Economic Analysis of the Copper Mining Industry of Iran.

Mining of copper ore and the related industries play an important role in Irans economy. Copper ore production in Iran accounts for 75% of the total production in the Middle East. All activities related to copper, that is, exploration, production, refinement etc are owned and managed by state owned companies. Decisions have been made to privatize all these activities. To assess the success of this privatization process, different components of the industry must be subject to economic analysis. In this paper, the cost estimation of all operations has been carried out. The total potential and attainable revenues have also been estimated using historical data available from the industry. Risk is a major factor in all mining activities and the copper industry of Iran has been subject to risk factors arising from many internal and external variables. These variables have been recognized and their effects evaluated. The effect of risk on the economic feasibility of the operations in the industry has also been analyzed.Accepted versio

Risk analysis and risk ranking in tunneling: A case study

Constructing tunnels underground is generally described as a high-risk activity owing to the fact that conditions in the surrounding area tend to be unpredictable. This would create unique dangers in every situation. It is important to gain a deep understanding of the risks associated with tunneling, in order to reduce the likelihood of their occurrence and severity of their consequences, should they occur. For this to be achieved, different risks should first be evaluated and ranked according to their relative importance and criticality. Amir Kabir tunnel is considered to be one of the most dangerous tunnels in Tehran, Iran in terms of the risks involved in its excavation and their potential consequences. In particular, part T4 of the tunnel passes through a zone of different strata and a compound of various soils. This paper studies part T4 of Amir Kabir tunnel from a risk analysis and risk management point of view. In doing so, factors increasing total cost of the project, causing delay in the project completion time, decreasing the operation rate and downgrading project quality were identified and ranked according to their importance, using the aggregate primary index risk method. For this purpose, a comprehensive questionnaire was designed and completed by experts within the field of tunneling. By responding to the questionnaires, the experts determined the relative likelihood of occurrence of the studied factors and their potential consequences. As a result, the experts suggested several alternatives to reduce the risks involved in this particular study. Moreover, the experts completed new questionnaires whilst taking into account different alternatives. In the next step, the risks before and after applying the alternatives were compared. As a result of performing the said analyses, it was concluded that firstly, the aggregate primary index risk is an effective tool in identifying the risks involved in such projects. Secondly, it was concluded that by taking into account different alternatives when analyzing and ranking the risks, severity of the said risks can potentially be reduced. By taking into account such matters when analyzing the risks of tunneling, the efficiency of tunneling projects can greatly increase as a result of reducing the risks that threaten all financial and human resources involved in tunneling project execution. The approach introduced in this paper, together with the methodology described, can be adopted by the mining design engineer in all similar situations. They will be of particular advantage in such methods as room and pillar where the number of similar tunnels required is high

Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma With Aberrant CD8 Expression: A Clinicopathologic Study of Five Cases

© The Author(s) 2018. Hodgkin/Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells of classical Hodgkin lymphoma (CHL) are of B-cell origin. In a small number of CHL cases, the tumor cells can express T-cell antigens. CD8 expression in this setting is extremely rare. We identified 5 cases of CHL with aberrant CD8 expression from our database. The patients included 3 men and 2 women with a median age of 33 years (range = 20-59 years). All the patients initially presented with lymphadenopathy and variable number of RS cells. Two cases were classified as mixed cellularity type that showed prominent vascular proliferation mimicking peripheral T-cell lymphoma. Two cases represented nodular sclerosis type. The tumor cells in all cases were positive for CD8 and negative for CD2, CD3, CD4, and CD7 and carried germline T-cell receptor genes. Molecular studies revealed T-cell receptor genes to be in germline configuration in 4 cases with available information. Given the morphologic overlap with peripheral T-cell lymphoma and the rarity of this type of CHL, identifying more cases will help our better understanding of this entity