ALBERT

Description: A reaction-diffusion system coupled by two equations subject to homogeneous Neumann boundary condition on one-dimensional spatial domain with is considered. According to the normal form method and the center manifold theorem for reaction-diffusion equations, the explicit formulas determining the properties of Hopf bifurcation of spatially homogeneous and nonhomogeneous periodic solutions of system near the constant steady state are obtained.

Description: Network analysis is a technique which determines the various sequences of activities concerning a project and the project completion time. The popular methods of this technique which is widely used are the critical path method and program evaluation and review techniques. The aim of this paper is to present an analytical method for measuring the criticality in an (Atanassov) intuitionistic fuzzy project network. Vague parameters in the project network are represented by (Atanassov) intuitionistic trapezoidal fuzzy numbers. A metric distance ranking method for (Atanassov) intuitionistic fuzzy numbers to a critical path method is proposed. (Atanassov) Intuitionistic fuzzy critical length of the project network is found without converting the (Atanassov) intuitionistic fuzzy activity times to classical numbers. The fuzzified conversion of the problem has been discussed with the numerical example. We also apply four different ranking procedures and we compare it with metric distance ranking method. Comparison reveals that the proposed ranking method is better than other raking procedures.

Description: The target of this paper is to establish the bid-ask pricing framework for the American contingent claims against risky assets with G-asset price systems on the financial market under Knightian uncertainty. First, we prove G-Dooby-Meyer decomposition for G-supermartingale. Furthermore, we consider bid-ask pricing American contingent claims under Knightian uncertainty, by using G-Dooby-Meyer decomposition; we construct dynamic superhedge strategies for the optimal stopping problem and prove that the value functions of the optimal stopping problems are the bid and ask prices of the American contingent claims under Knightian uncertainty. Finally, we consider a free boundary problem, prove the strong solution existence of the free boundary problem, and derive that the value function of the optimal stopping problem is equivalent to the strong solution to the free boundary problem.

Description: We study the combined matrix of a nonsingular H-matrix. These matrices can belong to two different H-matrices classes: the most common, invertible class, and one particular class named mixed class. Different results regarding diagonal dominance of the inverse matrix and the combined matrix of a nonsingular H-matrix belonging to the referred classes are obtained. We conclude that the combined matrix of a nonsingular H-matrix is always diagonally dominant and then it is an H-matrix. In particular, the combined matrix in the invertible class remains in the same class.

Description: An -vertex-antimagic edge labeling (or an -VAE labeling, for short) of is a bijective mapping from the edge set of a graph to the set of integers with the property that the vertex-weights form an arithmetic sequence starting from and having common difference , where and are two positive integers, and the vertex-weight is the sum of the labels of all edges incident to the vertex. A graph is called -antimagic if it admits an -VAE labeling. In this paper, we investigate the existence of -VAE labeling for disconnected 3-regular graphs. Also, we define and study a new concept -vertex-antimagic edge deficiency, as an extension of -VAE labeling, for measuring how close a graph is away from being an -antimagic graph. Furthermore, the -VAE deficiency of Hamiltonian regular graphs of even degree is completely determined. More open problems are mentioned in the concluding remarks.

Description: We formulate an infinite-time quadratic functional minimization problem of Aedes aegypti mosquito population. Three techniques of mosquito population management, chemical insecticide control, sterile insect technique control, and environmental carrying capacity reduction, are combined in order to obtain the most sustainable strategy to reduce mosquito population and consequently dengue disease. The solution of the optimization control problem is based on the ideas of the Dynamic Programming and Lyapunov Stability using State-Dependent Riccati Equation (SDRE) control method. Different scenarios are analyzed combining three mentioned population management efforts in order to assess the most sustainable policy to reduce the mosquito population.

Description: Prediction models for low volume village roads in India are developed to evaluate the progression of different types of distress such as roughness, cracking, and potholes. Even though the Government of India is investing huge quantum of money on road construction every year, poor control over the quality of road construction and its subsequent maintenance is leading to the faster road deterioration. In this regard, it is essential that scientific maintenance procedures are to be evolved on the basis of performance of low volume flexible pavements. Considering the above, an attempt has been made in this research endeavor to develop prediction models to understand the progression of roughness, cracking, and potholes in flexible pavements exposed to least or nil routine maintenance. Distress data were collected from the low volume rural roads covering about 173 stretches spread across Tamil Nadu state in India. Based on the above collected data, distress prediction models have been developed using multiple linear regression analysis. Further, the models have been validated using independent field data. It can be concluded that the models developed in this study can serve as useful tools for the practicing engineers maintaining flexible pavements on low volume roads.

Description: In project management context, time management is one of the most important factors affecting project success. This paper proposes a new method to solve research project scheduling problems (RPSP) containing Fuzzy Graphical Evaluation and Review Technique (FGERT) networks. Through the deliverables of this method, a proper estimation of project completion time (PCT) and success probability can be achieved. So algorithms were developed to cover all features of the problem based on three main parameters “duration, occurrence probability, and success probability.” These developed algorithms were known as PR-FGERT (Parallel and Reversible-Fuzzy GERT networks). The main provided framework includes simplifying the network of project and taking regular steps to determine PCT and success probability. Simplifications include (1) equivalent making of parallel and series branches in fuzzy network considering the concepts of probabilistic nodes, (2) equivalent making of delay or reversible-to-itself branches and impact of changing the parameters of time and probability based on removing related branches, (3) equivalent making of simple and complex loops, and (4) an algorithm that was provided to resolve no-loop fuzzy network, after equivalent making. Finally, the performance of models was compared with existing methods. The results showed proper and real performance of models in comparison with existing methods.

Description: We introduce three new two-parameter generalizations of Fibonacci numbers. These generalizations are closely related to -distance Fibonacci numbers introduced recently. We give combinatorial and graph interpretations of distance -Fibonacci numbers. We also study some properties of these numbers.

Description: The present study is aimed at magnetic and mechanical properties of iron nitride (-Fe4N) with elastic deformation. Electronic structure and thermal properties of the iron nitride are also studied to have a comprehensive understanding of the characteristics of -Fe4N. This study is focused on the variation of the magnetic and the mechanical properties of iron nitride with a change in crystal size represented by lattice constant. As the lattice constant is altered with deformation, magnetic moment of Fe-II atoms is appreciably elevated, while that of Fe-I atoms is nearly unchanged. Dependence of the magnetic moment and the bulk modulus on the lattice constant is examined. Meanwhile, chemical bonds between Fe atoms and N atoms formed across the crystal have been visualized by delocalization of atomic charge density in electron density map, and thermodynamic properties, including entropy, enthalpy, free energy, and heat capacity, are evaluated.

Description: This paper is concerned with the scattering problem of time-harmonic acoustic plane waves by an impenetrable obstacle buried in a piecewise homogeneous medium. The so-called generalized impedance boundary condition is imposed on the boundary of the obstacle. Firstly, the well posedness of the solution to the direct scattering problem is established by using the boundary integral method. Then a uniqueness result for the inverse scattering problem is proved; that is, both of the obstacle’s shape and the impedances (, ) can be uniquely determined from far field measurements. Furthermore, a mathematical basis is given to reconstruct the shape of the obstacle by using a modified linear sampling method.

Description: One can reformulate chemical master equations of the stochastic reaction network into a partial differential equation (PDE) of a probability generating function (PGF). In this paper, we present two improvements in such PGF-PDE approach, based on perturbation and double-truncation, respectively. The stiff system that involves fast and slow reactions together often requires high computational cost. By applying the perturbation method to PGF-PDEs, we expand the equation in terms of a small reaction rate which is often responsible for such stiffness of the system. Also by doubly truncating, we dump relatively small terms and reduce the computational load significantly at each time step. The terms corresponding to rare events are sieved out through truncations of Taylor expansion. It is shown through numerical examples of enzyme kinetics, transition model, and Brusselator model that the suggested method is accurate and efficient for approximation of the state probabilities.

