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Technical diagnosis’ current trends are connected to application of FEM computer simulation, which allows, to some extent, replace real experiments, reduce costs for investigation and minimize risks. Computer simulation, just at the stage of research and development, allows carrying out of diagnostics of equipment to detect permissible fluctuations of parameters of equipment’s work. Peculiarity of diagnosis of rolling equipment is that functioning of rolling equipment is directly tied with manufacturing of product with required quality, including accuracy. At that design of techniques of technical diagnosis and diagnostical modelling is very important. Computer simulation of cold rolling of strip was carried out. At that upper working roll was doing vibrations in horizontal direction according with published data of experiments on continuous 1700 rolling mill. Vibration of working roll in a stand appeared due to gap between roll’s craft and guide in a stand and led to periodical fluctuations of strip’s thickness. After computer simulation with the help of DEFORM software strip with longitudinal and transversal thickness variation was gotten. Visualization of strip’s geometrical parameters, according with simulation data, corresponded to type of inhomogeneity of surface of strip rolled in real. Further analysis of thickness variation was done in order to identify, on the basis of simulation, sources of periodical components of strip’s thickness, whose reasons are malfunctions of equipment. Advantage of computer simulation while searching the sources of forming of thickness variation is that different hypothesis concerning thickness formations may be tested without conducting real experiments and costs of different types may be reduced. Moreover, while simulation, initial strip’s thickness will not have fluctuations as opposed to industrial or laboratorial experiments. On the basis of spectral analysis of random process, it was established that frequency of changing of strip’s thickness after rolling in one stand coincides with frequency of working roll’s vibration. Results of computer simulation correlate with results of the researches for 1700 mill. Therefore, opportunity to apply computer simulation to find reasons of formation of thickness variation of strip on the industrial rolling mill is shown.

Bioenergetic regularities determining the maximal biomass yield in aerobic microbial growth on various substrates have been considered. The approach is based on the method of mass-energy balance and application of GenMetPath computer program package. An equation system describing the balances of quantities of 1) metabolite reductivity and 2) high-energy bonds formed and expended has been formulated. In order to formulate the system, the whole metabolism is subdivided into constructive and energetic partial metabolisms. The constructive metabolism is, in turn, subdivided into two parts: forward and standard. The latter subdivision is based on the choice of nodal metabolites. The forward constructive metabolism is substantially dependent on growth substrate: it converts the substrate into the standard set of nodal metabolites. The latter is, then, converted into biomass macromolecules by the standard constructive metabolism which is the same on various substrates. Variations of flows via nodal metabolites are shown to exert minor effects on the standard constructive metabolism. As a separate case, the growth on substrates requiring the participation of oxygenases and/or oxidase is considered. The bioenergetic characteristics of the standard constructive metabolism are found from a large amount of data for the growth of various organisms on glucose. The described approach can be used for prediction of biomass growth yield on substrates with known reactions of their primary metabolization. As an example, the growth of a yeast culture on ethanol has been considered. The value of maximal growth yield predicted by the method described here showed very good consistency with the value found experimentally.

In this paper, we proposed a two-dimensional chemo-mechanical model of the growth of invasive carcinoma in epithelial tissue. Each cell is modeled by an elastic polygon, changing its shape and size under the influence of pressure forces acting from the tissue. The average size and shape of the cells have been calibrated on the basis of experimental data. The model allows to describe the dynamic deformations in epithelial tissue as a collective evolution of cells interacting through the exchange of mechanical and chemical signals. The general direction of tumor growth is controlled by a pre-established linear gradient of nutrient concentration. Growth and deformation of the tissue occurs due to the mechanisms of cell division and intercalation. We assume that carcinoma has a heterogeneous structure made up of cells of different phenotypes that perform various functions in the tumor. The main parameter that determines the phenotype of a cell is the degree of its adhesion to the adjacent cells. Three main phenotypes of cancer cells are distinguished: the epithelial (E) phenotype is represented by internal tumor cells, the mesenchymal (M) phenotype is represented by single cells and the intermediate phenotype is represented by the frontal tumor cells. We assume also that the phenotype of each cell under certain conditions can change dynamically due to epithelial-mesenchymal (EM) and inverse (ME) transitions. As for normal cells, we define the main E-phenotype, which is represented by ordinary cells with strong adhesion to each other. In addition, the normal cells that are adjacent to the tumor undergo a forced EM-transition and form an M-phenotype of healthy cells. Numerical simulations have shown that, depending on the values of the control parameters as well as a combination of possible phenotypes of healthy and cancer cells, the evolution of the tumor can result in a variety of cancer structures reflecting the self-organization of tumor cells of different phenotypes. We compare the structures obtained numerically with the morphological structures revealed in clinical studies of breast carcinoma: trabecular, solid, tubular, alveolar and discrete tumor structures with ameboid migration. The possible scenario of morphogenesis for each structure is discussed. We describe also the metastatic process during which a single cancer cell of ameboid phenotype moves due to intercalation in healthy epithelial tissue, then divides and undergoes a ME transition with the appearance of a secondary tumor.

