birkhäuser birkhäuser apr 2012 (74 Ergebnisse)

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Geometrie der Tone ist die aktualisierte und ausgearbeitete Fassung einer interdisziplinaren Vorlesung iiber Mathematische Musiktheorie an der Universitat Ziirich im akademischen Jahr 1986/87. Das Buch richtet sich an einen breiten, interessierten Leserkreis, der sich iiber den Status quo dieser Theorie ein Bild mach en mochte. Es wird da her grosste Sorgfalt und Zuriickhaltung geiibt in der Entwicklung des mathematischen Formalismus. Das zentrale Anliegen der Theorie ~ die Vermittlung zwischen musikalischer Form und ihrer Bedeutung ~ bleibt stets im Mittelpunkt der Darstellung. Der Status quo der Mathematischen Musiktheorie (MaMuTh) ist das Resultat einer zehnjahrigen Forschungsperiode, in welcher die Durchdringung und Verwebung systematischer Musikwissenschaft mit der Sprache, den Methoden und den Erkenntnissen der modernen Ma thematik angestrebt wurde. Besonderes Gewicht erhalt die Geome trisierung abstrakter Sachverhalte. ~ Musik erweist sich in diesem U nternehmen als das im Vieldeutigen Bestimmte und darin als Ge genstand, welcher den Paradigmen heutiger Mathematik in natiirli cher Weise entspricht. Die MaMuTh macht der Musikwissenschaft eine prazise, anschauliche und undogmatische Sprache verfiigbar, welche in ihrer Universalitat keine Einschrankung des kulturellen oder histori schen Blickwinkels impliziert, sondern vielmehr durch Spezialisierung der allgemeinen Techniken eine Varietat adaquater Perspektiven an bietet. XIV Vorwort Uber eine im Zeitalter der Computertechnologie iiberfaJlige sprachlich-formale Fundierung hinaus kann von der MaMuTh als ei ner Theorie gesprochen werden, die - wie die Physik zur materiellen Natur - Modelle zum Phiinomen Musik der menschlichen Natur be reitstellt.Springer Basel AG in Springer Science + Business Media, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin 384 pp. Deutsch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Das Unendliche hat wie keine andere Frage von jeher so tief das Gemüt der Menschen bewegt,' das Unendliche hat wie kaum eine andere Idee auf den Verstand so an regend und fruchtbar gewirkt,' das Unendliche ist aber auch wie kein anderer Begriff so der Aufklärung bedürftig. HILBERT [226, p. 163] Etwas mehr als 100 Jahre sind vergangen, seit in den Mathemati schen Annalen der sechste und letzte Teil von CANTORS fundamenta ler Arbeit Über unendliche lineare Punktmannichfaltigkeiten erschie nen ist. Damit war die Mengenlehre geboren und mit ihr eine prinzipiell neue Auffassung des Unendlichen in der Mathematik, verkörpert in CANTORS Theorie der transfiniten Zahlen. Diese Theo rie hat HILBERT als «die bewundernswerteste Blüte mathematischen Geistes und überhaupt eine der höchsten Leistungen rein verstandes mäßiger menschlicher Tätigkeit» bezeichnet. Anfangs unbeachtet oder abgelehnt, zu Ende des vorigen Jahrhunderts zunehmend anerkannt und verwendet, durch die Ent deckung der Antinomien erneut erschüttert, ist die Mengenlehre in ihrer heutigen axiomatisierten Gestalt eines der Fundamente der Mathematik. Die Tatsache, daß alle mathematischen Begriffe auf mengentheoretische Begriffe zurückgeführt werden können, hat ei nige Autoren sogar zu der Behauptung veranlaßt, die gesamte Ma thematik sei letztendlich mit der Mengenlehre identisch. Wenn uns allerdings eine solche Ansicht als eine ungerechtfertigte Überbeto nung des Formalen gegenüber dem Inhaltlichen erscheint, so ist doch unbestritten, daß die mengentheoretische Durchdringung der Mathematik neben der Entstehung des strukturellen Denkens und der Verwendung der axiomatischen Methode ein Wesenszug der mo dernen Mathematik ist. Das hat in zahlreichen Ländern bis in denSchulunterricht hinein gewirkt.Springer Basel AG in Springer Science + Business Media, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin 268 pp. Deutsch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This second edition of A Beginner¿s Guide to Finite Mathematics: For Business, Management, and the Social Sciencestakes a distinctly applied approach to finite mathematics at the freshman and sophomore level. Topics are presented sequentially: the book opens with a brief review of sets and numbers, followed by an introduction to data sets, histograms, means and medians. Counting techniques and the Binomial Theorem are covered, which provide the foundation for elementary probability theory; this, in turn, leads to basic statistics. This new edition includes chapters on game theory and financial mathematics.Requiring little mathematical background beyond high school algebra, the text will be especially useful for business and liberal arts majors for study in the classroom or for self-study. Its straightforward treatment of the essential concepts in finite mathematics will appeal to a wide audience of students and teachers.Springer Basel AG in Springer Science + Business Media, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin 500 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -A solution to the protein folding problem has eluded researchers for more than 30 years. The stakes are high. Such a solution will make 40,000 more tertiary structures available for immediate study by translating the DNA sequence information in the sequence databases into three-dimensional protein structures. This translation will be indispensable for the analy sis of