Description: This paper discusses the construction of new rational cubic spline interpolant with cubic numerator and quadratic denominator. The idea has been extended to shape preserving interpolation for positive data using the constructed rational cubic spline interpolation. The rational cubic spline has three parameters , , and . The sufficient conditions for the positivity are derived on one parameter while the other two parameters and are free parameters that can be used to change the final shape of the resulting interpolating curves. This will enable the user to produce many varieties of the positive interpolating curves. Cubic spline interpolation with continuity is not able to preserve the shape of the positive data. Notably our scheme is easy to use and does not require knots insertion and continuity can be achieved by solving tridiagonal systems of linear equations for the unknown first derivatives , . Comparisons with existing schemes also have been done in detail. From all presented numerical results the new rational cubic spline gives very smooth interpolating curves compared to some established rational cubic schemes. An error analysis when the function to be interpolated is is also investigated in detail.

Description: Two-dimensional steepest descent curves (SDC) for a quasiconvex family are considered; the problem of their extensions (with constraints) outside of a convex body is studied. It is shown that possible extensions are constrained to lie inside of suitable bounding regions depending on . These regions are bounded by arcs of involutes of and satisfy many inclusions properties. The involutes of the boundary of an arbitrary plane convex body are defined and written by their support function. Extensions SDC of minimal length are constructed. Self-contracting sets (with opposite orientation) are considered: necessary and/or sufficient conditions for them to be subsets of SDC are proved.

Description: We prove existence and uniqueness of the solution of the problem with initial and Maxwell-Auzhan boundary conditions for nonstationary nonlinear one-dimensional Boltzmann’s six-moment system equations in space of functions continuous in time and summable in square by a spatial variable. In order to obtain a priori estimation of the initial and boundary value problem for nonstationary nonlinear one-dimensional Boltzmann’s six-moment system equations we get the integral equality and then use the spherical representation of vector. Then we obtain the initial value problem for Riccati equation. We have managed to obtain a particular solution of this equation in an explicit form.

Description: To reflect the interactions among criteria, Choquet integral is employed to stochastic multicriteria acceptability analysis. Models are first given to roughly identify the best and worst ranking orders of each alternative, based on which the weight information spaces are explored to support some alternative for ranking at some position and calculate the acceptability indices of alternatives. Models are then given to analyze the characters of information spaces, which can describe what kind of information supports alternatives for ranking at some position and can give an analysis about the effect of characters on the decision result. The proposed method considers not only the interactions between two criteria, but also the interactions among three, four, and more criteria. The proposed method can be considered as an extension of the existing ones.

Description: The governor actuators in some heat-engine plants have nonlinear valves. This nonlinearity of valves may lead to the inaccuracy of the opening and closing time constants calculated based on the whole segment fully open and fully close experimental test curves of the valve. An improved mathematical model of the turbine governor actuator is proposed to reflect the nonlinearity of the valve, in which the main and auxiliary piecewise opening and closing time constants instead of the fixed oil motive opening and closing time constants are adopted to describe the characteristics of the actuator. The main opening and closing time constants are obtained from the linear segments of the whole fully open and close curves. The parameters of proportional integral derivative (PID) controller are identified based on the small disturbance experimental tests of the valve. Then the auxiliary opening and closing time constants and the piecewise opening and closing valve points are determined by the fully open/close experimental tests. Several testing functions are selected to compare genetic algorithm and particle swarm optimization algorithm (GA-PSO) with other basic intelligence algorithms. The effectiveness of the piecewise linear model and its parameters are validated by practical power plant case studies.

Description: Synchronized control is implemented for a five-story building under earthquake loads and its capabilities are investigated for protection of building under earthquake. In this regard, we applied control algorithm in form of synchronized control for structural vibration reduction. Simulation results of modeling indicated that not only the provided control is able to reduce the responses of vibrations for the structure, but also it is even capable of supplying the objectives of synchronized control at the same time. Numerical results for uncontrolled, traditional control and synchronized control coupled with algorithm are presented. It is shown that for El Centro and Bam earthquakes the synchronized control is more efficient to reduce damage to the given structures.

Description: Chaos control has become an important area of research and consequently many approaches have been proposed to control chaos. This paper proposes a linear regulation method. Different from the existing approaches is that it can provide region of attraction while estimating the bounding behaviour of the norm of the states. The proposed method also possesses design flexibility and can be easily used to cater for special requirement such that control signal should be generated via single input, single state, static feedback and so forth. The applications to the Tigan system, the Genesio chaotic system, the novel chaotic system, and the Lorenz chaotic system justify the above claims.

Description: We study lightlike hypersurfaces of an indefinite generalized Sasakian space form , with indefinite trans-Sasakian structure of type , subject to the condition that the structure vector field of is tangent to . First we study the general theory for lightlike hypersurfaces of indefinite trans-Sasakian manifold of type . Next we prove several characterization theorems for lightlike hypersurfaces of an indefinite generalized Sasakian space form.

Description: We develop a canonical dual approach for solving the MIMO problem. First, a special linear transformation is introduced to reformulate the original problem into a constrained quadratic programming problem. Then, we derive a canonical dual problem which is piecewise continuous problem with no duality gap. Under certain conditions, the canonical problem becomes a concave maximization dual problem over a convex feasible domain. By getting the stationary point of the canonical dual problem, we can find either an optimal or approximate solution of the original problem. A gradient decent algorithm is proposed to solve the MIMO problem and simulation results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method.

Description: We propose two variants of a stochastic epidemic model in which the disease is spread by mobile particles performing random walks on the complete graph. For the first model, we study the effect on the epidemic size of an immunization mechanism that depends on the activity of the disease. In the second model, the transmission agents can gain lives at random during their existences. We prove limit theorems for the final outcome of these processes. The epidemic model with mutations exhibits phase transition, meaning that if the mutation parameter is sufficiently large, then asymptotically all the individuals in the population are infected.

Description: Factor analysis models with continuous and ordinal responses are a useful tool for assessing relations between the latent variables and mixed observed responses. These models have been successfully applied to many different fields, including behavioral, educational, and social-psychological sciences. However, within the Bayesian analysis framework, most developments are constrained within parametric families, of which the particular distributions are specified for the parameters of interest. This leads to difficulty in dealing with outliers and/or distribution deviations. In this paper, we propose a Bayesian semiparametric modeling for factor analysis model with continuous and ordinal variables. A truncated stick-breaking prior is used to model the distributions of the intercept and/or covariance structural parameters. Bayesian posterior analysis is carried out through the simulation-based method. Blocked Gibbs sampler is implemented to draw observations from the complicated posterior. For model selection, the logarithm of pseudomarginal likelihood is developed to compare the competing models. Empirical results are presented to illustrate the application of the methodology.

Description: Interval type 2 fuzzy numbers are a special kind of type 2 fuzzy numbers. These numbers can be described by triangular and trapezoidal shapes. In this paper, first, perfectly normal interval type 2 trapezoidal fuzzy numbers with their left-hand and right-hand spreads and their core have been introduced, which are normal and convex; then a new type of fuzzy arithmetic operations for perfectly normal interval type 2 trapezoidal fuzzy numbers has been proposed based on the extension principle of normal type 1 trapezoidal fuzzy numbers. Moreover, in this proposal, linear programming problems with resources and technology coefficients are perfectly normal interval type 2 fuzzy numbers. To solve this kind of fuzzy linear programming problems, a method based on the degree of satisfaction (or possibility degree) of the constraints has been introduced. In this method the fulfillment of the constraints can be measured with the help of ranking method of fuzzy numbers. Optimal solution is obtained at different degree of satisfaction by using Barnes algorithm with the help of MATLAB. Finally, the optimal solution procedure is illustrated with numerical example.

