Brillouin spectroscopy via an atomic line monochromator.

Brillouin spectrometers, used for characterizing material mechanical properties, traditionally employ etalons such as Fabry-Pérot interferometers and virtually imaged phased arrays (VIPA) that use spatial dispersion of the spectrum for measurement. Here, we introduce what we believe to be a novel approach to Brillouin spectroscopy using hot atomic vapors. Using laser induced circular dichroism of the rubidium D2 line in a ladder-type configuration, we developed a narrow-band monochromator for Brillouin analysis. Unlike etalon-based spectrometers, atomic line monochromators operate in free-space, facilitating Brillouin spectroscopy integration with microscopy instruments. We report the transmission and spectral resolution performances of the spectrometer and demonstrate Brillouin spectra measurements in liquids.

Barriers and delays in access to abortion care: a cross-sectional study of people traveling to obtain care in England and the Netherlands from European countries where abortion is legal on broad grounds.

INTRODUCTION: This study characterized the extent to which (1) financial barriers and (2) abortion care-seeking within a person's country of residence were associated with delays in abortion access among those travelling to England and the Netherlands for abortion care from European countries where abortion is legal on broad grounds in the first trimester but where access past the first trimester is limited to specific circumstances. METHODOLOGY: We drew on cross-sectional survey data collected at five abortion clinics in England and the Netherlands from 2017 to 2019 (n = 164). We assessed the relationship between difficulty paying for the abortion/travel, acute financial insecurity, and in-country care seeking on delays to abortion using multivariable discrete-time hazards models. RESULTS: Participants who reported facing both difficulty paying for the abortion procedure and/or travel and difficulty covering basic living costs in the last month reported longer delays in accessing care than those who had no financial difficulty (adjusted hazard odds ratio: 0.39 95% CI 0.21-0.74). This group delayed paying other expenses (39%) or sold something of value (13%) to fund their abortion, resulting in ~ 60% of those with financial difficulty reporting it took them over a week to raise the funds needed for their abortion. Having contacted or visited an abortion provider in the country of residence was associated with delays in presenting abroad for an abortion. DISCUSSION: These findings point to inequities in access to timely abortion care based on socioeconomic status. Legal time limits on abortion may intersect with individuals' interactions with the health care system to delay care.

This paper explores delays in accessing abortion care associated with financial and medical system barriers. We focus on residents of countries in Europe where abortion is available on broad grounds in the first trimester seeking abortion care outside of their country of residence. This study demonstrates an association between difficulty covering abortion costs for people facing financial insecurity and in-country care seeking and delays in accessing abortion abroad. Policy barriers, medical system barriers, as well as financial barriers may interact to delay access to care for people in European countries with broad grounds for abortion access in the first trimester but restrictions thereafter, especially for people later in pregnancy.

Full-field optical spectroscopy at a high spectral resolution using atomic vapors.

Spectral imaging techniques extract spectral information using dispersive elements in combination with optical microscopes. For rapid acquisition, multiplexing spectral information along one dimension of imaged pixels has been demonstrated in hyperspectral imaging, as well as in Raman and Brillouin imaging. Full-field spectroscopy, i.e., multiplexing where imaged pixels are collected in 2D simultaneously while spectral analysis is performed sequentially, can increase spectral imaging speed, but so far has been attained at low spectral resolutions. Here, we extend 2D multiplexing to high spectral resolutions of ∼80 MHz (∼0.0001 nm) using high-throughput spectral discrimination based on atomic transitions.

"The first difficulty is time": The impact of gestational age limits on reproductive health and justice in the context of cross-border travel for abortion care in Europe.

Drawing on qualitative and quantitative data collected during a 5-year multi-disciplinary European research project, in this article we show how restrictions on access to legal abortion, and particularly gestational age (GA) limits at the end of the first trimester of pregnancy, negatively affect women and pregnant people living in European countries where abortion is legal on request or on broad grounds. First, we examine why most European legislations establish GA limits, and illustrate how abortion is framed in national laws and in the current national and international legal and political debates on abortion rights. We then show, based on research data we collected during our 5-year project and contextualized with existing data and statistics, how these restrictions force thousands of people to travel across borders from European countries where abortion is legal, delaying access to care, and increasing pregnant people's health risks. Finally, we explore, from an anthropological perspective, how pregnant people who travel across borders for abortion care conceptualize abortion access, and the relationship between the right to abortion care and the GA restrictions that limit this right. Our study participants criticize the time restrictions established by the laws in their countries of residence as failing to meet pregnant people's needs, highlight the crucial importance of easy, timely access to abortion care even beyond the first trimester of pregnancy, and suggest a more relational approach to the right to access safe, legal abortion. Abortion travel is also a matter of reproductive justice because access to care depends on specific resources including finances, information, support, citizenship status, and social networks. Our work contributes to scholarly and public debates about reproductive governance and justice, by shifting the locus of attention to GA limits and its impact on women and pregnant people, particularly in geopolotical settings where abortion laws are deemed liberal.

