Stochastic analysis in life office management: applications to large annuity portfolios

The paper deals with the riskiness analysis for a large portfolio of life annuities. By means of the limiting distribution of the present value of the portfolio, in the first part of the paper a model for evaluating the investment and the projection risks is presented. In the second part, with regard to the investment risk's effects, the insolvency risk is measured considering the cumulative probability distribution function of the discounted average cost per policy. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An investigation of some homo- and heterobinuclear complexes of copper(II) and nickel(II) with pyridine-2-aldoxime

The reactions between copper(II) or nickel(II) with thecis-pyridine-2-aldoxime complexes of the same metal ions have been investigated by spectrophotometric measurements. The homo and heterobinuclear chelates involved have been isolated as the chlorides and characterized by spectroscopic and thermoanalytical techniques. The first decomposition step is not dependent on the furnace atmosphere (N₂ or O₂) and is accompanied by a large exothermic effect (DSC curves in N₂). TG curves show that binuclear complexes are generally slightly less stable than the respective mononuclear complexes but, in the case of [Cu(NiL₂)Cl₂(H₂O)₂], the complexation of copper(II) gives rise a drastic decrease of its thermal stability.

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Zusammenfassung Die Reaktionen zwischen Kupfer(II) und Nickel(II) mit den cis-Pyridin-2-aldoxim-Komplexen der gleichen Metallionen wurden spektrophotometrisch untersucht. Die homo- und heterobinuklearen Chelate wurden als Chloride isoliert und durch spektroskopische und thermoanalytische Methoden charakterisiert. Der erste Zersetzungsschritt ist unabhängig von der Ofenatmosphäre (N₂ oder O₂) und ist stark exotherm (s. DSC-Kurven in Abb. 1). Die TG-Kurven lassen erkennen, dass zweikernige Komplexe im allgemeinen etwas weniger stabil als die entsprechenden einkernigen Komplexe sind, im Falle von [Cu(NiL₂)Cl₂(H₂O)₂], aber die Anlagerung von Liganden an das Kupfer zu einer drastischen Verminderung der Stabilität führt.

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- -2- . - , . ( ) , -, . , , , , [Cu(NiL₂)Cl₂(H₂O)₂], .

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This work was carried out with financial support by MPI National Project.     

Direct evidence for muonium radicals in water solutions

The precession frequencies of muonium in a molecular radical state have been observed by μSR technique in diluted solutions of 2,6-dihydroxy-5-methyl-pyrimidine (thymine) in water. The conditions for the observation of the radicals are discussed in terms of the interdependent roles played by the chemical reaction time for muonium and by the external magnetic field. A comparison with the known ESR data on solid thymine confirms that the observed product of the muonium's reaction is an adduct radical with an hyperfine interaction reduced to 7% ± 1% of the muonium value     

Binuclear chelates of diethylenetriamine-Pentaacetic acid with chromium(III) and oxovanadium(IV) ions

The reactions of diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA=H₅L) or chromium(III)-DTPA, a ‘chelating agent’, with oxovanadium(IV) were investigated in aqueous solution by potentiometric methods. Homo- and hetero-binuclear species were evidenced as well as mixed complexes with hydrogen or hydroxide ions. The stability constants for these equilibria were calculated in 1.0 mol 1^?1 NaClO₄ solution at 20?C. The mononuclear (VO)H₃L·H₂O and the heterobinuclear (VO)CrL·5H₂O complexes were also obtained as solid compounds and were characterized by IR spectroscopy and thermoanalytical techniques (TG and DSC).     

