Chemists with the United States military have developed a set of ultra-strength cleaners that could be used in the aftermath of a terrorist attack. The new formulas are tough enough to get rid of nerve gas, mustard gas, radioactive isotopes, and anthrax. But they are also non-toxic, based on ingredients found in foods, cosmetics, and other consumer products. A detailed evaluation of the cleansers appears in ACS' Industrial Engineering and Chemistry Research, a bi-monthly journal.

Apologies can potentially help resolve legal disputes ranging from injury cases to wrongful firings, giving wounded parties a sense of justice and satisfaction that promotes settlements and trims demands for damages, a study found.

Minority organ donations have more than doubled since the institution of grassroots awareness and education programs, according to a new retrospective study published in the May issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. In 2010, the percentage of minority donors is expected to reach 35 percent, up from approximately 15 percent in 1990.

When loaded with an anticancer drug, a delivery system based on a novel material called nanosponge is three to five times more effective at reducing tumor growth than direct injection.

The need to "fix" or restate financial statements is an admission by corporate management that these reports (prior to their being corrected) to the government and the investing public misrepresented the corporations' financial positions, Texas A&M University sociology professor Harland Prechel reports in a research paper published in the June 2010 issue of the American Sociological Review.

New research findings published in the May issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons indicate that delaying cholecystectomy, the surgical removal of the gallbladder, in elderly patients with sudden inflammation of the organ often results in increased costs, morbidity and mortality.

Cancer-related fatigue is often a major problem for cancer patients, beginning at diagnosis, during treatment and after completing therapy.

While some Latino immigrants to the United States may be accepted as "white" by the wider society, a new American Sociological Review study finds that many of them face discrimination based on skin color. In fact, the research showed that relatively darker-skinned Latinos earned less than their lighter-skinned counterparts.

A study that examined the relationship between physical activity and a range of variables involving urban residents' homes and neighborhoods found that the inside of their homes had more to do with higher physical activity levels than sidewalks, lighting and other elements. "At the end of the day, the interior condition of their house seemed to be the only thing affecting their physical activity," said Indiana U. physical activity expert NiCole Keith.

In the largest study to date of a rare and deadly form of bladder cancer, researchers at Henry Ford Hospital found radiation therapy may not improve a patient's chances for survival. While overall survival for adenocarcinoma of the bladder was poor, the study revealed several factors that may improve a patient's prognosis, including being diagnosed at age 60 or younger, and having cystectomy, a procedure that either removes all or a portion of the bladder.

Conventional PSA tests aren't sensitive enough to show if men are cured after having a cancerous prostate gland removed. New research from Northwestern University shows an ultrasensitive PSA test using nanoparticle-based technology may be able to definitively predict after surgery if the cancer is cured or if it will recur. The new test is 300 times more sensitive than currently available and may pick up cancer recurrence at a much earlier stage.

Sensorpedia is a significant resource that continues to expand with a network of more than 5,000 sensors. A team led by ORNL's Trent Nichols hopes to improve the odds for cancer patients with neutron imaging. Researchers at George Washington University and ORNL have demonstrated that tailored silicon nanopost arrays can provide an important analytical tool for nanoscale applications. Computational scientists from around the world will gather in Chattanooga, Tenn., July 11-15 to participate in technical and scientific talks of recent advances.

Chronically ill children with private insurance are much less likely than those with public insurance, such as Medi-Cal, to be admitted to a California hospital offering specialized pediatric care, according to a new study by researchers at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Bioengineers at Harvard's Wyss Institute have developed a new technology based on nature's design principles for self assembly and self organization. The technology can be used to regenerate heart and other tissues and to make nanometer-thick fabrics that are strong and elastic. The key breakthrough came in the development of a matrix that can assemble itself through interaction with a thermosensitive surface. The protein composition of that matrix can be customized to generate specific properties.

Postmastectomy radiation therapy for some breast cancer patients can reduce their risk of recurrence by almost 30 percent and increase their five-year overall survival by almost 50 percent, according to a study in the June 1 issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, the official journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology.