springer jul 2004 (338 Ergebnisse)

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This volume contains the edited versions of some selected lectures delivered at the famous 'Schladming Winter School', devoted to 'Flavor Physics' in the present case. Flavor physics is one of the hot topics in contemporary elementary particle physics, because it relates to fundamental questions like the origin of masses, the size and strength of CP violation and the oscillations between various neutrino species. This volume will be useful for graduate students wishing to get more acquainted with the field as well as for lecturers in search of material for seminars of special lectures and courses in quantum field theory.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 228 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Data mining from traditional relational databases as well as from non-traditional ones such as semi-structured data, Web data, and scientific databases housing biological, linguistic, and sensor data has recently become a popular way of discovering hidden knowledge.This book on database support for data mining is developed to approaches exploiting the available database technology, declarative data mining, intelligent querying, and associated issues, such as optimization, indexing, query processing, languages, and constraints. Attention is also paid to the solution of data preprocessing problems, such as data cleaning, discretization, and sampling.The 16 reviewed full papers presented were carefully selected from various workshops and conferences to provide complete and competent coverage of the core issues. Some papers were developed within an EC funded project on discovering knowledge with inductive queries.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 344 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -We would like to present, with great pleasure, the rst volume of a new jo- nal, Transactions on Rough Sets. This journal, part of the new journal subline in the Springer-Verlag series Lecture Notes in Computer Science, is devoted to the entire spectrum of rough set related issues, starting from logical and ma- ematical foundations of rough sets, through all aspects of rough set theory and its applications, data mining, knowledge discovery and intelligent information processing, to relations between rough sets and other approaches to uncertainty, vagueness, and incompleteness, such as fuzzy sets, theory of evidence, etc. The rst, pioneering papers on rough sets, written by the originator of the idea,ProfessorZdzis lawPawlak,werepublishedintheearly1980s.Weareproud to dedicate this volume to our mentor, Professor Zdzis law Pawlak, who kindly enriched this volume with his contribution on philosophical, logical, and mat- matical foundations of roughset theory. In his paper Professor Pawlakshows all over again the underlying ideas of rough set theory as well as its relations with Bayes¿ theorem, con ict analysis, ow graphs, decision networks, and decision rules.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 420 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Stochastic geometry, based on current developments in geometry, probability and measure theory, makes possible modeling of two- and three-dimensional random objects with interactions as they appear in the microstructure of materials, biological tissues, macroscopically in soil, geological sediments etc. In combination with spatial statistics it is used for the solution of practical problems such as the description of spatial arrangements and the estimation of object characteristics. A related field is stereology, which makes possible inference on the structures, based on lower-dimensional observations. Unfolding problems for particle systems and extremes of particle characteristics are studied. The reader can learn about current developments in stochastic geometry with mathematical rigor on one hand and find applications to real microstructure analysis in natural and material sciences on the other hand.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 244 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This volume contains the papers selected for presentation at the 1st Conference onModelingDecisionsforArti cialIntelligence(MDAI2004),heldinBarcelona, Catalonia, August 2¿4, 2004. The aim of this conference was to provide a forum for researchers to discuss models for information fusion (aggregation operators) and decision, to examine computational methods and criteria for model selection and determination, and to stimulate their application in new contexts. Fifty-three papers were submitted to the conference, from 19 di erent co- tries. Each submitted paper was reviewed by at least two experts on the basis of technical soundness, originality, signi cance and clarity. Based on the review reports, 26 papers were accepted for publication in this volume. Additionally, this volume contains the plenary talks given at the conference. We would like to express our gratitude to the members of the program c- mittee as well as to all reviewers for their work. We thank Alfred Hofmann, from Springer-Verlag,who supported the publication of these proceedings in the LNAI series. The conference was supported by the Catalan Association for Arti cial Intelligence (ACIA), the European Society for Fuzzy Logic and Technology (EUSFLAT), the Japan Society for Fuzzy Theory and Intelligent Informatics (SOFT), the IEEESpanish Chapter,the Spanish Council for Scienti c Research (CSIC) and the Generalitat de Catalunya (AGAUR 2002XT 00111).Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 344 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The book contains a completely new presentation of classical results in the field of Lambda Calculus, together with new results. The text is unique in that it presents a new calculus (Parametric Lambda Calculus) which can be instantiated to obtain already known lambda-calculi. Some properties, which in the literature have been proved separately for different calculi, can be proved once for the Parametric one. The lambda calculi are presented from a Computer Science point of view, with a particular emphasis on their semantics, both operational and denotational.