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Considering the mature condition of any individual to have eaten a specific amount of food during the entire period that it can spend at its immature stage, we propose a size-structured model by a first-order quasi-linear partial differential equation. The model can be firstly reduced to a single state-dependent delay differential equation and then to a constant delay differential equation. The state-dependent delay represents intra-specific competition among individuals for limited food resources. A complete analysis of the global dynamics on the positivity and boundedness of solutions, global stability for each equilibrium and Hopf bifurcation is carried out. Our results imply that the delay leads to instability that is shown by a simple example of a certain structured population model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In various applications of ultrasonic waves, the ultrasonic transducer is the key device of ultrasonic testing and ultrasonic imaging. Compared with the traditional piezoelectric transducer, the capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) has many striking advantages, such as low impedance, high bandwidth, easy integration and low cost, and it is expected to become a next generation of mainstream products. In this paper, a CMUT structure for underwater-imaging applications is designed, and the finite element model is established by using COMSOL software, then the modal analysis, harmonic response analysis, electromechanical coupling analysis and transient analysis are carried out. As a consequence, the key parameters of CMUT are obtained, namely resonance frequency, voltage collapse and electromechanical coupling coefficient. For the processed CMUT line array consisting of 16 elements, a test system is built and the emission performance, receiving performance, directivity, bandwidth and preliminary imaging of the designed transducer are tested and analyzed. The results show that the designed CMUT array can meet the requirements of underwater-imaging applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a mathematical model describing the dynamics of both Antarctic krill and Blue whale population where Antarctic krill species (prey) has group defense when they aggregate in herds in order to provide a self-defense from Blue whale species (predator). Firstly, a sufficient condition for the global asymptotical stability of the positive equilibrium is given using Poincaré–Bendixson theorem excluding periodic solution. Furthermore, we discuss the existence of Hopf-bifurcation and give criteria for stability switches through the study of a first-order exponential polynomial characteristic equation. Finally, some numerical simulations are given to illustrate our results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose and study a predator-prey model with state-dependent delay where the prey population is assumed to have an age structure. The state-dependent delay appears due to the mature condition that the prey must spend an amount of time in the immature stage sufficient to accumulate a threshold amount of food. We perform a qualitative analysis of the solutions, which includes studying positivity and boundedness, existence and local stability of equilibria. For the global dynamics of the system, we discuss an attracting region which is determined by solutions, and the region collapses to the interior equilibrium in the constant delay case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on literature [J. Q. Li, Z. E. Ma and F. Q. Zhang, Stability analysis for an epidemic model with stage structure, J. Appl. Math. Comput. 9 (2008) 1672-1679], incorporating the recovery of the infected population with the length of the infectious periods, a modified epidemic disease SIS model with delay and stage was investigated. First, the criteria keeping stability with delay were given. Next, in order to lower the level of the infected individuals and minimize the cost of treatment, mixed, early and late therapeutic strategies were introduced into our model, respectively. Then we investigated the existence and uniqueness of optimal controls. And then, we expressed the unique optimal control in terms of the solution of the optimality systems. Finally, by numerical simulations, several important results were acquired: (1) The terminal time influenced the early optimal control largely. In detail, for a shorter terminal time it was optimal to initiate treatment with maximal effort at the start of the epidemic and continue treatment with maximal effort until the switch time was arrived. But for a longer terminal time, the maximal treatment effort need not be a prerequisite at the start or end of the epidemic but it was obligatory at the metaphase of the epidemic. (2) For our SIS model, minimizing the total infectious burden of the disease can be achieved by only early optimal treatment tactics. (3) For a disease with a shorter infectious period time, more cost would be spent to control the disease in order to achieve the optimal control objective. Otherwise, a relative lower cost would be to control the disease with a longer infectious period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering that the ecological system is often deeply perturbed by human exploiting activities, this paper deals with a prey-predator model with prey refuge in which both species are independently harvested. First, some sufficient conditions for global stability of equilibria are obtained, and the existence and uniqueness of limit cycles are established. Our results indicate that over-exploitation would result in the extinction of the population and an appropriate harvesting strategy should ensure the sustainability of the population, which is in line with reality. Furthermore, the existence of bionomic equilibrium is discussed. Finally, the influences of prey refuge and harvesting efforts on equilibrium density values are considered and some numerical simulations are given to illustrate our results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]