High throughput research and evaporation rate modeling for solvent screening for ethylcellulose barrier membranes in pharmaceutical applications

Context: Ethylcellulose is commonly dissolved in a solvent or formed into an aqueous dispersion and sprayed onto various dosage forms to form a barrier membrane to provide controlled release in pharmaceutical formulations. Due to the variety of solvents utilized in the pharmaceutical industry and the importance solvent can play on film formation and film strength it is critical to understand how solvent can influence these parameters.

Objective: To systematically study a variety of solvent blends and how these solvent blends influence ethylcellulose film formation, physical and mechanical film properties and solution properties such as clarity and viscosity.

Materials and methods: Using high throughput capabilities and evaporation rate modeling, thirty-one different solvent blends composed of ethanol, isopropanol, acetone, methanol, and/or water were formulated, analyzed for viscosity and clarity, and narrowed down to four solvent blends. Brookfield viscosity, film casting, mechanical film testing and water permeation were also completed.

Results and discussion: High throughput analysis identified isopropanol/water, ethanol, ethanol/water and methanol/acetone/water as solvent blends with unique clarity and viscosity values. Evaporation rate modeling further rank ordered these candidates from excellent to poor interaction with ethylcellulose. Isopropanol/water was identified as the most suitable solvent blend for ethylcellulose due to azeotrope formation during evaporation, which resulted in a solvent-rich phase allowing the ethylcellulose polymer chains to remain maximally extended during film formation. Consequently, the highest clarity and most ductile films were formed.

Conclusion: Employing high throughput capabilities paired with evaporation rate modeling allowed strong predictions between solvent interaction with ethylcellulose and mechanical film properties.     

不同形貌Ti-O基纳米结构的可控制备与形成机制探讨

利用碱辅助水热法实现了Ti-O基纳米管、纳米带和纳米结构微球的合成,通过TEM、SEM等手段对所制备的纳米结构进行表征。当采用商品级锐钛矿TiO2为原料,热水处理温度为180℃、碱的浓度为10mol/L,热处理48h时可以得到Ti-O基纳米带。纳米带宽度为50~200nm,长度达到几十微米甚至一百多微米;产物产率高,质量好,结晶良好,表面洁净,无缺陷。当热处理温度为120℃时,可以得到Ti-O基纳米管,纳米管的长度为200~500nm,外径在20~50nm之间。当所用前驱体的粒径较小时,容易形成较细或者较窄的纳米带或者纳米线,当在选用前驱体的粒径较大时,可以生成纳米结构微球。     

面向等离子体材料钨中氘/氦滞留行为的研究进展

作为面向等离子体材料,钨(W)在服役的过程中不仅受到等离子体造成的高能热负荷的作用,还受到高束流粒子如氘(D)、氚(T)、氦(He)等的轰击和D-T聚变反应产生的高能中子的影响。W中D、T、He的滞留和起泡,仍是聚变堆装置中有待解决的关键问题之一。综述了D、T和He的滞留行为及其气泡形成与辐照条件之间的关系,简要评述了W的服役性能和强化机理。通过降低W中D/He滞留量、抑制气泡的形成可有效改善W的服役性能。深入研究D/He滞留行为与辐照缺陷之间的相互作用关系,进而构建D/He的宏观热脱附行为与其微观状态之间的对应关系,为寻找合适途径来改善W的服役性能提供理论支撑。     

Shrinkable Nanotubes for Duplex Formation of Short Nucleotides

Molecular monolayer nanotubes produced by self‐assembly of an amphiphile modified with a 2‐nitrobenzyl group as a photoresponsive unit are able to encapsulate dinucleotides via electrostatic attraction. Upon photoirradiation, the 18 nm inner diameter of the nanotubes shrinks to less than 2 nm as a result of photochemical cleavage of the 2‐nitrobenzyl group in the amphiphile. This shrinking of the nanotube channels leads to a propulsive release of the dinucleotides into the bulk solution and simultaneously accelerates formation of the dinucleotide duplexes. The larger nanotube channels without photoirradiation merely release each dinucleotide into the bulk solution, indicating that the squeezing via transportation in the narrow nanotube channels is necessary for duplex formation. In addition to the size effect, water with a lower polarity confined within the narrow nanotube channels helps to stabilize the energetically unfavorable hydrogen‐bonded base pair between the dinucleotides. This system should enable researchers to perform biological reactions that occur only in specific environments and conditions in living organisms.     

