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Scripting Approaches in Mathematics Education
by Rina Zazkis Patricio HerbstThis book shows how the practice of script writing can be used both as a pedagogical approach and as a research tool in mathematics education. It provides an opportunity for script-writers to articulate their mathematical arguments and/or their pedagogical approaches. It further provides researchers with a corpus of narratives that can be analyzed using a variety of theoretical perspectives. Various chapters argue for the use of dialogical method and highlight its benefits and special features. The chapters examine both "low tech" implementations as well as the use of a technological platform, LessonSketch. The chapters present results of and insights from several recent studies, which utilized scripting in mathematics education research and practice.
Seamless R and C++ Integration with Rcpp
by Dirk EddelbuettelRcpp is the glue that binds the power and versatility of R with the speed and efficiency of C++. With Rcpp, the transfer of data between R and C++ is nearly seamless, and high-performance statistical computing is finally accessible to most R users. Rcpp should be part of every statistician's toolbox. -- Michael Braun, MIT Sloan School of Management "Seamless R and C++ integration with Rcpp" is simply a wonderful book. For anyone who uses C/C++ and R, it is an indispensable resource. The writing is outstanding. A huge bonus is the section on applications. This section covers the matrix packages Armadillo and Eigen and the GNU Scientific Library as well as RInside which enables you to use R inside C++. These applications are what most of us need to know to really do scientific programming with R and C++. I love this book. -- Robert McCulloch, University of Chicago Booth School of Business Rcpp is now considered an essential package for anybody doing serious computational research using R. Dirk's book is an excellent companion and takes the reader from a gentle introduction to more advanced applications via numerous examples and efficiency enhancing gems. The book is packed with all you might have ever wanted to know about Rcpp, its cousins (RcppArmadillo, RcppEigen .etc.), modules, package development and sugar. Overall, this book is a must-have on your shelf. -- Sanjog Misra, UCLA Anderson School of Management The Rcpp package represents a major leap forward for scientific computations with R. With very few lines of C++ code, one has R's data structures readily at hand for further computations in C++. Hence, high-level numerical programming can be made in C++ almost as easily as in R, but often with a substantial speed gain. Dirk is a crucial person in these developments, and his book takes the reader from the first fragile steps on to using the full Rcpp machinery. A very recommended book! -- Søren Højsgaard, Department of Mathematical Sciences, Aalborg University, Denmark "Seamless R and C ++ Integration with Rcpp" provides the first comprehensive introduction to Rcpp. Rcpp has become the most widely-used language extension for R, and is deployed by over one-hundred different CRAN and BioConductor packages. Rcpp permits users to pass scalars, vectors, matrices, list or entire R objects back and forth between R and C++ with ease. This brings the depth of the R analysis framework together with the power, speed, and efficiency of C++. Dirk Eddelbuettel has been a contributor to CRAN for over a decade and maintains around twenty packages. He is the Debian/Ubuntu maintainer for R and other quantitative software, edits the CRAN Task Views for Finance and High-Performance Computing, is a co-founder of the annual R/Finance conference, and an editor of the Journal of Statistical Software. He holds a Ph.D. in Mathematical Economics from EHESS (Paris), and works in Chicago as a Senior Quantitative Analyst.
Seaports and Development: The Experience of Kenya and Tanzania (Routledge Library Editions: Development #69)
by B. S. HoyleThis book, originally published in 1983, demonstrates the importance of seaports in the growth of less-developed countries. The author focuses on the character of port activity within the context of transport systems and regional economic planning. General principles of port development are illustrated by detailed reference to one Third World port group, that of the Indian Ocean coasts of Kenya and Tanzania. The objective is not merely to illustrate the character of one specific group of ports, but to demonstrate methods of analysis and to underline the crucial role of ports in the development process.
