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Bistability is a fundamental property of nonlinear systems and is found in many applied and theoretical studies of biological systems (populations and communities). In the simplest case it is expressed in the coexistence of diametrically opposed alternative stable equilibrium states of the system, and which of them will be achieved depends on the initial conditions. Bistability in simple models can lead to quad-stability as models become more complex, for example, when adding genetic, age and spatial structure. This occurs in different models from completely different subject area and leads to very interesting, often counterintuitive conclusions. In this article, we review such situations. The paper deals with bifurcations leading to bi- and quad-stability in mathematical models of the following biological objects. The first one is the system of two populations coupled by migration and under the action of natural selection, in which all genetic diversity is associated with a single diallelic locus with a significant difference in fitness for homo- and heterozygotes. The second is the system of two limited populations described by the Bazykin model or the Ricker model and coupled by migration. The third is a population with two age stages and density-dependent regulation of birth rate which is determined either only by population density, or additionally depends on the genetic structure of adjacent generations. We found that all these models have similar scenarios for the birth of equilibrium states that correspond to the formation of spatiotemporal inhomogeneity or to the differentiation by phenotypes of individuals from different age stages. Such inhomogeneity is a consequence of local bistability and appears as a result of a combination of pitchfork bifurcation (period doubling) and saddle-node bifurcation.

An isolated system, which possesses a discrete set of microscopic states, is considered. The system performs spontaneous random transitions between the microstates. Kinetic equations for the probabilities of the system staying in various microstates are formulated. A general dimensionless expression for entropy of such a system, which depends on the probability distribution, is considered. Two problems are stated: 1) to study the effect of possible unequal probabilities of different microstates, in particular, when the system is in its internal equilibrium, on the system entropy value, and 2) to study the kinetics of microstate probability distribution and entropy evolution of the system in nonequilibrium states. The kinetics for the rates of transitions between the microstates is assumed to be first-order. Two variants of the effects of possible nonequiprobability of the microstates are considered: i) the microstates form two subgroups the probabilities of which are similar within each subgroup but differ between the subgroups, and ii) the microstate probabilities vary arbitrarily around the point at which they are all equal. It is found that, under a fixed total number of microstates, the deviations of entropy from the value corresponding to the equiprobable microstate distribution are extremely small. The latter is a rigorous substantiation of the known hypothesis about the equiprobability of microstates under the thermodynamic equilibrium. On the other hand, based on several characteristic examples, it is shown that the structure of random transitions between the microstates exerts a considerable effect on the rate and mode of the establishment of the system internal equilibrium, on entropy time dependence and expression of the entropy production rate. Under definite schemes of these transitions, there are possibilities of fast and slow components in the transients and of the existence of transients in the form of damped oscillations. The condition of universality and stability of equilibrium microstate distribution is that for any pair of microstates, a sequence of transitions should exist, which provides the passage from one microstate to next, and, consequently, any microstate traps should be absent.

The paper considers integro-differential equations of fractional order moisture transfer with the Bessel operator. The studied equations contain the Bessel operator, two Gerasimov – Caputo fractional differentiation operators with different orders $\alpha$ and $\beta$. Two types of integro-differential equations are considered: in the first case, the equation contains a non-local source, i.e. the integral of the unknown function over the integration variable $x$, and in the second case, the integral over the time variable τ, denoting the memory effect. Similar problems arise in the study of processes with prehistory. To solve differential problems for different ratios of $\alpha$ and $\beta$, a priori estimates in differential form are obtained, from which the uniqueness and stability of the solution with respect to the right-hand side and initial data follow. For the approximate solution of the problems posed, difference schemes are constructed with the order of approximation $O(h^2+\tau^2)$ for $\alpha=\beta$ and $O(h^2+\tau^{2-\max\{\alpha,\beta\}})$ for $\alpha\neq\beta$. The study of the uniqueness, stability and convergence of the solution is carried out using the method of energy inequalities. A priori estimates for solutions of difference problems are obtained for different ratios of $\alpha$ and $\beta$, from which the uniqueness and stability follow, as well as the convergence of the solution of the difference scheme to the solution of the original differential problem at a rate equal to the order of approximation of the difference scheme.

The work is devoted to the description of the author’s formal statements of the clustering problem for a given number of clusters, algorithms for their solution, as well as the results of using this toolkit in medicine.

The solution of the formulated problems by exact algorithms of implementations of even relatively low dimensions before proving optimality is impossible in a finite time due to their belonging to the NP class.

