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This paper is concerned with a two-species predator-prey reaction-diffusion system with Beddington-DeAngelis functional response and subject to homogeneous Neumann boundary conditions. By linearizing the system at the positive constant steady-state solution and analyzing the associated characteristic equation in detail, the asymptotic stability of the positive constant steady-state solution and the existence of local Hopf bifurcations are investigated. Also, it is shown that the appearance of the diffusion and homogeneous Neumann boundary conditions can lead to the appearance of codimension two Bagdanov-Takens bifurcation. Moreover, by applying the normal form theory and the center manifold reduction for partial differential equations (PDEs), the explicit algorithm determining the direction of Hopf bifurcations and the stability of bifurcating periodic solutions is given. Finally, numerical simulations supporting the theoretical analysis are also included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to numerically validate the concept of diffuse failure using a discrete element method. First, the theoretical background is reviewed, and it is shown how the kinetic energy of a system, initially at rest after a loading history, is likely to abruptly increase under the effect of disturbances. The vanishing of the second-order work thus constitutes a basic ingredient, related to both the pioneering work of Hill (J Mech Phys Solids (6):236-249, ) and the notion of bifurcation applied to geomechanics (Vardoulakis and Sulem in Bifurcation analysis in geomechanics, Chapman & Hall Publisher, London, ). Discrete numerical simulations were performed on homogeneous three-dimensional specimens, and the three basic conditions that must be satisfied in order to observe a failure mechanism are numerically checked. Finally, this work illustrates the phenomena that are likely to affect in situ slopes, for instance, when the loading (due to weather conditions or human activities) meets the three basic conditions for a failure mechanism to develop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]