The control of paracetamol particle size and surface morphology through crystallisation in a spray dryer

The parameters governing the crystallisation of paracetamol using various conventional techniques has been extensively studied, however the factors influencing the drug crystallisation using spray drying is not as well understood. The aim of this work was to investigate the crystallisation of an active pharmaceutical ingredient through evaporative crystallisation using a spray dryer to study the physicochemical properties of the drug and to use semi-empirical equations to gain insight into the morphology and particle size of the dried powder. Paracetamol solutions were spray dried at various inlet temperatures ranging from 60 °C to 120 °C and also from a series of inlet feed solvent compositions ranging from 50/50% v/v ethanol/water to 100% ethanol and solid-state characterisation was done. The size and morphology of the dried materials were altered with a change in spray drying parameters, with an increase in inlet temperature leading to an increase in particle Sauter mean diameter (from 3.0 to 4.4 µm) and a decrease in the particle size with an increase in ethanol concentration in the feed (from 4.6 to 4.4 µm) as a result of changes in particle density and atomised droplet size. The morphology of the dried particles consisted of agglomerates of individual crystallites bound together into larger semi-spherical agglomerates with a higher tendency for particles having crystalline ridges to form at higher ethanol concentrations of the feed.     

Switching controller design for linear time invariant plant with a single I/O delay

ABSTRACT

To deal with the problem of conflicting requirements that cannot be satisfied by only a single LTI controller, this paper focuses on the design of a switching controller, which includes several stabilising linear time-invariant (LTI) controllers designed independently with different control performance criteria, for a specific LTI plant with a single I/O delay. The switching controller design procedure is divided into three steps. First, using simple loop shifting arguments, the design problem is reducible to an equivalent delay-free one. Second, traditional LTI controller synthesis methods could be considered independently for the delay-free plant. Third, based on a quadratically stable state space realisation method, a Youla parameter including a switching strategy with these controllers is designed to guarantee different requirements. Finally, a numerical example is provided to demonstrate the validity and efficiency of the approach.     

裂解态正癸烷点火延迟时间的理论研究（英）

在先进飞行器发动机中,吸热碳氢燃料在进入燃烧室之前会发生热裂解反应,生成未反应燃料和小分子裂解产物的混合物(称为裂解态燃料)。本工作研究了在1300~1800 K、0.1~3.0 MPa和当量比为1.0的条件下,不同的裂解转化率、裂解压力、点火压力和自由基对正癸烷裂解着火特性的影响。通过采用一种精确的组合机理,从理论上计算了流动反应器中3.0和5.0 MPa下正癸烷裂解组分,与文献中的实验结果吻合较好。结果表明,正癸烷在3 MPa和5 MPa下裂解的出口转化率分别为46.2%和58.8%,裂解产物分布一致,但乙烯的含量随着压力的升高明显的降低,而烷烃含量随着压力的增大而增加。尽管自由基总体含量很低,但在3 MPa条件下裂解产物中的自由基浓度依然高于5 MPa条件下。对于点火延迟时间的计算结果则表明,裂解态正癸烷的点火延迟时间随着转化率的增大而延长,且在5 MPa下随着转化率的变化更明显。相同转化率下,5 MPa下的裂解态正癸烷的点火延迟时间比3 MPa下更短。此外,与无自由基的裂解正癸烷相比,裂解正癸烷中自由基的存在可以加速着火过程,转化率小于40%时,着火延迟时间缩短15%以上。     

Black hole entropy,the black hole information paradox,and time travel paradoxes from a new perspective

ABSTRACT

Relatively simple but apparently novel ways are proposed for viewing three related subjects: black hole entropy, the black hole information paradox, and time travel paradoxes. (1) Gibbons and Hawking have completely explained the origin of the entropy of all black holes, including physical black holes – nonextremal and in 3-dimensional space – if one can identify their Euclidean path integral with a true thermodynamic partition function (ultimately based on microstates). An example is provided of a theory containing this feature. (2) There is unitary quantum evolution with no loss of information if the detection of Hawking radiation is regarded as a measurement process within the Everett interpretation of quantum mechanics. (3) The paradoxes of time travel evaporate when exposed to the light of quantum physics (again within the Everett interpretation), with quantum fields properly described by a path integral over a topologically nontrivial but smooth manifold.     

结合时间戳的指纹密钥数据加解密传输方案

目的 对于生物密钥而言，生物特征数据的安全与生物密钥的管理存储都很关键。为了构造能够应用在通信数据传输场景的生物密钥，同时保证生物特征本身的模糊性与密码学的精确性处于一种相对平衡状态，提出一种基于时间戳与指纹密钥的数据加解密传输方案。方法 利用发送方指纹特征点之间的相对信息，与保密随机矩阵生成发送方指纹密钥；借助通信双方的预先设定数与时间戳，生成接收方恢复指纹密钥时所需的辅助信息；利用发送方指纹密钥加密数据，实现密文数据的传输。结果 本文方法在仿真通信双方数据加解密的实现中，测试再生指纹密钥的识别率（GAR）与误识率（FAR）。通过实验数据分析，表明了本文提出的指纹密钥生成方法的可用性，以及指纹密钥作为数字身份所具备的可认证性，其中真实发送方的再生指纹密钥识别率可高达99.8%，并且本方案还可用于即时通信、对称加密等多种场景当中。结论 本文方法利用时间戳确定了通信事件的唯一性与不可否认性，同时实现了指纹密钥恢复时的"一次一密"。此外，方案通过保密随机矩阵实现了发送方指纹密钥的可撤销，极大程度保障了指纹数据的安全性。     