In this regard, we have proposed a hybrid algorithm that combines the advantages of precise methods based on clustering in paired distances at the initial stage with the speed of methods for solving simplified problems of splitting by cluster centers at the final stage. In the development of this direction, a sequential hybrid clustering algorithm using random search in the paradigm of swarm intelligence has been developed. The article describes it and presents the results of calculations of applied clustering problems.

To determine the effectiveness of the developed tools for optimal clustering of multidimensional objects according to a variety of heterogeneous indicators, a number of computational experiments were performed using data sets including socio-demographic, clinical anamnestic, electroencephalographic and psychometric data on the cognitive status of patients of the cardiology clinic. An experimental proof of the effectiveness of using local search algorithms in the paradigm of swarm intelligence within the framework of a hybrid algorithm for solving optimal clustering problems has been obtained.

The results of the calculations indicate the actual resolution of the main problem of using the discrete optimization apparatus — limiting the available dimensions of task implementations. We have shown that this problem is eliminated while maintaining an acceptable proximity of the clustering results to the optimal ones. The applied significance of the obtained clustering results is also due to the fact that the developed optimal clustering toolkit is supplemented by an assessment of the stability of the formed clusters, which allows for known factors (the presence of stenosis or older age) to additionally identify those patients whose cognitive resources are insufficient to overcome the influence of surgical anesthesia, as a result of which there is a unidirectional effect of postoperative deterioration of complex visual-motor reaction, attention and memory. This effect indicates the possibility of differentiating the classification of patients using the proposed tools.

The efficiency of mobile robotic systems (MRS) that monitor the traffic situation, urban infrastructure, consequences of emergency situations, etc., directly depends on the quality of vision systems, which are the most important part of MRS. In turn, the accuracy of image processing in vision systems depends to a great extent on the accuracy of spatial orientation of the video camera placed on the MRS. However, when video cameras are placed on the MRS, the level of errors of their spatial orientation increases sharply, caused by wind and seismic vibrations, movement of the MRS over rough terrain, etc. In this connection, the paper considers a general solution to the problem of stochastic estimation of spatial orientation parameters of video cameras in conditions of both random mast vibrations and arbitrary character of MRS movement. Since the methods of solving this problem on the basis of satellite measurements at high intensity of natural and artificial radio interference (the methods of formation of which are constantly being improved) are not able to provide the required accuracy of the solution, the proposed approach is based on the use of autonomous means of measurement — inertial and non-inertial. But when using them, the problem of building and stochastic estimation of the general model of video camera motion arises, the complexity of which is determined by arbitrary motion of the video camera, random mast oscillations, measurement disturbances, etc. The problem of stochastic estimation of the general model of video camera motion arises. Due to the unsolved nature of this problem, the paper considers the synthesis of both the video camera motion model in the most general case and the stochastic estimation of its state parameters. The developed algorithm for joint estimation of the spatial orientation parameters of the video camera placed on the mast of the MRS is invariant to the nature of motion of the mast, the video camera, and the MRS itself, providing stability and the required accuracy of estimation under the most general assumptions about the nature of interference of the sensitive elements of the autonomous measuring complex used. The results of the numerical experiment allow us to conclude that the proposed approach can be practically applied to solve the problem of the current spatial orientation of MRS and video cameras placed on them using inexpensive autonomous measuring devices.

Isothermal electroconvection in a dielectric liquid arising in a plane-parallel electrode system due to unipolar injection of charges from the cathode is considered. Spatially periodic rolls structures stability is investigated.

In this paper the dynamic elasticity problem of the simultaneous normal and tangential impact on the half-space is solved. This problem simulates the oblique incidence of meteorite on the Earth’s surface. The surface Rayleigh wave is investigated. The resulting solution is used as an external effect on the high-rise building, located at some distance from the spot of falling for the safety and stability assessment of its structure. Numerical experiments were made based on the finite element software package STARK ES. Upper floors amplitudes of the selected object were calculated under such dynamic effects. Also a systematic comparison with the results at the foundation vibrations, relevant to  standard a 8-point earthquake accelerograms, was made.

