Control of Spatially Structured Random Processes and Random Fields with Applications (Nonconvex Optimization and Its Applications)

Book Description

This book is devoted to the study and optimization of spatiotemporal stochastic processes, that is, processes which develop simultaneously in space and time under random influences. These processes are seen to occur almost everywhere when studying the global behavior of complex systems, including:

- Physical and technical systems

- Population dynamics

- Neural networks

- Computer and telecommunication networks

- Complex production networks

- Flexible manufacturing systems

- Logistic networks and transportation systems

-Environmental engineering

Climate modelling and prediction

Earth surface models

Classical stochastic dynamic optimization forms the framework of the book. Taken as a whole, the project undertaken in the book is to establish optimality or near-optimality for Markovian policies in the control of spatiotemporal Markovian processes. The authors apply this general principle to different frameworks of Markovian systems and processes. Depending on the structure of the systems and the surroundings of the model classes the authors arrive at different levels of simplicity for the policy classes which encompass optimal or nearly optimal policies. A set of examples accompanies the theoretical findings, and these examples should demonstrate some important application areas for the theorems discussed.

Book Description

Cather Studies 6 is part of a growing body of scholarship that seeks to undo Willa Cather’s longstanding reputation as a writer who remained aloof from the cultural issues of her day. This chronologically arranged collection demonstrates that Cather found the subject of war both unavoidable, because of her position in history, and artistically irresistible. The volume begins with an essay addressing the American Civil War as part of Cather’s southern cultural inheritance and concludes with an account of the aging writer’s participation in the Armed Services Editions Program of World War II.

Military matters surface not only in One of Ours and The Professor’s House, Cather’s two major contributions to the literature of World War I, but in most of her other works as well, including My Ántonia, in which the Plains Indian Wars and the Spanish-American conflict of 1898 are subtly but significantly evoked, and Sapphira and the Slave Girl, Cather’s largely ironic contribution to the genre of southern “Lost Cause” fiction. Containing essays by leading Cather scholars, such as Ann Romines and Janis Stout, and work by specialists in war literature, whose inclusion expands the number and range of critical perspectives, this volume breaks new ground.

Memory and Myth: The Civil War in Fiction and Film from Uncle Tom's Cabin to Cold Mountain

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Memory and Myth: The Civil War in Fiction and Film from Uncle Tom's Cabin to Cold Mountain

Manufacturer: Purdue University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

History & Criticism | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1557534403

Book Description

Memory and Myth is an interdisciplinary study of the Civil War and its enduring impact on American writers and filmmakers. Its twenty-five chapters are all concerned, in one way or another, with creative responses to the Civil War, and the ways in which artists have sought to make sense of the war and to convey their findings to succeeding generations of readers and filmgoers. The book also examines the role of movies and television in transmuting the historical memories of the Civil War into durable, ever-changing myths.

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It's refreshing to see a sleuth story based around a character who doesn't professionally sleuth.
A very good stand-alone from Ms. Delany.
interesting Canadian amateur sleuth thriller

Burden of Memory
Vicki Delany
Manufacturer: Poisoned Pen Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1590582667

Book Description

Elaine Benson, a successful novelist who let love in the person of an unreliable screenwriter jettison her career, is now divorced, broke, and come to a "primitive, untamed northern forest" on Lake Muskoka to interview for a job. Elderly Miss Moira Madison of the fabulously rich Canadian family wishes to write her memoirs.

Miss Madison isn't interested in a bestseller. She wants to leave a record of her life and most specifically of her years with the Canadian Army Nursing Sisters of World War II. Her service in the British and then European theater was filled with triumphs and bitter losses and forever shaped her life. Can Elaine tell her story working with decades of old documents?

Settling into the family "cottage" and what remains of a lifestyle long gone, Elaine reconnects with her love of researching the past. But somehow her project--she soon discovers the first writer hired oddly drowned in the Lake--stirs someone to murder. . . .

Customer Reviews:

It's refreshing to see a sleuth story based around a character who doesn't professionally sleuth........2006-11-05

Vicki Delany's BURDEN OF MEMORY presents Elaine, a successful novelist who has failed in the uncertain world of a screenwriter's career and is now interviewing for a job in a remote rural area with an elderly rich woman who needs a writer to help her with her memoirs. It's not until she's hired that Elaine discovers the writer before her died a mysterious death: a death she too may be facing because of her position. It's refreshing to see a sleuth story based around a character who doesn't professionally sleuth.

A very good stand-alone from Ms. Delany........2006-09-29

Elaine Benson is picking up the pieces of her professional life by helping the rich, elderly, and very independent Moira Madison write her memoirs. Elaine is getting over a husband who left her for a bimbo, after convincing her to give up her own career as a historian in favor of his career as a possible screenwriter.

