ABSTRACT. Objective: Although opioids have substantial efficacy for acute pain management, escalation to opioid misuse and abuse is a persistent concern. This report assesses the current status of the opioid epidemic in Maine using three complementary data sets. Method: A representative sample of pharmacists (N = 275) completed an online survey regarding the extent that opioids affected their practice. A countylevel analysis of opioid prescriptions (N = 1.22 million) reported to the Maine Prescription Monitoring Program (M-PMP) in 2014 and the agents implicated in arrests as reported to the Maine Diversion Alert Program (DAP, N = 2,700) in 2014/15 also was completed. Results: A significantly greater number of pharmacists agreed that opioid misuse (85.9%), rather than diversion (76.8%) or access (54.2%), was a concern. Only half (56.2%) reported use of the M-PMP. Opioids were dispensed to 22.4% of residents (37.7% of women in their 80s). This was enough to supply everyone in Maine with a 16.1-day supply. Buprenorphine accounted for almost half of opioid prescriptions to young adults (46.3% women, 49.3% men). Arrests increased by 13.3% from 2014 to 2015, and the proportion of arrests that involved prescription opioids decreased while those involving stimulants and heroin were elevated. Conclusions: Pharmacists are very aware of the potential for opioid misuse, but many do not consistently use the M-PMP. There continues to be substantial legitimate use, as well as criminal activity, involving oxycodone and other prescription opioids. Continued vigilance and use of tools like the PMP and DAP are necessary to minimize nonmedical use of opioids in Maine. (J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs, 77, 556-565, 2016)

This article provides the instructor's notes for the Drug Information Association's (DIAS) Core Curriculum in Medical Communications. The Core Curriculum is a standing educational program sponsored by the Medical Communications Special Interest Section of the DIA. It has been presented annually at the Medical Communications Workshop since 1996 and is offered as a tutorial at the DIA Annual Meeting. The Core Curriculum in Medical Communications is designed for those who are new to industry-based drug information in the United States. It encompasses the key activities of industry-based drug information practice, highlights the key differences between industry-based and nonindustry-based information practice, and encourages new practitioners to seek advice from experienced colleagues.

Small, lightweight, low power solid state and semiconductor lasers are enabling the development of a new class of thruster systems for micro-and nanosatellites. These devices generate thrust by laser ablation of a solid propellant using on-board lasers and permit small satellites to perform maneuvers such as orbit maintenance, precision pointing, and formation flying. In this work we present a concept for micropropulsion called the microchip laser thruster (MLT) that is based on laser ablation by a passively Q-switched Nd:YAG microchip laser. The microchip laser enables on-board ablation by sub-ns, high peak power, high repetition rate Gaussian pulses. A propellant feed concept is proposed that consists of a cylindrically shaped solid propellant and a single drive motor. Based on measurements of single pulse laser ablation in aluminum, copper and indium targets, we find that aluminum provides the best overall thrust and specific impulse (I sp ). Specifically, for a MLT system employing a 10 µJ/pulse, 10 kHz, 1064 nm microchip laser and Al propellant, we report the following system parameters: thrust range = 0.5 nN -5 µN, I sp = 4900 s, system mass = 455 g, and maximum required power = 6.5 W. Atomic force and scanning electron microscope images of craters formed by single and multi-pulse ablation are shown to provide insight into effective propellant feed mechanism designs.

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In a randomized, three-way crossover study, six male volunteers received clindamycin phosphate 600 mg iv q6h (treatment A), 600 mg iv q8h (treatment B), or 900 mg iv q8h (treatment C). Plasma clindamycin concentrations were determined periodically for eight hours after achieving steady state. The results indicate that treatment C yielded significantly higher peak plasma clindamycin concentrations than treatments A or B. There were no significant differences in minimum plasma clindamycin concentrations (Cmin) or area under the plasma concentration versus time curve (AUC24) between treatments A and C. However, both treatments A and C yielded significantly greater Cmin and AUC24 values than treatment B. There were no significant differences among treatments for clindamycin clearance. It is concluded that clindamycin phosphate 900 mg q8h is a pharmacokinetically acceptable alternative to clindamycin phosphate 600 mg q6h.