results from the Human Genome Project, de novo protein design, and many other areas of biotechnological research. Finally, an in-depth study of the rules of protein folding should provide vital clues to the protein fold ing process. The search for these rules is therefore an important objective for theoretical molecular biology. Both experimental and theoretical ap proaches have been used in the search for a solution, with many promising results but no general solution. In recent years, there has been an exponen tial increase in the power of computers. This has triggered an incredible outburst of theoretical approaches to solving the protein folding problem ranging from molecular dynamics-based studies of proteins in solution to the actual prediction of protein structures from first principles. This volume attempts to present a concise overview of these advances. Adrian Roitberg and Ron Elber describe the locally enhanced sam pling/simulated annealing conformational search algorithm (Chapter 1), which is potentially useful for the rapid conformational search of larger molecular systems.Springer Basel AG in Springer Science + Business Media, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin 596 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Optical networks epitomize complex communication systems, and they comprise the Internet¿s infrastructural backbone. The first of its kind, this book develops the mathematical framework needed from a control perspective to tackle various game-theoretical problems in optical networks. In doing so, it aims to help design control algorithms that optimally allocate the resources of these networks.With its fresh problem-solving approach, 'Game Theory for Control of Optical Networks' is a unique resource for researchers, practitioners, and graduate students in applied mathematics and systems/control engineering, as well as those in electrical and computer engineering.Springer Basel AG in Springer Science + Business Media, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin 276 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Quantization of physical systems requires a correct definition of quantum-mechanical observables, such as the Hamiltonian, momentum, etc., as self-adjoint operators in appropriate Hilbert spaces and their spectral analysis. Though a ¿naïve¿ treatment exists for dealing with such problems, it is based on finite-dimensional algebra or even infinite-dimensional algebra with bounded operators, resulting in paradoxes and inaccuracies. A proper treatment of these problems requires invoking certain nontrivial notions and theorems from functional analysis concerning the theory of unbounded self-adjoint operators and the theory of self-adjoint extensions of symmetric operators.Self-adjoint Extensions in Quantum Mechanics begins by considering quantization problems in general, emphasizing the nontriviality of consistent operator construction by presenting paradoxes of the naïve treatment. The necessary mathematical background is then built by developing the theory of self-adjoint extensions. Through examination of various quantum-mechanical systems, the authors show how quantization problems associated with the correct definition of observables and their spectral analysis can be treated consistently for comparatively simple quantum-mechanical systems. Systems that are examined include free particles on an interval, particles in a number of potential fields including delta-like potentials, the one-dimensional Calogero problem, the Aharonov¿Bohm problem, and the relativistic Coulomb problem.This well-organized text is most suitable for graduate students and postgraduates interested in deepening their understanding of mathematical problems in quantum mechanics beyond the scope of those treated in standard textbooks. The book may also serve as a useful resource for mathematicians and researchers in mathematical andtheoretical physics.Springer Basel AG in Springer Science + Business Media, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin 528 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -Zoonosen sind Krankheiten bzw. Infektionen, die auf natürlichem Weg direkt oder indirekt zwischen Menschen und Tieren übertragen werden können. Mit Zoonoseerregern kontaminierte Lebensmittel stellen eine wichtige Infektionsquelle für den Menschen dar. Beim Zoonosen-Monitoring werden repräsentative Daten über das Auftreten von Zoonoseerregern in Lebensmitteln, Futtermitteln und lebenden Tieren erfasst, ausgewertet und veröffentlicht. Weiterhin dient das Zoonosen-Monitoring der Überwachung von Antibiotikaresistenzen bei Zoonoseerregern und anderen Mikroorganismen.Springer Basel AG in Springer Science + Business Media, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin 60 pp. Deutsch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -Unter dem Einflu/3 der Lehre von den Herderkrankungen sind un zahlige Zahne mit und ohne Pulpen gezogen worden. Dabei konnte immer wieder beobachtet werden, da/3 schon der Verlust eines einzelnen Zahnes im Restgebi/3 weitreichende Storungen des biostatischen Gleich gewichtes verursachen kann. Das ist ein entschiedener Nachteil der Extraktionstherapie. Xun ist in den letzten Jahren von verschiedenen Forschern wissen schaftlich einwandfrei gezeigt worden, da/3 es moglich ist, kariose Zahne mit Pulpen und auch pulpalose Zahne durch geeignete Behandlung zu erhalten, ohne da/3 sie fur den Organismus eine Gefahr bilden. Ver die Erhaltung des einzelnen Zahnes als wichtiges Glied des Gesamtgebisses anstrebt, mu/3 diese Behandlungsmethoden beherrschen. Das vorliegende Buch befa/3t sich mit der zahnarztlichen Kronen prothetik, d. h. mit der Erhaltung stark zerstOrter Zahne durch kunst liche Kronen. Es bringt eine beschrankte Zahl von Kronen zur Dar stellung, die sich unter jahrelanger funktioneller Beanspruchung im Munde bewahrt haben. Die Studierenden der Zahnheilkunde und die praktizierenden Zahn arzte finden prazise Angaben uber die Indikation und Kontraindikation der verschiedenen Kronenarten, ferner Richtlinien fUr die operative Zurichtung der vorbehandelten Kronenstumpfe und Wurzeln sowie fUr den weiteren Arbeitsgang, soweit er im Munde des Patienten durchzu fUhren ist. Zudem hat auch das Wesentliche in bezug auf die technische Herstellung der kunstlichen Kronen Aufnahme gefunden. Fur freundliche Hilfe bei der Herstellung der Photographien und Zeichnungen spreche ich Fraulein G. Havrlik, R6ntgenassistentin, und Herrn A. Zweili, Zeichenlehrer, meinen Dank aus. Dem Verlag Birkhauser, Basel, danke ich fUr die sorgfaltige Drucklegung. GOTTLIEB VEST.Springer Basel AG in Springer Science + Business Media, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin 300 pp. Deutsch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Unter dem Einflu/3 der Lehre von den Herderkrankungen sind un zahlige Zahne mit und ohne Pulpen gezogen worden. Dabei konnte immer wieder beobachtet werden, da/3 schon der Verlust eines einzelnen Zahnes im Restgebi/3 weitreichende Storungen des biostatischen Gleich gewichtes verursachen kann. Das ist ein entschiedener Nachteil der Extraktionstherapie. Xun ist in den letzten Jahren von verschiedenen Forschern wissen schaftlich einwandfrei gezeigt worden, da/3 es moglich ist, kariose Zahne mit Pulpen und auch pulpalose Zahne durch geeignete Behandlung zu erhalten, ohne da/3 sie fur den Organismus eine Gefahr bilden. Ver die Erhaltung des einzelnen Zahnes als wichtiges Glied des Gesamtgebisses anstrebt, mu/3 diese Behandlungsmethoden beherrschen. Das vorliegende Buch befa/3t sich mit der zahnarztlichen Kronen prothetik, d. h. mit der Erhaltung stark zerstOrter Zahne durch kunst liche Kronen. Es bringt eine beschrankte Zahl von Kronen zur Dar stellung, die sich unter jahrelanger funktioneller Beanspruchung im Munde bewahrt haben. Die Studierenden der Zahnheilkunde und die praktizierenden Zahn arzte finden prazise Angaben uber die Indikation und Kontraindikation der verschiedenen Kronenarten, ferner Richtlinien fUr die operative Zurichtung der vorbehandelten Kronenstumpfe und Wurzeln sowie fUr den weiteren Arbeitsgang, soweit er im Munde des Patienten durchzu fUhren ist. Zudem hat auch das Wesentliche in bezug auf die technische Herstellung der kunstlichen Kronen Aufnahme gefunden. Fur freundliche Hilfe bei der Herstellung der Photographien und Zeichnungen spreche ich Fraulein G. Havrlik, R6ntgenassistentin, und Herrn A. Zweili, Zeichenlehrer, meinen Dank aus. Dem Verlag Birkhauser, Basel, danke ich fUr die sorgfaltige Drucklegung. GOTTLIEB VEST. 300 pp. Deutsch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Der Band enthalt Manuskripte zu Vortragen, die auf einer von den Herausgebern geleiteten Tagung tiber 'Numerische Methoden der Approximationstheorie' am Mathematischen Forschungsinstitut Ober wolfach in der Zeit vom 18. -24. Januar 1981 gehalten wurden. Das Spektrum der Vortrage reichte von der klassischen Approximations theorie tiber mehrdimensionale Approximationsverfahren bis hin zu praxisbezogenen Fragestellungen. Zu den zuerst genannten Gebieten gehorten z. B. die Verfeinerung von Fehlerabschatzungen bei der Polynominterpolation, Fragen zur Eindeutigkeit, Charakterisierung optimaler Interpolationsprozesse und Algorithmen zur rationalen Interpolation. Bei den weiteren genannten Gebieten spiegel ten zahlreiche Vortrage das steigende Interesse an der mehrdimensio nalen Interpolation, insbesondere mit verschiedenen Arten von Splines wider. Hier standen u. a. Probleme der Parameterschatzung in der Medizin und Flugtechnik, Fragen der Approximationstheorie bei der Konstruktion von Plottern und stabile Algorithmen beim Arbeiten mit mehrdimensionalen B-Splines im Mittelpunkt des Interesses. Die Tagung lieferte einen reprasentativen Ueberblick tiber die aktuellen Trends in der Approximationstheorie. Zum guten Erfolg der Tagung trug wie immer die hervorragende Be treuung durch die Mitarbeiter und Angestellten des Instituts so-' wie das verstandnisvolle Entgegenkommen des Institutsdirektors, Herrn Professor Dr. Barner, bei. Un serer besonderer Dank gilt dem Birkhauser Verlag ftir die wie stets sehr gute Ausstattung. Helmut Werner Lothar Collatz Gtinther Meinardus Hamburg Mannheim Bonn 7 INDEX Blatt, H. -P. Strenge Eindeutigkeitskonstanten und Fehlerabschatzungen bei linearer Tschebyscheff-Approximation 9 Bohmer, K. Polynom- und Spline-Interpolation (Ein Farbfilm) 26 Brannigan, M. A Multivariate Adaptive Data Fitting Algorithm 30 Brass, H. Zur numerischen Berechnung konjugierter Funktionen 43 Bultheel, A. 268 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Destructive plate margin magmagenesis is one of the most intensely studied and widely debated topics in the earth sciences at present. Calc-alkaline volcanic and plutonic rocks in orogenic settings exhibit such a diversity of composition and character that the subducted oceanic lithosphere, the overlying 'enriched' lithospheric mantle and the lower continental crust all have been advocated recently as the primary source region for island-arc and continental-margin basaltic to andesitic magmas. The role of the upper continental crust is also a matter of continuing controversy. It is clear that crustal contamination is a common, but not universal, feature of destructive plate margin magmatism. Whether this contamination is introduced at source by subduction-related processes or occurs during magma transit by bulk anatexis and magma mixing, selective contamination or coupled fractional crystallization-assimilation mechanisms is central to most current discussions of andesite petrogenesis. This book presents a series of papers which directly address these and other important geological and geochemical problems within the context of the Mesozoic-Cenozoic calc-alkaline magmatism characteristic of the Andean Cordillera of western South America. Although it is aimed primarily at postgraduate students and researchers familiar with the Andes, it is also a useful general reference for workers in other fields who wish to gain an insight into current thoughts, ideas and speculations on 'andesitic' magmatism at destructive plate margins. 264 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The present volume contains manuscripts of lectures or topics related to the lectures which were given at the conference on 'Inverse Problems' at the mathematical Research Institute at Oberwolfach. The conference took place during the week of May 18-24, 1986, and was managed by the editors. Recalling Professor Joseph Keller's paper entitled Inverse Problems, American Mathematical Monthly, 83 (1976), we give two direct quotes. 'We call two problems inverses of one another if the formulation of each involves all or part of the solution of the other. Often, for historical reasons, one of the two problems has been studied extensively for some time, while the other is newer and not so well understood. In such cases, the former is called the direct problem, while the latter is called the inverse problem. ' 'The main sources of inverse problems are science and engineering. Often these problems concern the determination of the properties of some inaccess ible regions from observations on the boundary of that region. ' Often, inverse problems are not well posed. This increases the difficulty in their analysis and numerical solution. As can be seen from the table of content of this volume, the conference covered inverse problems in scattering theory, seismology, tomography, estimation of coefficients and source terms in parabolic and elliptic differential equations, the inverse Sturm-Liouville problem, and numerical methods. The editors wish to thank Professor M. Barner and his co-workers of the Mathematical Research Institute for their help in creating the conference. 196 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -About 80 scientists from allover the world have gathered at the Parc Valrose Scientific Campus of Nice -Sophia Antipolis University, for the 5th UNESCO International Conference on 'Water and Ions in Biornolecular Systems', to present and discuss current problems in the field. The Conference proceedings comprise selected and reviewed contributions of invited plenary lectures, lectures and posters presentations which cover all the Biophysical sectors of research on the following three major topics : \* Water, Ions and Nucleic Acids \* Water, Ions and Membranes \* Water, Ions and Proteins The organizers of the 5th UNESCO International Conference on 'Water and Ions in Biomolecular Systems' have obtained financial support from various sponsors. They would like to express their appreciation and gratitude to these organizations for the valuable moral and financial support which has made the arrangement of these Conference in Nice possible. The Meeting has been sponsored by : \* United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization \* The University of Nice -Sophia Antipolis \* D. R. E. T. (Defence Ministery) \* Conseil General des Alpes Maritimes \* Ville de Nice \* The International Union of BiochernistIy \* The International Union of Pure and Applied Biophysics \* Banque Nationale de Paris \* Air Liquide \* Nice Congres The Executive Committee, Professors J. JAZ, B. PULLMAN and D.Springer Basel AG in Springer Science + Business Media, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin 304 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -Proteases, Protease-Derived Peptides and Protease Inhibitors Many physiological as weil as pathophysiological processes are mediated by proteases and the products of their actions, protease-derived peptides. However, the uncontrolled activity of proteases can be extraordinarily destructive and dangerous to normal biologie systems. As a result, biology has gone to great lengths to control the activities of the proteases involved in these systems by developing aseries of both highly specific (regulatory) and non-specific (protective) anti-proteases. The protease/anti-protease balancing activities include the normal homeostatic processes of clotting and clot lysis, hormonal regulation of blood pressure and the control of the inflammatory response represented by both the humoral (the kallikrein-kinin and