The survival path mapping approach has been proposed for dynamic prognostication of cancer patients using time-series survival data. The SurvivalPath R package was developed to facilitate building ...personalized survival path models. The package contains functions to convert time-series data into time-slices data by fixed interval based on time information of input medical records. After the pre-processing of data, under a user-defined parameters on covariates, significance level, minimum bifurcation sample size and number of time slices for analysis, survival paths can be computed using the main function, which can be visualized as a tree diagram, with important parameters annotated. The package also includes function for analyzing the connections between exposure/treatment and node transitions, and function for screening patient subgroup with specific features, which can be used for further exploration analysis. In this study, we demonstrate the application of this package in a large dataset of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, which is embedded in the package. The SurvivalPath R package is freely available from CRAN, with source code and documentation hosted at https://github.com/zhangt369/SurvivalPath.
The electronic properties of MoSe2/MnPSe3 van der Waals heterojunction are investigated under vertical electric field. By first principles calculation we find MoSe2/MnPSe3 van der Waals ...heterojunction is a type-II semiconductor. The band gap and band offset of this heterojunction can be controlled in a large energy range by applying vertical electric field. The direct band gap from 1.48 eV to 0.00 eV and type-II characters can be maintained under the electric field from −0.1 V/Å to 0.5 V/Å. The semiconductor-semimetal phase transition is observed under the vertical electric field. Therefore, we deduce that MoSe2/MnPSe3 van der Waals heterojunction can be used in the fields of solar cells and photodetectors.
•The band gap and band offset of MoSe2/MnPSe3 vdW heterojunction can be controlled in a large energy range.•The direct band gap (from 1.48 eV to 0.00 eV) and type-II characters can bemaintained under the electric field from -0.1 V/Å to 0.5 V/Å.•The semiconductor-semimetal phase transition was observed under the verticalelectric field.
As a combustor that can reduce pollutant emissions, the trapped-vortex combustor can not only reduce the length of the combustor because of its radial classification technology, but also its design ...concept is inseparable from RQL (Rich burn, Quench, and Lean burn). In this paper, the effects of cavity equivalence ratio and fuel injection cone angle on combustion performance and NOx emission were studied by numerical simulation. It is found that the trapped-vortex combustor achieves RQL combustion mode. The increase of the cavity equivalence ratio results in the non-uniform fuel distribution. However, the fuel injection cone angle in the primary region has little effect on the fuel distribution. With the increase of the cavity equivalence ratio, the combustion efficiency and NOx emission first decrease and then increase, and outlet temperature distribution factor is positively correlated with the cavity equivalence ratio. The difference is that the outlet temperature distribution factor and combustion efficiency show almost the same law with the increase of injection cone angle in the primary region, and the NOx emission decreases, but the reduction is not significant.
Although chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-engineered T cells have shown great success in the treatment of B cell malignancies, this strategy has limited efficacy in patients with solid tumors. In ...mouse CAR-T cells, IL-7 and CCL19 expression have been demonstrated to improve T cell infiltration and CAR-T cell survival in mouse tumors. Therefore, in the current study, we engineered human CAR-T cells to secrete human IL-7 and CCL19 (7 x 19) and found that these 7 x 19 CAR-T cells showed enhanced capacities of expansion and migration in vitro. Furthermore, 7 x 19 CAR-T cells showed superior tumor suppression ability compared to conventional CAR-T cells in xenografts of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell lines, primary HCC tissue samples and pancreatic carcinoma (PC) cell lines. We then initiated a phase 1 clinical trial in advanced HCC/PC/ovarian carcinoma (OC) patients with glypican-3 (GPC3) or mesothelin (MSLN) expression. In a patient with advanced HCC, anti-GPC3-7 x 19 CAR-T treatment resulted in complete tumor disappearance 30 days post intratumor injection. In a patient with advanced PC, anti-MSLN-7 x 19 CAR-T treatment resulted in almost complete tumor disappearance 240 days post-intravenous infusion. Our results demonstrated that the incorporation of 7 x 19 into CAR-T cells significantly enhanced the antitumor activity against human solid tumor. Trial registration: NCT03198546. Registered 26 June 2017, Keywords: CAR-T cell, IL-7, CCL19, Glypican-3, Mesothelin, Pancreatic carcinoma, Hepatocellular carcinoma, Complete response
