Qualitative analysis of a SIR epidemic model with saturated treatment rate

On account of the effect of limited treatment resources on the control of epidemic disease, a saturated removal rate is incorporated into Hethcote’s SIR epidemiological model (Hethcote, SIAM Rev. 42:599–653, 2000). Unlike the original model, the model has two endemic equilibria when R ₀<1. Furthermore, under some conditions, both the disease free equilibrium and one of the two endemic equilibria are asymptotically stable, i.e., the model has bistable equilibria. Therefore, disease eradication not only depends on R ₀ but also on the initial sizes of all sub-populations. By the Poincaré-Bendixson theorem, Poincaré index, center manifold theorem, Hopf bifurcation theorem and Lyapunov-Lasalle theorem, etc., the existence and asymptotical stability of the equilibria, the existence, stability and direction of Hopf bifurcation are discussed, respectively.     

Qualitative analysis of a modified Leslie–Gower and Holling-type II predator–prey model with state dependent impulsive effects

In this paper, we present a two-dimensional autonomous dynamical system modeling a predator–prey food chain which is based on a modified version of the Leslie–Gower scheme and on the Holling-type II scheme with state dependent impulsive effects. By using the Poincaré map, some conditions for the existence and stability of semi-trivial solution and positive periodic solution are obtained. Numerical results are carried out to illustrate the feasibility of our main results.     

Time-limited pest control of a Lotka–Volterra model with impulsive harvest

A kind of time-limited pest control of a Lotka–Volterra model with impulsive harvest, described by the initial and boundary value problem of impulsive differential equation, is presented. The aim of pest control can be achieved if the model has a solution, otherwise the aim cannot be achieved. By the comparison principle, the conditions under which the model has a solution are found by a series of the upper solutions and the conditions under which the model has no solution are also given by a series of the lower solutions. Furthermore, if the other parameters are given, the times of harvesting pest in the given time is estimated. The theoretical results and the numerical simulations show that the density of the natural enemy will decrease when the pest decreases although the control measures to the pest do not directly affect the natural enemy. Finally, some discussions are given.     

Global dynamic behavior of a predator–prey model under ratio-dependent state impulsive control

This paper studies the global dynamic behavior of a prey–predator model with square root functional response under ratio-dependent state impulsive control strategy. It is shown that the boundary equilibrium point of the controlled system is globally asymptotically stable. An order-k periodic orbit is obtained by employing the Brouwer’s fixed point theorem. Furthermore, the critical values are determined for the existence of orbitally asymptotically stable order-1 and order-2 periodic orbits in finite time. These critical values play an important role in determining different kinds of order-k periodic orbits and can also be used for designing the control parameters to obtain the desirable dynamic behavior of the controlled prey–predator system. Moreover, it is found that the local equilibrium point is also globally asymptotically stable under the control strategy. Numerical examples are provided to validate the effectiveness and feasibility of the theoretical results.     

Qualitative analysis of a diffusive prey–predator model

In this work we examine a Lotka–Volterra model with diffusion describing the dynamics of multiple interacting prey and predator species. We show that the solution exists, and is unique, bounded, nonnegative, and globally defined. We also prove the non-existence of nonconstant steady state solutions if certain conditions are satisfied. For the particular case of two prey (e.g., engineered and native, respectively) and one common predator species, by performing a linear stability analysis about the initial native-dominant steady state, we determine under which conditions the engineered species invasion succeeds.     

Convergence and permanence of a delayed Nicholson’s Blowflies model with feedback control

In this paper, we study a generalized Nicholson??s Blowflies model with feedback control and multiple time-varying delays. Under proper conditions, we employ a novel proof to establish some criteria to guarantee the global exponential convergence and permanence of this model. Moreover, we give two examples to illustrate our main results.     

Modeling and analysis of a modified Leslie–Gower type three species food chain model with an impulsive control strategy

This paper describes a modified Leslie–Gower type three species food chain model with harvesting. We have incorporated impulsive control strategy to the system. Theories of impulsive differential equations, small amplitude perturbation skills and comparison technique are used to study dynamical behavior of the system. Sufficient conditions are derived to ensure global stability of the lowest-level prey and mid-level predator eradication periodic solution. Sufficient conditions are also derived to examine the permanence of the system. Numerical simulations are carried out to verify the analytical results, and the system is analyzed through graphical illustrations. It is observed that the stability of the system exhibits several states, ranging from stable situation to cyclic oscillatory behavior, under different favorable conditions. These results are useful to study the dynamic complexity of ecological systems. The computation of the largest Lyapunov exponent demonstrates the chaotic dynamic nature of the system. The qualitative nature of strange attractor is examined. It is to be noted that the harvesting effort can cause a stable equilibrium to become unstable and even a switching of stabilities.     

Dynamics analysis of a pest management prey–predator model by means of interval state monitoring and control

In this work, a new pest management strategy by means of interval state monitoring is introduced into a prey–predator model, i.e. when the pest density exceeds the slightly harmful level but is below the damage level, the biological control is adopted in case of the predator density below a maintainable level, once the pest density exceeds the damage level, the chemical control is adopted. In order to determine the frequency of the chemical control and yield of releases of the predator, analysis on the existence of order-1 or order-2 periodic orbit is carried out by the construction of Poincaré map. The results could make the pest control strategy to be a periodic one without real-time monitoring the species. In addition, the stability and attractiveness of the periodic orbit are obtained by geometry approach, which ensures a certain robustness of control, i.e., even though the species densities are detected inaccurately or with a deviation, the system will be eventually stable at the periodic orbit under the control action. Furthermore, to obtain the optimum chemical control strength and yield releases of the predator, an optimization problem is constructed. The analytical results presented in the work are validated by numerical simulations for a specific model.     

