Single-stage chromatographic clarification of Chinese Hamster Ovary cell harvest reduces cost of protein production.

A single-stage clarification was developed using a single-use chromatographic clarification device (CCD) to recover a recombinant protein from Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) harvest cell culture fluid (HCCF). Clarification of a CHO HCCF is a complex and costly process, involving multiple stages of centrifugation and/or depth filtration to remove cells and debris and to reduce process-related impurities such as host cell protein (HCP), nucleic acids, and lipids. When using depth filtration, the filter train consists of multiple filters of varying ratios, layers, pore sizes, and adsorptive properties. The depth filters, in combination with a 0.2-micron membrane filter, clarify the HCCF based on size-exclusion, adsorptive, and charge-based mechanisms, and provide robust bioburden control. Each stage of the clarification process requires time, labor, and utilities, with product loss at each step. Here, use of the 3M™ Harvest RC Chromatographic Clarifier, a single-stage CCD, is identified as an alternative strategy to a three-stage filtration train. The CCD results in less overall filter area, less volume for flushing, and higher yield. Using bioprocess cost modeling, the single-stage clarification process was compared to a three-stage filtration process. By compressing the CHO HCCF clarification to a single chromatographic stage, the overall cost of the clarification process was reduced by 17%-30%, depending on bioreactor scale. The main drivers for the cost reduction were reduced total filtration area, labor, time, and utilities. The benefits of the single-stage harvest process extended throughout the downstream process, resulting in a 25% relative increase in cumulative yield with comparable impurity clearance.

Understanding young women's experiences of gender inequality in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh through story circles.

Gender inequality poses grave consequences for young women's health and wellbeing. The aim of this study was to understand how gender influences the lives of young women living in urban slums of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India using story circles as a research methodology. Narrative-based participatory methods like story circles (which involves sharing individual stories in a group circle on a given topic) can provide the nuance and detail needed to understand young people's experiences, build trust between participants and researchers, and offer spaces to speak about culturally sensitive subjects. Six story circle sessions were conducted with 50 young women (aged 15-24) in Lucknow. Sessions were audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded. Transcriptions were analysed to identify the following salient themes, all of which act as mechanisms of gender inequality: mobility restrictions, rampant sexual harassment in the community, limited educational and work opportunities, and the utmost prioritization of marriage for young women.

Exploring young women's menstruation-related challenges in Uttar Pradesh, India, using the socio-ecological framework.

Menstruation frequently poses psychological, social, and health challenges for young women living in low- and middle-income countries. In countries such as India, where menstruation is stigmatised, it can be particularly difficult. This paper examines challenges related to menstruation for young women living in slums in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. The research was informed by the socio-ecological model. Life course interviews were conducted with 70 young women ages 15-24 living in the slums of Lucknow. Thematic analysis was used to identify salient themes regarding individual, social, and systemic challenges related to menstruation. On the individual level, young women lack knowledge about menstruation. In the social sphere, young women experience stigma around menstruation, lack opportunities to discuss menstruation, and experience limitations around mobility and other activities during menstruation. At the institutional level, for example in school, there are few resources to support menstruating young women as toilets are dirty and doors are broken. Therefore, menstruating adolescents and young women in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, face an array of challenges at multiple levels. These findings suggest that multi-level interventions are warranted to create a supportive context for menstruation.

[In-hospital mortality in HIV-infected patients: 10 years after the implementation of universal access to HAART in Mexico]. / Mortalidad hospitalaria en pacientes con infección por VIH: a diez años del acceso universal a TARAA en México.

