bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Magnetic nanoparticles: Properties and potential applications
Authors: Vatta Laura L. , Sanderson Ron D. , Koch Klaus R. 
Published: September 2006

Abstract
Magnetic particles may be used to selectively attach and manipulate or transport targeted species to a desired location under the influence of an external magnetic field. By virtue of their size, magnetic nanoparticles are superparamagnetic, offering great potential in a variety of applications in their bare form or through coating with a surface coating and functional group chosen for a specific application. In this paper, and in order to illustrate this concept, three applications for the use of magnetic nanoparticles will be discussed, namely, in magnetic liquids for densimetric separation, in therapeutic and diagnostic testing, and in effluent processing and metal ion removal.
Estimates of Pregnancies Averted Through California's Family Planning Waiver Program in 2002
Authors: Foster Diana Greene , Biggs M. Antonia , Amaral Gorette , Brindis Claire , Navarro Sandy , Bradsberry Mary , Stewart Felicia 
Published: September 2006

CONTEXT: During its first year of operation (1997‐1998), California's family planning program, Family PACT, helped more than 750,000 clients to avert an estimated 108,000 pregnancies. Given subsequent increases in the numbers of clients served and contraceptive methods offered by the program, updated estimates of its impact on fertility are needed.METHODS: Claims data on contraceptives dispensed were used to estimate the number of pregnancies experienced by women in the program in 2002. Medical record data on methods used prior to enrollment were used to predict client fertility in the absence of the program. Further analyses examined the sensitivity of these estimates to alternative assumptions about contraceptive failure rates, contraceptive continuation and contraceptive use in the absence of program services.RESULTS: Almost 6.4 million woman‐months of contraception, provided primarily by oral contraceptives (57%), barrier methods (19%) and the injectable (18%), were dispensed through Family PACT during 2002. As a result, an estimated 205,000 pregnancies—which would have resulted in 79,000 abortions and 94,000 births, including 21,400 births to adolescents—were averted. Changing the base assumptions regarding contraceptive failure rates or method use had relatively small effects on the estimates, whereas assuming that clients would use no contraceptives in the absence of Family PACT nearly tripled the estimate of pregnancies averted.CONCLUSIONS: Because all contraceptive methods substantially reduce the risk of pregnancy, Family PACT'S impact on preventing pregnancy lies primarily in providing contraceptives to women who would otherwise not use any method.
Understanding Sex Partner Selection From the Perspective of Inner‐City Black Adolescents
Authors: Andrinopoulos Katherine , Kerrigan Deanna , Ellen Jonathan M. 
Published: September 2006

CONTEXT: Black adolescents in inner‐city settings are at increased risk for HIV and other STDs. Sex partner characteristics, as well as individual behavior, influence individuals' STD risk, yet little is known about the process of sex partner selection for adolescents in this setting.METHODS: Semistructured in‐depth interviews were conducted during the summer and fall of 2002 with 50 inner‐city black adolescents (26 females and 24 males) who had been purposively recruited from an STD clinic. Content analysis was used to study interview texts.RESULTS: Young women desire a monogamous romantic partner, rather than a casual sex partner; however, to fulfill their desire for emotional intimacy, they often accept a relationship with a nonmonogamous partner. Young men seek both physical and emotional benefits from being in a relationship; having a partner helps them to feel wanted, and they gain social status among their peers when they have multiple partners. For men, these benefits may help compensate for an inability to obtain jobs that would improve their financial and, as a result, social status. Both women and men assess partners’STD risk on the basis of appearance.CONCLUSIONS: HIV and other STD prevention initiatives must go beyond the scope of traditional messages aimed at behavior change and address the need for social support and socioeconomic opportunities among at‐risk, inner‐city adolescents.
Promoting Female Condom Use to Heterosexual Couples: Findings from a Randomized Clinical Trial
Authors: Witte Susan S. , El‐Bassel Nabila , Gilbert Louisa , Wu Elwin , Chang Mingway , Hill Jennifer 
Published: September 2006

CONTEXT: The female condom remains the only female‐initiated method for preventing pregnancy and STDs, including HIV. Innovative methods for promoting its use, and for involving male partners in its use, are needed.METHODS: A sample of 217 women and their main male sexual partners were randomly assigned to one of three study conditions: a six‐session relationship‐based STD prevention intervention provided to the couple together, the same intervention provided to the woman only or a single‐session education control provided to the woman only. Assessments were conducted at baseline and three months postintervention. Contrast coding was used to examine whether the effects of the two active interventions differed from those of the control intervention, and whether the effects of the two active interventions differed from each other. Regression analyses were used to estimate treatment effects.RESULTS: During follow‐up, participants in either active intervention were more likely to use a female condom with their study partner and with all partners, and used female condoms at a higher rate with all partners, than individuals assigned to the control intervention; at the end of three months, they were more likely to intend to use the condom in the next 90 days. No significant differences in outcomes were found between the active intervention groups.CONCLUSIONS: Focusing on both a woman and her main male sexual partner is efficacious in increasing female condom use and intention to use among heterosexual couples at risk for HIV and other STDs.
Do U.S. Family Planning Clinics Encourage Parent‐Child Communication? Findings from an Exploratory Survey
Authors: Jones Rachel K. 
Published: September 2006

