and awareness-raising, equipment acquisition, and monitoring and surveillance to rehabilitate the bay.