Modelling of glioblastoma growth by linking a molecular interaction network with an agent-based model

In this work, a mathematical model of malignant brain tumour growth is presented. In particular, the growth of glioblastoma is investigated on the intracellular and intercellular scale.

The Go or Grow principle of tumour cells states that tumour cells either migrate or proliferate. For glioblastoma, microRNA-451 has been shown to be an energy dependent key regulator of the LKB1 (liver kinase B1) and AMPK (AMP-activated protein kinase) pathway that influences the signalling for migration or cell division.

We introduce a mathematical model that reproduces these biological processes. The intracellular molecular interaction network is represented by a system of nine ordinary differential equations. This is put into a multiscale context by applying an agent-based approach: each cell is equipped with this interaction network and additional rules to determine its new phenotype as either migrating, proliferating or quiescent.

The evaluation of the proposed model by comparison of the results with in vitro experiments indicates its validity.     

Linking routines to the evolution of IT capability on agent-based modeling and simulation: a dynamic perspective

IT capability as an important source of competitive advantage has been strongly emphasized in the strategic management literature, yet the formation and evolution of IT capability in the ever-changing business environment are not well explained. To fill this gap, this paper takes routine as the unit of analysis, depicts a micro-interpretation of the formation and evolution of IT capabilities from the routine-based and dynamic perspective, and uses the agent-based simulation methodology to simulate the evolutionary process of IT capability as well as to identify the underlying principles. In order to provide a better presentation of the evolutionary process, a routine-based view of the enterprise explicitly recognizes relationships of IT resources and capabilities. The simulation results show that the evolution of IT capability is a dynamic adaption and learning process. From the routine-based view, the evolution of IT capability is indeed the process of variation, selection, and retention for IT routines.     

Mathematical analysis of a virus dynamics model with general incidence rate and cure rate

The rate of infection in many virus dynamics models is assumed to be bilinear in the virus and uninfected target cells. In this paper, the dynamical behavior of a virus dynamics model with general incidence rate and cure rate is studied. Global dynamics of the model is established. We prove that the virus is cleared and the disease dies out if the basic reproduction number R₀≤1 while the virus persists in the host and the infection becomes endemic if R₀>1.     

Group and individual heterogeneity in a stochastic frontier model: Container terminal operators

Container ports are a major component of international trade and the global supply chain. Hence, the improvement of port efficiency can have a significant impact on the wider maritime economy. This paper deconstructs a representation in the existing literature that neglects the heterogeneity of individual and group-specific terminal operators. In its place, we present a hierarchical model to make a connection between efficiency and terminal operator group characteristics. The paper develops a stochastic frontier model that controls not only individual heterogeneity but also group-specific variations. The model decomposes the total stochastic derivation from the frontier into inefficiency, individual heterogeneity, group-specific variations, and noise components, with the estimation being performed using Markov chain Monte Carlo simulations. The validity of the model is tested with a panel of container terminal operator data from 1997-2004. Our findings show that terminal operator groups are important in promoting terminal efficiency at the global level, and that the operators with stevedore backgrounds show a higher efficiency than carriers.     

Renormalization group, operator expansion, and anomalous scaling in a simple model of turbulent diffusion

Using the renormalization group method and the operator expansion in the Obukhov-Kraichnan model that describes the intermixing of a passive scalar admixture by a random Gaussian field of velocities with the correlator 〈v(t,x)v(t′,x)〉−〈v(t,x)v(t′,x′)〉∝δ(t−t′)|x−x′|^ε, we prove that the anomalous scaling in the inertial interval is caused by the presence of “dangerous” composite operators (powers of the local dissipation rate) whose negative critical dimensions determine the anomalous exponents. These exponents are calculated up to the second order of the ε expansion. Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Matematicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 120, No. 2, pp. 309–314, August, 1999.     

Global stability of a virus dynamics model with cure rate and absorption

In this paper, we investigate a mathematical model which takes account the cure of infected cells and the loss of viral particles due to the absorption into uninfected cells. The global stability of the model is determined by using the direct Lyapunov method for disease-free equilibrium, and the geometrical approach for chronic infection equilibrium.     

A viral propagation model with a nonlinear infection rate and free boundaries

In this paper we put forward a viral propagation model with a nonlinear infection rate and free boundaries and investigate the dynamical properties. This model is composed of two ordinary differential equations and one partial differential equation, in which the spatial range of the first equation is the whole space R, and the last two equations have free boundaries. As a new mathematical model, we prove the existence,uniqueness and uniform estimates of the global solution, and provide the criteria for spreading and vanishing, and the long time behavior of the solution components u, v and w. Comparing this model with the corresponding ordinary differential systems, the basic reproduction number R_0 plays a different role. We find that when R_0≤1, the virus cannot spread successfully; when R_0 1, the successful spread of the virus depends on the initial value and varying parameters.     

Analysis of a viral infection model with immune impairment,intracellular delay and general non-linear incidence rate

In this article we study the dynamical behaviour of a intracellular delayed viral infection with immune impairment model and general non-linear incidence rate. Several techniques, including a non-linear stability analysis by means of the Lyapunov theory and sensitivity analysis, have been used to reveal features of the model dynamics. The classical threshold for the basic reproductive number is obtained: if the basic reproductive number of the virus is less than one, the infection-free equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable and the infected equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable if the basic reproductive number is higher than one.     

