This book provides a coherent framework for understanding shrinkage estimation in statistics. The term refers to modifying a classical estimator by moving it closer to a target which could be known a priori or arise from a model. The goal is to construct estimators with improved statistical properties. The book focuses primarily on point and loss estimation of the mean vector of multivariate normal and spherically symmetric distributions. Chapter 1 reviews the statistical and decision theoretic terminology and results that will be used throughout the book. Chapter 2 is concerned with estimating the mean vector of a multivariate normal distribution under quadratic loss from a frequentist perspective. In Chapter 3 the authors take a Bayesian view of shrinkage estimation in the normal setting. Chapter 4 introduces the general classes of spherically and elliptically symmetric distributions. Point and loss estimation for these broad classes are studied in subsequent chapters. In particular, Chapter 5 extends many of the results from Chapters 2 and 3 to spherically and elliptically symmetric distributions. Chapter 6 considers the general linear model with spherically symmetric error distributions when a residual vector is available. Chapter 7 then considers the problem of estimating a location vector which is constrained to lie in a convex set. Much of the chapter is devoted to one of two types of constraint sets, balls and polyhedral cones. In Chapter 8 the authors focus on loss estimation and data-dependent evidence reports. Appendices cover a number of technical topics including weakly differentiable functions; examples where Stein’s identity doesn’t hold; Stein’s lemma and Stokes’ theorem for smooth boundaries; harmonic, superharmonic and subharmonic functions; and modified Bessel functions.
Praise for Executive Roadmap to Fraud Prevention and InternalControl "Our nation is faced with dual alarming trends of record highs inwhite-collar crime and seemingly record lows in ethics. Thesolution cannot be left only to legislators, regulators, and lawenforcement. It requires the attention of all of us in business tocreate a culture of compliance. This new book by Martin Biegelmanand Joel Bartow is an invaluable resource to achieving the highestlevels of compliance." --Kenneth J. Hunter, former chief postal inspector andformer president & CEO of the Council of Better BusinessBureaus "This is a timely and thought-provoking addition to fraud and riskmanagement literature. For seasoned executives who are navigatingthe maze of compliance, legislative requirements, and increasinglysophisticated criminal activity, this book will be a frequentreference and guide. Neophyte managers will gain years of insightand direction that can only benefit their organizations. Academics,both faculty and students, will learn from the authors' ability toapply theory to high-level practice." --Gary R. Gordon, EdD, Professor of Economic CrimeManagement and Executive Director, Economic Crime Institute ofUtica College "All executives need to protect themselves and their organizationsfrom the potentially catastrophic damage fraud can cause, bothfinancially and reputationally. This new book is a very clear andpractical guide to achieving that goal." --Toby J. F. Bishop, President and Chief Executive Officer,Association of Certified Fraud Examiners "This book is a must-read for anyone eager to understand--andprevent--the toxic mix of temptations that can destroy a company'sreputation overnight. The authors, both seasoned former fraudinvestigators, bring a unique, clear-eyed perspective to the topicof corporate fraud. They have seen it all, and their book is aninvaluable reference for senior management, compliance executives,in-house lawyers, and anyone else who cares about corporateintegrity." --Leslie R. Caldwell, Partner, Morgan Lewis & Bockiusformer director, U.S. Department of Justice Enron Task Force "Excellent resource! A great guide for corporate management in thepost-Enron world." --Karen A. Popp, Partner, Sidley Austin Brown & Wood LLPand former associate counsel to President Bill Clinton and formerfederal prosecutor
Written by a long-standing practitioner in the field, this timely and critical work is your best source for understanding all the complex issues and requirements associated with corporate compliance. It provides clear guidance for those charged with protecting their companies from financial and reputational risk, litigation, and government intervention, who want a robust guide to establish an effective compliance program.
