arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Delfim F. M. Torres.
We use optimal control theory with the purpose of finding the best spraying policy with the aim of at least to minimize and possibly to eradicate the number of parasites, i.e., the prey for the spiders living in an agroecosystems. Two different optimal control problems are posed and solved, and their implications discussed.
We introduce the definition of conformable derivative on time scales and develop its calculus. Fundamental properties of the conformable derivative and integral on time scales are proved. Linear conformable differential equations with constant coefficients are investigated, as well as hyperbolic and trigonometric functions.
Ebola virus is one of the most virulent pathogens for humans. We present a mathematical description of different Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Recovered (SEIR) models. By using mathematical modeling and analysis, the latest major outbreak of Ebola virus in West Africa is described. Our aim is to study and discuss the properties of SEIR models with respect to Ebola virus, the information they provide, and when the models make sense. We added to the basic SEIR model demographic effects in order to analyze the equilibria with vital dynamics. Numerical simulations confirm the theoretical analysis. The control of the propagation of the virus through vaccination is investigated and the case study of Liberia is discussed in detail.
In this work, we are concerned with existence of solutions for a nonlinear second-order distributional differential equation, which contains measure differential equations and stochastic differential equations as special cases. The proof is based on the Leray--Schauder nonlinear alternative and Kurzweil--Henstock--Stieltjes integrals. Meanwhile, examples are worked out to demonstrate that the main results are sharp.
We derive a new Lyapunov type inequality for a boundary value problem involving both left Riemann--Liouville and right Caputo fractional derivatives in presence of natural conditions. Application to the corresponding eigenvalue problem is also discussed.
We introduce and investigate the Henstock-Kurzweil (HK) integral for Riesz-space-valued functions on time scales. Some basic properties of the HK delta integral for Riesz-space-valued functions are proved. Further, we prove uniform and monotone convergence theorems.
We study two generalizations of fractional variational problems by considering higher-order derivatives and a state time delay. We prove a higher-order integration by parts formula involving a Caputo fractional derivative of variable order and we establish several necessary optimality conditions for functionals containing a combined Caputo derivative of variable fractional order. Because the endpoint is considered to be free, we also deduce associated transversality conditions. In the end, we consider functionals with a time delay and deduce corresponding optimality conditions. Some examples are given to illustrate the new results. Computational aspects are discussed using the open source software package Chebfun.
We introduce an efficient algorithm for computing fractional integrals and derivatives and apply it for solving problems of the calculus of variations of fractional order. The proposed approximations are particularly useful for solving fractional boundary value problems. As an application, we solve a special class of fractional Euler-Lagrange equations. The method is based on Hale and Townsend algorithm for finding the roots and weights of the fractional Gauss-Jacobi quadrature rule and the predictor-corrector method introduced by Diethelm for solving fractional differential equations. Illustrative examples show that the given method is more accurate than the one introduced in [Comput. Math. Appl. 66 (2013), no. 5, 597--607], which uses the Golub-Welsch algorithm for evaluating fractional directional integrals.
We obtain Euler-Lagrange equations, transversality conditions and a Noether-like theorem for Herglotz-type variational problems with Lagrangians depending on generalized fractional derivatives. As an application, we consider a damped harmonic oscillator with time-depending mass and elasticity, and arbitrary memory effects.
We investigate global stability properties of a HIV/AIDS population model with constant recruitment rate, mass action incidence, and variable population size. Existence and uniqueness results for disease-free and endemic equilibrium points are proved. Global stability of the equilibria is obtained through Lyapunov's direct method and LaSalle's invariance principle.
We study, from an optimal control perspective, Noether currents for higher-order problems of Herglotz type with time delay. Main result provides new Noether currents for such generalized variational problems, which are particularly useful in the search of extremals. The proof is based on the idea of rewriting the higher-order delayed generalized variational problem as a first-order optimal control problem without time delays.
We study fractional variational problems of Herglotz type of variable order. Necessary optimality conditions, described by fractional differential equations depending on a combined Caputo fractional derivative of variable order, are proved. Two different cases are considered: the fundamental problem, with one independent variable, and the general case, with several independent variables. We end with some illustrative examples of the results of the paper.
