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Natural hedging allows life insurers to manage long-term longevity and investment risks of life annuity products through offsetting risks in life insurance products. Benefits include a reduction in risk-based capital. We use stochastic mortality and interest rate models to assess life insurance and annuity capital requirements and to quantify the benefits of natural hedging for a range of different types of life insurance product designs and risk measures based on probability of insurer solvency. We show that level-premium life insurance products with a medium duration (around 20-30 years) can better hedge annuity products than whole life products. Renewable term life insurance products have less hedge effectiveness than level-premium term insurance. Results vary with the risk measure used, with the 1-year horizon Solvency II risk measure showing lower natural hedging benefits of life insurance compared to multiple-period risk measures., INTRODUCTION Life annuities are recognized as an important product that protects individuals against longevity risk and investment risk in retirement. The recent global financial crisis, which resulted in significant falls [...]

Recently, sustainability and circular economy are becoming leading concepts in the context of contemporary industrialisation due to the global warming, economic implication, and social consciousness. Sustainable circular supplier selection addresses the sustainability practices in the context of circular economy. This study proposed a sustainable circular supplier selection model using fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory technique to determine the interrelationships between the criteria. The evaluation criteria are classified into four categories of economic, environment, social, and circular and evaluated by experts from industry using pairwise comparison. the results indicate that the criteria 'environmental management system' is the most important. Moreover, 'financial stability' and 'green technology' are the most influential criteria over the other criteria, on the other hand, 'cost' is mostly influenced by other factors. This study recommends further integration with other MCDM techniques to select and rank the best alternatives (suppliers) based on our proposed criteria.

Winter driving conditions pose a real hazard to road users with increased chance of collisions during inclement weather events. As such, road authorities strive to service the hazardous roads or collision hot spots by increasing road safety, mobility, and accessibility. One measure of a hot spot would be winter collision statistics. Using the ratio of winter collisions (WC) to all collisions, roads that show a high ratio of WC should be given a high priority for further diagnosis and countermeasure selection. This study presents a unique methodological framework that is built on one of the least explored yet most powerful geostatistical techniques, namely, regression kriging (RK). Unlike other variants of kriging, RK uses auxiliary variables to gain a deeper understanding of contributing factors while also utilizing the spatial autocorrelation structure for predicting WC ratios. The applicability and validity of RK for a large-scale hot spot analysis is evaluated using the northeast quarter of the State of Iowa, spanning five winter seasons from 2013/14 to 2017/18. The findings of the case study assessed via three different statistical measures (mean squared error, root mean square error, and root mean squared standardized error) suggest that RK is very effective for modeling WC ratios, thereby further supporting its robustness and feasibility for a statewide implementation.

While a number of approaches toward multicomponent metal–organic frameworks have been reported, new strategies affording greater structural versatility and molecular precision are needed to replicate the sophisticated active sites found in enzymes. Here, we outline a general method for templating functional groups within framework pores using thermolabile ligand cross-linkers. We show that tertiary ester-based cross-linkers can be used to install well-defined carboxylic acid pairs at precise relative distances and orientations. The tertiary ester linkages remain intact during framework formation but are readily cleaved to reveal free carboxylic acids upon microwave heating. Successful cross-linker synthesis, framework incorporation, and thermolysis is demonstrated using the mesoporous, terphenyl expanded analogues of MOF-74. When short cross-linkers are used, modeling studies show that the carboxylic acids are installed in a single configuration down the pore channels, spaced ∼7 Å apart. These precisely positioned acid pairs can be used as synthetic handles to build up more complex cooperative active sites.

To determine how properties of periarticular muscle relate to knee OA outcomes, specifically how inter- and intramuscular fat (IMF) content (percentage, volume) and muscle volume relate to knee pain and function among non-overweight postmenopausal females (non-OW PMF).

Although areal bone mineral density (aBMD) assessed by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is the clinical standard for determining fracture risk, most older adults who sustain a fracture have T scores greater than −2·5 and thus do not meet the clinical criteria for osteoporosis. Importantly, bone fragility is due to low BMD and deterioration in bone structure. We assessed whether indices of high-resolution peripheral quantitative CT (HR-pQCT) were associated with fracture risk independently of femoral neck aBMD and the Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX) score.