Search and Foraging: Individual Motion and Swarm Dynamics
by Eugene Kagan Irad Ben-GalSince the start of modern computing, the studies of living organisms have inspired the progress in developing computers and intelligent machines. In particular, the methods of search and foraging are the benchmark problems for robotics and multi-agent systems. The highly developed theory of search and screening involves optimal search plans that ar
Search and Optimization by Metaheuristics
by Ke-Lin Du M. N. S. SwamyThis textbook provides a comprehensive introduction to nature-inspired metaheuristic methods for search and optimization, including the latest trends in evolutionary algorithms and other forms of natural computing. Over 100 different types of these methods are discussed in detail. The authors emphasize non-standard optimization problems and utilize a natural approach to the topic, moving from basic notions to more complex ones. An introductory chapter covers the necessary biological and mathematical backgrounds for understanding the main material. Subsequent chapters then explore almost all of the major metaheuristics for search and optimization created based on natural phenomena, including simulated annealing, recurrent neural networks, genetic algorithms and genetic programming, differential evolution, memetic algorithms, particle swarm optimization, artificial immune systems, ant colony optimization, tabu search and scatter search, bee and bacteria foraging algorithms, harmony search, biomolecular computing, quantum computing, and many others. General topics on dynamic, multimodal, constrained, and multiobjective optimizations are also described. Each chapter includes detailed flowcharts that illustrate specific algorithms and exercises that reinforce important topics. Introduced in the appendix are some benchmarks for the evaluation of metaheuristics. Search and Optimization by Metaheuristics is intended primarily as a textbook for graduate and advanced undergraduate students specializing in engineering and computer science. It will also serve as a valuable resource for scientists and researchers working in these areas, as well as those who are interested in search and optimization methods.
A Search for Exotic Higgs Decays: Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Long-Lived Particles (Springer Theses)
by Jackson BurzynskiThe absence of new physics at the TeV scale observed thus far at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) motivates an increasing focus on searches for weakly-coupled new particles and exotic signatures. In particular, particles with macroscopic mean proper lifetimes, known as long-lived particles (LLPs), are of significant interest due to their ability to elude the majority of searches which rely on the assumption that Beyond Standard Model particles decay close to the primary interaction point. Many models which aim to solve various issues with the Standard Model (SM) introduce new particles with lifetimes that are either unconstrained, or even shown to prefer the macroscopic regime. These theories often point to the Higgs boson as a possible portal to new physics, with exotic Higgs decays being the primary phenomenological consequence and means of discovery. It is well motivated both from theory and experimental constraints to consider the scenario in which the particles produced in these exotic decays have macroscopic proper lifetimes and give rise to unique detector signatures.This work describes a search for exotic decays of the Higgs boson to two long-lived, neutral, spin-0 particles which subsequently decay to pairs of b quarks, giving the striking signature of displaced hadronic jets in the ATLAS inner detector. Several other ATLAS searches have probed this decay topology previously, excluding branching ratios of the Higgs boson to LLPs of more than 10% for proper lifetimes greater than 100mm. These searches relied on dedicated triggers designed to select events with LLPs decaying in the ATLAS calorimeter or muon spectrometer. The lack of an equivalent trigger for LLP decays in the ATLAS inner detector has been a limiting factor in probing LLP lifetimes less than 100mm. To circumvent the difficulty of triggering on LLP decays, the search presented in this thesis exploits the ZH associated production mode, relying on leptonic trigger signatures to select interesting events. This is the first search for Higgs boson decays into LLPs to exploit this analysis methodology and additionally makes use of several novel methods for both background rejection and background estimation.No excess over Standard Model predictions is observed, and upper limits are set on the branching ratio of the Higgs boson to LLPs . Depending on the mass of the LLP, branching ratios greater than 10% are excluded for lifetimes as small as 4mm and as large as 100mm, probing an important gap in the ATLAS exotic Higgs decay programme. In comparison to the previous searches for Higgs decays to LLPs, these are among the most stringent limits placed on this scenario, and for LLPs with masses below 40 GeV these results represent the strongest existing constraints on the branching ratio of the Higgs boson to LLPs in this lifetime regime.