complement systems) and cellular (neutrophil and macrophage derived proteases) components of the inflammation. Examples of successful therapies directed at these protease dependent systems include the use of warfarin and heparin to control thrombosis and streptokinase or tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) for the acceleration of clot dissolution. Similarly, the use of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE, a type of limited activity protease or peptidase) inhibitors has made a significant impact on the treatment of hypertension. Lastly, the restitution of normal antiprotease levels by the infusion of the purified protein in patients with genetic alpha-1-antiprotease deficiency is regularly being used to reduce the rate of lung function 1055 caused by the unopposed activity of human neutrophil elastase in these individuals.Springer Basel AG in Springer Science + Business Media, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin 260 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -SOLOMON H. SNYDER Receptor Research Reaches Neurology: Relevance to Neurodegenerative Diseases and Stroke President George Bush has heralded the 1990s as the decade of the brain, based largely on the rapid escalation of advances in the molecular neuro sciences and the likelihood that these will bear therapeutic fruit before the turn of the century. There is little doubt that the 1970s and 1980s have witnessed more remarkable advances in the molecular neurosciences than all of the preceding hundred years. Identification of receptor sites for drugs and neurotransmitters along with simple, sensitive, and specific means of monitoring them has made it possible to elucidate the mechanism of action for many known drugs and to identify new chemical entities as potential therapeutic agents. At the same time, the numbers of distinct neurotrans mitters have multiplied. Prior to 1970 only the biogenic amines were well accepted as transmitters. The early 1970s witnessed the gradual acceptance ofamino acids as major excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters. Identification of opiate receptors and the subsequent identification of the enkephalins as their endogenous ligands led to an appreciation of peptides as putative transmitters and the accumulation of as many as a hundred neuropeptides by the decade's end. In the 1980s the revolutions of molecular biology have been applied aggressively to the neurosciences with molecular cloning for neuropeptide precursors, many important neurochemical en zymes, and receptors for numerous transmitters.Springer Basel AG in Springer Science + Business Media, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin 384 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -It is well known that basic science can trigger an invention of considerable technological and commercial importance. Indeed basic science and invention are often inextricably linked, each being able to catalyse the other. To engender such developments it is important that there should be good communication between the scientist and the technologist. The field of membrane biotechnology is a growing field where such communication is increasingly taking place and where new inventions are occurring. This book provides an overview of this developing field. It contains chapters by scientist and technologists working in the field of Membrane Biotechnology. The chapters cover the latest advances in basic science as well as some recent technological applications. The basic topics include the application of dynamic X-ray diffraction to lipid water systems, FTIR spectroscopy applied to membrane proteins, fluorescent analogues of phosphoinositides, studies of platelet activating factor, antibody binding to model membranes and phospholipase C induced fusion. The technological topics described include the development of new haemocompatible materials based upon biomembrane mimicry, new lung surfactant materials, drug delivery systems including liposomes and the development of new biosensors including Langmuir Blodgett films. The meeting showed that there are many other useful applications in the pipeline. The potential for new polymeric drug delivery systems, of ion selective systems based on the knowledge of ion-channel protein structures, of new plastics for cell growth and cellular engineering for artificial organs. These are among the interesting developments that are emerging in this field.Springer Basel AG in Springer Science + Business Media, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin 356 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -Bronchial asthma is a disease with many unsolved problems and despite an increased availabili ty of anti-asthma drugs, morbidi ty and mortality from this disease are not improving. It is now recognized that asthma should be considered as a chronic inflammatory disease of the lung resulting in bronchial hyperreactivity and subsequent symptoms. The mechanisms underlying airways inflammation and bronchial hyperreactivity have now become a focal point of research in the quest for knowledge about how the management of this disease can be improved. Platelet activating factor (PAF-acether AGEPC) is a naturally occurring ether-linked phospholipid discovered in 1972 associated with IgE mediated allergic responses which has potent effects on platelet activation. PAF is now