Moira Madison wants to write mostly about her experiences as A Canadian Army Nursing Sister in World War II, and then her experiences around the world after the War. BURDEN OF MEMORY switches back and forth between present day Canada on Lake Muskoka and Moira's various experiences in England, Africa, and Italy. It will come as no surprise to the average reader that events from the past will not stay there, and the repercussions will come close to destroying Moira's extended family.

One of Delany's skills lies in her writings about setting, about place. Her love of the more untamed areas of Canada shines throughout BURDEN, and she can bring the heat of northern Africa off the page just as eloquently. Delany's characters are very believable; she knows, or seems to know, so much about the mindset of the truly wealthy. Their seeming invulnerability to the harsh realities the rest of the world must deal with is clearly played out for us.

BURDEN OF MEMORY is Delany's second novel; this is not a series. Read this, and you'll likely want to track down SCARE THE LIGHT AWAY. Delany's sophomore effort is well done, and leaves no doubt about her talents as a mystery writer.

interesting Canadian amateur sleuth thriller .......2006-07-05

Elaine Benson wrote two highly regarded biographies of pioneer Canadian women when she fell in love and married. Her husband persuaded her that the money is in screenplays so they teamed up with Elaine doing the research. However, Elaine obtained a divorce and left Hollywood for Toronto and applied for the job of writing the true story of wealthy elderly Miss Moira Madison. She obtains the position, but learns that Donna Smithton had the job for one week before accidentally drowning in nearby Lake Muskoka.

Moira, as she prefers to be called, fears that the talented Elaine will uncover family secrets from the war days that she does not want revealed. Instead Moira prefers most of the bio to be concentrated on her work with the Canadian Army Nursing Sisters of World War II. However, Elaine, who moves into a nearby cottage, begins to uncover questions that link the so called accidental drowning by Donna to events during the late 1930s and early 1940s. Someone will kill to insure that certain secrets remain buried. She wonders if the man she recently met in Moira's home and is half in love with, Alan Manners, is behind the attempts to keep secrets hidden.

This is an interesting Canadian amateur sleuth thriller that works because Elaine is believable as she has the skills to analyze documents and uncover secrets. Her inquiries start off innocently but as she begins to comprehend what she is digging up, danger mounts and she ponders who to trust including those she cares about like her client and Alan. BURDEN OF MEMORY uses some flashbacks to tell the backdrop WWII story, but whether it is past or present Vicki Delaney provides a wonderful cozy.

Harriet Klausner

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Worth the time?
Haunting!
Beautifully written, but not what I expected
Duped!
Difficult to get into

A Memory of War: A Novel
Frederick Busch
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: B0007XAX20

Book Description

A multilayered love story that affirms Frederick Busch's reputation as a writer of "sublimely dark work of almost unbearable beauty" (Wall Street Journal).

Psychologist Alexander Lescziak savors a life of quiet sophistication on Manhattan's Upper West Side, turning a blind eye to the past of his Polish émigré parents. Then a new patient declares that he is the doctor's half-brother, the product of a union between Lescziak's Jewish mother and a German prisoner of war. The confrontation jolts Lescziak out of his complacency: suddenly, his failing marriage, his wife's infatuation with his best friend, and the disappearance of his young lover and suicidal patient, Nella, close in on him. Lescziak escapes into the recesses of his imagination, where his mother's affair with the German prisoner comes to life in precise, gorgeous detail. The novel unfolds into a romance set in England's Lake District in wartime, as Busch shows how our past presses on the present.

Customer Reviews:

Worth the time?.......2007-03-29

Perhaps this novel ends up with some redemptive message about relationships and the human condition. However, unless you don't mind wading through the sordid, you may never get to that message in this novel.

Haunting!.......2003-12-27

Perhaps I shouldn't marvel that someone would give this beautifully crafted book one star, but then again I think I understand. I was half-way through the book when my library called and told me they had The Da Vinci Code I'd requested two months earlier. I set aside Mr. Busch's work and dashed through Dan Brown's popular thriller. It was a gripping piece of fluff with about as much character development and attention to place as a cereal box. I enjoyed myself, but it was a delight to return to A Memory of War, and immerse myself once again in a master's meditation on memory and fallibility.

Alex is a disturbed soul whose life disintegrates before our eyes as he examines how we construct a sense of self out the memories and memorabilia of life. That the journey happens almost exclusively within his consciousness, wherein he recreates the history of his family as well as relationships with his psychotherapy clients, is perfectly sensible. For anyone who needs to have a narrative thread with carefully marked events to follow a story, Mr. Busch's meditation would be challenging indeed. The invitation is to suspend critical thought and go as the mind goes, hither and yon, from present moment to past and back again. Note your own mind sometimes and observe how often reverie intrudes on your awareness. A word in a conversation can transport you to other scenes, other moments with other people.

