Modeling Insurance Claims Using Flexible Skewed and Mixture Probability Distributions

The normal distribution comes as a first choice when fitting real data, but it may not be suitable if the assumed distribution deviates from normality. Flexible skewed distributions are capable of including skewness and taking into account multimodality. They may be applied to find appropriate distributions for describing the claim amounts in insurance. The objective is to model insurance claims using a set of flexible skewed and mixture probability distributions, and to test how well they fit the claims. Results indicate the skew-t distribution and alpha-skew Laplace distribution are able to describe unimodal claims accurately, whereas scale mixture of skew-normal and skew-t distributions are better alternatives to both unimodal and bimodal conventional distributions such as skew-normal, alpha skew-normal, and mixture of normal distributions. The tail risk measures such as value at risk and tail value at risk are estimated as judgment criteria to assess the fitness of the models

Flow cytometric analysis of childhood leukemias

Objective: To collect demographic data for childhood (less than 15 years) leukemias in Karachi, describe the accuracy of the cell surface markers routinely used in the flow cytometric analysis of leukemic cells and arrive at an ideal panel of antibodies for analyzing leukemic samiples. Materials and Methods: Data from 62 consecutive cases of childhood leukemias referred to the Department of Pathology, Aga Khan University Hospital. (AKUH) between January 1995 and December 1998 was analyzed using Epi Info Version 6. Flow cytometry on all samples was performed using standard protocols. Results: The mean age of patients was 8.2 years and 49 (79%) were males. Fifty (81%) had acute lymphoblastic leukemias of which 50% were CD1O positive and 24% CD10 negative Pre-B cell leukemias. Among all Pre B cell All 98% were positive for CD19, 96% for CD22, 89% for HLA-DR and 67% for CD10. Of the 10 AML cases, 100% were positive for CD33, 90% for CD13, 80% for CD19 and 70% for HLA-DR. Conclusion: The mean age in this study population was significantly higher and percentage of CD10 positive Pre-B All is lower than that in the West. Both these factors might be responsible for the poorer prognosis of these patients. It is not possible to specify a minimum or maximum panel of antibodies that should be used for phenotyping all cases of childhood leukemias. A certain degree or redundancy is essential in any panel of antibodies used for flow cytometry of leukemias

Mensural classifiers and traditional measuring tools used in Acehnese (Indonesia)

This study investigates the mensural classifiers along with various traditional measurement tools used by the Acehnese community in Pidie Jaya District, Aceh Province, Indonesia. The data for this qualitative research with an ethnographic approach was obtained from five sub-districts in Pidie Jaya District. Elicitation techniques and non-participant observation techniques were employed to collect data from 12 selected informants. Pictures of these tools were taken for documentation. It was found that there are 21 mensural classifiers for the volume measurement unit (kai, sukèe, ndhie, siblakai, cupak, arè, gantang, pacôk, kulah, naléh, gunca, kuyan, tayeun, gaca siarè, gaca sicupak, gaca sikai, glok, cawan, mok, cinu, and tima), one mensural classifier for width measurement unit (naléh) and three mensural classifiers for weight measurement unit (manyam, bungkai, and katoe). These traditional measuring tools are made from parts of plants, recycled goods, and even items sold in the market but are considered traditional by the community, as well as antiques that are believed to have originated from abroad. It is expected that the results of this research can be used as documentation of the Acehnese traditional heritage as an effort to preserve a regional culture in Indonesia. Future research on this topic should also investigate traditional measuring tools that use parts of the human body as measurements because they also exist in Acehnese society

The Progress and Prospect of Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks in Cancer Therapy, Antibacterial Activity, and Biomineralization

The progressive development of zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs), as a subfamily of metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs), and their unique features, including tunable pore size, large surface area, high thermal stability, and biodegradability/biocompatibility, have made them attractive in the field of biomedicine, especially for drug delivery and biomineralization applications. The high porosity of ZIFs gives them the opportunity for encapsulating a high amount of therapeutic drugs, proteins, imaging cargos, or a combination of them to construct advanced multifunctional drug delivery systems (DDSs) with combined therapeutic and imaging capabilities. This review summarizes recent strategies on the design and fabrication of ZIF‐based nansystems and their exploration in the biomedical field. First, recent developments for the adjustment of particle size, functionality, and morphology of ZIFs are discussed, which are important for achieving optimized therapeutic/theranostic nanosystems. Second, recent trends on the application of ZIF nanocarriers for the loading of diverse cargos, including anticancer medicines, antibiotic drugs, enzymes, proteins, photosensitizers, as well as imaging and photothermal agents, are investigated in order to understand how multifunctional DDSs can be designed based on the ZIF nanoparticles to treat different diseases, such as cancer and infection. Finally, prospects on the future research direction and applications of ZIF‐based nanomedicines are discussed.Peer reviewe