CONTEXT: Clinics that receive Title X funding have a mandate to encourage parent‐child communication for minors seeking family planning services. Little is known about the programs and practices that clinics have adopted to achieve this goal, or whether clinics not receiving Title X funds encourage family participation.METHODS: As part of a larger project examining parental engagement among adolescents using family planning clinics, 81 clinics that served 200 or more adolescent contraceptive clients in 2001 completed a questionnaire containing closed‐ and open‐ended items. Topic areas included clinic counseling and policies regarding clients younger than 18, activities to improve parent‐child communication and community relations. Frequency distributions were calculated for the prevalence of activities, and cross‐tabulations were used to compare prevalence by clinic characteristics.RESULTS: Every clinic engaged in at least one activity to promote parent‐child communication, and nine in 10 offered multiple activities. Most of the clinics used counseling sessions to talk to adolescent clients about the importance of discussing sexual health issues with parents (73–94%, depending on the reason for the visit). More than eight in 10 clinics (84%) distributed pamphlets on how to talk about these issues. A substantial minority (43%) offered or referred interested individuals to educational programs designed to improve communication. Some of these exploratory findings reflect the prevalence of activities among all U.S. family planning clinics that serve adolescent clients.CONCLUSIONS: Evaluation and expansion of clinic efforts to promote voluntary communication about sexual health issues between parents and children could help encourage family participation.
Characteristics of Vanadium Alloyed Carbonitrided Steel for Rolling Bearing Applications
Authors: Lee JS , Song BH , Yoo SJ , Park CN , Han HS 
Published: September 2006

AbstractToday, most bearings for automotive transmission operate in an environment of severe debris contaminated lubrication. Thus, to develop the bearings that have a long life under the lubrication environment, micro-alloyed forging steel with a vanadium element based on medium-carbon steel and a carbonitriding heat-treatment process have been developed. Initially, the variation of grain size caused by an amount of aluminum and nitrogen was investigated. The hot deformation behavior was evaluated by means of a Gleeble tester. In general, it is extremely difficult to obtain sufficient nitrogen in the case-hardened layer by a conventional carbonitriding process. However, the application of the newly developed steel has not only the increment of nitrogen content in the case-hardened layer, but also the additional benefit that heat treatment costs could be cut effectively. In addition, we have investigated the retained austenite and precipitation behavior of V(CN), and the evaluated rolling contact fatigue life of a heat-treated specimen. As a result, we identified that the fatigue life of developed steel samples, under contaminated lubrication environment, is about five times better than comparative steel. The micro-structural degradation mechanism during fatigue testing was elucidated.
Evaluation of the Simulated Material Microstructures Using the Image Processing and Image Analyzing Methods
Authors: Hafez Haghighat SM , Karimi Taheri A. 
Published: September 2006

Abstract
With the development of computing systems for data processing, the image processing and image analyzing methods have been developed on the basis of pixel assessment. These methods can analyze and detect the images by assigning a value for each pixel and using the matrices calculations. In the present research, two methods have been used to assess the simulated material microstructures. In the first method, the vertices of the microstructure are counted to determine accurately the mean grain size by the Euler's relationship, while in the second method, the image processing and image analyzing methods are utilized to assess the microstructure image. To verify the accuracies of the methods their results were compared with the experimental results achieved using the standard Heyn intercept method. It was found that in comparison with the common grain size measurement, the image processing method presents a higher accuracy compared with the Eulers's relationship. More information about the microstructure properties such as the mean grain size and the size of the largest grain in the presence of second phase particles are evaluated.
Affine Models of the Term Structure of Interest Rates
Authors: Webber Nick 
Published: September 2006

Abstract
Several families of interest rate models are commonly used to model the term structure of interest rates. These include market models, used extensively in the money markets; affine term structure models, widely used in the bond markets; and Heath, Jarrow, and Morton (HJM) models, less widely used but applied to both the bond and money markets.
Annual Statements
Authors: Babcock Nathan J. 
Published: September 2006

