Optimal Control of Credit Risk (Advances in Computational Management Science)

Book Description

Optimal Control of Credit Risk presents an alternative methodology to deal with a financial problem that has not been well analyzed yet: the control of credit risk. Credit risk has become recently the center of interest of the financial community, with new instruments (such as Credit Risk Derivatives) and new methodologies (such as Credit Metrics) being developed. The recent literature has focused on the pricing of credit risk. On the other hand, practitioners tend to eliminate credit risk rather than price it. They do so via collateralization. The authors propose here a methodological basis for an optimal collateralization.
The monograph is organized as follows: Chapter 1 reviews the main avenues of literature related to our problem; Chapter 2 provides a brief overview of the main optimal control principles; and Chapter 3 presents the models and their setting.
In the remaining chapters, the authors propose two sets of programs. One set of programs will apply in cases where the information on the assets=value is readily available ( full observation case), while the other applies when costly audits are needed in order to assess this value ( partial observation case).
In either case, the modeling stage leads to a set of quasi-variational inequalities which the authors attempt to solve numerically in the simpler case of full observations. This is done in Chapter 6. Finally a simulation analysis is carried out in Chapter 7, in which the authors study the influence on the control process of changes in the different model parameters. This precedes a discussion on possible extensions in Chapter 8 and some concluding remarks in Section 9.

Book Description

What is the relationship between occupational stress and job performance? The amount of money workplace stress is extracting from the economy is estimated to be in the billions of dollars. Such estimates are based on the assumption that workplace stress leads to increased healthcare costs, higher rates of absenteeism and turnover, accidents, and lower levels of performance and organizational productivity. In Stress and Job Performance, author Steve M. Jex provides a comprehensive, research-based examination of the relationship between occupational stress and job performance. He presents a concise overview of the field, a clear explanation of terms and concepts, and a summary of relevant theoretical models of the stress process. He examines the relationship between major job-related stressors (such as workload, interpersonal conflict, and lack of control) and a variety of performance indices. In addition, he explores a number of other factors that may affect the relationship between occupational stress and job performance, including gender differences, age, personality, and job experience. The book concludes with a look at issues that need to be considered in future research investigations. Written in a non-technical, accessible style, Stress and Job Performance is recommended for students, scholars, and readers who do not have an extensive background in the behavioral sciences.

Book Description

Long regarded as the leading book in the field, this volume provides a basic introduction to the biological, chemical, and physical properties affecting soil fertility and plant nutrition. It covers all aspects of nutrient management for profitable crop production, with particular attention to minimizing the environmental impact of soil and fertilizer management. The Sixth Edition has been substantially revised to reflect rapidly advancing knowledge and technologies in both plant nutrition and nutrient management.

Customer Reviews:

This edition has been dumbed down........2007-04-27

This edition is not as advanced or complete as earlier versions. If you did want to explore a the subject more completely you are at a disadvantage with this version, the references to the original work that were at the end of each chapter in previous versions have been removed.

screening of salt tolerant and drought resistant plants.......2000-04-23

This research aimed to screening of salt and drought resistant plant in saudi arabia to evaluate the effect of water of differant salinities and drought (irrigation intervals)on plant growth and performance in a sandy soil

Soil Fertility and Fertilizers: An Introduction to Nutrient Management

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Soil Fertility and Fertilizers: An Introduction to Nutrient Management
North Carolina State University Samuel L. Tis John L. Havlin
Manufacturer: PEARSON HIGHER EDUCATION
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Soil Science | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000N5GPLA

Book Description

The relationship between diet and human cancer has been the focus of an international symposium, organized by the Commission on the Evaluation of Food Safety (SKLM) of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). It was held in Kaiserslautern in October 1998. The remarkable results which have been presented by renouned researchers are documented in this book. There is extensive evidence that diet influences the risk of developing cancer due to carginogens and anti-carcinogens in our food. Even though much remains to be understood about the mechanisms, it is now possible to draw consistent conclusions regarding the role of diet, obesity, and alcohol in the etiology of cancer, and to make public health recommendations on the basis of those conclusions. This symposium volume not only provides an overview of our current knowledge on this topic but also points to obvious gaps, it also presents conclusions and recommendations by the SKLM. Thus the SKLM is making available an up-to-date, scientifically substantiated source of information for a wide range of readers and users.

Book Description

This powerful study guide gives you 571 problems in signals and systems, fully solved step-by-step! From SchaumÕs, the original study guide, and studentsÕ favorite with over 30 million guides soldÑthis solution-packed timesaver helps you master every type of problem you will face on your tests, from simple questions on linear time-invariant systems to complex Fourier analysis of discrete-time systems and state space analysis. Go directly to the answers you need with a complete index. Compatible with any classroom text, SchaumÕs Outline of Signals and Systems is so complete itÕs the perfect tool for graduate or professional exam prep!

