Study reveals new evidence, cost savings for common treatments for opioid use disorder in mothers and infants

Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Facebook

X
BlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

 

image: 

Ashley Leech, PhD, assistant professor of Health Policy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center

view more 

Credit: Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Over the last 20 years, substance use-related deaths have more than doubled for women of reproductive age. Overdose deaths are now a leading cause of maternal mortality in the U.S., and in some states, the leading cause.

Still, substantial gaps remain in understanding how different treatment approaches influence the short- and long-term health of mothers and infants, as well as their broader economic impacts over time.  

New research published this month in the journal JAMA Pediatrics found that while established medications for opioid use disorder in mothers — buprenorphine and methadone — are both superior and cost saving compared to alternative treatment pathways (naltrexone, medication-assisted withdrawal or no treatment), buprenorphine produced the greatest health gains and cost savings for mothers and infants.

Using a mathematical simulation model, the study projected the health and cost outcomes for pregnant individuals with opioid use disorder and their infants over their lifetime. The economic model captured how treatment decisions during pregnancy can have lasting health and economic consequences, such as risks of preterm birth, that extend from infancy through adulthood and drive substantial downstream health effects and costs. Outpatient buprenorphine emerged as the optimal treatment in most scenarios tested (58%-100%) and in nearly every lifetime scenario that incorporated both mother and infant trajectories (99%). In other words, across thousands of simulations, buprenorphine consistently produced the best health outcomes and lower costs compared to alternative strategies. 

The study, led by Ashley Leech, PhD, assistant professor of Health Policy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and Stephen Patrick, MD, MPH, O. Wayne Rollins Distinguished Professor of Health Policy and chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management at Emory University, is among the first to compare the short- and long-term health benefits and costs of opioid use disorder treatment for mothers and infants, examining outcomes during pregnancy, postpartum and beyond the infant’s first year of life using simulation modeling.

Existing studies have not examined outcomes beyond the infant’s first year of life. The study used a hypothetical treatment group modeled on known demographic and other social factors to estimate differences in outcomes and cost savings over time for each treatment and population group. The paper found that, although neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS) has received much of the clinical attention as a marker of poor infant health after opioid exposure during pregnancy, preterm birth and low birth weight carry greater morbidity and mortality and played a more significant role in shaping long-term infant outcomes. Notably, buprenorphine, despite its direct association with NOWS, was protective against these critical outcomes. 

“Nationwide, we have seen a significant growth of pregnant women with opioid use disorder, but there have not been comprehensive models that evaluate trade-offs of different medications and strategies,” said Patrick. “This study evaluated the trade-offs we face as clinicians — How will medications affect moms and babies? With the evidence we have available, what can we expect years from now? Bottom line, we found that buprenorphine treatment in pregnancy was cost saving and improved outcomes for mothers with opioid use disorder and their babies.”

The researchers emphasized, however, that patient-centered care and patient choice remain essential to sustaining treatment. “While we found that buprenorphine yielded the greatest health gains and was cost saving across all model variations, methadone could still be a viable option for mothers, and at the individual level, it might work better for some,” said Leech, the lead author of the study. “Buprenorphine shows clear benefits for long-term infant outcomes, but it can be more difficult for patients to start and stay on this treatment because, as a partial agonist, it may not feel as strong to those dependent on drugs like heroin or fentanyl. Methadone, by contrast, is often easier for patients to initiate and sustain.

“This is an opportunity to make sure buprenorphine works as well as possible — by ensuring pregnant individuals receive effective doses across trimesters (since they often need higher and increasing amounts for effectiveness compared to nonpregnant patients) and by removing unnecessary Medicaid restrictions.”

The study estimated substantial cost savings to public insurance programs like Medicaid, finding that treating pregnant individuals this year could save roughly $4 billion in infant-related lifetime costs alone.  

“Medicaid is the largest payer for pregnant individuals and those with substance use disorders. Our research shows that treatment is not only effective but also has the potential to generate significant savings for Medicaid, benefiting both mothers and their children’s long-term health,” Leech said.

 

---

Journal

JAMA Pediatrics

DOI

10.1001/jamapediatrics.2025.3067 

Article Title

Cost-Effectiveness of Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder in Pregnancy and Its Impact on Birth Outcomes

Article Publication Date

8-Sep-2025

New research reveals wild octopus arms in action

Florida Atlantic University

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

 

video: 

The study is the first to relate arm movements in octopuses in the wild to whole animal behaviors in complex, real-world settings.

view more 

Credit: Chelsea Bennice, Florida Atlantic University and Roger Hanlon, Woods Hole

Octopuses are among the most neurologically complex invertebrates, famed for their extraordinary dexterity. Their eight arms allow them to capture hidden prey, communicate, explore, and even mate across varied habitats.