OBJECTIVE: To establish the characteristics and causes of death of HIV patients who die while hospitalized. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We included HIV+ patients who died during hospitalization, in three hospitals in Mexico City between 2010 and 2013. Sociodemographic and clinical data were collected as well as causes of death. We identified preventable deaths (defined as deaths that occurred in patients with less than six months of HAART, or without HAART, with less than 350 CD4 at diagnosis and/or opportunistic events as the cause of hospitalization). RESULTS: 128 deaths were analyzed. The median of CD4 count was 47 cells/mm³; 18% of the patients ignored their HIV status at the time of hospitalization, 51% had less than six months of HAART, 40.5% had never received HAART before. The main causes of death were AIDS defining events, with 65.6%. We identified 70 preventable deaths (57%). CONCLUSIONS: Despite universal access to HAART, HIV patients in Mexico are still dying of AIDS defining illnesses, an indicator of late diagnosis. It is urgent to implement HIV testing programs to allow earlier diagnosis and make HAART benefit accessible to all.

The Economic Consequences of AIDS mortality in South Africa.

We quantify the impact of adult deaths on household economic wellbeing, using a large longitudinal dataset spanning more than a decade. Verbal autopsies allow us to distinguish AIDS mortality from that due to other causes. The timing of the lower socioeconomic status observed for households with AIDS deaths suggests that the socioeconomic gradient in AIDS mortality is being driven primarily by poor households being at higher risk for AIDS, rather than AIDS impoverishing the households. Following a death, households that experienced an AIDS death are observed being poorer still. However, the additional socioeconomic loss following an AIDS death is very similar to the loss observed from sudden death. Funeral expenses can explain some of the impoverishing effects of death in the household. In contrast, the loss of an employed member cannot. To date, antiretroviral therapy has not changed the socioeconomic status gradient observed in AIDS deaths.

Paying the Piper: The High Cost of Funerals in South Africa.

We analyze funeral arrangements following the deaths of 3,751 people who died between January 2003 and December 2005 in the Africa Centre Demographic Surveillance Area. We find that, on average, households spend the equivalent of a year's income for an adult's funeral, measured at median per capita African (Black) income. Approximately one-quarter of all individuals had some form of insurance, which helped surviving household members defray some fraction of funeral expenses. However, an equal fraction of households borrowed money to pay for the funeral. We develop a model, consistent with ethnographic work in this area, in which households respond to social pressure to bury their dead in a style consistent with the observed social status of the household and that of the deceased. Households that cannot afford a funeral commensurate with social expectations must borrow money to pay for the funeral. The model leads to empirical tests, and we find results consistent with our model of household decision-making.

Fertility changes in Latin America in periods of economic uncertainty.

We explored the relation between fertility and the business cycle in Latin America. First, we used aggregate data on fertility rates and economic performance for 18 countries. We then studied these same associations in the transitions to first, second, and third births with DHS individual data for ten countries. The results show that in general, childbearing declined during economic downturns. The decline was mainly associated with increasing unemployment rather than slowdowns in the growth of gross domestic product, although there was a positive relationship between first-birth rates and growth. While periods of unemployment may be a good time to have children because opportunity costs are lower, in fact childbearing was reduced or postponed, especially among the most recent cohorts and among urban and more educated women. The finding is consistent with the contention that, during this particular period in Latin America, income effects were dominant.

Does money empower the elderly? Evidence from the Agincourt demographic surveillance site, South Africa.

AIMS: To quantify the impact of the South African old age (social) pension on outcomes for pensioners and the prime-aged adults and children who live with them, and to examine alternative means by which pensions affect household outcomes. METHODS: We collected socioeconomic data on 290 households in the Agincourt demographic surveillance area (DSA), stratifying our sample on the presence of a household member age-eligible for the old-age pension (women aged 60 and older, men aged 65 and older). RESULTS: The presence of a pensioner significantly reduces household reports that adults and, separately, children missed meals because there was not enough money for food. In addition, girls are significantly more likely to be enrolled in school if they are living with a pensioner, an effect that is driven entirely by living with a female pensioner. Our results are consistent with a model in which pensioners have a greater say in household functioning once they begin to receive their pensions. CONCLUSIONS: We find a program targeted toward the elderly plays a significant role in children's health and development.