Combined Accumulation- and Decumulation-Plans with Risk-Controlled Capital Protection

We base our analysis on an investor, usually a retiree, endowed with a certain amount of wealth W, who considers both his own consumption needs (fixed periodic withdrawals) and the requirement of his heirs (defined bequest). For this purpose he pursues the following in-vestment strategy. The part F is invested in a set of investment funds with the target to achieve an accumulated wealth at the end of a certain time horizon of at least the original amount of wealth W (or the fraction ), measured in real terms. As certain investment risks are implied, we allow for the probability of falling short of the target and implement it into our model as a risk control parameter. The remaining part MM of the original wealth is invested in money market funds in order to avoid additional investment risks and deliver fixed periodic withdrawals until the end of the respective time horizon. The optimal investment strategy is the investment fund allocation that satisfies the probability of shortfall and mini-mizes F, while maximizing the fixed periodic withdrawals. We outline this investment prob-lem in a mathematical model and illustrate the solution for a reasonable choice of empirical parameters.

Asset/Liability Management of German Life Insurance Companies: A Value-at-Risk Approach in the Presence of Interest Rate Guarantees

This contribution analyses the implications of two major determinants influencing the asset allocation decision of German life insurers, which are the capital market development on the one hand and the interest rate guarantees of the traditional life insurance policies on the other hand. The adverse development of the stock prices between 2000 and 2002 asks for a consideration of not only the �normal� volatility but also the worst-case developments in an asset/liability management. In order to meet the latter requirement, we technically apply the risk measures of Value-at-Risk and Conditional Value-at-Risk. German life insurance policies incorporate interest rate guarantees, which are granted on an annual basis. This specific �myopic� nature of guarantees creates � beyond the control of the shortfall risk in general � the necessity to manage the asset allocation on an annual basis to match the time horizon of assets and liabilities. A quantitative approach analyses the impacts on the asset allocation decision. In our research we do not only consider market valuation, but also institutional peculiarities (such as hidden reserves and accounting norms) of German life insurers. We reveal the possibility of a riskless one-year investment, either based on market values or on book values, to be crucial for guaranteeing interest rates on an annual basis.

Ioncopy: an R Shiny app to call copy number alterations in targeted NGS data

Background: Somatic copy number alterations (CNAs) contribute to the clinically targetable aberrations in the tumor genome. For both routine diagnostics and biomarkers research, CNA analysis in a single assay together with somatic mutations is highly desirable. Results: Ioncopy is a validated method and easy-to-use software for CNA calling from targeted NGS data. Copy number and significance of CNA are estimated for each gene in each sample. Copy number gains and losses are called after multiple testing corrections controlling FWER or FDR. Conclusions: Ioncopy facilitates calling of CNAs in a cohort of tumors tissues with or without using normal (germline) DNA controls

Visible-to-telecom quantum frequency conversion of light from a single quantum emitter

Quantum frequency conversion (QFC), a nonlinear optical process in which the frequency of a quantum light field is altered while conserving its non-classical correlations, was first demonstrated 20 years ago. Meanwhile, it is considered an essential tool for the implementation of quantum repeaters since it allows for interfacing quantum memories with telecom-wavelength photons as quantum information carriers. Here we demonstrate efficient (>30%) QFC of visible single photons (711 nm) emitted by a quantum dot (QD) to a telecom wavelength (1,313 nm). Analysis of the first and second-order coherence before and after wavelength conversion clearly proves that important properties, such as the coherence time and photon antibunching, are fully conserved during the frequency translation process. Our findings underline the great potential of single photon sources on demand in combination with QFC as a promising technique for quantum repeater schemes.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure

An Application-Oriented Synthetic Network Traffic Generator

Abstract—Design space exploration and detailed anal-ysis in the field of hardware design applies simulation in many variants. A frequently used method is stochastic simulation where systems are stimulated by randomised input. Synthetic traffic traces mainly form the load for stochastic simulation of network computing devices. The generator presented here utilises two well-known models to meet the features of a majority of applications and traffic sources. Based on application-specific pa-rameter sets, the traffic models stochastically generate packet flows which are merged to an aggregated stream. Nevertheless, all packets can always be identified and are not resolved to a data mass representing the load of a link

