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The article is devoted to first-order adaptive methods for optimization problems with relatively strongly convex functionals. The concept of relatively strong convexity significantly extends the classical concept of convexity by replacing the Euclidean norm in the definition by the distance in a more general sense (more precisely, by Bregman’s divergence). An important feature of the considered classes of problems is the reduced requirements concerting the level of smoothness of objective functionals. More precisely, we consider relatively smooth and relatively Lipschitz-continuous objective functionals, which allows us to apply the proposed techniques for solving many applied problems, such as the intersection of the ellipsoids problem (IEP), the Support Vector Machine (SVM) for a binary classification problem, etc. If the objective functional is convex, the condition of relatively strong convexity can be satisfied using the problem regularization. In this work, we propose adaptive gradient-type methods for optimization problems with relatively strongly convex and relatively Lipschitzcontinuous functionals for the first time. Further, we propose universal methods for relatively strongly convex optimization problems. This technique is based on introducing an artificial inaccuracy into the optimization model, so the proposed methods can be applied both to the case of relatively smooth and relatively Lipschitz-continuous functionals. Additionally, we demonstrate the optimality of the proposed universal gradient-type methods up to the multiplication by a constant for both classes of relatively strongly convex problems. Also, we show how to apply the technique of restarts of the mirror descent algorithm to solve relatively Lipschitz-continuous optimization problems. Moreover, we prove the optimal estimate of the rate of convergence of such a technique. Also, we present the results of numerical experiments to compare the performance of the proposed methods.

Data hiding in digital images is a promising direction of cybersecurity. Digital steganography methods provide imperceptible transmission of secret data over an open communication channel. The information embedding efficiency depends on the embedding imperceptibility, capacity, and robustness. These quality criteria are mutually inverse, and the improvement of one indicator usually leads to the deterioration of the others. A balance between them can be achieved using metaheuristic optimization. Metaheuristics are a class of optimization algorithms that find an optimal, or close to an optimal solution for a variety of problems, including those that are difficult to formalize, by simulating various natural processes, for example, the evolution of species or the behavior of animals. In this study, we propose an approach to data hiding in the hybrid spatial-frequency domain of digital images based on metaheuristic optimization. Changing a block of image pixels according to some change matrix is considered as an embedding operation. We select the change matrix adaptively for each block using metaheuristic optimization algorithms. In this study, we compare the performance of three metaheuristics such as genetic algorithm, particle swarm optimization, and differential evolution to find the best change matrix. Experimental results showed that the proposed approach provides high imperceptibility of embedding, high capacity, and error-free extraction of embedded information. At the same time, storage of change matrices for each block is not required for further data extraction. This improves user experience and reduces the chance of an attacker discovering the steganographic attachment. Metaheuristics provided an increase in imperceptibility indicator, estimated by the PSNR metric, and the capacity of the previous algorithm for embedding information into the coefficients of the discrete cosine transform using the QIM method [Evsutin, Melman, Meshcheryakov, 2021] by 26.02% and 30.18%, respectively, for the genetic algorithm, 26.01% and 19.39% for particle swarm optimization, 27.30% and 28.73% for differential evolution.

The paper proposes a set of fairly simple analysis algorithms that can be used to analyze a wide range of protein-protein interactions. In this work, we jointly use the methods of Brownian and molecular dynamics to describe the process of formation of a complex of plastocyanin and cytochrome f proteins in higher plants. In the diffusion-collision complex, two clusters of structures were revealed, the transition between which is possible with the preservation of the position of the center of mass of the molecules and is accompanied only by a rotation of plastocyanin by 134 degrees. The first and second clusters of structures of collisional complexes differ in that in the first cluster with a positively charged region near the small domain of cytochrome f, only the “lower” plastocyanin region contacts, while in the second cluster, both negatively charged regions. The “upper” negatively charged region of plastocyanin in the first cluster is in contact with the amino acid residue of lysine K122. When the final complex is formed, the plastocyanin molecule rotates by 69 degrees around an axis passing through both areas of electrostatic contact. With this rotation, water is displaced from the regions located near the cofactors of the molecules and formed by hydrophobic amino acid residues. This leads to the appearance of hydrophobic contacts, a decrease in the distance between the cofactors to a distance of less than 1.5 nm, and further stabilization of the complex in a position suitable for electron transfer. Characteristics such as contact matrices, rotation axes during the transition between states, and graphs of changes in the number of contacts during the modeling process make it possible to determine the key amino acid residues involved in the formation of the complex and to reveal the physicochemical mechanisms underlying this process.

