Care continuity impacts medicare expenditures of older adults: Fact or fiction?

Background: Older adults with cardiometabolic conditions are typically seen by multiple providers. Management by multiple providers may compromise care continuity and increase health expenditures for older adults, which may partly explain the inverse association between continuity and Medicare expenditures found in prior studies. This study sought to examine whether all-cause admission, outpatient expenditures or total expenditures were associated with the number of prescribers of cardiometabolic medications.

Fully textured monolithic perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells with 25.2% power conversion efficiency.

Tandem devices combining perovskite and silicon solar cells are promising candidates to achieve power conversion efficiencies above 30% at reasonable costs. State-of-the-art monolithic two-terminal perovskite/silicon tandem devices have so far featured silicon bottom cells that are polished on their front side to be compatible with the perovskite fabrication process. This concession leads to higher potential production costs, higher reflection losses and non-ideal light trapping.

Predominant bacteria and patterns of antibiotic susceptibility in urinary tract infection in children with spina bifida.

Background: Urinary tract infection is more common in children with spina bifida (SB) than neurologically intact children, and Escherichia coli is the most common urinary pathogen in the general pediatric population. Less is known of the pathogens responsible for urinary tract infections (UTI) in the pediatric SB population or their evolving antimicrobial resistance patterns. The goal of this study is to determine the epidemiology and antimicrobial resistance patterns of SB-associated urinary pathogens.

Prescriber continuity and medication availability in older adults with cardiometabolic conditions.

Background: Many older adults have multiple conditions and see multiple providers, which may impact their use of essential medications.

Objective: We examined whether the number of prescribers of these medications was associated with the availability of medications, a surrogate for adherence, to manage diabetes, hypertension or dyslipidemia.

Methods: A retrospective cohort of 383,145 older adults with diabetes, hypertension or dyslipidemia in the US Medicare program living in 10 states.

Prescriber Continuity and Disease Control of Older Adults.

Background: Medicare beneficiaries with multiple chronic conditions are typically seen by multiple providers, particularly specialists. Clinically appropriate referrals to multiple specialists may compromise the continuity of care for multiple chronic condition beneficiaries and create care plans that patients may find challenging to reconcile, which may impact patient outcomes.

Objective: The objective was to examine whether glycemic control or lipid control was associated with the number of prescribers of cardiometabolic medications.

Gastric Bypass Surgery Leads to Long-term Remission or Improvement of Type 2 Diabetes and Significant Decrease of Microvascular and Macrovascular Complications.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to compare long-term outcomes of 2 groups of morbidly obese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus-1 managed by Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery and a comparable group managed medically.

Methods: The present study was a single-institution retrospective study. Of the 173 obese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus undergoing gastric bypass surgery between January 2000 and July 2004, 78 patients (45%) were followed for at least 10 years.

Utilization of surgical procedures and racial disparity in the treatment of urinary incontinence after prostatectomy.

Aims: To analyze the rates of incontinence procedures after radical prostatectomy, and define the variables associated with them.

Methods: We conducted an IRB approved retrospective review of patients with prostate cancer who underwent radical prostatectomy at a single institute from January 1998 to December 2012. Logistic regression and time to event analyses were performed to ascertain variables associated with receipt of incontinence procedure after prostatectomy.

Environmental Changes in MoTe2 Excitonic Dynamics by Defects-Activated Molecular Interaction.

Monolayers of group VI transition metal dichalcogenides possess direct gaps in the visible spectrum with the exception of MoTe2, where its gap is suitably located in the infrared region but its stability is of particular interest, as tellurium compounds are acutely sensitive to oxygen exposure. Here, our environmental (time-dependent) measurements reveal two distinct effects on MoTe2 monolayers: For weakly luminescent monolayers, photoluminescence signal and optical contrast disappear, as if they are decomposed, but yet remain intact as evidenced by AFM and Raman measurements. In contrast, strongly luminescent monolayers retain their optical contrast for a prolonged amount of time, while their PL peak blue-shifts and PL intensity saturates to slightly lower values.

Nanoimprint lithography for high-efficiency thin-film silicon solar cells.

We demonstrate high-efficiency thin-film silicon solar cells with transparent nanotextured front electrodes fabricated via ultraviolet nanoimprint lithography on glass substrates. By replicating the morphology of state-of-the-art nanotextured zinc oxide front electrodes known for their exceptional light trapping properties, conversion efficiencies of up to 12.0% are achieved for micromorph tandem junction cells.