Homoclinic bifurcation for a general state-dependent Kolmogorov type predator–prey model with harvesting

In this paper, a general Kolmogorov type predator–prey model is considered. Together with a constant-yield predator harvesting, the state dependent feedback control strategies which take into account the impulsive harvesting on predators as well as the impulsive stocking on the prey are incorporated in the process of population interactions. We firstly study the existence of an order-1 homoclinic cycle for the system. It is shown that an order-1 positive periodic solution bifurcates from the order-1 homoclinic cycle through a homoclinic bifurcation as the impulsive predator harvesting rate crosses some critical value. The uniqueness and stability of the order-1 positive periodic solution are derived by applying the geometry theory of differential equations and the method of successor function. Finally, some numerical examples are provided to illustrate the main results. These results indicate that careful management of resources and harvesting policies is required in the applied conservation and renewable resource contexts.     

A finite element method based comparative fracture assessment of carbon black and silica filled elastomers: Reinforcing efficacy of carbonaceous fillers in flexible composites

This study is focused on numerical investigation on fracture behaviors of carbon black (CB) and silica filled elastomeric composites. Finite element analysis (FEA) in compliance with multi-specimen method is used to calculate J-integral and geometry factor of the rubber composites up to a displacement of 20 mm for single edge notch in tension (SENT) and double edge notch in tension (DENT) specimens. An empirical relationship between crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) and crack advancement is established depending on notch to width ratio (NWR). The stress contours across the notches for SENT and DENT specimens is discussed briefly. It is found that fracture propagation resistance of CB filled elastomer is 125% more than that of silica filled elastomer. Although, Silica filled elastomer have good tensile strength and crosslink density but it fails to replace carbon black in terms of fracture properties. The critical J-integral for CB filled elastomer is 18.7% and 32.2% more than silica filled elastomer for SENT and DENT specimens respectively. The effect of specimen type on various fracture properties is also explored. The factor of safety is found to be significantly more in case of CB filled elastomers making them less vulnerable to crack propagation and catastrophic failure.     

The coordination of the catalytic zinc ion in alcohol dehydrogenase studied by combined quantum-chemical and molecular mechanics calculations

Summary The coordination number of the catalytic zinc ion in alcohol dehydrogenase has been studied by integrated ab initio quantum-chemical and molecular mechanics geometry optimisations involving the whole enzyme. A four-coordinate active-site zinc ion is 100–200 kJ/mol more stable than a five-coordinate one, depending on the ligands. The only stable binding site for a fifth ligand at the zinc ion is opposite to the normal substrate site, in a small cavity buried behind the zinc ion. The zinc coordination sphere has to be strongly distorted to accommodate a ligand in this site, and the ligand makes awkward contacts with surrounding atoms. Thus, the results do not support proposals attributing an important role to five-coordinate zinc complexes in the catalytic mechanism of alcohol dehydrogenase. The present approach makes it possible also to quantify the strain induced by the enzyme onto the zinc ion and its ligands; it amounts to 42–87 kJ/mol for four-coordinate active-site zinc ion complexes and 131–172 kJ/mol for five-coordinate ones. The four-coordinate structure with a water molecule bound to the zinc ion is about 20 kJ/mol less strained than the corresponding structure with a hydroxide ion, indicating that the enzyme does not speed up the reaction by forcing the zinc coordination sphere into a structure similar to the reaction intermediates.     

On the influence of the basis set superposition error on calculated vibrational frequencies

The relation between the so called basis set superposition error and intramolecular vibrational frequencies calculated at the Hartree Fock SCF level of approximation was investigated. A linear conformation of HF dimer was chosen as test system for the investigation. It was found that the direct basis set superposition error for the studied system is rather small. It was further found that the shifts are mainly determined by the geometry parameters of the system. AcknowledgementsJ. M. H.-R. wishes to thank the Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte for the award of a research grant.     

Geometric structure of b 2,2-orbihedra and interpolation of operators

We compute the normals to faces of b _2,2-orbihedra and apply the results to Operator Interpolation Theory.     

The Identities and Central Polynomials of the Finite Dimensional Unitary Grassmann Algebras Over a Finite Field

We describe the T-ideal of identities and the T-space of central polynomials for the unitary finite dimensional Grassmann algebra over a finite field.     

Geometries of functional group interactions in enzyme-ligand complexes: Guides for receptor modelling

Summary An approach is described which makes use of X-ray structural data from enzyme-ligand complexes in order to obtain information for application in receptor modelling. The atomic surroundings of five different ligand functional groups were determined for all complex structures recorded in the Brookhaven Protein Data Bank. These atomic surroundings were then superimposed with respect to the atoms of the functional groups of the ligands in order to obtain clouds of neighbouring atoms. General principles were sought to describe the orientiation or favoured position of groups or atoms around those functional groups when bound to a macromolecule. Some simple conclusions and leads for further modelling were thus derived.     

Schur Orthogonality Relations for the Finitary Infinite Symmetric Group

Let S f be the finitary infinite symmetric group. For a certain class of irreducible unitary representations of S f , a version of Schur orthogonality relations is proved. That is, we construct an invariant inner product on the matrix coefficient space of each representation and show that matrix coefficients for distinct representations are orthogonal with respect to these norms.     

Diameter preserving surjections in the geometry of matrices

We consider a class of graphs subject to certain restrictions, including the finiteness of diameters. Any surjective mapping φ:Γ→Γ^′ between graphs from this class is shown to be an isomorphism provided that the following holds: Any two points of Γ are at a distance equal to the diameter of Γ if, and only if, their images are at a distance equal to the diameter of Γ^′. This result is then applied to the graphs arising from the adjacency relations of spaces of rectangular matrices, spaces of Hermitian matrices, and Grassmann spaces (projective spaces of rectangular matrices).