The work solves the problem of establishing the dependence of the potential for spatial selection of useful and interfering signals according to the signal-to-interference ratio criterion on the positioning error of user equipment during beamforming by their location at a base station, equipped with an antenna array. Configurable simulation parameters include planar antenna array with a different number of antenna elements, movement trajectory, as well as the accuracy of user equipment location estimation using root mean square error of coordinate estimates. The model implements three algorithms for controlling the shape of the antenna radiation pattern: 1) controlling the beam direction for one maximum and one zero; 2) controlling the shape and width of the main beam; 3) adaptive beamforming. The simulation results showed, that the first algorithm is most effective, when the number of antenna array elements is no more than 5 and the positioning error is no more than 7 m, and the second algorithm is appropriate to employ, when the number of antenna array elements is more than 15 and the positioning error is more than 5 m. Adaptive beamforming is implemented using a training signal and provides optimal spatial selection of useful and interfering signals without device location data, but is characterized by high complexity of hardware implementation. Scripts of the developed models are available for verification. The results obtained can be used in the development of scientifically based recommendations for beam control in ultra-dense millimeter-wave radio access networks of the fifth and subsequent generations.

The paper is devoted to one approach to constructing subgradient methods for strongly convex programming problems with several functional constraints. More precisely, the strongly convex minimization problem with several strongly convex (inequality-type) constraints is considered, and first-order optimization methods for this class of problems are proposed. The special feature of the proposed methods is the possibility of using the strong convexity parameters of the violated functional constraints at nonproductive iterations, in theoretical estimates of the quality of the produced solution by the methods. The main task, to solve the considered problem, is to propose a subgradient method with adaptive rules for selecting steps and stopping rule of the method. The key idea of the proposed methods in this paper is to combine two approaches: a scheme with switching on productive and nonproductive steps and recently proposed modifications of mirror descent for convex programming problems, allowing to ignore some of the functional constraints on nonproductive steps of the algorithms. In the paper, it was described a subgradient method with switching by productive and nonproductive steps for strongly convex programming problems in the case where the objective function and functional constraints satisfy the Lipschitz condition. An analog of the proposed subgradient method, a mirror descent scheme for problems with relatively Lipschitz and relatively strongly convex objective functions and constraints is also considered. For the proposed methods, it obtained theoretical estimates of the quality of the solution, they indicate the optimality of these methods from the point of view of lower oracle estimates. In addition, since in many problems, the operation of finding the exact subgradient vector is quite expensive, then for the class of problems under consideration, analogs of the mentioned above methods with the replacement of the usual subgradient of the objective function or functional constraints by the $\delta$-subgradient were investigated. The noted approach can save computational costs of the method by refusing to require the availability of the exact value of the subgradient at the current point. It is shown that the quality estimates of the solution change by $O(\delta)$. The results of numerical experiments illustrating the advantages of the proposed methods in comparison with some previously known ones are also presented.

In neuroscience, the study of odor coding mechanisms requires the analysis of spatial activation patterns of olfactory structures (glomeruli) reconstructed from multiphoton microscopy data. However, the lack of a formal statistical framework for analyzing population-level summary maps limits result reproducibility and hinders the development of predictive models. To address these limitations, we developed a novel methodology for the analysis of olfactory activity maps aggregated across multiple animals, based on the theory of unmarked spatial point processes. The methodology includes a data preprocessing procedure and a numerical analysis algorithm implemented in the R environment using the spatstat package.

The proposed approach enables: (1) transformation of raw glomerular activity maps into point patterns while preserving information about glomerular sizes (replacing size information with local point density is a methodological compromise reflecting the “functional weight” of glomerular input); (2) analysis of point patterns based on spatial morphometric characteristics of domains — regions of stable glomerular activation in the olfactory bulb, each approximated by an ellipse, with ellipse parameters (center coordinates in stereotaxic space, major and minor axis lengths, orientation angles), areas, and intra-ellipse point densities reflecting odorant-specific response signatures; (3) statistical hypothesis testing for spatial randomness (Complete Spatial Randomness) using Ripley’s $K$-function, the nearest-neighbor G-function, and Monte Carlo simulations; (4) synthesis of a parametric pairwise interaction model (Strauss process), whose parameters $(r_{PI}, \gamma)$ have a clear biological interpretation — the spatial interaction scale of glomeruli and the strength of response comodulation, respectively.

The methodology was validated using experimental data obtained from 24 laboratory rats: 10 animals stimulated with camphor and 14 with methyl benzoate. The fitted Strauss models yielded close but odorant-specific parameters: interaction radii $r_{PI}$ of 150 $\mu$m (camphor) and 120 μm (methyl benzoate); interaction parameters $gamma$ of 0.95 and 0.89, respectively. The total domain areas (0.60 mm² and 0.73 mm²) and point densities (38 and 43 points/mm²) calculated at the first stage of analysis are fully consistent with the parametric signatures $(r_{PI}, \gamma)$ of the Strauss model. Model validation using $Q$-$Q$ plots of smoothed residuals confirmed their adequacy.

