All issues

Base long-term modern scenarios of hydrochemical and temperature regimes of the Sea of Azov were considered. New schemes of modeling mechanisms of algal adaptation to changes in the hydrochemical regime and temperature were proposed. In comparison to the traditional ecological-evolutionary schemes, these models have a relatively small dimension, high speed and allow carrying out various calculations on long-term perspective (evolutionally significant times). Based on the ecology-evolutionary model of the lower trophic levels the impact of these environmental factors on the dynamics and microevolution of algae in the Sea of Azov was estimated. In each scenario, the calculations were made for 100 years, with the final values of the variables and parameters not depending on the choice of the initial values. In the process of such asymptotic computer analysis, it was found that as a result of climate warming and temperature adaptation of organisms, the average annual biomass of thermophilic algae (Pyrrophyta and Cyanophyta) naturally increases. However, for a number of diatom algae (Bacillariophyta), even with their temperature adaptation, the average annual biomass may unexpectedly decrease. Probably, this phenomenon is associated with a toughening of competition between species with close temperature parameters of existence. The influence of the variation in the chemical composition of the Don River’s flow on the dynamics of nutrients and algae of the Sea of Azov was also investigated. It turned out that the ratio of organic forms of nitrogen and phosphorus in sea waters varies little. This stabilization phenomenon will take place for all high-productive reservoirs with low flow, due to autochthonous origin of larger part of organic matter in water bodies of this type.

The article shows the relevance of research work in the field of creating control systems for unmanned vehicles based on computer vision technologies. Computer vision tools are used to solve a large number of different tasks, including to determine the location of the car, detect obstacles, determine a suitable parking space. These tasks are resource intensive and have to be performed in real time. Therefore, it is important to develop effective models, methods and tools that ensure the achievement of the required time and accuracy for use in unmanned vehicle control systems. In this case, the choice of the image representation model is important. In this paper, we consider a model based on the wavelet transform, which makes it possible to form features characterizing the energy estimates of the image points and reflecting their significance from the point of view of the contribution to the overall image energy. To form a model of energy characteristics, a procedure is performed based on taking into account the dependencies between the wavelet coefficients of various levels and the application of heuristic adjustment factors for strengthening or weakening the influence of boundary and interior points. On the basis of the proposed model, it is possible to construct descriptions of images their characteristic features for isolating and analyzing, including for isolating contours, regions, and singular points. The effectiveness of the proposed approach to image analysis is due to the fact that the objects in question, such as road signs, road markings or car numbers that need to be detected and identified, are characterized by the relevant features. In addition, the use of wavelet transforms allows to perform the same basic operations to solve a set of tasks in onboard unmanned vehicle systems, including for tasks of primary processing, segmentation, description, recognition and compression of images. The such unified approach application will allow to reduce the time for performing all procedures and to reduce the requirements for computing resources of the on-board system of an unmanned vehicle.

Changes in abundance for emerging populations can develop according to several dynamic scenarios. After rapid biological invasions, the time factor for the development of a reaction from the biotic environment will become important. There are two classic experiments known in history with different endings of the confrontation of biological species. In Gause’s experiments with ciliates, the infused predator, after brief oscillations, completely destroyed its resource, so its $r$-parameter became excessive for new conditions. Its own reproductive activity was not regulated by additional factors and, as a result, became critical for the invader. In the experiments of the entomologist Uchida with parasitic wasps and their prey beetles, all species coexisted. In a situation where a population with a high reproductive potential is regulated by several natural enemies, interesting dynamic effects can occur that have been observed in phytophages in an evergreen forest in Australia. The competing parasitic hymenoptera create a delayed regulation system for rapidly multiplying psyllid pests, where a rapid increase in the psyllid population is allowed until the pest reaches its maximum number. A short maximum is followed by a rapid decline in numbers, but minimization does not become critical for the population. The paper proposes a phenomenological model based on a differential equation with a delay, which describes a scenario of adaptive regulation for a population with a high reproductive potential with an active, but with a delayed reaction with a threshold regulation of exposure. It is shown that the complication of the regulation function of biotic resistance in the model leads to the stabilization of the dynamics after the passage of the minimum number by the rapidly breeding species. For a flexible system, transitional regimes of growth and crisis lead to the search for a new equilibrium in the evolutionary confrontation.