Supply chain model for a deteriorating product with time-varying demand and production rate

The paper develops a two-echelon supply chain model with a single-buyer and a single-vendor. The buyer sells a seasonal product over a short selling period and its inventory is subject to deterioration at a constant rate over time. The vendor's production rate is dependent on the buyer's demand rate, which is a linear function of time. Also, the vendor's production process is not perfectly reliable; it may shift from an in-control state to an out-of-control state at any time during a production run and produce some defective (non-conforming) items. Assuming that the vendor follows a lot-for-lot policy for replenishment made to the buyer, the average total cost of the supply chain is derived and an algorithm for finding the optimal solution is developed. The numerical study shows that the supply chain coordination policy is more beneficial than those policies obtained separately from the buyer's and the vendor's perspectives.     

Global attractivity in a population model with nonlinear death rate and distributed delays

We study the global attractivity of the unique positive equilibrium of a population model with distributed delays and nonlinear death rate. Both delay dependent and delay independent criteria are obtained which generalize, unify and improve known criteria. These results will be applied to some models with bounded and unbounded death functions.     

Stability and backward bifurcation on a cholera epidemic model with saturated recovery rate

In this paper, a cholera epidemic model with saturated recovery rate is studied. Backward bifurcation leading to bistability possibly occurs, and global dynamics are shown by compound matrices and geometric approaches. Numerical simulations are presented to illustrate the results. Our results suggest that the basic reproduction number itself is not enough to describe whether cholera will prevail or not when the resources for treatment of infectives are limited and suggest that we should pay more attention to the initial state of cholera. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stable periodic traveling waves for a predator-prey model with non-constant death rate and delay

In this paper we will consider a predator-prey model with a non-constant death rate and distributed delay, described by a partial integro-differential system. The main goal of this work is to prove that the partial integro-differential system has periodic orbitally asymptotically stable solutions in the form of periodic traveling waves; i.e. N(x, t) = N(σt − μ · x), P(x, t) = P(σt − μ · x), where σ > 0 is the angular frequency and μ is the vector number of the plane wave, which propagates in the direction of the vector μ with speed c = σ/∥μ∥; and N(x, t) and P(x, t) are the spatial population densities of the prey and the predator species, respectively. In order to achieve our goal we will use singular perturbation’s techniques.     

Global dynamics of a multistage SIR model with distributed delays and nonlinear incidence rate

In this paper, a multistage susceptible‐infectious‐recovered model with distributed delays and nonlinear incidence rate is investigated, which extends the model considered by Guo et al. [H. Guo, M. Y. Li and Z. Shuai, Global dynamics of a general class of multistage models for infectious diseases, SIAM J. Appl. Math., 72 (2012), 261–279]. Under some appropriate and realistic conditions, the global dynamics is completely determined by the basic reproduction number R₀. If R₀≤1, then the infection‐free equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable and the disease dies out in all stages. If R₀>1, then a unique endemic equilibrium exists, and it is globally asymptotically stable, and hence the disease persists in all stages. The results are proved by utilizing the theory of non‐negative matrices, Lyapunov functionals, and the graph‐theoretical approach. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Markov decision problem in a risk model with interest rate and Markovian environment

We consider the compound binomial model in a Markovian environment presented by Cossette et al.(2004). We modify the model via assuming that the company receives interest on the surplus and a positive real-valued premium per unit time, and introducing a control strategy of periodic dividend payments. A Markov decision problem arises and the control objective is to maximize the cumulative expected discounted dividends paid to the shareholders until ruin minus a discounted penalty for ruin. We show that under the absence of a ceiling of dividend rates the optimal strategy is a conditional band strategy given the current state of the environment process. Under the presence of a ceiling for dividend rates, the character of the optimal control strategy is given. In addition, we offer an algorithm for the optimal strategy and the optimal value function.Numerical results are provided to illustrate the algorithm and the impact of the penalty.     

Chaos, complex transients and noise: Illustration with a Kaldor model

In the present paper two-dimensional discrete Kaldor-type models are investigated. First, a sufficient condition for the existence of topological chaos of the model is derived analytically for a special parameter set. Second, the influences of noise on the Kaldor model are examined numerically. We show that noise may not only obscure the underlying structures, but also reveal the hidden structures, for example, the chaotic attractors near a window of chaos or the periodic attractors near a small chaotic parameter region.     

Global dynamics of a SEIR model with information dependent vaccination and periodically varying transmission rate

This paper is devoted to the investigation of the global dynamics of a SEIR model with information dependent vaccination. The basic reproduction number is derived for the model, and it is shown that gives the threshold dynamics in the sense that the disease‐free equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable and the disease dies out if , while there exists at least one positive periodic solution and the disease is uniformly persistent when . Further, we give the approximation formula of . This answers the concerns presented in [B. Buonomo, A. d'Onofrio, D. Lacitignola, Modeling of pseudo‐rational exemption to vaccination for SEIR diseases, J. Math. Anal. Appl. 404 (2013) 385–398]. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stability and Hopf bifurcation of a delayed epidemic model with stage structure and nonlinear incidence rate

In this paper, a stage‐structured SI epidemic model with time delay and nonlinear incidence rate is investigated. By analyzing the corresponding characteristic equations, the local stability of an endemic equilibrium and a disease‐free equilibrium, and the existence of Hopf bifurcations are established. By comparison arguments, it is proved that if the basic reproduction number is less than unity, the disease‐free equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable. If the basic reproduction number is greater than unity, by means of an iteration technique, sufficient conditions are obtained for the global asymptotic stability of the endemic equilibrium. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.