Our results are consistent with data previously obtained using genetic labeling and functional mapping techniques, demonstrating the correctness of the proposed methodology and the effectiveness of multiphoton laser scanning microscopy for such applications. The proposed framework provides reproducible quantitative assessment of glomerular domains within a unified stereotaxic coordinate system and can be extended to other odorants and biological species. All findings were obtained under anesthesia; extrapolation to active olfactory strategies in awake animals requires further investigation.

Algorithms of wireless sensor networks operation based on modified ZigBee/IEEE 802.15.4 protocol stack and problems of energy saving with simultaneous decrease of network latency are studied. Theoretical computations are given. Roles distribution and routers schedule assignment algorithms are described. Both results of experiments carried out with real devices and results of simulations with ns-2 (open-source network simulator) are given and analyzed.

Images of surface topography of ultrathin magnetic films have been used for Monte Carlo simulations in the framework of the ferromagnetic Ising model to study the hysteresis and thermal properties of nanomaterials. For high performance calculations was used super-scalable parallel algorithm for the finding of the equilibrium configuration. The changing of a distribution of spins on the surface during the reversal of the magnetization and the dynamics of nanodomain structure of thin magnetic films under the influence of changing external magnetic field was investigated.

The paper considers a method for studying panel data based on the use of agglomerative hierarchical clustering — grouping objects based on the similarities and differences in their features into a hierarchy of clusters nested into each other. We used 2 alternative methods for calculating Euclidean distances between objects — the distance between the values averaged over observation interval, and the distance using data for all considered years. Three alternative methods for calculating the distances between clusters were compared. In the first case, the distance between the nearest elements from two clusters is considered to be distance between these clusters, in the second — the average over pairs of elements, in the third — the distance between the most distant elements. The efficiency of using two clustering quality indices, the Dunn and Silhouette index, was studied to select the optimal number of clusters and evaluate the statistical significance of the obtained solutions. The method of assessing statistical reliability of cluster structure consisted in comparing the quality of clustering on a real sample with the quality of clustering on artificially generated samples of panel data with the same number of objects, features and lengths of time series. Generation was made from a fixed probability distribution. At the same time, simulation methods imitating Gaussian white noise and random walk were used. Calculations with the Silhouette index showed that a random walk is characterized not only by spurious regression, but also by “spurious clustering”. Clustering was considered reliable for a given number of selected clusters if the index value on the real sample turned out to be greater than the value of the 95% quantile for artificial data. A set of time series of indicators characterizing production in the regions of the Russian Federation was used as a sample of real data. For these data only Silhouette shows reliable clustering at the level p < 0.05. Calculations also showed that index values for real data are generally closer to values for random walks than for white noise, but it have significant differences from both. Since three-dimensional feature space is used, the quality of clustering was also evaluated visually. Visually, one can distinguish clusters of points located close to each other, also distinguished as clusters by the applied hierarchical clustering algorithm.

The grid-characteristic method is successfully used for solving hyperbolic systems of partial differential equations (for example, transport / acoustic / elastic equations). It allows to construct correctly algorithms on contact boundaries and boundaries of the integration domain, to a certain extent to take into account the physics of the problem (propagation of discontinuities along characteristic curves), and has the property of monotonicity, which is important for considered problems. In the cases of two-dimensional and three-dimensional problems the method makes use of a coordinate splitting technique, which enables us to solve the original equations by solving several one-dimensional ones consecutively. It is common to use up to 3-rd order one-dimensional schemes with simple splitting techniques which do not allow for the convergence order to be higher than two (with respect to time). Significant achievements in the operator splitting theory were done, the existence of higher-order schemes was proved. Its peculiarity is the need to perform a step in the opposite direction in time, which gives rise to difficulties, for example, for parabolic problems.

In this work coordinate splitting of the 3-rd and 4-th order were used for the two-dimensional hyperbolic problem of the linear elasticity. This made it possible to increase the final convergence order of the computational algorithm. The paper empirically estimates the convergence in L1 and L∞ norms using analytical solutions of the system with the sufficient degree of smoothness. To obtain objective results, we considered the cases of longitudinal and transverse plane waves propagating both along the diagonal of the computational cell and not along it. Numerical experiments demonstrated the improved accuracy and convergence order of constructed schemes. These improvements are achieved with the cost of three- or fourfold increase of the computational time (for the 3-rd and 4-th order respectively) and no additional memory requirements. The proposed improvement of the computational algorithm preserves the simplicity of its parallel implementation based on the spatial decomposition of the computational grid.