Equity-Linked Pension Schemes with Guarantees

This paper analyses the relationship between the level of a return guarantee in an equity-linked pension scheme and the proportion of an investor's contribution needed to finance this guarantee. Three types of schemes are considered: investment guarantee, contribution guarantee and participation surplus. The evaluation of each scheme involves pricing an Asian option, for which relatively tight upper and lower bounds can be calculated in a numerically efficient manner. We find a negative (and for two contracts pecifications also concave) relationship between the participation in the surplus return of the investment strategy and the guarantee level in terms of a minimum rate of return. Furthermore, the introduction of a possibility of early termination of the contract (e.g. due to the death of the investor) has no qualitative and very little quantitative impact on this relationship.pension funds; forward risk adjusted measure; Asian option

Deep water chondrichthyans from the Early Miocene of the Vienna Basin (Central Paratethys, Slovakia)

Sampling of latest Burdigalian (Miocene) silty clays from the Malé Karpaty Mountains in the Slovakia revealed a deep−water, low diversity shark fauna. The fauna is dominated by teeth of very small squaliform sharks, including two new species, Eosqualiolus skrovinai sp. nov. and Paraetmopterus horvathi sp. nov. The generic composition of the squaliform fauna is more similar to that known from the Eocene than that of today, suggesting a post–early Miocene faunal turnover within this clade, at least locally. Nectobenthic, non squaliform sharks are rare, but include the new sawshark species Pristiophorus striatus sp. nov., while minute teeth of an enigmatic taxon described here as Nanocetorhinus tuberculatus gen. et sp. nov. probably indicate the presence of a previously unrecorded planktivore. The unusual composition of the fauna, with the complete absence of taxa known to be of medium to large size, suggests an unusual, and probably very stressed, palaeoenvironment

New development: strategic user orientation in public services delivery—the missing link in the strategic trinity?

This paper explores the application of strategic planning and management to Public Service Organisations (PSOs). It argues that the impact of these approaches has been limited by the absence of an underlying strategic orientation that would provide a value-base upon which to embed these approaches within PSOs. It argues further for such an orientation to privelege the need for public services to add value to the lives of citizens and service users and not to focus solely upon internal measures of efficiency and performance

Phase coexistence of multiple copper oxides on AgCu catalysts during ethylene epoxidation

Alloy catalysts under reaction conditions are complex entities. In oxidizing atmospheres, multiple phases can coexist on a catalyst s surface as a result of phase segregation and preferential oxidation. Such a scenario can result in unusual substoichiometric and metastable phases that could play important roles in catalytic processes. For instance, AgCu alloys known to exhibit enhanced epoxide selectivity in partial oxidation of ethylene form an oxide like surface structure under reaction conditions. Under these conditions, copper oxides are stable, while silver oxides are not. Consequently, copper segregates to the alloy s surface and forms an oxide overlayer. Little is known about the structure or function of such overlayers, and it is unknown whether they play an active role in the catalyst s enhanced selectivity. In order to develop a clearer picture of such catalysts, the current work utilizes several in situ spectroscopic and microscopic techniques to examine the copper oxide phases that form when AgCu is exposed to epoxidation conditions. It is found that several forms of oxidic Cu coexist simultaneously on the active catalyst s surface, namely, CuO, Cu2O, and some previously unreported form of oxidized Cu, referred to here as CuxOy. Online product analysis, performed during the in situ spectroscopic measurements, shows that increased epoxide selectivity is correlated with the presence of mixed copper oxidation states and the presence of the CuxOy species. These results support previous theoretical predictions that oxidic copper overlayers on silver play an active role in epoxidation. These results furthermore emphasize the need for in situ spectromicroscopic methods to understand the complexity of alloy catalyst

Crossover from directed percolation to compact directed percolation

We study critical spreading in a surface-modified directed percolation model in which the left- and right-most sites have different occupation probabilities than in the bulk. As we vary the probability for growth at an edge, the critical exponents switch from the compact directed percolation class to ordinary directed percolation. We conclude that the nonuniversality observed in models with multiple absorbing configurations cannot be explained as a simple surface effect.Comment: 4 pages, Revtex, 5 figures postscrip

Nitrides as ammonia synthesis catalysts and as potential nitrogen transfer reagents

In this article, an overview of the application of selected metal nitrides as ammonia synthesis catalysts is presented. The potential development of some systems into nitrogen transfer reagents is also described

