Barriers and facilitators to HIV prevention and care for Venezuelan migrant/refugee women and girls in Colombia.

Venezuelan migrant and refugee women and girls (VMRWG) face risks of exposure to and infection from HIV and threats of multiple forms of violence (including GBV) during and after migration. Yet, there is a lack of evidence on barriers and facilitators to VMRWGs' access to HIV prevention and care services this population at all stages of their migration. We addressed this evidence gap by conducting a qualitative study composed of fifty-four semi-structured interviews with practitioners (n = 24) and VMRWG (n = 30) in the two largest receiving cities of migrants in Colombia. We sought to identify perceived barriers and facilitators to HIV prevention and care to inform policies and programmatic efforts. Analysis followed a theory-informed approach using the Socioecological Model. Findings describe multi-level barriers to access to HIV prevention and care related to discrimination, gender-based violence, rigid gender norms, lack of information and system fragmentation. Policies that integrate community-based networks and support intersectoral work are pivotal to breach the gaps between services and communities and develop a gender-sensitive approach that tackles the relationship between gender-based violence and HIV risk.

Earth's interior dynamics drive marine fossil diversity cycles of tens of millions of years.

The fossil record reveals that biotic diversity has fluctuated quasi-cyclically through geological time. However, the causal mechanisms of biotic diversity cycles remain unexplained. Here, we highlight a common, correlatable 36 ± 1 Myr (million years) cycle in the diversity of marine genera as well as in tectonic, sea-level, and macrostratigraphic data over the past 250 Myr of Earth history. The prominence of the 36 ± 1 Myr cycle in tectonic data favors a common-cause mechanism, wherein geological forcing mechanisms drive patterns in both biological diversity and the preserved rock record. In particular, our results suggest that a 36 ± 1 Myr tectono-eustatically driven sea-level cycle may originate from the interaction between the convecting mantle and subducting slabs, thereby pacing mantle-lithospheric deep-water recycling. The 36 ± 1 Myr tectono-eustatic driver of biodiversity is likely related to cyclic continental inundations, with expanding and contracting ecological niches on shelves and in epeiric seas.

Social and ideological determinants of COVID-19 vaccination status in Spain.

OBJECTIVES: This study analysed the association between social and ideological determinants with COVID-19 vaccine accessibility and hesitancy in the Spanish adult population. STUDY DESIGN: This was a repeated cross-sectional study. METHODS: The data analysed are based on monthly surveys conducted by the Centre for Sociological Research between May 2021 and February 2022. Individuals were classified according to their COVID-19 vaccination status into (1) vaccinated (reference group); (2) willing to vaccinate but not vaccinated, proxy of lack of vaccine accessibility; and (3) hesitant, proxy of vaccine hesitancy. Independent variables included social (educational attainment, gender) and ideological determinants (voting in the last elections, importance attached to the health vs the economic impact of the pandemic, and political self-placement). We estimated odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) conducting one age-adjusted multinomial logistic regression model for each determinant and then stratified them by gender. RESULTS: Both social and ideological determinants had a weak association with the lack of vaccine accessibility. Individuals with medium educational attainment had higher odds of vaccine hesitancy (OR = 1.44, CI 1.08-1.93) compared with those with high educational attainment. People self-identified as conservative (OR = 2.90; CI 2.02-4.15) and those who prioritised the economic impact (OR = 3.80; CI 2.62-5.49) and voted for parties opposed to the Government (OR = 2.00; CI 1.54-2.60) showed higher vaccine hesitancy. The stratified analysis showed a similar pattern for both men and women. CONCLUSIONS: Considering the determinants of vaccine uptake and hesitancy could help to design strategies that increase immunisation at the population level and minimise health inequities.

Sea level change. Inherited landscapes and sea level change.

Enabled by recently gained understanding of deep-seated and surficial Earth processes, a convergence of views between geophysics and sedimentary geology has been quietly taking place over the past several decades. Surface topography resulting from lithospheric memory, retained at various temporal and spatial scales, has become the connective link between these two methodologically diverse geoscience disciplines. Ideas leading to the hypothesis of plate tectonics originated largely with an oceanic focus, where dynamic and mostly horizontal movements of the crust could be envisioned. But when these notions were applied to the landscapes of the supposedly rigid plate interiors, there was less success in explaining the observed anomalies in terrestrial topography. Solid-Earth geophysics has now reached a developmental stage where vertical movements can be measured and modeled at meaningful scales and the deep-seated structures can be imaged with increasing resolution. Concurrently, there have been advances in quantifying mechanical properties of the lithosphere (the solid outer skin of Earth, usually defined to include both the crust and the solid but elastic upper mantle above the asthenosphere). The lithosphere acts as the intermediary that transfers the effects of mantle dynamics to the surface. These developments have allowed us to better understand the previously puzzling topographic features of plate interiors and continental margins. On the sedimentary geology side, new quantitative modeling techniques and holistic approaches to integrating source-to-sink sedimentary systems have led to clearer understanding of basin evolution and sediment budgets that allow the reconstruction of missing sedimentary records and past geological landscapes.

A chronology of Paleozoic sea-level changes.

Sea levels have been determined for most of the Paleozoic Era (542 to 251 million years ago), but an integrated history of sea levels has remained unrealized. We reconstructed a history of sea-level fluctuations for the entire Paleozoic by using stratigraphic sections from pericratonic and cratonic basins. Evaluation of the timing and amplitude of individual sea-level events reveals that the magnitude of change is the most problematic to estimate accurately. The long-term sea level shows a gradual rise through the Cambrian, reaching a zenith in the Late Ordovician, then a short-lived but prominent withdrawal in response to Hirnantian glaciation. Subsequent but decreasingly substantial eustatic highs occurred in the mid-Silurian, near the Middle/Late Devonian boundary, and in the latest Carboniferous. Eustatic lows are recorded in the early Devonian, near the Mississippian/Pennsylvanian boundary, and in the Late Permian. One hundred and seventy-two eustatic events are documented for the Paleozoic, varying in magnitude from a few tens of meters to approximately 125 meters.