The projective plane crossing numbers of circular graphs*

The authors give an upper bound for the projective plane crossing number of a circular graph. Also, the authors prove the projective plane crossing numbers of circular graph C （8, 3） and C （9, 3） are 2 and 1, respectively.     

An affine scaling derivative-free trust region method with interior backtracking technique for bounded-constrained nonlinear programming

This paper proposes an arlene scaling derivative-free trust region method with interior backtracking technique for bounded-constrained nonlinear programming. This method is designed to get a stationary point for such a problem with polynomial interpolation models instead of the objective function in trust region subproblem. Combined with both trust region strategy and line search technique, at each iteration, the affine scaling derivative-free trust region subproblem generates a backtracking direction in order to obtain a new accepted interior feasible step. Global convergence and fast local convergence properties are established under some reasonable conditions. Some numerical results are also given to show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.     

THE M/M/c QUEUE WITH （e,d） SETUP TIME

The authors present a new queueing model with （e, d） setup time. Using the quasi-birth-and-death process and matrix-geometric method, the authors obtain the stationary distribution of queue length and the LST of waiting time of a customer in the system. Furthermore, the conditional stochastic decomposition results of queue length and waiting time are given.     

NONMONOTONIC TRUST REGION PROJECTED REDUCED HESSIAN ALGORITHM WITH TWO-PIECE UPDATE FOR CONSTRAINED OPTIMIZATION

This paper proposes a two-piece update of projected reduced Hessian algorithm with nonmonotonic trust region strategy for solving nonlinear equality constrained optimization problems. In order to deal with large problems, a two-piece update of twoside projected reduced Hessian is used to replace full Hessian matrix. By adopting the Fletcher's penalty function as the merit function, a nonmonotonic trust region strategy is suggested which does not require the merit function to reduce its value in every iteration. The two-piece update of projected reduced Hessian algorithm which switches to nonmonotonic trust region technique possesses global convergence while maintaining a two-step Q-superlinear local convergence rate under some reasonable conditions. Furthermore, one step Q-superlinear local convergence rate can be obtained if at least one of the update formulas is updated at each iteration by an alternative update rule. The numerical experiment results are reported to show the effectiveness of the propo     

A modified likelihood ratio test for homogeneity in bivariate normal mixtures of two samples

This paper investigates the asymptotic properties of a modified likelihood ratio statistic for testing homogeneity in bivariate normal mixture models of two samples. The asymptotic null distribution of the modified likelihood ratio statistic is found to be χ₂², where χ₂² is a chi-squared distribution with 2 degrees of freedom. This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 10661003, SRF for ROCS, SEM under Grant No. [2004]527, and the Natural Science Foundation of Guangxi under Grant No. 0728092.     

Remarks on Network Community Properties

This paper discusses a popular community definition in complex network research in terms of the conditions under which a community is minimal, that is, the community cannot be split into several smaller communities or split and reorganized with other network elements into new communities. The result provides a base on which further optimization computation of the quantitative measure for community identification can be realized.     

Symmetry in world trade network

Symmetry of the world trade network provides a novel perspective to understand the world-wide trading system. However, symmetry in the world trade network (WTN) has been rarely studied so far. In this paper, the authors systematically explore the symmetry in WTN. The authors construct WTN in 2005 and explore the size and structure of its automorphism group, through which the authors find that WTN is symmetric, particularly, locally symmetric to a certain degree. Furthermore, the authors work out the symmetric motifs of WTN and investigate the structure and function of the symmetric motifs, coming to the conclusion that local symmetry will have great effect on the stability of the WTN and that continuous symmetry-breakings will generate complexity and diversity of the trade network. Finally, utilizing the local symmetry of the network, the authors work out the quotient of WTN, which is the structural skeleton dominating stability and evolution of WTN. This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 70371070; Shanghai Leading Academic Discipline Project under Grant No. S30504; and Key Project for Fundamental Research of STCSM under Grant No. 06JC14057.     

PRE-IMAGE ENTROPY OF NONAUTONOMOUS DYNAMICAL SYSTEMS*

The authors define and study topological pre-image entropy for the non-autonomous discrete dynamical systems given by a sequence {fi}i=1^∞ of continuous self-maps of a compact topological space. The basic properties and the invariant with respect to equiconjugacy of pre-image entropy for the non-autonomous discrete dynamical systems are obtained.     

Estimation on semivarying coefficient models with different degrees of smoothness

Semivarying coefficient models are frequently used in statistical models. In this paper, under the condition that the coefficient functions possess different degrees of smoothness, a two-step method is proposed. In the case, one-step method for the smoother coefficient functions cannot be optimal. This drawback can be repaired by using the two-step estimation procedure. The asymptotic mean-squared error for the two-step procedure is obtained and is shown to achieve the optimal rate of convergence. A few simulation studies are conducted to evaluate the proposed estimation methods. This research is supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 10871072 and Shanxi's Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 2007011014.     

A STAGE-STRUCTURED SI ECO-EPIDEMIOLOGICAL MODEL WITH TIME DELAY AND IMPULSIVE CONTROLLING*

This paper formulates a robust stage-structured SI eco-epidemiological model with periodic constant pulse releasing of infectious pests with pathogens. The authors show that the conditions for global attractivity of the ＇pest-eradication＇ periodic solution and permanence of the system depend on time delay, hence, the authors call it ＂profitless＂. Further, the authors present a pest management strategy in which the pest population is kept under the economic threshold level （ETL） when the pest population is uniformly persistent. By numerical analysis, the authors also show that constant maturation time delay for the susceptible pests and pulse releasing of the infectious pests can bring obvious effects on the dynamics of system.     