The repressor is the first genetic regulatory network in synthetic biology, which was artificially constructed in 2000. It is a closed network of three genetic elements — $lacI$, $\lambda cI$ and $tetR$, — which have a natural origin, but are not found in nature in such a combination. The promoter of each of the three genes controls the next cistron via the negative feedback, suppressing the expression of the neighboring gene. In this paper, the nonlinear dynamics of a modified repressilator, which has time delays in all parts of the regulatory network, has been studied for the first time. Delay can be both natural, i.e. arises during the transcription/translation of genes due to the multistage nature of these processes, and artificial, i.e. specially to be introduced into the work of the regulatory network using synthetic biology technologies. It is assumed that the regulation is carried out by proteins being in a dimeric form. The considered repressilator has two more important modifications: the location on the same plasmid of the gene $gfp$, which codes for the fluorescent protein, and also the presence in the system of a DNA sponge. In the paper, the nonlinear dynamics has been considered within the framework of the deterministic description. By applying the method of decomposition into fast and slow motions, the set of nonlinear differential equations with delay on a slow manifold has been obtained. It is shown that there exists a single equilibrium state which loses its stability in an oscillatory manner at certain values of the control parameters. For a symmetric repressilator, in which all three genes are identical, an analytical solution for the neutral Andronov–Hopf bifurcation curve has been obtained. For the general case of an asymmetric repressilator, neutral curves are found numerically. It is shown that the asymmetric repressor generally is more stable, since the system is oriented to the behavior of the most stable element in the network. Nonlinear dynamic regimes arising in a repressilator with increase of the parameters are studied in detail. It was found that there exists a limit cycle corresponding to relaxation oscillations of protein concentrations. In addition to the limit cycle, we found the slow manifold not associated with above cycle. This is the long-lived transitional regime, which reflects the process of long-term synchronization of pulsations in the work of individual genes. The obtained results are compared with the experimental data known from the literature. The place of the model proposed in the present work among other theoretical models of the repressilator is discussed.

The article is devoted to the effect of thermal feedback, which occurs during the operation of integrated circuits and electronic systems with their use. Thermal feedback is due to the fact that the power consumed by the functioning of the microchip heats it and, due to the significant dependence of its electrical parameters on temperature, interactive interaction arises between its electrical and thermal processes. The effect of thermal feedback leads to a change in both electrical parameters and temperature levels in microcircuits. Positive thermal feedback is an undesirable phenomenon, because it causes the output of the electrical parameters of the microcircuits beyond the permissible values, the reduction in reliability and, in some cases, burn out. Negative thermal feedback is manifested in stabilizing the electrical and thermal regimes at lower temperature levels. Therefore, when designing microcircuits and electronic systems with their application, it is necessary to achieve the implementation of negative feedback. In this paper, we propose a method for modeling of thermal modes in electronic systems, taking into account the effect of thermal feedback. The method is based on introducing into the thermal model of the electronic system new model circuit elements that are nonlinearly dependent on temperature, the number of which is equal to the number of microcircuits in the electronic system. This approach makes it possible to apply matrix-topological equations of thermal processes to the thermal model with new circuit elements introduced into it and incorporate them into existing thermal design software packages. An example of modeling a thermal process in a real electronic system is presented, taking into account the effect of thermal feedback on the example of a microcircuit installed on a printed circuit board. It is shown that in order to adequately model the electrical and thermal processes of microcircuits and electronic systems, it is necessary to take into account the effects of thermal feedback in order to avoid design errors and create competitive electronic systems.

The review and systematization of current papers on the mathematical modeling of population dynamics allow us to conclude the key interests of authors are two or three main research lines related to the description and analysis of the dynamics of both local structured populations and systems of interacting homogeneous populations as ecological community in physical space. The paper reviews and systematizes scientific studies and results obtained within the framework of dynamics of structured and interacting populations to date. The paper describes the scientific idea progress in the direction of complicating models from the classical Malthus model to the modern models with various factors affecting population dynamics in the issues dealing with modeling the local population size dynamics. In particular, they consider the dynamic effects that arise as a result of taking into account the environmental capacity, density-dependent regulation, the Allee effect, complexity of an age and a stage structures. Particular attention is paid to the multistability of population dynamics. In addition, studies analyzing harvest effect on structured population dynamics and an appearance of the hydra effect are presented. The studies dealing with an appearance and development of spatial dissipative structures in both spatially separated populations and communities with migrations are discussed. Here, special attention is also paid to the frequency and phase multistability of population dynamics, as well as to an appearance of spatial clusters. During the systematization and review of articles on modeling the interacting population dynamics, the focus is on the “prey–predator” community. The key idea and approaches used in current mathematical biology to model a “prey–predator” system with community structure and harvesting are presented. The problems of an appearance and stability of the mosaic structure in communities distributed spatially and coupled by migration are also briefly discussed.