A DUAL-RELAX PENALTY FUNCTION APPROACH FOR SOLVING NONLINEAR BILEVEL PROGRAMMING WITH LINEAR LOWER LEVEL PROBLEM

The penalty function method, presented many years ago, is an important nu- merical method for the mathematical programming problems. In this article, we propose a dual-relax penalty function approach, which is significantly different from penalty func- tion approach existing for solving the bilevel programming, to solve the nonlinear bilevel programming with linear lower level problem. Our algorithm will redound to the error analysis for computing an approximate solution to the bilevel programming. The error estimate is obtained among the optimal objective function value of the dual-relax penalty problem and of the original bilevel programming problem. An example is illustrated to show the feasibility of the proposed approach.

THE RISK MODEL OF THE EXPECTED DISCOUNTED PENALTY FUNCTION WITH CONSTANT INTEREST FORCE

In this article, the expected discounted penalty function Фδ,α （u） with constant interest δ and ＂discounted factor＂ exp（-αTδ） is considered. As a result, the integral equation of Фδ,α （u） is derived and an exact solution for Фδ,α （0） is found. The relation between the joint density of the surplus immediately prior to ruin, and the deficit at ruin and the density of the surplus immediately prior to ruin is then obtained based on analytical methods.

NONLINEAR PROGRAMMING VIA AN EXACT PENALTY FUNCTION：CONVERGENCE RATE ANALYSIS

The algorithm proposed by T. F. Colemen and A. R. Conn is improved in this paper, and the improved algorithm can solve nonlinear programming problem with quality constraints. It is shown that the improved algorithm possesses global convergence, and under some conditions, it possesses locally supperlinear convergence.

Exactness of penalization for exact minimax penalty function method in nonconvex programming

The exact minimax penalty function method is used to solve a noncon- vex differentiable optimization problem with both inequality and equality constraints. The conditions for exactness of the penalization for the exact minimax penalty function method are established by assuming that the functions constituting the considered con- strained optimization problem are invex with respect to the same function η （with the exception of those equality constraints for which the associated Lagrange multipliers are negative these functions should be assumed to be incave with respect to η）. Thus, a threshold of the penalty parameter is given such that, for all penalty parameters exceeding this threshold, equivalence holds between the set of optimal solutions in the considered constrained optimization problem and the set of minimizer in its associated penalized problem with an exact minimax penalty function. It is shown that coercivity is not suf- ficient to prove the results.

General Exact Penalty Functions in Integer Programming

In this paper, the general exact penalty functions in integer programming were studied. The conditions which ensure the exact penalty property for the general penalty function with one penalty parameter were given and a general penalty function with two parameters was proposed.

EXPECTED DISCOUNTED PENALTY FUNCTION OF ERLANG(2) RISK MODEL WITH CONSTANT INTEREST

The purpose of this paper is to consider the expected value of a discounted penalty due at ruin in the Erlang（2） risk process under constant interest force. An integro-differential equation satisfied by the expected value and a second-order differential equation for the Laplace transform of the expected value are derived. In addition, the paper will present the recursive algorithm for the joint distribution of the surplus immediately before ruin and the deficit at ruin. Finally, by the differential equation, the defective renewal equation and the explicit expression for the expected value are given in the interest-free case.

Bacillus licheniformis PF9 improves barrier function and alleviates inflammatory responses against enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli F4 infection in the porcine intestinal epithelial cells

