1,720,986 research outputs found
Stability analysis of a state-dependent delay differential equation for cell maturation: analytical and numerical methods
Full text linkWe consider a mathematical model describing the maturation process of stem cells up to fully mature cells. The model is formulated as a differential equation with state-dependent delay, where maturity is described as a continuous variable. The maturation rate of cells may be regulated by the amount of mature cells and, moreover, it may depend on cell maturity: we investigate how the stability of equilibria is affected by the choice of the maturation rate. We show that the principle of linearised stability holds for this model, and develop some analytical methods for the investigation of characteristic equations for fixed delays. For a general maturation rate we resort to numerical methods and we extend the pseudospectral discretisation technique to approximate the state-dependent delay equation with a system of ordinary differential equations. This is the first application of the technique to nonlinear state-dependent delay equations, and currently the only method available for studying the stability of equilibria by means of established software packages for bifurcation analysis. The numerical method is validated on some cases when the maturation rate is independent of maturity and the model can be reformulated as a fixed-delay equation via a suitable time transformation. We exploit the analytical and numerical methods to investigate the stability boundary in parameter planes. Our study shows some drastic qualitative changes in the stability boundary under assumptions on the model parameters, which may have important biological implications.Peer reviewe
Bivariate collocation for computing R0 in epidemic models with two structures
Full text linkStructured epidemic models can be formulated as first-order hyperbolic PDEs, where the “spatial” variables represent individual traits, called structures. For models with two structures, we propose a numerical technique to approximate 0, which measures the transmissibility of an infectious disease and, rigorously, is defined as the dominant eigenvalue of a next generation operator. Via bivariate collocation and cubature on tensor grids, the latter is approximated with a finite-dimensional matrix, so that its dominant eigenvalue can easily be computed with standard techniques. We use test examples to investigate experimentally the behavior of the approximation: the convergence order appears to be infinite when the corresponding eigenfunction is smooth, and finite for less regular eigenfunctions. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the technique for more realistic applications, we present a new epidemic model structured by demographic age and immunity, and study the approximation of 0 in some particular cases of interest
A pseudospectral method for investigating the stability of linear population models with two physiological structures
Full text linkThe asymptotic stability of the null equilibrium of a linear population model
with two physiological structures formulated as a first-order hyperbolic PDE is
determined by the spectrum of its infinitesimal generator. We propose an
equivalent reformulation of the problem in the space of absolutely continuous
functions in the sense of Carath\'eodory, so that the domain of the
corresponding infinitesimal generator is defined by trivial boundary
conditions. Via bivariate collocation, we discretize the reformulated operator
as a finite-dimensional matrix, which can be used to approximate the spectrum
of the original infinitesimal generator. Finally, we provide test examples
illustrating the converging behavior of the approximated eigenvalues and
eigenfunctions, and its dependence on the regularity of the model coefficients
Numerical bifurcation analysis of renewal equations via pseudospectral approximation
Full text linkWe propose an approximation of nonlinear renewal equations by means of or- dinary differential equations. We consider the integrated state, which is absolutely continuous and satisfies a delay differential equation. By applying the pseudospec- tral approach to the abstract formulation of the differential equation, we obtain an approximating system of ordinary differential equations. We present convergence proofs for equilibria and the associated characteristic roots, and we use some models from ecology and epidemiology to illustrate the benefits of the approach to perform numerical bifurcation analyses of equilibria and periodic solutions. The numerical simulations show that the implementation of the new approximating system is ten times more efficient than the one originally proposed in [Breda et al, SIAM Journal on Applied Dynamical Systems, 2016], as it avoids the numerical inversion of an algebraic equation
Equations with infinite delay : Numerical bifurcation analysis via pseudospectral discretization
Full text linkWe address the problem of the numerical bifurcation analysis of general nonlinear delay equations, including integral and integro-differential equations, for which no software is currently available. Pseudospectral discretization is applied to the abstract reformulation of equations with infinite delay to obtain a finite dimensional system of ordinary differential equations, whose properties can be numerically studied with well-developed software. We explore the applicability of the method on some test problems and provide some numerical evidence of the convergence of the approximations.Peer reviewe
Numerical Bifurcation Analysis of Physiologically Structured Population Models via Pseudospectral Approximation
Full text linkPhysiologicallystructuredpopulationmodelsaretypicallyformulatedasapartial differential equation of transport type for the density, with a boundary condition describing the birth of new individuals. Here we develop numerical bifurcation methods by combin- ing pseudospectral approximate reduction to a finite dimensional system with the use of established tools for ODE. A key preparatory step is to view the density as the derivative of the cumulative distribution. To demonstrate the potential of the approach, we consider two classes of models: a size-structured model for waterfleas (Daphnia) and a maturity- structured model for cell proliferation. Using the package MatCont, we compute numer- ical bifurcation diagrams, like steady-state stability regions in a two-parameter plane and parametrized branches of equilibria and periodic solutions. Our rather positive conclusion is that a rather low dimension may yield a rather accurate diagram! In addition we show numerically that, for the two models considered here, equilibria of the approximating system converge to the true equilibrium as the dimension of the approximating system increases; this last result is also proved theoretically under some regularity conditions on the model ingredients
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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