Search for Invisible Decays of the Higgs Boson Produced via Vector Boson Fusion at the LHC with CMS Run 2 data (Springer Theses)
by Alp AkpinarThis thesis reports the latest measurements on one of the leading dark matter searches conducted by the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at CERN, leading to some of the most stringent constraints on hypothesized interactions between the Higgs boson and dark matter. The thesis also includes further research about the future outlook of the experiment, including exploratory research on the adaptation of deep learning models in future dark matter analyses to improve analysis sensitivity, and the design of a new type of data processing hardware to be used in the next phase of the CMS experiment.
The Search for Mathematical Roots, 1870-1940: Logics, Set Theories and the Foundations of Mathematics from Cantor through Russell to Gödel
by I. Grattan-GuinnessWhile many books have been written about Bertrand Russell's philosophy and some on his logic, I. Grattan-Guinness has written the first comprehensive history of the mathematical background, content, and impact of the mathematical logic and philosophy of mathematics that Russell developed with A. N. Whitehead in their Principia mathematica (1910-1913). ? This definitive history of a critical period in mathematics includes detailed accounts of the two principal influences upon Russell around 1900: the set theory of Cantor and the mathematical logic of Peano and his followers. Substantial surveys are provided of many related topics and figures of the late nineteenth century: the foundations of mathematical analysis under Weierstrass; the creation of algebraic logic by De Morgan, Boole, Peirce, Schröder, and Jevons; the contributions of Dedekind and Frege; the phenomenology of Husserl; and the proof theory of Hilbert. The many-sided story of the reception is recorded up to 1940, including the rise of logic in Poland and the impact on Vienna Circle philosophers Carnap and Gödel. A strong American theme runs though the story, beginning with the mathematician E. H. Moore and the philosopher Josiah Royce, and stretching through the emergence of Church and Quine, and the 1930s immigration of Carnap and GödeI. Grattan-Guinness draws on around fifty manuscript collections, including the Russell Archives, as well as many original reviews. The bibliography comprises around 1,900 items, bringing to light a wealth of primary materials. Written for mathematicians, logicians, historians, and philosophers--especially those interested in the historical interaction between these disciplines--this authoritative account tells an important story from its most neglected point of view. Whitehead and Russell hoped to show that (much of) mathematics was expressible within their logic; they failed in various ways, but no definitive alternative position emerged then or since.
The Search for Method in STEAM Education
by Jaime E. MartinezThis book explores various approaches to building a positive interdisciplinary STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) learning environment, as described by educators across the K-20 educational ladder. Crucial to their success, Martinez finds, is the playful and performatory approach they employ in their teaching. Their practices are creative, improvisational, and inclusive, and are shared in detail through illustrations and interviews. Throughout the book, the author explores a Vygotskian cultural performatory approach to creating interdisciplinary STEAM learning environments, drawing out the history of this approach and its success in fostering collaboration, creativity, leadership, and communication skills, as well as its effect on social, emotional, and cognitive growth in both formal and informal educational settings.
A Search for Muon Neutrino to Electron Neutrino Oscillations in the MINOS Experiment (Springer Theses)
by Juan Pedro Ochoa-RicouxThe centerpiece of the thesis is the search for muon neutrino to electron neutrino oscillations which would indicate a non-zero mixing angle between the first and third neutrino generations (θ13), currently the "holy grail" of neutrino physics. The optimal extraction of the electron neutrino oscillation signal is based on the novel "library event matching" (LEM) method which Ochoa developed and implemented together with colleagues at Caltech and at Cambridge, which improves MINOS' (Main Injector Neutrino Oscillator Search) reach for establishing an oscillation signal over any other method. LEM will now be the basis for MINOS' final results, and will likely keep MINOS at the forefront of this field until it completes its data taking in 2011. Ochoa and his colleagues also developed the successful plan to run MINOS with a beam tuned for antineutrinos, to make a sensitive test of CPT symmetry by comparing the inter-generational mass splitting for neutrinos and antineutrinos. Ochoa's in-depth, creative approach to the solution of a variety of complex experimental problems is an outstanding example for graduate students and longtime practitioners of experimental physics alike. Some of the most exciting results in this field to emerge in the near future may find their foundations in this thesis.
