The big cube small cube solution method for multidimensional facility location problems

In this paper we propose a general solution method for (non-differentiable) facility location problems with more than two variables as an extension of the Big Square Small Square technique (BSSS). We develop a general framework based on lower bounds and discarding tests for every location problem. We demonstrate our approach on three problems: the Fermat–Weber problem with positive and negative weights, the median circle problem, and the p-median problem. For each of these problems we show how to calculate lower bounds and discarding tests. Computational experiences are given which show that the proposed solution method is fast and exact.     

Minimality considerations for graph energy over a class of graphs

Let G be a graph on n vertices, and let CHP(G;λ) be the characteristic polynomial of its adjacency matrix A(G). All n roots of CHP(G;λ), denoted by , are called to be its eigenvalues. The energy E(G) of a graph G, is the sum of absolute values of all eigenvalues, namely, . Let be the set of n-vertex unicyclic graphs, the graphs with n vertices and n edges. A fully loaded unicyclic graph is a unicyclic graph taken from with the property that there exists no vertex with degree less than 3 in its unique cycle. Let be the set of fully loaded unicyclic graphs. In this article, the graphs in with minimal and second-minimal energies are uniquely determined, respectively.     

The -basis and implicitization of a rational parametric surface

The concept of a μ-basis was introduced in the case of parametrized curves in 1998 and generalized to the case of rational ruled surfaces in 2001. The μ-basis can be used to recover the parametric equation as well as to derive the implicit equation of a rational curve or surface. Furthermore, it can be used for surface reparametrization and computation of singular points. In this paper, we generalize the notion of a μ-basis to an arbitrary rational parametric surface. We show that: (1) the μ-basis of a rational surface always exists, the geometric significance of which is that any rational surface can be expressed as the intersection of three moving planes without extraneous factors; (2) the μ-basis is in fact a basis of the moving plane module of the rational surface; and (3) the μ-basis is a basis of the corresponding moving surface ideal of the rational surface when the base points are local complete intersections. As a by-product, a new algorithm is presented for computing the implicit equation of a rational surface from the μ-basis. Examples provide evidence that the new algorithm is superior than the traditional algorithm based on direct computation of a Gröbner basis. Problems for further research are also discussed.     

Existence of positive solutions for th-order singular superlinear boundary value problems

This paper investigates the existence of positive solutions for 2nth-order (n>1) singular superlinear boundary value problems. A necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of C²ⁿ⁻²[0,1] as well as C²ⁿ⁻¹[0,1] positive solutions is given by constructing a special cone and with the e-Norm.     

Triple positive solutions of a boundary value problem for nonlinear singular second-order differential equations of mixed type with -Laplacian

In this paper, we establish the existence of triple positive solutions of a two-point boundary value problem for the nonlinear singular second-order differential equations of mixed type with a p-Laplacian operator. We also demonstrate that the results obtained can be applied to study certain higher order mixed boundary value problems. Finally, an example is given to demonstrate the use of the main results of this paper.     

A double completion for an arbitrary -quasi-metric space

We present a conjugate invariant method for completing any T₀-quasi-metric space. The completion is built as an extension of the bicompletion of the original space. For balanced T₀-quasi-metric spaces our completion yields up to isometry the completion due to Doitchinov. The question which uniformly continuous maps between T₀-quasi-metric spaces can be extended to the constructed completions leads us to introduce and investigate a new class of maps, which we call balanced maps.     

Static and output-feedback of discrete-time LTI systems with state multiplicative noise

A parameter dependent approach for designing static output-feedback controller for linear time-invariant systems with state-multiplicative noise is introduced which achieves a minimum bound on either the stochastic H₂ or the H_∞ performance levels. A solution is obtained also for the case where, in addition to the stochastic parameters, the system matrices reside in a given polytope. In this case, a parameter dependent Lyapunov function is described which enables the derivation of the required constant feedback gain via a solution of a set of linear matrix inequalities that correspond to the vertices of the uncertainty polytope.The stochastic parameters appear in both the dynamics and the input matrices of the state space model of the system. The problems are solved using the expected value of the standard performance indices over the stochastic parameters. The theory developed is demonstrated by a simple example.     