Nothing is neatly tied together in this beautiful book, yet Mr. Busch's characterizations are rich and haunting. This is the stuff of real life, of real struggle with coming to terms with loss, disappointment, longing, fear, confusion. I feel so much gratitude that I have encountered this author and look forward to reading more of his sumptuous prose. I'll still enjoy an occasional thriller, but cotton candy aside, it is wonderful to know where to find real literature when I seek something more than diversion. Five stars for this exceptional writing is easy!

Beautifully written, but not what I expected.......2003-09-26

I feel slightly guilty only giving A Memory of War four stars. Frederick Busch is a wonderful writer. I was disappointed by this book, but I think that is due to my faulty expectations. I selected it because I was intrigued by the plot and I enjoy literary historical fiction. The central concept is simple and compelling. Alex Lescziak is a New York psychoanalyst whose parents escaped from Poland and lived in England during World War II. One day a new patient reveals himself to be Alex's half brother, William Kessler. William's father Otto was a German prisoner of war who had an affair with Alex's mother Sylvia in England, while Alex was a toddler. There are two sub-plots. One revolves around Alex's wife, Liz,who he suspects is having an affair with his best friend, and the other involves one of his patients, Nella, with whom he is having an affair. She is suicidal and now missing.

I was expecting two narrative streams, one following events in the present (1985) and one actually telling the story of Sylvia and Otto. In fact, the reader experiences all of the characters through Alex's consciousness. We know the characters only through Alex's imagination. I really disliked this while I was reading the book. However, after finishing it, I find myself still thinking about Alex and all of the other characters. It turns out that I was able to accept the book on its own terms afterall. Busch convinced me that his was the "true" story, regardless of the facts. On one level it bothers me that the book offers a single perspective -- probably because I expected something different -- but it is strangely satifying anyway.

Duped!.......2003-09-20

Unlike the previous customer review, I stuck this thing out to the end. I wasted my time. I bought it bbecause it was purported to be about the Lake District in WWII, but it was hardly that. I've been to the Enlish Lake District many times, though I doubt Mr. Busch EVER has. He captures none of its Wordsworthian beauty. The back of the jacket has praise from people nobody's ever heard of, or certainly I haven't. Worse there is a picture of the author on the rear flap. Very smug, it seems to shout at the reader "Gotcha to pay money for this, didn't I?" The book is a mess, transitions absent, characters self-pitying, scenes wailing. I've read Mr. Busch before and liked him. Doubt, after this one, I ever will again. It was just an awful experience, esp. when my reading time is precious to me. JKC

Difficult to get into.......2003-07-17

I had a difficult time getting into, following, making sense of this book. I gave up on it at page 35. It was very disjointed, rather like the protagonist's mind, I suppose, but I couldn't follow it and lost interest.

Book Description

Narratives of Memory: British Writing of the 1940s identifies memory as a previously unexamined concern in both literary and popular writing of this period. Emphasizing the use of memory as a structural device and a theme, this book traces developments in narrative, especially the novel, during the war years and immediately after. Authors discussed include Margery Allingham, Elizabeth Bowen, Graham Greene, Patrick Hamilton and Denton Welch.

Writing War: Fiction, Gender, and Memory

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Writing War: Fiction, Gender, and Memory
Lynne Hanley
Manufacturer: University of Massachusetts Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Feminist Theory | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0870237489

All the Brave Promises: Memories of Aircraft Woman 2nd Class 2146391 (The Mary Lee Settle Collection)

Average customer rating:

Beautifully written memoir

All the Brave Promises: Memories of Aircraft Woman 2nd Class 2146391 (The Mary Lee Settle Collection)
Mary Lee Settle
Manufacturer: University of South Carolina Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Women | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

Aviation | Military | History | Subjects | Books

History | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1570031002

Customer Reviews:

Beautifully written memoir.......2003-01-07

Mary Lee Settle is an American writer who tells us of her experiences as a woman member of the RAF during WWII. Because of her wonderful literary ability, these stories are vivid and thought-provoking. They deal with the cultural differences, class differences, and wartime conditions she experienced. A memorable read - you'll never forget her confrontation with some of her fellow women RAF members or how she learned to understand them. Highly recommended.

Gay and Lesbian Literature Since World War II: History and Memory

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Gay and Lesbian Literature Since World War II: History and Memory

Manufacturer: Haworth Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Bookers: San Francisco Memories: A Novel

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a warm and vibrant novel
The Bookers: San Francisco Memories
The Bookers: San Francisco Memories: A Novel
Maureen B.
The Bookers: San Francisco Memories: A Novel

The Bookers: San Francisco Memories: A Novel
Don C Becker
Manufacturer: iUniverse, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 059541267X

Book Description

When nineteen-year-old Constance Connors, the beautiful and carefree Hawaiian-born daughter of an Episcopalian minister, meets a newly graduated West Point cadet, Second Lieutenant Joseph Booker, she's instantly smitten. But it's not long before she finds herself pregnant, married, and living in the bleak winter landscape of Fort Riley, Kansas, in 1934.

