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Models of invasive species spread often assume that landscapes are spatially homogeneous; thus simplifying analysis but potentially reducing accuracy. We extend a recently developed partial differential equation model for invasive conifer spread to account for spatial heterogeneity in parameter values and introduce a method to obtain key outputs (e.g. spread rates) from computational simulations. Simulations produce patterns of spatial spread remarkably similar to observed patterns in grassland ecosystems invaded by exotic conifers, validating our spatially explicit strategy. We find that incorporating spatial variation in different parameters does not significantly affect the evolution of invasions (which are characterised by a long quiescent period followed by rapid evolution towards to a constant rate of invasion) but that distributional assumptions can have a significant impact on the spread rate of invasions. Our work demonstrates that spatial variation in site-suitability or other parameters can have a significant impact on invasions, Comment: 13 pages, 18 figures

Invasive pine trees pose a threat to biodiversity in a variety of Southern Hemisphere countries, but understanding of the dynamics of invasions and the factors that retard or accelerate spread is limited. Here, we consider the past models of wilding pine spread and develop a new model of pine invasion. We show that many prior models feature parameter estimates which are not biologically supported and rely on a conjecture to obtain an asymptotic spread speed of invasive pine populations, the main output of these models. In contrast to prior approaches, we use partial differential equations to model an invasion. We show that invasions are almost static for a significant period of time before rapidly accelerating to spread at a constant rate, matching observed behaviour in at least some field sites. Our work suggests that prior methods for estimating invasion speeds may not accurately predict spread and are sensitive to assumptions about the distribution of parameters. However, we present alternative estimation methods and suggest directions for further research., Comment: 36 pages, 9 figures

A key parameter in ice flow modelling is basal slipping at the ice-bed interface as it can have a large effect on the resultant ice thickness. Unfortunately, its contribution to surface observations can be hard to distinguish from that of bed undulations. Therefore, inferring the ice thickness from surface measurements is an interesting and non-trivial inverse problem. This paper presents a method for recovering dually the ice thickness and the basal slip using only surface elevation and speed measurements. The unidirectional shallow ice approximation is first implemented to model steady state ice flow for given bedrock and basal slip profiles. This surface is then taken as synthetic observed data. An augmented Lagrangian algorithm is then used to find the diffusion coefficient which gives the best fit to observations. Combining this recovered diffusion with observed surface velocity, a simple Newton's method is used to recover both the ice thickness and basal slip. The method was successful in each test case and this implies that it should be possible to recover both of these parameters in two-dimensional cases also.

The Everett Box is a device in which an observer and a lethal quantum apparatus are isolated from the rest of the universe. On a regular basis, successive trials occur, in each of which an automatic measurement of a quantum superposition inside the apparatus either causes instant death or does nothing to the observer. From the observer's perspective, the chances of surviving $m$ trials monotonically decreases with increasing $m$. As a result, if the observer is still alive for sufficiently large $m$ she must reject any interpretation of quantum mechanics which is not the many-worlds interpretation (MWI), since surviving $m$ trials becomes vanishingly unlikely in a single world, whereas a version of the observer will necessarily survive in the branching MWI universe. Here we ask whether this conclusion still holds if rather than a classical understanding of limits built on classical logic we instead require our physics to satisfy a computability requirement by investigating the Everett Box in a model of a computational universe running on a variety of constructive logic, Recursive Constructive Mathematics. We show that although the standard Everett argument rejecting non-MWI interpretations is no longer valid, we can show that Everett's conclusion still holds within a computable universe. Thus we argue that Everett's argument is strengthened and any counter-argument must be strengthened, since it holds not only in classical logic (with embedded notions of continuity and infinity) but also in a computable logic., Comment: 14 pages

Glacier ice flow is shaped and defined by several properties, including the bedrock elevation profile and the basal slip distribution. The effect of these two basal properties can present in similar ways in the surface. For bedrock recovery this makes distinguishing between them an interesting and complex problem. The results of this paper show that in some synthetic test cases it is indeed possible to distinguish and recover both bedrock elevation and basal slip given free surface elevation and free surface velocity. The unidirectional shallow ice approximation is used to compute steady state surface data for a number of synthetic cases with different bedrock profiles and basal slip distributions. A simple inversion method based on Newton's method is applied to the known surface data to return the bedrock profile and basal slip distribution. In each synthetic test case, the inversion was successful in recovering both the bedrock elevation profile and the basal slip distribution variables. These results imply that there is a unique bedrock profile and basal slip which give rise to a unique combination of free surface velocity and free surface elevation., Comment: 25 pages, 14 figures