Joint formation mechanism of high depth-to-width ratio friction stir welding

High depth-to-width ratio friction stir welding is an attractive method for the joining demands of aluminum profiles, which is sparked with its extremely low heat input and high mechanical performance. In this study, the joint formation mechanism was studied by a numerical model of plastic flow combined with experimental approaches. A fluid-solid-interaction algorithm was proposed to establish the coupling model, and the material to be welded was treated as non-Newtonian fluid. The thread structure and the milling facets on tool pin promoted drastic turbulence of material. The thread structure converged the plasticized material by its inclined plane, and then drove the attached material to refill the welds. The milling facets brought about the periodic dynamic material flow. The thread structure and the milling facets increased the strain rate greatly under the extremely low heat input, which avoided the welding defects. The condition of the peak temperature of 648 K and the strain rate of 151 s⁻¹ attributed to the lowest coarsening degree of precipitate. The tensile strength of the joint reached 265 MPa, equivalent to 86% of base material. The amelioration via the material flow model inhibits the welding defects and optimizes the parameter intervals, providing references to extracting process-structure-property linkages for friction stir welding.     

45钢表面Ni/WC复合熔覆层的形成机制

采用真空熔覆技术在45钢表面制备Ni +WC复合熔覆层并进行阶段性取样,研究镍基复合涂层的形成机制。结果表明：在45钢表面生成与基体冶金熔合、WC硬质颗粒分布均匀的Ni基复合熔覆层。整个熔覆层由4 mm厚的复合层、1 mm厚的过渡层、20 μm厚的扩散熔合区以及250 μm厚的扩散影响区组成。复合层区由WC和分解形成的富W复相碳化物包围在Ni颗粒周围组成;复合熔覆层的主要组成相有γ-Ni固溶体、Cr₇C₃、Ni_2.9Cr_0.7Fe_0.36、Cr₂₃C₆、Ni₃Fe、Ni₃Si、Ni₃B、W₂C以及C等;真空熔覆过程包括：镍基合金颗粒达到熔点(900℃)前升温阶段颗粒间微烧结颈的形成、升温达到熔点(1020℃)开始的镍基合金颗粒熔融以及保温阶段(1060℃)的熔合扩散与WC颗粒微区位置的调整。     

Coordination of discrete‐time multi‐agent systems via relative output feedback

This paper investigates the joint effects of agent dynamic and network topology on the consensusability of linear discrete‐time multi‐agent systems via relative output feedback. An observer‐based distributed control protocol is proposed. A necessary and sufficient condition for consensusability under this control protocol is given, which explicitly reveals how the intrinsic entropy rate of the agent dynamic and the eigenratio of the undirected communication graph affect consensusability. As a special case, multi‐agent systems with discrete‐time double integrator dynamics are discussed where a simple control protocol directly using two‐step relative position feedback is provided to reach a consensus. Finally, the result is extended to solve the formation and formation‐based tracking problems. The theoretical results are illustrated by simulations. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

First-principles calculations of binary Al compounds: Enthalpies of formation and elastic properties

Systematic first-principles calculations of energy vs. volume (E-V) and single crystal elastic stiffness constants (c_ij’s) have been performed for 50 Al binary compounds in the Al-X (X = Co, Cu, Hf, Mg, Mn, Ni, Sr, V, Ti, Y, and Zr) systems. The E-V equations of state are fitted by a four-parameter Birch-Murnaghan equation, and the c_ij’s are determined by an efficient strain-stress method. The calculated lattice parameters, enthalpies of formation, and c_ij’s of these binary compounds are compared with the available experimental data in the literature. In addition, elastic properties of polycrystalline aggregates including bulk modulus (B), shear modulus (G), Young’s modulus (E), B/G (bulk/shear) ratio, and anisotropy ratio are calculated and compared with the experimental and theoretical results available in the literature. The systematic predictions of elastic properties and enthalpies of formation for Al-X compounds provide an insight into the understanding and design of Al-based alloys.     

汉语未登录词的词义知识表示及语义预测

在此前的汉语未登录词语义预测中,构词相关的知识一直被当做预测的手段,而没有被视为一种有价值的知识表示方式,该文在“语素概念”基础上,深入考察汉语的语义构词知识,给出未登录词的“多层面”的词义知识表示方案。针对该方案,该文采用贝叶斯网络方法,构建面向汉语未登录词的自动语义构词分析模型,该模型能有效预测未登录词的“多层面”的词义知识。这种词义知识表示简单、直观、易于拓展,实验表明对汉语未登录词的语义预测具有重要的价值,可以满足不同层次的应用需求。     

Starting open source collaborative innovation: the antecedents of network formation in community source

Specific needs in the area of enterprise applications have led to a new type of collaborative open source innovation development across institution borders: community source. We use the Kuali community source network, a jointly managed, border‐spanning organization that supplies the institutions that created it, to describe how community source works. This study builds a theoretical basis for understanding the individual and institutional factors affecting community source network formation and the decision by organizations to join a community source network. We identify eight antecedents of decisions about forming or joining community source initiatives: motives, learning, trust, norms and monitoring, institutional similarity, external funding, hostile external environment and information technology. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd