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A study has been carried out on the use of a dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) solution containing copper chloride (CuCl2) in the leaching of chalcopyrite. Experiments were conducted at temperatures from 313 to 413 K and the effects of time and temperature investigated. It was found that copper extraction increased as temperature increased up to 373 K, but then decreased with increasing temperature. When leaching for four hours at 373 K, 94.1% of Cu was extracted along with 46.3% of Fe, 47.8 mmol of S, and 75% of Au. Around 83% of the As remained in the residue. It is concluded that that the DMSO solution could selectively dissolve copper and gold from chalcopyrite while leaving minerals with little economic value, such as pyrite, and the penalty element arsenic in the residues. The extraction of Cu in a given period of time was shown to be faster than that of conventional methods., A study has been carried out on the use of a dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) solution containing copper chloride (CuCl2) in the leaching of chalcopyrite. Experiments were conducted at temperatures from 313 to 413 K and the effects of time and temperature investigated. It was found that copper extraction increased as temperature increased up to 373 K, but then decreased with increasing temperature. When leaching for four hours at 373 K, 94.1% of Cu was extracted along with 46.3% of Fe, 47.8 mmol of S, and 75% of Au. Around 83% of the As remained in the residue. It is concluded that that the DMSO solution could selectively dissolve copper and gold from chalcopyrite while leaving minerals with little economic value, such as pyrite, and the penalty element arsenic in the residues. The extraction of Cu in a given period of time was shown to be faster than that of conventional methods.

Background: Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is characterised by the loss of cell-to-cell adhesion and gaining of mesenchymal phenotypes. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition is proposed to occur in various developmental processes and cancer progression. 'Cadherin switch', a process in which cells shift to express different isoforms of the cadherin transmembrane protein and usually refers to a switch from the expression of E-cadherin to N-cadherin, is one aspect of EMT and can have a profound effect on tumour invasion/metastasis. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinicopathological significance of EMT-related proteins and cadherin switch in extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (EHCC). Methods: We investigated the association between altered expression of 12 EMT-related proteins and clinical outcomes in patients with EHCC (n = 117) using immunohistochemistry on tissue microarrays. Results: Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that, in addition to N classification (P = 0.0420), the expression of E-cadherin (P = 0.0208), N-cadherin (P = 0.0038) and S100A4 (P = 0.0157) was each an independent and a significant prognostic factor. We also demonstrated that cadherin switch was independently associated with poor prognosis (P = 0.0143) in patients with EHCC. Conclusions: These results may provide novel information for selection of patients with EHCC who require adjuvant therapy and strict surveillance., Supplementary Information accompanies this paper on British Journal of Cancer website., http://www.nature.com/bjc/journal/v111/n7/suppinfo/bjc2014415s1.html

INTRODUCTION: The 2004 version of the World Health Organization classification subdivides thymic epithelial tumors into A, AB, B1, B2, and B3 (and rare other) thymomas and thymic carcinomas (TC). Due to a morphological continuum between some thymoma subtypes and some morphological overlap between thymomas and TC, a variable proportion of cases may pose problems in classification, contributing to the poor interobserver reproducibility in some studies.METHODS: To overcome this problem, hematoxylin-eosin-stained and immunohistochemically processed sections of prototypic, "borderland," and "combined" thymomas and TC (n = 72) were studied by 18 pathologists at an international consensus slide workshop supported by the International Thymic Malignancy Interest Group.RESULTS: Consensus was achieved on refined criteria for decision making at the A/AB borderland, the distinction between B1, B2, and B3 thymomas and the separation of B3 thymomas from TCs. "Atypical type A thymoma" is tentatively proposed as a new type A thymoma variant. New reporting strategies for tumors with more than one histological pattern are proposed.CONCLUSION: These guidelines can set the stage for reproducibility studies and the design of a clinically meaningful grading system for thymic epithelial tumors.

BACKGROUND: Mesothelin is expressed in various types of malignant tumour, and we recently reported that expression of mesothelin was related to an unfavourable patient outcome in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. In this study, we examined the clinicopathological significance of the mesothelin expression in gastric cancer, especially in terms of its association with the staining pattern. METHODS: Tissue specimens from 110 gastric cancer patients were immunohistochemically examined. The staining proportion and intensity of mesothelin expression in tumour cells were analysed, and the localisation of mesothelin was classified into luminal membrane and/or cytoplasmic expression. RESULTS: Mesothelin was positive in 49 cases, and the incidence of mesothelin expression was correlated with lymph-node metastasis. Furthermore, luminal membrane staining of mesothelin was identified in 16 cases, and the incidence of luminal membrane expression was also correlated with pT factor, pStage, lymphatic permeation, blood vessel permeation, recurrence, and poor patient outcome. Multivariate analysis showed that luminal membrane expression of mesothelin was an independent predictor of overall patient survival. CONCLUSION: We described that the luminal membrane expression of mesothelin was a reliable prognostic factor in gastric cancer, suggesting the functional significance of membrane-localised mesothelin in the aggressive behaviour of gastric cancer cells. British Journal of Cancer (2012) 107, 137-142. doi: 10.1038/bjc.2012.235 www.bjcancer.com Published online 29 May 2012 (C) 2012 Cancer Research UK