Data-analytic approaches to regression problems, arising from many scientific disciplines are described in this book. The aim of these nonparametric methods is to relax assumptions on the form of a regression function and to let data search for a suitable function that describes the data well. The use of these nonparametric functions with parametric techniques can yield very powerful data analysis tools. Local polynomial modeling and its applications provides an up-to-date picture on state-of-the-art nonparametric regression techniques. The emphasis of the book is on methodologies rather than on theory, with a particular focus on applications of nonparametric techniques to various statistical problems. High-dimensional data-analytic tools are presented, and the book includes a variety of examples. This will be a valuable reference for research and applied statisticians, and will serve as a textbook for graduate students and others interested in nonparametric regression.

China Pop is a highly original and lively look at the ways that contemporary China is changing. Jianying Zha, hailed by The Nation as 'incisive, witty and eloquent all at once,' examines a wide range of developments largely unknown to Western readers: the careful planning of television soap operas to placate popular unrest after Tiananmen, the growth of the sex tabloid and pornography industries, and the politics of censorship and commercial success of the film directors Chen Kaige (Farewell My Concubine) and Zhang Yimou (Ju Dou and Raise the Red Lantern).

La storia di Yang Jiang riguarda l'esperienza di rieducazione in campagna, sua e di suo marito: Quian Zhogshu, tentata negli anni della rivoluzione culturale. La narrazione si concentra su piccoli episodi della vita quotidiana, dove i lavori a cui ciascuno era destinato, pulizia del cortile, dei bagni, lavori domestici, dovevano avere un fine pedagogico. Ma, alla resa dei conti, il risultato era relativo. '... in fondo a me stessa, continuavo a sentirmi la coscienza pulita... I colpi, gli insulti, le umiliazioni, non erano riusciti a piegarmi.'

Provides exercises for self-healing and psychospiritual growth using meditation and visualization and shows us why letting go of the past is necessary in order to achieve lasting health and harmony