A Markov Chain Application to Manpower Supply Planning

Markov chains have been suggested since the early sixties for modeling manpower supply, mostly in military, governmental and public agencies. An actual industrial application is presented. This will be of interest to managers as well as practitioners and students of operational research. The approach, use and validation of the Markov model are discussed, along with some limitations and extensions.     

A Caputo–Fabrizio Fractional-Order Model of HIV/AIDS with a Treatment Compartment: Sensitivity Analysis and Optimal Control Strategies

Although most of the early research studies on fractional-order systems were based on the Caputo or Riemann–Liouville fractional-order derivatives, it has recently been proven that these methods have some drawbacks. For instance, kernels of these methods have a singularity that occurs at the endpoint of an interval of definition. Thus, to overcome this issue, several new definitions of fractional derivatives have been introduced. The Caputo–Fabrizio fractional order is one of these nonsingular definitions. This paper is concerned with the analyses and design of an optimal control strategy for a Caputo–Fabrizio fractional-order model of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The Caputo–Fabrizio fractional-order model of HIV/AIDS is considered to prevent the singularity problem, which is a real concern in the modeling of real-world systems and phenomena. Firstly, in order to find out how the population of each compartment can be controlled, sensitivity analyses were conducted. Based on the sensitivity analyses, the most effective agents in disease transmission and prevalence were selected as control inputs. In this way, a modified Caputo–Fabrizio fractional-order model of the HIV/AIDS epidemic is proposed. By changing the contact rate of susceptible and infectious people, the atraumatic restorative treatment rate of the treated compartment individuals, and the sexual habits of susceptible people, optimal control was designed. Lastly, simulation results that demonstrate the appropriate performance of the Caputo–Fabrizio fractional-order model and proposed control scheme are illustrated.     

Optically implemented broadband blueshift switch in the terahertz regime

We experimentally demonstrate, for the first time, an optically implemented blueshift tunable metamaterial in the terahertz (THz) regime. The design implies two potential resonance states, and the photoconductive semiconductor (silicon) settled in the critical region plays the role of intermediary for switching the resonator from mode 1 to mode 2. The observed tuning range of the fabricated device is as high as 26% (from 0.76 THz to 0.96 THz) through optical control to silicon. The realization of broadband blueshift tunable metamaterial offers opportunities for achieving switchable metamaterials with simultaneous redshift and blueshift tunability and cascade tunable devices. Our experimental approach is compatible with semiconductor technologies and can be used for other applications in the THz regime.     

Some Results on Dynamics of Special Double-Loop ΣΔ-Modulators

The dynamic behaviour of a specific two-dimensional state space model with discontinuity is studied. This model arises from the study of double-loop -modulators with constant input. Using mathematical tools we explain certain simulation results, and some properties are derived. Simulations based on time-varying input are also provided.