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Some nonlinear real-valued equations have no solution in the real number field, and only roots of this nature are of practical interest. However, complex roots associated with the solution may introduce an interpretation of the physical problem analysis. This paper investigates the solution of nonlinear equations exploiting fractional order derivative (FOD) calculus resources. The theory addresses a solver that considers the FOD and Newton-Raphson method. The problem is extended to a multivariate fractional order derivative (MFOD) method so that a set of nonlinear equations can be resolved iteratively. Applications to the computation of the power flow problem in energy systems are used to illustrate some types of equations and solutions. The MFOD uses a numerical limits technique to determine a Jacobian required for the fractional application. This work demonstrates how real-valued nonlinear equations with complex roots can be solved by the MFOD Newton-Raphson approach. The results indicate the potentiality of the method reaches complex-valued solutions despite the iterative process starting with a real-valued guess. The complex-valued results are interpreted considering the connection between the imaginary part of a root and the divergence of the classical Newton-Raphson (CNR) method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops a novel set of displacement temperature potential functions to solve the thermoelastodynamic problems in functionally graded transversely isotropic media subjected to thermal source. For this purpose, three-dimensional heat and wave equations are considered to obtain the displacement temperature equations of motion for functionally graded materials. In the present study, a systematic method is used to decouple the elasticity and heat equations. Hence one sixth-order differential equation and two second-order differential equations are obtained. Completeness of the solution is proved using a retarded logarithmic Newtonian potential function for functionally graded transversely isotropic domain. To verify the obtained solution, in a simpler case, potential functions are generated for homogeneous transversely isotropic media that coincide with respective equations. Presented potential functions can be used to solve the problems in various media like infinite and semi-infinite space, beams and columns, plates, shells, etc., with arbitrary boundary conditions and subjected to arbitrary mechanical and thermal loads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functionally graded materials (FGMs) are a novel class of composite materials that have attracted significant attention in the field of engineering due to their unique mechanical properties. This study aims to explore the dynamic behaviors of an FGM stepped beam with different boundary conditions based on an efficient solving method. Under the assumptions of the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory, the governing differential equations of an individual FGM beam are derived with Hamilton's principle and decoupled via the separation-of-variable approach. Then, the free and forced vibrations of the FGM stepped beam are solved with the transfer matrix method (TMM). Two models, i.e., a three-level FGM stepped beam and a five-level FGM stepped beam, are considered, and their natural frequencies and mode shapes are presented. To demonstrate the validity of the method in this paper, the simulation results by ABAQUS are also given. On this basis, the detailed parametric analyses on the frequencies and dynamic responses of the three-level FGM stepped beam are carried out. The results show the accuracy and efficiency of the TMM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel phase-field model for the propagation of mixed-mode hydraulic fractures, characterized by the formation of mixed-mode fractures due to the interactions between fluids and solids, is proposed. In this model, the driving force for the phase field consists of both tensile and shear components, with the fluid contribution primarily manifesting in the tension driving force. The displacement and pressure are solved simultaneously by an implicit method. The numerical solution's iterative format is established by the finite element discretization and Newton-Raphson (NR) iterative methods. The correctness of the model is verified through the uniaxial compression physical experiments on fluid-pressurized rocks, and the limitations of the hydraulic fracture expansion phase-field model, which only considers mode I fractures, are revealed. In addition, the influence of matrix mode II fracture toughness value, natural fracture mode II toughness value, and fracturing fluid injection rate on the hydraulic fracture propagation in porous media with natural fractures is studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than half of the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) related mortality rates in the United States and Europe are associated with long-term-care facilities (LTCFs) such as old-age organizations, nursing homes, and disability centers. These facilities are considered most vulnerable to spread of an pandemic like COVID-19 because of multiple reasons including high density of elderly population with a diverse range of medical requirements, limited resources, nursing activities/medications, and the role of external visitors. In this study, we aim to understand the role of visitor’s family members and specific interventions (such as use of face masks and restriction of visiting hours) on the dynamics of infection in a community using a mathematical model. The model considers two types of social contexts (community and LTCFs) with three different groups of interacting populations (non-mobile community individuals, mobile community individuals, and long-term facility residents). The goal of this work is to compare the outbreak burden between different centre of disease control (CDC) planning scenarios, which capture distinct types of intensity of diseases spread in LTCF observed during COVID-19 outbreak. The movement of community mobile members is captured via their average relative times in and out of the long-term facilities to understand the strategies that would work well in these facilities the CDC planning scenarios. Our results suggest that heterogeneous mixing worsens epidemic scenario as compared to homogeneous mixing and the epidemic burden is hundreds times greater for community spread than within the facility population.

