Portfolio Choice with Life Annuities under Probability Distortion

Retirement planning has attracted considerable attentions from retirees, finance industry and the government. Its significance lies in the protection against individual longevity risk. As a result, optimal portfolio selection problem in a market with annuities has been extensively studied. Yarri (1965) first suggested that individuals with no bequest motive should annuitize all her savings. However, the volume of the voluntary annuity purchases is much lower than predicted by such model, which is the so-called “annuity puzzle”. In this dissertation, I aim to explore the annuity puzzle from the behavioral economics point of view. Particularly, one major finding from the behavioral experiments is that people always overestimate small-probability events and underestimate large-probability events. By introducing the probability distortion on the perceived stock price process, I revisit the dynamic optimal portfolio selection model in a financial market with a riskless bond, a risky asset, and commutable life annuities. In particular, the portfolio problem is studied under both a reverse S-shaped probability distortion function and a convex probability distortion function. I find that with a constant relative risk aversion utility function, the reverse S-shaped probability distortion function brings more fear of large losses than the hope of large gains. In order to address the fear, people tend to buy more annuities, invest more including margin purchases and consume more. On the other side, the convex probability distortion function essentially increases the perceived stock price drift, which results in more investment on the stock market, more consumption and less demand in the annuity industry. It provides a plausible explanation for the annuity puzzle

Finding disease-specific coordinated functions by multi-function genes: Insight into the coordination mechanisms in diseases

AbstractWe developed an approach using multi-function disease genes to find function pairs whose co-deregulation might induce a disease. Analyzing cancer genes, we found many cancer-specific coordinated function pairs co-deregulated by dysfunction of multi-function genes and other molecular changes in cancer. Studying two subtypes of cardiomyopathy, we found they show certain consistency at the functional coordination level. Our approach can also provide important information for finding novel disease genes as well as their mechanisms in diseases

Comparison of bypass surgery and drug-eluting stenting in diabetic patients with left main and/or multivessel disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized and nonrandomized studies

Background: With advances in theinterventional field, the choice between coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and percutaneous coronary intervention with drug-eluting stents (PCI-DES) for the diabetic subset with left main (LM) and/or multivessel disease (MVD) remains consistently controversial. Methods and results: We conducted a systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and observational controlled trials (OCTs) comparing the two strategies for the diabetic subset with LM and/or MVD. PubMed, EMBASE, CENTRAL databases, Google Scholar and SinoMed were systematically searched for eligible studies without language and publica­tion restrictions. We identified 19 trials (4 randomized and 15 nonrandomized), enrolling 5,805 patients in OCTs and 3,060 patients in RCTs, respectively. PCI-DES was associated with higher mortality compared with CABG (11.7% DES vs. 9.1% CABG, RR 1.23, 95% CI 1.00–1.53, p = 0.06). Patients after PCI-DES had higher prevalence of myocardial infarction (MI) when compared with CABG (8.5% DES vs. 4.6% CABG, RR 1.68, 95% CI 1.20–2.37, p = 0.003). PCI-DES patients were at substantially lower risk of stroke (2.0% DES vs. 3.9% CABG, RR 0.51, 95% CI 0.39–0.67, p < 0.00001), but at several-fold higher risk of repeat revascularization (19.0% DES vs. 6.3% CABG, RR 2.95, 95% CI 2.46–3.55, p < 0.00001). The OCT patients risked a lower mortality as compared to the RCT patients (9.6% OCTs vs. 11.9% RCTs, RR 0.81, 95% CI 0.71–0.92, p = 0.001). Conclusions: CABG for patients with diabetes mellitus and LM and/or MVD had advan­tages over PCI-DES in all-cause death, nonfatal MI, and repeat revascularization, but the substantial disadvantage in nonfatal stroke. The high-selected patients (RCTs) risked a higher mortality than the real-world patients (OCTs)

Hyperuricemia and Cardiovascular Disease.

Uric acid (UA), the metabolic mediator of gout and urate renal stones, is associated with increased cardiovascular risk burden. Hyperuricemia is a common metabolic disorder, and interaction among UA and cardiovascular diseases has been clearly described. Several illnesses, including hypertension, myocardial infarction, metabolic syndrome, and heart failure, are related to increases in UA levels. In this article, we discuss the pathophysiology of hyperuricemia and describe the biologic plausibility of this metabolite's participation in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular illness. We conclude by discussing the implications of lowering plasma UA concentrations to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events, including myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure, and cardiovascular death

Research on multi-energy cooperative participation of grid frequency inertia response control strategy for energy storage type doubly-fed wind turbine considering wind speed disturbance

With the proposal of carbon peaking and carbon neutralization, the penetration rate of wind power generation continues to increase. This paper focuses on the problem that doubly fed induction wind turbines are vulnerable to input “source” disturbances and have weak frequency modulation ability, which reduces the stability of the power grid. Based on the structural model of energy storage system embedded in doubly fed wind power generation system, it is compared the ability of super capacitor energy storage and releasing rotor kinetic energy to provide inertia response power and energy, and the feasibility of multi-energy coordinated inertia response is analyzed. Based on the inertia time constant of conventional synchronous generator set, the inertia time constant and actual inertia constant of energy storage doubly fed wind power generation system under variable wind speed are defined. An extended state observer is used to estimate the change of captured mechanical power caused by the change of wind speed, and a control strategy for doubly fed induction generator with super capacitor to participate in power grid frequency regulation is designed. Finally, considering the aggregation of wind power and the difference of the state of charge during the operation of distributed energy storage, the 3*3*3 wind farm model is established using Matlab/Simulink simulation software. The feasibility and advantages of the frequency modulation control strategy proposed in this paper are verified by building a power grid frequency modulation simulation involving wind farms and traditional generators

Bibliometric analysis of worldwide research trends on breast cancer about inflammation

BackgroundThe most prevalent cancer and the second-leading cause of cancer-related mortality in women is breast cancer. Growing interest has been shown in recent years in learning more about the processes behind the development of breast cancer. It has been shown that persistent inflammation may play a significant role in the advancement of breast cancer. However, a comprehensive and objective analysis on the state of inflammation in breast cancer research is still lacking. This study was aim to undertake a bibliometric analysis of breast cancer research associated with inflammation between 2013 and 2022 in order to identify the trends, dynamics, and scientific outputs in the field.MethodsFrom 2013 to 2022, original and review publications on breast cancer and inflammation-associated research were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WOSCC) database. To examine the position of yearly publications, journals, nations, institutions, and authors, we employed two bibliometric tools (CiteSpace and VOSviewer). After that, by examining keyword visualization and keyword bursts, we determined the hot research fields related to inflammation in breast cancer.Resultswe discovered 6902 publications regarding inflammation in breast cancer by using our retrieval approach. In terms of the number of publications, The United States ranked first in the global study, followed by China and Italy. In terms of institutions, the University of Texas System, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, and University of California System are in the top 3 for the quantity of publications published. The most popular journal for this field research is “CANCERS.” Ueno NT, Woodward WA, Cristofanilli M, and others have made significant contributions to the understanding of inflammation in breast cancer. In the end, we conducted a biclustering analysis on keywords and discovered three clusters that represent research hotspots.ConclusionAccording to the global trend, the research output of inflammation in breast cancer is increasing. The information provided in this article, including the cooperation network information of authors, nations, journals, and institutions, may help researchers to better understand hotspots and developing patterns in this discipline. At present, the focus of study gradually shifts from “phenotype study” to “therapeutic research”. It is recommended to pay attention to the latest hot spots, such as targeted therapy, antimicrobial activity and nanoparticle