At 07.30 hours on 1 July 1916, the devastating cacophony of the Allied artillery fell silent along the front on the Somme. The ear-splitting explosions were replaced by the shrill sound of hundreds of whistles being blown. At that moment, tens of thousands of British soldiers climbed out from the trenches on their part of the Western Front, and began to make their way steadily towards the German lines opposite. It was the first day of the Battle of the Somme.By the end of the day, a number of the regiments involved had met with some degree of success; others had suffered heavy losses for no gain, whilst a few quite literally ceased to exist. That day, the old infantry tactics of the British Army clashed head-on with the reality of modern warfare. On what is generally accepted as the worst day in the British Armys history, there were more than 60,000 casualties a third of them fatal.In this publication, the authors have drawn together, for the first time ever, all the War Diary entries for 171 British Regiments that went over the top that day a day that even now still touches so many families both in the United Kingdom and around the world. The result will be a vital work of reference to the events of 1 July 1916, a valuable information source for not only for those interested in military history, but genealogists and historians alike.
Given the immense progress achieved in elucidating protein-protein complex structures and in the field of protein interaction modeling, there is great demand for a book that gives interested researchers/students a comprehensive overview of the field. This book does just that. It focuses on what can be learned about protein-protein interactions from the analysis of protein-protein complex structures and interfaces. What are the driving forces for protein-protein association? How can we extract the mechanism of specific recognition from studying protein-protein interfaces? How can this knowledge be used to predict and design protein-protein interactions (interaction regions and complex structures)? What methods are currently employed to design protein-protein interactions, and how can we influence protein-protein interactions by mutagenesis and small-molecule drugs or peptide mimetics?The book consists of about 15 review chapters, written by experts, on the characterization of protein-protein interfaces, structure determination of protein complexes (by NMR and X-ray), theory of protein-protein binding, dynamics of protein interfaces, bioinformatics methods to predict interaction regions, and prediction of protein-protein complex structures (docking and homology modeling of complexes, etc.) and design of protein-protein interactions. It serves as a bridge between studying/analyzing protein-protein complex structures (interfaces), predicting interactions, and influencing/designing interactions.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Perfect for fans of A Song of Ice and Fire and HBO’s Game of Thrones—an epic history of Westeros and the lands beyond, featuring hundreds of pages of all-new material from George R. R. Martin! If the past is prologue, then George R. R. Martin’s masterwork—the most inventive and entertaining fantasy saga of our time—warrants one hell of an introduction. At long last, it has arrived with The World of Ice & Fire. This lavishly illustrated volume is a comprehensive history of the Seven Kingdoms, providing vividly constructed accounts of the epic battles, bitter rivalries, and daring rebellions that lead to the events of A Song of Ice and Fire and HBO’s Game of Thrones. In a collaboration that’s been years in the making, Martin has teamed with Elio M. García, Jr., and Linda Antonsson, the founders of the renowned fan site Westeros.org—perhaps the only people who know this world almost as well as its visionary creator. Collected here is all the accumulated knowledge, scholarly speculation, and inherited folk tales of maesters and septons, maegi and singers, including • full-color artwork and maps, with more than 170 original pieces • full family trees for Houses Stark, Lannister, and Targaryen • in-depth explorations of the history and culture of Westeros • 100% all-new material, more than half of which Martin wrote specifically for this book The definitive companion piece to George R. R. Martin’s dazzlingly conceived universe, The World of Ice & Fire is indeed proof that the pen is mightier than a storm of swords.
Not a week goes by when identity theft isn t mentioned in the media or that a Congressional outcry isn t heard about this unrelenting crime. The first authoritative book on identity theft, Identity Theft Handbook is written by a career professional who has spent over 25 years investigating and preventing identity theft in both the public and private sectors. Its rich real-world content includes interviews with government and private sector thought leaders. As well, the costs of identity theft, future trends, and prevention guidance is discussed. For investigators, auditors, and managers.
Repeated measures data arise when the same characteristic is measured on each case or subject at several times or under several conditions. There is a multitude of techniques available for analysing such data and in the past this has led to some confusion. This book describes the whole spectrum of approaches, beginning with very simple and crude methods, working through intermediate techniques commonly used by consultant statisticians, and concluding with more recent and advanced methods. Those covered include multiple testing, response feature analysis, univariate analysis of variance approaches, multivariate analysis of variance approaches, regression models, two-stage line models, approaches to categorical data and techniques for analysing crossover designs. The theory is illustrated with examples, using real data brought to the authors during their work as statistical consultants.
TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis 336: Road Safety Audits examines the state of the practice of road safety audit (RSA) and road safety audit review applications for U.S. states and Canadian provinces. This synthesis also reviews international RSA practices. RSAs were first introduced in the United Kingdom more than 20 years ago and have been applied in New Zealand and Australia since the 1990s.