recognized as a molecule having a diverse range of biological effects relevant to allergic inflammation and asthma including the abili ty to induce long lasting airway inflammation and associated increases in bronchial reactivity. Certain activities of PAF are known to be secondary to platelets activation raising the possibility that this blood element plays a role in the pathogenesis of asthma.Springer Basel AG in Springer Science + Business Media, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin 264 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -The present volume contains manuscripts of lectures or topics related to the lectures which were given at the conference on 'Inverse Problems' at the mathematical Research Institute at Oberwolfach. The conference took place during the week of May 18-24, 1986, and was managed by the editors. Recalling Professor Joseph Keller's paper entitled Inverse Problems, American Mathematical Monthly, 83 (1976), we give two direct quotes. 'We call two problems inverses of one another if the formulation of each involves all or part of the solution of the other. Often, for historical reasons, one of the two problems has been studied extensively for some time, while the other is newer and not so well understood. In such cases, the former is called the direct problem, while the latter is called the inverse problem. ' 'The main sources of inverse problems are science and engineering. Often these problems concern the determination of the properties of some inaccess ible regions from observations on the boundary of that region. ' Often, inverse problems are not well posed. This increases the difficulty in their analysis and numerical solution. As can be seen from the table of content of this volume, the conference covered inverse problems in scattering theory, seismology, tomography, estimation of coefficients and source terms in parabolic and elliptic differential equations, the inverse Sturm-Liouville problem, and numerical methods. The editors wish to thank Professor M. Barner and his co-workers of the Mathematical Research Institute for their help in creating the conference.Springer Basel AG in Springer Science + Business Media, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin 196 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -The main part of this paper concerns Toeplitz operators of which the symbol W is an m x m matrix function defined on a disconnected curve r. The curve r is assumed to be the union of s + 1 nonintersecting simple smooth closed contours rOo r ¿. . . ¿ rs which form the positively l oriented boundary of a finitely connected bounded domain in t. Our main requirement on the symbol W is that on each contour rj the function W is the restriction of a rational matrix function Wj which does not have poles and zeros on rj and at infinity. Using the realization theorem from system theory (see. e. g . ¿ [1]. Chapter 2) the rational matrix function Wj (which differs from contour to contour) may be written in the form 1 (0. 1) W . (A) = I + C. (A - A. f B. A E r J J J J J where Aj is a square matrix of size nj x n¿ say. B and C are j j j matrices of sizes n. x m and m x n . ¿ respectively. and the matrices A. J x J J and Aj = Aj - BjC have no eigenvalues on r . (In (0. 1) the functions j j Wj are normalized to I at infinity.Springer Basel AG in Springer Science + Business Media, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin 424 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -1. Endothelins.- 2. Bradykinin.- 3. Tachykinins and Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide.- 4. Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide.- 5. Atrial Natriuretic Peptides.- 6. Platelet-Derived Growth Factor, Transforming Growth Factor- and Connective Tissue Growth Factor.- 7. Voltage-Dependent and Receptor-Operated Calcium Channels.- 8. High Conductance Calcium-Activated Potassium Channels.- 9. Adenosine Triphosphate-Activated Potassium Channels.- 10. Sodium/Potassium/Chloride Co-Transport.- 11. Sodium/Hydrogen Exchange.- 12. Sodium/Potassium-Dependent Adenosine Triphosphatase.Springer Basel AG in Springer Science + Business Media, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin 292 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -The past decade has seen a resurgence of interest in the study of the asymp totic behavior of sums formed from an independent sequence of random variables. In particular, recent attention has focused on the interaction of the extreme summands with, and their influence upon, the sum. As ob served by many authors, the limit theory for sums can be meaningfully expanded far beyond the scope of the classical theory if an 'intermediate' portion (i. e. , an unbounded number but a vanishingly small proportion) of the extreme summands in the sum are deleted or otherwise modified (''trimmed',). The role of the normal law is magnified in these intermediate trimmed theories in that most or all of the resulting limit laws involve variance-mixtures of normals. The objective of this volume is to present the main approaches to this study of intermediate trimmed sums which have been developed so far, and to illustrate the methods with a variety of new results. The presentation has been divided into two parts. Part I explores the approaches which have evolved from classical analytical techniques (condi tionin~, Fourier