Background Cancer patients are thought to have an increased risk of developing severe Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection and of dying from the disease. In this work, predictive factors for COVID-19 severity and mortality in cancer patients were investigated. Patients and Methods In this large nationwide retro-prospective cohort study, we collected data on patients with solid tumours and COVID-19 diagnosed between March 1 and June 11, 2020. The primary endpoint was all-cause mortality and COVID-19 severity, defined as admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) and/or mechanical ventilation and/or death, was one of the secondary endpoints. Results From April 4 to June 11, 2020, 1289 patients were analysed. The most frequent cancers were digestive and thoracic. Altogether, 424 (33%) patients had a severe form of COVID-19 and 370 (29%) patients died. In multivariate analysis, independent factors associated with death were male sex (odds ratio 1.73, 95%CI: 1.18-2.52), ECOG PS ≥ 2 (OR 3.23, 95%CI: 2.27-4.61), updated Charlson comorbidity index (OR 1.08, 95%CI: 1.01-1.16) and admission to ICU (OR 3.62, 95%CI 2.14-6.11). The same factors, age along with corticosteroids before COVID-19 diagnosis, and thoracic primary tumour site were independently associated with COVID-19 severity. None of the anticancer treatments administered within the previous 3 months had any effect on mortality or COVID-19 severity, except cytotoxic chemotherapy in the subgroup of patients with detectable SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR, which was associated with a slight increase of the risk of death (OR 1.53; 95%CI: 1.00-2.34; p = 0.05). A total of 431 (39%) patients had their systemic anticancer treatment interrupted or stopped following diagnosis of COVID-19. Conclusions Mortality and COVID-19 severity in cancer patients are high and are associated with general characteristics of patients. We found no deleterious effects of recent anticancer treatments, except for cytotoxic chemotherapy in the RT-PCR-confirmed subgroup of patients. In almost 40% of patients, the systemic anticancer therapy was interrupted or stopped after COVID-19 diagnosis.

Catchments headed by temperate glaciers are severely impacted by climate change, and extensively studied from glaciological and surface hydrology perspectives. However groundwater in the same catchments is much more seldom mentioned, and even less studied.The few available studies found in the scientific literature tend to show a particularly high recharge of aquifers by glacial meltwater, a strong connection between surface and ground waters, and quite high hydraulic permeability in moraines and tills aquifers. New and more systematic studies could confirm and details these results. Such characteristics suggest that groundwater in coastal catchments headed by temperate glaciers could feed offshore fresh groundwater stocks. The role of potential deeper aquifers in fractured bedrock remains completely unknown.The numerous examples of natural hazards and of the sensitivity of water resources to the water cycle in catchments headed by temperate glaciers underline the importance of the study of hydrogeology, and of socioeconomic aspects, in these catchments where population is glacier-dependant.The study of groundwater in catchments headed by temperate glaciers is just at the start and there is much to be studied.

Displacement experiments of bromide and two herbicides, isoproturon and metribuzin, were performed in unsaturated undisturbed soil cores sampled on a unique site under (i) conventional wheat/maize rotation, (ii) 10-year-old grassed strip and (iii) 80-year-old oak/chestnut forest. Steady state conditions at constant rainfall intensity were used to compare the effect of the different land uses on soil herbicide transport and dissipation parameters. For each herbicide, mobility was similar between grassed strip and cultivated soils while it was reduced in the forest soils. The descriptive and moment analyses of the experimental breakthrough curves of bromide and herbicides demonstrated a similar degree of physical non-equilibrium transport for the cropped and grassland soil columns, with transport ranging from a less intense physical non-equilibrium status to the complete physical equilibrium state for the forest soil columns. Chemical non-equilibrium transport was shown for the three situations. Degradation occurred in some columns as demonstrated by the elution of a metabolite of isoproturon. Previous data on sorption and degradation of isoproturon on the same soils were used to explain the differences observed in the analysis of the elution curves between grassed strip, forest and cultivated soil. Averaging K d values from individual soil layers of each profile gave a satisfying understanding of isoproturon retardation factors. Sorption on soil organic matter was the main factor in herbicide mobility. However, other phenomena such as degradation and formation of non-extractable residues were involved in the differences observed in leached masses of isoproturon between the three situations.

Abstract. Female earth scientists existed in the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century in a number exceeding what we generally imagine. In this paper I present information on 210 of them who were active from 1800 to 1929. These women often overcame great challenges to achieve their positions, sometimes only to have their work attributed to men they worked with or for. Gender discrimination made access to university difficult and access to scientific careers even harder. They found several ways to overcome these difficulties thanks to the support of their parents or to the more ambiguous support of husbands or academic male mentors, through staying single, and through teamwork and mentorship with other women. In the same way many past female artists have been recently rediscovered, women scientists are progressively being saved from the dustbin of history, a huge task that has already been undertaken by several researchers. In addition to the review of their research, a fresh contribution to this collective work in progress is made with the presentation of hydrogeologist Norah Dowell Stearns. Finally, some reflections and suggestions are included on how we could fight this oblivion to which their work, their personalities and modern research on them are subject to.