Description: We perturb the differential system , , and for inside the class of all polynomial differential systems of degree in , and we prove that at most limit cycles can be obtained for the perturbed system using the first-order averaging theory.

Description: Our main endeavor is to investigate the effect of the uncertain market size in the second period on the pricing strategies in the remanufacturing market. Observing the previous research, we find that the market size in the second period is always supposed to be certain. However, there is substantial empirical and experimental evidence that the market size in reality deviates from this assumption. In fact, though the market size in the first period is definitized, it is difficult to confirm the change of the market scale in the second period, since this change is affected by all kinds of elements, such as the awareness of environmental protection, some consumers’ psychological factors, and the related governments’ policies. Hence, we pay attention to the case in which the change rate of the market scale in the second period is random variable. We suppose that this rate satisfies uniform distribution on . Underlying this assumption, we further provide an insight into the game-playing relationship between original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and remanufacturers. Moreover, we delicately and subtly incorporate the game theory, stochastic analysis, adversarial risk analysis (ARA), and optimization methods into the pricing strategies in the remanufacturing market. Last but not least, considerable efforts and attempts have been made to subtly test the sensitivity of an optimal solution to the different parameters.

Description: Recent studies reveal that Allee effect may play important roles in the growth of tumor. We present one of the first mathematical models of avascular tumor that incorporates the weak Allee effect. The model considers the densities of tumor cells in three stages: proliferating cells, quiescent cells, and necrotic cells. We investigate how Allee effect impacts the growth of the avascular tumor. We also investigate the effect of apoptosis of proliferating cells and necrosis of quiescent cells. The system is numerically solved in 2D using different sets of parameters. We show that Allee effect and apoptosis play important roles in the growth of tumor and the formation of necrotic core.

Description: The integrals evaluated are the products of multivariable Aleph-functions with algebraic functions, Jacobi polynomials, Legendre functions, Bessel-Maitland functions, and general class of polynomials. The main results of our paper are quite general in nature and competent at yielding a very large number of integrals involving polynomials and various special functions occurring in the problem of mathematical analysis and mathematical physics.

Description: Given a tree network with vertices where each edge has an independent operational probability, we are interested in finding the optimal location of a reliable service provider facility in a shape of subtree with exactly leaves and with a diameter of at most which maximizes the expected number of nodes that are reachable from the selected subtree by operational paths. Demand requests for service originate at perfectly reliable nodes. So, the major concern of this paper is to find a location of a reliable tree-shaped facility on the network in order to provide a maximum access to network services by ensuring the highest level of network connectivity between the demand nodes and the facility. An efficient algorithm for finding a reliable – tree core of is developed. The time complexity of the proposed algorithm is Examples are provided to illustrate the performance of the proposed algorithm.

Description: A modified tanh-coth method with Riccati equation is used to construct several explicit solutions of (3+1)-dimensional Kudryashov-Sinelshchikov equations in bubble gas liquid flow. The solutions include solitons and periodic solutions. The method applied can be used in further works to obtain entirely new solutions to many other nonlinear evolution equations.

Description: This work systematically discusses basic properties and qualitative dynamics of vector-borne disease models, particularly those with vertical transmission in the vector population. Examples of disease include Dengue and Rift Valley fever which are endemic in Sub-Saharan Africa, and understanding of the dynamics underlying their transmission is central for providing critical informative indicators useful for guiding control strategies. Of particular interest is the applicability and derivation of relevant population and epidemic thresholds and their relationships with vertical infection. This study demonstrates how the failure of derived using the next-generation method compounds itself when varying vertical transmission efficiency, and it shows that the host type reproductive number gives the correct . Further, novel relationships between the host type reproductive number, vertical infection, and ratio of female mosquitoes to host are established and discussed. Analytical results of the model with vector stages show that the quantities ,, and , which represent the vector colonization threshold, the average number of female mosquitoes produced by a single infected mosquito, and effective reproductive number, respectively, provide threshold conditions that determine the establishment of the vector population and invasion of the disease. Numerical simulations are also conducted to confirm and extend the analytical results. The findings imply that while vertical infection increases the size of an epidemic, it reduces its duration, and control efforts aimed at reducing the critical thresholds ,, and to below unity are viable control strategies.

Description: In this paper, optimal homotopy asymptotic method (OHAM) and its implementation on subinterval, called multistage optimal homotopy asymptotic method (MOHAM), are presented for solving linear and nonlinear systems of Volterra integral equations of the second kind. To illustrate these approaches two examples are presented. The results confirm the efficiency and ability of these methods for such equations. The results will be compared to find out which method is more accurate. Advantages of applying MOHAM are also illustrated.

Description: The paper is devoted to several examples of control algorithm development for two-wheeled double-track robot and low-tonnage vessel-catamaran with two Azipods that show practical aspects of the application of one nonlinear system control method — terminal state method. This method, developed by the authors of the present paper, belongs to the class of methods for inverse dynamics problem solving. Mathematical models of control objects in the form of normal systems of third-order nonlinear differential equations for the wheeled robot and seventh-order ones for the vessel are presented. Design formulas of the method in general form for terminal and stabilizing controls are shown. A routine of obtaining calculation expressions for control actions is shown. Results of computer simulation of bringing the robot to a given point in a given time, as well as bringing the vessel to a given course during a “strong” maneuver, are described.

Description: Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) algorithm is one of the efficient nature-inspired optimization algorithms for solving continuous problems. It has no sensitive control parameters and has been shown to be competitive with other well-known algorithms. However, the slow convergence, premature convergence, and being trapped within the local solutions may occur during the search. In this paper, we propose a new Modified Artificial Bee Colony (MABC) algorithm to overcome these problems. All phases of ABC are determined for improving the exploration and exploitation processes. We use a new search equation in employed bee phase, increase the probabilities for onlooker bees to find better positions, and replace some worst positions by the new ones in onlooker bee phase. Moreover, we use the Firefly algorithm strategy to generate a new position replacing an unupdated position in scout bee phase. Its performance is tested on selected benchmark functions. Experimental results show that MABC is more effective than ABC and some other modifications of ABC.

Description: In this work, the kinetically reduced local Navier-Stokes equations are applied to the simulation of two- and three-dimensional unsteady viscous incompressible flow problems. The reduced differential transform method is used to find the new approximate analytical solutions of these flow problems. The new technique has been tested by using four selected multidimensional unsteady flow problems: two- and three-dimensional Taylor decaying vortices flow, Kovasznay flow, and three-dimensional Beltrami flow. The convergence analysis was discussed for this approach. The numerical results obtained by this approach are compared with other results that are available in previous works. Our results show that this method is efficient to provide new approximate analytic solutions. Moreover, we found that it has highly precise solutions with good convergence, less time consuming, being easily implemented for high Reynolds numbers, and low Mach numbers.

Description: 36 years ago, Thomas Saaty introduced a new mathematical methodology, called Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), regarding the decision-making processes. The methodology was widely applied by Saaty and by other authors in the different human activity areas, like planning, business, education, healthcare, etc. but, in general, in the area of management. In this paper, we provide two new proofs for well-known statement that the maximal eigenvalue is equal to for the eigenvector problem , where is, so-called, the consistent matrix of pairwise comparisons of type ( 2) with the solution vector that represents the probability components of disjoint events. Moreover, we suggest an algorithm for the determination of the eigenvalue problem solution as well as the corresponding flowchart. The algorithm for arbitrary consistent matrix can be simply programmed and used.

