Dynamic Bivariate Mortality Modelling

The dependence structure of the life statuses plays an important role in the valuation of life insurance products involving multiple lives. Although the mortality of individuals is well studied in the literature, their dependence remains a challenging field. In this paper, the main objective is to introduce a new approach for analyzing the mortality dependence between two individuals in a couple. It is intended to describe in a dynamic framework the joint mortality of married couples in terms of marginal mortality rates. The proposed framework is general and aims to capture, by adjusting some parametric form, the desired effect such as the “broken-heart syndrome”. To this end, we use a well-suited multiplicative decomposition, which will serve as a building block for the framework to relate the dependence structure and the marginals, and we make the link with existing practice of affine mortality models. Finally, given that the framework is general, we propose some illustrative examples and show how the underlying model captures the main stylized facts of bivariate mortality dynamics.

     

A novel PCR-based technology for rapid and non-sequencing authentication of Bombyx batryticatus using species-specific primers

A novel PCR technology was developed to detect short DNA fragments using species-specific primers for rapid and non-sequencing authentication of Bombyx batryticatus based on differences in the mitochondrial genome. Three specifically designed primer reactions were established to target species for the reliable identification of their commercial products. They were confirmed to have a high inter-species specificity and intra-species stability. The limit of detection was estimated as 1 ng of genomes for Beauveria bassiana and 100 pg for Bombyx mori and Metarhizium anisopliae. Furthermore, validation results demonstrated that raw materials and their processed products can be conveniently authenticated with good sensitivity and precision using this newly proposed approach. In particular, when counterfeits were assayed, these primer sets performed well, whereas COI barcoding technology did not. These could also assist in the discrimination and identification of adulterates of other animal-derived medicines in their pulverized and processed forms and even in complexes.     

Aggregation‐Induced Electrochemiluminescence of Carboranyl Carbazoles in Aqueous Media

The aggregation‐induced electrochemiluminescence (AIECL) of carboranyl carbazoles in aqueous media was investigated for the first time. Quantum yields, morphologies, and particle sizes were observed to determine the electrochemiluminescence (ECL) performance of these aggregated organic dots (ODs). All compounds exhibit much higher ECL stability and intensity than the carborane‐free compound, demonstrating the essential role of the carboranyl motif. Moreover, the results of cyclic voltammetry (CV) suggest that oxidation/reduction reactions take place at the carboranyl motif. The excited states of ODs were proposed to be generated by the mechanism of surface state transitions. More importantly, these compounds show a reductive–oxidative mechanism in contrast to other organic materials that show oxidative–reductive mechanisms. Our experiments and data have established the relation between AIE organic structures and ECL properties that has a strong potential for biological and diagnostic applications.     

Copper-catalyzed iminohalogenation of γ, δ-unsaturated oxime esters with halide salts: Synthesis of 2-halomethyl pyrrolines

A copper-catalyzed iminohalogenation of unactivated alkenes of γ, δ-unsaturated oxime esters is achieved by using readily available halide salts. Utilizing this protocol, a sequence of structurally diversiform 2-halomethyl pyrrolines are efficiently synthesized and a mechanism involving iminyl radical intermediates, which were initiated by Cu(I) species, was proposed.     

Unveiling the Layer‐Dependent Catalytic Activity of PtSe2 Atomic Crystals for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Two‐dimensional (2D) PtSe₂ shows the most prominent layer‐dependent electrical properties among various 2D materials and high catalytic activity for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), and therefore, it is an ideal material for exploring the structure–activity correlations in 2D systems. Here, starting with the synthesis of single‐crystalline 2D PtSe₂ with a controlled number of layers and probing the HER catalytic activity of individual flakes in micro electrochemical cells, we investigated the layer‐dependent HER catalytic activity of 2D PtSe₂ from both theoretical and experimental perspectives. We clearly demonstrated how the number of layers affects the number of active sites, the electronic structures, and electrical properties of 2D PtSe₂ flakes and thus alters their catalytic performance for HER. Our results also highlight the importance of efficient electron transfer in achieving optimum activity for ultrathin electrocatalysts. Our studies greatly enrich our understanding of the structure–activity correlations for 2D catalysts and provide new insight for the design and synthesis of ultrathin catalysts with high activity.     

