Bolometric detection of electromagnetic radiation is a well-established method in a wide frequency range, from millimeter waves through the terahertz region up to infrared. Fabrication of such a detector is often an expensive and demanding process. We propose a simple device based on a commercially available thermistor as a sensing element.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImportance: Medicare finances health care for most US patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD), regardless of age. Medicare enrollment may have slowed for patients with incident ESKD who gained access to new private insurance options with the 2014 passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and introduction of the ACA Marketplace.
Objective: To describe trends in public and private insurance coverage and dialysis spending among patients with incident ESKD from 2012 to 2017.
Background: Stopping or reducing risky or unneeded medications ("deprescribing") could improve older adults' health. Electronic health data can support observational and intervention studies of deprescribing, but there are no standardized measures for key variables, and healthcare systems have differing data types and availability. We developed definitions for chronic medication use and discontinuation based on electronic health data and applied them in a case study of benzodiazepines and Z-drugs in five diverse US healthcare systems.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSocial risks refer to individuals' social and economic conditions shaped by underlying social determinants of health. Health care delivery organizations increasingly screen patients for social risks given their potential impact on health outcomes. However, it can be challenging to meaningfully address patients' needs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Racial and ethnic disparities in malnutrition are well-known, but it is unknown if there are disparities in early nutrition delivery for intensive care unit (ICU) patients, which is associated with better outcomes. We investigated the timing of enteral nutrition (EN) and parenteral nutrition (PN) initiation in the ICU, examining for racial differences.
Methods: Using the eICU-Collaborative Research Database (eICU-CRD) from 2014 to 2015, we analyzed patients eligible for EN and PN from 208 hospitals.