The background social strain of a society can be quantitatively estimated using various statistical indicators. Mathematical models, allowing to forecast the dynamics of social strain, are successful in describing various social processes. If the number of interacting groups is small, the dynamics of the corresponding indicators can be modelled with a system of ordinary differential equations. The increase in the number of interacting components leads to the growth of complexity, which makes the analysis of such models a challenging task. A continuous social stratification model can be considered as a result of the transition from a discrete number of interacting social groups to their continuous distribution in some finite interval. In such a model, social strain naturally spreads locally between neighbouring groups, while in reality, the social elite influences the whole society via news media, and the Internet allows non-local interaction between social groups. These factors, however, can be taken into account to some extent using the term of the model, describing negative external influence on the society. In this paper, we develop a continuous social stratification model, describing the dynamics of two societies connected through migration. We assume that people migrate from the social group of donor society with the highest strain level to poorer social layers of the acceptor society, transferring the social strain at the same time. We assume that all model parameters are constants, which is a realistic assumption for small societies only. By using the finite volume method, we construct the spatial discretization for the problem, capable of reproducing finite propagation speed of social strain. We verify the discretization by comparing the results of numerical simulations with the exact solutions of the auxiliary non-linear diffusion equation. We perform the numerical analysis of the proposed model for different values of model parameters, study the impact of migration intensity on the stability of acceptor society, and find the destabilization conditions. The results, obtained in this work, can be used in further analysis of the model in the more realistic case of inhomogeneous coefficients.

This paper studies minimum volume elastoplastic bodies. One part of the boundary of every reviewed body is fixed to the same space points while stresses are set for the remaining part of the boundary surface (loaded surface). The shape of the loaded surface can change in space but the limit load factor calculated based on the assumption that the bodies are filled with elastoplastic medium must not be less than a fixed value. Besides, all varying bodies are supposed to have some type of a limited volume sample manifold inside of them.

The following problem has been set: what is the maximum number of cavities (or holes in a two-dimensional case) that a minimum volume body (plate) can have under the above limitations? It is established that in order to define a mathematically correct problem, two extra conditions have to be met: the areas of the holes must be bigger than the small constant while the total length of the internal hole contour lines within the optimum figure must be minimum among the varying bodies. Thus, unlike most articles on optimum design of elastoplastic structures where parametric analysis of acceptable solutions is done with the set topology, this paper looks for the topological parameter of the design connectivity.

The paper covers the case when the load limit factor for the sample manifold is quite large while the areas of acceptable holes in the varying plates are bigger than the small constant. The arguments are brought forward that prove the Maxwell and Michell beam system to be the optimum figure under these conditions. As an example, microphotographs of the standard biological bone tissues are presented. It is demonstrated that internal holes with large areas cannot be a part of the Michell system. At the same the Maxwell beam system can include holes with significant areas. The sufficient conditions are given for the hole formation within the solid plate of optimum volume. The results permit generalization for three-dimensional elastoplastic structures.

The paper concludes with the setting of mathematical problems arising from the new problem optimally designed elastoplastic systems.

The article deals with the process of creating an effective algorithm for determining the amount of emitted quanta from an X-ray tube in computer tomography (CT) studies. An analysis of domestic and foreign literature showed that most of the work in the field of radiometry and radiography takes the tabulated values of X-ray absorption coefficients into account, while individual dose factors are not taken into account at all since many studies are lacking the Dose Report. Instead, an average value is used to simplify the calculation of statistics. In this regard, it was decided to develop a method to detect the amount of ionizing quanta by analyzing the noise of CT data. As the basis of the algorithm, we used Poisson and Gauss distribution mathematical model of owns’ design of logarithmic value. The resulting mathematical model was tested on the CT data of a calibration phantom consisting of three plastic cylinders filled with water, the X-ray absorption coefficient of which is known from the table values. The data were obtained from several CT devices from different manufacturers (Siemens, Toshiba, GE, Phillips). The developed algorithm made it possible to calculate the number of emitted X-ray quanta per unit time. These data, taking into account the noise level and the radiuses of the cylinders, were converted to X-ray absorption values, after which a comparison was made with tabulated values. As a result of this operation, the algorithm used with CT data of various configurations, experimental data were obtained, consistent with the theoretical part and the mathematical model. The results showed good accuracy of the algorithm and mathematical apparatus, which shows reliability of the obtained data. This mathematical model is already used in the noise reduction program of the CT of own design, where it participates as a method of creating a dynamic threshold of noise reduction. At the moment, the algorithm is being processed to work with real data from computer tomography of patients.

