Contingent claim pricing using probability distortion operators: methods from insurance risk pricing and their relationship to financial theory

This paper considers the pricing of contingent claims using an approach developed and used in insurance pricing. The approach is of interest and significance because of the increased integration of insurance and financial markets and also because insurance-related risks are trading in financial markets as a result of securitization and new contracts on futures exchanges. This approach uses probability distortion functions as the dual of the utility functions used in financial theory. The pricing formula is the same as the Black-Scholes formula for contingent claims when the underlying asset price is log-normal. The paper compares the probability distortion function approach with that based on financial theory. The theory underlying the approaches is set out and limitations on the use of the insurance-based approach are illustrated. The probability distortion approach is extended to the pricing of contingent claims for more general assumptions than those used for Black-Scholes option pricing.     

Study of Strangeness Photoproduction on the Neutron in the Threshold Region

Photoproduction of the neutral kaon on the deuteron has been investigated at the Research Center for Electron Photon Science, Tohoku University. We constructed the Neutral Kaon Spectrometer-2 for the detection of charged particles from the decay of the neutral kaon and the hyperon. We obtained a momentum distribution of K ⁰ with the inclusive measurement. It was consistent with the previous measurement. The total cross section of γ + d → K ⁰ + Λ + p was estimated from the measured integral cross section of γ + d → Λ + X. The total cross section with respect to the photon energy was compared with the theoretical calculations. It favored the Saclay-Lyon A model calculation with the ratio of the neutral to charged coupling constants of the axial-vector meson, K ₁, as ~ ?1.5. The energy dependence and the magnitude of the total cross section were similar to the total cross section of γ + p → K ⁺ Λ.     

Enabling novel premium service classes in DiffServ over MPLS‐enabled network

Network resources dimensioning and traffic engineering influence the quality in provisioned services required by the Expedited Forwarding (EF) traffic in production networks established through DiffServ over MPLS‐enabled network. By modeling EF traffic flows and the excess of network resources reserved for it, we derive the range of delay values which are required to support these flows at DiffServ nodes. This enables us to develop an end‐to‐end (e2e) delay budget‐partitioning mechanism and traffic‐engineering techniques within a framework for supporting new premium QoS levels, which are differentiated based on e2e delay, jitter and loss. This framework enables ingress routers to control EF traffic flow admission and select appropriate routing paths, with the goal of EF traffic balancing, avoiding traffic congestion and getting the most use out of the available network resources through traffic engineering. As a result, this framework should enable Internet service providers to provide three performance levels of EF service class to their customers provided that their network is DiffServ MPLS TE aware. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Determination of Phenolic Compounds in Various Propolis Samples Collected from an African and an Asian Region and Their Impact on Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activities

The biological activities of propolis samples are the result of many bioactive compounds present in the propolis. The aim of the present study was to determine the various chemical compounds of some selected propolis samples collected from Palestine and Morocco by the High-Performance Liquid Chromatography–Photodiode Array Detection (HPLC-PDA) method, as well as the antioxidant and antibacterial activities of this bee product. The chemical analysis of propolis samples by HPLC-PDA shows the cinnamic acid content in the Palestinian sample is higher compared to that in Moroccan propolis. The results of antioxidant activity demonstrated an important free radical scavenging activity (2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH); 2,2′-azino-bis 3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) and reducing power assays) with EC₅₀ values ranging between 0.02 ± 0.001 and 0.14 ± 0.01 mg/mL. Additionally, all tested propolis samples possessed a moderate antibacterial activity against bacterial strains. Notably, Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MICs) values ranged from 0.31 to 2.50 mg/mL for Gram-negative bacterial strains and from 0.09 to 0.125 mg/mL for Gram-positive bacterial strains. The S2 sample from Morocco and the S4 sample from Palestine had the highest content of polyphenol level. Thus, the strong antioxidant and antibacterial properties were apparently due to the high total phenolic and flavone/flavonol contents in the samples. As a conclusion, the activities of propolis samples collected from both countries are similar, while the cinnamic acid in the Palestinian samples was more than that of the Moroccan samples.     

Chromatographic determination of sulfasalazine and its active metabolites: greenness assessment and application to spiked human plasma

Green TLC-densitometric and RP-HPLC methods were developed and validated for the determination of the active prodrug sulfasalazine (SZ), its active metabolite mesalazine (MZ) and the major active metabolite of mesalazine, N-acetyl-5-aminosalicylic acid (AS). In the developed TLC-densitometric method, chromatographic separation was carried out on TLC silica gel plates 60 F₂₅₄ using a developing system consisting of ethyl acetate–methanol–ammonia solution 33% (8:2.5:0.3, by volume) and then scanning the separated bands at 215 nm using hydrochlorothiazide as an internal standard with linearity ranges of 0.4–3, 0.4–2.4 and 0.3–2 for SZ, MZ and AS, respectively. The developed RP-HPLC method depended on chromatographic separation using a C₁₈ column with a solvent mixture of methanol–aqueous acetic acid solution (pH 5) as a mobile phase with gradient elution mode and UV scanning at 243 nm using pyrazinamide as internal standard with linearity ranges of 5–50, 5–40, and 3–20 for SZ, MZ and AS, respectively. US Food and Drug Administration guidelines were followed during validation of the methods. The greenness of the developed methods was estimated using the greenness profile and the Eco-Scale approach. Both methods passed the four quadrants of the greenness profile and had Eco-Scale score ˃75, thus they were considered to be green according to these approaches.     