Search for tt̄H Production in the H → bb̅ Decay Channel: Using Deep Learning Techniques with the CMS Experiment (Springer Theses)
by Marcel RiegerIn 1964, a mechanism explaining the origin of particle masses was proposed by Robert Brout, François Englert, and Peter W. Higgs. 48 years later, in 2012, the so-called Higgs boson was discovered in proton-proton collisions recorded by experiments at the LHC. Since then, its ability to interact with quarks remained experimentally unconfirmed. This book presents a search for Higgs bosons produced in association with top quarks tt̄H in data recorded with the CMS detector in 2016. It focuses on Higgs boson decays into bottom quarks H → bb̅ and top quark pair decays involving at least one lepton. In this analysis, a multiclass classification approach using deep learning techniques was applied for the first time. In light of the dominant background contribution from tt̄ production, the developed method proved to achieve superior sensitivity with respect to existing techniques. In combination with searches in different decay channels, the presented work contributed to the first observations of tt̄H production and H → bb̅ decays.
Search Methodologies
by Edmund K. Burke Graham KendallThe first edition of Search Methodologies: Introductory Tutorials in Optimization and Decision Support Techniques was originally put together to offer a basic introduction to the various search and optimization techniques that students might need to use during their research, and this new edition continues this tradition. Search Methodologies has been expanded and brought completely up to date, including new chapters covering scatter search, GRASP, and very large neighborhood search. The chapter authors are drawn from across Computer Science and Operations Research and include some of the world's leading authorities in their field. The book provides useful guidelines for implementing the methods and frameworks described and offers valuable tutorials to students and researchers in the field. "As I embarked on the pleasant journey of reading through the chapters of this book, I became convinced that this is one of the best sources of introductory material on the search methodologies topic to be found. The book's subtitle, "Introductory Tutorials in Optimization and Decision Support Techniques", aptly describes its aim, and the editors and contributors to this volume have achieved this aim with remarkable success. The chapters in this book are exemplary in giving useful guidelines for implementing the methods and frameworks described. " Fred Glover, Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado Boulder, USA "[The book] aims to present a series of well written tutorials by the leading experts in their fields. Moreover, it does this by covering practically the whole possible range of topics in the discipline. It enables students and practitioners to study and appreciate the beauty and the power of some of the computational search techniques that are able to effectively navigate through search spaces that are sometimes inconceivably large. I am convinced that this second edition will build on the success of the first edition and that it will prove to be just as popular. " Jacek Blazewicz, Institute of Computing Science, Poznan University of Technology and Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences
Search Theory: Some Recent Developments
by David V. Chudnovsky Gregory V. ChudnovskyOn the solution of an optimal search problem with an exponential detection function. Covers one- and two-sided detection problems by furnishing continuous and discret time strategies; examines two-sided search strategies with solutions in hide and seek games in many discrete and continuous bounded
Search Theory
by Leszek Gąsieniec V. S. Subrahmanian Steve Alpern Roy Lindelauf Robbert FokkinkSearch games and rendezvous problems have received growing attention in computer science within the past few years. Rendezvous problems emerge naturally, for instance, to optimize performance and convergence of mobile robots. This gives a new algorithmic point of view to the theory. Furthermore, modern topics such as the spreading of gossip or disease in social networks have lead to new challenging problems in search and rendezvous. Search Theory: A Game Theoretic Perspective introduces the first integrated approach to Search and Rendezvous from the perspectives of biologists, computer scientists and mathematicians. This contributed volume covers a wide range of topics including rendezvous problems and solutions, rendezvous on graphs, search games on biology, mobility in governed social networks, search and security, and more. Most chapters also include case studies or a survey, in addition to a chapter on the future direction of Search and Rendezvous research. This book targets researchers and practitioners working in computer science, mathematics and biology as a reference book. Advanced level students focused on these fields will also find this book valuable as a secondary text book or reference.