Background:Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli(ETEC)F4 commonly colonizes the small intestine and releases enterotoxins that impair the intestinal barrier function and trigger inflammatory responses.Although Bacillus licheniformis(B.licheniformis)has been reported to enhance intestinal health,it remains to be seen whether there is a functional role of B.licheniformis in intestinal inflammatory response in intestinal porcine epithelial cell line(IPEC-J2)when stimulated with ETEC F4.Methods:In the present study,the effects of B.licheniformis PF9 on the release of pro-inflammation cytokines,cell integrity and nuclear factor-κB(NF-κB)activation were evaluated in ETEC F4-induced IPEC-J2 cells.Results:B.licheniformis PF9 treatment was capable of remarkably attenuating the expression levels of inflammation cytokines tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),interleukin(IL)-8,and IL-6 during ETEC F4 infection.Furthermore,the gene expression of Toll-like receptor 4(TLR4)-mediated upstream related genes of NF-κB signaling pathway has been significantly inhibited.These changes were accompanied by significantly decreased phosphorylation of p65 NF-κB during ETEC F4 infection with B.licheniformis PF9 treatment.The immunofluorescence and western blotting analysis revealed that B.licheniformis PF9 increased the expression levels of zona occludens 1(ZO-1)and occludin(OCLN)in ETEC F4-infected IPEC-J2 cells.Meanwhile,the B.licheniformis PF9 could alleviate the injury of epithelial barrier function assessed by the trans-epithelial electrical resistance(TEER)and cell permeability assay.Interestingly,B.licheniformis PF9 protect IPEC-J2 cells against ETEC F4 infection by decreasing the gene expressions of virulence-related factors(including luxS,estA,estB,and elt)in ETEC F4.Conclusions:Collectively,our results suggest that B.licheniformis PF9 might reduce inflammation-related cytokines through blocking the NF-κB signaling pathways.Besides,B.licheniformis PF9 displayed a significant role in the enhancement of IPEC-J2 cell integrity.

Optimal congestion control algorithm for ad hoc networks: Penalty function-based approach

In this paper, based on the inherent characteristic of the contention relation between flows in ad hoc networks, we introduce the notion of the link＇s interference set, extend the utility maximization problem representing congestion control in wireline networks to ad hoc networks, apply the penalty function approach and the subgradient method to solve this problem, and propose the congestion control algorithm Penalty function-based Optical Congestion Control （POCC） which is implemented in NS2- simulator. Specifically, each link transmits periodically the information on its congestion state to its interference set; the set ; the sermon at each source adjusts the transmission rate based on the optimal tradeoffbetween the utility value and the congestion level which the interference set of the links that this session goes though suffers from. MATLAB-based simulation results showed that POCC can approach the globally optimal solution. The NS2-based simulation results showed that POCC outperforms default TCP and ATCP to achieve efficient and fair resource allocation in ad hoc networks.

THE CONVERGENCE OF APPROACH PENALTY FUNCTION METHOD FOR APPROXIMATE BILEVEL PROGRAMMING PROBLEM

In this paper, a new algorithm-approximate penalty function method is designed, which can be used to solve a bilevel optimization problem with linear constrained function. In this kind of bilevel optimization problem. the evaluation of the objective function is very difficult, so that only their approximate values can be obtained. This algorithm is obtained by combining penalty function method and approximation in bilevel programming. The presented algorithm is completely different from existing methods. That convergence for this algorithm is proved.

APPLICATION OF PENALTY FUNCTION METHOD IN ISOPARANIETRIC HYBRID FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS

By the aid of the penalty function method, the equilibrium restriction conditions were introduced to the isoparametric hybrid finite element analysis, and the concrete application course of the penalty function method in three-dimensional isoparametdc hybrid finite element was discussed. The separated penalty parameters method and the optimal hybrid element model with penalty balance were also presented. The penalty balance method can effectively refrain the parasitical stress on the premise of no additional degrees of freedom. The numeric experiment shows that the presented element not only is effective in improving greatly the numeric calculation precision of distorted grids but also has the universality.

Integral Global Minimization of Constrained Problems with Discontinuous Penalty Functions

A class of discontinuous penalty functions was proposed to solve constrained minimization problems with the integral approach to global optimization, m-mean value and v-variance optimality conditions of a constrained and penalized minimization problem were investigated. A nonsequential algorithm was proposed. Numerical examples were given to illustrate the effectiveness of the algorithm.

A Smoothing Penalty Function Method for the Constrained Optimization Problem

In this paper, an approximate smoothing approach to the non-differentiable exact penalty function is proposed for the constrained optimization problem. A simple smoothed penalty algorithm is given, and its convergence is discussed. A practical algorithm to compute approximate optimal solution is given as well as computational experiments to demonstrate its efficiency.

New exact penalty function for solving constrainedfinite min-max problems

This paper introduces a new exact and smooth penalty function to tackle constrained min-max problems. By using this new penalty function and adding just one extra variable, a constrained rain-max problem is transformed into an unconstrained optimization one. It is proved that, under certain reasonable assumptions and when the penalty parameter is sufficiently large, the minimizer of this unconstrained optimization problem is equivalent to the minimizer of the original constrained one. Numerical results demonstrate that this penalty function method is an effective and promising approach for solving constrained finite min-max problems.

