A novel modified method for obtaining approximate solutions to difficult optimization problems within the neural network paradigm is presented. We consider the graph partition and the travelling salesman problems. The key new ingredient is a reduction of solution space by one dimension by using graded neurons, thereby avoiding the destructive redundancy that has plagued these problems when using s

The size distributions and hygroscopic growth spectra of aerosol particles were measured during the GCE cloud experiment at Great Dun Fell in the Pennine Hills in northern England. Hygroscopic growth is defined as the particle diameter at 90% RH divided by the particle diameter at 10% RH. The fraction of the aerosol particles scavenged by cloud droplets as a function of particle size was also meas

A technique for the characterisation of droplet aerosols is presented and theoretically evaluated. The system, which finds applications for example in the experimental study of cloud formation and cloud water chemistry, relies on a four-step process. The droplet aerosol is electrically charged in a unipolar charging unit, followed by diffusion drying of the droplets, resulting in charged particles

A unipolar diffusion charger with minimal particle losses in the ultrafine size range has been developed. This charger uses two radioactive α-sources to produce ions which are drawn into the charging region by an alternating electric field. The aerosol flow in the centre of the charging region is surrounded by a particle-free sheath air flow to prevent particle losses. Charged aerosol particles mo

The cloud nucleation scavenging process was studied during a joint campaign of the EUROTRAC sub‐project Ground‐based Cloud Experiment. It was found that the particle size has a strong influence on the partitioning of particles between the cloud droplet and the interstitial aerosol reservoirs. A new aerosol sampling unit, the relative humidity processing system, was employed for the extraction of p

An example is given to show the possibility of using a multivariate statistical evaluation technique in order to extract more information from a multielemental PIXE data set. Four weeks of continuous sampling was carried out at a background air pollution monitoring station in Sweden. Samples were collected both in fine and coarse mode, with a cutoff at 2 μm. In the subsequent PIXE analysis of the

A schematic mechanistic box model presenting processes in atmospheric chemical cycles is used to present the main research objectives. From this the main use of PIXE within atmospheric chemistry is discussed. An analytic system giving molecular composition is necessary to fully understand and quantify the chemical and physical pathways described in the model for different compounds. Combining PIXE

This study investigates the relationship between super-fast broadband and firms’ sales and employment level in Sweden. It is important to learn more about this recent technological change and few studies has explored the impact of super-fast broadband on firm outcomes. We use the previous roll-out of second-generation internet access to identify the effect of third-generation internet access. The

The arch is a very efficient load bearing structure, especially when its shape is affine to the funicular of forces. However, if live loads are predominant as compared to permanent uniformly distributed gravity loads, the arch will be subjected to substantial bending moments, thus losing a great part of its structural efficiency. In traditional arch bridges with hangers arranged in a vertical mann

We argue that the human evolutionary heritage with frequent adaptations through geological time to environmental change has affected a trade-off between offspring variability and cancer resistance, and thus favored cancer-prone individuals. We turn the attention to a factor setting the highly cancer-resistant naked mole rat apart from most other mammals: it has remained phenotypically largely unch

Ion-beam thermography (IBT) is used to determine the chemical composition of atmospheric aerosols. The aerosols are analyZed by a combination of four ion-beam techniques PIXE, PESA, pNRA and cPESA during thermography. These techniques monitor the concentrations of the available elements during the stepwise heating of the sample. For each element a thermogram, i.e., the concentration vs. temperatur

The formation and development of orographic clouds was studied in a field experiment comprising several measurement sites at a mountain ridge. The influence of the aerosol population present on the cloud microstructure was studied in relation to the dynamics in the cloud formation. Droplet nucleation scavenging was investigated by the introduction of a non-dimensional particle diameter related to

The hygroscopic properties of sub-micrometer aerosol particles were studied in connection with a ground-based cloud experiment at Great Dun Fell, in northern England in 1995. Hygroscopic diameter growth factors were measured with a Tandem Differential Mobility Analyser (TDMA) for dry particle diameters between 35 and 265 nm at one of the sites upwind of the orographic cloud. An external mixture co

A semiclassical model is presented for the way the energy of a fast quark is transformed into observable hadrons. It reproduces the features of 1+1 dimensional QED (the Schwinger model) concerning a flat rapidity distribution in the central region. It also reproduces results from phenomenological considerations, which, based upon scaling, predict that meson formation in the fragmentation region ca

During March and April of 1995 a major international field project was conducted at the UMIST field station site on Great Dun Fell in Cumbria, Northern England. The hill cap cloud which frequently envelopes this site was used as a natural flow through reactor to examine the sensitivity of the cloud microphysics to the aerosol entering the cloud and also to investigate the effects of the cloud in c

[Purpose] To investigate the association between proprioception and a knee medial to foot position during weight-bearing activities in patients with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction and anterior cruciate ligament deficiency. [Participants and Methods] Thirty-eight patients with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction and 13 patients with anterior cruciate ligament deficiency aged 18–40