MARKETING FINANCIAL PRODUCTS WITHIN THE ACTIVITY OF INVESTMENT BANKS

A production system which produces a large number of items in many steps can be modelled as a continuous flow problem. The resulting hyperbolic partial differential equation (PDE) typically is nonlinear and nonlocal, modeling a factory whose cycle time depends nonlinearly on the work in progress. One of the few ways to influence the output of such a factory is by adjusting the start rate in a time dependent manner.We study two prototypical control problems for this case: i) demand tracking where we determine the start rate that generates an output rate which optimally tracks a given time dependent demand rate and ii) backlog tracking which optimally tracks the cumulative demand. The method is based on the formal adjoint method for constrained optimization, incorporating the hyperbolic PDE as a constraint of a nonlinear optimization problem. We show numerical results on optimal start rate profiles for steps in the demand rate and for periodically varying demand rates and discuss the influence of the nonlinearity of the cycle time on the limits of the reactivity of the production system. Differences between perishable and non-perishable demand (demand vs. backlog tracking) are highlighted

Kooperationsneigung und Erfolgswahrscheinlichkeit von Forschungs- und experimentellen Entwicklungskooperationen: Eine Studie von deutschen, österreichischen und schweizer hochtechnologie Unternehmen

Kooperationen zwischen Unternehmen im Bereich Forschung und Entwicklung (F&E) sind seit Jahren ein wichtiges Instrument, um konkurrenzfähig zu bleiben und am Markt zu bestehen. Vor allem in forschungsintensiven Branchen bringen Kooperationen große Vorteile. Neu gewonnenes Wissen kann zwischen den kooperierenden Unternehmen ausgetauscht und so besser und intensiver genützt werden. Die Kosten für neue Entwicklungen werden durch Zusammenarbeit gesenkt und bei erfolgreichen Kooperationen wird der Unternehmserfolg positiv beeinflusst Der vorliegende Forschungsbericht zeigt klar, dass Unternehmen mit eigener F&E-Abteilung und Mitarbeitern, die gezielt im Bereich der Kooperationen eingesetzt werden, diese erfolgreicher durchführen als Unternehmen ohne Kooperationserfahrung. Auch die Einhaltung des Projektbudgets und des Projektzeitplans, ein Netzwerk zu Wissenschaftern und die Teilnahme an wissenschaftlichen Konferenzen sind wichtige Faktoren, um im Bereich der F&E-Kooperationen Erfolg zu haben

Evolution of the distribution of wealth in an economic environment driven by local Nash equilibria

International audienceWe present and analyze a model for the evolution of the wealth distribution within a heterogeneous economic environment. The model considers a system of rational agents interacting in a game theoretical framework, through fairly general assumptions on the cost function. This evolution drives the dynamic of the agents in both wealth and economic configuration variables. We consider a regime of scale separation where the large scale dynamics is given by a hydrodynamic closure with a Nash equilibrium serving as the local thermodynamic equilibrium. The result is a system of gas dynamics-type equations for the density and average wealth of the agents on large scales. We recover the inverse gamma distribution as an equilibrium in the particular case of quadratic cost functions which has been previously considered in the literature

Influence of moisture content and gaps on the withdrawal resistance of self tapping screws in CLT

Self-tapping screws (STS) have been proclaimed as the easiest solution for structural timber connections, in special for cross laminated timber (CLT) constructions. In order to understand deeply the composite model “CLT-STS”, an experimental campaign which comprised 270 withdrawal tests was carried out. Maximum withdrawal load capacity of self-tapping screws inserted in plane side of a three layered CLT panel was evaluated considering three main parameters: moisture levels of CLT (i), number of gaps (ii) and the width of gaps (iii). Regarding (i), connections were tested with CLT at 8%, 12% and 18% of moisture content. Concerning (ii) and (iii), different test configurations with 1, 2 and 3 gaps, with 0 or 4mm, were tested. The influences of moisture content and number of gaps were modeled. Further a correlation between test results and a prediction model developed by Uibel and Blaß (2007) has been proposed

The influences of moisture content variation, number and width of gaps on the withdrawal resistance of self tapping screws inserted in cross laminated timber

A large experimental campaign comprised of 470 withdrawal tests was carried out, aiming to quantify the withdrawal resistance of self-tapping screws (STS) inserted in the side face of cross laminated timber (CLT) elements. In order to deeply understand the “CLT-STS” composite model, the experimental tests considered two main parameters: (i) simple and cyclic changes on moisture content (MC) and (ii) number and width of gaps. Regarding (i), three individual groups of test specimens were stabilized with 8%, 12% and 18% of moisture content and one group was submitted to a six month RH cycle (between 30% and 90% RH). Concerning (ii), different test configurations with 0 (REF), 1, 2 and 3 gaps, and widths equal to 0mm (GAP0) or 4mm (GAP4), were tested. The influences of MC and number of gaps were modeled by means of least square method. Moreover, a revision of a prediction model developed by Uibel and Blaß (2007) was proposed. The main findings of the experimental campaign were: the decrease of withdrawal resistance for specimens tested with MC=18% in most configurations; the unexpected increase of withdrawal resistance as the number of gaps with 0mm increased; and, the surprising increase of withdrawal resistance for REF specimens submitted to the RH cycle.The development of the present work was possible only thanks to the financial support of the 391 Portuguese Science Foundation (Fundação de Ciência e Tecnologia, FCT), through PhD grant SFRH / BD17392 / 79972 / 2011. Further, the valuable partnerships with the Institute of Timber Engineering and Wood393 Technology, at Graz University of Technology (Austria), and Rusticasa are gratefully acknowledged

Quantifying signal changes in nano-wire based biosensors

In this work, we present a computational methodology for predicting the change in signal (conductance sensitivity) of a nano-BioFET sensor (a sensor based on a biomolecule binding another biomolecule attached to a nano-wire field effect transistor) upon binding its target molecule. The methodology is a combination of the screening model of surface charge sensors in liquids developed by Brandbyge and co-workers [Sørensen et al., Appl. Phys. Lett., 2007, 91, 102105], with the PROPKA method for predicting the pH-dependent charge of proteins and protein-ligand complexes, developed by Jensen and co-workers [Li et al., Proteins: Struct., Funct., Bioinf., 2005, 61, 704-721, Bas et al., Proteins: Struct., Funct., Bioinf., 2008, 73, 765-783]. The predicted change in conductance sensitivity based on this methodology is compared to previously published data on nano-BioFET sensors obtained by other groups. In addition, the conductance sensitivity dependence from various parameters is explored for a standard wire, representative of a typical experimental setup. In general, the experimental data can be reproduced with sufficient accuracy to help interpret them. The method has the potential for even more quantitative predictions when key experimental parameters (such as the charge carrier density of the nano-wire or receptor density on the device surface) can be determined (and reported) more accurately. © 2011 The Royal Society of Chemistry

Kinetic Theories for Metropolis Monte Carlo Methods

We consider generalizations of the classical inverse problem to Bayesien type estimators, where the result is not one optimal parameter but an optimal probability distribution in parameter space. The practical computational tool to compute these distributions is the Metropolis Monte Carlo algorithm. We derive kinetic theories for the Metropolis Monte Carlo method in different scaling regimes. The derived equations yield a different point of view on the classical algorithm. It further inspired modifications to exploit the difference scalings shown on an simulation example of the Lorenz system