Abstract

Insurance companies and other business organizations that engage in the business of insuring or reinsuring property–casualty exposures are usually required to file
Annual Statements
with the governmental agencies that regulate insurance operations in the pertinent geographic region. These Annual Statements are detailed financial documents that provide information that are not typically available in a company's annual report (such as is provided to stockholders, for example). However, Annual Statements are generally available to interested members of the public, as they are documents in the public record.
Insolvency
Authors: Cummins J. David 
Published: September 2006

AbstractThe objective of insurance is to provide risk pooling and diversification for individuals and business firms facing the risk of loss of life or property due to contingent events. Each individual unit insured through an insurance enterprise pays a premium to the insurer in return for the promise that those individuals suffering a defined loss event during the coverage period will be compensated for the loss by the insurance company. Some period of time elapses between the date of issuance of the insurance contract and the payment of losses to claimants against the pool. This can be anywhere from a few weeks, as in the case of short‐term property insurance policies, to a period of years or decades, as in the case of long‐tail liability insurance policies, life insurance, and annuities. The insurance company holds the funds generated by collecting and investing premiums to finance the claim payments that are eventually made against the pool. Because losses can be larger than expected, insurance companies hold equity capital over and above the expected value of future claim costs in order to ensure policyholders that claims will be paid in the event of adverse deviations. Nevertheless, there is a significant risk that the funds held by the insurer will be inadequate to pay claims. This is the risk of insolvency or bankruptcy, which provides the primary rationale for the intense regulation of insurance companies worldwide.
B
rownian Motion
Authors: Salminen Paavo 
Published: September 2006

Abstract
Brownian motion, also called Wiener process, is probably the most important stochastic process. Its key position is due to various reasons. The aim of this introduction is to present some of these reasons without striving to a complete presentation. The reader will find Brownian motion appearing also in many other articles in this book, and can in this way form his/her own understanding of the importance of the matter.
Our starting point is that Brownian motion has a deep physical meaning being a mathematical model for movement of a small particle suspended in water (or some other liquid). The movement is caused by ever moving water molecules that constantly hit the particle. This phenomenon was observed already in the eighteenth century but it was Robert Brown (1773–1858), a Scottish botanist, who studied the phenomenon systematically and understood its complex nature. Brown was not, however, able to explain the reason for Brownian motion. This was done by Albert Einstein (1879–1955) in one of his famous papers in 1905. Einstein was not aware of the works of Brown but predicted on theoretical grounds that Brownian motion should exist.
Claim Number Processes
Authors: Garrido José 
Published: September 2006

AbstractRisk theory models describe the uncertainty associated with the claims recorded by an insurance company for losses incurred by its policy holders. The claims frequency and the claims severity are two important components of these models. This article centers on models for the frequency of losses.Even if an insurance company were able to maintain the exact same portfolio of policies over time, the number of claims recorded would still vary from year to year. Such natural fluctuations are modeled through the claim number random variable.Over time, claim counts evolve according to a stochastic process: the claim number process. While other sections discuss specific claim number processes in greater detail, the general features are given here.
Collective Risk Theory
Authors: Tsai Cary Chi‐Liang 
Published: September 2006

Abstract
In this article, classical continuous‐time surplus process and its variations are introduced; several assumptions for the number of claims and for the times between claims are proposed. The time of ruin, the probability of ruin, and the surplus immediately before and at ruin caused by a claim are defined. Then an upper bound on and an asymptotic formula for the probability of ruin are given. Also, the mean discounted penalty is proposed, which is usually used to study a variety of interesting and important quantities, for example, moments and distribution functions. Finally, the maximal aggregate loss and the associated compound geometric distribution are discussed.
C
ramér–
L
undberg Condition and Estimate
Authors: Yang Hailiang 
Published: September 2006

Abstract
This article surveys the main results and developments of Cramér–Lundberg approximation. We present an overview of the classical results under the Lundberg–Cramér model, and the corresponding results in the cases of heavy‐tailed claim distribution are discussed. Recent developments in the diffusion perturbed insurance risk models and in the model in which an α‐stable Levy process is added to the compound Poisson process are covered.
Underwriting Cycle
Authors: Klein Robert 
Published: September 2006

Abstract
The property‐casualty insurance industry is notorious for its pattern of rising and falling prices and supply of coverage, commonly known as the “underwriting cycle.” This article explains this phenomenon, reviews various theories about its causes, and discusses proposed government remedies. The “real cycle” in the price and supply of insurance is distinguished from the “accounting cycle” in reported performance ratios. Several hypothesized causes of the real cycle are examined, including adverse loss shocks, movements in interest rates, under‐pricing due to naivety or excessive risk taking, and greater uncertainty about the distribution of expected losses. Government policies that help to control claims costs will be the most effective in promoting greater market stability.
Esscher Transform
Authors: Yang Hailiang 
Published: September 2006