Although octopus arms rank among some of the most flexible structures in nature, their full range of movement has rarely been studied in the wild – especially in a range of underwater habitats.

A new study by Florida Atlantic University’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, in collaboration with researchers from the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, provides a comprehensive look into how wild octopuses use their arms in natural habitats. By analyzing arm movements across diverse environments, this is the first study to relate arm movements to whole animal behaviors in complex, real-world settings.

The findings, published this week in Scientific Reports, reveal that every arm is capable of performing all action types; however, there was a clear pattern of arm partitioning: front arms mainly use movements to aid in exploration, while back arms use movements that primarily support movement.

Additionally, the octopuses demonstrated remarkable flexibility – single arms were shown to perform multiple arm movements simultaneously and different arm movements were coordinated across several arms, showcasing their complex motor control.

“Observing them in the wild, we saw octopuses use different combinations of arm actions – sometimes just one arm for tasks like grabbing food, and other times multiple arms working together for behaviors like crawling or launching a parachute attack – a hunting technique they use to catch prey,” said Chelsea O. Bennice, Ph.D., lead author and a research fellow at FAU’s Marine Laboratory, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science.

Researchers quantified nearly 4,000 arm movements from 25 video recordings of three wild octopus species observed in six distinct shallow-water habitats – five located in the Caribbean and one in Spain. They identified 12 distinct arm actions across 15 behaviors, each involving one or more of four fundamental arm deformations: shortening (arm length decreases), elongating (arm length increases), bending (arm curves) and torsion (twisting).

“When octopuses move across an open environment, they skillfully use multiple arms to stay camouflaged from predators, such as the moving rock trick or looking like floating seaweed,” said Bennice. “Beyond foraging and locomotion, their arm strength and flexibility are essential for building dens, fending off predators, and competing with rival males during mating. These versatile abilities allow octopuses to thrive in a wide range of habitats.”

In the nearly 7,000 observed arm deformations, all four types – bend, elongate, shorten and torsion – were seen in every arm. However, different regions of each arm – proximal (closest to the body), medial (middle section) and distal (tip) – were found to specialize in specific types of arm deformation, reflecting a sophisticated level of functional specialization; bends mostly occurred near the tips, whereas elongations were more frequent closer to the body.

“I’m a strong believer that you have to get into the natural world, and especially the sensory world, of whatever animal you study,” said Roger Hanlon, Ph.D., co-author and senior scientist, Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole. “The fieldwork is very arduous, and it takes a lot of luck to get valid natural behaviors."

The six octopus habitats in this study varied from smooth, sandy seafloor to highly complex coral reef environments.  

“Understanding these natural behaviors not only deepens our knowledge of octopus biology but also opens exciting new avenues in fields like neuroscience, animal behavior and even soft robotics inspired by these remarkable creatures,” said Bennice.

Study co-authors are Kendra C. Buresch, a marine biologist; Jennifer H. Grossman; an undergraduate student, and Tyla D. Morano, all with the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole.

This research was supported in part by the Sholley Foundation, the Ben-Veniste Family Foundation, and the United States Office of Naval Research.

- FAU -

An octopus raises its arm in the wild. 

  

An octopus Americanus in the wild. 

A common octopus in South Florida waters. 

Credit

Chelsea Bennice, Florida Atlantic University

Journal

Scientific Reports

DOI

10.1038/s41598-025-10674-y 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Octopus arm flexibility facilitates complex behaviors in diverse natural environments

Article Publication Date

11-Sep-2025

Zoology: Octopuses put their best arm forward for every task

Scientific Reports

Facebook

BlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

Octopuses can use any of their arms to perform tasks, but tend to use a particular arm, or arms, for specific tasks. This finding, presented in a paper in Scientific Reports, reveals more about the complex behaviour these animals display.

Octopus arms are complex structures consisting of four separate muscle groups — transverse, longitudinal, oblique, and circular — around a central nerve. These four muscle groups allow octopus arms to deform in a wide variety of ways to perform a range of actions used for various behaviours, from hunting and moving, to self-defence. However, little is known about how wild octopuses use and coordinate their arms.

Chelsea Bennice and colleagues analysed 25 one-minute videos of wild octopuses, filmed between 2007 and 2015 in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. The filmed octopuses were either common octopuses (Octopus vulgaris) or from the closely related species Octopus insularis or Octopus americanus. The authors recorded which arms were used each time the octopuses performed one of fifteen distinct behaviours (such as crawling). They also recorded what combination of twelve distinct arm actions (such as curling) took place during the behaviour, and what combination of four distinct deformations (such as elongating) took place to perform each arm action.

