Contraceptive Use and Method Preference among Women in Soweto, South Africa: The Influence of Expanding Access to HIV Care and Treatment Services

Objective: Preventing unintended pregnancy among HIV-positive women constitutes a critical and cost-effective approach to primary prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and is a global public health priority for addressing the desperate state of maternal and child health in HIV hyper-endemic settings. We sought to investigate whether the prevalence of contraceptive use and method preferences varied by HIV status and receipt of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) among women in Soweto, South Africa. Methods: We used survey data from 563 sexually active, non-pregnant women (18–44 years) recruited from the Perinatal HIV Research Unit in Soweto (May–December, 2007); 171 women were HIV-positive and receiving HAART (median duration of use = 31 months; IQR = 28, 33), 178 were HIV-positive and HAART-naïve, and 214 were HIV-negative. Medical record review was conducted to confirm HIV status and clinical variables. Logistic regression models estimated adjusted associations between HIV status, receipt of HAART, and contraceptive use. Results: Overall, 78 % of women reported using contraception, with significant variation by HIV status: 86 % of HAART users, 82 % of HAART-naïve women, and 69 % of HIV-negative women (p,0.0001). In adjusted models, compared with HIVnegativ

TUNABLE COMPOSITE MEMBRANES FOR GAS SEPARATIONS

Poly 2-(3-thienyl)ethylacetate (PAET) was synthesized and solution cast as thin films to form dense membranes. These membranes are mechanically robust and are redox active, holding out promise as gas separation materials. The permeability properties of PAET membranes were evaluated for N{sub 2} (0.048 {+-} 0.008 Barrers), O{sub 2} (0.24 {+-} 0.02 Barrers), CH{sub 4} (0.081 {+-} 0.005 Barrers), and CO{sub 2} (1.4 {+-} 0.1 Barrers). The corresponding selectivity values ({alpha}) were: O{sub 2}/N{sub 2} = 5.1, CO{sub 2}/N{sub 2} = 29, and CO{sub 2}/CH{sub 4} = 18

A high-silica zeolite with a 14-tetrahedral-atom pore opening

Zeolites (microporous aluminosilicates) and related molecular sieves have found wide application as catalysts, sorbents and ion-exchange materials. New zeolites with large pores are much in demand, and have been sought for several decades. All known zeolites, both natural and synthetic, contain pores comprised of 12 or fewer tetrahedrally coordinated silicon or aluminium atoms (T-atoms), but several microporous aluminophosphates with wider pores are now known. The practical value of these large-pore phosphate-based materials is limited, however, by their poor thermal and hydrothermal stability. Here we report the synthesis of a high-silica zeolite with pores comprised of 14 T-atoms. Preliminary data indicate that this thermally stable large-pore material exhibits the kind of strong acidity that makes other zeolites useful catalysts