Background Refugee women who leave their country due to persecution and violence have multiple barriers to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services. The COVID-19 pandemic added an additional barrier to in-person reproductive health education, dialogue, and clinical care. This study aimed to assess the potential of using virtual group meetings as a forum for refugee women to learn about and discuss reproductive health concerns such as cervical cancer screening, family planning, childbirth, and postpartum care. Method We conducted semi-structured interviews with 36 refugee women and stakeholders to assess factors that impact refugee women’s receptiveness for virtual platforms to obtain information and engage in discussions on reproductive health. Thematic analysis was conducted using the software Dedoose. Results Openness to engage in virtual platforms varied by refugee community, women’s demographic, and life experience. The women’s involvement with local refugee groups facilitated their engagement with virtual platforms. Furthermore, individuals’ family structure and marital relationship, along with literacy and English proficiency, and access to and familiarity with technology impacted engagement. Virtual groups needed to mirror confidentiality and women expressed a strong preference that groups were all-women. Conclusion Refugee women are receptive to virtual groups on SRH when they are offered in a culturally appropriate manner that considers the living situations and access to technology after arrival to the USA. Findings from this study provide a framework to develop and tailor effective virtual or hybrid virtual-in-person programs for women in refugee communities.

The purpose of this work was to study the response that is invoked by hyperthermia in the production of Granulocyte-Macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) by the lung. Rats were heated regionally at chest area by a RF generator operating at 27.397 MHz for 1 h at various temperatures and then allowed to recover or repair in various periods of time after heat application. Lung tissue from these animals was then removed and cultured for the production of GM-CSF. GM-CSF was assayed by the production of colonies in the semi-solid agar cultures of bone marrow cells. Immediately after heat treatment hyperthermia had no significant effect on the production of GM-CSF by the lung. A delayed effect was observed about 3.5 h after heat treatment. This effect consisted of a temperature dependent decrease in GM-CSF production. The damage was recoverable and required 1-50 days of post heat treatment time for animals to reach normal level of GM-CSF production. The results suggest that in-vivo application of hyperthermia invokes temporary reduction in GM-CSF production by the lung, which has not been reported previously.