Conditions are investigated under which a body lying at rest or rocking on a solid horizontal surface can be removed from the surface by hydrodynamic forces or instead continues rocking. The investigation is motivated by recent observations on Martian dust movement as well as other small- and large-scale applications. The nonlinear theory of fluid-body interaction here has unsteady motion of an inviscid fluid interacting with a moving thin body. Various shapes of body are addressed together with a range of initial conditions. The relevant parameter space is found to be subtle as evolution and shape play substantial roles coupled with scaled mass and gravity effects. Lift-off of the body from the surface generally cannot occur without fluid flow but it can occur either immediately or within a finite time once the fluid flow starts up: parameters for this are found and comparisons are made with Martian observations., Comment: 28 pages, 9 figures

Cortical spreading depression (CSD) is a slow-moving ionic and metabolic disturbance that propagates in cortical brain tissue. In addition to massive cellular depolarization, CSD also involves significant changes in perfusion and metabolism -- aspects of CSD that had not been modeled and are important to traumatic brain injury, subarachnoid hemorrhage, stroke, and migraine. In this study, we develop a mathematical model for CSD where we focus on modeling the features essential to understanding the implications of neurovascular coupling during CSD. In our model, the sodium-potassium--ATPase, mainly responsible for ionic homeostasis and active during CSD, operates at a rate that is dependent on the supply of oxygen. The supply of oxygen is determined by modeling blood flow through a lumped vascular tree with an effective local vessel radius that is controlled by the extracellular potassium concentration. We show that during CSD, the metabolic demands of the cortex exceed the physiological limits placed on oxygen delivery, regardless of vascular constriction or dilation. However, vasoconstriction and vasodilation play important roles in the propagation of CSD and its recovery. Our model replicates the qualitative and quantitative behavior of CSD -- vasoconstriction, oxygen depletion, extracellular potassium elevation, prolonged depolarization -- found in experimental studies. We predict faster, longer duration CSD in vivo than in vitro due to the contribution of the vasculature. Our results also help explain some of the variability of CSD between species and even within the same animal. These results have clinical and translational implications, as they allow for more precise in vitro, in vivo, and in silico exploration of a phenomenon broadly relevant to neurological disease., Comment: 17 pages including 9 figures, accepted by PLoS One

Does combining a finite collection of objects infinitely many times guarantee the construction of a particular object? Here we use recursive function theory to examine the popular scenario of an infinite collection of typing monkeys reproducing the works of Shakespeare. Our main result is to show that it is possible to assign typing probabilities in such a way that while it is impossible that no monkey reproduces Shakespeare's works, the probability of any finite collection of monkeys doing so is arbitrarily small. We extend our results to target-free writing, and end with a broad discussion and pointers to future work.

We study a continuum model of the lipid bilayer based on minimizing the free energy of a mixture of water and lipid molecules. This paper extends previous work by Blom & Peletier (2004) in the following ways. (a) It formulates a more physical model of the hydrophobic effect to facilitate connections with microscale simulations. (b) It clarifies the meaning of the model parameters. (c) It outlines a method for determining parameter values so that physically-realistic bilayer density profiles can be obtained, for example for use in macroscale simulations. Points (a)-(c) suggest that the model has potential to robustly connect some micro- and macroscale levels of multiscale blood flow simulations. The mathematical modelling in point (a) is based upon a consideration of the underlying physics of inter-molecular forces. The governing equations thus obtained are minimized by gradient flows via a novel numerical approach; this enables point (b). The numerical results are shown to behave physically in terms of the effect of background concentration, in contrast to the earlier model which is shown here to not display the expected behaviour. A "short-tail" approximation of the lipid molecules also gives an analytical tool which yields critical values of some parameters under certain conditions. Point (c) involves the first quantitative comparison of the numerical data with physical experimental results., Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures