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A Case Western Reserve University professor has found that young people addicted to alcohol and drugs can increase their chances of recovery by helping others.

In 2010, Maria Pagano, PhD, found that adults who became involved in Alcoholics Anonymous-related service-type work were more likely to stay sober 10 years following treatment and have increased interest in others, a positive health outcome.

Diana McIntyre approaches her 80th birthday later this year with the same energy and zest for life of friends decades her junior. Aside from back surgery years ago, she's never been sick and, through a busy volunteer schedule, never seems to slow down.

McIntyre's good health feels normal—at least to her—although she recognizes not all seniors are so fortunate. But when it comes to terms like "normal," "healthy" or "successful" aging, she shakes her head.

Studying HIV-1, the most common and infectious HIV subtype, Johns Hopkins scientists have identified 25 human proteins "stolen" by the virus that may be critical to its ability to infect new cells. HIV-1 viruses capture many human proteins from the cells they infect but the researchers believe these 25 proteins may be particularly important because they are found in HIV-1 viruses coming from two very different types of infected cells. A report on the discovery, published online in the Journal of Proteome Research on Feb.

According to a recent University of Eastern Finland (UEF) study, elevated cell sugar concentrations increase the production of hyaluronan which, in turn, promotes cancer growth. Regulating the production of hyaluronan may be a way to prevent the spreading of cancer.

Hyaluronan is a long, linear carbohydrate polymer present in the human body. It forms a coating on the surface of many cells and plays a key role in fetal development and in the maintenance of normal tissue balance.

Scientists are reporting "laboratory resurrections" of several 2-3-billion-year-old proteins that are ancient ancestors of the enzymes that enable today's antibiotic-resistant bacteria to shrug off huge doses of penicillins, cephalosporins and other modern drugs. The achievement, reported in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, opens the door to a scientific "replay" of the evolution of antibiotic resistance with an eye to finding new ways to cope with the problem.

Scientists at the University of Southampton have taken a significant and important step in keeping people safe from the most common form of meningitis in the UK.

Meningitis B (also known as Meningococcal group B or MenB) is one of the deadliest strains of meningitis. Each year, an average of 1,870 people in the UK are affected by the disease with one in 10 people dying from it.

In an advance toward glass that remains clear under the harshest of conditions, scientists are reporting development of a new water-repellant coating that resists both fogging and frosting. Their research on the coating, which could have uses ranging from automobile windshields to camera lenses, appears in the journal ACS Nano.

In a study published in the Mycologia journal, researchers from the Basque Country, in collaboration with the Spanish Royal Botanic Garden and the Forestry Institute of Slovenia, have described two new species of Hydnum – colloquially known as Wood Hedgehog or Hedgehog mushroom. Mushrooms of the Hydnum genus are well known because many of them are edible.

(27 February 2013) Although considerable progress has been made in determining the impact of the gut microbiota on the development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and other gastrointestinal (GI) diseases, the detailed study and understanding of the composition and effects of this intestinal community still faces numerous methodological and empirical challenges.

Two new species of the gorgonian inhabiting barnacles — Conopea saotomensis and Conopea fidelis — have been collected from the area surrounding the historically isolated volcanic islands of São Tomé and Príncipe.

Alcohol consumption could be much higher than previously thought, with more than three quarters of people in England drinking in excess of the recommended daily alcohol limit, according to a new paper in the European Journal of Public Health. The study, conducted by researchers in the UCL Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, is the first to investigate the potential public health implications related to the under-reporting of alcohol consumption.

A novel tool exploits baker's yeast to expedite the development of new drugs to fight multiple tropical diseases, including malaria, schistosomiasis, and African sleeping sickness. The unique screening method uses yeasts which have been genetically engineered to express parasite and human proteins to identify chemical compounds that target disease-causing parasites but do not affect their human hosts.

The powerful venom of the saw-scaled viper Echis carinatus contains both anticoagulants and coagulants finds a study published in the launch edition of BioMed Central's open access journal Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases (JVATiTD). These may be a source of potent drugs to treat human disease.

Most first-time mothers wait until after 6 weeks postpartum to resume vaginal sex following childbirth and women who have an operative vaginal birth, caesarean section, perineal tear or episiotomy appear to wait longer, suggests a new study published today (27 February) in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

A study published today in Biology Letters found that ship noise affects crab metabolism, with largest crabs faring worst, and found little evidence that crabs acclimatise to noise over time.

The team from the Universities of Bristol and Exeter found that crabs exposed to recordings of ship noise showed an increase in metabolic rate, indicating elevated stress. In the real world this could have implications for growth and, if the metabolic cost of noise causes crabs to spend more time foraging to compensate, could also increase the risk of predation.