Implementation of maternal death audits and changes in maternal health care in Cambodia, 2010-2017.

Objective: Cambodia is one of seven countries globally that met Millennium Development Goal 5A: reduction of maternal deaths by at least 75% between 1990 and 2015. The maternal death audit (MDA) was instituted in 2004 to support the improvement of maternal care. We evaluated progress in MDA implementation and maternal health services in Cambodia between 2010 and 2017.

Evaluating national infection prevention and control minimum requirements: evidence from global cross-sectional surveys, 2017-22.

Background: WHO infection prevention and control (IPC) minimum requirements provide standards to reduce the risk of infection during health-care delivery. We aimed to investigate the global implementation of these requirements at national levels and the progress of doing so across 2021-22 compared with 2017-18 to identify future directions for interventions.

Methods: National IPC focal points were invited to complete an online survey measuring IPC minimum requirements from July 19, 2021, to Jan 31, 2022.

Maintaining health-system functionality in response to the surge of COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant, Japan.

Problem: The Omicron variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 caused the largest surge of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in Japan starting in the summer of 2022. We describe the mechanisms introduced to provide appropriate health care to all Omicron cases, provide appropriate health care to all non-COVID-19 patients, and protect health-care workers (HCWs) while providing necessary health services. Optimization of care for elderly patients was particularly important.

A regulatory gap analysis of midwifery to deliver essential reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health services in Lao People's Democratic Republic.

Background: In Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, midwives are the main providers of primary reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent (RMNCAH) services. We analyzed to what extent practice regulations allow midwives to provide nationally defined essential RMNCAH services.

Methods: Stakeholder consultations and document reviews were conducted to identify the essential RMNCAH interventions and care tasks midwives are expected to provide without physicians.

A gap analysis of midwifery competency, pre- and in-service education for reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and, adolescent health in Lao People's Democratic Republic.

Background: Ensuring midwives deliver quality essential services requires systematic and timely updates to midwifery education based on constantly evolving global evidence and local needs. However, midwifery curricula are often not updated to incorporate new evidence, consistent with national standards. This study supported the Ministry of Health of Lao People's Democratic Republic to identify gaps in the midwifery competency framework and training packages.

A research agenda to improve incidence and outcomes of assisted vaginal birth.

Access to emergency obstetric care, including assisted vaginal birth and caesarean birth, is crucial for improving maternal and childbirth outcomes. However, although the proportion of births by caesarean section has increased during the last few decades, the use of assisted vaginal birth has declined. This is particularly the case in low- and middle-income countries, despite an assisted vaginal birth often being less risky than caesarean birth.

Factors associated with high exclusive breastfeeding rates among preterm infants under 34 weeks of gestation in Da Nang, Vietnam: A retrospective cohort study.

Background: Preterm infants have higher mortality than full-term infants. While breastfeeding dramatically reduces preterm death, it is limited by biological and practice barriers, particularly for babies born before 34 weeks gestational age. Da Nang Hospital for Women and Children developed a quality improvement approach to improve breastfeeding of preterm infants by strengthening feeding support, non-separation, and kangaroo mother care (KMC).

Erratum: Search for Cosmic-Ray Boosted Sub-GeV Dark Matter Using Recoil Protons at Super-Kamiokande [Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 031802 (2023)].

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.

Experiences in COVID-19 clinical management and health-care pathways in the Western Pacific.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has transformed clinical practice and health systems. This paper provides an overview of COVID-19 clinical management and health-care pathway challenges that the World Health Organization and its Member States in the Western Pacific Region have faced. The experiences and lessons identified can help countries to better prepare for future pandemics.

Integrating maternal, newborn, child health and non-communicable disease care in the sustainable development goal era.

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and maternal newborn and child health (MNCH) are two deeply intertwined health areas that have been artificially separated by global health policies, resource allocations and programming. Optimal MNCH care can provide a unique opportunity to screen for, prevent and manage early signs of NCDs developing in both the woman and the neonate. This paper considers how NCDs, NCD modifiable risk factors, and NCD metabolic risk factors impact MNCH.

Association of duration of skin-to-skin contact after cesarean delivery in China: a superiority, multicentric randomized controlled trial.

Background: In China, the rates of early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding are low. The high cesarean delivery rates further contribute to low breastfeeding outcomes. Skin-to-skin contact, a key component of early essential newborn care, is known to be associated with improved breastfeeding initiation and exclusivity; however, the necessary duration has not been subjected to a randomized control trial.

Building an interdisciplinary workforce for prevention and control of non-communicable diseases: the role of e-learning.

argue that interdisciplinary education for health workers, including through e-learning programmes, can help improve the quality of integrated care for non-communicable diseases

Assessment of an observed clinical skills exam in undergraduate medical education: a patient with opioid use disorder and chronic pain.

It is crucial that future physicians understand the nature of opioid use disorder (OUD). We designed a pilot Observed Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) using simulated patients (SPs) experiencing OUD with concurrent chronic pain. The case was piloted in 2021 and 2022 during the multi-station OSCE that all the medical school clerkship students take at the end of their third year of medical school.

Search for Cosmic-Ray Boosted Sub-GeV Dark Matter Using Recoil Protons at Super-Kamiokande.

We report a search for cosmic-ray boosted dark matter with protons using the 0.37  megaton×years data collected at Super-Kamiokande experiment during the 1996-2018 period (SKI-IV phase). We searched for an excess of proton recoils above the atmospheric neutrino background from the vicinity of the Galactic Center.

Perspectives of internal medicine residency clinics: A national survey of US medical directors.

Background: Ambulatory training is an integral component of internal medicine residency programs, yet details regarding operational processes in resident continuity clinics remain limited.

Methods: We surveyed a convenience sample of medical directors of residency practices between 2015 and 2019 (n = 222) to describe and share operational and scheduling processes in internal medicine resident continuity clinics in the US.

Results: Among residency practices, support for the medical director role ranged substantially, but was most commonly reported at 11%-20% full-time-equivalent support.

Early essential newborn care for cesarean section newborns in China: study protocol for a multi-centered randomized controlled trial.

Background: Early essential newborn care (EENC) is a package of evidence-based and cost-effective interventions delivered around birth mainly including delayed cord clamping, immediate and sustained skin-to-skin contact, and early initiation of exclusive breastfeeding. EENC is proven effective in promoting breastfeeding and improving women's and newborns' health. However, there is little evidence on implementation of EENC on newborns born by cesarean section in China.

Scintillation light detection in the 6-m drift-length ProtoDUNE Dual Phase liquid argon TPC.

DUNE is a dual-site experiment for long-baseline neutrino oscillation studies, neutrino astrophysics and nucleon decay searches. ProtoDUNE Dual Phase (DP) is a 6   6   6 m liquid argon time-projection-chamber (LArTPC) that recorded cosmic-muon data at the CERN Neutrino Platform in 2019-2020 as a prototype of the DUNE Far Detector. Charged particles propagating through the LArTPC produce ionization and scintillation light.