Pitfalls in Early Bioprocess Development Using Shake Flask Cultivations.

For about 100 years, the shake flask has been established for biotechnological cultivations as one of the most important cultivation systems in early process development. Its appeal lies in its simple handling and highly versatile application for a wide range of cell types-from bacteria to mammalian cells. In recent decades, extensive research has been conducted on the shake flask, to not perform processes blindly but to gain a deeper understanding of the various process parameters, phenomena, and their impact on the process.

Effectiveness of couple-based violence prevention education in reducing intimate partner violence during pregnancy in rural Ethiopia: A cluster randomized controlled trial.

Background: Pregnancy is often seen as a joyful and fulfilling time for many women. However, a significant number of women in Ethiopia experience intimate partner violence (IPV) during this period. Despite this, there is limited evidence on interventions aimed at preventing violence during pregnancy.

Scale-up of CHO cell cultures: from 96-well-microtiter plates to stirred tank reactors across three orders of magnitude.

Background: For process development in mammalian cell cultivations, scale-up approaches are essential. A lot of studies concern the scale transfer between different-sized stirred tank reactors. However, process development usually starts in even smaller cultivation vessels like microtiter plates or shake flasks.

Sampling-free investigation of microbial carbon source preferences on renewable feedstocks via online monitoring of oxygen transfer rate.

The transition towards sustainable bioprocesses requires renewable feedstocks to reduce dependency on finite resources. While plant-based feedstocks offer significant potential, their complex composition poses new challenges. The microorganisms often exhibit polyauxic growth when presented with multiple carbon sources simultaneously, consuming them in a distinct order according to their carbon source preferences.

High-sensitivity real-time monitoring of pH and respiration activity unveils metabolic dynamics in shake flask cultures.

Erlenmeyer shake flasks are widely used during the first steps of bioprocess development. Despite their broad application in academia and industry, shake flasks usually lack standardized and user-friendly online monitoring techniques. In this work, the pH and Respiratory Activity MOnitoring System (pH-RAMOS) for the non-invasive online measurement of the oxygen transfer rate (OTR), carbon dioxide transfer rate (CTR), and pH in up to eight parallel shake flasks under sterile conditions is presented.

Impact of hydromechanical stress on CHO cells' metabolism and productivity: Insights from shake flask cultivations with online monitoring of the respiration activity.

The hydromechanical stress is a relevant parameter for mammalian cell cultivations, especially regarding scale-up processes. It describes the mechanical forces exerted on cells in a bioreactor. The maximum local energy dissipation rate is a suitable parameter to characterize hydromechanical stress.

Avoiding overflow metabolite formation in Komagataella phaffii fermentations to enhance recombinant protein production.

Background: Komagataella phaffii (K. phaffii), formerly known as Pichia pastoris, is a widely utilized yeast for recombinant protein production. However, due to the formation of overflow metabolites, carbon yields may be reduced and product recovery becomes challenging.

Unraveling the impact of pH, sodium concentration, and medium osmolality on Vibrio natriegens in batch processes.

Background: Vibrio natriegens, a halophilic marine γ-proteobacterium, holds immense biotechnological potential due to its remarkably short generation time of under ten minutes. However, the highest growth rates have been primarily observed on complex media, which often suffer from batch-to-batch variability affecting process stability and performance. Consistent bioprocesses necessitate the use of chemically defined media, which are usually optimized for fermenters with pH and dissolved oxygen tension (DOT) regulation, both of which are not applied during early-stage cultivations in shake flasks or microtiter plates.

Monitoring corn stover processing by the fungus Ustilago maydis.

A key aspect of sustainable bioeconomy is the recirculation of renewable, agricultural waste streams as substrates for microbial production of high-value compounds. One approach is the bioconversion of corn stover, an abundant maize crop byproduct, using the fungal maize pathogen Ustilago maydis. U.

Phosphate limitation enhances malic acid production on nitrogen-rich molasses with Ustilago trichophora.

Background: An important step in replacing petrochemical products with sustainable, cost-effective alternatives is the use of feedstocks other than, e.g., pure glucose in the fermentative production of platform chemicals.

Diffusion-driven fed-batch fermentation in perforated ring flasks.

Purpose: Simultaneous membrane-based feeding and monitoring of the oxygen transfer rate shall be introduced to the newly established perforated ring flask, which consists of a cylindrical glass flask with an additional perforated inner glass ring, for rapid bioprocess development.

Methods: A 3D-printed adapter was constructed to enable monitoring of the oxygen transfer rate in the perforated ring flasks. Escherichia coli experiments in batch were performed to validate the adapter.

Understanding exopolysaccharide byproduct formation in Komagataella phaffii fermentation processes for recombinant protein production.

Background: Komagataella phaffii (Pichia pastoris) has emerged as a common and robust biotechnological platform organism, to produce recombinant proteins and other bioproducts of commercial interest. Key advantage of K. phaffii is the secretion of recombinant proteins, coupled with a low host protein secretion.

Changing praxis from within - an in-depth qualitative exploration of how home visits affected statutory service at a Child Health Clinic.