Miktoarm star‐shaped poly(lactic acid) copolymer: Synthesis and stereocomplex crystallization behavior

The miktoarm star‐shaped poly(lactic acid) (PLA) copolymer, (PLLA)₂‐core‐(PDLA)₂, was synthesized via stepwise ring‐opening polymerization of lactide with dibromoneopentyl glycol as the starting material. ¹H NMR and FTIR spectroscopy proved the feasibility of synthetic route and the successful preparation of star‐shaped PLA copolymers. The results of FTIR spectroscopy and XRD showed that the stereocomplex structure of the copolymer could be more perfect after solvent dissolution treatment. Effect of chain architectures on crystallization was investigated by studying the nonisothermal and isothermal crystallization of the miktoarm star‐shaped PLA copolymer and other stereocomplexes. Nonisothermal differential scanning calorimetry and polarizing optical microscopy tests indicated that (PLLA)₂‐core‐(PDLA)₂ exhibited the fastest formation of a stereocomplex in a dynamic test due to its special structure. In isothermal crystallization tests, the copolymer exhibited the fast crystal growth rate and the most perfect crystal morphology. The results reveal that the unique molecular structure has an important influence on the crystallization of the miktoarm star‐shaped PLA copolymer. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019 , 57, 814–826     

Polyepoxysuccinic acid with hyper-branched structure as an environmentally friendly scale inhibitor and its scale inhibition mechanism

In order to improve the scale inhibition efficiency of existing polyepoxysuccinic acid (PESA) and to study the impact of their molecular structure on scale inhibition efficiency, a series of PESA with linear and hyper-branched structure have been designed and synthesized through co-polymerization reaction with glycidyl and epoxy succinate. The scale inhibition behavior of PESA with linear and hyper-branched structure against CaCO₃ and CaSO₄ scales was evaluated using static scale inhibition method, and their ability to retard deposition of CaCO₃ was also examined. The experimental results showed that, for CaCO₃ and CaSO₄, the PESA with hyper-branched structure provides a scale inhibiting efficiency as high as 95.9% and 94.3%, respectively, at an inhibitor concentration of 15?mg/L. In addition, the processes of crystal nucleation, growth and crystal morphology have been analyzed. The experimental results show that the PESA with hyper-branched structure not only prolongs the induction period of CaCO₃ crystal nucleation, but also reduces the number of crystal nuclei and changes the size and morphology of the CaCO₃ crystal. Moreover, the FTIR, SEM and XRD analyses showed that the PESA with hyper-branched structure can induce the irregularity of growing CaCO₃ crystal, destroy the formation of crystals and change the polymorphs of calcium scale crystal. This conclusion indicates that the prepared PESA with hyper-branched structure has great potential for applying in the treatment of industrial water.     

恒定非均匀磁场调控下的强制对流传热数值研究

分别对雷诺数、磁场强度和磁纳米流体浓度进行了讨论，并将数字高程模型(DEM)应用到梯度磁场模型的建立，分析了磁场梯度大小和方向对传热效果的影响。结果表明：雷诺数、磁场强度和梯度与传热效果呈正相关，在磁场介入的情况下，磁纳米流体浓度对传热效果的影响存在一个最佳值；磁场梯度方向垂直于流动方向时对传热的强化效果最显著。以平均努塞尔数和压降为目标参数，利用正交试验设计的方法研究了各变量对传热效果影响的权重大小，得到各变量取值范围内的最佳组合。     

Dual Stimuli-Responsive Controlled Release Nanocarrier for Multidrug Resistance Cancer Therapy

Multidrug resistance of cancer cells is a major obstacle for cancer chemotherapy. Herein, we present a nanocarrier that can release chemotherapeutic agents to induce tumor cell death and generate NO under NIR to overcome multidrug resistance in cancer chemotherapy. Owing to the unique structure of the water channel in this controlled release system for chemotherapeutic agents, the nanocarrier surface is equipped with more active sites to graft NO donor molecules. The released NO performs very well in reversing multidrug resistance by inhibiting P-gp expression. Our findings provide new insight into multidrug resistance cancer therapy and controlled release nanocarriers for multiple drugs.     

平面波照射下无限大导体板上周期孔阵屏蔽效能的解析研究

本文针对平面电磁波对无限大导体平板上周期孔阵的透射问题,首先用Bethe小孔理论将孔阵表示成偶极子阵列,然后用平均化处理得到均匀的等效磁化/极化强度,进而引入等效面源导出透射电磁波表达式,最终给出了孔阵对平面电磁波屏蔽效能的解析公式.该公式分别针对横电和横磁两种极化方式,将屏蔽效能表示成孔阵周期面积、孔的极化系数、波长和入射角的简单函数,其计算结果与全波仿真结果一致性好.结果表明,透射场强的幅值与孔极化系数和波频率成正比,与周期面积成反比;在横电极化方式,波频率和周期面积不变的情况下,透射场强的幅值与入射角的余弦值成正比,入射角越大屏蔽效能越高;在横磁极化方式下,透射场强幅值与入射角的关系相对复杂,但在入射角较小时与入射角的余弦值近似成反比,总体上入射角越大屏蔽效果越低.