To examine the availability of donor human milk (DHM) in a population-based cohort and assess whether the availability of DHM was associated with rates of breast milk feeding at NICU discharge and rates of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). METHODS:Individual patient clinical data for very low birth weight infants from the California Perinatal Quality Care Collaborative were linked to hospital-level data on DHM availability from the Mothers' Milk Bank of San José for 2007 to 2013. Trends of DHM availability were examined by level of NICU care. Hospitals that transitioned from not having DHM to having DHM availability during the study period were examined to assess changes in rates of breast milk feeding at NICU discharge and NEC. RESULTS:The availability of DHM increased from 27 to 55 hospitals during the study period. The availability increased for all levels of care including regional, community, and intermediate NICUs, with the highest increase occurring in regional NICUs. By 2013, 81.3% of premature infants cared for in regional NICUs had access to DHM. Of the 22 hospitals that had a clear transition to having availability of DHM, there was a 10% increase in breast milk feeding at NICU discharge and a concomitant 2.6% decrease in NEC rates. CONCLUSIONS:The availability of DHM has increased over time and has been associated with positive changes including increased breast milk feeding at NICU discharge and decrease in NEC rates.

Infrared photoluminescence (PL) from InSb, InAs, and InAs1−xSbx (x<0.3) epitaxial layers grown by atmospheric pressure organometallic vapor phase epitaxy has been investigated for the first time over an extended temperature range. The values of full width at half maximum of the PL peaks show that the epitaxial layer quality is comparable to that grown by molecular-beam epitaxy. The observed small peak shift with temperature for most InAs1−xSbx epilayers may be explained by wave-vector-nonconserving transitions involved in the PL emission. For comparison, PL spectra from InSb/InSb and InAs/InAs show that the wave-vector-conserving mechanism is responsible for the PL emission. The temperature dependence of the energy band gaps, Eg, in InSb and InAs is shown to follow Varshni’s equation Eg(T)=Eg0−αT2/ (T+β). The empirical constants are calculated to be Eg0=235 meV, α=0.270 meV/K, and β=106 K for InSb and Eg0=415 meV, α=0.276 meV/K, and β=83 K for InAs.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of a standardized enteral feeding protocol for very low birth weight (VLBW) infants on nutritional, clinical and growth outcomes.Study Design: Retrospective analysis of VLBW cohorts 9 months before and after initiation of a standardized feeding protocol consisting of 6-8 days of trophic feedings, followed by an increase of 20 ml/kg/day. The primary outcome was days to reach full enteral feeds defined as 160 ml/ kg/day. Secondary outcomes included rates of necrotizing enterocolitis and culture-proven sepsis, days of parenteral nutrition and growth end points.Result: Data were analyzed on 147 VLBW infants who received enteral feedings, 83 before ('Before') and 64 subsequent to ('After') feeding protocol initiation. Extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants in the After group attained enteral volumes of 120 ml/kg/day (43.9 days Before vs 32.8 days After, P ¼ 0.02) and 160 ml/kg/day (48.5 days Before vs 35.8 days After, P ¼ 0.02) significantly faster and received significantly fewer days of parenteral nutrition (46.2 days Before vs 31.3 days After, P ¼ 0.01). Necrotizing enterocolitis decreased in the After group among VLBW (15/83, 18% Before vs 2/64, 3% After, P ¼ 0.005) and ELBW infants (11/31, 35% Before vs 2/26, 8% After, P ¼ 0.01). Late-onset sepsis decreased significantly in the After group (26/83, 31% Before vs 6/64, 9% After, P ¼ 0.001). Excluding those with weight <3rd percentile at birth, the proportion with weight <3rd percentile at discharge decreased significantly after protocol initiation (35% Before vs 17% After, P ¼ 0.03).Conclusion: These data suggest that implementation of a standardized feeding protocol for VLBW infants results in earlier successful enteral feeding without increased rates of major morbidities.

A loading dose followed by once-daily dosing was shown to result in SDL in the safe and therapeutic range in all term neonates in this study. In low birth weight neonates, this regimen resulted in peak and trough SDL throughout therapy that were similar to those observed in the control group. Delaying the initiation of maintenance once-daily dosing until 36 to 48 hours after the loading dose would be expected to result in a higher incidence of initial trough SDL in target range for very low birth weight neonates.