methods, symmetrization, triangular array theory). Part II is Msed on the quantile transform technique and utilizes weak and strong approximations to uniform empirical process. The analytic approaches of Part I are represented by five articles involving two groups of authors.Springer Basel AG in Springer Science + Business Media, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin 428 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -Among the various theories proposed to account for the process of aging, the free radical theory is of practical interest since it includes the possibility of retarding this process by administrating natural or synthetic antioxidants and free radical scavengers. The book 'Free Radicals and Aging' summarizes knowledge accumulated during recent years in 42 reviews written by experts in the field. Aspects of free radical involvement in the intrinsic aging process and in age-related diseases, as well as the importance of the pro-antioxidant balance throughout life are discussed. Epidemiological studies from several European countries are reported showing correlations between low plasma levels of essential antioxidants and the occurence of coronary heart disease, cancer and cataract formation. Appropriate nutrition as well as prophylactic and therapeutic use of antioxidants are considered. This book represents a milestone in the field of age-related free radical biology and medicine. With contributions by: A. Azzi, B. Chance, R.G. Cutler, H. Esterbauer, P.H. Evans, F. Gey, C. Guarneri, D. Harman, N.I. Krinsky, M. Meydani, J. Miquel, A. Mori, L. Packer, C. Rice-Evans, M. Simic, A. Taylor, T. Yoshikawa.Springer Basel AG in Springer Science + Business Media, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin 456 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -Table des Matieres.- Expos¿¿1: Vari¿ de modules de fibr¿stables sur une surface de Riemann: r¿ltats d¿Atiyah et Bott.- Expos¿¿2: Construction de la vari¿ de modules des fibr¿vectoriels stables sur une courbe alg¿ique lisse.- Expos¿¿3: Cohomologie du groupe de jauge.- Expos¿¿4: Filtration de Harder-Narasimhan et stratification de Shatz.- Expos¿¿5: Calcul de la cohomologie de N(r,d).Springer Basel AG in Springer Science + Business Media, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin 140 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -The doctrine of computer life is not congenial to many people. Often they have not thought in any depth about the idea, and it necessarily disturbs their psychological and intellectual frame of reference: it forces a reappraisal of what it is to be alive, what it is to be human, and whether there are profound, yet un expected, implications in the development of modern com puters. There is abundant evidence to suggest that we are wit nessing the emergence of a vast new family of life-forms on earth, organisms that are not based on the familiar metabolic chemistries yet whose manifest 'life credentials' are accumulating year by year. It is a mistake to regard biology as a closed science, with arbitrarily limited categories; and we should agree with Jacob (1974) who observed that 'Contrary to what is imagined, biology is not a unified science'. Biology is essentially concerned with living things, and we should be reluctant to assume that at anyone time our concept and understanding of life are complete and incapable of further refinement. And it seems clear that much of the continuing refinement of biological categories will be stimulated by advances in systems theory, and in particular by those advances that relate to the rapidly expanding world of computing and robotics. We should also remember what Pant in (1968) said in a different context: 'the biological sciences are unrestricted . . . and their investigator must be prepared to follow their problems into any other science whatsoever.Springer Basel AG in Springer Science + Business Media, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin 252 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware Springer Basel AG in Springer Science + Business Media, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin 660 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -The Twenty-First International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) was held in Kyoto, Japan, from August 21 through 29, 1990, the first congress that has taken place in the Eastern hemisphere. On this occasion, Japanese historians of mathe matics organized the History of Mathematics Symposium which was held at the Sanjo Conference Hall of the University of Tokyo on August 31 and September 1, as one of the related conferences of the Congress. The symposium was officially sponsored by the Executive Committee of the ICM 90, the History of Science So ciety of Japan, and the International Commission on the History of Mathematics. The Executive Committee consisted of Murata Tamotsu (Chairperson, Momoyama Gakuin University), Sugiura Mitsuo (Vice-Chairperson, Tsuda College), Sasaki Chikara (Secretary, The University of Tokyo), Adachi Norio (Waseda University), Nagaoka Ryosuke (Tsuda College until 1990, now Daito Bunka University), and Hirano Yoichi (Treasurer, Tokai University). The symposium emphasized the following three fields of study: (1) mathe matical traditions in the East, (2) the history of modern European mathematics, and (3) interaction between mathematical research and the