Beijing and the surrounding province of Hebei were hit by severe flooding because of the record rainfall, with waters rising to dangerous levels. The previous record for rainfall was in 1891, the Beijing Meteorological Bureau said Wednesday, when the city received 609 millimeters (24 inches) of rain. [Extracted from the article]

The generation of human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-derived ventricular progenitors and their assembly into a 3-dimensional in vivofunctional ventricular heart patch has remained an elusive goal. Herein, we report the generation of an enriched pool of hPSC-derived ventricular progenitors (HVPs), which can expand, differentiate, self-assemble, and mature into a functional ventricular patch in vivowithout the aid of any gel or matrix. We documented a specific temporal window, in which the HVPs will engraft in vivo. On day 6 of differentiation, HVPs were enriched by depleting cells positive for pluripotency marker TRA-1-60 with magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS), and 3 million sorted cells were sub-capsularly transplanted onto kidneys of NSG mice where, after 2 months, they formed a 7 mm × 3 mm × 4 mm myocardial patch resembling the ventricular wall. The graft acquired several features of maturation: expression of ventricular marker (MLC2v), desmosomes, appearance of T-tubule-like structures, and electrophysiological action potential signature consistent with maturation, all this in a non-cardiac environment. We further demonstrated that HVPs transplanted into un-injured hearts of NSG mice remain viable for up to 8 months. Moreover, transplantation of 2 million HVPs largely preserved myocardial contractile function following myocardial infarction. Taken together, our study reaffirms the promising idea of using progenitor cells for regenerative therapy.

"The present study aims to develop an empirical formula to predict the ultimate compressive strength of unstiffened cylindrically curved plates. Drawing from an extensive analysis of 400 unique curved plate scenarios under longitudinal compression, we investigated critical parameters: the flank angle (denoted as θ), plate aspect ratio (denoted as a/b), and plate slenderness ratio (denoted as β). The ANSYS Nonlinear Finite Element Method (NLFEM) was employed to assess each scenario, considering the average level of initial imperfections (denoted as 0.1β2t) and configurations of one-bay and one-span. It is important to note that the models were designed without accounting for the effects of residual stresses. The simulation data generated from this analysis served as the foundation for developing our empirical formula. The proposed formula strongly agreed with the numerical simulations and experimental test results. This research provides structural engineers with a reliable predictive tool, aiding in more accurate predictions of the ultimate limit state (ULS) of curved plates during early design phases.

Thank you for your article 'Invisible No More' [March 15]. For the record I would like to clarify that recent efforts attributed to me to promote marriage equality in the [...]

Introduction: The objective of this study is to identify circulating microRNAs that distinguish fast-progressing radiographic knee osteoarthritis (OA) in the Osteoarthritis Initiative cohort by applying microRNA-sequencing.Methods: Participants with Kellgren–Lawrence (KL) grade 0/1 at baseline were included (N= 106). Fast-progressors were defined by an increase to KL 3/4 by 4-year follow-up (N= 20), whereas slow-progressors showed an increase to KL 2/3/4 only at 8-year follow-up (N= 35). Non-progressors remained at KL 0/1 by 8-year follow-up (N= 51). MicroRNA-sequencing was performed on plasma collected at baseline and 4-year follow-up from the same participants. Negative binomial models were fitted to identify differentially expressed (DE) microRNAs. Penalized logistic regression (PLR) analyses were performed to select combinations of DE microRNAs that distinguished fast-progressors. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC) were constructed to evaluate predictive ability.Results: DE analyses revealed 48 microRNAs at baseline and 2 microRNAs at 4-year follow-up [false discovery rate (FDR) < 0.05] comparing fast-progressors with both slow-progressors and non-progressors. Among these were hsa-miR-320b, hsa-miR-320c, hsa-miR-320d, and hsa-miR-320e, which were predicted to target gene families, including members of the 14-3-3 gene family, involved in signal transduction. PLR models included miR-320 members as top predictors of fast-progressors and yielded AUC ranging from 82.6 to 91.9, representing good accuracy.Conclusion: The miR-320 family is associated with fast-progressing radiographic knee OA and merits further investigation as potential biomarkers and mechanistic drivers of knee OA.