Customer Reviews:

Signals and Systems.......2007-09-25

Not one of Schaums good books. Skips too many steps in solving problems. Other EE students and also complained about this one. Usually Schaums a safe bet, just not this time.

Best Book EVER!!!!! (No Kidding).......2007-08-27

I don't even know how to start to express how much i love this book...i almost have tears in my eyes as im writing this LOL This book saved the rest of my studies in Electrical engineering. The book by OPPENHEIM is a WASTE of money AND time!!! It's a huge book that confuses students for nothing! But this one instead is more detailed and waaaaay smaller than OPPENHEIM's book. So that you actually learn waaaaay faster! It doesn't contain no stupid stories that we don't give a **** about LOL It goes straight to the point.
For me it's been the best book EVEEEEEEER!!!!! PERIOD!!!

A Great Study Tool.......2007-05-07

I purchased this book for a first course in Communications; Math of Linear Systems in the Electrical Engineering Department. This was the first outline book that I ever purchased. It was a great study tool. It is clearly organized and easily navigated. The language is plain and simple. The examples are effective in detailing the covered concepts, and will greatly improve your understanding of the material.

This book was used to clarify the concepts taught in the course - and accomplished that task well. It would be a poor idea to expect this book to teach Signals and Systems to someone unfamiliar with the concepts.

Organized, Clear and Complete with Appropriate Rigor.......2007-02-27

Positive:
The topics are well organized and covered with an attention to detail. In fact, some of the details regarding convergence of transforms are nicely and concisely presented in this text, while other more expensive texts gloss over certain subtle aspects (bilateral Laplace transforms). As a result of the quality of this book, I've used the text as the sole text for an undergraduate introduction to Signals & Systems. Like all Schaum's outlines, the book provides great detail in the steps necessary to arrive at final solutions. It's a bargain when used as a reference manual or tutorial.

Negative:
Unlike a typical course text, there is very little explanatory prose in each chapter. Without an understanding of the motivation or reason for using certain "tools" in an electrical engineer's toolset, a student can easily feel as though most of the presentations are mathematical exercises without connection to real signals or systems. I've found that in my use of this text, it is imperative that those connections are carefully made, and constantly re-enforced, while working the exercises. A user of this text benefits from seeing demonstrations, working on real-world problems and making the mental connections between the mathematical operations contain within.

A Work of Pure Imagination.......2006-11-03

If you are trying to understand the premise and scope of signals and systems theory, look no farther. Hsu hit a home run in the materials--especially selection of problems--and their arrangement. To get the most out of this text, you will need to understand your calculus and your calculus-based physics backwards and forwards. Otherwise, some of this material may strike you as somewhat pointless.

Continuous and Discrete Fourier Transforms, Extension Problems and Wiener-Hopf Equations (Operator Theory Advances and Applications)

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Continuous and Discrete Fourier Transforms, Extension Problems and Wiener-Hopf Equations (Operator Theory Advances and Applications)

Manufacturer: Birkhauser
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Theory of Discrete and Continuous Fourier Analysis

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Excellent teaching book, Excellent reference book

Theory of Discrete and Continuous Fourier Analysis
H. Joseph Weaver
Manufacturer: Wiley-Interscience
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Mathematics | Science | Subjects | Books

Infinity | Mathematics | Science | Subjects | Books

Mathematical Analysis | Mathematics | Science | Subjects | Books

Acoustics & Sound | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books

Book Description

A companion volume to Weaver's Applications of Discrete and Continuous Fourier Analysis (Wiley, 1983). Addresses the theoretical and analytical aspects of Fourier analysis, including topics usually found only in more advanced treatises. Provides background information before going on to cover such topics as existence of the inner product, distribution theory, Fourier series representation of complex functions, properties and behavior of the Fourier transform, Fourier transform of a distribution, physical interpretation of convolution, the fast Fourier transform, sampling a function, and much more. Includes exercises, problems, applications, over 150 illustrations, and a Fourier transform FORTRAN subroutine.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent teaching book, Excellent reference book.......1998-06-23

Weaver's book is exceptionally well-written, with clear step-by-step explanations of each concept. It is a great teaching tool, and a great reference book. It is one of the few books in which I can quickly find the answer I need.

Average customer rating:

Theory of Discrete and Continuous Fourier Analysis
H. Joseph Weaver
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000KJZE7A

Customer Reviews:

An excellent account of life with POW backdrop........1997-12-17

One of the few books by a Vietnam War POW written very shortly after the war. A view into history that has not been colored by outside influences. It leaves you with little doubt about the truly patriotic nature of the men who were fighting in the war and how they felt about their captors and those that would defend the North Vietnamese. It is an inspirational life story that uses the author's POW experience to show the inner strength that people have if they can summon it. There are lessons here that go beyond the history.