A critical analysis of existing approaches, methods and models to solve the problem of financial resources operational management has been carried out in the article. A number of significant shortcomings of the presented models were identified, limiting the scope of their effective usage. There are a static nature of the models, probabilistic nature of financial flows are not taken into account, daily amounts of receivables and payables that significantly affect the solvency and liquidity of the company are not identified. This necessitates the development of a new model that reflects the essential properties of the planning financial flows system — stochasticity, dynamism, non-stationarity.

The model for the financial flows distribution has been developed. It bases on the principles of optimal dynamic control and provides financial resources planning ensuring an adequate level of liquidity and solvency of a company and concern initial data uncertainty. The algorithm for designing the objective cash balance, based on principles of a companies’ financial stability ensuring under changing financial constraints, is proposed.

Characteristic of the proposed model is the presentation of the cash distribution process in the form of a discrete dynamic process, for which a plan for financial resources allocation is determined, ensuring the extremum of an optimality criterion. Designing of such plan is based on the coordination of payments (cash expenses) with the cash receipts. This approach allows to synthesize different plans that differ in combinations of financial outflows, and then to select the best one according to a given criterion. The minimum total costs associated with the payment of fines for non-timely financing of expenses were taken as the optimality criterion. Restrictions in the model are the requirement to ensure the minimum allowable cash balances for the subperiods of the planning period, as well as the obligation to make payments during the planning period, taking into account the maturity of these payments. The suggested model with a high degree of efficiency allows to solve the problem of financial resources distribution under uncertainty over time and receipts, coordination of funds inflows and outflows. The practical significance of the research is in developed model application, allowing to improve the financial planning quality, to increase the management efficiency and operational efficiency of a company.

The biomass growth yield is the ratio of the newly synthesized substance of growing cells to the amount of the consumed substrate, the source of matter and energy for cell growth. The yield is a characteristic of the efficiency of substrate conversion to cell biomass. The conversion is carried out by the cell metabolism, which is a complete aggregate of biochemical reactions occurring in the cells.

This work newly considers the problem of maximal cell growth yield prediction basing on balances of the whole living cell metabolism and its fragments called as partial metabolisms (PM). The following PM’s are used for the present consideration. During growth on any substrate we consider i) the standard constructive metabolism (SCM) which consists of identical pathways during growth of various organisms on any substrate. SCM starts from several standard compounds (nodal metabolites): glucose, acetyl-CoA 2-oxoglutarate, erythrose-4-phosphate, oxaloacetate, ribose-5- phosphate, 3-phosphoglycerate, phosphoenolpyruvate, and pyruvate, and ii) the full forward metabolism (FM) — the remaining part of the whole metabolism. The first one consumes high-energy bonds (HEB) formed by the second one. In this work we examine a generalized variant of the FM, when the possible presence of extracellular products, as well as the possibilities of both aerobic and anaerobic growth are taken into account. Instead of separate balances of each nodal metabolite formation as it was made in our previous work, this work deals at once with the whole aggregate of these metabolites. This makes the problem solution more compact and requiring a smaller number of biochemical quantities and substantially less computational time. An equation expressing the maximal biomass yield via specific amounts of HEB formed and consumed by the partial metabolisms has been derived. It includes the specific HEB consumption by SCM which is a universal biochemical parameter applicable to the wide range of organisms and growth substrates. To correctly determine this parameter, the full constructive metabolism and its forward part are considered for the growth of cells on glucose as the mostly studied substrate. We used here the found earlier properties of the elemental composition of lipid and lipid-free fractions of cell biomass. Numerical study of the effect of various interrelations between flows via different nodal metabolites has been made. It showed that the requirements of the SCM in high-energy bonds and NAD(P)H are practically constants. The found HEB-to-formed-biomass coefficient is an efficient tool for finding estimates of maximal biomass yield from substrates for which the primary metabolism is known. Calculation of ATP-to-substrate ratio necessary for the yield estimation has been made using the special computer program package, GenMetPath.