In this paper, we formulate a population suppression model and a population replacement model with periodic impulsive releases of Nilaparvata lugens infected with wStri. The conditions for the stability of wild- $ N.\,lugens $ N. l u g e n s -eradication periodic solution of two systems are obtained by applying the Floquet theorem and comparison theorem. And the sufficient conditions for the persistence in the mean of wild $ N.\,lugens $ N. l u g e n s are also given. In addition, the sufficient conditions for the extinction and persistence of the wild $ N.\,lugens $ N. l u g e n s in the subsystem without wLug are also obtained. Finally, we give numerical analysis which shows that increasing the release amount or decreasing the release period are beneficial for controlling the wild $ N.\,lugens $ N. l u g e n s , and the efficiency of population replacement strategy in controlling wild populations is higher than that of population suppression strategy under the same release conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The harmonic balance method (HBM) is one of the most widely used methods in solving nonlinear vibration problems, and its accuracy and computational efficiency largely depend on the number of the harmonics selected. The adaptive harmonic balance (AHB) method is an improved HBM method. This paper presents a modified AHB method with the asymptotic harmonic selection (AHS) procedure. This new harmonic selection procedure selects harmonics from the frequency spectra of nonlinear terms instead of estimating the contribution of each harmonic to the whole nonlinear response, by which the additional calculation is avoided. A modified continuation method is proposed to deal with the variable size of nonlinear algebraic equations at different values of path parameters, and then all solution branches of the amplitude-frequency response are obtained. Numerical experiments are carried out to verify the performance of the AHB-AHS method. Five typical nonlinear dynamic equations with different types of nonlinearities and excitations are chosen as the illustrative examples. Compared with the classical HBM and Runge-Kutta methods, the proposed AHB-AHS method is of higher accuracy and better convergence. The AHB-AHS method proposed in this paper has the potential to investigate the nonlinear vibrations of complex high-dimensional nonlinear systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a quasi-zero stiffness (QZS) isolator composed of a curved beam (as spider foot) and a linear spring (as spider muscle) inspired by the precise capturing ability of spiders in vibrating environments. The curved beam is simplified as an inclined horizontal spring, and a static analysis is carried out to explore the effects of different structural parameters on the stiffness performance of the QZS isolator. The finite element simulation analysis verifies that the QZS isolator can significantly reduce the first-order natural frequency under the load in the QZS region. The harmonic balance method (HBM) is used to explore the effects of the excitation amplitude, damping ratio, and stiffness coefficient on the system's amplitude-frequency response and transmissibility performance, and the accuracy of the analytical results is verified by the fourth-order Runge-Kutta integral method (RK-4). The experimental data of the QZS isolator prototype are fitted to a nine-degree polynomial, and the RK-4 can theoretically predict the experimental results. The experimental results show that the QZS isolator has a lower initial isolation frequency and a wider isolation frequency bandwidth than the equivalent linear isolator. The frequency sweep test of prototypes with different harmonic excitation amplitudes shows that the initial isolation frequency of the QZS isolator is 3 Hz, and it can isolate 90% of the excitation signal at 7 Hz. The proposed biomimetic spider-like QZS isolator has high application prospects and can provide a reference for optimizing low-frequency or ultra-low-frequency isolators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers a mathematical model that accounts for the hematological disorders of blood in its flow in human arteries. Blood is described as a Newtonian fluid but with its viscosity as a function of the hematocrit, plasma viscosity, and shape factor of the red blood cells. The artery is modeled as a flexible circular pipe with the blood flow as oscillatory. This model is solved using HAM (Homotopy Analysis Method), an approximate analytical method, and we computed expressions for wall shear stress (WSS) and volumetric flow rate. With the help of publicly available data, blood flow in the human femoral artery for male and female populations aged 19 to 60 and above years is simulated for healthy, anemia, and polycythemia cases. The model projected a significant difference in the mean volumetric flow rates in the conditions mentioned above. Results also indicated that the mean WSS of healthy and anemic populations are not significantly different. However, a significant difference in the mean has been observed in healthy and polycythemic conditions. Furthermore, a 33.3% decrease in hematocrit value from that in the normal range (taken as 0.45) of a healthy population has increased the flow rate by 33.5%. For a value 33.3% above 0.45, there is a decrease of 42.7% in the flow rate.

