Influence of the vertical profile of Saharan dust on the visible direct radiative forcing

The vertical profile of Saharan dust in the atmosphere is generally characterized by a large aerosol concentration in the mid troposphere, differently from the climatological distribution of other types of particles, that show a peak at the surface and a rapid decrease with height. Saharan dust is also characterized by particles of relatively large size of irregular shape, and variable values of the single scattering albedo (the ratio between radiation scattering and extinction). The dust's peculiar vertical distribution is expected to produce an effect on the calculation of the direct aerosol radiative forcing at the surface and at the top of the atmosphere. This effect is investigated by comparing estimates of aerosol direct visible radiative forcing at the surface and at the top of the atmosphere for dust vertical profiles measured in the Mediterranean, and for the climatological profile. The radiative forcing is estimated by means of an accurate radiative transfer model, and for the ocean surface. The sensitivity of the results on the solar zenith angle, aerosol optical depth, and aerosol absorption is also investigated. The aerosol radiative forcing at the surface shows a very small dependency on the aerosol vertical profile. At the top of the atmosphere, the radiative forcing is weakly dependent on the vertical profile (up to 10% variation on the daily average forcing) for low absorbing particles; conversely, it shows a strong dependency (the daily radiative forcing may vary up to 100%) for absorbing particles. The top of the atmosphere visible radiative forcing efficiency produced by dust having single scattering albedo <0.7 is higher by 4 W m⁻² when the observed vertical profile instead of the standard profile is used in the calculations (i.e. it produces a lower cooling). For values of the single scattering albedo around 0.67, the sign of the forcing depends on the vertical profile. The influence of the vertical distribution on the radiative forcing is largest at small values of the solar zenith angle, and at short wavelengths.     

Weak Covering at Large Cardinals

We show that weakly compact cardinals are the smallest large cardinals k where k⁺ < k⁺ is impossible provided 0^# does not exist. We also show that if k^+Kc < k⁺ for some k being weakly compact (where K^c is the countably complete core model below one strong cardinal), then there is a transitive set M with M ? ZFC + “there is a strong cardinal”.     

ESR方法初探树木年轮记载的气候效应

对新疆托木尔峰地区松树年轮样品的ESR研究表明,其自由基浓度N_g是树木生长速率的指示,它与季节有关。春材的N_g值普遍高于秋材,与气温、降雨量有关,但不是一一对应的关系。年轮的N_g明显地受太阳黑子活动周的影响,随着太阳周而变化,只是峰谷和峰值年要前移或后推1—2年。     

1／2亚谐共振──主参数共振情况下非线性振动系统的余维2退化分叉

本文应用Normal Form理论和退化向量场的普适开折理论研究了参数激励与强迫激励联合作用下非线性振动系统的余维2退化分叉,用Melnikov方法讨论了全局分叉的存在性.     

Dynamics of Slider-Crank Mechanisms with Flexible Supports and Non-Ideal Forcing

Transient and steady state dynamic response of a class of slider-crank mechanisms is investigated. Specifically, the class of mechanisms examined involves rigid members but compliant supporting bearings. Moreover, the mechanisms are subjected to non-ideal forcing. Namely, both the driving and the resisting loads are expressed as a function of the angular coordinate describing the crank rotation. First, an appropriate set of equations of motion is derived by applying Lagrange's equations. These equations are strongly nonlinear due to the large rigid body rotation of the crank and the connecting rod, as well as due to the nonlinearities associated with the bearing action and the form of the driving and the resisting loads. Consequently, the dynamics of the resulting dynamical system is examined by solving the equations of motion numerically. More specifically, transient response is captured by direct integration, while determination of complete branches of steady state response is achieved by applying appropriate numerical methodologies. Initially, mechanisms whose crankshaft is supported by bearings with rolling elements and linear stiffness characteristics are examined. Then, numerical results are presented for rolling element bearings with nonlinear stiffness characteristics. Finally, the study is focused on mechanisms supported by hydrodynamic bearings. In all cases, the attention is focused on investigating the influence of the system parameters on its dynamics. Moreover, models with constant crank angular velocity are first analysed, since they provide valuable insight into some aspects of the system dynamics. Eventually, the emphasis is shifted to the general case of non-ideal forcing, originating from the dependence of the driving and the resisting moments on the crankshaft motion.     

参数激励与强迫激励联合作用下非线性振动系统的余维2退化分叉

在本文里我们首先研究了具有Z_2-对称性的范式理论和退化向量场的普适开折理论。然后利用上述理论研究了参数激励与强迫激励联合作用下非线性振动系统的余维2退化分叉,从而解决了当解具有两个零特征值时解的稳定性问题。最后利用Melnikov方法求出了参数平面上的同宿分叉曲线,讨论了全局分叉的存在性。     

On the first passage time of a simple random walk on a tree

We consider a simple random walk on a tree. Exact expressions are obtained for the expectation and the variance of the first passage time, thereby recovering the known result that these are integers. A relationship of the mean first passage matrix with the distance matrix is established and used to derive a formula for the inverse of the mean first passage matrix.     

A tree search method for the container loading problem with shipment priority

This paper addresses a special kind of container loading problem with shipment priority. We present a tree search method, which is based on a greedy heuristic. In the greedy heuristic, blocks made up of identical items with the same orientation are selected for packing into a container. Five evaluation functions are proposed for block selection, and the different blocks selected by each evaluation function constitute the branches of the search tree. A method of space splitting and merging is also embedded in the algorithm to facilitate efficient use of the container space. In addition, the proposed algorithm covers an important constraint called shipment priority to solve practical problems. The validity of the proposed algorithm is examined by comparing the present results with those of published algorithms using the same data.     

Models of expansions of \documentclass{article}\usepackage{amssymb}\begin{document}\pagestyle{empty}${\mathbb N}$\end{document} with no end extensions

We deal with models of Peano arithmetic (specifically with a question of Ali Enayat). The methods are from creature forcing. We find an expansion of ${\mathbb N}$ such that its theory has models with no (elementary) end extensions. In fact there is a Borel uncountable set of subsets of ${\mathbb N}$ such that expanding ${\mathbb N}$ by any uncountably many of them suffice. Also we find arithmetically closed ${\mathcal A}$ with no ultrafilter on it with suitable definability demand (related to being Ramsey). © 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim     

Forcing operators on MTL‐algebras

We study the forcing operators on MTL‐algebras, an algebraic notion inspired by the Kripke semantics of the monoidal t ‐norm based logic (MTL). At logical level, they provide the notion of the forcing value of an MTL‐formula. We characterize the forcing operators in terms of some MTL‐algebras morphisms. From this result we derive the equality of the forcing value and the truth value of an MTL‐formula (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)