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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories researchers Lisa Deibler and Arthur Brown had a ready-made problem for their computer modeling work when they partnered with the National Nuclear Security Administration's Kansas City Plant to improve stainless steel tubing that was too hard to meet nuclear weapon requirements.

When steel is too hard it becomes brittle, so the plant ended up getting new tubing. However, Deibler said KCP needed a backup in case it couldn't find replacements in time to meet deadlines.

KISS 1 is a metastasis-suppressor gene which helps to prevent the spread of cancers, including melanoma, pancreatic and ovarian cancers to name a few. But new research from Western University's Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry shows that kisspeptins –peptide products of KISS1, actually make some breast cancers worse, with a higher tumor grade and metastatic potential. The research is published online in the journal Endocrinology.

Boston, MA – A parasitic worm may hold the answer to keeping skin grafts firmly in place over wounds, according to a new study by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH).

Plant components that bend, roll or twist in response to external stimuli such as temperature or moisture are fairly commonplace in nature and often play a role in the dispersal of seeds. Pine cones, for instance, close their scales when wet and open them again once they have dried out. André Studart, a professor of complex materials at ETH Zurich's Department of Materials, and his group have now applied the knowledge of how these movements come about to produce synthetically a composite material with comparable properties.

The secret of the pine cone

New Rochelle, NY, April 16, 2013—Interferons have antitumor activity and have been used to treat a variety of malignancies, including colorectal and ovarian cancers. However, their effectiveness varies. A clearer understanding of the role of interferon in immune-mediated tumor cell death and how its antitumor effects could be optimized are presented in a comprehensive Review article published in Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research.

New Rochelle, NY, April 16, 2013—Even as medical acupuncture is increasingly common as a treatment for a broad range of medical conditions, what has been missing is any understanding of basic science and mechanisms of action in this age-old method of healing. A special issue of Medical Acupuncture tries to clear up the issues.

The chance of infection in some hospital wards varies dramatically according to whether the nurses leave the windows open.

A University of Leeds-led team studied airflow in a "Nightingale" ward—a classic hospital ward design that traditionally accommodates two rows of up to 30 beds—by using tracer gases to simulate how airborne infections spread.

They found ventilation in the ward was generally good when windows were left open, keeping the danger of airborne infection low. But risks increased fourfold when the windows were closed.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., – April 16, 2013 – Many people survive their cancers, but end up dying of cardiovascular disease (CVD). New research from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center finds that CVD risk factors may be overlooked during survivorship care.

Kathryn E. Weaver, Ph.D., assistant professor of social sciences and health policy at Wake Forest Baptist, and colleagues surveyed survivors of breast, prostate, colorectal and gynecologic cancers in search of answers.

INDIANAPOLIS -- William M. Tierney, M.D. focuses on the potential of electronic medical systems and computer-based decision support to control healthcare costs in "Controlling costs with computer-based decision support: a hammer, a scalpel or an illusion?" published online in JAMA Internal Medicine on April 15.

Dr. Tierney is president and CEO of the Regenstrief Institute, associate dean for clinical effectiveness research at the Indiana University School of Medicine, chief of medicine for Wishard-Eskenazi Health, and a practicing physician.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — An international team of researchers, including an entomologist at the University of California, Riverside, has an explanation for why we see so many hybrid moths in nature. The team closely examined the behavior and the olfactory circuitry of male moths and found an answer in female-produced pheromones — chemicals generally consisting of a blend of two to several derivatives of fatty acids.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Researchers may have found a way to block kidney-destroying inflammation and help damaged kidney cells recover.

In a related study, they report progress on a non-invasive method to assess how much kidney function has survived a serious bout of inflammation or a chronic problem like high blood pressure.

Ypsolophid moths are a peculiar group of Lepidoptera that attracts attention with their strange preference for a pose of rest. To take a break adult Ypsolophids like to go bottom up with antennae stretched forward. The larvae of these quirky species live and feed in webs they form on the leaves, buds and twigs of plants.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina have discovered that transcription factors regulating the levels of oxygen in the blood also play a role in the spread of the skin cancer melanoma.

In research published April 8 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, a research team led by William Kim, MD, member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, and graduate student and first author Sara Hanna, linked melanoma metastases to a pair of transcription factors known as HIF1 and HIF2.

The Huemul, a species of deer found only in the Latin American region of Patagonia, is bouncing back from the brink of possible extinction as a result of collaboration between conservationists and the Chilean government, says a new study.

By controlling cattle farming and policing to prevent poaching in the Bernardo O'Higgins National Park – a vast "natural Eden" covering 3.5 million hectares – conservation efforts have allowed the deer to return to areas of natural habitat from which it had completely disappeared.

A new study on extinction risk has shown that proportions of plant and animal species being classified as threatened on national Red Lists are more closely related to socioeconomic pressure levels from the beginning than from the end of the 20th century. Stefan Dullinger of the University of Vienna and Franz Essl from the Austrian Environment Agency together with an international group of researchers reports this new finding in the current issue of PNAS.