The Application of Neural Networks to the Pricing of Credit Derivatives

The present paper deals with a new approach to the pricing of credit derivatives, which are innovative financial instruments able to immunize a securities portfolio from the default risk of the issuers, using neural networks. After an essential analysis of the most important topics inherent to these nonlinear statistical instruments, particular emphasis, due to their diffusion, has been put on the characters of Credit Default Swaps and on the particularities of the structural and reduced form approaches proposed for their analysis. In the final part of the paper the effectiveness of neural networks in approximating the evaluation of credit derivatives and in improving the timing in the default prevision is illustrated.

IRS-TR 12001: Spectral Pointing-Induced Throughput Error and Spectral Shape in Short-Low Order 1

We investigate how the shape of a spectrum in the Short-Low module on the IRS varies with its overall throughput, which depends on how well centered a source is in the spectroscopic slit. Using flux ratios to quantify the overall slope or color of the spectrum and plotting them vs. the overall throughput reveals a double-valued function, which arises from asymmetries in the point spread function. We use this plot as a means of determining which individual spectra are valid for calibrating the IRS.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure

Implementation and Evaluation of the Enhanced Header Compression (IPHC) according to 6LoWPAN Network

6LoWPAN defines how to carry Ipv6 packet over IEEE 802.15.4 low power wireless or sensor networks. Limited bandwidth, memory and energy resources require a careful application of Ipv6 in a LoWPAN network. The aim is to develop personal networks, mainly sensor based, that can be integrated to the existing wellknow network infrastructure by reusing mature and wideused technologies. IPv6 has been chosen as network protocol because its characteristics fit to the problematic that characterize LoWPAN environment such as the large number of nodes to address and stateless address autoconfiguration. However, an IPv6 header compression algorithm is necessary in order to reduce the overhead and save space in data payload. In fact, the IEEE 802.15.4 standard defines an MTU of 128 bytes that decrease to 102 bytes considering the frame overhead, a further reduction is due to the network and transport protocols frame overhead that, in case of Ipv6 and UDP, allow to carry only 33 bytes for application data. The aim of this work is to describe and compares the proposed Ipv6 header compression mechanisms for 6LoWPAN environments

Development of teaching-learning sequences on quantum physics for the Italian secondary school

In the past 15 years, quantum mechanics has been included in most secondary school standards, including the Italian ones, but still in a rather marginal way. The conceptual complexity of quantum mechanics is often a hurdle for students as well as for teachers; as a consequence, most teachers and textbooks opt for narrative/historical approaches which, however, are not sufficient to grasp the deepest conceptual aspects of quantum physics, nor to deal with its technological applications. Teaching quantum physics in secondary school is therefore a challenge that calls for a close collaboration between physics teachers and physics education researchers. The goal of this work is to develop and test research-based teaching-learning sequences (TLS) based on the study of relevant literature in physics education research and on a survey to be conducted with secondary school teachers. More specifically, the thesis work will include the following phases. A review of the literature on the teaching and learning of quantum mechanics, with particular reference to the proposals developed in the Italian context. A survey with a sample of secondary school physics teachers aimed at understanding the needs and difficulties of teaching quantum mechanics. On the basis of the literature and of the results of the survey, development of a teaching-learning sequence (TLS) on quantum mechanics for the fifth year of the Italian “liceo scientifico”. Testing and evaluation of the TLS in a real classroom context

The labor movement at the American University in Cairo: strikes, associations, and institutional change

This thesis is an ethnography of the labor movement at the American University in Cairo (AUC). I examine the major changes in the relationship between the workers and the university beginning in 2010. I first narrate the series of strikes that were carried out by the workers in October 2010, September 2011, and April 2012. Throughout this narration I analyze how contention and political opportunities define each strike\u27s tactics and level of success. Additionally I look at how the strikes changed the way in which the workers can pursue grievances at the university. Second, I look at how the Independent syndicate competes with the older, more established state affiliated syndicate in an effort to gain support and have more influence with AUC. Finally, I look at how the workers themselves perceive their work, as well as the two syndicates. As an ethnographic study of the independent syndicate and the workers at AUC, this research adds to the literature on labor struggle in Egypt, but situated within the context of a private university

Rule 60(b)(4): When the Courts of Limited Jurisdiction Yield to Finality

It is basic hornbook law—affirmed by courts across time and space repeatedly and unequivocally—that subject-matter jurisdiction cannot be waived. However, in the context of a Rule 60(b)(4) motion seeking relief from a void final judgment after the time for appeal has expired, the onerous standard of review used by courts causes subject-matter jurisdiction to be practically—and frequently—waived in favor of the finality of the judgment. While an onerous standard is tolerable where the court issuing the judgment explicitly found subject-matter jurisdiction, an onerous standard is unacceptable where the court did not do so in light of the federal courts’ limited jurisdiction, and the normal standard for subject-matter jurisdiction used during litigation should be applied