Culminating a decade of conferences that have explored presidential speech, The Prospect of Presidential Rhetoric assesses progress and suggests directions for both the practice of presidential speech and its study. In Part One, following an analytic review of the field by Martin Medhurst, contributors address the state of the art in their own areas of expertise. Roderick P. Hart then summarizes their work in the course of his rebuttal of an argument made by political scientist George Edwards: that presidential rhetoric lacks political impact. Part Two of the volume consists of the forward-looking reports of six task forces, comprising more than forty scholars, charged with outlining the likely future course of presidential rhetoric, as well as the major questions scholars should ask about it and the tools at their disposal. The Prospect of Presidential Rhetoric will serve as a pivotal work for students and scholars of public discourse and the presidency who seek to understand the shifting landscape of American political leadership.
This is the story of a special type of men and women, those who seek to return to society a portion of the good fortune they have earned and received in their own lives. They are called Lions and, since 1917, have actively engaged in constructing an organization that has evolved into one of the world’s most powerful forces for humanitarian progress: The International Association of Lions Clubs. It is today comprised of nearly 1.3 million members in over 45,000 Lions clubs active in 202 lands spanning the globe. They speak scores of languages and represent diversified cultures. In spirit, however, they speak a common language, the language of voluntary service, responding to an inner drive to answer human needs and to improve living conditions in their own communities and the world community. This book expands upon the history of Lions Clubs International, published in 1991 as “We Serve: The History of the Lions Clubs.” It chronicles the development of the association from its birth in 1917 at Chicago’s LaSalle Hotel in June of that year and at its first convention at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas later in October. It relates 90 years of the association’s life span and emphasizes the work of Lions on the world scene, including the tremendous success of the Lions Clubs International Foundation, SightFirst, Campaigns SightFirst I and II, programs for youth, and other activities that have elevated the stature of Lions wherever they serve. Readers will be impressed with the accomplishments of the membership and Lions will be moved to take greater pride in wearing the lapel pin of the association. Non-Lions will come to understand fully the ideals and determination of those to whom voluntary service has become a way of life.
Martin and Jurik provide a clear body of evidence illuminating the gendered nature of criminal justice occupations. Of the multitude of feminist works on this topic, this is one of the best analyses available." —CRIMINAL JUSTICE REVIEW Doing Justice, Doing Gender: Women in Legal and Criminal Justice Occupations is a highly readable, sociologically grounded analysis of women working in traditionally male dominant justice occupations of law, policing, and corrections. This Second Edition represents not only a thorough update of research on women in these fields, but a careful reconsideration of changes in justice organizations and occupations and their impact on women′s justice work roles over the past 40 years. New to the Second Edition: Introduces a wider range of workplace diversity and experiences: An expanded sociological theoretical framework grasps the interplay of gender, race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation in understanding workplace identities and inequities. Provides a better understanding of the centrality of gender issues to understanding the legal and criminal justice system in general: This edition further connects women′s work experiences to social trends and consequent changes in legal system and in criminal justice agencies. Offers a more international perspective: More material is included on women lawyers, police, and correctional officers in countries outside the U.S. Intended Audience: This is an excellent supplemental text for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses such as Gender & Work; Women and Work; Sociology of Work and Occupations; Women and the Criminal Justice System; and Gender Justice in the departments of Sociology, Criminal Justice, Women′s Studies, and Social Work.
A New Approach to Sound Statistical ReasoningInferential Models: Reasoning with Uncertainty introduces the authors' recently developed approach to inference: the inferential model (IM) framework. This logical framework for exact probabilistic inference does not require the user to input prior information. The authors show how an IM produces meaning
Discover New Methods for Dealing with High-Dimensional DataA sparse statistical model has only a small number of nonzero parameters or weights; therefore, it is much easier to estimate and interpret than a dense model. Statistical Learning with Sparsity: The Lasso and Generalizations presents methods that exploit sparsity to help recover the underl
TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis 325: Significant Findings from Full-Scale Accelerated Pavement Testing documents and summarizes the findings from the various experimental activities associated with full-scale accelerated pavement testing programs.
TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis 319: Bridge Deck Joint Performance presents the state of the practice on commonly used expansion joint systems in bridges by summarizing performance data for each system type and by providing examples of selection criteria and design guidelines.
The novel contains imagined lives that achieve a kind of meaning and intensity our own lives do not. Out of the novelist's moral imagination--the breadth and depth of his awareness of human motivations, tensions, and complexities--emerge fictional persons through whom we learn to read ourselves. This eloquent book, exploring fictional lives in crucial moments of choice and change, stresses both their difference from and their deep connections with life. Martin Price writes here about ways in which character has been conceived and presented in the novels of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Beginning with chapters that cogently argue the artistic value of character, Price then deals with the different forms character has taken in individual novels. His first discussions center on authors--Jane Austen, Stendhal, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, and Leo Tolstoy--who define individuals by their adherence or opposition to social norms. The next chapters deal with novelists for whom the moral world is largely internalized. The characters of Henry James, Joseph Conrad, D.H. Lawrence, and E.M. Forster live in society and act upon it, but the authors are particularly concerned with the confusions, terrors, and heroism that lie within consciousness. The last chapter uses novels about the artist by James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and Thomas Mann in order to apprehend the process by which experience is transformed into art. Avoiding both formalistic and moralistic extremes, this new book by a distinguished critic helps us recover a fuller sense of literary form and the forms of life from which it emerges.
This paper reports findings from a literature survey to learn about the performance of infant industries in less developed countries. Remarkably little direct evidence was uncovered about the costs and benefits of developing these industries. But the findings indicate that infant firms have experienced relatively slow productivity growth. Thus many infants started some time ago apparently have so far failed to achieve international competitiveness. The findings suggest tentative conclusions about the causes of the failure. Insufficient productivity growth to achieve and maintain competitiveness seems to reflect the absence of sustained efforts to acquire and use the capabilities necessary for continuous technological change. Far more than stemming from experience alone, these capabilities appear to increase to needed levels only through consciously allocating resources to acquire them.
This book is a completely revised new edition of the definitive reference on disorders of hemoglobin. Authored by world-renowned experts, the book focuses on basic science aspects and clinical features of hemoglobinopathies, covering diagnosis, treatment, and future applications of current research. While the second edition continues to address the important molecular, cellular, and genetic components, coverage of clinical issues has been significantly expanded, and there is more practical emphasis on diagnosis and management throughout. The book opens with a review of the scientific underpinnings. Pathophysiology of common hemoglobin disorders is discussed next in an entirely new section devoted to vascular biology, the erythrocyte membrane, nitric oxide biology, and hemolysis. Four sections deal with α and β thalassemia, sickle cell disease, and related conditions, followed by special topics. The second edition concludes with current and developing approaches to treatment, incorporating new agents for iron chelation, methods to induce fetal hemoglobin production, novel treatment approaches, stem cell transplantation, and progress in gene therapy.
All over the world, small mysteries unfold from the seeds of ordinary human emotions--envy, anger, worry, lust, even love. Small mysteries in which are wrapped small crimes, that emerge when solved, to burst into plain sight like poison pollen. The 1980's were a heady decade for the mystery story. Here are the best of that decade."--Jacket
The true story of the Mona Lisa - the people behind it, how Leonardo painted it and what it meant to him, and its fortunes in the centuries since. Read this book and the world's most famous image will never look the same again.
Long considered an urban phenomenon, industrialization also transformed the American countryside. Lou Martin weaves the narrative of how the relocation of steel and pottery factories to Hancock County, West Virginia, created a rural and small-town working class--and what that meant for communities and for labor. As Martin shows, access to land in and around steel and pottery towns allowed residents to preserve rural habits and culture. Workers in these places valued place and local community. Because of their belief in localism, an individualistic ethic of "making do," and company loyalty, they often worked to place limits on union influence. At the same time, this localism allowed workers to adapt to the dictates of industrial capitalism and a continually changing world on their own terms--and retain rural ways to a degree unknown among their urbanized peers. Throughout, Martin ties these themes to illuminating discussions of capital mobility, the ways in which changing work experiences defined gender roles, and the persistent myth that modernizing forces bulldozed docile local cultures. Revealing and incisive, Smokestacks in the Hills reappraises an overlooked stratum of American labor history and contributes to the ongoing dialogue on shifts in national politics in the postwar era.
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