Description: The problem of building a smooth surface containing given points or curves is actual due to development of industry and computer technology. Previously used for those purposes, shells of zero Gaussian curvature and minimal surfaces based on isotropic analytic curves are restricted in their consumer properties. To expand the possibilities regarding the shaping of surfaces we propose the method of constructing surfaces based on isotropic fractional-rational curves. The surfaces are built using flat isothermal and orthogonal grids and on the basis of the Weierstrass method. In the latter case, the surfaces are minimal. Examples of surfaces that were built according to the proposed method are given.

Description: After the dawn of the August 2007 financial crisis, banks became more aware of financial risk leading to the appearance of nonnegligible spreads between LIBOR and OIS rates and also between LIBOR of different tenors. This consequently led to the birth of multicurve models. This study establishes a new model; the multicurve cross-currency LIBOR market model (MCCCLMM). The model extends the initial LIBOR Market Model (LMM) from the single-curve cross-currency economy into the multicurve cross-currency economy. The model incorporates both the risk-free OIS rates and the risky forward LIBOR rates of two different currencies. The established model is suitable for pricing different quanto interest rate derivatives. A brief illustration is given on the application of the MCCCLMM on pricing quanto caplets and quanto floorlets using a Black-like formula derived from the MCCCLMM.

Description: The direct task of the subsurface exploration of a homogeneous medium with surface relief by the resistivity method is analyzed. To calculate the resistivity field for such a medium, the method of integral equations was successfully applied for the first time. The corresponding integral equation for the density of secondary current sources on the surface of the medium was established. The method of computational grid construction, adapted to the characteristics of the surface relief, was developed for the numerical solution of the integral equation. This method enables the calculation of the resistivity field of a point source on a surface that is not smooth and allows for steep ledges. Numerical examples of the calculation of resistivity fields and apparent resistivity are shown. The anomalies of apparent resistivity arising from the deviation of the surface shape from a flat medium were quantitatively established as model examples. Calculations of apparent resistivity for the direct current sounding method were carried out using modifications of the electrical tomography approach.

Description: This work studies the statistical characteristics of potential evapotranspiration calculations and their relevance within the water balance used to determine water availability in hydrological basins. The purpose of this study was as follows: first, to apply a missing data reconstruction scheme in weather stations of the Rio Queretaro basin; second, to reduce the generated uncertainty of temperature data: mean, minimum, and maximum values in the evapotranspiration calculation which has a paramount importance in the manner of obtaining the water balance at any hydrological basin. The reconstruction of missing data was carried out in three steps: (1) application of a 4-parameter sinusoidal type regression to temperature data, (2) linear regression to residuals to obtain a regional behavior, and (3) estimation of missing temperature values for a certain year and during a certain season within the basin under study; estimated and observed temperature values were compared. Finally, using the obtained temperature values, the methods of Hamon, Papadakis, Blaney and Criddle, Thornthwaite, and Hargreaves were employed to calculate potential evapotranspiration that was compared to the real observed values in weather stations. With the results obtained from the application of this procedure, the surface water balance was corrected for the case study.

Description: Creep process of linear viscoelastic materials is described by the integral equation of Boltzmann-Volterra in which creep kernel is approximated by Rabotnov’s fractional exponential function. The creep equation contains four unknown parameters: , singularity parameter; , fading parameter; , rheological parameter; and , conditionally instantaneous strain. Two-stage determination method of creep parameters is offered. At the first stage, taking into account weak singularity properties of Abel’s function at the initial moment of loading, parameters and are determined. At the second stage, using already known parameters and , parameters and are determined. Analytical expressions for calculating these parameters are obtained. An accuracy evaluation of the offered method with using experimentally determined creep strains of material Nylon 6 and asphalt concrete showed its high accuracy.

Description: Lie group analysis has been applied to singular perturbation problems in both ordinary differential and difference equations and has allowed us to find the reduced dynamics describing the asymptotic behavior of the dynamical system. The present study provides an extended method that is also applicable to partial differential equations. The main characteristic of the extended method is the restriction of the manifold by some constraint equations on which we search for a Lie symmetry group. This extension makes it possible to find a partial Lie symmetry group, which leads to a reduced dynamics describing the asymptotic behavior.

Description: We give a total graph interpretation of the numbers of the Fibonacci type. This graph interpretation relates to an edge colouring by monochromatic paths in graphs. We will show that it works for almost all numbers of the Fibonacci type. Moreover, we give the lower bound and the upper bound for the number of all -edge colourings in trees.

Description: We determine the smallest and the largest number of -edge colourings in trees. We prove that the star is a unique tree that maximizes the number of all of the -edge colourings and that the path is a unique tree that minimizes it.

Description: We study the inextensible flows of curves in 3-dimensional Euclidean space . The main purpose of this paper is constructing and plotting the surfaces that are generated from the motion of inextensible curves in . Also, we study some geometric properties of those surfaces. We give some examples about the inextensible flows of curves in and we determine the curves from their intrinsic equations (curvature and torsion). Finally, we determine and plot the surfaces that are generated by the motion of those curves by using Mathematica 7.

Description: The Adomian-Padé technique is applied to examine two oscillating viscous flows, the Stokes’ second problem and the pressure-driven pulsating flow. Main purposes for studying oscillating flows are not only to verify the accuracy of the approximation solution, but also to provide a basis for analyzing more problems by the present method with the help of Fourier analysis. Results show that the Adomian-Padé approximation presents a very excellent behavior in comparison with the exact solution of Stokes’ second problem. For the pulsating flow, only the Adomian decomposition method is required to perform the calculation as the fluid domain is finite where the Padé approximant may not provide a better solution. Based on present results, more problems can be mathematically solved by using the Adomian-Padé technique, the Fourier analysis, and powerful computers.

Description: A smooth curve interpolation scheme for positive, monotone, and convex data is developed. This scheme uses rational cubic Ball representation with four shape parameters in its description. Conditions of two shape parameters are derived in such a way that they preserve the shape of the data, whereas the other two parameters remain free to enable the user to modify the shape of the curve. The degree of smoothness is . The outputs from a number of numerical experiments are presented.

Description: We turn a given filter bank into a filtering scheme that provides perfect reconstruction, synthesis is the adjoint of the analysis part (so-called unitary filter banks), all filters have equal norm, and the essential features of the original filter bank are preserved. Unitary filter banks providing perfect reconstruction are induced by tight generalized frames, which enable signal decomposition using a set of linear operators. If, in addition, frame elements have equal norm, then the signal energy is spread through the various filter bank channels in some uniform fashion, which is often more suitable for further signal processing. We start with a given generalized frame whose elements allow for fast matrix vector multiplication, as, for instance, convolution operators, and compute a normalized tight frame, for which signal analysis and synthesis still preserve those fast algorithmic schemes.

Description: A family of Enright’s second derivative formulas with trigonometric basis functions is derived using multistep collocation method. The continuous schemes obtained are used to generate complementary methods. The stability properties of the methods are discussed. The methods which can be applied in predictor-corrector form are implemented in block form as simultaneous numerical integrators over nonoverlapping intervals. Numerical results obtained using the proposed block form reveal that the new methods are efficient and highly competitive with existing methods in the literature.

Description: We investigate a problem for a model of a non-Newtonian micropolar fluid coupled system. The problem has been considered in a bounded, smooth domain of with Dirichlet boundary conditions. The operator stress tensor is given by . To prove the existence of weak solutions we use the method of Faedo-Galerkin and compactness arguments. Uniqueness and periodicity of solutions are also considered.