Searches for Supersymmetric Particles in Final States with Multiple Top and Bottom Quarks with the Atlas Detector (Springer Theses)
by Chiara RizziThis PhD thesis documents two of the highest-profile searches for supersymmetry performed at the ATLAS experiment using up to 80/fb of proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV delivered by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) during its Run 2 (2015-2018). The signals of interest feature a high multiplicity of jets originating from the hadronisation of b-quarks and large missing transverse momentum, which constitutes one of the most promising final state signatures for discovery of new phenomena at the LHC. The first search is focused on the strong production of a pair of gluinos, with each gluino decaying into a neutralino and a top-antitop-quark pair or a bottom-antibottom-quark pair. The second search targets the pair production of higgsinos, with each higgsino decaying into a gravitino and a Higgs boson, which in turn is required to decay into a bottom-antibottom-quark pair. Both searches employ state-of-the-art experimental techniques and analysis strategies at the LHC, resulting in some of the most restrictive bounds available to date on the masses of the gluino,neutralino, and higgsino in the context of the models explored.
Searches for the Supersymmetric Partner of the Top Quark, Dark Matter and Dark Energy at the ATLAS Experiment (Springer Theses)
by Nicolas Maximilian KöhlerAstrophysical observations implying the existence of Dark Matter and Dark Energy, which are not described by the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics, have led to extensions of the SM predicting new particles that could be directly produced at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. Based on 2015 and 2016 ATLAS proton-proton collision data, this thesis presents searches for the supersymmetric partner of the top quark, for Dark Matter, and for DarkEnergy, in signatures with jets and missing transverse energy.Muon detection is key to some of the most important LHC physics results, including the discovery of the Higgs boson and the measurement of its properties. The efficiency with which muons can be detected with the ATLAS detector is measured using Z boson decays. The performance of high-precision Monitored Drift Tube muon chambers under background rates similar to the ones expected for the High Luminosity-LHC is studied.
Searching for Whitopia: An Improbable Journey to the Heart of White America
by Rich BenjaminAs America becomes more and more racially diverse, Rich Benjamin noticed a phenomenon: Some communities were actually getting less multicultural. So he got out a map, found the whitest towns in the USA--and moved in.A journalist-adventurer, Benjamin packed his bags and embarked on a 26,909-mile journey throughout the heart of white America, to some of the fastest-growing and whitest locales in our nation. Benjamin calls these enclaves "Whitopias." In this groundbreaking book, he shares what he learned as a black man in Whitopia. Benjamin's journey to unlock the mysteries of Whitopia took him from a three-day white separatist retreat with links to Aryan Nations in North Idaho to exurban mega-churches down South, and many points in between. A compelling raconteur, bon vivant, and scholar, Benjamin reveals what Whitopias are like and explores the urgent social and political implications of this startling phenomenon. Benjamin's groundbreaking study is one of few to have illuminated in advance the social and political forces propelling the rise of Donald Trump. After all, Trump carried 94 percent of America's Whitopian counties. And he won a median 67 percent of the vote in Whitopia compared to 46 percent of the vote nationwide.Leaving behind speculation or sensationalism, Benjamin explores the future of whiteness and race in an increasingly multicultural nation.
Sears and Zemansky's: University Physics, Volume 2
by Hugh D. Young Roger A. Freedman A. Lewis FordUniversity Physics Volume 2 (Chapers 21-37), 13/e continues to set the benchmark for clarity and rigor combined with effective teaching and research-based innovation. University Physics is known for its uniquely broad, deep, and thoughtful set of worked examples-key tools for developing both physical understanding and problem-solving skills. The Thirteenth Edition revises all the Examples and Problem-Solving Strategies to be more concise and direct while maintaining the Twelfth Edition's consistent, structured approach and strong focus on modeling as well as math. To help students tackle challenging as well as routine problems, the Thirteenth Edition adds Bridging Problems to each chapter, which pose a difficult, multiconcept problem and provide a skeleton solution guide in the form of questions and hints. The text's rich problem sets-developed and refined over six decades-are upgraded to include larger numbers of problems that are biomedically oriented or require calculus. The problem-set revision is driven by detailed student-performance data gathered nationally through MasteringPhysics®, making it possible to fine-tune the reliability, effectiveness, and difficulty of individual problems.