Spectral and thermal studies of copper(II) complexes of 3- and 4-pyridinealdoxime

Copper(II) complexes of 3- and 4-pyridinealdoxime have been prepared and analyzed by spectroscopic (ir and diffuse reflectance) and thermoanalytical (TG, DTG and DTA) techniques. For both these systems, only species with metal: organic ligand: chloride ratio of 122 were found, and the organic ligand appears as a neutral molecule. The spectral data suggest a polymeric structure where the copper(II) ions are in a distorted octahedral environment.The thermal decompositions occur through the reduction of copper(II) to copper(I) and the conversion of the residual organic ligand into acid amide, as found for dihydrogenbis(pyridine-2-aldoxime) copper(II) chloride, but the initial decomposition temperatures are slightly increased, giving rise to the thermal stability sequence:

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Zusammenfassung Kupfer(II)-Komplexe von 3- und 4-Pyridinaldoxim wurden hergestellt und spektroskopisch (IR und diffuse Reflexion) sowie thermoanalytisch (TG, DTG und DTA) analysiert. Für beide Systeme wurden nur Species mit einem Metall:Ligand:Chlorid-Verhältnis von 122 gefunden. Der organische Ligand liegt als neutrales Molekül vor. Die Spektren deuten auf eine polymère Struktur hin, in der die Kupfer(II)-Ionen in einer verzerrten oktaedrischen Koordination vorliegen. Die thermischen Zersetzungen verlaufen über die Reduktion von Cu(II) zu Cu(I) und die Umwandlung des verbleibenden organischen Liganden in Säureamid, wie für Dihydrogen-bis(pyridin-2-aldoxim)-kupfer(II)-chlorid gefunden wurde, aber die Temperaturen des Beginns der Zersetzung und damit die thermische Stabilität steigen in der Reihenfolge [Cu(Py₄-CHNOH)₂Cl₂][Cu(Py₃-CHNOH)₂Cl₂]>[Cu(Py₂-CHNOH)₂]Cl₂ etwas an.

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(, ) ( ) 3- 4- . 122, . , . -( -2-)- . , , , : Cu(4-Py-CHNOH)₂Cl₂Cu(3-Py-CHNOH)₂Cl₂>Cu(2-Py-CHNOH)₂Cl₂.

     

Steady flows of compressible fluids in a rigid container with upper free boundary

We consider fluid in a smooth rigid container whose lateral boundary is a piece of vertical cylinder, bounded above by a free upper surface. As basic flow we consider the non homogeneous rest state in the presence of gravity, and of a surface tension. Under these assumptions, we study the existence of a steady free boundary and a steady motion in of an isothermal viscous gas, resulting as perturbation to the rest state in correspondence of small non potential perturbations to the (large potential) gravitational force. We linearize the problem by prescribing the unknown domain , then we make use of the iterative scheme introduced by Heywood and Padula. Our method is based on an iteration between the Neumann problem for a non homogeneous Stokes system for the velocity, the Neumann problem for an elliptic problem on for height, and a steady transport equation for the perturbation to the density. The difference of boundary condition between lateral boundary and free upper surfaces causes a singularity at the intersection (contact line). To avoid singularities on the contact line, we adopt weighted Sobolev spaces.     

A simple proof of the linear instability of rotating liquid drops

We give a simplified proof of the linear instability of equilibrium figures of rotating liquid based on energy estimates.      

Transport properties of organic vapors in nanocomposites of isotactic polypropylene

Isotactic polypropylene nanocomposites were obtained by the melt blending of polypropylene‐graft‐maleic anhydride and organophilic layered silicate (OLS) consisting of synthetic fluorohectorite modified by cation exchange with protonated octadecylamine. The composition of the inorganic clay was varied between 2.5 and 10 wt %, and films of the composites were obtained via hot‐press molding. X‐ray analysis showed that nanocomposites in which silicate layers were either delaminated or ordered as in an intercalated structure were obtained. The elastic modulus of the samples was higher than that of the pure polymer over a wide temperature range and increased with increasing inorganic content. The transport properties, sorption and diffusion, were measured for two organic vapors, dichloromethane and n‐pentane. For both vapors, the sorption was not very different from that of the pure polymer, whereas the zero‐concentration diffusion parameter strongly decreased with increasing OLS content. Therefore, the permeability, that is, the product of sorption and diffusion, decreased for both vapors as a result of the decreased value of the diffusion parameter. The decrease was higher for the less interacting n‐pentane. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 1798–1805, 2003