French women's experiences and opinions with in-country versus cross-border abortion travel: a mixed-methods paper.

OBJECTIVES: This is the first study contrasting the experience of women residing in France and travelling for abortion services inside and outside their country of residence. We compare travel reasons and costs as well as our study participants' opinions of abortion legislation. The article documents legal and procedural barriers related to accessing local and timely abortions and provides policy recommendations to broaden care options. METHODS: The study is based on a mixed-methods research design. Quantitative data were descriptively analysed using Stata and drawn from 100 surveys with in-country abortion seekers collected from 3 Parisian hospitals, and 57 surveys with French residents seeking abortion care in the Netherlands (42), Spain (10) and the UK (5). Qualitative data were thematically analysed using ATLAS.ti and drawn from 36 interviews with French residents (23 in-country abortion seekers and 13 cross-border abortion travellers). FINDINGS: Gestational age (GA) limits were the key reason for cross-border travel, while lack of close-by, timely and good quality abortion care was the main driver for in-country abortion travel. Unlike in-country travellers, cross-border abortion seekers faced significant financial costs and burdens related to such travel. Partners, family members and service providers offered important support structures to both cross-border and in-country travellers. CONCLUSIONS: Legal time limits appeared to be the key driver for abortion-related travel of French residents. Having passed or being at risk of exceeding the GA limit caused women to travel outside their country or department of residence for abortion care.

'To be vigilant to leave no trace': secrecy, invisibility and abortion travel from the Republic of Ireland.

Until 2018, abortion in the Republic of Ireland was banned in almost all circumstances under one of the most restrictive legal regimes in Europe. The main solution for Irish women and pregnant people seeking abortion services had been to pursue care abroad, typically in clinics in England. In this paper we focus on the hardships of waiting for abortion care experienced by Irish residents leading up to their travel for appointments in England in 2017 and 2018. Based on in-depth interviews with 53 Irish women collected at three British Pregnancy Advisory Services (BPAS) clinics in England we analyse women's experiences as they navigated an 'environment of secrecy' in Ireland. This included making specific secrecy efforts when navigating travel arrangements, conversations, movement, health records, and the travel itself. Despite the expansion of abortion access in Ireland in 2018, the need to travel abroad continues for many women. We argue that the continued need for secrecy when women have to travel abroad for care perpetuates this important phenomenon's invisibility. This argument also applies to other countries where abortion access is restricted, and women are forced to travel for care. We also caution against the presumption that all Irish residents are able to travel internationally for healthcare.

Localization-assisted stimulated Brillouin scattering spectroscopy.

Brillouin spectroscopy has emerged as a promising modality to noninvasively probe the mechanical properties of biologically relevant materials. Stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) has the potential to improve measurement speed and resolution by exploiting a resonant amplification of the scattered signal, yet current SBS spectrometers have not provided significant improvements due to fundamental and practical limitations of illumination and detection parameters. To overcome this challenge, here we derive a signal localization theory for the Brillouin spectral domain and accordingly design an SBS spectrometer with much improved performances compared to state-of-the-art systems. We present experimental and simulated data validating our theory, which result in a tenfold improvement in acquisition speed, or an order of magnitude improved spectral precision, for SBS spectral measurements when properly optimizing the SBS photon detection architecture.

Cross-country abortion travel to England and Wales: results from a cross-sectional survey exploring people's experiences crossing borders to obtain care.

BACKGROUND: The laws governing abortion access vary across Europe. Even in countries with relatively liberal laws, numerous barriers to abortion access exist. In response to these barriers, evidence suggests that people living in countries with both restrictive and liberal laws travel outside of their home country for abortion care. England and Wales are common destinations for those who travel to seek abortions, but little is known about the motivations and experiences of those who undertake cross-country travel to England or Wales to obtain care. This paper aims to describe the abortion seeking and travel experiences of women and pregnant people who traveled to England and Wales for an abortion between 2017 and 2019. METHODS: We recruited 97 participants who had traveled cross-country from both liberal and restrictive contexts to seek abortion care at three participating BPAS clinics in England and Wales. Participants completed an electronic survey about their reproductive histories, abortion decision-making, experiences seeking abortion care, and traveling. We conducted a descriptive analysis, and include comparisons between participants who traveled from liberal and restrictive contexts. RESULTS: Over a third of participants considered abortion four weeks or more before presenting for care at BPAS, and around two-thirds sought abortion services in their home country before traveling. The majority of participants indicated that they would have preferred to have obtained an abortion earlier and cited reasons including scheduling issues, a dearth of local services, delayed pregnancy recognition, and financial difficulties as causing their delay. About seventy percent of participants reported travel costs between €101-1000 and 75% of participants reported that the cost of the abortion procedure exceeded €500. About half of participants indicated that, overall, their travel was very or somewhat difficult. CONCLUSIONS: This analysis documents the burdens associated with cross-country travel for abortion and provides insight into the factors that compel people to travel. Our findings highlight the need for expanded access to abortion care throughout Europe via the removal of legal impediments and other social or procedural barriers. Removing barriers would eliminate the need for cumbersome abortion travel, and ensure that all people can obtain necessary, high-quality healthcare in their own communities.