Problems of multiple covering ($k$-covering) of a bounded set $G$ with equal circles of a given radius are well known. They are thoroughly studied under the assumption that $G$ is a finite set. There are several papers concerned with studying this problem in the case where $G$ is a connected set. In this paper, we study the problem of minimizing the number of circles that form a $k$-covering, $k \geqslant 1$, provided that $G$ is a bounded convex plane domain.

For the above-mentioned problem, we state a 0-1 linear model, a general integer linear model, and a nonlinear model, imposing a constraint on the minimum distance between the centers of covering circles. The latter constraint is due to the fact that in practice one can place at most one device at each point. We establish necessary and sufficient solvability conditions for the linear models and describe one (easily realizable) variant of these conditions in the case where the covered set $G$ is a rectangle.

We propose some methods for finding an approximate number of circles of a given radius that provide the desired $k$-covering of the set $G$, both with and without constraints on distances between the circles’ centers. We treat the calculated values as approximate upper bounds for the number of circles. We also propose a technique that allows one to get approximate lower bounds for the number of circles that is necessary for providing a $k$-covering of the set $G$. In the general linear model, as distinct from the 0-1 linear model, we require no additional constraint. The difference between the upper and lower bounds for the number of circles characterizes the quality (acceptability) of the constructed $k$-covering.

We state a nonlinear mathematical model for the $k$-covering problem with the above-mentioned constraints imposed on distances between the centers of covering circles. For this model, we propose an algorithm which (in certain cases) allows one to find more exact solutions to covering problems than those calculated from linear models.

For implementing the proposed approach, we have developed computer programs and performed numerical experiments. Results of numerical experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the method.

Metal hydrides are an interesting class of chemical compounds that can reversibly bind a large amount of hydrogen and are, therefore, of interest for energy applications. Understanding the factors affecting the kinetics of hydride formation and decomposition is especially important. Features of the material, experimental setup and conditions affect the mathematical description of the processes, which can undergo significant changes during the processing of experimental data. The article proposes a general approach to numerical modeling of the formation and decomposition of metal hydrides and solving inverse problems of estimating material parameters from measurement data. The models are divided into two classes: diffusive ones, that take into account the gradient of hydrogen concentration in the metal lattice, and models with fast diffusion. The former are more complex and take the form of non-classical boundary value problems of parabolic type. A rather general approach to the grid solution of such problems is described. The second ones are solved relatively simply, but can change greatly when model assumptions change. Our experience in processing experimental data shows that a flexible software tool is needed; a tool that allows, on the one hand, building models from standard blocks, freely changing them if necessary, and, on the other hand, avoiding the implementation of routine algorithms. It also should be adapted for high-performance systems of different paradigms. These conditions are satisfied by the HIMICOS library presented in the paper, which has been tested on a large number of experimental data. It allows simulating the kinetics of formation and decomposition of metal hydrides, as well as related tasks, at three levels of abstraction. At the low level, the user defines the interface procedures, such as calculating the time layer based on the previous layer or the entire history, calculating the observed value and the independent variable from the task variables, comparing the curve with the reference. Special algorithms can be used for solving quite general parabolic-type boundary value problems with free boundaries and with various quasilinear (i.e., linear with respect to the derivative only) boundary conditions, as well as calculating the distance between the curves in different metric spaces and with different normalization. This is the middle level of abstraction. At the high level, it is enough to choose a ready tested model for a particular material and modify it in relation to the experimental conditions.

