Ethical Aspects of Prenatal DNA Testing.

Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) first-trimester screening for fetal aneuploidies, as a non-invasive, safe, and rather accurate method, has changed prenatal screening policies all over the world. Owing to aggressive marketing, cfDNA screening tests exhibit global popularity and a rapid spread in routine prenatal care. However, wide availability of the tests, together with observed difficulties in the test's interpretation, bring to light several serious ethical concerns.

Female Genital Fibroblasts Diminish the In Vitro Efficacy of PrEP against HIV.

The efficacy of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is high in men who have sex with men, but much more variable in women, in a manner largely attributed to low adherence. This reduced efficacy, however, could also reflect biological factors. Transmission to women is typically via the female reproductive tract (FRT), and vaginal dysbiosis, genital inflammation, and other factors specific to the FRT mucosa can all increase transmission risk.

Pregnancy and neonatal outcomes of COVID-19: The PAN-COVID study.

Objective: To assess perinatal outcomes for pregnancies affected by suspected or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Methods: Prospective, web-based registry. Pregnant women were invited to participate if they had suspected or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection between 1st January 2020 and 31st March 2021 to assess the impact of infection on maternal and perinatal outcomes including miscarriage, stillbirth, fetal growth restriction, pre-term birth and transmission to the infant.

The efficacy of botulinum toxin a injections in pelvic floor muscles in chronic pelvic pain patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction And Hypothesis: Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is a common multifactorial condition affecting 6 to 27% of women aged 18-50 years worldwide. This study was conducted to review and meta-analyse the current literature on the reduction of chronic pelvic pain after botulinum toxin A (BTA) injection.

Method: In July 2021 we performed a systematic search in PubMed and EMBASE to assess the benefits of BTA injection in pelvic floor muscles in women with chronic pelvic pain.

Decision-making during obstetric emergencies: A narrative approach.

This study aims to explore how physicians make sense of and give meaning to their decision-making during obstetric emergencies. Childbirth is considered safe in the wealthiest parts of the world. However, variations in both intervention rates and delivery outcomes have been found between countries and between maternity units of the same country.

A cross-sectional analysis of factors associated with stress, burnout and turnover intention among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

In 2020, healthcare workers faced the COVID-19 pandemic amidst other salient sociopolitical stressors. This study, therefore, set out to examine associations between personal, work-related and contextual factors and three outcomes - stress, burnout and turnover intention - at a critical juncture in the pandemic. In December 2020, we recruited a broad array of healthcare workers (n = 985) in a public safety net healthcare system serving socially and economically marginalised communities in the Southwest region of the United States using a cross-sectional online survey.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2: a canary in the coal mine for public safety net hospitals.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has exposed disproportionate health inequities among underserved populations, including refugees. Public safety net healthcare systems play a critical role in facilitating access to care for refugees and informing coordinated public health prevention and mitigation efforts during a pandemic.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence ratios of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection between refugee women and nonrefugee parturient patients admitted to the hospital for delivery.

Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting among Somali Women in the U.S. State of Arizona: Evidence of Treatment Access, Health Service Use and Care Experiences.

Background: Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is associated with adverse sexual, reproductive and psychological sequelae. The aim of this study was to quantitatively explore factors related to satisfaction with FGM/C-related care in the US focusing on access to care, health service utilization, and women's experiences.

Methods: A community-based survey of 879 Ethnic Somali and Somali Bantu women using snowball sampling was conducted in Arizona.

A Retrospective Descriptive Analysis of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Records From Sexual Assault Survivors at a Large University Emergency Department From 2003 to 2017.

This retrospective descriptive analysis of 837 patients seeking postassault care at an academic hospital in the United States describes characteristics of sexual assault survivors from a sociocultural context, with a specific focus on describing survivors presenting for sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) exams and confirming existing literature on assault characteristics, such as disabilities and alcohol and/or drug use. Assaults resulting in SANE exams increased over time. Drug and/or alcohol use at the time of the assault was reported in 44.

A new family with epiphyseal chondrodysplasia type Miura.

Epiphyseal chondrodysplasia, Miura type (ECDM) is a skeletal dysplasia with tall stature and distinctive skeletal features caused by heterozygous NPR2 pathogenic variants. Only four families have been reported. We present a family with five affected individuals (mother, three sons, and daughter).

Diagnosis, Management, and Treatment of Female Genital Mutilation or Cutting in Girls.

Female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C) involves medically unnecessary cutting of parts or all of the external female genitalia. It is outlawed in the United States and much of the world but is still known to occur in more than 30 countries. FGM/C most often is performed on children, from infancy to adolescence, and has significant morbidity and mortality.

HIV efficiently infects T cells from the endometrium and remodels them to promote systemic viral spread.

