基于巨灾模型的巨灾保险组合研究

巨灾风险所造成的巨大损失已经威胁到人类社会的可持续发展.巨灾保险是分散巨灾损失的一种途径,利用巨灾模型研究被保风险的累积损失和个人损失分布的数学性质,且考虑损失率是巨灾强度的函数.通过巨灾模型和保险公司破产概率的计算和数值仿真,得到不能仅仅依靠保费的选择而分散巨灾风险.     

构成型顾客满意模型的偏最小二乘路径建模及其应用

本文研究了偏最小二乘路径建模在顾客满意模型中的应用,特别是引入了构成型关系的模型。本文首先比较了构成型模型和反映型模型的区别,并详尽阐述了构成型模型的偏最小二乘建模原理,接着构建了电信企业顾客满意度指数模型,并考虑了如何在指数模型中引入构成型外部关系.利用该电信企业的数据,比较分析了构成型模型(顾客期望和质量感知潜变量调整为构成型关系)和反映型模型(所有潜变量均为反映型关系)的实证结果,研究表明在为企业提供改善顾客满意水平的信息上两种模型具有较好的相似性,但是构成型模型能够提供更加稳定的结果,从而验证了顾客满意模型中引入构成型模型的可行性.     

Comparison of a homology model and the crystallographic structure of human 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11βHSD1) in a structure-based identification of inhibitors

Summary Human 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11βHSD1) catalyzes the interconversion of cortisone into active cortisol. 11βHSD1 inhibition is a tempting target for the treatment of a host of human disorders that might benefit from blockade of glucocorticoid action, such as obesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes type 2. Here, we report an in silico screening study aimed at identifying new selective inhibitors of human 11βHSD1 enzyme. In the first step, homology modeling was employed to build the 3D structure of 11βHSD1. Further, molecular docking was used to validate the predicted model by showing that it was able to discriminate between known 11βHSD1 inhibitors or substrates and non-inhibitors. The homology model was found to reproduce closely the crystal structure that became publicly available in the final stages of this work. Finally, we carried out structure-based virtual screening experiments on both the homology model and the crystallographic structure with a database of 114’000 natural molecules. Among these, 15 molecules were consistently selected as inhibitors based on both the model and crystal structures of the enzyme, implying a good quality for the homology model. Among these putative 11βHSD1 inhibitors, two were flavonone derivatives that have already been shown to be potent inhibitors of the enzyme.     

Defining the nucleotide binding sites of P2Y receptors using rhodopsin-based homology modeling

Ongoing efforts to model P2Y receptors for extracellular nucleotides, i.e., endogenous ADP, ATP, UDP, UTP, and UDP-glucose, were summarized and correlated for the eight known subtypes. The rhodopsin-based homology modeling of the P2Y receptors is supported by a growing body of site-directed mutagenesis data, mainly for P2Y₁ receptors. By comparing molecular models of the P2Y receptors, it was concluded that nucleotide binding could occur in the upper part of the helical bundle, with the ribose moiety accommodated between transmembrane domain (TM) 3 and TM7. The nucleobase was oriented towards TM1, TM2, and TM7, in the direction of the extracellular side of the receptor. The phosphate chain was oriented towards TM6, in the direction of the extracellular loops (ELs), and was coordinated by three critical cationic residues. In particular, in the P2Y₁, P2Y₂, P2Y₄, and P2Y₆ receptors the nucleotide ligands had very similar positions. ADP in the P2Y₁₂ receptor was located deeper inside the receptor in comparison to other subtypes, and the uridine moiety of UDP-glucose in the P2Y₁₄ receptor was located even deeper and shifted toward TM7. In general, these findings are in agreement with the proposed binding site of small molecules to other class A GPCRs.     

Heteroscedasticity of retention factor and adequate modeling in micellar liquid chromatography

The two concepts of micelle formation (pseudo-phase and mass-action) could be the basis of retention models in micellar liquid chromatography (MLC). The separation of 4-hydroxybenzoic acid esters and seven polyaromatic hydrocarbons were performed to study the repeatability of retention factor in MLC. The full two factor experimental design was used for studying the dependence of retention factor variance on mobile phase composition (sodium dodecylsulfate, 1-butanol). The experimentally observed heteroscedasticity and perturbations after linearization were taken into account by using statistical weights obtained on the basis of errors propagation law and the modeling of retention by non-weighted and weighted least squares method was performed. The mechanistical retention models based on pseudo-phase and mass-action concepts of micelle formation were compared by fitting quality and prediction capability and high robustness of bilogarithmic dependence was observed. The significance of retention factor heteroscedasticity for retention hydrophobicity relationships was shown.     

Laser soldering of flip-chips

A novel process for laser soldering of flip-chips on transparent printed circuit board assemblies is presented. The experiments were carried out on silver test patterns printed on glass wafers using a roller-type gravure offset printing method. The contact pads, where the bumps of the flip-chips are positioned, were covered with a thin layer of additional solder paste. The aligned samples (solder pad—solder paste—chip bump) were illuminated through the glass substrate using an Ar⁺ laser beam (, , at 1/e) to heat the printed pad and melt the solder paste, thus forming a joint between the printed pad and the chip bump. The heat-affected zone was modeled using computer-assisted finite element method. The solder joint cross-sections were analyzed using optical and electron microscopy as well as energy dispersive X-ray element analyses. The laser-soldered joints were of good mechanical and electrical quality and the process proved to be suitable for manufacturing customized circuit prototypes.     

Intensification of the Emission Signals Using the Reflection Mirrors Mounted to the Sample Holder of a Fluorimeter

Effects of the reflection mirrors mounted to the sample holder of a fluorimeter have been investigated. Analytical expressions are given for the emission intensity measured as a function of the concentration or optical density of the sample, in case one or two reflection mirrors are attached beside the sample holder to intensify the emission signals. The emission intensity calculated as a function of the sample concentration agreed well with the experimental data. By mounting two reflection mirrors, the emission signal was intensified by a factor of near 3.5. However, the degree of intensification depended strongly on the sample concentration and the linearity between the sample concentration and the emission intensity deviated significantly with increasing the sample concentration.     

Physics of RNA and viral assembly

The overview discusses the application of physical arguments to structure and function of single-stranded viral RNA genomes.