Description: We propose an approximate solution of T-F equation, obtained by using the nonlinearities distribution homotopy perturbation method (NDHPM). Besides, we show a table of comparison, between this proposed approximate solution and a numerical of T-F, by establishing the accuracy of the results.

Description: The presented research demonstrates the results of a series of numerical simulations of gas flow through a single-stage centrifugal compressor with a vaneless diffuser. Numerical results were validated with experiments consisting of eight regimes with different mass flow rates. The steady-state and unsteady simulations were done in ANSYS FLUENT 13.0 and NUMECA FINE/TURBO 8.9.1 for one-period geometry due to periodicity of the problem. First-order discretization is insufficient due to strong dissipation effects. Results obtained with second-order discretization agree with the experiments for the steady-state case in the region of high mass flow rates. In the area of low mass flow rates, nonstationary effects significantly influence the flow leading stationary model to poor prediction. Therefore, the unsteady simulations were performed in the region of low mass flow rates. Results of calculation were compared with experimental data. The numerical simulation method in this paper can be used to predict compressor performance.

Description: Classical statistics and many data mining methods rely on “statistical significance” as a sole criterion for evaluating alternative hypotheses. It is very useful to find out the significant difference existing between the samples as well as the population or between two samples. But in this paper, the researchers try to apply the concepts of fuzzy group testing of hypothesis problem between multi group of samples of same size or different, through comparing the parameters like mean, standard deviation, and so forth. Hence we can compare multigroups such that they have the significant difference in their mean or standard deviation or other parameters through the fuzzy group testing of multihypotheses. The authors introduced and investigated the concepts very first time through fuzzy analysis that can decide which group(s) or samples can be taken for further investigation and either is rejected or accepted and hence the next discussion provides the properties of group of samples which may result in the optimized solution for the problem.

Description: This work presents a filled function method based on the filter technique for global optimization. Filled function method is one of the effective methods for nonlinear global optimization, since it can effectively find a better minimizer. Filter technique is applied to local optimization methods for its excellent numerical results. In order to optimize the filled function method, the filter method is employed for global optimizations in this method. A new filled function is proposed first, and then the algorithm and its properties are proved. The numerical results are listed at the end.

Description: The reflection coefficients of monochromatic water waves over trenches with shear current are estimated analytically. The diffraction of waves by an abrupt depth change and shear current is formulated by the matched eigenfunction expansion method. The proper number of steps and evanescent modes are proposed by a series of convergence tests. The accuracy of the predicted reflection coefficients is checked by estimating the wave energy. Reflection and transmission characteristics are studied for various shear current conditions. The different combinations of strength, width of shear current, and incident wave angle with constant water depth topography are examined. The optimal figure of the trench with shear current is obtained by estimating the reflection coefficients for various sloped transitions. The resonant reflection of the water waves is found by multiarrayed optimal trenches and the interaction of sinusoidally varying topography with shear current.

Description: This work presents a novel offline model predictive control technique for tracking of constrained systems. The quadratic programming problem, commonly found in constrained control methods, is replaced by sequential offline set projections based on priority given to the decision variables. If a preference is established in terms of which decision variables are more desirable, the optimization problem can be solved by sequentially choosing the most important variables and performing a membership test with the projection of the constraint closed set over the related dimensions. Thus, real-time optimization is replaced by offline projection operations and online one-dimensional membership tests. This concept of decision variable prioritization is then applied to a form of model predictive control: feasible target tracking. Three quadratic programming problems are replaced by the proposed method. In the first problem, attainable steady-state demands are computed based on the performance of the plant. The reachable target command is then filtered in terms of dynamic admissibility, creating feasible inputs to the plant. Finally, the control is computed considering the current state and disturbance vectors along with the feasible and attainable command. Simulations of the method executing a path-following task are presented, demonstrating its benefits with negligible online computational burden.

Description: We propose some new concepts of almost periodic time scales and almost periodic functions on time scales and give some basic properties of these new types of almost periodic time scales and almost periodic functions on time scales. We also give some comments on a recent paper by Wang and Agarwal (2014) concerning a new almost periodic time scale.

Description: This paper is concerned with the numerical solution of partial integrodifferential equation for option pricing models under a tempered stable process known as CGMY model. A double discretization finite difference scheme is used for the treatment of the unbounded nonlocal integral term. We also introduce in the scheme the Patankar-trick to guarantee unconditional nonnegative numerical solutions. Integration formula of open type is used in order to improve the accuracy of the approximation of the integral part. Stability and consistency are also studied. Illustrative examples are included.

Description: India, which has long been recognized as a well-endowed nation in natural mineral resources, is a major minerals producer. According to the report of Indian Ministry of Mines 2013, Indian mining and metals sector ranked the fourth among the mineral producer countries, behind China, United States, and Russia and had in fact led the economy into recovery from the global financial crisis. Since this industry has turned into a significant issue, this paper attempts to rank the performance of 23 Indian mining and metal companies and to evaluate and measure the productivity change of these sectors during different time periods (2010–2014). Besides, the authors would like to choose one advanced model of MPI to see the performance of these companies in the past-present period and the 4-year future period (2015–2018) by using forecasting results of Grey system theory. The results revealed that from the past to future period the National Mineral Development Corporation, Hindalco Industries Limited, and Coal India always keep their highest best rankings among 23 DMUs regarding performance scores. This study contributes better insights of Indian mining industry as it is the core of the economy.

Description: Our main goal is to define a fuzzy solution for problems involving diffusion. To this end, the solution of fuzzy diffusion-reaction-advection equation will be defined as Zadeh’s extension of deterministic solution of the associated problem. Important aspects such as unity and stability of these solutions will also be studied. Graphical representations of these solutions will be presented.

Description: Grubbs test (extreme studentized deviate test, maximum normed residual test) is used in various fields to identify outliers in a data set, which are ranked in the order of . However, ranking of data eliminates the actual sequence of a data series, which is an important factor for determining outliers in some cases (e.g., time series). Thus in such a data set, Grubbs test will not identify outliers correctly. This paper introduces a technique for transforming data from sequence bound linear form to sequence unbound form . Applying Grubbs test to the new transformed data set detects outliers more accurately. In addition, the new technique improves the outlier detection capability of Grubbs test. Results show that, Grubbs test was capable of identifing outliers at significance level 0.01 after transformation, while it was unable to identify those prior to transforming at significance level 0.05.

Description: We propose and analyze a mathematical model for alcohol drinking problem. The transmission process is modeled as a social “contact” process between “heavy” alcohol drinkers and “light” alcohol drinkers within an unchanging shared drinking environment. The basic reproductive number of the model is computed and the stability of the model steady states is investigated. Further, the model is fitted to data on alcohol drinking for Cape Town and Gauteng, South Africa. In addition, the basic model is extended to incorporate three time dependent intervention strategies. The control functions represent the efforts and policies aimed at weakening the intensity of social interactions between light and heavy drinkers and increase the fraction of treated individuals who permanently quit alcohol drinking. Optimal control results suggest that effective control of high-risk alcohol drinking can be achieved if more resources and efforts are devoted on weakening the intensity of social interactions between light and heavy drinkers.

Description: This paper deals with the analysis and design of positivity and stability of linear continuous conic systems. First, two robustness analysis theorems are proposed for the systems with state-feedback. Second, the state-feedback stabilization problem is solved by using linear programming (LP). Numerical examples are given for illustration. Finally, the conclusions are made.