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.

The dynamics of public attention to COVID-19 epidemic is studied. The level of public attention is described by the daily number of search requests in Google made by users from a given country. In the empirical part of the work, data on the number of requests and the number of infected cases for a number of countries are considered. It is shown that in all cases the maximum of public attention occurs earlier than the maximum daily number of newly infected individuals. Thus, for a certain period of time, the growth of the epidemics occurs in parallel with the decline in public attention to it. It is also shown that the decline in the number of requests is described by an exponential function of time. In order to describe the revealed empirical pattern, a mathematical model is proposed, which is a modification of the model of the decline in attention after a one-time political event. The model develops the approach that considers decision-making by an individual as a member of the society in which the information process takes place. This approach assumes that an individual’s decision about whether or not to make a request on a given day about COVID is based on two factors. One of them is an attitude that reflects the individual’s long-term interest in a given topic and accumulates the individual’s previous experience, cultural preferences, social and economic status. The second is the dynamic factor of public attention to the epidemic, which changes during the process under consideration under the influence of informational stimuli. With regard to the subject under consideration, information stimuli are related to epidemic dynamics. The behavioral hypothesis is that if on some day the sum of the attitude and the dynamic factor exceeds a certain threshold value, then on that day the individual in question makes a search request on the topic of COVID. The general logic is that the higher the rate of infection growth, the higher the information stimulus, the slower decreases public attention to the pandemic. Thus, the constructed model made it possible to correlate the rate of exponential decrease in the number of requests with the rate of growth in the number of cases. The regularity found with the help of the model was tested on empirical data. It was found that the Student’s statistic is 4.56, which allows us to reject the hypothesis of the absence of a correlation with a significance level of 0.01.

Protection of aquatic biological resources in the coastal area has significant features (a large number of small fishing vessels, the dynamism of the situation, the use of coastal protection), by virtue of which stands in a class of applications. A mathematical model of protection designed for the determination of detection equipment and means of violators of the situation in order to ensure the function of deterrence of illegal activities. Resolves a tactical game-theoretic problem - find the optimal line patrol (parking) means of implementation (guard boats) and optimal removal of seats from the shore fishing violators. Using the methods of the theory of experimental design, linear regression models to assess the contribution of the main factors affecting the results of the simulation.

In order to enhance the sustainability and adequacy of the model is proposed to use the mechanism of rankings means of protection, based on the borders and the rank and Pareto allows to take into account the principles of protection and further means of protection. To account for the variability of the situation offered several scenarios in which it is advisable to perform calculations.

Execution or violation of the principle of competitive exclusion in communities is the subject of many studies. The principle of competitive exclusion means that coexistence of species in community is impossible if the number of species exceeds the number of controlling mutually independent factors. At that time there are many examples displaying the violations of this principle in the natural systems. The explanations for this paradox vary from inexact identification of the set of factors to various types of spatial and temporal heterogeneities. One of the factors breaking the principle of competitive exclusion is intraspecific competition. This study holds the model of community with two species and one influencing factor with density-dependent mortality and spatial heterogeneity. For such models possibility of the existence of stable equilibrium is proved in case of spatial homogeneity and negative effect of the species on the factor. Our purpose is analysis of possible variants of dynamics of the system with spatial heterogeneity under the various directions of the species effect on the influencing factor. Numerical analysis showed that there is stable coexistence of the species agreed with homogenous spatial distributions of the species if the species effects on the influencing factor are negative. Density-dependent mortality and spatial heterogeneity lead to violation of the principle of competitive exclusion when equilibriums are Turing unstable. In this case stable spatial heterogeneous patterns can arise. It is shown that Turing instability is possible if at least one of the species effects is positive. Model nonlinearity and spatial heterogeneity cause violation of the principle of competitive exclusion in terms of both stable spatial homogenous states and quasistable spatial heterogeneous patterns.