RESUMEN
Although Rh is an industrially important and the most expensive platinum group metal (PGM), the selective and preferential separation of Rh from PGM mixtures still remains as a big challenge. In this work, the separation of Rh (III) from Pd (II) and Pt (IV) in a hydrochloric acid (HCl) solution was studied using a m-phenylene diamine-containing precipitant (m-PDA). At high HCl concentrations (6.0-8.0 M), most of the Rh (III) (>90%) was precipitated, and Pd (II) and Pt (IV) were hardly precipitated (<5%). On the other hand, over 85% of Pd (II) and Pt (IV) precipitated along with small amount of Rh (III) (<25%) at low HCl concentrations (1.0-2.0 M). As a consequence, m-PDA enabled selective and preferential precipitation of Rh (III) at high HCl concentrations. XPS and TG analyses revealed that the Rh-containing precipitate is an ion-pair complex composed of one [RhCl6]3- anion and three m-PDA cations. The Rh desorption from the precipitate as well as the recovery of m-PDA was successfully achieved using an NH4OH solution. This method is a promising practical approach to Rh recovery.
RESUMEN
Most tumor markers have low detection rates for curable stages of cancer and are therefore not satisfactory for use in a healthy population. A new cancer risk calculation method, AminoIndex Cancer Screening (AICS), uses multiple plasma amino acid concentrations to calculate the risks for several cancers simultaneously and is suggested to have a high detection rate for early-stage cancers and a low false-positive rate for adenomas. Here, we describe a male patient with a family history of colorectal cancer who underwent AICS. He was judged as Rank C for colorectal cancer, which reportedly has a specificity of 95%, a sensitivity of 41%, and an estimated positive predictive value of 0.67%. He underwent colonoscopy for a secondary screening, which revealed a 10-mm adenoma-like lesion in the ascending colon, with a biopsy report of partial carcinoma. The tumor was endoscopically removed and diagnosed as carcinoma in situ (carcinoma in adenoma). This early detection method allowed complete resection of the carcinoma, and the patient is in remission. This is the first case in which a curable cancer was detected using AICS. With its high detection rate for early-stage cancers and its ease of use, this tool, which recently became available in Japan, may be beneficial for simultaneous screening of the general population for multiple cancers. Virtual slides: The virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/2145080259887842.