The authors found that all the octopuses could deform all eight arms in the four distinct ways, and could perform all of the actions with each arm. They also found that arms on both side of the body are used equally, but that the front four arms are used significantly more often than the rear four arms (64% compared to 36%). The front arms are more likely to be used to explore the surroundings, while the rear arms are more likely to be used to move the octopus around. As a result, two actions are performed more often using the rear arms: roll, in which the arm moves underneath the octopus along the seafloor similar to a conveyor belt; and stilt, in which the arm is extended straight downwards to raise the body.

The authors say that their results are some of the first to show that octopuses use specific limbs for specific tasks — behaviour which is currently only well known in primates, rodents, and fish. They also state that their results could be used to improve robotic arms which mimic the functionality of octopus arms.

---

Journal

Scientific Reports

DOI

10.1038/s41598-025-10674-y 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Octopus arm flexibility facilitates complex behaviors in diverse natural environments

Article Publication Date

11-Sep-2025

 New dinosaur from Wales identified in museum drawer

Paleontologists shed new light on specimen more than 125 years after it was discovered

University of Bristol

LinkedIn
MessageWhatsAppEmail

 

image: 

Using modern digital scanning techniques the researchers were able to shed new light on the fossil jawbone, which has been known since 1899 and been on display in the National Museum of Wales for many years

view more 

Credit: Owain Evans

Paleontologists at the University of Bristol have officially identified a new species of dinosaur from Triassic fossil beds in South Wales, near Penarth – more than 125 years after the specimen was initially reported.

Using modern digital scanning techniques the researchers were able to shed new light on the fossil jawbone, which has been known since 1899 and been on display in the National Museum of Wales for many years, but was not correctly identified until now.

The fossil consists of natural moulds of the jawbone in the rock and all the original bone has disappeared. So, using photo scanning, palaeontology student Owain Evans was able to make a perfect 3D digital reconstruction to enable detailed study.

Owain Evans said: “This specimen has been referred to many times in scientific papers, but had yet to be successfully identified – we were not even sure whether it was dinosaur. It was named Zanclodon cambrensis by Edwin Tully Newton in 1899, but we knew the name Zanclodon had been abandoned as referring to a broad variety of early reptiles. Therefore, we name it after Newton, calling it Newtonsaurus. It is different from all other dinosaurs from around that time, and requires a distinctive name.”

Professor Michael J Benton, who is the senior author on the paper, said: “The natural moulds of the inner and outer faces of the jawbone show amazing detail – every groove, ridge, tooth, and even the serrations along the edges of the teeth. We decided to use digital photography to make a 3D model. We began by surface scanning the fossil using photogrammetry. Once we had our digital scan, we then inverted it – essentially giving us a digital negative of the mould. It was then a simple case of fusing the two sides together and analysing the anatomy from there. The digital reconstruction we have extracted from the specimen gives a much better idea of what the original structure of the bone would have looked like.”

Now that the fossil could be studied, the team was able to use its anatomy to piece together its position in the reptile family tree – and most crucially – whether it was a dinosaur or not.

Owain Evans said: “We can now confirm that this specimen very likely belonged to a large predatory theropod dinosaur, that roamed the shores of South Wales during the latest Triassic. It has some definite unique dinosaur features in the emplacement of the teeth, and it is a theropod - a predatory, flesh-eating dinosaur. Otherwise, it sits near the origins of both major divisions of Theropoda, the Coelophysoidea and the Averostra.

“Most unexpected is the size of the animal. The preserved jawbone is 28 cm long, and that is just the front half, so originally the jawbone was 60 cm long, corresponding to a dinosaur with a body length of 5–7 metres. This is unusually large for a Triassic theropod, most of which were half the size or smaller.”

Cindy Howells at the National Museum of Wales said: “These historical specimens are vitally important in palaeontology and often yield new and exciting results – even if they have been sitting in collections for years. The Victorians were fascinated by the fossil record and prospected all across the UK for fossils. On top of this, the re-description of Newtonsaurus cambrensis once again highlights the significance of Wales in palaeontological research. These Triassic beds are rare worldwide, and yet there are several across Wales. There might very well be another dinosaur waiting to be discovered.”

Paper

‘Re-assessment of a large theropod dinosaur dentary from the Rhaetian of South Wales’ by Owain Evans, Cindy Howells, Nathan Wintle, and Michael Benton, in Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association.

 

---

Journal

Proceedings of the Geologists Association

DOI

10.1016/j.pgeola.2025.101142 

Article Title

Re-assessment of a large archosaur dentary from the Late Triassic of South Wales, United Kingdom

Article Publication Date

11-Sep-2025

 

Newly dated 85-million-year-old dino eggs could improve understanding of Cretaceous climate

Scientists date dinosaur eggs that had laid buried in rock for millions of years for the first time, using new, ‘atomic clock for fossils’ method

Frontiers

LinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

 

image: 

Egg clutch sampled for chronological studies. Credit Dr. Bi Zhao

view more 

Credit: Dr. Bi Zhao

In the Cretaceous period, Earth was plagued by widespread volcanic activity, oceanic oxygen depletion events, and mass extinctions. Fossils from that era remain and continue to give scientists clues as to what the climate may have looked like in different regions.

Now, researchers in China have examined some of them: dinosaur eggs found at the Qinglongshan site in the Yunyang Basin in central China. This is the first time that dinosaur eggs have been dated using carbonate uranium-lead (U-Pb) dating. The team published their results in Frontiers in Earth Science.

“We show that these dinosaur eggs were deposited roughly 85 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous period,” said corresponding author Dr Bi Zhao, a researcher at the Hubei Institute of Geosciences. “We provide the first robust chronological constraints for these fossils, resolving long-standing uncertainties about their age.”

New dates

Qinglongshan is China’s first national dinosaur egg fossil reserve. There, more than 3,000 fossilized eggs are spread across three sites. Most fossils are embedded in different stones, such as breccias, breccia and siltstone mixes, and fine sandstones. The eggs have mostly remained in their original location and show only minimal deformation. The majority is thought to belong to a single species, Placoolithus tumiaolingensis, which belongs to the family Dendroolithidae, a group characterized by highly porous eggshells. The sampled calcite-filled dinosaur egg fossil came from a cluster of 28 eggs embedded within breccia-bearing siltstone.

To date the egg, the team used U-Pb dating. “We fired a micro-laser at eggshell samples, vaporizing carbonate minerals into aerosol. This is analyzed by a mass spectrometer to count uranium and lead atoms. Since uranium decays into lead at a fixed rate, we were able to calculate the age by measuring accumulated lead— it’s like an atomic clock for fossils,” Zhao explained.

The results showed that the eggs from this cluster were deposited around 85 million years ago, with the possibility of them having been deposited around 1.7 million years earlier or later. Their age means they’ve been laid during the Late Cretaceous, an epoch lasting from approximately 100 to 66 million years ago. They are the first reliably dated fossils from the Qinglongshan site.

Traditionally, dating dinosaur eggs involves indirect methods, such as dating volcanic rock, ash layers, or minerals around eggs. These, however, may have formed before or after the laying of the eggs, or geological processes may have altered them. The method used here allows for precise dating of eggs without having to rely on anything but the eggs themselves. “It revolutionizes our ability to establish global dinosaur egg chronologies,” Zhao said.

Old climates

Global cooling had started several million years before the laying of the eggs, in the Turonian epoch (lasting from approximately 93.9 to 89.8 million years ago). By the time they were laid, temperatures had declined significantly. The transition from a warm to a cooler climate was likely a factor in dinosaurs’ diminishing diversity and may have affected how many eggs were laid by how many species at Qinglongshan. “Dendroolithids’ specialized pore structures may represent evolutionary adaptations to this climatic shift, as novel egg types emerged worldwide during cooling,” Zhao said. The pore structure of Dendroolithidae eggs, which are markedly different from many other dinosaur eggs, may be one such adaptation. “P. tumiaolingensis may represent an evolutionary dead end where the egg-laying dinosaur population failed to adapt successfully to cooling climates,” Zhao explained.

Although few eggshell samples were examined in this study, all tests confirmed similar ages of egg fragments, which were also consistent with the age of the rocks surrounding the eggs. The team will be expanding sampling to include eggs found in different rock layers, which could help construct a regional timeline. They also said that Dendroolithid eggs in neighboring basins should be examined in the future to trace dinosaur migrations.

“Our achievement holds significant implications for research on dinosaur evolution and extinction, as well as environmental changes on Earth during the Late Cretaceous,” Zhao said. “Such findings can transform fossils into compelling narratives about Earth’s history.”

---

Journal

Frontiers in Earth Science

DOI

10.3389/feart.2025.1638838 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Geological Age of the Yunyang Dinosaur Eggs Revealed by in-situ Carbonate U-Pb Dating and Its Scientific Implications

Article Publication Date

11-Sep-2025

Interior of Qinglongshan Dinosaur Egg Fossil Museum. 

Dinosaur egg fossil sampled for geochronology.

Dinosaur egg fossil sampled for geochronology. 






Dinosaur egg fossil sampled for geochronology. 





Aerial view of Qinglongshan Dinosaur Egg Fossil Site. 

Credit Dr. Bi Zhao