Advantages and Disadvantages of Methadone among Children and Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Today, an increasing trend to methadone as an alternative maintenance treatment for opiate dependence in adults is observed; children for both intentional and accidental reasons are exposed to serious and fetal effects of methadone. We aimed to investigate effects of methadone on children and sexual functioning among adults in Iranian population. Materials and Methods: An extensive search was done in databases of Medline, EMBASE, Scopus, Cochrane, and Web of Science until August 2018. Two independent researchers screened articles, and categorized them based on the evaluated outcomes and overall effect size was presented. After excluding the duplicated, irrelevant and low-quality articles, eligible ones were enrolled in the meta-analysis. Finally, pooled effect size was presented as standardized mean difference (SMD) or pooled prevalence with 95 confidence interval (95 CI). Results: Methadone was found to be more effective than morphine on neonatal abstinence syndrome. The first four most common symptoms of methadone poisoning were loss of consciousness (81), sleepiness (72), meiotic pupils (76), vomiting (56), and Apnea (48). The overall prevalence rate of sexual disorders and erectile dysfunction was 66.3 and 77.5, respectively. The subjects in methadone group were over 2.5-fold more likely to use condom during intercourse (p<0.001). The methadone therapy could lead to a significant reduction in orgasm functioning (p<0.001), and a significant improvement in libido (p=0.001). The methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) significantly resulted in decreased orgasm function and improved libido in males. Conclusion: Evidence suggests a positive impact of methadone maintenance treatment on risky sexual behaviors. Regarding the methadone poisoning effect on children, people should be informed by health care providers about serious and fetal effects on children

Field Trials of Microbially Induced Desaturation in Low-Plasticity Silt

Field trials of microbially induced desaturation (MID) were conducted at two sites in Portland, Oregon underlain by liquefiable fine-grained soils. MID is an emerging method for mitigating the potential for triggering liquefaction. MID treatment stimulates native denitrifying microbes with a solution containing nitrate, as well as other substrates and nutrients. An end product of the denitrification reactions is nitrogen gas, which displaces soil porewater and in turn reduces the in situ degree of saturation (Sr). Because during cyclic loading desaturated soils produce less excess porewater pressure than saturated soils, MID can mitigate the potential for triggering liquefaction. Monitoring for the two field trials was performed to evaluate the MID treatment performance and the associated subsurface desaturation. Monitoring data included seismic wave velocities measured with crosshole and downhole techniques, embedded in situ moisture and electrical conductivity sensors, water chemistry measurements, and recovery and testing of samples for changes in soil properties. Monitoring data were collected pretreatment, during treatment, and post-treatment, and then interpreted to evaluate the effectiveness of MID for reducing Sr in fine grained, low plasticity silts in the two distinct sites. Despite geotechnical site characterization data that show the field trial sites have distinct geotechnical characteristics, including interbedding, that affect liquefaction susceptibility and MID treatment application, results indicate liquefiable soil at both sites was successfully desaturated and that the desaturation persisted for at least 92 days post-treatment