A survey on analysis and implementation of state-of-the-art haze removal techniques

Haze is a poor-quality state described by the opalescent appearance of the atmosphere which reduces the visibility. It is caused by high concentrations of atmospheric air pollutants, such as dust, smoke and other particles that scatter and absorb sunlight. The poor visibility can result in the failure of multiple computer vision applications such as smart transport systems, image processing, object detection, surveillance etc. One of the major issues in the field of image processing is the restoration of images that are corrupted due to different degradations. Typically, the images or videos captured in the outside environment have low contrast, colour fade and restricted visibility due to suspended particles of the atmosphere that directly influence the image quality. This can cause difficulty in identifying the objects in the captured hazy images or frames. To address this problem, several image dehazing techniques have been developed in the literature, each of which has its own advantages and limitations, but effective image restoration remains a challenging task. In recent times, various learning (Machine learning & Deep learning) based methods greatly condensed the drawbacks of manual design of haze related features and reduces the difficulty in efficient restoration of images with less computational time and cost. The current state-of-the-art methods for haze free images, mainly from the last decade, are thoroughly examined in this survey. Moreover, this paper systematically summarizes the hardware implementations of various haze removal methods in real time. It is with the hope that this current survey acts as a reference for researchers in this scientific area and to provide a direction for future improvements based on current achievements.     

配分时间对Q&P钢组织及性能的影响

在传统C-Mn-Si钢的基础上,采用在线热处理,并通过光学显微镜、扫描电镜、拉伸试验等对一步淬火配分处理后试验钢的微观组织及力学性能进行了研究,且讨论了配分时间对材料组织性能的影响。结果表明:试验钢组织由板条马氏体和残留奥氏体组成,随着配分时间的增加,也有少量贝氏体生成,残留奥氏体含量先上升后下降,马氏体的板条组织逐渐模糊并软化;抗拉强度和屈服强度都逐渐降低,伸长率先升高后降低。配分30 s时综合性能最佳,抗拉强度为989 MPa,伸长率为23.5%,强塑积达到23.24 GPa·%。     

人工湿地-微生物电解池耦合系统的脱氮特性

实验构建了人工湿地-微生物电解池耦合系统（CW-MEC），并考察了CW-MEC在阴极有无曝气及不同水力停留时间（HRT）的条件下对生活污水的处理效果。实验结果显示，降低HRT会让CW-MEC阴极、阳极的COD去除率由91.11%±7.76%、86.58%±9.54%降低为77.81%±14.84%、81.44%±11.11%，氨氮去除率由58.54%±5.80%、58.22%±5.03%降低为48.04%±12.94%、48.27%±13.40%；阴极增加曝气会让CW-MEC阴极、阳极的COD去除率分别提高到89.51%±3.92%、82.40%±1.63%，阴极氨氮去除率提高到71.51%±16.44%，而阳极氨氮去除率不受影响；增加阴极曝气条件后，系统阴、阳极开始有硝酸盐氮积累，而CW-MEC阴极的硝酸盐氮含量明显低于对照组（CW-MFC）；通过电化学性能分析，相对于CW-MFC系统，CW-MEC具有更低的内阻；通过微生物多样性分析，CW-MEC系统具有更丰富的微生物多样性。     

质子交换膜燃料电池电化学阻抗谱弛豫时间分布研究

电化学阻抗谱技术能够获取燃料电池不同频率阻抗，但对阻抗的构成缺乏进一步解析，难以直接构建精准的等效电路模型进行阻抗拟合分析，而弛豫时间分布（Distribution of relaxation time，DRT）方法不需要定义特定的等效电路模型，即可解析燃料电池不同时间常数的极化过程。针对实验室用质子交换膜燃料电池，在不同运行条件下对其进行阻抗谱测量，并通过Kramers-Kronig关系验证所记录阻抗数据的质量。基于DRT分析方法，系统地解释阻抗谱中各频段阻抗对应的物理或化学意义。研究表明，该电池的电化学阻抗谱主要由3个不同时间常数频段的极化阻抗构成，通过与运行条件相关性的系统分析，确定低频段阻抗为氧气在多孔介质中的传输阻碍，中频段阻抗为与氧还原反应有关的电荷传递阻碍，中高频段阻抗为阴极催化剂层中的质子传输阻碍。为进一步确定DRT分析结果的合理性，采用等效电路模型拟合测量的阻抗数据，辨识的电阻元件参数变化趋势与DRT分析结果一致。     

Robustness analysis and distributed control of a networked system with time-varying delays

This paper is concerned with the robustness analysis and distributed output feedback control of a networked system with uncertain time-varying communication delays. This system consists of a collection of linear time-invariant subsystems that are spatially interconnected via an arbitrary directed network. Using a dissipation inequality that incorporates dynamic hard IQCs (integral quadratic constraints) for the delay uncertainties, we derive some sufficient robustness conditions in the form of coupled linear matrix inequalities, in which the coupled parts reflect the interconnection structure of the system. We then provide a procedure to construct a distributed controller to ensure the robust stability of the closed-loop system and to achieve a prescribed $\ell_2$-gain performance. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated by some numerical examples.