I'm No Hero, a Pow Story As Told to Glen DeWerff

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I'm No Hero, a Pow Story As Told to Glen DeWerff
Charlie Plumb
Manufacturer: Independence Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KSPN0Y

Product Description

ISBN: 1881886026

Average customer rating:

I'm No Hero: A POW Story as Told to Glen DeWerff.
JOSEPH CHARLES: PLUMB
Manufacturer: Independence Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UCOU6S

Customer Reviews:

Sleight of Hand. Its what's between the lines that's most interesting........2005-10-02

Annabel Stehli is a good writer here but there is certainly an emotive urgency to this mother's search for a cure for her daughter's autism that does tend to get a bit close to melodrama at times. The story of Georgie is told in a way that is an easy read and a good read. The characters are likeable and Georgie has certainly gone on to achieve good things, there is no doubt. But this book is certainly fixated on the 'magic bullet' theme, as though autism is one thing with one answer. Fact is, its not. Whilst AIT went on to help some people (and Lucy Blackman's wonderful account in her own remarkable autobiography is a wonderful example of that), it dramatically failed to help others and there were also accounts of those who felt it made things worse. Unlike Lucy,who also went through AIT in her teenage years, Georgie went on to be able to function as a highly able person with Autism. Lucy, who there is no doubt is as intelligent as Georgie and has a university degree to prove it, remains functionally non-verbal and overtly autistic but copes better since AIT. It is a great comparison that puts the whole AIT treatment in perspective. In some ways Lucy could be argued to be more able than Georgie, having written her own autobiography in spite of being functionally non-verbal where, here in The Sound Of A Miracle, it is not Georgie's voice we hear but that of her mother. There are many people with autism who dramatically improve in late childhood or their teens and what is overlooked in The Sound Of A Miracle is that, like Donna Williams, Georgie had just coped with the death of a close relative, was under threat of institutionalisation and living in a situation where the household was in a great state of unpredictability. It is always possible that some of what spurred Georgie on to improve so dramatically in her teens was a combination of motivations and not just the miracle treatment of AIT we are invited, instead, to focus on. In this sense, the book is actually richer if we read between the lines. Certainly ridding a child of any sensory hypersensitivity will aid them in focusing and remaining focused on the outside world. Nevertheless, for many this is not enough and it takes other motivations to put the power behind those changes to produce results. We should sometimes ask ourselves whether part of what makes someone motivated and driven to be outwardly focused is the fear of being discarded and left behind. This is a tantalising question that this book really begs us to ask whilst trying to convince us of the conclusion it wants us to have.

Interesting book, until the end........2004-10-28

Fortunately I managed to get past the first chapter of "Sound of a Miracle", where author Annabel Stehli says "I became more and more determined to find a way to become 'just a housewife' and do it justice. I found myself envying uneducated, bovine women who took it all in stride and gloried in seeing their faces reflected in their clean, shining plates." Yuck. I can't believe Stehli wrote something so insulting and ignorant, but the book did get better.

The book's main focus is on Stehli's relationships with her two daughters, one of whom is autistic and one of whom has leukemia, and her attempts to get effective treatments for both of them. I found past attitudes toward autism to be both shocking and interesting. At one point, Stehli is grocery shopping, reaches into her somewhat messy tote bag for her wallet, and is told by someone she hardly knows, "How do you expect Georgie to be able to organize herself when you're in such a mess?" Sadly, such comments seemed to be typical.

The first half (or perhaps a bit more) of the book is undoubtedly the most interesting part, and I practically flew through the pages. Stehli's grief, depression, guilt, and society's (and the medical establishment's) attitudes made for a fascinating read.

Eventually Stehli's autistic daughter Georgie undergoes auditory therapy in Europe, and at this point, the book became a proud mother's love letter to her daughter. Apparently after Georgie's treatment, she never has another problem again, masters everything she attempts immediately, and is the smartest, most beautiful girl in the world. OK, I can understand Stehli's pride in her daughter's accomplishments, but I still kept wondering...surely Georgie's life couldn't have been that perfect.

The miracle never materialized.......2004-10-20

Having just finished reading From Tragedy to Triumph where Dr. Loovas persuaded the author to tell her story, I find similarities with The Sound of a Miracle with Dr. Bernard Rimland coaxing this author, Annabel Stehli to share her story. While reading these two books any parent with a child on the autism spectrum will be shocked to learn what the parents ahead of us endured via professionals and the media based on their incorrect perception of autism.

What I do not agree with is the promotional aspect of these books, suggesting autism can be cured and these kids have overcome the disability. The Sound of a Miracle is touted as a tribute to a mother's courage, yet after reading the same book, I feel that the mother failed the daughter and did not gain the proper insight into her autistic daughter Georgie.

