Culture

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine are pioneering new ultrasound techniques that provide the first characterization of multidirectional blood flow in the heart. By focusing on fluid dynamics – specifically, the efficiency with which blood enters and exits the heart's left ventricle – the researchers believe they can detect heart disease even when traditional measures show no sign of trouble.

Americans are more likely to donate to a charity that reflects the values of their political affiliation, according to a new study from Rice University, the University of Texas at San Antonio and Pennsylvania State University.

Hiding your true social identity -- race and ethnicity, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation or a disability -- at work can result in decreased job satisfaction and increased turnover, according to a new study from Rice University, the University of Houston and George Mason University.

Philadelphia – National data show that currently more than 10 percent of preschoolers in the United States are obese, and an additional 10 percent are overweight. In a recently published article, a researcher from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, in collaboration with peers and colleagues from across the nation, says that effective strategies to target pregnancy, infancy, and toddlers are urgently needed to stop the progression of childhood obesity.

What is the best way to talk to someone about prognosis and quality of life when serious illness strikes? It turns out that no one had studied that question through direct observation, until the University of Rochester Medical Center audio-recorded 71 palliative care discussions.

The data is published online in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management.

Lead author Robert E. Gramling, M.D., Sc.D., associate professor of Family Medicine at URMC, and colleagues with a special interest in palliative care, made several key discoveries:

As Election Day 2012 looms, the "Twitterverse" promises to light up again and again with explosions of political opinion. But which tweets are the genuinely expressed feelings of individual users insistent the world cannot live without their predetermined opinions, and which are systematic disseminations of information meant to support or discredit an idea — the textbook definition of propaganda?

SAN FRANCISCO -- An Indiana University study that looked at performance differences between male and female childhood athletes found little difference in certain age groups, even though boys and girls rarely compete against each other in the U.S.

Joel Stager, professor in the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation at IU Bloomington, said he is not suggesting that boys and girls compete against each other, but he said his findings indicate they could.

WASHINGTON, DC, May 29, 2012 — Despite increasing numbers of multiethnic neighborhoods in the United States, relatively few black or white families are actually moving into these types of communities, according to a new study in the June issue of the American Sociological Review.

As children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) grow into adulthood, disability due to disease may adversely affect their ability to achieve educational success. Findings published in Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), suggest that functional disability impacts educational attainment, which is key to successful employment in adulthood.

As children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) grow into adulthood, disability due to disease may adversely affect their ability to achieve educational success. Findings published in Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), suggest that functional disability impacts educational attainment, which is key to successful employment in adulthood.

Wine investors are warned not to put all their eggs in one French basket in a new report from the University of East Anglia.

The fine wine investment market, valued at around US $4 billion a year, is currently dominated by French wines.

But research published today in International Review of Financial Analysis shows that diversification – specifically across Italian, Australian and Portuguese wines – could prove a shrewd move for investors.

PHILADELPHIA -- Individual use of prescription opioids has increased four-fold since the mid-1990s, in part due to increased awareness of pain control for chronic conditions such as low back pain and fibromyalgia and a Joint Commission mandate that hospitals assess patients' pain as a "vital sign" along with their blood pressure and temperature. During the same timeframe, however, the number of people using these drugs recreationally, becoming addicted to them, and dying of overdoses has also shot up.

The American Medical Association's Code of Ethics prohibits physicians from prescribing treatments that they consider to be placebos unless the patients know this and agree to take them anyway. But this policy is not clearly the best way to protect or benefit patients, concludes an The American Medical Association's Code of Ethics prohibits physicians from prescribing treatments that they consider to be placebos unless the patients know this and agree to take them anyway.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Researchers looking into the value of adapted yoga for stroke rehabilitation report that after an eight-week program, study participants demonstrated improved balance and flexibility, a stronger and faster gait, and increased strength and endurance.

Existing research shows that it is beneficial to have a loved one present when visiting the doctor, but a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests the opposite may be true for older adults suffering from poor mental health. They examined whether companion presence in routine primary care visits helps or hinders physician visit processes and found that older adults with poor mental health function may experience more communication challenges in the form of shorter visits and less patient-centered communication.