With an increasing awareness of the relationship between greenhouse-gases and climate change, the concerns on environmental sustainability in different industries around the world are now focusing on the embodied energy (EE) and embodied carbon (EC) of human activities, including the construction industry. However, the implementation of sustainability construction has tended to focus on building, with less regard on infrastructure. In fact, sustainability issues of infrastructure are mainly related to the use/production/transportation of construction materials and the associated energy-consumption/carbon-emissions, none of which are negligible. The methodology for measuring the EE/EC for a bridge infrastructure is illustrated by a case study highway project - Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Corridor (HK-SWC), in which non-negligible differences in EE/EC (about 15 - 40%) have been identified by three cases comparing different bridge forms and materials. It is therefore recommended to take EE/EC as one of the design constraints in bridge scheme development and design. With specific regard to infrastructure development in Hong Kong, the lack of an energy/carbon database for local projects is identified. Hence, it is suggested that Hong Kong (or even Southern China) needs to formulate a local life-cycle inventory in order to enable more accurate EE/EC assessments for local projects.

Objectives: To determine (a) adherence rates at 6, 9 and 18 months amongst patients receiving teriparatide treatment for severe osteoporosis and (b) causes of therapy discontinuation and the effect of teriparatide on bone mineral density (BMD) in adherent and nonadherent patients at different time intervals.Methods: A retrospective chart review of 111 patients receiving teriparatide from September 2004 to June 2007 was performed. Patients’ self-reports were used to record adherence and causes of nonadherence at 6, 9 and 18 months. BMDs for all patients were measured using the same DXA scanner at baseline and follow up.Results: Of 111 participants, 17 were male (mean age 60 years) and 94 were female (mean age 69 years). Of these, 12 did not initiate therapy and 4 were lost to follow up. Reported adherence was 89.6% at 6 months, 87.6% at 9 months and 74.7% at 18 months. Causes of nonadherence included cost (n= 4), no benefit (n= 1) and adverse events (n= 8). Common adverse events were leg cramps (n= 9), headache (n= 5) and myalgia (n= 4). Mean spine and femur BMD changes were 3.30% and 0.67% at 4—9 months respectively, and 5.39% and 0.77% at 10—18 months respectively.Conclusion: Adherence to teriparatide was almost 90% at 9 months and decreased to 75% at 18 months. Adverse events led to nonadherence in 20% of patients. Those who were nonadherent had lower baseline BMD values than those who were adherent. Changes in BMD at the lumbar spine were greater than changes observed at the femoral neck.

Isolierte Hummel-Arbeiterinnen (Bombus impatiens Cresson 1863) entwickelten ihre Ovarien zur Produktion von legefertigen Eiern innerhalb von 11 Tagen. Wenn Arbeiterinnen eine königinnenlose Gruppe von 2–12 anderen Arbeiterinnen dominieren, dauerte diese Entwicklung jedoch nur 6 Tage. Bei Gruppengrößen >2 war die reproduktive Dominanz (quantifiziert als Länge der Oocyten) kontinuierlich in einer graduierten Hierarchie verteilt, und nicht in einer bimodalen Verteilung. Arbeiterinnen eines bestimmten Dominanzranges entwickelten größere Ovarien bei einer größeren Anzahl der Tiere innerhalb der Gruppe. Dies deutet darauf hin, daß der Stimulus für die reproduktive Entwicklung einer gegebenen Arbeiterin von der Zahl der Arbeiterinnen abhängt, die sich in der Hierarchie unter diesem Tier befinden. Der Versuch, die Ovarienentwicklung in Bezug zu sichtbaren dominanten Verhaltensmustern zu setzen, ergab keine eindeutigen Ergebnisse, da antagonistische Interaktionen selten waren.