There are two parts to The Sound of a Miracle, with auditory training not being discussed for the first half of the book. Not wanting to criticize the author too harshly I feel the book delved more into her older daughter Dotsie, who passed away from Leukemia, the Mother's two marriages and her own addictions and religious beliefs. This could have easily been written into two or three books covering each topic in depth.

There was a gap of many years from when Georgie graduated from college and the author wrote the book. Maybe by that time she could see more clearly how Georgie needed help right from the beginning. It was obvious that the author was not confident in her parenting skills and questioned herself throughout the process of raising children. The author had a hard time cuddling and receiving eye contact from the time Georgie was born in 1965, plus she knew there was something odd about her eyes, and she had a low apgar score. There always seemed to be turmoil at their apartment in New York. Her husband Bill was not very involved in the parenting aspects of the girls. Early in the story Annabel took the girls away for a few weeks one summer for a vacation. During this time Bill had an affair with her best friend and things went downhill drastically.

Bill was not mentioned too often after that, and only briefly when Dotsie died and then when Annabel wanted to take Georgie to France. The Sound of a Miracle was upsetting to me because after Dotsie passed away Georgie was institutionalized for many years. This started as a trial since there was no alternative for Georgie. Annabel was intimidated by the staff at the institution and believed them when they stated her lack in parenting was to blame. At one point she was drinking and taking many prescriptions, ended up being committed herself. I found that period of time to be confusing because her mother and siblings were only involved intermittently. For a moment there I did not want to finish perusing this because I was not sure which direction The Sound of a Miracle was headed and found the passing of Dotsie very sad.

How a parent at that time never heard of Dr. Bernard Rimland is beyond me. It certainly seemed to me that the author would not act on her own parental instincts and needed reassurance for every move and then it even took others to persuade her to remove Georgie from the institution and try the auditory training by Dr. Berard. While Georgie was at the institution her Mother met and married Peter and had two more children.

The author actually pondered several times leaving Georgie at the institution and starting her own life with her new husband and children. She was not as devoted to her daughter as she wanted to have a normal child in her new son and not risk her daughter coming home and possibly hurting her baby.

As the parent to two children with autism I did learn a great deal about the auditory aspects, but this was due to Georgie sharing her personal experience and not anything the author shared as the parent. All those years Georgie just assumed everyone saw and heard things the way she did, but she was crazy for not being able to handle these issues in the same manner.

On one hand I was truly disappointed in the first section of the book after reading the suffering Georgie had to endure due to no one researching further her issues. I was questioning the author remarrying and starting another family when I felt she had abandoned and failed her daughter. The most shocking part within the book was when the institution contacted her ex husband, Bill to try to persuade him to keep her from taking Georgie out of the country. Bill had some relative look into the Dr in Switzerland and agreed with Annabel that this was worth trying. Had it turned out otherwise I would have been very upset and feel the professionals should have been punished for their wrong doing and interference with her life.

I do prefer books that have a positive outlook on autism and not those that base the outcome on a miracle. Although this is one of those in some aspect, it was still a worthwhile read to know firsthand what the journey has been like for others. But my children are autistic and from what I gather always will be since I am not looking for a cure, but do hope to actually hear the sound of my child's voice one of these days.

As a reader I cared about Dotsie and Georgie and was heartbroken over the death of one and the lost childhood of the other. I came away learning more from the trials and tribulations of this family and know what to avoid when pursuing therapies and searching for schools for my children for future reference.

I felt connected with the author!.......2001-12-06

When you are the parent of a child with Autism, it's difficult to make people understand what is going on with that child. Friends and family, although well meaning, just can't possibly understand the big picture! Reading her book was like having my own private support group. As I read of her self-doubt as a parent and later realizing that her parenting had nothing to do with Georgie's issues, I cheered for her. I thought "Yes, I'm not the only one who has felt this way"!
The sections focusing on Georgie's successful treatment with AIT also gave me some hope for the future with my own child, as her symptoms are eerily similar to Georgie's.
A "must read" for parents and caregivers!

DIAGNOSIS--UNATTACHED MOTHER.......2000-10-28

I am a mother of a three year old boy with the spectrum disorder of autism. I could not wait to read this book because of the "miracle" title. Halfway through, I realized the mother was the one with major issues. Ms. Steils position was a difficult one having one daughter with leukemia and the other with autism. I was extremely dissapointed to see how long it took her to bond with Georgie. She was institutionalised and labled and slipped through the loops so to say as her mom fought for her sanity. In this broken and torn apart family it's a wonder to even say Georgie could have been saved sooner if more time and effort were given to her. Very sad and depressing tale of a mother who never had a clue as to what her daughter needed the most --her.

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