Embedding a state space model into a Markov decision process

In agriculture Markov decision processes (MDPs) with finite state and action space are often used to model sequential decision making over time. For instance, states in the process represent possible levels of traits of the animal and transition probabilities are based on biological models estimated from data collected from the animal or herd.     

Existence and stability of periodic solution of a Lotka–Volterra predator–prey model with state dependent impulsive effects

According to biological and chemical control strategy for pest, we investigate the dynamic behavior of a Lotka–Volterra predator–prey state-dependent impulsive system by releasing natural enemies and spraying pesticide at different thresholds. By using Poincaré map and the properties of the Lambert W$W$ function, we prove that the sufficient conditions for the existence and stability of semi-trivial solution and positive periodic solution. Numerical simulations are carried out to illustrate the feasibility of our main results.     

Dynamic control of a single-server system with abandonments

In this paper, we discuss the dynamic server control in a two-class service system with abandonments. Two models are considered. In the first case, rewards are received upon service completion, and there are no abandonment costs (other than the lost opportunity to gain rewards). In the second, holding costs per customer per unit time are accrued, and each abandonment involves a fixed cost. Both cases are considered under the discounted or average reward/cost criterion. These are extensions of the classic scheduling question (without abandonments) where it is well known that simple priority rules hold.     

Complex dynamics and bifurcation analysis of host–parasitoid models with impulsive control strategy

In this paper, we propose and analyse two type host–parasitoid models with integrated pest management (IPM) interventions as impulsive control strategies. For fixed pulsed model, the threshold condition for the global stability of the host-eradication periodic solution is provided, and the effects of key parameters including the impulsive period, proportionate killing rate, instantaneous search rate, releasing constant, survival rate and the proportionate release rate on the threshold condition are discussed. Then latin hypercube sampling /partial rank correlation coefficients are used to carry out sensitivity analyses to determine the significance of each parameters. Further, bifurcation analyses are presented and the results show that coexistence of attractors existed for a wide range of parameters, and the switch-like transitions among these attractors indicate that varying dosages and frequencies of insecticide applications and numbers of parasitoid released are crucial for IPM strategy. For unfixed pulsed model, the results show that this model exists very complex dynamics and the host population can be controlled below ET, and it implies that the modelling methods are helpful for improving optimal strategies to design appropriate IPM.     

Dynamical behaviors of a biological management model with impulsive stocking juvenile predators and continuous harvesting adult predators

In this work, a biological management model with impulsive stocking juvenile predators and continuous harvesting adult predators is investigated. By the stroboscopic map of the discrete dynamical system, the prey-extinction periodic solution of the investigated system is proved to be globally asymptotically stable. By the theory of impulsive differential equation, the investigated system is also proved to be permanent. Finally, the numerical analysis is inserted to illustrate the results. Our conclusions provide reliable tactical basis for the practical biological management.     

Qualitative analysis of Beddington–DeAngelis type impulsive predator–prey models

In the paper, the impulsive predator–prey models with Beddington–DeAngelis functional response are studied. Conditions for the existence and stability of a prey-free solution and for the existence of a nontrivial periodic solution have been established. Also, we find a sufficient condition that the model is permanent and show that the model has complex dynamical behaviors via bifurcation diagrams.     

Robust L ∞ reliable control for impulsive switched nonlinear systems with state delay

This paper investigates the problem of robust L _∞ reliable control for a class of uncertain impulsive switched nonlinear systems with time-delay in the presence of actuator failure. Based on the dwell time approach, we firstly obtain a sufficient condition of exponential stability for the impulsive switched nonlinear system with time-delay, and L _∞ performance for the considered system is also analyzed. Then, based on above results, a state feedback controller, which guarantees the exponential stability with L _∞ performance of the corresponding closed-loop system, is constructed. Finally, a numerical example is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed design method.     

On the optimality of threshold control in queues with model uncertainty

We consider a single-stage queuing system where arrivals and departures are modeled by point processes with stochastic intensities. An arrival incurs a cost, while a departure earns a revenue. The objective is to maximize the profit by controlling the intensities subject to capacity limits and holding costs. When the stochastic model for arrival and departure processes are completely known, then a threshold policy is known to be optimal. Many times arrival and departure processes can not be accurately modeled and controlled due to lack of sufficient calibration data or inaccurate assumptions. We prove that a threshold policy is optimal under a max–min robust model when the uncertainty in the processes is characterized by relative entropy. Our model generalizes the standard notion of relative entropy to account for different levels of model uncertainty in arrival and departure processes. We also study the impact of uncertainty levels on the optimal threshold control.     

Existence and global stability of periodic solution for impulsive predator-prey model with diffusion and distributed delay

In this paper, the nonlinear nonautonomous predator-prey model with impulsive effect is considered. By using the method of coincidence degree theorem, a set of easily verifiable sufficient conditions are obtained for the existence of at least one strictly positive periodic solution, and by the means of a suitable Lyapunov function, the uniqueness and global attractivity of positive periodic solution are presented. An example shows the feasibility of our main results.