Epitaxial strain adaption in chemically disordered FeRh thin films

Strain and strain adaption mechanisms in modern functional materials are of crucial importance for their performance. Understanding these mechanisms will advance innovative approaches for material properties engineering. Here we study the strain adaption mechanism in a thin film model system as function of epitaxial strain. Chemically disordered FeRh thin films are deposited on W-V buffer layers, which allow for large variation of the preset lattice constants, e.g. epitaxial boundary condition. It is shown by means of high resolution X-ray reciprocal space maps and transmission electron microscopy that the system reacts with a tilting mechanism of the structural units in order to adapt to the lattice constants of the buffer layer. This response explained by density functional theory calculations, which evidence an energetic minimum for structures with a distortion of c/a =0.87. The experimentally observed tilting mechanism is induced by this energy gain and allows the system to remain in the most favorable structure. In general, it is shown that the use of epitaxial model heterostructures consisting of alloy buffer layers of fully miscible elements and the functional material of interest allows to study strain adaption behaviors in great detail. This approach makes even small secondary effects observable, such as the directional tilting of the structural domains identified in the present case study

Large meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies identifies five loci for lean body mass

Lean body mass, consisting mostly of skeletal muscle, is important for healthy aging. We performed a genome-wide association study for whole body (20 cohorts of European ancestry with n = 38,292) and appendicular (arms and legs) lean body mass (n = 28,330) measured using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry or bioelectrical impedance analysis, adjusted for sex, age, height, and fat mass. Twenty-one single-nucleotide polymorphisms were significantly associated with lean body mass either genome wide (p < 5 x 10(-8)) or suggestively genome wide (p < 2.3 x 10(-6)). Replication in 63,475 (47,227 of European ancestry) individuals from 33 cohorts for whole body lean body mass and in 45,090 (42,360 of European ancestry) subjects from 25 cohorts for appendicular lean body mass was successful for five single-nucleotide polymorphisms in/ near HSD17B11, VCAN, ADAMTSL3, IRS1, and FTO for total lean body mass and for three single-nucleotide polymorphisms in/ near VCAN, ADAMTSL3, and IRS1 for appendicular lean body mass. Our findings provide new insight into the genetics of lean body mass

Solvency Prediction for Property-Liability Insurance Companies: Evidence from the Financial Crisis

The financial crisis of 2008 generated sizeable losses in the financial sector around the world. Because regulators are used for predicting insurers' financial strength in order to detect financially distressed firms as early as possible, we question how reliably regulators can forecast financial strength, especially during a financial crisis. We use the company-level data of German property-liability insurers from 2004 to 2011 to examine factors that affect the insurer's regulatory solvency ratio. Furthermore, we develop a prediction model to classify the insurers regarding their financial strength. We show that, in particular, the lagged solvency ratio can be used to predict the future regulatory solvency ratio irrespective of the economic conditions. Thus, our results imply that German regulators are able to detect insurers in financial distress early enough to take appropriate actions to protect policyholders' interests. Our results do not support the adoption of tighter regulations or higher capital requirements

Strategic Group Performance and Dynamics under Different Economic Conditions

We analyse strategic groups in the German insurance market. We use cluster analysis to subdivide insurance groups into strategic groups. Furthermore, we analyse whether strategic group affiliation can affect the performance of the insurance groups' property-liability subsidiaries. In addition, we examine the consequences of the financial crisis of 2008 on the competitive situation in the German insurance sector and examine whether changes in strategic group affiliation can be considered as a consequence of the financial crisis. Using a data set of 829 firm-year observations for the years 2004-2012, our results indicate the existence of three strategic group in the German insurance sector. In addition, we find that performance differences at the subsidiary level can be attributed to strategic group affiliation. Furthermore, we do not find evidence that the financial crisis induced changes in strategic group affiliation

The effect of monetary policy announcements and government interventions on the US insurance industry during the 2007-2009 crisis

Purpose - The authors aim to analyze the impact of monetary policy interventions during the financial crisis of 2007-2009 on the stock prices of US insurance firms. Design/methodology/approach - The authors use an event study methodology and a database of 89 policy announcements to analyze if monetary policy interventions could restore stability in the insurance sector. In addition, the authors conduct a second-stage analysis to identify the individual firms' determinants of their stock market response. Findings - The results indicate that the market reaction depends upon the type of policy intervention as well as the timing of the intervention. A second stage analysis examines firm level determinants of the insurers' stock price responses and finds various firm specific factors also affect the insurers' reaction to policy interventions. Originality/value - First, to the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper is the first to examine the impact of non-conventional policy announcements on firms from the insurance sector during the financial crisis. Moreover, the authors add to the literature an analysis on how conventional central bank announcements affect insurance firms