Existence and uniqueness theorems for fourth-order singular boundary value problems

By constructing a special cone and using cone compression and expansion fixed point theorem, the existence and uniqueness are established for the following singular fourth-order boundary value problems:

where f(t,x,y) may be singular at t=0,1; x=0 and y=0.     

Simultaneous stabilization of a set of nonlinear port-controlled Hamiltonian systems

This paper investigates simultaneous stabilization of a set of nonlinear port-controlled Hamiltonian (PCH) systems and proposes a number of results on the design of simultaneous stabilization controllers for the PCH systems. Firstly, the case of two PCH systems is studied. Using the dissipative Hamiltonian structural properties, the two systems are combined to generate an augmented PCH system, with which some results on the control design are then obtained. For the case that there exist parametric uncertainties in the two systems’ Hamiltonian structures, an adaptive simultaneous stabilization controller is proposed. When there are external disturbances and parametric uncertainties in the two systems, two simultaneous stabilization controllers are designed for the systems: one is a robust controller and the other is a robust adaptive one. Secondly, the case of more than two PCH systems is investigated, and a new result is proposed for the simultaneous stabilization of the systems. Finally, two illustrative examples are studied by using the results proposed in this paper. Simulations show that the simultaneous stabilization controllers obtained in this paper work very well.     

Strong convergence theorems for a new iterative method of -strictly pseudo-contractive mappings in Hilbert spaces

In this paper, we introduce a new iterative method of a k-strictly pseudo-contractive mapping for some 0≤k<1 and prove that the sequence {x_n} converges strongly to a fixed point of T, which solves a variational inequality related to the linear operator A. Our results have extended and improved the corresponding results of Y.J. Cho, S.M. Kang and X. Qin [Some results on k-strictly pseudo-contractive mappings in Hilbert spaces, Nonlinear Anal. 70 (2008) 1956–1964], and many others.     

-admissibility of the right-shift semigroup on

It is shown that the right-shift semigroup on does not satisfy the weighted Weiss conjecture for α(0,1). In other words, α-admissibility of scalar valued observation operators cannot always be characterised by a simple resolvent growth condition. This result is in contrast to the unweighted case, where 0-admissibility can be characterised by a simple growth bound. The result is proved by providing a link between discrete and continuous α-admissibility and then translating a counterexample for the unilateral shift on to continuous time systems.     

A class of iterative methods for solving nonsymmetric algebraic Riccati equations arising in transport theory

In this paper, we consider the nonsymmetric algebraic Riccati equation arising in transport theory. An important feature of this equation is that its minimal positive solution can be obtained via computing the minimal positive solution of a vector equation. We propose a class of iterative methods to solve the vector equation. The convergence analysis shows that the sequence of vectors generated by iterative methods with two kinds of specific iterative matrices is monotonically increasing and converges to the minimal positive solution of the vector equation. Numerical experiments show that the new methods outperform the modified simple iterative method and Newton’s method.     

Simultaneous LQ control of a set of LTI systems using constrained generalized sampled-data hold functions

In this paper, sampled-data control of a set of continuous-time LTI systems is considered. It is assumed that a predefined guaranteed continuous-time quadratic cost function, which is, in fact, the sum of the performance indices for all systems, is given. The main objective here is to design a decentralized periodic output feedback controller with a prespecified form, e.g., polynomial, piecewise constant, exponential, etc., which minimizes the above mentioned guaranteed cost function. This problem is first formulated as a set of matrix inequalities, and then by using a well-known technique, it is reformulated as a LMI problem. The set of linear matrix inequalities obtained provides necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a decentralized optimal simultaneous stabilizing controller with the prespecified form (rather than a general form). Moreover, an algorithm is presented to solve the resultant LMI problem. Finally, the efficiency of the proposed method is demonstrated in two numerical examples.     

Powers in a class of -strict standard episturmian words

This paper concerns a specific class of strict standard episturmian words whose directive words resemble those of characteristic Sturmian words. In particular, we explicitly determine all integer powers occurring in such infinite words, extending recent results of Damanik and Lenz [D. Damanik, D. Lenz, Powers in Sturmian sequences, European J. Combin. 24 (2003) 377–390, doi:10.1016/S0195-6698(03)00026-X], who studied powers in Sturmian words. The key tools in our analysis are canonical decompositions and a generalization of singular words, which were originally defined for the ubiquitous Fibonacci word. Our main results are demonstrated via some examples, including the k-bonacci word, a generalization of the Fibonacci word to a k-letter alphabet (k≥2).     