Micro gas turbines are widely used in distributed power generation systems. However, the combustion of gas turbine combustors produces a large amount of nitrogen oxides (NOx), which pollute the ...environment and endanger human life. To reduce environmental pollution, low-emission combustors have been developed. In recent years, there has been an increasing focus on the use of low-heat-value gas fuels, and it is necessary to study the NOx emissions from low heat value gas fuel combustors. Data-driven deep learning methods have been used in many fields in recent years. In this study, a variational autoencoder was introduced for the prediction of NOx production inside the combustor. The combustor used was a micro rich-quench-lean combustor designed by the research group using coal bed gas as a fuel. The internal NO distribution contour was obtained as the dataset using simulation methods, with a size of 60 images. The model architecture parameters were obtained through hyperparameter exploration using the grid search method. The model accurately predicted the distribution of NO inside the combustor. The method can be applied in the prediction of a wider range of parameters and offers a new way of designing combustors for the power industry.
A full-zone 30-band k p model is developed as an efficient and reliable tool to compute electronic band structure in Ge1−xSnx alloy. The model was first used to reproduce the electronic band ...structures in Ge and -Sn obtained with empirical tight binding and ab initio methods. Input parameters for the 30-band k p model are carefully calibrated against prior empirical predications and experimental data. Important material properties such as effective mass for electrons and holes, Luttinger parameters, and density of states are obtained for Ge1−xSnx alloy with the composition range 0 < x < 0.3. The 30-band k p model that requires far less computing resources is a necessary capability for optimization of sophisticated devices made from Ge1−xSnx alloy with a large parameter space to explore.
Mixing of fuel and air is important for improving combustion performance and reducing pollution emissions. To improve the mixing performance of gaseous methane and air, the typical flame stabilizer ...was modified. A numerical study was conducted to compare the mixing and combustion performance of the mixing-enhanced flame stabilizer with the original one, and the mixing enhancement mechanism was clarified. The results show that the mixing performance of the mixing-enhanced flame stabilizer is improved in two ways. On the one hand, the disturbance of the gas fuel jet in the recirculation zone promotes the mixing of fuel and air. On the other hand, the velocity gradient between the recirculation zone downstream the bluff body and the mainstream decreases, which allows more fuel to enter the recirculation zone downstream the bluff body. This study is expected to promote the rapid mixing of gaseous fuel jets and the flame stability of the combustion chamber based on bluff body stabilizers.
Flame monitoring of industrial combustors with high-reliability sensors is essential to operation security and performance. An ion current flame sensor with a simple structure has great potential to ...be widely used, but a weak ion current is the critical defect to its reliability. In this study, parameters of the ion current sensor used for monitoring flames on a Bunsen burner are suggested, and a method of further improving the ion current is proposed. Effects of the parameters, including the excitation voltage, electrode area, and electrode radial and vertical positions on the ion current, were investigated. The ion current grew linearly with the excitation voltage. Given that the electrodes were in contact with the flame fronts, the ion current increased with the contact area of the cathode but independent of the contact area of the anode. The smaller electrode radial position resulted in a higher ion current. The ion current was insensitive to the anode vertical position but largely sensitive to the cathode vertical position. Based on the above ion current regularities, the sensor parameters were suggested as follows: The burner served as a cathode and the platinum wire acted as an anode. The excitation voltage, anode radial and vertical positions were 120 V, 0 mm, and 6 mm, respectively. The method of further improving the ion current by adding multiple sheet cathodes near the burner exit was proposed and verified. The results show that the ion current sensor with the suggested parameters could correctly identify the flame state, including the ignition, combustion, and extinction, and the proposed method could significantly improve the magnitude of the ion current.
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