A Season to Forget: The Story of the 1988 Baltimore Orioles
by Ron SnyderBetween 1966 and 1983, the Baltimore Orioles were considered the best team in baseball. During that span, the team won three World Series, advanced to three others, and competed for a playoff spot just about every season. The Orioles were a model franchise thanks to its “Orioles Way” approach to building a franchise through a strong farm system. Future Hall of Famers like Brooks Robinson, Jim Palmer, Cal Ripken Jr., and Eddie Murray made their ways through the ranks and helped put consistent winners on the field. But five years after Ripken caught the final out to clinch the Orioles World Series victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, the franchise was in disarray. From not understanding how to utilize free agency to having their once famed farm system dry up of talent, the once-proud franchise was spiraling downward. Heading into the 1988 season, the Orioles expected to struggle after a 95-loss season the year before. Not even the return of famed manager Earl Weaver in 1985 and 1986 was enough to turn the team around. The Orioles attempted to revamp their roster in 1988 with 14 new players on the roster compared to the year before. The team opened that season 0–21, shattering the record for futility to start a season by eight games. They consistently found different ways to lose each night to the point that President Ronald Regan sent a message of support to the lovable losers from Charm City. Religious leaders and mental health professionals even offered to help the team find that elusive first win. In the same vein as Jimmy Breslin’s Can’t Anyone Here Play This Game? on the 1962 New York Mets, author Ron Snyder discusses just how did a once model franchise devolved into a team with the distinction of having the worst start of any team in MLB history. A Season to Forget takes an in-depth look at the lead up to that season, a game-by-game breakdown of the streak, and the toll it took on those who lived through it.
A Season to Remember
by The Toronto StarWhat started as a baseball season like any other became the most thrilling sports story of 2015Canada's team began the season with as many losses as wins, but things changed rapidly. With inspired moves by management at the trade deadline, and a bullpen rally not seen since the back-to-back championships of 1992 and 1993, they were back on top. The boys in blue went on to score 891 runs--127 runs more than the next best team--and finished with a superb record from the trade deadline onward. When they clinched a play-off spot, Toronto was ecstatic. When they took the division title, beating their long-time AL East rivals in New York, fans everywhere cheered with excitement and support. And, in their first post-season appearance in 22 years, the entire country erupted in celebration. Here, in this special commemorative book, relive the entire spectacular 2015 run--from the outlook at training camp and the struggle of the early season, to the brilliant trades, to the stellar run to the post-season. And, yes, the game five drama against Texas. Beautifully illustrated with action and candid photographs, and with exclusive content from the Toronto Star, this is the must-have book for every fan. Content previously published by the Toronto Star.
Seasonal Adjustment Methods and Real Time Trend-Cycle Estimation
by Estela Bee Dagum Silvia BianconciniThis book explores widely used seasonaladjustment methods and recent developments in real time trend-cycle estimation. It discusses in detail the properties and limitations of X12ARIMA, TRAMO-SEATSand STAMP - the main seasonal adjustment methods used by statistical agencies. Several real-world cases illustrate eachmethod and real data examples can be followed throughout the text. Thetrend-cycle estimation is presented using nonparametric techniques based onmoving averages, linear filters and reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces, takingrecent advances into account. The book provides a systematical treatment ofresults that to date have been scattered throughout the literature. Seasonal adjustment and real timetrend-cycle prediction play an essential part at all levels of activity inmodern economies. They are used by governments to counteract cyclicalrecessions, by central banks to control inflation, by decision makers forbetter modeling and planning and by hospitals, manufacturers, builders,transportation, and consumers in general to decide on appropriate action. This book appeals to practitioners ingovernment institutions, finance and business, macroeconomists, and other professionalswho use economic data as well as academic researchers in time series analysis,seasonal adjustment methods, filtering and signal extraction. It is also usefulfor graduate and final-year undergraduate courses in econometrics and timeseries with a good understanding of linear regression and matrix algebra, aswell as ARIMA modelling.
