Culture

WASHINGTON –- Even when not under arrest, juvenile suspects being interrogated for a crime may be strikingly unaware of their constitutional rights and confess without legal counsel or even a parent present, according to research presented at the American Psychological Association's 122nd Annual Convention.

Patients treated with a drug widely prescribed for type 2 diabetes can live longer than people without the condition, a large-scale study involving over 180,000 people has shown.

The findings indicate that a drug known as metformin, used to control glucose levels in the body and already known to exhibit anticancer properties, could offer prognostic and prophylactic benefits to people without diabetes.

Washington, DC (August 7, 2014) — A new tool that takes multiple factors into account can accurately predict how likely a patient who experienced a painful kidney stone will develop another one in the future. The tool, which is described in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN), could help patients and their doctors determine whether preventive measures are needed.

A disposal, plastic listening device that attaches to the abdomen may help doctors definitively determine which post-operative patients should be fed and which should not, an invention that may improve outcomes, decrease healthcare costs and shorten hospital stays, according to a UCLA study.

NEW YORK (August 7, 2014) – The message is simple: to save elephants, all ivory markets must close and all ivory stockpiles must be destroyed, according to a new peer-reviewed paper by the Wildlife Conservation Society. The paper says that corruption, organized crime, and a lack of enforcement make any legal trade of ivory a major factor contributing to the demise of Africa's elephants.

PRINCETON, N.J. -- A sudden closing of a major airline hub such as the main Atlanta airport would undoubtedly leave thousands of travelers stranded. Because of Atlanta's hub status, such a blow would be felt nationally, altering the travel plans of millions while impacting the travel industry, tourism and other segments of the economy.

While companies like Hobby Lobby and Chick-fil-A are at the forefront of debate over the religious rights of employers, a new study by a Grand Valley State University researcher shows religious affiliation can safeguard companies against negative reactions to store policies. The findings were published in the Journal of Services Marketing.

This news release is available in German.

ATLANTA – August 7, 2014 –For adults, eating at both fast-food and full-service restaurants is associated with significant increases in the intake of calories, sugar, saturated fat, and sodium, according to a new study. The study, appearing early online in Public Health Nutrition, finds on days when adults ate at a restaurant, they consumed about 200 additional total daily calories whether they ate at fast- food restaurants or at full-service restaurants.

The care of patients with complex medical needs is widely regarded as one of the key factors driving increased U.S. health costs, and it is generally accepted that 10 to 15 percent of Medicare patients account for 65 to 75 percent of all Medicare spending. Many of the country's leading health care organizations have been adopting the strategy of complex care management – assembling multidisciplinary teams of physicians, nurses, pharmacists, mental health professionals and others, with services being coordinated by care managers who work closely with patients and their family members.

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Wellness coaching has become an increasingly prevalent strategy to help individuals improve their health and well-being. Recently, wellness coaching was found to improve quality of life, mood and perceived stress, according to a Mayo Clinic study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Matthew Clark, Ph.D., L.P., lead author of the study and resiliency expert at the Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program, answers some common questions about wellness coaching.

MULTIMEDIA ALERT: Video and audio are available for download on the Mayo Clinic News Network.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A disproportionate number of Hispanics are housed in private prisons across the United States, a pattern that could leave such prisons vulnerable to legal challenges, new research from Oregon State University shows.

The percentage of adult Hispanic inmates in private prisons was two points higher than those in public facilities, while the percentage of white inmates in private prisons was eight points lower than in public facilities, said Brett Burkhardt, an assistant professor of sociology in the School of Public Policy at OSU's College of Liberal Arts.

Screening for prostate cancer could reduce deaths from the disease by about a fifth, according to the long-term results of a major European study involving over 162 000 men published in The Lancet.

Despite this new evidence for the effectiveness of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing to reduce mortality, doubts as to whether the benefits of screening outweigh the harms remain, and routine PSA screening programmes should not be introduced at this time, conclude the authors.

Pay-for-performance schemes – which reward hospitals financially for improving the quality of care provided to patients – only reduce patient death rates in the short term, according to new research by The University of Manchester

A variety of programmes have been introduced in the UK over the past decade, with mixed results. Advancing Quality, a programme imported from the United States, was the first of these schemes to demonstrate a significant reduction in patient deaths.

Married women who live in communities in which a higher proportion of the population belongs to conservative religious traditions — such as evangelical or Mormon — are more likely to choose not to work outside the home, even if the women are not members of those faith groups, according to a Baylor University study.

The study — "Work-Family Conflict: The Effects of Religious Context on Married Women's Participation in the Labor Force" — appears in the journal Religions in a special issue, "Religion, Spirituality, and Family Life."