In Europe, people who live in countries where abortion is severely restricted or illegal altogether lack access to abortion care entirely, but even people who live in countries with more liberal laws face barriers due to gestational age limits, waiting periods, and a lack of trained and willing providers. Existing evidence suggests that restrictions and barriers compel people from both countries with restrictive laws as well as those from countries with more liberal laws to travel outside of their home country for abortion services. England and Wales are common destinations for people traveling within Europe to obtain abortion services, but little is known about the experiences of these travelers. We surveyed individuals who had traveled from another country to seek abortion services in England or Wales. Our analysis documents that many participants contemplated getting an abortion and sought care in their home countries before traveling. Likewise, many participants indicated that they would have preferred to have obtained an abortion earlier in their pregnancy, and referenced scheduling issues, a dearth of local services, delayed pregnancy recognition, and financial difficulties as causing their delay. A majority of participants indicated that covering the costs of their abortion, and the costs of travel was difficult, and that the travel experience in its entirety was difficult. Our findings document the reasons for, and burdens associated with abortion travel and highlight the need to expand access to abortion across Europe via the elimination of all legal restrictions and impediments.

Label-Free Optical Nanoscopy of Single-Layer Graphene.

The application of ultrafast pulsed laser sources and spectroscopic techniques enables label-free, deep-tissue optical microscopy. However, circumvention of the diffraction limit in this field is still an open challenge. Among such approaches, pump-probe microscopy is of increasing interest thanks to its highly specific nonfluorescent-based contrast mechanisms for the imaging of material and life science samples. In this paper, a custom femtosecond-pulsed near-infrared pump-probe microscope, which exploits transient absorption and stimulated Raman scattering interactions, is presented. The conventional pump-probe configuration is combined with a spatially shaped saturation pump beam, which allows for the reduction of the effective focal volume exploiting transient absorption saturation. By optimizing the acquisition parameters, such as power and temporal overlap of the saturation beam, we can image single-layer graphene deposited on a glass surface at the nanoscale and with increased layer sensitivity. These results suggest that saturation pump-probe nanoscopy is a promising tool for label-free high-resolution imaging.

Jesus is in Favor: Catholicism and Assisted Reproduction in Italy.

While religion is part of the modernities of assisted reproductive technologies (ART), this has mainly been investigated in non-Western or non-Christian contexts. In this article, I argue that in contemporary Italy, Catholicism affects not only law- and policymaking processes but also (prospective) parents' experiences of ART and donor conception in contradictory and unexpected ways. Officially, the Roman Church strongly opposes ART, but Catholic principles, affiliations, and rituals are mobilized in ways that contribute to legitimizing and making sense of ART as a means to create kinship and reproduce Italian national identity.

Photodamage in deep tissue two-photon optical biopsy of human skin.

Photodamage, induced by femtosecond laser radiation, was studied in thick samples of human skin tissue (healthy skin and neoplastic lesions). Photobleaching, photoionization, and thermomechanical damage effects were characterized comparatively. The laser power dependence of the damage rates allowed to connect macroscopic effects to underlying molecular processes. Optical effects were correlated to histopathological changes. Tissue alterations were found only from thermomechanical cavitation and limited to superficial layers of the epidermis. From the depth-dependencies of all damage thresholds a depth-dependent power-compensation scheme was defined allowing for damage-free deep tissue optical biopsy. Damage-induced luminescence pattern for different excitation powers and a corresponding threshold analysis.

Abandoned by the State, betrayed by the Church: Italian experiences of cross-border reproductive care.

This paper investigates the case of Italians travelling abroad for fertility treatments as a reaction to the restrictive Italian law regulating medically assisted procreation. The acknowledgement of legal limitations provokes special feelings of abandonment while the decision to leave the country represents intentions that oppose institutional positions and results in an embodied dissent against them. The choice of destination considers legal, medical, economic, logistic and cultural matters and pertains to the re-elaboration of one's own way of understanding reproduction and interpreting restrictive rules on the matter. This paper first presents the Italian law concerning assisted reproduction and the political, moral and cultural context in which this law has been approved, contested and partially modified. Then, the experiences of Italians undertaking cross-border reproductive care (CBRC) are analysed, focusing on feelings that people develop in the face of restrictive legislation and on the meaning that CBRC acquires in their reproductive stories. Finally, the criteria that lead people to take specific decisions concerning destinations are explored in order to show which kind of expectations and needs they have with regard to CBRC and which elements they deem important to consider their experience fulfilling and successful.