Topological finite-determinacy of functions with non-isolated singularities

We introduce the concept of topological finite-determinacy for germs of analytic functions within a fixed ideal I, which provides a notion of topological finite-determinacy of functions with non-isolated singularities. We prove the following statement which generalizes classical results of Thom and Varchenko: let A be the complement in the ideal I of the space of germs whose topological type remains unchanged under a deformation within the ideal that only modifies sufficiently large order terms of the Taylor expansion. Then A has infinite codimension in I in a suitable sense. We also prove the existence of generic topological types of families of germs of I parametrized by an irreducible analytic set.     

Polar unitals in compact eight-dimensional planes

We determine centralizers and unitals for the polarities of eight-dimensional compact planes with at least 17-dimensional group of automorphisms, and discuss transitivity properties.Received: 7 August 2003     

A Borsuk–Ulam Theorem for Maps from a Sphere to a Generalized Manifold

H. J. Munkholm obtained a generalization for topological manifolds of the famous Borsuk–Ulam type theorem proved by Conner and Floyd. The purpose of this paper is to prove a version of Conner and Floyd's theorem for generalized manifolds.     

Robust stabilization of internally delayed uncertain systems via sliding mode control

Summary The problem of robust stabilization of internally delayed uncertain systems via sliding mode controllers (SMC's) is studied in this paper. The robustness property and assymptotic stability of the system are discussed. Some sufficient conditions for the design of SMC and the switching hyperplane are given. Further generalization results, which lead to a simple design and implementation, are made for the system being described in companion form. A method is suggested for the elimination of limit cycles in systems being regulated by a relay SMC while allowing the generation of sliding motion and thus ensuring the closed-loop asymptotic stability.     

A newton approach for long term stability studies in power systems

This paper deals with the problem of transient and long term stability of power systems. The issue of assessing both horizons of analysis is particularly focused. This is because the long term stability may be studied by a simplified algebraic model which also captures some dynamic characteristics. Such an approach is called quasi-dynamic model. The idea of analyzing the transient period and migrating to the quasi-dynamic model is addressed in this paper. The theoretical foundation is presented and some tests are carried out in order to validate the approach.     

On solving a D.C. programming problem by a sequence of linear programs

We are dealing with a numerical method for solving the problem of minimizing a difference of two convex functions (a d.c. function) over a closed convex set in ⁿ . This algorithm combines a new prismatic branch and bound technique with polyhedral outer approximation in such a way that only linear programming problems have to be solved.Parts of this research were accomplished while the third author was visiting the University of Trier, Germany, as a fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt foundation.     

A Parallel Interior Point Method and Its Application to Facility Location Problems

We present a parallel interior point algorithm to solve block structured linear programs. This algorithm can solve block diagonal linear programs with both side constraints (common rows) and side variables (common columns). The performance of the algorithm is investigated on uncapacitated, capacitated and stochastic facility location problems. The facility location problems are formulated as mixed integer linear programs. Each subproblem of the branch and bound phase of the MIP is solved using the parallel interior point method. We compare the total time taken by the parallel interior point method with the simplex method to solve the complete problems, as well as the various costs of reoptimisation of the non-root nodes of the branch and bound. Computational results on two parallel computers (Fujitsu AP1000 and IBM SP2) are also presented in this paper.     

Presmoothing the transition probabilities in the illness-death model

One major goal in clinical applications of multi-state models is the estimation of transition probabilities. In a recent paper, Meira-Machado et al. (2006) introduce a substitute for the Aalen-Johansen estimator in the case of a non-Markov illness-death model. The idea behind their estimator is to weight the data by the Kaplan-Meier weights pertaining to the distribution of the total survival time of the process. In this paper we propose a modification of Meira-Machado et al. (2006) estimator based on presmoothing. Consistency is established. We investigate the finite sample performance of the new estimator through simulations. Data from a study on colon cancer are used for illustration purposes.