Description: Recent mathematical modelling has advocated for rapid “test-and-treat” programs for HIV in the developing world, where HIV-positive individuals are identified and immediately begin a course of antiretroviral treatment, regardless of the length of time they have been infected. However, the foundations of this modelling ignored the effects of drug resistance on the epidemic. It also disregarded the heterogeneity of behaviour changes that may occur, as a result of education that some individuals may receive upon testing and treatment. We formulate an HIV/AIDS model to theoretically investigate how testing, educating HIV-positive cases, treatment, and drug resistance affect the HIV epidemic. We consider a variety of circumstances: both when education is included and not included, when testing and treatment are linked or are separate, when education is only partly effective, and when treatment leads to drug resistance. We show that education, if it is properly harnessed, can be a force strong enough to overcome the effects of antiretroviral drug resistance; however, in the absence of education, “test and treat” is likely to make the epidemic worse.

Description: The present study considers a deterministic compartmental model for obesity dynamics. The model exhibits forward bifurcation at basic reproduction number, , that is; for , obesity is not sustained. However for the model approaches a locally asymptotically stable endemic equilibrium. To control this epidemic and reduce the obesity at the endemic equilibrium, we considered intervention strategies for the spread of overweight and obesity, where Pontryagin’s Maximum Principle is applied. The numerical technique was used to show that there are effective control strategies that include minimizing the social contact rate with the overweight and obese population and campaigning. Numerical results indicated the effects of the two controls (prevention and education/campaigning) to be different. In societies with lower obesity, the social contact rate with the overweight and obese population plays a more prominent role in spreading obesity than lack of educational programs/campaigns. However, for societies with very high obesity burden, education/campaigning proved to be highly effective strategies. Reducing the social contact rate can result in other results such as a depression and an invasion of their individual rights. The appropriate approach to obesity is needed to lower obese societies.

Description: The aim of this work is to study a semidiscrete Crank-Nicolson type scheme in order to approximate numerically the Dirichlet-to-Neumann semigroup. We construct an approximating family of operators for the Dirichlet-to-Neumann semigroup, which satisfies the assumptions of Chernoff’s product formula, and consequently the Crank-Nicolson scheme converges to the exact solution. Finally, we write a finite element scheme for the problem, and we illustrate this convergence by means of a FreeFem++ implementation.

Description: We consider a mathematical model describing nonlocal damping in magnetization dynamics. The model consists of a modified form of the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert (LLG) equation for the evolution of the magnetization vector in a rigid ferromagnet. We give a global existence result and characterize the long time behaviour of the obtained solutions. The sensitivity of the model with respect to large and small nonlocal damping parameters is also discussed.

Description: Traditional biomedical approaches treat diseases in isolation, but the importance of synergistic disease interactions is now recognized. As a first step we present and analyze a simple coinfection model for two diseases simultaneously affecting a population. The host population is affected by the primary disease, a long-term infection whose dynamics is described by a SIS model with demography, which facilitates individuals acquiring a second disease, secondary (or opportunistic) disease. The secondary disease is instead a short-term infection affecting only the primary infected individuals. Its dynamics is also represented by a SIS model with no demography. To distinguish between short- and long-term infection the complete model is written as a two-time-scale system. The primary disease acts at the slow time scale while the secondary disease does at the fast one, allowing a dimension reduction of the system and making its analysis tractable. We show that an opportunistic disease outbreak might change drastically the outcome of the primary epidemic process, although it does among the outcomes allowed by the primary disease. We have found situations in which either acting on the opportunistic disease transmission or recovery rates or controlling the susceptible and infected population size allows eradicating/promoting disease endemicity.

Description: The resonant tunneling device (RTD) has attracted much attention because of its unique negative differential resistance characteristic and its functional versatility and is more suitable for implementing the threshold logic gate. The universal logic gate has become an important unit circuit of digital circuit design because of its powerful logic function, while the threshold logic gate is a suitable unit to design the universal logic gate, but the function synthesis algorithm for the -variable logical function implemented by the RTD-based universal logic gate (UTLG) is relatively deficient. In this paper, three-variable threshold functions are divided into four categories; based on the Reed-Muller expansion, two categories of these are analyzed, and a new decomposition algorithm of the three-variable nonthreshold functions is proposed. The proposed algorithm is simple and the decomposition results can be obtained by looking up the decomposition table. Then, based on the Reed-Muller algebraic system, the arbitrary -variable function can be decomposed into three-variable functions, and a function synthesis algorithm for the -variable logical function implemented by UTLG and XOR2 is proposed, which is a simple programmable implementation.

Description: This paper presents a generic abstract model for the study of disparities between goals and results in hierarchical multiresources allocation systems. In an organization, disparities in resource allocation may occur, when, after comparison of a resource allocation decision with an allocation reference goal or property, some agents have surplus resources to accomplish their tasks, while at the same time other agents have deficits of expected resources. In the real world, these situations are frequently encountered in organizations facing scarcity of resources and/or inefficient management. These disparities can be corrected using allocation decisions, by measuring and reducing gradually such disparities and their related costs, without totally canceling the existing resource distribution. While a lot of research has been carried out in the area of resource allocation, this specific class of problems has not yet been formally studied. The paper exposes the results of an exploratory research study of this class of problems. It identifies the commonalities of the family of hierarchical multiresource allocation systems and proposes the concept of multisorted tree-algebra for the modeling of these problems. The research presented here is not yet an in-depth descriptive research study of the mathematical theory of multisorted tree-algebra, but a formal study on modelling hierarchical multiresource allocation problems.

Description: A finite element simulation of the compaction and springback of an aluminum-based powder metallurgy alloy (Alumix 321) was developed and validated using the LS-DYNA hydrocode. The present work aims to directly address the current scarcity of modeling works on this popular alloy system. The Alumix 321 constitutive material parameters are presented. The model can predict the results of single-action compaction as well as the amount of springback experienced by a compact upon ejection from the die. The model has been validated using a series of experiments including powder compaction, optical densitometry, and the creation of a compaction curve.

Description: The calculation of average material contact pressure to rolls base on mathematical theory of rolling process given by Karman equation was solved by many authors. The solutions reported by authors are used simplifications for solution of Karman equation. The simplifications are based on two cases for approximation of the circular arch: (a) by polygonal curve and (b) by parabola. The contribution of the present paper for solution of two-dimensional differential equation of rolling is based on description of the circular arch by equation of a circle. The new term relative stress as nondimensional variable was defined. The result from derived mathematical models can be calculated following variables: normal contact stress distribution, front and back tensions, angle of neutral point, coefficient of the arm of rolling force, rolling force, and rolling torque during rolling process. Laboratory cold rolled experiment of CuZn30 brass material was performed. Work hardening during brass processing was calculated. Comparison of theoretical values of normal contact stress with values of normal contact stress obtained from cold rolling experiment was performed. The calculations were not concluded with roll flattening.

Description: Natural convection heat transfer in a two-dimensional square enclosure at various angles of inclination is investigated numerically using a finite volume based computational procedure. The heat transfer is from a constant temperature heat source of finite length centred at one of the walls to the cold wall on the opposite side while the remaining walls are insulated. The effect of area ratio of the heat source from 0.2 to 1.0, Rayleigh number Ra from 103 to 107, and angle of inclination of the enclosure varying from 0° to 360° on the flow field and heat transfer characteristics are investigated. Streamline and isothermal line patterns are found to be similar at low Rayleigh numbers whereas at high Rayleigh numbers the differences are significant due to the influence of the parameters considered. Average Nusselt number decreases drastically as the position of the heat source is moved above the horizontal centre line of the enclosure. Correlation of the average Nusselt number which depends on the parameters of interest is obtained in the general form . The correlation coefficients are determined by multiple regression analysis for the entire range of Rayleigh numbers analysed and the values found by correlation equations are in good agreement with the numerical results.

Description: An analytical solution for the heat transfer in hollow cylinders with time-dependent boundary condition and time-dependent heat transfer coefficient at different surfaces is developed for the first time. The methodology is an extension of the shifting function method. By dividing the Biot function into a constant plus a function and introducing two specially chosen shifting functions, the system is transformed into a partial differential equation with homogenous boundary conditions only. The transformed system is thus solved by series expansion theorem. Limiting cases of the solution are studied and numerical results are compared with those in the literature. The convergence rate of the present solution is fast and the analytical solution is simple and accurate. Also, the influence of physical parameters on the temperature distribution of a hollow cylinder along the radial direction is investigated.

Description: Sea freight transportation involves moving huge amounts of freights among maritime locations widely spaced by means of container vessels. The time required to serve container vessels is the most relevant indicator when assessing the competitiveness of a maritime container terminal. In this paper, two main logistic problems stemming from the transshipment of containers in the seaside of a maritime container terminal are addressed, namely, the Berth Allocation Problem aimed at allocating and scheduling incoming vessels into berthing positions along the quay and the Quay Crane Scheduling Problem, whose objective is to schedule the loading and unloading tasks associated with a container vessel. For solving them, two Migrating Birds Optimization (MBO) approaches are proposed. The MBO is a recently proposed nature-inspired algorithm based on the V-formation flight of migrating birds. In this algorithm, a set of solutions of the problem at hand, called birds, cooperate among themselves during the search process by sharing information within a V-line formation. The computational experiments performed over well-known problem instances reported in the literature show that the performance of our proposed MBO approaches is highly competitive and presents a better performance in terms of running time than the best approximate approach proposed in the literature.

Description: This study adopts a narrow band model to investigate the cooling and radiation of a vectoring nozzle and to compute the gas spectral characteristic in infrared band. The radiative heat transfer between the hot gas and the wall is considered with an enclosure model. The calculation of film cooling is performed through a cooling effectiveness method. A coupled heat balance equation of heat flux and wall temperature is established on the multilayer structure of the nozzle, including the wall, heat shield, and outer shield, and a Newton-Raphson scheme is taken for solution. Temperature on the expansion part of an experimental nozzle in NASA TN D-1988 is investigated for verification. Another vectoring nozzle with a multirow of film cooling is also investigated. This study shows that the film in the heat shield remarkably cools the convergent part of the nozzle, thereby increasing the temperature on the expansion part of the nozzle. The deflection of the nozzle can change the distribution of the wall temperature and the radiation on the expansion part, which is lower on the deflection side than on the opposite side. The radiation from the nozzle outlet is high, particularly along the deflection direction in the rear hemisphere.

Description: In flexible microrolling, springback in thickness direction is a critical indicator to determine the forming quality. Accurate prediction of springback is one of the significant aspects in the finite element analysis of flexible microrolling. Meshing is a step of great importance in finite element analysis of manufacturing process as it directly determines the accuracy of the FEA results as well as the requested computational time. This paper presents a numerical study on revealing the mesh effects on the accuracy of springback estimation utilising ABAQUS/Standard for modelling and analyses. Two types of meshes with six mesh sizes for each mesh type are considered in this study and the optimal mesh type and mesh size have been found to obtain accurate value of springback while saving as much computational time as possible.

Description: A rigorous and novel design procedure is constituted for an ultra-wideband (UWB) low noise amplifier (LNA) by exploiting the 3D electromagnetic simulator based support vector regression machine (SVRM) microstrip line model. First of all, in order to design input and output matching circuits (IMC-OMC), source and load termination impedance of matching circuit, which are necessary to obtain required input VSWR (), noise (), and gain (), are determined using performance characterisation of employed transistor, NE3512S02, between 3 and 8 GHz frequencies. After the determination of the termination impedance, to provide this impedance with IMC and OMC, dimensions of microstrip lines are obtained with simple, derivative-free, easily implemented algorithm Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). In the optimization of matching circuits, highly accurate and fast SVRM model of microstrip line is used instead of analytical formulations. ADCH-80a is used to provide ultra-wideband RF choking in DC bias. During the design process, it is aimed that = 1.85, = , and = all over operating frequency band. Measurements taken from the realized LNA demonstrate the success of this approximation over the band.

Description: Network reconfiguration is an effective approach to reduce the power losses in distribution system. Recent studies have shown that the reconfiguration problem considering load profiles can give a significant improvement on the distribution network performance. This work proposes a novel method to determine the optimal daily configuration based on variable photovoltaic (PV) generation output and the load profile data. A good combination and coordination between these two varying data may give the lowest power loss in the system. Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA) is applied to determine the optimum tie switches positions for 33-Bus distribution system. GSA based proposed method is also compared with Evolutionary Programming (EP) to examine the effectiveness of GSA algorithm. Obtained results show that the proposed optimal daily configuration method is able to improve the distribution network performance in term of its power loss reduction, number of switching minimization and voltage profile improvement.

Description: We elucidate the practical implementation of Spiking Neural Network (SNN) as local ensembles of classifiers. Synaptic time constant is used as learning parameter in representing the variations learned from a set of training data at classifier level. This classifier uses coincidence detection (CD) strategy trained in supervised manner using a novel supervised learning method called Prediction which adjusts the precise timing of output spikes towards the desired spike timing through iterative adaptation of . This paper also discusses the approximation of spike timing in Spike Response Model (SRM) for the purpose of coincidence detection. This process significantly speeds up the whole process of learning and classification. Performance evaluations with face datasets such as AR, FERET, JAFFE, and CK+ datasets show that the proposed method delivers better face classification performance than the network trained with Supervised Synaptic-Time Dependent Plasticity (STDP). We also found that the proposed method delivers better classification accuracy than nearest neighbor, ensembles of NN, and Support Vector Machines. Evaluation on several types of spike codings also reveals that latency coding delivers the best result for face classification as well as for classification of other multivariate datasets.

Description: Similarity of plume radiation between reduced scaling solid rocket models and full scale ones in ground conditions has been taken for investigation. Flow and radiation of plume from solid rockets with scaling ratio from 0.1 to 1 have been computed. The radiative transfer equation (RTE) is solved by the finite volume method (FVM) in infrared band 2~6 μm. The spectral characteristics of plume gases have been calculated with the weighted-sum-of-gray-gas (WSGG) model, and those of the Al2O3 particles have been solved by the Mie scattering model. Our research shows that, with the decreasing scaling ratio of the rocket engine, the radiation intensity of the plume decreases with 1.5~2.5 power of the scaling ratio. The infrared radiation of the plume gases shows a strong spectral dependency, while that of the Al2O3 particles shows grey property. Spectral radiation intensity of the high temperature core of the solid rocket plume increases greatly in the peak absorption spectrum of plume gases. Al2O3 particle is the major radiation composition in the rocket plume, whose scattering coefficient is much larger than its absorption coefficient. There is good similarity between spectral variations of plumes from different scaling solid rockets. The directional plume radiation rises with the increasing azimuth angle.

Description: This paper deals with the short-term scheduling problem of hydropower systems. The objective is to meet the daily energy demand in an economic and safe way. The individuality of the generating units and the nonlinearity of their efficiency curves are taken into account. The mathematical model is formulated as a dynamic, mixed integer, nonlinear, nonconvex, combinatorial, and multiobjective optimization problem. We propose two solution methods using metaheuristic approaches. They combine Genetic Algorithm with Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm and Ant Colony Optimization. Both approaches are divided into two phases. In the first one, to maximize the plant’s net generation, the problem is solved for each hour of the day (static dispatch). In the second phase, to minimize the units’ switching on-off, the day is considered as a whole (dynamic dispatch). The proposed methodology is applied to two Brazilian hydroelectric plants, in cascade, that belong to the national interconnected system. The nondominated solutions from both approaches are presented. All of them meet demand respecting the physical, electrical, and hydraulic constraints.