AbstractThis article surveys the main results and developments of Esscher transform. We first present the original idea of Esscher and its applications to the problem of approximating the tail probabilities. The Esscher transform applied to the premium calculation, the Esscher premium principle, is then discussed. Recently, the Esscher transform has been applied to finance to tackle the problem of option pricing. Following Gerber–Shiu's framework, we provide an overview on this interesting development.
Genetics and Insurance
Authors: Macdonald Angus S. 
Published: September 2006

Abstract

Most actuarial modeling has concentrated on single‐gene disorders, because it necessarily relies on genetic epidemiology to parameterize any models, and that is where the epidemiology is most advanced. We can identify two broad approaches.

A top‐down approach treats whole classes of genetic disorder as if they were homogeneous. This avoids the need to model individual disorders in detail, which in the case of multifactorial disorders may be impossible just now anyway. If, under extremely adverse assumptions, either extra premiums or the costs of adverse selection are small, this is a useful general conclusion; see for examples. In the long run, this approach is limited.

A bottom‐up approach involves detailed modeling of individual disorders, and estimating the overall premium increases or costs of adverse selection by aggregation. Examples include models of breast cancer and ovarian cancer, Huntington's Disease, early‐onset Alzheimer's Disease, adult polycystic kidney disease and Alzheimer's Disease.
Hedging and Risk Management
Authors: Cairns Andrew J.G. 
Published: September 2006

Abstract
This article summarizes some of the techniques that are used to hedge derivative contracts and manage the risks that arise within a portfolio of derivatives. For simplicity of exposition, the article concentrates here on equity derivatives.
The most straightforward form of hedging is a buy‐and‐hold strategy. This involves finding the optimal mix of cash and equity that will, for example, minimize the variance of the hedging error at the maturity date of the derivative. However, this method can only reduce risk by a small amount. To improve on it, one needs to consider dynamic portfolio strategies, particularly ones where the optimal mix of cash and equity depends on the state of the market at given times in the future.
History of Actuarial Education
Authors: Forfar David O. 
Published: September 2006

Abstract
This article looks at the history of actuarial education where, from the start, there was a difference in approach between the Anglo‐Saxon world and Continental Europe. In the Anglo‐Saxon world, entry to the actuarial profession depended on passing the examinations set by the profession and it was not necessary to have gone to a university (although exemptions could be granted in certain countries from some of the earlier examinations if sufficient relevant academic training had been undertaken). In Continental Europe, entry to the profession depended, in the main, on having successfully completed the relevant courses at university (or technische hochschule) or having gained sufficient practical ‘on‐the‐job’ experience.
History of Actuarial Profession
Authors: Hickman James 
Published: September 2006

Abstract
A profession is an occupation or vocation requiring advanced study in a specialized field. The actuarial profession started out from life insurance and pension plans. Later, its development ran parallel to the accounting profession. To safeguard the goals and objectives of the profession, actuarial organizations were established on an international level but also on a national level where often rules for proper accreditation have been established. Economic and financial developments have broadened the required skills of an actuary. The future actuary will face new challenges that emerge from regulation, globalization and expanding knowledge.
I
nstitute of
A
ctuaries of
J
apan
Authors: Kuriyama Akira 
Published: September 2006

Abstract
The IAJ will have to respond in a proactive manner to the domestic deregulation and to the changing international circumstances, such as financial and economic internationalization and the spread of international accounting standards. The IAJ, thus, continuously needs to undertake further research activities to reinforce its function as an opinion maker, to uphold the integrity of the actuarial profession, and to promote internationalization. The IAJ is in the process of implementing plans to realize these goals.
Insurability
Authors: Gollier Christian 
Published: September 2006

Abstract
We first describe the competitive equilibrium of frictionless insurance markets with symmetric information. Risks are insurable in this economy in the sense that all mutually advantageous risk exchanges are realized at equilibrium. We then provide various reasons why many risks cannot be efficiently shared in our decentralized economy. Transaction costs, adverse selection, moral hazard, insurance fraud, and the inexistence of an objective distribution function do generate an insurability problem that requires public intervention. The heterogeneity of beliefs and the difficulties in diversifying individual risks are other reasons why some risks are not insurable, but this does not mean that insurance markets are inefficient.
Lapses
Authors: Fry Martin 
Published: September 2006

Abstract
A lapse is a failure by a policyholder to accept an insurer's offer to renew an expiring policy. Lapses differ from cancellations, which require specific action by a policyholder during the policy term. Insurers monitor lapse rates, as high lapse rates may indicate that an insurer's policies are uncompetitive. In practice, renewal rates are often monitored; they are calculated as (1‐lapse rates).