Weight maintenance on cost-effective antiobesity medications after 1 year of GLP-1 receptor agonist therapy: a real-world study.

Objective: The high cost of novel glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) class agents often limits access and creates barriers to care. This real-world study evaluated the efficacy of older-generation generic antiobesity medications (AOMs) for weight maintenance after 1 year of GLP-1 RA therapy in patients who had achieved successful weight loss.

Methods: We prospectively followed patients (N = 105) who had completed 12 months of therapy and were part of a "medical weight loss bundle," which included 12 months of GLP-1 RA therapy followed by 6 months of transition care.

Phase Change-Induced Magnetic Switching through Metal-Insulator Transition in VO/TbFeCo Films.

The ability to manipulate spins in magnetic materials is essential in designing spintronics devices. One method for magnetic switching is through strain. In VO2 on TiO2 thin films, while VO2 remains rutile across the metal-insulator transition, the in-plane lattice area expands going from a low-temperature insulating phase to a high-temperature conducting phase.

Measurement of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction in MnN Films That Host Skyrmions.

MnN thin film is one of the potential magnetic mediums for spintronic devices due to its ferrimagnetism with low magnetization, large perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA), thermal stability, and large domain wall velocity. Recent experiments confirmed the existence of tunable magnetic skyrmions in MgO/MnN/CuPt(x = 0, 0.5, 0.

Ultrafast switching in synthetic antiferromagnet with bilayer rare-earth transition-metal ferrimagnets.

In spintronics, it is important to be able to manipulate magnetization rapidly and reliably. Several methods can control magnetization, such as by applying current pulses or magnetic fields. An applied current can reverse magnetization with nanosecond speed through the spin torque effect.

Medicare Two-Midnight Rule Accelerated Shift To Observation Stays.

During the past two decades several policies have attempted to replace inappropriate hospital inpatient stays with observation hospital stays, where patients receive hospital care but are classified as outpatients. The Two-Midnight rule, adopted in October 2013 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, states that more highly reimbursed inpatient payment is appropriate if care is expected to last at least two midnights; otherwise, observation stays should be used. For hospitals, the administrative burden associated with making these status determinations is substantial.

Specialized Medical Weight Management Intervention for High-Risk Obesity.

Bundled payments are services rendered at pre-determined costs with the goal of providing high value care. Our institution's Episodes of Care team partnered with its tertiary care obesity center to design a novel medical weight management bundle for employers that would collectively deliver high value obesity services. As a first step, we sought to evaluate short-term medical weight loss outcomes over 6 months at the obesity center.

Association of Elevated Blood Pressure in the Emergency Department With Chronically Elevated Blood Pressure.

Background Emergency department (ED) visits for hypertension are rising, but the importance of elevated blood pressure (BP) measured during the ED visit is controversial. We evaluated the relationship between ED BP and mean BP over the subsequent year. Methods and Results We performed a retrospective cohort study from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2013 of 8105 adult patients who made 1 visit to an academic medical center ED with ≥2 ED BPs and ≥2 BPs measured in the subsequent year.

Tuning interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions in thin amorphous ferrimagnetic alloys.

Skyrmions can be stabilized in magnetic systems with broken inversion symmetry and chiral interactions, such as Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions (DMI). Further, compensation of magnetic moments in ferrimagnetic materials can significantly reduce magnetic dipolar interactions, which tend to favor large skyrmions. Tuning DMI is essential to control skyrmion properties, with symmetry breaking at interfaces offering the greatest flexibility.

Publisher Correction: High Entropy Alloys Mined From Binary Phase Diagrams.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

High Entropy Alloys Mined From Binary Phase Diagrams.

High entropy alloys (HEA) are a new type of high-performance structural material. Their vast degrees of compositional freedom provide for extensive opportunities to design alloys with tailored properties. However, compositional complexities present challenges for alloy design.

Enhanced Figure of Merit in Bismuth-Antimony Fine-Grained Alloys at Cryogenic Temperatures.

Thermoelectric (TE) materials research plays a vital role in heat-to-electrical energy conversion and refrigeration applications. Bismuth-antimony (Bi-Sb) alloy is a promising material for thermoelectric cooling. Herein, a high figure of merit, ZT, near 0.

Robust Formation of Ultrasmall Room-Temperature Neél Skyrmions in Amorphous Ferrimagnets from Atomistic Simulations.

Neél skyrmions originate from interfacial Dzyaloshinskii Moriya interaction (DMI). Recent studies have explored using thin-film ferromagnets and ferrimagnets to host Neél skyrmions for spintronic applications. However, it is unclear if ultrasmall (10 nm or less) skyrmions can ever be stabilized at room temperature for practical use in high density parallel racetrack memories.

Antibiotic Prescribing During Pediatric Direct-to-Consumer Telemedicine Visits.

Background And Objectives: Use of commercial direct-to-consumer (DTC) telemedicine outside of the pediatric medical home is increasing among children, and acute respiratory infections (ARIs) are the most commonly diagnosed condition at DTC telemedicine visits. Our objective was to compare the quality of antibiotic prescribing for ARIs among children across 3 settings: DTC telemedicine, urgent care, and the primary care provider (PCP) office.

Methods: In a retrospective cohort study using 2015-2016 claims data from a large national commercial health plan, we identified ARI visits by children (0-17 years old), excluding visits with comorbidities that could affect antibiotic decisions.

The Impact of Conversion From an Urgent Care Center to a Freestanding Emergency Department on Patient Population, Conditions Managed, and Reimbursement.

Background: Freestanding emergency departments (FSEDs), EDs not attached to acute care hospitals, are expanding. One key question is whether FSEDs are more similar to higher-cost hospital-based EDs or to lower-cost urgent care centers (UCCs).

Objective: Our aim was to determine whether there was a change in patient population, conditions managed, and reimbursement among three facilities that converted from a UCC to an FSED.

Quality Of Care For Acute Respiratory Infections During Direct-To-Consumer Telemedicine Visits For Adults.

In direct-to-consumer telemedicine, physicians treat patients through real-time audiovisual conferencing for common conditions such as acute respiratory infections. Early studies had mixed findings on the quality of care provided during direct-to-consumer telemedicine and were limited by small sample sizes and narrow geographic scopes. Using claims data for 2015-16 from a large national commercial insurer, we examined the quality of antibiotic management in adults with acute respiratory infection diagnoses at 38,839 direct-to-consumer telemedicine visits, compared to the quality at 942,613 matched primary care visits and 186,016 matched urgent care visits.

Trends in Visits to Acute Care Venues for Treatment of Low-Acuity Conditions in the United States From 2008 to 2015.

Importance: Over the past 2 decades, a variety of new care options have emerged for acute care, including urgent care centers, retail clinics, and telemedicine. Trends in the utilization of these newer care venues and the emergency department (ED) have not been characterized.

Objective: To describe trends in visits to different acute care venues, including urgent care centers, retail clinics, telemedicine, and EDs, with a focus on visits for treatment of low-acuity conditions.

Semi-metals as potential thermoelectric materials.

The best thermoelectric materials are believed to be heavily doped semiconductors. The presence of a band gap is assumed to be essential to achieve large thermoelectric power factor and figure of merit. In this work, we propose semi-metals with large asymmetry between conduction and valence bands as an alternative class of thermoelectric materials.

Thickness dependence of ferrimagnetic compensation in amorphous rare-earth transition-metal thin films.

Magnetic compensation in ferrimagnets plays an important role in spintronic and magnetic recording devices. Experimental results have demonstrated a thickness dependence of the compensation temperature ( ) in amorphous TbFeCo thin films. It was speculated that this thickness dependence originated from a variation in the short-range order.

The Effect of Opioid Prescribing Guidelines on Prescriptions by Emergency Physicians in Ohio.

Study Objective: The objective of our study is to evaluate the association between Ohio's April 2012 emergency physician guidelines aimed at reducing inappropriate opioid prescribing and the number and type of opioid prescriptions dispensed by emergency physicians.

Methods: We used Ohio's prescription drug monitoring program data from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2014, and included the 5 most commonly prescribed opioids (hydrocodone, oxycodone, tramadol, codeine, and hydromorphone). The primary outcome was the monthly statewide prescription total of opioids written by emergency physicians in Ohio.

Consensus-Based Recommendations for an Emergency Medicine Pain Management Curriculum.

Background: Increased prescribing of opioid pain medications has paralleled the subsequent rise of prescription medication-related overdoses and deaths. We sought to define key aspects of a pain management curriculum for emergency medicine (EM) residents that achieve the balance between adequate pain control, limiting side effects, and not contributing to the current public health opioid crisis.

Methods: We convened a symposium to discuss pain management education in EM and define the needs and objectives of an EM-specific pain management curriculum.

Usability of the Massachusetts Prescription Drug Monitoring Program in the Emergency Department: A Mixed-methods Study.

Objectives: Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) are underutilized, despite evidence showing that they may reduce the epidemic of opioid-related addiction, diversion, and overdose. We evaluated the usability of the Massachusetts (MA) PDMP by emergency medicine providers (EPs), as a system's usability may affect how often it is used.

Methods: This was a mixed-methods study of 17 EPs.