Тайвань в экономическом и геополитическом пространстве Восточной Азии

Цель работы – охарактеризовать и показать влияние модернизационных процессов на внешнеэкономическую стратегию и геополитическое положение Китайской Республики (Тайвань) в Восточной Азии. Объектом исследования в настоящей работе являются Тайвань, его место и роль в геополитическом пространстве Восточной Азии. Предмет исследования – место и роль Тайваня в Восточной Азии, его взаимодействие с ведущими акторами международных отношений в геополитическом пространстве региона ВА.The aim of the study was to describe and show the influence of modernization processes on foreign policy and geopolitical position of the Republic of China (Taiwan). The object of study is Taiwan, its place and role in the geopolitical space of East Asia. The subject of research – is the place and role of Taiwan in East Asia, its interaction with the leading actors in international relations in the geopolitical space of Asia Pacific region. Relevance. Currently, the Republic of China (Taiwan) is democracy with a semi-presidential system and universal suffrage

Prolyl hydroxylase domain 2 protein is a strong prognostic marker in human gastric cancer

Objective: According to recent research, prolyl hydroxylase domain 2 protein (PHD2) plays an important role in human carcinogenesis by inducing neovascularization and tumor growth. The aim of this study was to evaluate PHD2 expression patterns in primary gastric adenocarcinoma and to test for a potential predictive value of PHD2 expression in gastric cancer patients. Methods: In a total of 121 patients, PHD2 expression was investigated by immunohistochemistry in paraffin- embedded tissue and correlated with clinicopathological parameters and patient survival. Results: 64 of 121 gastric carcinomas (52.9%) showed PHD2 expression in tumor cell cytoplasm. In univariate analysis, PHD2- negative patients had a significantly shortened survival in compariso

Tuning the properties of magnetic thin films by interaction with periodic nanostructures

The most important limitation for a significant increase of the areal storage density in magnetic recording is the superparamagnetic effect. Below a critical grain size of the used CoCrPt exchange-decoupled granular films the information cannot be stored for a reasonable time (typically ten years) due to thermal fluctuations arbitrary flipping of the magnetization direction. An alternative approach that may provide higher storage densities is the use of so-called percolated media, in which defect structures are imprinted in an exchange-coupled magnetic film. Such percolated magnetic films are investigated in the present work. We employ preparation routes that are based on (i) self-assembly of Au nanoparticles and (ii) homogeneous size-reduction of self-assembled polystyrene particles. On such non-close-packed nanostructures thin Fe films or Co/Pt multilayers are grown with in-plane and out-of-plane easy axis of magnetization. The impact of the particles on the magnetic switching behavior is measured by both integral magnetometry and magnetic microscopy techniques. We observe enhanced coercive fields while the switching field distribution is broadened compared to thin-film reference samples. It appears possible to tailor the magnetic domain sizes down to the width of an unperturbed domain wall in a continuous film, and moreover, we observe pinning and nucleation at or close to the imprinted defect structures

Nonequilibrium dynamics: a renormalized computation scheme

We present a regularized and renormalized version of the one-loop nonlinear relaxation equations that determine the non-equilibrium time evolution of a classical (constant) field coupled to its quantum fluctuations. We obtain a computational method in which the evaluation of divergent fluctuation integrals and the evaluation of the exact finite parts are cleanly separated so as to allow for a wide freedom in the choice of regularization and renormalization schemes. We use dimensional regularization here. Within the same formalism we analyze also the regularization and renormalization of the energy-momentum tensor. The energy density serves to monitor the reliability of our numerical computation. The method is applied to the simple case of a scalar phi^4 theory; the results are similar to the ones found previously by other groups.Comment: 15 pages, 9 postscript figures, revtex; version published in Phys. Rev, with minor corrections; improves the first version of 1996 by including the discussion of energy momentum tenso