Approximation-Exact Penalty Function Method for Solving a Class of Stochastic Programming

We present an approximation-exact penalty function method for solving the single stage stochastic programming problem with continuous random variable. The original problem is transformed into a determinate nonlinear programming problem with a discrete random variable sequence, which is obtained by some discrete method. We construct an exact penalty function and obtain an unconstrained optimization. It avoids the difficulty in solution by the rapid growing of the number of constraints for discrete precision. Under lenient conditions, we prove the equivalence of the minimum solution of penalty function and the solution of the determinate programming, and prove that the solution sequences of the discrete problem converge to a solution to the original problem.

A New Kind of Simple Smooth Exact Penalty Function of Constrained Nonlinear Programming

The penalty function method is one basic method for solving constrained nonlinear programming, in which simple smooth exact penalty functions draw much attention for their simpleness and smoothness. This article offers a new kind of simple smooth approximative exact penalty function of general constrained nonlinear programmings and analyzes its properties.

A New Augmented Lagrangian Objective Penalty Function for Constrained Optimization Problems

In this paper, a new augmented Lagrangian penalty function for constrained optimization problems is studied. The dual properties of the augmented Lagrangian objective penalty function for constrained optimization problems are proved. Under some conditions, the saddle point of the augmented Lagrangian objective penalty function satisfies the first-order Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) condition. Especially, when the KKT condition holds for convex programming its saddle point exists. Based on the augmented Lagrangian objective penalty function, an algorithm is developed for finding a global solution to an inequality constrained optimization problem and its global convergence is also proved under some conditions.

A PENALTY FUNCTION METHOD FOR THE PRINCIPAL-AGENT PROBLEM WITH AN INFINITE NUMBER OF INCENTIVE-COMPATIBILITY CONSTRAINTS UNDER MORAL HAZARD

In this paper,we propose an iterative algorithm to find the optimal incentive mechanism for the principal-agent problem under moral hazard where the number of agent action profiles is infinite,and where there are an infinite number of results that can be observed by the principal.This principal-agent problem has an infinite number of incentive-compatibility constraints,and we transform it into an optimization problem with an infinite number of constraints called a semi-infinite programming problem.We then propose an exterior penalty function method to find the optimal solution to this semi-infinite programming and illustrate the convergence of this algorithm.By analyzing the optimal solution obtained by the proposed penalty function method,we can obtain the optimal incentive mechanism for the principal-agent problem with an infinite number of incentive-compatibility constraints under moral hazard.

A RECURSIVE QUADRATIC PROGRAMMING ALGORITHM THAT USES A NEW NONDIFFERENTIABLE PENALTY FUNCTIONS

In this papert a recursive quadratic programming algorithm is proposed andstudied.The line search functions used are Han's nondifferentiable penalty functionswith a second order penalty term. In order to avoid maratos effect,Fukushima's mixeddirection is used as the direction of line search.Finallyt we prove the global convergenceand the local second order convergence of the algorithm.

A Penalty Function Algorithm with Objective Parameters and Constraint Penalty Parameter for Multi-Objective Programming

In this paper, we present an algorithm to solve the inequality constrained multi-objective programming (MP) by using a penalty function with objective parameters and constraint penalty parameter. First, the penalty function with objective parameters and constraint penalty parameter for MP and the corresponding unconstraint penalty optimization problem (UPOP) is defined. Under some conditions, a Pareto efficient solution (or a weakly-efficient solution) to UPOP is proved to be a Pareto efficient solution (or a weakly-efficient solution) to MP. The penalty function is proved to be exact under a stable condition. Then, we design an algorithm to solve MP and prove its convergence. Finally, numerical examples show that the algorithm may help decision makers to find a satisfactory solution to MP.

An Objective Penalty Functions Algorithm for Multiobjective Optimization Problem

By using the penalty function method with objective parameters, the paper presents an interactive algorithm to solve the inequality constrained multi-objective programming (MP). The MP is transformed into a single objective optimal problem (SOOP) with inequality constrains;and it is proved that, under some conditions, an optimal solution to SOOP is a Pareto efficient solution to MP. Then, an interactive algorithm of MP is designed accordingly. Numerical examples show that the algorithm can find a satisfactory solution to MP with objective weight value adjusted by decision maker.