history of mathemat ics. These fields were chosen mainly because, first, the symposium was related to the ICM, the most important congress of working mathematicians, and, second, the Kyoto ICM was held in a non-Western country for the first time. The sym posium consisted of the two Sessions: Session A for invited speakers and Session B for short communications.Springer Basel AG in Springer Science + Business Media, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin 276 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -The Indian National. Science Academy has planned to bring out monographs on special topics with the aim of providing acce~sible surveys/reviews of topics of current research in various fields. Prof. S. K. Malik, FNA, Editor of Publications INSA asked me in October 1997 to edit a volume on algebra in this series. I invited a number of algebraists, several of them working in group rings, and it is with great satisfaction and sincere thanks to the authors that I present here in Algebra: Some Recent Advances the sixteen contributions received in response to my invitations. I. B. S. Passi On Abelian Difference Sets K. r Arasu\* and Surinder K. Sehgal 1. Introduction We review some existence and nonexistence results - new and old - on abelian difference sets. Recent surveys on difference sets can be found in Arasu (1990), Jungnickel (1992a, b), Pott (1995), Jungnickel and Schmidt (1997), and Davis and Jedwab (1996). Standard references for difference sets are Baumert (1971), Beth et al. (1998), and Lander (1983). This article presents a flavour of the subject, by discussing some selected topics. Difference sets are very important in combinatorial design theory and in commu nication engineering while designing sequences with good correlation properties. Our extended bibliography covers a wide variety of papers written in the area of difference sets and related topics.Springer Basel AG in Springer Science + Business Media, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin 260 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -Brannigan, M. A Multivariate Adaptive Data Fitting Algorithm 30 Brass, H. Zur numerischen Berechnung konjugierter Funktionen 43 Bultheel, A.Springer Basel AG in Springer Science + Business Media, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin 268 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -Since the appearance of photosynthesis on our planet, all living organisms have been facing a new abundant, extremely reactive element, oxygen. This element is used for the synthesis of highly energetic compounds, but can also generate molecules capable of damaging constituents of living structures, including proteins, nucleic acids and lipids. It is therefore no surprise that all biological organisms have evolved multiple and sophisticated ways to reduce the detrimental effects of oxygen. For cells and tissues of highly organized animals, particularly cells of the immune system, superoxidation products play an important role, via oxidative stress, in activation, inflammation and viral and bacterial infections. We must be grateful to Drs. C. Pasquier, C. Auclair, L. Packer and R. Olivier for having brought together many specialists in an international meeting held in Paris in March 1993, at the Ministry of Research. This book comprises an impressive amount of recent knowledge, a real mine for the reader in this fast developing field of research. Furthermore, we should not forget that this basic research may lead in the future to new therapeutic approaches to the most important pathologies of the latter part of this century, including AIDS.Springer Basel AG in Springer Science + Business Media, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin 380 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -The present book grew out of lecture notes prepared for a 'Cours du troisieme cycle de la Suisse Romande', 1983 in Lausanne. The original notes are considerably extended and brought up to date. In fact the book offers at many instances completely new derivations. Half-way between textbook and research monograph we believe it to be useful for students in elementary particle physics as well as for research workers in the realm of supersymmetry. In writing the book we looked back not only on ten years of super symmetry but also on ten years of our own life and work. We realize how deeply we are indebted to many friends and colleagues. Some shared our efforts, some helped and encouraged us, some provided the facili ties to work. Their list comprises at least C. Becchi, S. Bedding, P. Breitenlohner, T. E. Clark, S. Ferrara, R. Gatto, M. Jacob, W. Lang, J. H. Lowenstein, D. Maison, H. Nicolai, J. Prentki, A. Rouet, H. Ruegg, M. Schweda, R. Stora, J. Wess, W. Zimmermann, B. Zumino. During the last ten years we had the privilege to work at CERN (Geneva), Departement de Physique Theorique (University of Geneva), Institut fUr Theoretische Physik (University of Karlsruhe) and at the Max-Planck-Institut fUr Physik und Astrophysik (Munich) for which we are most grateful. Grate fully acknowledged is also the support we received by 'the Swiss National Science Foundation' (O. P. ), the 'Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft' (Heisenberg-Fellowship; K. S. ).Springer Basel AG in Springer Science + Business Media, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin 364 pp. Englisch.