Physical activity and exercise for the prevention and management of mild cognitive impairment and dementia: a collaborative international guideline

Background: Physical activity and exercise have been suggested as effective interventions for the prevention and management of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia, but there are no international guidelines. Objectives: To create a set of evidence- and expert consensus-based prevention and management recommendations regarding physical activity (any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that results in energy expenditure) and exercise (a subset of physical activity that is planned, structured, repetitive), applicable to a range of individuals from healthy older adults to those with MCI/dementia. Methods: Guideline content was developed with input from several scientific and lay representatives’ societies. A systematic search across multidisciplinary databases was carried out until October 2021. Recommendations for prevention and management were developed according to the GRADE and complemented by consensus statements from the expert panels. Recommendations: Physical activity may be considered for the primary prevention of dementia. In people with MCI there is continued uncertainty about the role of physical activity in slowing the conversion to dementia. Mind–body interventions have the greatest supporting evidence. In people with moderate dementia, exercise may be used for maintaining disability and cognition. All these recommendations were based on a very low/low certainty of evidence. Conclusions: Although the scientific evidence on the beneficial role of physical activity and exercise in preserving cognitive functions in subjects with normal cognition, MCI or dementia is inconclusive, this panel, composed of scientific societies and other stakeholders, recommends their implementation based on their beneficial effects on almost all facets of health

Effect of Solution Composition on the Energy Production by Capacitive Mixing in Membrane-Electrode Assembly

The final edited version of the paper can be found at: http://pubs.acs.org/articlesonrequest/AOR-c9UMxSzGY3eiU5SENNgT The complete citation is: Ahualli, S.; et al. Effect of Solution Composition on the Energy Production by Capacitive Mixing in Membrane-Electrode Assembly. Journal of Physical Chemistry, 118(29): 15590-15599 (2014). DOI:10.1021/jp504461mOpen access in the Journal on May 26, 2015In this work we consider the extent to which the presence of multi-valent ions in solution modifies the equilibrium and dynamics of the energy production in a capacitive cell built with ion-exchange membranes in contact with high surface area electrodes. The cell potential in open circuit (OCV) is controlled by the difference between both membrane potentials, simulated as constant volume charge regions. A theoretical model is elaborated for steady state OCV, first in the case of monovalent solutions, as a reference. This is compared to the results in multi-ionic systems, containing divalent cations in concentrations similar to those in real sea water. It is found that the OCV is reduced by about 25 % (as compared to the results in pure NaCl solutions) due to the presence of the divalent ions, even in low concentrations. Interestingly, this can be related to the “uphill” transport of such ions against their concentration gradients. On the contrary, their effect on the dynamics of the cell potential is negligible in the case of highly charged membranes. The comparison between model predictions and experimental results shows a very satisfactory agreement, and gives clues for the practical application of these recently introduced energy production methods.The research leading to these results received funding from the European Union 7th Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under agreement No. 256868. Further financial support from Junta de Andalucia, Spain (PE2012-FQM 694) is also acknowledged. One of us, M.M.F., received financial support throughan FPU grant from the Universityof Granada

Dynamic recruitment of resting state sub-networks

Resting state networks (RSNs) are of fundamental importance in human systems neuroscience with evidence suggesting that they are integral to healthy brain function and perturbed in pathology. Despite rapid progress in this area, the temporal dynamics governing the functional connectivities that underlie RSN structure remain poorly understood. Here, we present a framework to help further our understanding of RSN dynamics. We describe a methodology which exploits the direct nature and high temporal resolution of magnetoencephalography (MEG). This technique, which builds on previous work, extends from solving fundamental confounds in MEG (source leakage) to multivariate modelling of transient connectivity. The resulting processing pipeline facilitates direct (electrophysiological) measurement of dynamic functional networks. Our results show that, when functional connectivity is assessed in small time windows, the canonical sensorimotor network can be decomposed into a number of transiently synchronising sub-networks, recruitment of which depends on current mental state. These rapidly changing sub-networks are spatially focal with, for example, bilateral primary sensory and motor areas resolved into two separate sub-networks. The likely interpretation is that the larger canonical sensorimotor network most often seen in neuroimaging studies reflects only a temporal aggregate of these transient sub-networks. Our approach opens new frontiers to study RSN dynamics, showing that MEG is capable of revealing the spatial, temporal and spectral signature of the human connectome in health and disease