A nonmonotone line search filter method with reduced Hessian updating for nonlinear optimization

This paper proposes a nonmonotone line search filter method with reduced Hessian updating for solving nonlinear equality constrained optimization. In order to deal with large scale problems, a reduced Hessian matrix is approximated by BFGS updates. The new method assures global convergence without using a merit function. By Lagrangian function in the filter and nonmonotone scheme, the authors prove that the method can overcome Maratos effect without using second order correction step so that the locally superlinear convergence is achieved. The primary numerical experiments are reported to show effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.     

New results about the relationship between optimally weighted least squares estimate and linear minimum variance estimate

The optimally weighted least squares estimate and the linear minimum variance estimate are two of the most popular estimation methods for a linear model. In this paper, the authors make a comprehensive discussion about the relationship between the two estimates. Firstly, the authors consider the classical linear model in which the coefficient matrix of the linear model is deterministic, and the necessary and sufficient condition for equivalence of the two estimates is derived. Moreover, under certain conditions on variance matrix invertibility, the two estimates can be identical provided that they use the same a priori information of the parameter being estimated. Secondly, the authors consider the linear model with random coefficient matrix which is called the extended linear model; under certain conditions on variance matrix invertibility, it is proved that the former outperforms the latter when using the same a priori information of the parameter. This research is supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 60232010, 60574032, and the Project 863 under Grant No. 2006AA12A104.     

Exponential estimates for stochastic delay equations with norm-bounded uncertainties

This paper presents the sufficient conditions for the exponential stability of linear or semilinear stochastic delay equations with time-varying norm bounded parameter uncertainties. Exponential estimates for the solutions are also obtained by using a modified Lyapunov-Krasovski functional. These conditions can be tested numerically using interior point algorithms. This work is Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 10801056 and 10826095.     

A family of the local convergence of the improved secant methods for nonlinear equality constrained optimization subject to bounds on variables

This paper studies a family of the local convergence of the improved secant methods for solving the nonlinear equality constrained optimization subject to bounds on variables. The Hessian of the Lagrangian is approximated using the DFP or the BFGS secant updates. The improved secant methods are used to generate a search direction. Combining with a suitable step size, each iterate switches to trial step of strict interior feasibility. When the Hessian is only positive definite in an affine null subspace, one shows that the algorithms generate the sequences converging q-linearly and two-step q-superlinearly. Furthermore, under some suitable assumptions, some sequences generated by the algorithms converge locally one-step q-superlinearly. Finally, some numerical results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms.     

Robust model predictive control of continuous uncertain systems*

The authors concern robust model predictive control for linear continuous systems with polytopic uncertainties and input constraints. At each sampling time, a piecewise constant control sequence is obtained by solving a set of linear matrix inequalities. The sufficient conditions on the existence of the model predictive control are given, and the robust stability of the closed-loop systems is guaranteed. A simulation example illustrates the efficiency of the proposed method.     

Asymptotic Solution of Activator Inhibitor Systems for Nonlinear Reaction Diffusion Equations

A nonlinear reaction diffusion equations for activator inhibitor systems is considered. Under suitable conditions, firstly, the outer solution of the original problem is obtained, secondly, using the variables of multiple scales and the expanding theory of power series the formal asymptotic expansions of the solution are constructed, and finally, using the theory of differential inequalities the uniform validity and asymptotic behavior of the solution are studied.     

A Priority-Based Negotiations Approach for Handling Inconsistencies in Multi-Perspective Software Requirements

Inconsistency of multi-perspective requirements specifications is a pervasive issue during the requirements process. However, managing inconsistency is not just a pure technical problem. It is always associated with a process of interactions and competitions among corresponding stakeholders. The main contribution of this paper is to present a negotiations approach to handling inconsistencies in multi-perspective software requirements. In particular, the priority of requirements relative to each perspective plays an important role in proceeding negotiation over resolving inconsistencies among different stakeholders. An algorithm of generating negotiation proposals and an approach to evaluating proposals are also presented in this paper, respectively.     

Testing serial correlation in semiparametric varying coefficient partially linear errors-in-variables model

The authors propose a V _{N, p} test statistic for testing finite-order serial correlation in a semiparametric varying coefficient partially linear errors-in-variables model. The test statistic is shown to have asymptotic normal distribution under the null hypothesis of no serial correlation. Some Monte Carlo experiments are conducted to examine the finite sample performance of the proposed V _{N, p} test statistic. Simulation results confirm that the proposed test performs satisfactorily in estimated size and power. This research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 10871217 and 40574003; the Science and Technology Project of Chongqing Education Committee under Grant No. KJ080609; the Doctor's Start-up Research Fund under Grant No. 08-52204; and the Youth Science Research Fund of Chongqing Technology and Business University under Grant No. 0852008.     

On Fuzzy <Emphasis Type="Italic">h</Emphasis>-Ideals of Hemirings

The concept of quasi-coincidence of a fuzzy interval value in an interval valued fuzzy set is considered. In fact, this concept is a generalized concept of the quasi-coincidence of a fuzzy point in a fuzzy set. By using this new concept, the authors define the notion of interval valued （∈, ∈ Vq）fuzzy h-ideals of hemirings and study their related properties. In addition, the authors also extend the concept of a fuzzy subgroup with thresholds to the concept of an interval valued fuzzy h-ideal with thresholds in hemirings.