Two-Step Relaxation Newton Method for Nonsymmetric Algebraic Riccati Equations Arising from Transport Theory

We propose a new idea to construct an effective algorithm to compute the minimal positive solution of the nonsymmetric algebraic Riccati equations arising from transport theory. For a class of these equations, an important feature is that the minimal positive solution can be obtained by computing the minimal positive solution of a couple of fixed-point equations with vector form. Based on the fixed-point vector equations, we introduce a new algorithm, namely, two-step relaxation Newton, derived by combining two different relaxation Newton methods to compute the minimal positive solution. The monotone convergence of the solution sequence generated by this new algorithm is established. Numerical results are given to show the advantages of the new algorithm for the nonsymmetric algebraic Riccati equations in vector form

Solar Radio Bursts with Spectral Fine Structures in Preflares

A good observation of preflare activities is important for us to understand the origin and triggering mechanism of solar flares, and to predict the occurrence of solar flares. This work presents the characteristics of microwave spectral fine structures as preflare activities of four solar flares observed by Ond\v{r}ejov radio spectrograph in the frequency range of 0.8--2.0 GHz. We found that these microwave bursts which occurred 1--4 minutes before the onset of flares have spectral fine structures with relatively weak intensities and very short timescales. They include microwave quasi-periodic pulsations (QPP) with very short period of 0.1-0.3 s and dot bursts with millisecond timescales and narrow frequency bandwidths. Accompanying these microwave bursts, there are filament motions, plasma ejection or loop brightening on the EUV imaging observations and non-thermal hard X-ray emission enhancements observed by RHESSI. These facts may reveal certain independent non-thermal energy releasing processes and particle acceleration before the onset of solar flares. They may be conducive to understand the nature of solar flares and predict their occurrence

Survey of vector-borne agents in feral cats and first report of Babesia gibsoni in cats on St Kitts, West Indies

Background: As there is little data on vector-borne diseases of cats in the Caribbean region and even around the world, we tested feral cats from St Kitts by PCR to detect infections with Babesia, Ehrlichia and spotted fever group Rickettsia (SFGR) and surveyed them for antibodies to Rickettsia rickettsii and Ehrlichia canis. Results: Whole blood was collected from apparently healthy feral cats during spay/ neuter campaigns on St Kitts in 2011 (N = 68) and 2014 (N = 52). Sera from the 52 cats from 2014 were used to detect antibodies to Ehrlichia canis and Rickettsia rickettsii using indirect fluorescent antibody tests and DNA extracted from whole blood of a total of 119 cats (68 from 2011, and 51 from 2014) was used for PCRs for Babesia, Ehrlichia and Rickettsia. We could not amplify DNA of SFG Rickettsia in any of the samples but found DNA of E. canis in 5% (6/119), Babesia vogeli in 13% (15/119), Babesia gibsoni in 4% (5/119), mixed infections with B. gibsoni and B. vogeli in 3% (3/119), and a poorly characterized Babesia sp. in 1% (1/119). Overall, 10% of the 52 cats we tested by IFA for E. canis were positive while 42% we tested by indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) for R. rickettsii antigens were positive. Conclusions: Our study provides the first evidence that cats can be infected with B. gibsoni and also indicates that cats in the Caribbean may be commonly exposed to other vector-borne agents including SFGR, E. canis and B. vogeli. Animal health workers should be alerted to the possibility of clinical infections in their patients while public health workers should be alerted to the possibility that zoonotic SFGR are likely circulating in the region

Some New Results on the Lotka-Volterra System with Variable Delay

This paper discusses the stochastic Lotka-Volterra system with time-varying delay. The nonexplosion, the boundedness, and the polynomial pathwise growth of the solution are determined once and for all by the same criterion. Moreover, this criterion is constructed by the parameters of the system itself, without any uncertain one. A two-dimensional stochastic delay Lotka-Volterra model is taken as an example to illustrate the effectiveness of our result

The Boundedness and Exponential Stability Criterions for Nonlinear Hybrid Neutral Stochastic Functional Differential Equations

Neutral differential equations have been used to describe the systems that not only depend on the present and past states but also involve derivatives with delays. This paper considers hybrid nonlinear neutral stochastic functional differential equations (HNSFDEs) without the linear growth condition and examines the boundedness and exponential stability. Two illustrative examples are given to show the effectiveness of our theoretical results