A probabilistic approach to spectral analysis of growth-fragmentation equations

The growth-fragmentation equation describes a system of growing and dividing particles, and arises in models of cell division, protein polymerisation and even telecommunications protocols. Several important questions about the equation concern the asymptotic behaviour of solutions at large times: at what rate do they converge to zero or infinity, and what does the asymptotic profile of the solutions look like? Does the rescaled solution converge to its asymptotic profile at an exponential speed? These questions have traditionally been studied using analytic techniques such as entropy methods or splitting of operators. In this work, we present a probabilistic approach: we use a Feynman–Kac formula to relate the solution of the growth-fragmentation equation to the semigroup of a Markov process, and characterise the rate of decay or growth in terms of this process. We then identify the Malthus exponent and the asymptotic profile in terms of a related Markov process, and give a spectral interpretation in terms of the growth-fragmentation operator and its dual.     

Local linear convergence analysis of Primal–Dual splitting methods

In this paper, we study the local linear convergence properties of a versatile class of Primal–Dual splitting methods for minimizing composite non-smooth convex optimization problems. Under the assumption that the non-smooth components of the problem are partly smooth relative to smooth manifolds, we present a unified local convergence analysis framework for these methods. More precisely, in our framework, we first show that (i) the sequences generated by Primal–Dual splitting methods identify a pair of primal and dual smooth manifolds in a finite number of iterations, and then (ii) enter a local linear convergence regime, which is characterized based on the structure of the underlying active smooth manifolds. We also show how our results for Primal–Dual splitting can be specialized to cover existing ones on Forward–Backward splitting and Douglas–Rachford splitting/ADMM (alternating direction methods of multipliers). Moreover, based on these obtained local convergence analysis result, several practical acceleration techniques are discussed. To exemplify the usefulness of the obtained result, we consider several concrete numerical experiments arising from fields including signal/image processing, inverse problems and machine learning. The demonstration not only verifies the local linear convergence behaviour of Primal–Dual splitting methods, but also the insights on how to accelerate them in practice.     

Metabolomics techniques applied in the investigation of phenolic acids from the agro-industrial by-product of Carapa guianensis Aubl

Processing of Carapa guianensis seeds to obtain oil on an industrial scale generates a significant amount of by-product, approximately 66% w/w, which is called cake and is a potential source of biomolecules, including simple phenolic structures. For this reason, studies were carried out on the chemical profiles of hydrolyzed extract from this agro-industrial by-product through High Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) and Gas Chromatography coupled to Mass Spectrometry (GC–MS). These techniques were used to detect metabolic classes and/or groups, and to identify, for the first time, thirteen simple phenolic acids in this by-product. The sample antioxidant capacity was determined by methods of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)and 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS⁺) radicals direct sequestration. The hydrolyzed fraction showed a total of 63.47% in the relative abundance of the total of compounds, standing out: p-hydroxybenzoic acid (39.19%) and protocatechuic acid (3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid) (5.62%), both from hydroxybenzoic acids and 3-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)lactic acid, (7.76%) hydroxycinnamic acids derivatives. In these results, the fraction rich in simple phenolic acids was obtained, attributing the prominent behavior of this matrix antioxidant activity, expressed by (IC₅₀: of 16.42 µg/mL and 6.52 µg/mL for DPPH and ABTS⁺ radicals, respectively). The research demonstrated an alternative to applicability that involves sustainability from agro-industrial. These techniques were used to detect metabolic classes and/or groups, and to identify, for the first time, thirteen simple phenolic acids in this by-product, generating a process capable of converting biomass into a bioproduct, consisting of bioactive compounds, in addition to adding value to the industrial chain.     

Generalized Jacobi spectral Galerkin method for fractional pantograph differential equation

This work is concerned with the extension of the Jacobi spectral Galerkin method to a class of nonlinear fractional pantograph differential equations. First, the fractional differential equation is converted to a nonlinear Volterra integral equation with weakly singular kernel. Second, we analyze the existence and uniqueness of solutions for the obtained integral equation. Then, the Galerkin method is used for solving the equivalent integral equation. The error estimates for the proposed method are also investigated. Finally, illustrative examples are presented to confirm our theoretical analysis.     

基于串联两阶段网络DEA模型的供应链规模收益分析

数据包络分析(DEA)是评价供应链系统(Supply chain system)间相对有效性的一种重要的工具,但是传统的DEA不考虑供应链的内部结构,对系统效率评价偏高;而本文所研究两阶段串联供应链系统,考虑把部分中间产品作为最终产品输出,增加额外中间投入的情形.基于所提出的供应链系统结构,本文建立相应的串联结构下的网络DEA模型,并针对所建立模型进行相关理论的研究,给出了串联结构下的生产可能集和规模收益情况判定方法.最后,进行数值实验,以验证我们提出的结论.     

Sobolev Stability of Plane Wave Solutions to the Nonlinear Schrödinger Equation

This article explores the questions of long time orbital stability in high order Sobolev norms of plane wave solutions to the NLSE in the defocusing case.