Let u be a random signal with realisations in an infinite-dimensional vector space X and υ an associated observable random signal with realisations in a finite-dimensional subspace Y ⊆ X. We seek a pointwise-best estimate of u using a bounded linear filter on the observed data vector υ. When x is a finite-dimensional Euclidean space and the covariance matrix for υ is nonsingular, it is known that the best estimate û of u is given by a standard matrix expression prescribing a linear mean-square filter. For the infinite-dimensional Hilbert space problem we show that the matrix expression must be replaced by an analogous but more general expression using bounded linear operators. The extension procedure depends directly on the theory of the Bochner integral and on the construction of appropriate HilbertSchmidt operators. An extended example is given.

The endemicity of infectious diseases is investigated from a deterministic viewpoint. Sustained oscillation of infectives is often due to seasonal effects which may be related to climatic changes. For example the transmission of the measles virus by droplets is enhanced in cooler, more humid seasons. In many countries the onset of cooler, more humid weather coincides with the increased aggregation of people and the seasonal effect can be exacerbated. In this paper we consider non-autonomous compartmental epidemiological models and demonstrate that the critical community size phenomenon may be associated with the seasonal variation in the disease propagation. This approach is applicable to both the prevaccination phenomenon of critical community size and the current goal of worldwide elimination of measles by vaccination.

In this paper we derive extremality and comparison results for explicit and implicit initial and boundary value problems of first-order differential equations. Both the differential equations and the boundary conditions may involve discontinuities.

This paper deals with a minimax control problem for semilinear elliptic variational inequalities associated with bilateral constraints. The control domain is not necessarily convex. The cost functional, which is to be minimised, is the sup norm of some function of the state and the control. The major novelty of such a problem lies in the simultaneous presence of the nonsmooth state equation (variational inequality) and the nonsmooth cost functional (the sup norm). In this paper, the existence conditions and the Pontryagin-type necessary conditions for optimal controls are established.

To assess rotational deformity in a broken forearm, an orthopaedic surgeon needs to determine the amount of rotation of the radius from one or more two-dimensional x-rays of the fracture. This requires only simple first-year university mathematics — rotational transformations of ellipses plus a little differential calculus — which yields a general formula giving the rotation angle from information obtained from an x-ray. Preliminary comparisons with experimental results are excellent. This is a practical problem that may be useful to motivate the teaching of conic sections.

We study a periodic Kolmogorov model with m predators and n prey. By means of the comparison theorem and a Liapunov function, a set of easily verifiable sufficient conditions that guarantee the existence, uniqueness and global attractivity of the positive periodic solution is obtained. Finally, some suitable applications are given to illustrate that the conditions of the main theorem are feasible.

A variation-of-constants formula is obtained for a linear abstract evolution equation in Hilbert space with unbounded perturbation and free term. As an application, the state of the abstract controlled system with unbounded mixed controls is explicitly given.

Standard results for boundary value problems involving second-order ordinary differential equations ensure that the existence of a well-ordered pair of lower and upper solutions together with a Nagumo condition imply existence of a solution. In this note we introduce some examples which show that existence is not guaranteed if no Nagumo condition is satisfied.

We propose a new trust region algorithm for solving the system of nonsmooth equations F(x) = 0 by using a smooth function satisfying the Jacobian consistency property to approximate the nonsmooth function F(x). Compared with existing trust region methods for systems of nonsmooth equations, the proposed algorithm possesses some nice convergence properties. Global convergence is established and, in particular, locally superlinear or quadratical convergence is obtained if F is semismooth or strongly semismooth at the solution.

We present various inequalities for Euler's beta function of n variables. One of our theorems states that the inequalities

hold for all xi ≥ (i = 1,… n; n ≥ 3) with the best possible constants an = 0 and bn = 1 − 1/(n − 1)!. This extends a recently published result of Dragomir et al., who investigated (*) for the special case n = 2.

In this paper, we present a method for the construction of a robust observer-based H∞ controller for an uncertain time-delay system. Cases of both single and multiple delays are considered. The parameter uncertainties are time-varying and norm-bounded. Observer and controller are designed to be such that the uncertain system is stable and a disturbance attenuation is guaranteed, regardless of the uncertainties. It has been shown that the above problem can be solved in terms of two linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Finally, an illustrative example is given to show the effectiveness of the proposed techniques.