The Great Depression has engulfed the country. Desperately missing her family and her home, Constance suffers from an acute case of depression. But four years later Constance, her husband, and their three sons are transferred to the Presidio of San Francisco, California, a plum assignment in a city she will call home for the next sixty-five years.

Beginning in the late 1930s and progressing through the turn of the century, The Bookers: San Francisco Memories is the nostalgic saga of the highly blessed Booker family. Tracing the years from Constance and Joseph's marriage through their sons' childhoods and adulthoods, author Don C. Becker pens a warm tale of growing up and growing old in San Francisco. Full of over seven decades of love, laughter, and life, The Bookers captures the heart of the American imagination.

Customer Reviews:

a warm and vibrant novel .......2007-08-06

It is a challenge to create a vehicle through which an author can weave the characters he creates and the city he loves. Don Becker has done just that in The Bookers. His vibrant and clear memories of San Francisco and its architecture, culture and personality provide the stage for a loving tribute to his Constance Booker and the city where she raised three sons and loved three men. Though The Bookers is a work of fiction, readers will no doubt wonder how many events are based on Becker's own experiences. That conundrum compelled me to sail through the decades with Becker.

The Bookers: San Francisco Memories.......2007-07-27

The Bookers is entertaining, fun to read and creates a splendid plateau up to which a reader may ascend and gaze at the magnificent San Francisco landscape. I always enjoyed reading Don Becker's columns in the Journal of Commerce. Not only were they so well written but they, like the Bookers,had a warm human touch. The Bookers would make a terrific movie and, in my imagination, I have even cast it but not only with contemporary actors but past ones also. For instance, to Gregory Peck goes the role of Richard Hamblen, to Cary Grant, the role of Conrad Sutro, and to Katherine Hepburn, the lead role of Constance. I also pick Paul Newman to be Ken Thatcher.

The Bookers: San Francisco Memories: A Novel.......2007-06-21

From the pages of the Greenwich newspaper review: Following more than forty years in journalism, Greenwich resident Don C. Becker has written a novel, titled The Bookers: San Francisco Memories, that recounts the special times and places he's lived in.
The book follows three generations of a San Francisco family, with the youngest Booker son Dan, born in 1935, serving as narrator. It begins prior to World War II and tells of the wartime death of Lt. Col. Joseph Booker and his beautiful widow's problems and joys in raising three young sons on her own. It covers her romances and later marriages and follows the jobs, marriages and children of the sons themselves. It interweaves major events of the times, from the Vietnam War to the Cold War to the first bombing of the World Trade Center with Don Becker's experiences. For example, Dan Booker was in the World Trade Center when a truck bomb exploded in 1993, as was Becker who then worked as publisher of the Journal of Commerce.
The book is a nostalgic, entertaining and informative story that captures much of the twentieth century in America.

Maureen B........2007-06-20

The Bookers is engaging and heartwarming, a rare feel good book about a successful and interesting family spanning seven decades. You'll laugh, cry and learn a lot about a now by-gone era in magical San Francisco.

The Bookers: San Francisco Memories: A Novel.......2007-06-20

It is a real pleasure to read a book without special effects, super heroes or comic book story lines. This is a straight forward novel about fairly normal people trying to make their way through life in a real world. It is a tale about a family that a reader can actually relate to, a saga of a family with many blessings, but lots of problems and diverse outcomes. The story is set in beautiful San Francisco and spans nearly a hundred years of family life. What is really great about the characters is that in many cases they are fictionalized versions of real-life movers and shakers in "Baghdad by the Bay", to coin an old Herb Caen attribute for the City. Blended throughout the story line are the major political and life changing events that shaped all of our lives. The lives of the family members and the big events going on in the world create a harmonic symphony. Religion, politics, sex and adversity are all faced squarely and honestly in a way that most novels avoid. There is not much more that a reader can hope for in any book. This book, which, at some real level, is a "fictionalized" autobiography, shines. Enjoy the sunshine.

Civil War Memories: Nineteen Stories of Glory and Tragedy

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Civil War Memories: Nineteen Stories of Glory and Tragedy
S.T. Joshi
Manufacturer: Gramercy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

The unique anthology gathers nineteen works of fiction by a renowned group of writers who lived and worked in the Civil War era. These contemporary voices from the North and the South, male and female, in the war or observed first-hand, give this collection a rare sense of authenticity. Including authors Mark Twain, Henry James, Louisa May Alcott, Ambrose Bierce, Stephen Crane, Bret Harte, and more, each story reflects the writer's personal experience of the time, and will captivate readers--fans of literature and Civil War buffs alike--with riveting tales of battle, bravery, love, and tragedy.

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