The heat and mass transfer of two immiscible fluids in an inclined channel with thermal diffusion, vicious, and Darcy dissipation is studied. The first region consists of a clear fluid, and the second one is filled with a nanofluid saturated with a porous medium. The behaviors of Cu-H2O, In-H2O, and Au-H2O nanofluids are analyzed. The transport properties are assumed to be constant. The coupled non-linear equations of the flow model are transformed into the dimensionless form, and the solutions for the velocity, temperature, and concentration are obtained by the regular perturbation technique. Investigations are carried out on the flow characteristics for various values of the material parameters. The results show that the velocity and temperature of the fluids enhance with the thermal Grashof number, solutal Grashof number, and Brinkman number while decrease with the porosity parameter and solid volume fraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the critical measures to control infectious diseases is a lockdown. Once past the lockdown stage in many parts of the world, the crucial question now concerns the effects of relaxing the lockdown and finding the best ways to implement further lockdown(s), if required, to control the spread. With the relaxation of lockdown, people migrate to different cities and enhance the spread of the disease. This work presents the population migration model for n-cities and applies the model for migration between two and three cities. The reproduction number is calculated, and the effect of the migration rate is analyzed. A punctuated lockdown is implemented to simulate a protocol of repeated lockdowns that limits the resurgence of infections. A damped oscillatory behavior is observed with multiple peaks over a period.

In literature, various mathematical models have been developed to have a better insight into the transmission dynamics and control the spread of infectious diseases. Aiming to explore more about various aspects of infectious diseases, in this work, we propose conceptual mathematical model through a SEIQR (Susceptible-Exposed-Infected-Quarantined-Recovered) mathematical model and its control measurement. We establish the positivity and boundedness of the solutions. We also compute the basic reproduction number and investigate the stability of equilibria for its epidemiological relevance. To validate the model and estimate the parameters to predict the disease spread, we consider the special case for COVID-19 to study the real cases of infected cases from [2] for Russia and India. For better insight, in addition to mathematical model, a history based LSTM model is trained to learn temporal patterns in COVID-19 time series and predict future trends. In the end, the future predictions from mathematical model and the LSTM based model are compared to generate reliable results.

COVID-19 global outbreak has been significantly damaging the human well-being, life style of people and the global economy. It is clear that the entire world is moving into a dangerous phase of this epidemic at the moment. With absence of a preventive vaccine, the governments across world implement, monitor and manage various public health and social distancing measures to control the spread of this extremely contagious disease and it is found that most of these responses have been critical results of numerous mathematical and decision support models. In this study, SEIR compartment structure is used to model the COVID-19 transmission in Sri Lanka. Reported cases data during the first 80 days of the outbreak is used to model the time dependent transmission rate of the disease. Optimal transmission rates and initial size of the exposed and infected sizes of the populations are then estimated matching between clinically identified cases to model based simulated outcomes.