Purpose: This study aims to define critical domains of salutogenic home visits conducted by public health nurses, and how thevisits can supplement a universal Child Health Clinic.

Design And Method: A qualitative grounded theory study was conducted among three public health nurses in Stovner district, Oslo, Norway. The nurses were followed for 26 months offering home visits to all first-time parents.

The work of managing a chronic illness: A job description.

Rationale: Self-management of a chronic illness is a struggle for many patients. There is substantial evidence that patients are not as successful as they and their providers would like. Considering patient self-management through an innovative and diverse lens could help patients, providers and the health care system to consider novel changes to improve success.

Maternal exposure to intimate partner violence and uptake of maternal healthcare services in Ethiopia: Evidence from a national survey.

Background: Women exposed to Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) often do not utilize maternal health care optimally both because of stigma and other social problems. The current study aims to explore an association between maternal healthcare seeking and violence exposure among Ethiopian women and to assess if educational attainment and wealth status moderate this association.

Methods: The analyses included 2836 (weighted) currently married women with one live birth.

Pedagogical Approaches and Learning Activities, Content, and Resources Used in the Design of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in the Health Sciences: Protocol for a Scoping Review.

Background: Developing online, widely accessible educational courses, such as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), offer novel opportunities to advancing academic research and the educational system in resource-constrained countries. Despite much literature on the use of design-related features and principles of different pedagogical approaches when developing MOOCs, there are reports of inconsistency between the pedagogical approach and the learning activities, content, or resources in MOOCs.

Objective: We present a protocol for a scoping review aiming to systematically identify and synthesize literature on the pedagogical approaches used, and the learning activities, content, and resources used to facilitate social interaction and collaboration among postgraduate learners in MOOCs across the health sciences.

A Statistical Explanation of the Dunning-Kruger Effect.

Unlabelled: An explanation of the Dunning-Kruger effect is provided which does not require any psychological explanation, because it is derived as a statistical artifact. This is achieved by specifying a simple statistical model which explicitly takes the (random) boundary constraints into account. The model fits the data almost perfectly.

Low-Dose CT for Renal Calculi Detection Using Spectral Shaping of High Tube Voltage.

Purpose: To investigate reduction of radiation exposure in unenhanced CT in suspicion of renal calculi using a tin-filtered high tube voltage protocol compared to a standard low-dose protocol without spectral shaping.

Materials And Methods: A phantom study using 7 human renal calculi was performed to test both protocols. 120 consecutive unenhanced CT examinations performed due to suspicion of renal calculi were included in this retrospective, monocentric study.

Determinants of Knowledge and Attitude towards Breastfeeding in Rural Pregnant Women Using Validated Instruments in Ethiopia.

Understanding the underlying determinants of maternal knowledge and attitude towards breastfeeding guides the development of context-specific interventions to improve breastfeeding practices. This study aimed to assess the level and determinants of breastfeeding knowledge and attitude using validated instruments in pregnant women in rural Ethiopia. In total, 468 pregnant women were interviewed using the Afan Oromo versions of the Breastfeeding Knowledge Questionnaire (BFKQ-AO) and the Iowa Infant Feeding Attitude Scale (IIFAS-AO).

Breastfeeding Education and Support to Improve Early Initiation and Exclusive Breastfeeding Practices and Infant Growth: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial from a Rural Ethiopian Setting.

Although peer-led education and support may improve breastfeeding practices, there is a paucity of evidence on the effectiveness of such interventions in the Ethiopian context. We designed a cluster-randomized trial to evaluate the efficacy of a breastfeeding education and support intervention (BFESI) on infant growth, early initiation (EI), and exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) practices. We randomly assigned 36 clusters into either an intervention group ( = 249) receiving BFESI by trained Women's Development Army (WDA) leaders or a control group ( = 219) receiving routine care.

Risk-Based Selection of Environmental Classifications for Biopharmaceutical Operations.

This article details a risk-based methodology designed to assign environmental classifications to the different operations in biopharmaceutical facilities manufacturing non-sterile (low bioburden) drug substance. Generally, environmental conditions for active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacture are established based on previous experiences or expectations or on extrapolated interpretations of current good manufacturing practices guidelines. Improvements in equipment design and operation, especially the use of closed systems, allow certain process steps to take place in controlled environment areas rather than in classified clean rooms.

Adaptive laboratory evolution of and to enhance anthranilate tolerance.

Microbial bioproduction of the aromatic acid anthranilate (-aminobenzoate) has the potential to replace its current, environmentally demanding production process. The host organism employed for such a process needs to fulfil certain demands to achieve industrially relevant product levels. As anthranilate is toxic for microorganisms, the use of particularly robust production hosts can overcome issues from product inhibition.

Differences in Growth of HIV-exposed Uninfected Infants in Ethiopia According to Timing of In-utero Antiretroviral Therapy Exposure.

Background: There are concerns about the adverse effect of in-utero exposure to antiretroviral therapy (ART) on the growth of HIV exposed-uninfected (HEU) infants. We compared growth of HEU-infants according to the timing and type of ART exposure.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted by abstracting clinical data from HIV-infected mothers and HEU-infants in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia between February 2013 and October 2016.