The Effects of Oxidation States, Spin States and Solvents on Molecular Structure, Stability and Spectroscopic Properties of Fe-Catechol Complexes: A Theoretical Study

In this study, in order to explain the solvent and spin state effects on the molecular structure of catechol-Fe complex [Fe(cat)3]n﹣ where n = 2 and 3, Hartree Fock (HF)-Density Functional Theory (DFT) hybrid calculations are performed at the B3LYP/6-311g(d,p) level of theory. The binding energies of Fe2+ and Fe3+ in high-spin state are higher than intermediate and low-spin states which show that the complex formation in a high spin state is more favorable. The calculated binding energies at different solvents indicate that the binding energies in polar solvents are lower than non-polar solvents. Furthermore, spectroscopic studies including FTIR and Raman spectrum in various solvents reveal that the formation of intermolecular bonds between the oxygen atom of carbonyl group and the hydrogen atom of solvent causes a spectral red shift. The calculated FTIR and geometry parameters are in good agreement with previous experimental data. Donor-acceptor interaction energies are evaluated due to the importance of the charge transfer in the complex formation. It is observed that the free electrons of oxygen atom interact with the antibonding orbitals of the iron. Finally, some correlations between the quantum chemical reactivity indices of the complexes and solvent polarity are considered. The study indicates a linear correlation between chemical hardness and binding energies of [Fe(cat)3]3﹣ complex.Regional Scientific Computing Center for Lower Saxony (RRZN

The Structure and Function of Oral Poetry Meurukon

This study aims to describe the structure and function of the oral poetry Meurukon. This research uses a qualitative approach. The source of research data is the text Meurukon edited by Rahman (2010), Harun (2012), text and recording of Meurukon at the 7th Aceh Culture Event (Huda, 2018). The research data are all sequences relating to the structure and function of Meurukon. Data is collected by using the techniques of listening, recording, and reading. The research instrument consisted of handy cam, stationery, and the researchers themselves. Data analysis was conducted through five stages. The stages are carefully and critically reading Meurukon text, sorting data into Meurukon structure and function, analyzing data comprehensively, verifying research results, and concluding research results. The results of the study indicate that the Meurukon structure includes the opening part which consists of greetings and preface. It also includes the content section which consists of discussions on religious issues, especially about bismillah, problems with prayer, water problems, and problems of faith (aqeedah). Then, the structure of Meurokon is the closing that concern on apology and farewell. Last, the Meurukon functions are religious learning, entertainment, and interactive-dialogical learning model

Changes of physical properties during microwave processing of sagon

This study was designed to investigate the best and efficient method of processing sagon, a traditional snack food, using a microwave oven. Microwave cooking was conducted at three output powers of 90, 170 and 340 W. The effects of salt and different formulations on physical (moisture, water activity, color, surface morphology) as well as sensory properties of sagon were also investigated. Microwave heating reduced the time of cooking and/or drying compared with that of conventional way. The color of sagon was solely dependent on microwave output power and sugar content; the higher the output power the lesser is lightness and the greater is redness and yellowness, but texture and surface roughness showed better at medium microwave heating (170 W) confirmed by the micrographs. Microwave processing of sagon having high sugar content (60%) in the formulation at rather higher output power (340 W) resulted in most preferred sagon compared with that of conventional one available in the local market. Addition of salt bought about slightly higher reading of water activity and moisture content

Length–weight and length–length relationships of five fish species collected from seagrass beds of the Sungai Pulai estuary, Peninsular Malaysia

Length–weight relationships are presented for five fish species from the seagrass beds of Peninsular Malaysia

Size reduction of selected spices using knife mill: Experimental investigation and model fitting.

The process of size reduction is significant in numerous industries to improve performance and meet specification. This research is undertaken to study the size reduction of three spices, namely cinnamon, coriander and star anise as influenced by loading weight and grinding time. Grinding was conducted in a knife mill. The dependent variables used for assessing performance were grinding efficiency, size reduction ratio and grinding rate. Simple experimental model was built using Microsoft Excel for showing the relationship between cumulative size reduction function (Bij) and selectivity function (Si) with the physical properties like density, moisture content and hardness of spices used. It was observed that there was a gradual decrease in size of spices up to grinding of 1 min and then became constant. Among the three spices, cinnamon achieved the highest size reduction as evaluated by efficiency, size reduction rate and size reduction ratio. The optimum loading weight for grinding was found 30 g irrespective of the type of spices. The data of cumulative size reduction function, selectivity and particle size fitted to second-order polynomial equation with the highest goodness of fit. This study indicated that the size reduction/grinding using knife mill was greatly influenced by physical properties of spices among the factors studied