Design,synthesis, and molecular docking studies of new [1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a]quinoxaline derivatives as potential A2B receptor antagonists

Molecular Diversity - Many shreds of evidence have recently correlated A2B receptor antagonism with anticancer activity. Hence, the search for an efficient A2B antagonist may help in the...     

Support points for families of univalent mappings on bounded symmetric domains

Science China Mathematics - In this paper, we study some extremal problems for the family $$S_g^0(\mathbb{B}_X)$$ of normalized univalent mappings with g-parametric representation on the unit ball...     

12-Epi-9-deacetoxyxenicin,new cytotoxic diterpenoid from a Bornean soft coral,Xenia sp.

One new compound, 12-epi-9-deacetoxyxenicin (1) along with a hydroperoxide product, 12-epi-9-deacetoxy-8-hydroperoxyxenicin (2) and two known sesquiterpenoids (3–4) were isolated from a population of Bornean soft coral Xenia sp. The structures of these secondary metabolites were elucidated based on their spectroscopic data. Compounds 1 and 2 showed cytotoxic activity against ATL cell line, S1T. In addition, compound 3 exhibited hyphal inhibition of Lagenidium thermophilum.     

Secure and efficient anonymous authentication scheme for three-tier mobile healthcare systems with wearable sensors

The mobility and openness of wireless communication technologies make Mobile Healthcare Systems (mHealth) potentially exposed to a number of potential attacks, which significantly undermines their utility and impedes their widespread deployment. Attackers and criminals, even without knowing the context of the transmitted data, with simple eavesdropping on the wireless links, may benefit a lot from linking activities to the identities of patient’s sensors and medical staff members. These vulnerabilities apply to all tiers of the mHealth system. A new anonymous mutual authentication scheme for three-tier mobile healthcare systems with wearable sensors is proposed in this paper. Our scheme consists of three protocols: Protocol-1 allows the anonymous authentication nodes (mobile users and controller nodes) and the HSP medical server in the third tier, while Protocol-2 realizes the anonymous authentication between mobile users and controller nodes in the second tier, and Protocol-3 achieves the anonymous authentication between controller nodes and the wearable body sensors in the first tier. In the design of our protocols, the variation in the resource constraints of the different nodes in the mHealth system are taken into consideration so that our protocols make a better trade-off among security, efficiency and practicality. The security of our protocols are analyzed through rigorous formal proofs using BAN logic tool and informal discussions of security features, possible attacks and countermeasures. Besides, the efficiency of our protocols are concretely evaluated and compared with related schemes. The comparisons show that our scheme outperforms the previous schemes and provides more complete and integrated anonymous authentication services. Finally, the security of our protocols are evaluated by using the Automated Validation of Internet Security Protocols and Applications and the SPAN animator software. The simulation results show that our scheme is secure and satisfy all the specified privacy and authentication goals.     

Thermo‐triggered Release of CRISPR‐Cas9 System by Lipid‐Encapsulated Gold Nanoparticles for Tumor Therapy

CRISPR/Cas9 system is a powerful toolbox for gene editing. However, the low delivery efficiency is still a big hurdle impeding its applications. Herein, we report a strategy to deliver Cas9‐sgPlk‐1 plasmids (CP) by a multifunctional vehicle for tumor therapy. We condensed CPs on TAT peptide‐modified Au nanoparticles (AuNPs/CP, ACP) via electrostatic interactions, and coated lipids (DOTAP, DOPE, cholesterol, PEG2000‐DSPE) on the ACP to form lipid‐encapsulated, AuNPs‐condensed CP (LACP). LACP can enter tumor cells and release CP into the cytosol by laser‐triggered thermo‐effects of the AuNPs; the CP can enter nuclei by TAT guidance, enabling effective knock‐outs of target gene (Plk‐1) of tumor (melanoma) and inhibition of the tumor both in vitro and in vivo. This AuNPs‐condensed, lipid‐encapsulated, and laser‐controlled delivery system provides a versatile method for high efficiency CRISPR/Cas9 delivery and targeted gene editing for treatment of a wide spectrum of diseases.