Working memory mechanisms in spiking neural networks consisting of leaky integrate-and-fire neurons with adaptive threshold and synaptic plasticity are studied in this work. Moderate size networks including thousands of neurons were explored. Working memory is a network ability to keep in its state the information about recent stimuli presented to the network such that this information is sufficient to determine which stimulus has been presented. In this study, network state is defined as the current characteristics of network activity only — without internal state of its neurons. In order to discover the neuronal structures serving as a possible substrate of the memory mechanism, optimization of the network parameters and structure using genetic algorithm was carried out. Two kinds of neuronal structures with the desired properties were found. These are neuron pairs mutually connected by strong synaptic links and long tree-like neuronal ensembles. It was shown that only the neuron pairs are suitable for efficient and reliable implementation of working memory. Properties of such memory units and structures formed by them are explored in the present study. It is shown that characteristics of the studied two-neuron memory units can be set easily by the respective choice of the parameters of its neurons and synaptic connections. Besides that, this work demonstrates that ensembles of these structures can provide the network with capability of unsupervised learning to recognize patterns in the input signal.

Our purpose is to study the spatio-temporal population wave behavior observed in the predator-prey system. It is assumed that predators move both directionally and randomly, and prey spread only diffusely. The model does not take into account demographic processes in the predator population; it’s total number is constant and is a parameter. The variables of the model are the prey and predator densities and the predator speed, which are connected by a system of three reaction – diffusion – advection equations. The system is considered on an annular range, that is the periodic conditions are set at the boundaries of the interval. We have studied the bifurcations of wave modes arising in the system when two parameters are changed — the total number of predators and their taxis acceleration coefficient.

The main research method is a numerical analysis. The spatial approximation of the problem in partial derivatives is performed by the finite difference method. Integration of the obtained system of ordinary differential equations in time is carried out by the Runge –Kutta method. The construction of the Poincare map, calculation of Lyapunov exponents, and Fourier analysis are used for a qualitative analysis of dynamic regimes.

It is shown that, population waves can arise as a result of existence of directional movement of predators. The population dynamics in the system changes qualitatively as the total predator number increases. А stationary homogeneous regime is stable at low value of parameter, then it is replaced by self-oscillations in the form of traveling waves. The waveform becomes more complicated as the bifurcation parameter increases; its complexity occurs due to an increase in the number of temporal vibrational modes. A large taxis acceleration coefficient leads to the possibility of a transition from multi-frequency to chaotic and hyperchaotic population waves. A stationary regime without preys becomes stable with a large number of predators.

This work analyzes the problem of traffic signs recognition in intelligent transport systems. The basic concepts of computer vision and image recognition tasks are considered. The most effective approach for solving the problem of analyzing and recognizing images now is the neural network method. Among all kinds of neural networks, the convolutional neural network has proven itself best. Activation functions such as Relu and SoftMax are used to solve the classification problem when recognizing traffic signs. This article proposes a technology for recognizing traffic signs. The choice of an approach for solving the problem based on a convolutional neural network due to the ability to effectively solve the problem of identifying essential features and classification. The initial data for the neural network model were prepared and a training sample was formed. The Google Colaboratory cloud service with the external libraries for deep learning TensorFlow and Keras was used as a platform for the intelligent system development. The convolutional part of the network is designed to highlight characteristic features in the image. The first layer includes 512 neurons with the Relu activation function. Then there is the Dropout layer, which is used to reduce the effect of overfitting the network. The output fully connected layer includes four neurons, which corresponds to the problem of recognizing four types of traffic signs. An intelligent traffic sign recognition system has been developed and tested. The used convolutional neural network included four stages of convolution and subsampling. Evaluation of the efficiency of the traffic sign recognition system using the three-block cross-validation method showed that the error of the neural network model is minimal, therefore, in most cases, new images will be recognized correctly. In addition, the model has no errors of the first kind, and the error of the second kind has a low value and only when the input image is very noisy.