Integrating long-term care insurance purchase decisions with saving and investment for retirement

Risk related to long-term care (LTC) is high for the elderly. Planning for LTC is now regarded as the ‘third leg’ of retirement planning. In this paper, planning for LTC is integrated with saving and investment decisions for an integrated approach to retirement planning. Optimal LTC insurance purchase decisions are obtained by developing a trade-off between post-retirement LTC costs and LTC insurance premiums paid and coverage received. Integrating insurance purchase with wealth evolution, consisting of saving and investment decisions, allows addressing affordability issues.Two-way branching models are used for the stochastic health events and asset returns. The problem, formulated as a nonlinearly constrained mixed-integer optimization problem, is solved using a heuristic. Sensitivity analyses are performed for initial health and wealth status. Some important aspects of an individual’s behavioral preferences are also addressed in this framework to provide more robust decision support.     

On the pivot structure for the weighing matrix W(12,11)

In the present article we concentrate our study on the growth problem for the weighing matrix W(12,11) and show that the unique W(12,11) has three pivot structures. An improved algorithm for extending a k × k (0,+,-) matrix to a W(n,n-1), if possible, has been developed to simplify the proof. For the implementation of the algorithm special emphasis is given to the notions of data structures and parallel processing.     

The problem of Dirichlet for anisotropic quasilinear degenerate elliptic equations

We consider the Dirichlet problem for a class of anisotropic degenerate elliptic equations. New a priori estimates for solutions and for the gradient of solutions are established. Based on these estimates sufficient conditions guaranteeing the solvability of the problem are formulated. The results are new even in the semilinear case when the principal part is the Laplace operator.     

A complete global solution to the pressure gradient equation

We study the domain of existence of a solution to a Riemann problem for the pressure gradient equation in two space dimensions. The Riemann problem is the expansion of a quadrant of gas of constant state into the other three vacuum quadrants. The global existence of a smooth solution was established in Dai and Zhang [Z. Dai, T. Zhang, Existence of a global smooth solution for a degenerate Goursat problem of gas dynamics, Arch. Ration. Mech. Anal. 155 (2000) 277-298] up to the free boundary of vacuum. We prove that the vacuum boundary is the coordinate axes.     

Measures on minimally generated Boolean algebras

We investigate properties of minimally generated Boolean algebras. It is shown that all measures defined on such algebras are separable but not necessarily weakly uniformly regular. On the other hand, there exist Boolean algebras small in terms of measures which are not minimally generated. We prove that under CH a measure on a retractive Boolean algebra can be nonseparable. Some relevant examples are indicated. Also, we give two examples of spaces satisfying some kind of Efimov property.     

The time recovery of the spectroscopic properties of heavily irradiated CdZnTe and CdTe detectors

The time recovery of the spectroscopic capabilities of CdZnTe and CdTe detectors, irradiated with increasing doses of high- and low-energy neutrons, as well as electrons, has been investigated by studying their spectroscopic behavior at different photon energies using leakage current measurements and PICTS (photo-induced current transient spectroscopy) analysis. The detectors were stored at room temperature for up to one year to study the time evolution of their spectroscopic performance and to correlate it with the presence of defective states in the material. We have observed a clear improvement in the material’s detection properties with time, though only in those detectors which have not been severely degraded by the irradiation. The recovery can be associated with a decrease in the concentration of some defective states, thus allowing the assessment of the crucial role these play in determining the charge collection processes in the material and its spectroscopic capabilities. Received: 1 August 2001 / Accepted: 3 August 2001 / Published online: 20 December 2001     

A nondifferentiable extension of a theorem of Pucci and Serrin and applications

We study the multiplicity of critical points for functionals which are only differentiable along some directions. We extend to this class of functionals the three critical point theorem of Pucci and Serrin and we apply it to a one-parameter family of functionals Jλ, λ∈I⊂R. Under suitable assumptions, we locate an open subinterval of values λ in I for which Jλ possesses at least three critical points. Applications to quasilinear boundary value problems are also given.     

An Enumerative Geometry for Magic and Magilatin Labellings

A magic labelling of a set system is a labelling of its points by distinct positive integers so that every set of the system has the same sum, the magic sum. Examples are magic squares (the sets are the rows, columns, and diagonals) and semimagic squares (the same, but without the diagonals). A magilatin labelling is like a magic labelling but the values need be distinct only within each set. We show that the number of n × n magic or magilatin labellings is a quasipolynomial function of the magic sum, and also of an upper bound on the entries in the square. Our results differ from previous ones because we require that the entries in the square all be different from each other, and because we derive our results not by ad hoc reasoning but from a general theory of counting lattice points in rational inside-out polytopes. We also generalize from set systems to rational linear forms. Dedicated to the memory of Claudia Zaslavsky, 1917–2006 Received August 10, 2005     

Application of Electron-Shelving Detection via 423 nm Transition in Calcium-Beam Optical Frequency Standard

A new scheme of small compact optical frequency standard based on thermal calcium beam with application of 423 nm shelving detection and sharp-angle velocity selection detection is proposed. Combining these presented techniques, we conclude that a small compact optical frequency standard based on thermal calcium beam will outperform the commercial caesium-beam microwave dock, like the 5071 Cs clock （from Hp to Agilent, now Symmetricom company）, both in accuracy and stability.     

Molecular dynamics simulations on the structures and properties of ε-CL-20-based PBXs ——Primary theoretical studies on HEDM formulation design

Five polymer bonded explosives (PBXs) with the base explosive ε-CL-20 (hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzi- tane), the most important high energy density compound (HEDC), and five polymer binders (Estane 5703, GAP, HTPB, PEG, and F2314) were constructed. Molecular dynamics (MD) method was employed to investigate their binding energies (Ebind), compatibility, safety, mechanical properties, and energetic properties. The information and rules were reported for choosing better binders and guiding formula- tion design of high energy density material (HEDM). According to the calculated binding energies, the ordering of compatibility and stability of the five PBXs was predicted as ε-CL-20/PEG > ε-CL-20/ Estane5703 ≈ε-CL-20/GAP > ε-CL-20/HTPB > ε-CL-20/F2314. By pair correlation function g(r) analyses, hydrogen bonds and vdw are found to be the main interactions between the two components. The elasticity and isotropy of PBXs based ε-CL-20 can be obviously improved more than pure ε-CL-20 crystal. It is not by changing the molecular structures of ε-CL-20 for each binder to affect the sensitivity. The safety and energetic properties of these PBXs are mainly influenced by the thermal capability (C°p) and density (ρ) of binders, respectively.