In this paper, we discuss MDP-the moment optimal problem for the first-passage model. A policy improvement iteration algorithm is given for finding the k-moment optimal stationary policy.

This paper presents a method for the inverse fractional matching problem. We show that the dual of this inverse problem can be transformed into the circulation flow problem on a directed bipartite graph which can be solved easily. We also give an algorithm to obtain the primal optimum solution of the inverse problem from its dual optimum solution by solving a shortest path problem. Furthermore, we generalize this method to solve the inverse symmetric transportation problem.

In a recent paper estimates of the solutions of two nonlinear differential equations were made by use of the hypercircie method. Here exact solutions are given which are compared with those estimates.

We investigate the perturbation of the palindromic eigenvalue problem for the matrix quadratic with A0,A1∈𝒞n×n and (where or H). The perturbation of eigenvalues in the context of general matrix polynomials, palindromic pencils, (semi-Schur) anti-triangular canonical forms and differentiation is discussed.

In 1984, Elliott and Stenger wrote a joint paper on the approximation of Hilbert transforms over analytic arcs. In the present paper we sharpen the previously obtained results of Elliott and Stenger, and we also obtain formulas for approximating Cauchy integrals over analytic arcs.

We analyse a nonlinear hierarchical size-structured population model with time-dependent individual vital rates. The existence and uniqueness of nonnegative solutions to the model are shown via a comparison principle. Our investigation extends some results in the literature.

The Kohlrausch functions $\exp (- {t}^{\beta } )$, with $\beta \in (0, 1)$, which are important in a wide range of physical, chemical and biological applications, correspond to specific realizations of completely monotone functions. In this paper, using nonuniform grids and midpoint estimates, constructive procedures are formulated and analysed for the Kohlrausch functions. Sharper estimates are discussed to improve the approximation results. Numerical results and representative approximations are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

This paper is concerned with robustness with respect to small delays for the exponential stability of abstract differential equations in Banach spaces. Some necessary and sufficient conditions are given in terms of the uniformly square integrability of the fundamental operator family and the uniform boundedness of its resolvent on the imaginary axis.

The influence of thermal buoyancy on neutral wave modes in Poiseuille-Couette flow is considered. We examine the modifications to the asymptotic structure first described by Mureithi, Denier & Stott [16], who demonstrated that neutral wave modes in a strongly thermally stratified boundary layer are localized at the position where the streamwise velocity attains its maximum value. The present work demonstrates that such a flow structure also holds for Poiseuille-Couette flow but that a new flow structure emerges as the position of maximum velocity approaches the wall (and which occurs as the level of shear, present as a consequence of the Couette component of the flow, is increased). The limiting behaviour of these wave modes is discussed thereby allowing us to identify the parameter regime appropriate to the eventual restabilization of the flow at moderate levels of shear.

Some corrections of error bounds obtained by Chatelin and Lemordant for the first three terms of the asymptotic case of a strong approximation are given. The error bounds for the approximations of order 2 in the Galerkin method are compared with the Rayleigh quotients constructed with the eigenvectors in the Sloan method. A numerical experiment is also carried out.

In this paper we present a Kaleckian-type model of a business cycle based on a nonlinear delay differential equation. A numerical algorithm based on a decomposition scheme is implemented for the approximate solution of the model. The numerical results of the underlying equation show that the business cycle is stable.

A simple rigorous approach is given to finding boundary conditions for the adjoint differential equation in an optimal control problem. The boundary conditions for a time-optimal problem are calculated from the simpler conditions for a fixed-time problem.

We consider here pulsatile flow in circular tubes of varying cross-section with permeable walls. The fluid exchange across the wall is accounted for by prescribing the normal velocity of the fluid at the wall. A perturbation analysis has been carried out for low Reynolds number flows and for small amplitudes of oscillation. It has been observed that the magnitude of the wall shear stress and the pressure drop decrease as the suction velocity increases. Further, as the Reynolds number is increased, the magnitude of wall shear stress increases in the convergent portion and decreases in the divergent portion of a constricted tube.

A variety of approaches have been developed for the detection of features such as edges, lines, and corners in images. Many techniques presuppose the feature type, such as a step edge, and use the differential properties of the luminance function to detect the location of such features. The local energy model provides an alternative approach, detecting a variety of feature types in a single pass by analysing order in the phase components of the Fourier transform of the image. The local energy model is usually implemented by calculating the envelope of the analytic signal associated with the image function. Here we analyse the accuracy of such an implementation, and show that in certain cases the feature location is only approximately given by the local energy model. Orientation selectivity is another aspect of the local energy model, and we show that a feature is only correctly located at a peak of the local energy function when local energy has a zero gradient in two orthogonal directions at the peak point.

An iteration scheme previously obtained by the author is used to study the dependence of criticality on initial data and the parameters in a combustion problem. Numerical results are presented for a slab, a cylinder and a sphere. These are compared with the results of previous workers.

A method for determining the upper and lower bounds for performance measures for certain types of Generalised Semi-Markov Processes has been described in Taylor and Coyle [8]. A brief description of this method and its use in finding an upper bound for the time congestion of a GI/M/n/n queueing system will be given. This bound turns out to have a simple form which is quickly calculated and easy to use in practice.

This paper examines the role of import tariffs and consumption taxes when a product is supplied to a domestic market by a foreign monopoly via a subsidiary. It is assumed that there is no competition in the domestic market from internal suppliers. The home country is able to levy a profits tax on the subsidiary; the objective of our analysis is to determine the levels of tariff or consumption tax which maximise national welfare. Comparisons are made under the two alternative policies from the perspectives of national welfare, total national cost and average national cost. The major policy implication of the analysis is that a consumption tax is the more effective instrument for maximising national welfare provided the profits tax is less than a certain critical value; if the profits tax exceeds this value then a tariff, though in the form of a subsidy, is the most effective instrument. Our results complement, correct and extend an earlier analysis by Katrak (1977) [6].

The constancy in time of the ratio of unidirectional tracer fluxes, passing in opposite directions through a membrane that has transport properties varying arbitrarily with the distance from a boundary face, has been established recently for successively more sophisticated mathematical models of tracer transport within the membrane. Such results are important in that, when constancy is not observed experimentally, inferences can be drawn about the dimensionality of distributions of transport properties of the membrane. The known theoretical results are shown here to follow from much more general theorems, valid for a wide class of models based on linear-operator equations, including elliptic and hyperbolic partial differential equations as well as the essentially parabolic equations of interest in membrane transport problems. These theorems have the general character of “reciprocity theorems” known for a long time in other areas, such as mechanics, acoustics and elasticity. The general results obtained here clarify the conditions on membrane properties under which constancy of a flux ratio can be expected. In addition, flux ratio theorems of a new type are proved to hold under suitable conditions, for the normal components of flux vectors at points on either side of a membrane, as distinct from previously established theorems for total fluxes through membrane faces. Possible new experiments are suggested by the analysis.

Two generalised shallow-shell bending elements are developed for the analysis of doubly-curved shallow shells having arbitrarily shaped plan-forms. Although both elements are formulated using the concept of iso-deflection contour lines, one element uses the three displacement components U, V and W as the basic unknowns, while the displacement component W and the stress function ф serve as the unknowns in the other element. A number of illustrative examples are included to demonstrate the accuracy and relative convergence of the proposed shallow-shell elements when employed for static analysis purposes.

We consider a bilinear optimal control problem for a von Kármán plate equation. The control is a function of the spatial variables and acts as a multiplier of the velocity term. We first state the existence of solutions for the von Kármán equation and then derive optimality conditions for a given objective functional. Finally, we show the uniqueness of the optimal control.