Enhanced diagnostic accuracy of SINE-EUS compared to standard EUS in early colorectal cancer: a self-controlled study.

Purpose: This study compared the diagnostic performance of standard endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) and submucosal injection of normal saline and epinephrine-enhanced EUS (SINE-EUS) in detecting early colorectal cancer (CRC), emphasizing accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity.

Methods: The self-controlled study was conducted with 115 patients diagnosed with early CRC through optical enhancement (OE) magnified endoscopy. Among them, 104 patients underwent sequential diagnostic procedures, starting with standard EUS and followed by SINE-EUS.

Rapid determination of germanium in lignite coal and coal-related solid byproducts by graphite furnace digestion inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy.

This study developed a rapid and efficient graphite furnace digestion combined with inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) method, enabling precise quantification of germanium (Ge) in coal and various coal-derived metallurgical byproducts across a broad concentration level (∼ppm-n%). The graphite furnace digestion conditions were examined intensively as a function of the acid amounts of HNO and HF (5-10 mL), temperature (80-180 °C), time (1-5 h), and acid drive methods (HBO neutralization versus heating). Coal references including SARM 19, SARM 20, NIST SRM 1632e, and fly ash standard NIST SRM 2689 were tested.