Culture

(Boston ) -- In the majority of cases, hip x-rays are not reliable for diagnosing hip osteoarthritis (OA), and can delay the treatment of this debilitating disease.

These findings are the first to evaluate the diagnostic performance of an x-ray in patients with clinical signs and symptoms of classic OA. The study appears in the British Medical Journal.

BOSTON, MA - Physicians in training experience higher rates of depression when compared with the general public. However, the estimated prevalence of this disorder among resident physicians has varied substantially between studies. New research from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) finds that 28.8 percent of trainees screen positive for depression during their residency. The findings are published in the December 8 issue of JAMA.

Graduating family medicine residents have indicated they intend to provide a broader scope of practice than that reported by current family physicians, including for prenatal care, inpatient care, nursing home care, home visits, and women's health procedures, according to a study in the December 8 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on medical education.

An analysis of more than 1.3 million emergency department visits found an increase in patient length of stay of approximately 5 minutes associated with the presence of medical students in the emergency department, which was statistically significant but likely too small to be of clinical relevance, according to a study in the December 8 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on medical education.

PHILADELPHIA - Medical students in Emergency Departments often perform an initial evaluation of stable patients prior to supervising residents or attending physicians, who meanwhile provide care to other patients. Despite some concern over the possible effect to patients, new research shows the presence of medical students in the Emergency Department adds less than five minutes to the average length of a patient's stay.

Hedge fund activism often initially bolsters the target company but new research has found that it weakens the competition, which may hurt innovation and the larger economy.

"It is survival of the fittest," said Praveen Kumar, finance professor at the University of Houston and an author of a study published in the Journal of Financial Economics. "Yes, you do want the weakest competitors weeded out. But as they exit, there is less competition and hence, less incentive to innovate for the surviving firms. Over time, consumers and economic growth may be hurt."

Commenting from the annual Conference of Parties (COP21), Gail Whiteman, Chair of the Pentland Centre for Sustainability in Business at Lancaster University, had the following to say about the floods in Cumbria: “Liz Truss’ comment about how the flood defenses in Cumbria were only breached because of extreme weather conditions is rather short sighted. Thanks to climate change, extreme weather is the new normal. And that is hugely problematic.

PHILADELPHIA - In the first known study to examine the prevalence and treatment of psoriasis in older Americans, experts from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have found that black patients receiving Medicare are less likely to receive biologic therapies -medications derived from human or animal cells or tissues - for the treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis than white patients.

A majority of Americans believe that money influences decisions made by elected officials and favor full disclosure of the source of campaign donations, according to a new national survey conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Despite their concerns, the survey reveals that Americans favor keeping the current system of campaign funding in which candidates raise money through donations.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Dec. 8, 2015 - It's National Pear Month and the perfect time to enjoy juicy, sweet pears. If that isn't reason enough to fill your shopping basket, there's another reason to add this fruit to your grocery list.

Past human factors/ergonomics studies have shown that some in-vehicle technologies intended to help with driving tasks are actually competing for drivers' attention and undermining driving safety. Human factors/ergonomics studies over the past 10-plus years have examined a variety of distractors. The December 2015 special section of Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society leads off with research proposing a method for assessing cognitive distraction while driving and elicits pro and con responses from experts in the field.

WASHINGTON -- Nauseated patients in the emergency department who sniffed pads saturated with isopropyl alcohol were twice as likely to obtain relief from their symptoms as nauseated patients who sniffed pads saturated with saline solution, according to a study published online today in Annals of Emergency Medicine ("Isopropyl Alcohol Nasal Inhalation for Nausea in the Emergency Department: A Randomized Controlled Trial").

A blood thinner known for serious drug interactions is linked to increased hospitalizations for falls, altered mental state and insulin shock for Medicare patients who also take some diabetes drugs, according to a new study.

Forty percent of the estimated 100,000 older Americans hospitalized each year due to adverse drug events are for reactions to the common blood thinner warfarin and to anti-diabetic drugs, including glipizide or glimepiride, also known as 'sulfonylureas.'

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai researchers will present several landmark studies at the 2015 American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting December 5-8, 2015, in Orlando, including data analysis of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma that revealed insight into key biological processes and deeper understanding of cellular systems and disease mechanisms, and two combination therapy strategies that showed high response rates in patients with difficult-to-treat myeloma.

Highlights of Mount Sinai research at ASH:

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Clinical results published in the OnLine First edition of New England Journal of Medicine show that the new drug acalabrutinib (ACP-196) promotes high response rates that are durable in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) while producing minimal side effects.