Human motion induced vibration has very low frequency, ranging from 2 Hz to 5 Hz. Traditional vibration isolators are not effective in low-frequency regions due to the trade-off between the low natural frequency and the high load capacity. In this paper, inspired by the human spine, we propose a novel bionic human spine inspired quasi-zero stiffness (QZS) vibration isolator which consists of a cascaded multi-stage negative stiffness structure. The force and stiffness characteristics are investigated first, the dynamic model is established by Newton's second law, and the isolation performance is analyzed by the harmonic balance method (HBM). Numerical results show that the bionic isolator can obtain better low-frequency isolation performance by increasing the number of negative structure stages, and reducing the damping values and external force values can obtain better low-frequency isolation performance. In comparison with the linear structure and existing traditional QZS isolator, the bionic spine isolator has better vibration isolation performance in low-frequency regions. It paves the way for the design of bionic ultra-low-frequency isolators and shows potential in many engineering applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, a mathematical model consisting of non-pharmaceutical control measures is formulated. The developed model helps to examine the transmission of COVID-19 infection in Plateau State, Nigeria, using face masks c f and social distancing c d as control measures. Data used for the simulation of the developed model were obtained from Nigeria Centre for Disease Control which was fitted to the system of ordinary differential equations using nonlinear least squares method. Results at baseline values c f = 0.1 and c d = 0.2 of control measures indicate 2.3 estimation as basic reproduction number which suggests that COVID-19 in Plateau State tends towards endemic state. However, above about 40% in the use of face masks in the population and corresponding above 50% adherence to social distancing could as well bring down the basic reproduction number to a value below 1 necessary for disease eradication. The results at baseline values further indicate that the peak of the COVID-19 had been reached in less than 250 days from the first detection date after about 476,455 undetected asymptomatic individuals, 92,168 undetected symptomatic individuals and 83,801 detected quarantined individuals have been fully infectious. Therefore, the policymakers in Plateau State have the possibility of eradicating the disease with further strict non-pharmaceutical control measures provided that the present conditions of analysis remain fairly the same. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Queueing systems are modeled by equations which depend on a large number of input parameters. In practice, significant uncertainty is associated with estimates of these parameters, and this uncertainty must be considered in the analysis of the model. The objective of this paper is to propose a sensitivity analysis approach for a queueing model, presenting parameters that follow a Gaussian distribution. The approach consists in decomposing the output of the model (stationary distribution of the model) into a polynomial chaos. The sensitivity indices, allowing to quantify the contribution of each parameter to the variance of the output, are obtained directly from the coefficients of decomposition. The proposed approach is then applied to M/G/1/N queueing model. The most influential parameters are highlighted. Finally several numerical and data examples are sketched out to illustrate the accuracy of the proposed method and compare them with Monte Carlo simulation. The results of this work will be useful to practitioners in various fields of theoretical and applied sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Galerkin finite element method (FEM) is used widely in finding approximative solutions to field problems in engineering and natural sciences. When utilizing FEM, the field problem is said to be discretized. In this paper, we interpret discretization in FEM through category theory, unifying the concept of discreteness in FEM with that of discreteness in other fields of mathematics, such as topology. This reveals structural properties encoded in this concept: we propose that discretization is a dagger mono with a discrete domain in the category of Hilbert spaces made concrete over the category of vector spaces. Moreover, we discuss parallel decomposability of discretization, and through examples, connect it to different FEM formulations and choices of basis functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green's functions for Biot's dynamic equation in the frequency domain can be a highly useful tool for the investigation of dynamic responses of a saturated porous medium. Its applications are found in soil dynamics, seismology, earthquake engineering, rock mechanics, geophysics, and acoustics. However, the mathematical work for deriving it can be daunting. Green's functions have been presented utilizing an analogy between the dynamic thermoelasticity and the dynamic poroelasticity in the frequency domain using the u-p formulation. In this work, a special term 'decoupling coefficient' for the decomposition of the fast and slow dilatational waves is proposed and expressed to present a new methodology for deriving the poroelastodynamic Green's functions. The correctness of the solution is demonstrated by numerically comparing the current solution with Cheng's previous solution. The separation of the two waves in the present methodology allows the more accurate evaluation of Green's functions, particularly the solution of the slow dilatational wave. This can be advantageous for the numerical implementation of the boundary element method (BEM) and other applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The principle of competitive exclusion is well established for multiple populations competing for the same resource, and simple models for multistrain infection exhibit it as well when