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Young men aged 24 years or less who leave the UK Armed Forces have a two to three times higher risk of suicide than young men in the general population or those still in active service, finds a new study in this week's PLoS Medicine.

The risk in these men appears to be greatest in the first two years after discharge, in those with a short length of service, and in those of lower rank. The study found a low rate of contact with mental health specialists in the year before death—just 14% for those under 20 years and 20% for those under 24 years.

A new study forecasts when climate factors such as temperature, humidity and rainfall will match at geographically distant airline departure and destination points, which could help to shuffle invasive species, and the diseases they may carry, across the globe along existing flight routes. The findings provide a framework that could help people who monitor airline flights --- and the people, baggage and cargo aboard --- to plan more efficiently and accurately for detecting and intercepting invasives.

A major international diabetes study of more than 52,000 patients from eight countries has shown that using biphasic BIAsp 30 insulin resulted in significant clinical improvements and greater patient satisfaction.

The findings, reported in the March issue of IJCP, the International Journal of Clinical Practice, show that 53 per cent achieved a blood glucose (HbA1c) level of less than seven per cent, the target set by the International Diabetes Foundation.

These bacteria carry a special protein sequence, the so-called PARF motif, on their surface. In the renowned journal PLoS ONE Singh Chhatwal and his colleague Patric Nitsche-Schmitz of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig illustrate the role played by PARF in the development of rheumatic heart disease. With this knowledge they are developing a test system that is able to recognise and prevent the disease at an early stage.

An international team of scientists, led by Monash University researchers, has uncovered the workings of a superbug that kills elderly hospital patients worldwide - a discovery that has the potential to save lives and health care systems billions of dollars each year.

The research published today in the prestigious scientific journal Nature, unravelled ways to genetically modify the bacterium Clostridium difficile and solved the mystery surrounding its toxicity.

It's a paradox that has flummoxed women for generations – their apparent ability to store fat more efficiently than men, despite eating proportionally fewer calories.

While it has long been suspected that female sex hormones are responsible, a University of New South Wales (UNSW) research review has for the first time drawn a link between one hormone – oestrogen – and its impact on fat storage for childbearing.

Sometimes known as "nature's origami", the way that proteins fold is vital to ensuring they function correctly. But researchers at the University of Leeds have discovered this is a 'hit and miss' process, with proteins potentially folding wrongly many times before they form the correct structure for their intended purpose.

March 2, 2009 (Oakland, Calif.) – Drinking one glass of wine a day may lower the risk of Barrett's Esophagus by 56 percent, according to a new study by the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in the March issue of Gastroenterology. Barrett's Esophagus is a precursor to esophageal cancer, the nation's fastest growing cancer with an incidence rate that's jumped 500 percent in the last 30 years.

More than 20% of sexual assaults in a sample of 882 victims were drug-facilitated sexual assaults, found a new study published in CMAJ http://www.cmaj.ca/press/pg513.pdf. Victims of drug-facilitated sexual assault were more likely than others to present to a large urban centre and to be employed, and to have consumed over-the-counter medications, street drugs, and alcohol before the assault.

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Many native fishes in the Pacific Northwest are threatened or endangered, notably salmonids, and hundreds of millions of dollars are expended annually on researching their populations and on amelioration efforts.

WASHINGTON, DC, March 2, 2009 – One-third of Americans are losing sleep over the state of the U.S. economy and other personal financial concerns, according to a new poll released today by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF). The poll suggests that inadequate sleep is associated with unhealthy lifestyles and negatively impacts health and safety.

MAYWOOD, Ill. – A major breakthrough about the potentially deadly superbug Clostridium difficile (C-diff) could lead to new ways to combat the bacterium, according to a study to be published March 1 in the journal Nature.

The study reveals that for decades researchers have been focusing on the wrong toxin that is released by the bacteria in the colon. The toxin can cause severe diarrhea and life-threatening colitis that could lead to the surgical removal of the colon.

Distributed around the body, dendritic cells act as the security alarms of the immune system. After sensing the presence of intruders, dendritic cells can transmit the alarm to white blood cells or tell them to relax, depending on the signals they send out.

Researchers at the Emory Vaccine Center and Yerkes National Primate Research Center have discovered that dendritic cells can respond to the same compound, through two different receptors, by sending out both stimulatory and calming messages at once.

(Toronto, ON, February 25, 2009) – In a study to be released on March 1, 2009, Mount Sinai Hospital's Dr. Andras Nagy discovered a new method of creating stem cells that could lead to possible cures for devastating diseases including spinal cord injury, macular degeneration, diabetes and Parkinson's disease. The study, to be published by Nature online, accelerates stem cell technology and provides a road map for new clinical approaches to regenerative medicine.