Respectful Abortion Care initiative: How a large-scale virtual training for providers in India increased knowledge of the new 2021 Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act.

BACKGROUND: In a historic move to ensure comprehensive abortion care, India amended the 1971 Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act in 2021, creating an unprecedented opportunity for accelerating safe, respectful, and rights-based abortion services. The Federation of Obstetric and Gynecological Societies of India (FOGSI), together with World Health Organization (WHO) India and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, set up a flagship initiative "Respectful Abortion Care" (RAC) to provide training to obstetricians and gynecologists on the new Act, and also address their values and biases. METHODS: Virtual training sessions were organized during the COVID-19 pandemic to disseminate the amendments made under the MTP Act and address provider values and biases. The primary focus was on private providers as they account for more than half of all abortion services in India (52.9%). The RAC modules were systematically designed and delivered by 690 Master Trainers, trained by FOGSI and WHO. RESULTS: A total of 9051 FOGSI members (22%, with 50% from private clinics) completed the RAC trainings. Pretests and post-tests were conducted for impact assessment. Significant improvement was seen on knowledge of criteria for termination of pregnancy for significant birth defects (52%-83%). The post-training survey showed a high level of commitment to promote RAC: >95% were strongly motivated to perform or assist in abortion; 89% reported that the WHO value clarification exercises were helpful in facilitating open discussions on sensitive topics in a comfortable manner; 96% expressed a strong commitment to addressing the issue of respect and confidentiality in abortion care. CONCLUSION: RAC was a unique initiative around the MTP Act amendment 2021 in India, which demonstrated that collaboration and leadership by professional associations can help motivate providers and lead to improved knowledge and commitment from public and private sector providers.

Operability of Smart Spaces in Urban Environments: A Systematic Review on Enhancing Functionality and User Experience.

This literature review highlights the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the proliferation of connected devices as the driving force behind the adoption of smart spaces. This review also discusses the various applications of smart spaces, including smart homes, smart cities, and smart healthcare: (1) Background: the aim of this research is to provide a comprehensive overview of the concept of smart spaces, including their key features, technologies, and applications in built environments and urban areas; (2) Methods: The study adopts a qualitative approach, drawing on secondary sources, such as academic journals, reports, and online sources; (3) Results: The findings suggest that smart spaces have the potential to transform the way people interact with their environment and each other. They could improve efficiency, safety, and quality of life. However, there are also concerns about privacy and security in relation to the collection and use of personal data; (4) Conclusions: The study concludes that smart spaces have significant theoretical and practical implications for various fields, including architecture, urban planning, and healthcare. The theoretical implications include the need for new models and frameworks to understand the complex relationships between technology, space, and society. The practical implications involve the development of new standards and regulations to ensure the responsible and ethical use of smart spaces.

An improved synthetic signal injection routine for the Haloscope At Yale Sensitive To Axion Cold dark matter (HAYSTAC).

Microwave cavity haloscopes are among the most sensitive direct detection experiments searching for dark matter axions via their coupling to photons. When the power of the expected microwave signal due to axion-photon conversion is on the order of 10-24 W, having the ability to validate the detector response and analysis procedure by injecting realistic synthetic axion signals becomes helpful. Here, we present a method based on frequency hopping spread spectrum for synthesizing axion signals in a microwave cavity haloscope experiment. It allows us to generate a narrow and asymmetric shape in frequency space that mimics an axion's spectral distribution, which is derived from a Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution. In addition, we show that the synthetic axion's power can be calibrated with reference to the system noise. Compared to the synthetic axion injection in the Haloscope At Yale Sensitive to Axion Cold dark matter (HAYSTAC) Phase I, we demonstrated synthetic signal injection with a more realistic line shape and calibrated power.

Providing Services for Indian Children With Developmental Delay and Disabilities in the Community: Rashtriya Bal Suraksha Karyakram.

Investment in Early Childhood Development (ECD) is essential for the progress of a nation. In 2013, the Rashtriya Bal Suraksha Karyakram (RBSK) was launched for community level screening, early identification and management of chronic diseases (birth defects, diseases, deficiencies, developmental delays and disabilities) from birth to 18 years. Health care is provided in District hospitals with Special Newborn Care Units, and District Early Intervention Centers (DEIC). Infants are screened at delivery points, or at home under the Home-Based New-born Care package. Pre-schoolers and school aged children are evaluated by mobile health teams using standardized tools in anganwadi centers and schools, respectively. Referrals are managed at higher centers. The DEIC uses an evidence based, trans-disciplinary, collaborative approach for delay/disability at zero expense. Other initiatives disseminating awareness about healthy family practices promoting ECD during pregnancy and the first two years of life include: a booklet 'Journey of First 1000 days'; an android App 'Ayushman Bhava'; ECD call centers that provide individualized counselling related to queries; the LaQshya program that promotes mother-friendly labour; and a more illustrative 'Mother and Child Protection Card' that assists in developmental monitoring. Till date, RBSK has developed two Nodal Collaborating Centers (the Kolkata centre has trained 852 personnel), 234 DEIC's, and 11,000 mobile health teams. Over 6 years (2014 -2020), cumulatively 45,64,31,984 children < 6 years have been screened, 13,95,618 delays /disabilities identified, and 3,04,300 children managed appropriately. The future holds further expansion, development of state-of-the-art specialized centers, collaborative research, and self-sustaining capacity building of multi-disciplinary personnel.

A quantum enhanced search for dark matter axions.

The manipulation of quantum states of light1 holds the potential to enhance searches for fundamental physics. Only recently has the maturation of quantum squeezing technology coincided with the emergence of fundamental physics searches that are limited by quantum uncertainty2,3. In particular, the quantum chromodynamics axion provides a possible solution to two of the greatest outstanding problems in fundamental physics: the strong-CP (charge-parity) problem of quantum chromodynamics4 and the unknown nature of dark matter5-7. In dark matter axion searches, quantum uncertainty manifests as a fundamental noise source, limiting the measurement of the quadrature observables used for detection. Few dark matter searches have approached this limit3,8, and until now none has exceeded it. Here we use vacuum squeezing to circumvent the quantum limit in a search for dark matter. By preparing a microwave-frequency electromagnetic field in a squeezed state and near-noiselessly reading out only the squeezed quadrature9, we double the search rate for axions over a mass range favoured by some recent theoretical projections10,11. We find no evidence of dark matter within the axion rest energy windows of 16.96-17.12 and 17.14-17.28 microelectronvolts. Breaking through the quantum limit invites an era of fundamental physics searches in which noise reduction techniques yield unbounded benefit compared with the diminishing returns of approaching the quantum limit.