cross-immunity precludes coinfections. However, multiple hosts provide niches for different pathogens to occupy simultaneously. This is the case for the vector-borne parasiteTrypanosoma cruziin overlapping sylvatic transmission cycles in the Americas, where it is enzootic. This study uses cycles in the USA involving two different hosts but the same vector species as a context for the study of the mechanisms behind the communication between the two cycles. Vectors dispersing in search of new hosts may be considered to move between the two cycles (host switching) or, more simply, to divide their time between the two host types (host sharing). Analysis considers host switching as an intermediate case between isolated cycles and intermingled cycles (host sharing) in order to examine the role played by the host-switching rate in permitting coexistence of multiple strains in a single-host population. Results show that although the population dynamics (demographic equilibria) in host-switching models align well with those in the limiting models (host sharing or isolated cycles), infection dynamics differ significantly, in ways that sometimes illuminate the underlying epidemiology (such as differing host susceptibilities to infection) and sometimes reveal model limitations (such as host switching dominating the infection dynamics). Numerical work suggests that the model explains the trace presence of TcI in raccoons but not the more significant co-persistence observed in woodrats. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The current article is mainly concerned with applying generalized fractal derivatives in a macroeconomic model. We propose a discrete model involving four macroeconomic variables, the gross domestic production, exchange rate, money supply and exports/imports by using the generalized fractal derivative. The fractal derivative can describe the power-law phenomenon and memory property of economic variables more accurately. Based on the concrete macroeconomic data of Canada, the coefficients of this nonlinear system are estimated by the method of least squares. The statistical test results show that the four variables we have selected have an apparent causal connection, and the sum of squared residuals of the fitting equations is also acceptable. In simulation, the actual data of Canada from 1990 to 2008 are considered, and the effectiveness of our model is verified. The empirical study shows that in the coming few years, the money supply will grow quickly and hence it may lead to proper inflation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of mechanical boundary conditions, often encountered in thermalstructural engineering, on the thermal shock resistance (TSR) of ultra-high temperature ceramics (UHTCs) are studied by investigating the TSR of a UHTC plate with various types of constraints under the first, second, and third type of thermal boundary conditions. The TSR of UHTCs is strongly dependent on the heat transfer modes and severity of the thermal environments. Constraining the displacement of the lower surface in the thickness direction can significantly decrease the TSR of the UHTC plate, which is subject to the thermal shock at the upper surface. In contrast, the TSR of the UHTC plate with simply supported edges or clamped edges around the lower surface is much better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 outbreak has generated, in addition to the dramatic sanitary consequences, severe psychological repercussions for the populations affected by the pandemic. Simultaneously, these consequences can have related effects on the spread of the virus. Pandemic fatigue occurs when stress rises beyond a threshold, leading a person to feel demotivated to follow recommended behaviours to protect themselves and others. In the present paper, we introduce a new susceptible-infected-quarantined-recovered-dead (SIQRD) model in terms of a system of ordinary differential equations (ODE). The model considers the countermeasures taken by sanitary authorities and the effect of pandemic fatigue. The latter can be mitigated by fear of the disease's consequences modelled with the death rate in mind. The mathematical well-posedness of the model is proved. We show the numerical results to be consistent with the transmission dynamics data characterising the epidemic of the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy in 2020. We provide a measure of the possible pandemic fatigue impact. The model can be used to evaluate the public health interventions and prevent with specific actions the possible damages resulting from the social phenomenon of relaxation concerning the observance of the preventive rules imposed., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2021 The Authors.)

COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus that caused an outbreak of typical pneumonia first in Wuhan and then globally. Although researchers focus on the human-to-human transmission of this virus but not much research is done on the dynamics of the virus in the environment and the role humans play by releasing the virus into the environment. In this paper, a novel nonlinear mathematical model of the COVID-19 epidemic is proposed and analyzed under the effects of the environmental virus on the transmission patterns. The model consists of seven population compartments with the inclusion of contaminated environments means there is a chance to get infected by the virus in the environment. We also calculated the threshold quantity R 0 to know the disease status and provide conditions that guarantee the local and global asymptotic stability of the equilibria using Volterra-type Lyapunov functions, LaSalle's invariance principle, and the Routh-Hurwitz criterion. Furthermore, the sensitivity analysis is performed for the proposed model that determines the relative importance of the disease transmission parameters. Numerical experiments are performed to illustrate the effectiveness of the obtained theoretical results., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2021 The Authors.)