Description: Chemical entropy generation and magnetohydrodynamic effects on the unsteady heat and fluid flow through a porous medium have been numerically investigated. The entropy generation due to the use of a magnetic field and porous medium effects on heat transfer, fluid friction, and mass transfer have been analyzed numerically. Using a similarity transformation, the governing equations of continuity, momentum, and energy and concentration equations, of nonlinear system, were reduced to a set of ordinary differential equations and solved numerically. The effects of unsteadiness parameter, magnetic field parameter, porosity parameter, heat generation/absorption parameter, Lewis number, chemical reaction parameter, and Brinkman number parameter on the velocity, the temperature, the concentration, and the entropy generation rates profiles were investigated and the results were presented graphically.

Description: Designing the jet ejector optimally is a challenging task and has a great impact on industrial applications. Three different sets of nozzles (namely, 1, 3, and 5) inside the jet ejector are compared in this study by using numerical simulations. More precisely, dynamics of bubble coalescence and breakup in the multinozzle jet ejectors are studied by means of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The population balance approach is used for the gas phase such that different bubble size groups are included in CFD and the number densities of each of them are predicted in CFD simulations. Here, commercial CFD software ANSYS Fluent 14.0 is used. The realizable - turbulence model is used in CFD code in three-dimensional computational domains. It is clear that Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) models have their limitations, but on the other hand, turbulence modeling is not the key issue in this study and we can assume that the RANS models can predict turbulence of the carrying phase accurately enough. In order to validate our numerical predictions, results of one, three, and five nozzles are compared to laboratory experiments data for Cl2-NaOH system. Predicted gas volume fractions, bubble size distributions, and resulting number densities of the different bubble size groups as well as the interfacial area concentrations are in good agreement with experimental results.

Description: Ionic diffusion and heat conduction in a multiple layered porous medium have many important engineering applications. One of the examples is the chloride ions from deicers penetrating into concrete structures such as bridge decks. Different overlays can be placed on top of concrete surface to slowdown the chloride penetration. In this paper, the chloride ion diffusion equations were established for concrete structures with multiple layers of protective system. By using Laplace transformation, an analytical solution was developed first for chloride concentration profiles in two-layered system and then extended to multiple layered systems with nonconstant boundary conditions, including the constant boundary and linear boundary conditions. Because ionic diffusion in saturated media and heat conduction are governed by the same form of partial differential equations with different materials parameters, the analytical solution was further extended to handle heat conduction in a multiple layered system under nonconstant boundary conditions. The numerical results were compared with available test data. The basic trends of the analytical solution and the test data agreed quite well.

Description: The pantograph equation is a special type of functional differential equations with proportional delay. The present study introduces a compound technique incorporating the perturbation method with an iteration algorithm to solve numerically the delay differential equations of pantograph type. We put forward two types of algorithms, depending upon the order of derivatives in the Taylor series expansion. The crucial convenience of this method when compared with other perturbation methods is that this method does not require a small perturbation parameter. Furthermore, a relatively fast convergence of the iterations to the exact solutions and more accurate results can be achieved. Several illustrative examples are given to demonstrate the efficiency and reliability of the technique, even for nonlinear cases.

Description: The main goal of this paper is to study the motion of two associated ruled surfaces in Euclidean 3-space . In particular, the motion of Bishop Frenet offsets of ruled surfaces is investigated. Additionally, the characteristic properties for such ruled surfaces are given. Finally, an application is presented and plotted using computer aided geometric design.

Description: We complete the Solomon-Wilson-Alexiades’s mushy zone model (Solomon, 1982) for the one-phase Lamé-Clapeyron-Stefan problem by obtaining explicit solutions when a convective or heat flux boundary condition is imposed on the fixed face for a semi-infinite material. We also obtain the necessary and sufficient condition on data in order to get the explicit solutions for both cases which is new with respect to the original model. Moreover, when these conditions are satisfied, the two phase-change problems are equivalent to the same problem with a temperature boundary condition on the fixed face and therefore an inequality for the coefficient which characterized one of the two free interfaces of the model is also obtained.

Description: Weak convergence of semi-Markov processes in the diffusive approximation scheme is studied in the paper. This problem is not new and it is studied in many papers, using convergence of random processes. Unlike other studies, we used in this paper concept of the compensating operator. It enables getting sufficient conditions of weak convergence under the conditions on the local characteristics of output semi-Markov process.

Description: Steady flow of a couple-stress fluid in constricted tapered artery has been studied under the effects of transverse magnetic field, moving catheter, and slip velocity. With the help of Bessel’s functions, analytic expressions for axial velocity, flow rate, impedance, and wall shear stress have been obtained. It is of interest to note that these solutions can be used for different types of fluid flow in tubes and not only the case of blood. The effects of various geometric parameters, the parameters arising out of the fluid considered and the magnetic field, are discussed by considering the slip velocity, the catheter velocity, and tapering angle. The study of the above model is very important as it has direct applications in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

Description: In this work, we study the statistical properties of molecular systems of admixtures, which are placed in nanoscale volumes like cube or parallelepiped with impermeable surfaces on their walls. We simulate interactions of free motion of molecules of admixtures with molecules on the surfaces of walls: we modeled them in the form of atomic structure grid using SiO2 as a material. This type of substance allows us to take into account the manifestation of one of the important quantum effects: Casimir force. We used its general expression in terms of interaction energy, with the assumption of dependence on distance and projected area between atoms of the wall and atoms of the admixtures. To model surface roughness we used uniform random distribution function for surface heights (z coordinates). The results of computational experiments can be used to estimate the distribution of chemical bond lengths, valence, and dihedral angles lengths deviations in polyatomic molecules. Our model can be useful to determine the stable configuration properties of the system, to solve practical problems in the conditions of physical limitations of nanoscale devices, filtration of admixtures in highly dispersed systems, in the development of mechanisms in structures that have parallel plates or membranes, including porous structures. Also we compute radial distribution function for multicomponent admixtures including atoms of inert gases, water vapor, and ethanol. And we took into account the influence of Casimir force on admixtures for cube and parallelepiped type volumes. In results, we showed distributions of deviations of lengths from their equilibrium values.

Description: We prove the polynomial analogues of some Liouville identities from elementary number theory. Consequently several sums defined over the finite fields are evaluated by combining the results obtained and some of the results from sums of reciprocals of polynomials over .

Description: The nonlinear convective flow of Eyring-Powell nanofluid using Catteneo-Christov model with heat generation or absorption term and chemical reaction rate over nonlinear stretching surface is analyzed. The simultaneous nonlinear partial differential equations governing the boundary layer flow are transformed to the corresponding nonlinear ordinary differential equations using similarity solution and then solved using Galerkin finite element method (GFEM). The impacts of pertinent governing parameters like Brownian diffusion, thermophoresis, mixed convection, heat generation or absorption, chemical reaction rate, Deborah numbers, Prandtl number, magnetic field parameter, Lewis number, nonlinear stretching sheet, and Eyring-Powell fluid parameters on velocity field, temperature, and nanoparticle concentration are given in both figures and tabular form. The result shows that the rise in chemical reaction rate will improve mass transfer rate and reduce heat transfer rate and local buoyancy parameter has quit opposite effect. The attributes of local skin friction coefficient, Nusselt number, and Sheer wood number are investigated and validated with existing literatures.