Existence regions of positive periodic solutions for a discrete hematopoiesis model with unimodal production functions (Q2307260)

The authors introduce a discretization of the continuous Mackey-Glass model of hematopoiesis, which is a differential equation with a delayed argument, unimodal production function, and periodic coefficients. On the basis of the introduced discrete model describing the increase and decrease of blood cells for the case when coefficients and delays of this model are periodic discrete functions with $\omega$-period, they study the problem of the existence of positive $\omega$-periodic solutions. The proof is based on the continuation theorem of coincidence degree theory of \textit{R. E. Gaines} and \textit{J. L. Mawhin} [Coincidence degree and nonlinear differential equations. Lecture Notes in Mathematics. 568. Berlin-Heidelberg-New York: Springer-Verlag. (1977; Zbl 0339.47031)]. The advantage of the used method is that the existence range of the positive $\omega$-periodic solutions of the model can be evaluated. Furthermore the authors present a concrete example and its simulation to illustrate the obtained results. In addition, they study the persistence of the solutions, namely they examine how positive numbers and coefficients making up their model influence the upper and lower limits of blood cell count.