Seasonal Adjustment Without Revisions: A Real-Time Approach (SpringerBriefs in Economics)
by Barend Abeln Jan P. JacobsSeasonality in economic time series can "obscure" movements of other components in a series that are operationally more important for economic and econometric analyses. In practice, one often prefers to work with seasonally adjusted data to assess the current state of the economy and its future course. This book presents a seasonal adjustment program called CAMPLET, an acronym of its tuning parameters, which consists of a simple adaptive procedure to extract the seasonal and the non-seasonal component from an observed series. Once this process is carried out, there will be no need to revise these components at a later stage when new observations become available. The authors describe the main features of CAMPLET, evaluate the outcomes of CAMPLET and X-13ARIMA-SEATS in a controlled simulation framework using a variety of data generating processes, and illustrate CAMPLET and X-13ARIMA-SEATS with three time series: US non-farm payroll employment, operational income of Ahold and real GDP in the Netherlands. Furthermore they show how CAMPLET performs under the COVID-19 crisis, and its attractiveness in dealing with daily data. This book appeals to scholars and students of econometrics and statistics, interested in the application of statistical methods for empirical economic modeling.
Seasonality and Microcredit
by Abu S. ShonchoyThe mismatch between credit repayments and income seasonality can create serious distortions. However, typically Micro-Finance Institutes (MFIs) do not provide any adjustments due to the income seasonality. For instance in Northern Bangladesh, Income and consumption downfalls during the time of post-Aman rice plantation seasons are quite regular phenomenon which is locally known as "Monga". Poor landless agricultural wage laborers suffer the most due to this seasonality and usually they face difficulty to smooth their consumptions. As a result, it is extremely difficult to arrange the regular weekly loan repayments of the micro-credit, which they have taken during the productive part of the year. Using field experiments through RCTs in Northern Bangladesh, we randomly assigned seasonality adjusted flexible micro-credits and traditional rigid micro-credit to different borrowing groups. Examining the repayment behavior of the borrowers in the context of geographical classifications and loan designs; employing both survey and experimental methods, this study allows us to see the consequences of flexible loan repayment rules during the lean periods, and how they affect both MFIs and participating borrowers. The findings of this study have important policy implications for MFIs and policy-makers of the developing countries.
A Second Course in Analysis (HBA Lecture Notes in Mathematics)
by M. Ram MurtyThis book discusses major topics in measure theory, Fourier transforms, complex analysis and algebraic topology. It presents material from a mature mathematical perspective. The text is suitable for a two-semester graduate course in analysis and will help students prepare for a research career in mathematics. After a short survey of undergraduate analysis and measure theory, the book highlights the essential theorems that have now become ubiquitous in mathematics. It studies Fourier transforms, derives the inversion theorem and gives diverse applications ranging from probability theory to mathematical physics. It reviews topics in complex analysis and gives a synthetic, rigorous development of the calculus of residues as well as applications to a wide array of problems. It also introduces algebraic topology and shows the symbiosis between algebra and analysis. Indeed, algebraic archetypes were providing foundational support from the start. Multivariable calculus is comprehended in a single glance through the algebra of differential forms. Advanced complex analysis inevitably leads one to the study of Riemann surfaces, and so the final chapter gives the student a hint of these motifs and underlying algebraic patterns.
A Second Course in Complex Analysis
by William A. VeechA clear, self-contained treatment of important areas in complex analysis, this text is geared toward upper-level undergraduates and graduate students. The material is largely classical, with particular emphasis on the geometry of complex mappings.Author William A. Veech, the Edgar Odell Lovett Professor of Mathematics at Rice University, presents the Riemann mapping theorem as a special case of an existence theorem for universal covering surfaces. His focus on the geometry of complex mappings makes frequent use of Schwarz's lemma. He constructs the universal covering surface of an arbitrary planar region and employs the modular function to develop the theorems of Landau, Schottky, Montel, and Picard as consequences of the existence of certain coverings. Concluding chapters explore Hadamard product theorem and prime number theorem.