Background Buprenorphine pharmacotherapy for opioid-dependent pregnant women is associated with maternal and neonatal outcomes superior to untreated opioid dependence. However, the literature is inconsistent regarding the possible existence of a dose-response relationship between maternal buprenorphine dose and neonatal clinical outcomes. Methods The present secondary analysis study (1) examined the relationship between maternal buprenorphine dose at delivery and neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) peak score, estimated gestational age at delivery, Apgar scores at 1 and 5 minutes, neonatal head circumference, length, and weight at birth, amount of morphine needed to treat NAS, duration of NAS treatment, and duration of neonatal hospital stay; and (2) compared neonates who required pharmacotherapy for NAS to neonates who did not require such pharmacotherapy on these same outcomes, in 58 opioid-dependent pregnant women receiving buprenorphine as participants in a randomized clinical trial. Results (1) Analyses failed to provide evidence of a relationship between maternal buprenorphine dose at delivery and any of the 10 outcomes (all p-values>.48); and (2) significant mean differences between the untreated (n=31) and treated (n=27) for NAS groups were found for duration of neonatal hospital stay and NAS peak score (both p-values<.001). Conclusions (1) Findings failed to support the existence of a dose-response relationship between maternal buprenorphine dose at delivery and any of 10 neonatal clinical outcomes, including NAS severity; and (2) that infants treated for NAS had a higher mean NAS peak score and, spent a longer time in the hospital than did the group not treated for NAS is unsurprising.

Growth in the potential applications of nanomaterials has led to a focus on the development of new manufacturing approaches for these materials. In particular, an increased demand due to the unique properties of nanomaterials requires a substantial yield of high-performance materials and a simultaneous reduction in the environmental impact of these processes. In this paper, a high-rate production of phosphine-stabilized undecagold nanoclusters was achieved using a layer-up strategy which involves the use of microlamination architectures; the patterning and bonding of thin layers of material (laminae) to create a multilayered micromixer in the range of 25-250 µm thick was used to step up the production of phosphine-stabilized undecagold nanoclusters. The continuous production of highly monodispersed phosphine-stabilized undecagold nanoclusters at a rate of about 11.8 (mg s(-1)) was achieved using a microreactor with a size of 1.687 cm(3). This result is about 500 times over conventional batch syntheses based on the production rate per reactor volume.

Computational fluid dynamics is used to refine the operating parameters of a Reverse Oscillatory Flow (ROF) microreaction system for the synthesis of uniformly-sized nanoparticles. The ROF mixing system uses highly advective flow regions to achieve high quality mixing over short mixing lengths. The mixing system is further enhanced by sinusoidal inlet flow conditions which create plugs having reduced diffusional lengths. Flow conditions leading to plug creation were found to be chiefly responsible for shorter mixing times. Residence time distributions (of simulated inert particles) were found to decrease with increasing pump displacement. It is expected that these conditions will lead to smaller particle size distributions. Mixing quality and residence time distribution are not captured well by Reynolds or Strouhal numbers; however the maximum inlet Reynolds number does correlate well with mixing time trends. Implications for flow conditions are discussed.

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