Theoretical and numerical estimation of ship-to-ship hydrodynamic interaction effects

The main objective of this paper is to investigate theoretically and numerically how much interactions are expected between two ships travelling in waves. The theoretical estimation is based on asymptotic far-field wave patterns produced by a translating and oscillating source. The far-field wave pattern is governed by the parameter τ=ωeu0/g; For values of the parameter τ>0.25 there exist a fan-shaped quiescent region in front of the vessel. As τ increases, the range of the fan-shaped quiescent region will be expanded. The critical line between the quiescent and wake region can be estimated by the asymptotic expressions theoretically. It is expected that there is no hydrodynamic interaction if the two ships are located in each other's fan-shaped quiescent region. But due to the near-field local waves produced by the 3-D ships, the critical line could be different from that estimated from asymptotic wave pattern. Therefore, we developed a 3-D panel method based on Rankine-type Green function to investigate the hydrodynamic interaction effects for several combinations of parameters, including oscillation frequency, forward speed and transverse distance between two ships. Finally, the critical line calculated numerically was presented and compared to the theoretical estimation

Preparation and properties of asphalt binders modified by THFS extracted from direct coal liquefaction residue

This paper aims to study the preparation and viscoelastic properties of asphalt binder modified by tetrahydrofuran soluble fraction (THFS) extracted from direct coal liquefaction residue. The modified asphalt binders, which blended with SK-90 (control asphalt binder) and 4%, 6%, 8% and 10% THFS (by weight of SK-90), were fabricated. The preparation process for asphalt binder was optimized in terms of the orthogonal array test strategy and gray correlation analysis results. The properties of asphalt binder were measured by applying Penetration performance grade and Superpave performance grade specifications. In addition, the temperature step and frequency sweep test in Dynamic Shear Rheometer were conducted to predict the rheological behavior, temperature and frequency susceptibility of asphalt binder. The test results suggested the optimal preparation process, such as 150 °C shearing temperature, 45 min shearing time and 4000 rpm shearing rate. Subsequently, the addition of THFS was beneficial in increasing the high-temperature properties but decreased the low-temperature properties and resistance to fatigue. The content analysis of THFS showed the percentage of 4~6% achieved a balance in the high-and-low temperature properties of asphalt binder. The asphalt binder with higher THFS content exhibited higher resistance to rutting and less sensitivity to frequency and temperature

Clinical Translation of a Deep Learning Model of Radiation-Induced Lymphopenia for Esophageal Cancer

PURPOSE: Radiation-induced lymphopenia is a common immune toxicity that adversely impacts treatment outcomes. We report here our approach to translate a deep-learning (DL) model developed to predict severe lymphopenia risk among esophageal cancer into a strategy for incorporating the immune system as an organ-at-risk (iOAR) to mitigate the risk. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted virtual clinical trials utilizing retrospective data for 10 intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and 10 passively-scattered proton therapy (PSPT) esophageal cancer patients. For each patient, additional treatment plans of the modality other than the original were created employing standard-of-care (SOC) dose constraints. Predicted values of absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) nadir for all plans were estimated using a previously-developed DL model. The model also yielded the relative magnitudes of contributions of iOARs dosimetric factors to ALC nadir, which were used to compute iOARs dose-volume constraints, which were incorporated into optimization criteria to produce IMRT-enhanced and intensity-modulated proton therapy (IMPT)-enhanced plans. RESULTS: Model-predicted ALC nadir for the original IMRT (IMRT-SOC) and PSPT plans agreed well with actual values. IMPT-SOC showed greater immune sparing vs IMRT and PSPT. The average mean body doses were 13.10 Gy vs 7.62 Gy for IMRT-SOC vs IMPT-SOC for patients treated with IMRT-SOC; and 8.08 Gy vs 6.68 Gy for PSPT vs IMPT-SOC for patients treated with PSPT. For IMRT patients, the average predicted ALC nadir of IMRT-SOC, IMRT-enhanced, IMPT-SOC, and IMPT-enhanced was 281, 327, 351, and 392 cells/µL, respectively. For PSPT patients, the average predicted ALC nadir of PSPT, IMPT-SOC, and IMPT-enhanced was 258, 316, and 350 cells/µL, respectively. Enhanced plans achieved higher predicted ALC nadir, with an average improvement of 40.8 cells/µL (20.6%). CONCLUSION: The proposed DL model-guided strategy to incorporate the immune system as iOAR in IMRT and IMPT optimization has the potential for radiation-induced lymphopenia mitigation. A prospective clinical trial is planned

HAb18G/CD147 Promotes pSTAT3-Mediated Pancreatic Cancer Development via CD44s

Purpose STAT3 plays a critical role in initiation and progression of pancreatic cancer. However, therapeutically targeting STAT3 is failure in clinic. We previously identified HAb18G/CD147 as an effective target for cancer treatment. In this study, we aimed to investigate potential role of HAb18G/CD147 in STAT3-involved pancreatic tumorigenesis in vitro and in vivo. Experimental Design The expression of HAb18G/CD147, pSTAT3 and CD44s were determined in tissue microarrays. The tumorigenic function and molecular signaling mechanism of HAb18G/CD147 was assessed by in vitro cellular and clonogenic growth, reporter assay, immunoblot, immunofluorescence staining, immunoprecipitation, and in vivo tumor formationusing loss or gain-of-function strategies. Results Highly expressed HAb18G/CD147 promoted cellular and clonogenic growth in vitro and tumorigenicity in vivo. CyPA, a ligand of CD147, stimulated STAT3 phosphorylation and its downstream genes cyclin D1/survivin through HAb18G/CD147 dependent mechanisms. HAb18G/CD147 was associated and co-localized with cancer stem cell marker CD44s in lipid rafts. The inhibitors of STAT3 and survivin, as well as CD44s neutralizing antibodies suppressed the HAb18G/CD147-induced cell growth. High HAb18G/CD147 expression in pancreatic cancer was significantly correlated with the poor tumor differentiation, and the high co-expression of HAb18G/CD147-CD44s-STAT3 associated with poor survival of patients with pancreatic cancer. Conclusions We identified HAb18G/CD147 as a novel upstream activator of STAT3 via interacts with CD44s and plays a critical role in the development of pancreatic cancer. The data suggest HAb18G/CD147 could be a promising therapeutic target for highly aggressive pancreatic cancer and a surrogate marker in the STAT3-targeted molecular therapies

A Laboratory Investigation into the Effects of Coarse Aggregate Angularity on Performance of WMA

This study evaluated the effects of coarse aggregate angularity (CAA) on the performances of warm mix asphalt (WMA) because previous studies have predominantly focused on the effects of CAA on the hot mix asphalt (HMA) performances. Five different CAAs were fabricated using Los Angeles abrasion test, and the digital image processing method was used to identify the CAA. Five mixes with different combinations of CAA and Sasobit-modified asphalt binder were prepared according to the Marshall mix design procedure. The performances such as the resistance to rutting and thermal cracking, moisture susceptibility, and volumetric characteristics of WMA were evaluated. The test results indicated that the CAA value was linearly declined with the abrasive wearing passes increased. Higher CAA value improved the potential to resistance to rutting of WMA but was not suitable to enhance the resistance to thermal cracking of WMA due to sharp corners that caused higher stress concentration. In addition, WMA was more prone to develop numerous macrocracking, which resulted in lower moisture susceptibility due to higher CAA value inducing higher air void, VMA, and VCA of WMA