The female reproductive tract (FRT) is the most common site of infection during HIV transmission to women, but viral remodeling complicates characterization of cells targeted for infection. Here, we report extensive phenotypic analyses of HIV-infected endometrial cells by CyTOF, and use a 'nearest neighbor' bioinformatics approach to trace cells to their original pre-infection phenotypes. Like in blood, HIV preferentially targets memory CD4+ T cells in the endometrium, but these cells exhibit unique phenotypes and sustain much higher levels of infection.

Capacity Coaching: A Focused Ethnographic Evaluation in Clinical Practice.

Objective: To qualitatively evaluate the implementation of Capacity Coaching, an intervention to address the work patients must undertake to manage their conditions, implemented as a quality improvement pilot in 1 of 2 implementing US Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers.

Participants And Methods: Two Veterans Affairs medical centers in the Midwest sought to implement Capacity Coaching as a quality improvement pilot in their Patient-Aligned Care Teams for 6 months (April 1, 2017, through October 31, 2017). Following the pilot, we conducted a focused ethnographic evaluation (on-site data collection, January 2-4, 2018), including interviews, a focus group, and observations with staff at one site to assess the implementation of capacity coaching.

Seminal plasma promotes decidualization of endometrial stromal fibroblasts in vitro from women with and without inflammatory disorders in a manner dependent on interleukin-11 signaling.

Study Question: Do seminal plasma (SP) and its constituents affect the decidualization capacity and transcriptome of human primary endometrial stromal fibroblasts (eSFs)?

Summary Answer: SP promotes decidualization of eSFs from women with and without inflammatory disorders (polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), endometriosis) in a manner that is not mediated through semen amyloids and that is associated with a potent transcriptional response, including the induction of interleukin (IL)-11, a cytokine important for SP-induced decidualization.

What Is Known Already: Clinical studies have suggested that SP can promote implantation, and studies in vitro have demonstrated that SP can promote decidualization, a steroid hormone-driven program of eSF differentiation that is essential for embryo implantation and that is compromised in women with the inflammatory disorders PCOS and endometriosis.

Study Design, Size, Duration: This is a cross-sectional study involving samples treated with vehicle alone versus treatment with SP or SP constituents.

Translating family systems care into neonatology practice: A mixed method study of practitioners' attitudes, practice skills and implementation experience.

Background: Family-centered care interventions are a recommended part of high-quality neonatal intensive care. Evidence suggests that engaging and supporting families improves parental and infant health outcomes. Enabling practitioners to work with families in a relational, strength-oriented way is thus vital to ensure quality care.

Crime Victimization, Health, and Female Genital Mutilation or Cutting Among Somali Women and Adolescent Girls in the United States, 2017.

To examine if exposure to victimization (e.g., homicide, violence, sexual assault, arson, kidnapping) is related to health problems, health care access and barriers, and health needs-beyond the effects of female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C)-among Somali women and adolescent girls.

Androgen Therapy in Women.

Androgens are believed to have an important biologic role in women, particularly in regulation of libido and sexual arousal, although much about their function on other systems in women is unknown. Testosterone, the primary ovarian androgen, has been used to treat carefully selected postmenopausal women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD). However, testosterone use in women has not been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) because of uncertainties regarding the effectiveness and long-term safety of this strategy.

The MATE survey: men's perceptions and attitudes towards menopause and their role in partners' menopausal transition.

Objective: The perceptions and attitudes of menopause shared by men are largely unknown. This analysis characterized men's awareness and their understanding of their partner's menopausal transition.

Methods: A 35-question, online survey was used to assess men's perceptions and attitudes toward menopause.

Prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in postmenopausal women: a systematic review.

Background: Hypovitaminosis D is considered a global public health issue. Knowledge of its true dimensions will allow us to design interventions and plan preventive measures that can have a significant impact on human health.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of hypovitaminosis D, defined as a serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration < 30 ng/ml, in postmenopausal women around the world, as well as to identify the potential associated factors.

Chronic low-grade inflammation in polycystic ovary syndrome: is there a (patho)-physiological role for interleukin-1?

The polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a frequent endocrine disorder in women of reproductive age. Its main characteristics are the ovarian overproduction of androgens and ovulatory dysfunction which lead to severe symptoms such as hirsutism, acne, insulin resistance, and infertility. Despite the frequency and disease burden of PCOS, its underlying causes remain unknown, and no causal therapeutic options are available.

Avoiding obstetrical interventions among US-based Somali migrant women: a qualitative study.

Somali refugee women are known to have poor health-seeking behavior with a higher proportion of adverse pregnancy outcomes compared to US-born women. Yet unknown is how they avoid obstetrical interventions. This study sought to identify perceived protective mechanisms used to avoid obstetric interventions as well as the underpinning factors that influence aversion to obstetrical interventions by Somali refugee women.