Fuzzy Bayesian validation for cluster analysis of yeast cell-cycle data

Clustering for the analysis of the genes organizes the patterns into groups by the similarity of the dataset and has been used for identifying the functions of the genes in the cluster and analyzing the functions of unknown genes. Since the genes usually belong to multiple functional families, fuzzy clustering methods are more appropriate than the conventional hard clustering methods which assign a sample to only one group. In this paper, a Bayesian-like validation method selecting a fuzzy partition is proposed to evaluate the fuzzy partitions effectively. The theoretical interpretation of the obtained memberships is beyond the scope of this paper, and an empirical evaluation of the proposed method is conducted by comparing to the four representative conventional fuzzy cluster validity measures in four well-known datasets. Analysis of yeast cell-cycle data follows to evaluate the proposed method.     

An involute spiral that matches Hermite data in the plane

A construction is given for a planar rational Pythagorean hodograph spiral, which interpolates any two-point G² Hermite data that a spiral can match. When the curvature at one of the points is zero, the construction gives the unique interpolant that is an involute of a rational Pythagorean hodograph curve of the form cubic over linear. Otherwise, the spiral comprises an involute of a Tschirnhausen cubic together with at most two circular arcs. The construction is by explicit formulas in the first case, and requires the solution of a quadratic equation in the second case.     

Improved upper bounds on the L(2,1) -labeling of the skew and converse skew product graphs

An L(2,1)-labeling of a graph G is a function f from the vertex set V(G) to the set of all nonnegative integers such that |f(x)−f(y)|≥2 if d(x,y)=1 and |f(x)−f(y)|≥1 if d(x,y)=2, where d(x,y) denotes the distance between x and y in G. The L(2,1)-labeling number λ(G) of G is the smallest number k such that G has an L(2,1)-labeling with max{f(v):vV(G)}=k. Griggs and Yeh conjecture that λ(G)≤Δ² for any simple graph with maximum degree Δ≥2. This paper considers the graph formed by the skew product and the converse skew product of two graphs with a new approach on the analysis of adjacency matrices of the graphs as in [W.C. Shiu, Z. Shao, K.K. Poon, D. Zhang, A new approach to the L(2,1)-labeling of some products of graphs, IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. II: Express Briefs (to appear)] and improves the previous upper bounds significantly.     

Observers for a class of Lipschitz systems with extension to performance analysis

In this paper, observer design for a class of Lipschitz nonlinear dynamical systems is investigated. One of the main contributions lies in the use of the differential mean value theorem (DMVT) which allows transforming the nonlinear error dynamics into a linear parameter varying (LPV) system. This has the advantage of introducing a general Lipschitz-like condition on the Jacobian matrix for differentiable systems. To ensure asymptotic convergence, in both continuous and discrete time systems, such sufficient conditions expressed in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) are established. An extension to H_∞ filtering design is obtained also for systems with nonlinear outputs. A comparison with respect to the observer method of Gauthier et al. [A simple observer for nonlinear systems. Applications to bioreactors, IEEE Trans. Automat. Control 37(6) (1992) 875–880] is presented to show that the proposed approach avoids high gain for a class of triangular globally Lipschitz systems. In the last section, academic examples are given to show the performances and some limits of the proposed approach. The last example is introduced with the goal to illustrate good performances on robustness to measurement errors by avoiding high gain.     

Assembling curvature continuous surfaces from triangular patches

We assemble triangular patches of total degree at most eight to form a curvature continuous surface. The construction illustrates how separation of local shape from representation and formal continuity yields an effective construction paradigm in partly underconstrained scenarios. The approach localizes the technical challenges and applies the spline approach, i.e. keeping the degree fixed but increasing the number of pieces, to deal with increased complexity when many patches join at a central point.     

Dual periodicity in -norm minimisation problems

The topic of this paper is the discrete-time l₁-norm minimisation problem with convolution constraints. We find primal initial conditions for which the dual optimal solution is periodic. Periodicity of the dual optimal solution implies satisfaction of a simple linear recurrence relation by the primal optimal solution.