We consider a recent coinfection model for Tuberculosis (TB), Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) proposed in [Discrete Contin. Dyn. Syst. 35 (2015), no. 9, 4639--4663]. We introduce and analyze a multiobjective formulation of an optimal control problem, where the two conflicting objectives are: minimization of the number of HIV infected individuals with AIDS clinical symptoms and coinfected with AIDS and active TB; and costs related to prevention and treatment of HIV and/or TB measures. The proposed approach eliminates some limitations of previous works. The results of the numerical study provide comprehensive insights about the optimal treatment policies and the population dynamics resulting from their implementation. Some nonintuitive conclusions are drawn. Overall, the simulation results demonstrate the usefulness and validity of the proposed approach.
Using a fixed point theorem in a proper Banach space, we prove existence and uniqueness results of positive solutions for a fractional Riemann-Liouville nonlocal thermistor problem on arbitrary nonempty closed subsets of the real numbers.
The Ebola virus disease is a severe viral haemorrhagic fever syndrome caused by Ebola virus. This disease is transmitted by direct contact with the body fluids of an infected person and objects contaminated with virus or infected animals, with a death rate close to 90% in humans. Recently, some mathematical models have been presented to analyse the spread of the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. In this paper, we introduce vaccination of the susceptible population with the aim of controlling the spread of the disease and analyse two optimal control problems related with the transmission of Ebola disease with vaccination. Firstly, we consider the case where the total number of available vaccines in a fixed period of time is limited. Secondly, we analyse the situation where there is a limited supply of vaccines at each instant of time for a fixed interval of time. The optimal control problems have been solved analytically. Finally, we have performed a number of numerical simulations in order to compare the models with vaccination and the model without vaccination, which has recently been shown to fit the real data. Three vaccination scenarios have been considered for our numerical simulations, namely: unlimited supply of vaccines; limited total number of vaccines; and limited supply of vaccines at each instant of time.
We prove necessary optimality conditions of Pontryagin type for a class of fuzzy fractional optimal control problems with the fuzzy fractional derivative described in the Caputo sense. The new results are illustrated by computing the extremals of three fuzzy optimal control systems, which improve recent results of Najariyan and Farahi.
We introduce a new tuberculosis (TB) mathematical model, with $25$ state-space variables where $15$ are evolution disease states (EDSs), which generalises previous models and takes into account the (seasonal) flux of populations between a high incidence TB country (A) and a host country (B) with low TB incidence, where (B) is divided into a community (G) with high percentage of people from (A) plus the rest of the population (C). Contrary to some beliefs, related to the fact that agglomerations of individuals increase proportionally to the disease spread, analysis of the model shows that the existence of semi-closed communities are beneficial for the TB control from a global viewpoint. The model and techniques proposed are applied to a case-study with concrete parameters, which model the situation of Angola (A) and Portugal (B), in order to show its relevance and meaningfulness. Simulations show that variations of the transmission coefficient on the origin country has a big influence on the number of infected (and infectious) individuals on the community and the host country. Moreover, there is an optimal ratio for the distribution of individuals in (C) versus (G), which minimizes the reproduction number $R_0$. Such value does not give the minimal total number of infected individuals in all (B), since such is attained when the community (G) is completely isolated (theoretical scenario). Sensitivity analysis and curve fitting on $R_0$ and on EDSs are pursuit in order to understand the TB effects in the global statistics, by measuring the variability of the relevant parameters. We also show that the TB transmission rate $β$ does not act linearly on $R_0$, as is common in compartment models where system feedback or group interactions do not occur. Further, we find the most important parameters for the increase of each EDS.
We prove existence of solutions for a nonlinear fractional oscillator equation with both left Riemann-Liouville and right Caputo fractional derivatives subject to natural boundary conditions. The proof is based on a transformation of the problem into an equivalent lower order fractional boundary value problem followed by the use of an upper and lower solutions method. To succeed with such approach, we first prove a result on the monotonicity of the right Caputo derivative.