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 272 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Originating from a Dagstuhl seminar, the collection of papers presented in this book constitutes on the one hand a representative state-of-the-art survey of embodied artificial intelligence, and on the other hand the papers identify the important research trends and directions in the field.Following an introductory overview, the 23 papers are organized into topical sections on philosophical and conceptual issues information, dynamics, and morphology principles of embodiment for real-world applications developmental approaches artificial evolution and self-reconfigurationSpringer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 344 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This volume contains selected papers presented at the 12th International C- ference on Conceptual Structures, ICCS 2004, held in Huntsville Alabama, July 19¿23, 2004. The main theme of the conference, ¿Conceptual Structures at Work¿, was chosen to express our intention of applying conceptual structures for hum- centered practical purposes. That invites us to develop not only clear conceptual theories,butalsomethodstosupporthumansintheapplicationofthesetheories in their societies. Some promising steps in this direction are being taken, but the gap between the researchers working on a highly sophisticated level on one side and the practitioners in many elds of applications on the other side is usually di culttobridge.Someofushaveexperiencesinsuchpracticalcooperation,but we need more members of our community to be engaged in ¿real life problems¿. We all know that solutions of complex problems in practice require not only a well-developed formal theory, but also an understanding of the whole context of the given problems. To support our understanding we need general philo- phical methods as well as formal theories for the representation of fundamental structures in practice. We believe that our community has powerful tools and methodsforsuccessfulapplicationsinpractice,butthatwemustdevelopaforu m to present our results to a broader audience. First we must understand the s- ni cant developments in our own group, which has activities in many directions of research. 420 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This volume contains the contributed papers and invited talks presented at the 1stInternationalWorkshoponAlgorithmicAspectsofWirelessSensorNetworks (ALGOSENSORS 2004), which was held July 16, 2004, in Turku, Finland, - located with the 31st International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2004). Wireless ad hoc sensor networks have become a very important research subject due to their potential to provide diverse services in numerous appli- tions. The realization of sensor networks requires intensive technical research and development e orts, especially in power-aware scalable wireless ad hoc c- munications protocols, due to their unusual application requirements and severe constraints. On the other hand, a solid theoretical background seems necessary for sensor networks to achieve their full potential. It is an algorithmic challenge to achieve e cient and robust realizations of such large, highly dynamic, complex, n- conventional networking environments. Features, including the huge number of sensor devices involved, the severe power, computational and memory limi- tions, their dense deployment and frequent failures, pose new design, analysis and implementation challenges. This event is intended to provide a forum for researchers and practitioners to present their contributions related to all aspects of wireless sensor networks. Topics of interest for ALGOSENSORS 2004 were: ¿ Modeling of speci c sensor networks. ¿ Methods for ad hoc deployment. ¿ Algorithms for sensor localization and tracking of mobile users. ¿ Dynamic sensor networks. ¿ Hierarchical clustering architectures. ¿ Attribute-based named networks. ¿ Routing: implosion issues and resource management. ¿ Communication protocols. ¿ Media access control in sensornetworks. ¿ Simulators for sensor networks.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 216 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -With the rapid development of Web-based learning and new concepts like virtual cla- rooms, virtual laboratories and virtual universities, many issues need to be addressed. On the technical side, there is a need for effective technology for deployment of W- based education.On the learning side, the cyber mode of learning is very different from classroom-based learning. How can instructional developmentcope with this new style of learning On the management side, the establishment of the cyber university - poses very different requirements for the set-up. Does industry-university partnership provide a solution to addressing the technological and management issues Why do we need to standardize e-learning and what can we do already As with many other new developments, more research is needed to establish the concepts and best practice for Web-based learning. ICWL 2004, the 3rd International Conference on Web-Based Learning, was held at the Tsinghua University (Beijing, China) from August 8th to 11th, 2004, as a continued attempt to address many of the above-mentioned issues. Following the great successes of ICWL 2002 (Hong Kong) and ICWL 2003 (Australia), ICWL 2004 aimed at p- senting new progress in the technical, pedagogical, as well as management issues of Web-based learning. The conference featured a comprehensive program, including a tutorial session, a keynote talk, a main track for regular paper presentations, and an - dustrial track. We received 120 papers and accepted only 58 of them in the main track for both oral and poster presentations. 484 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware - In spite of the Challenger and Columbia disasters, the US Space Shuttle, which entered service in 1981, remains the most successful spacecraft ever developed. Conceived and designed as a reusable spacecraft to provide cheap access to low Earth orbit, and to supersede expendable launch vehicles, serving as the National Space Transportation System, it now coexists with a new range of commercial rockets. David Harland's definitive work on the Space Shuttle explains the scientific contribution the Space Shuttle has made to the international space programme, detailing missions to Mir, Hubble and more recently its role in the assembly of the International Space Station. This substantial revision to existing chapters and extension of 'The Space Shuttle', following the loss of Columbia, will include a comprehensive account of the run-up to resumption of operations and conclude with a chapter beyond the Shuttle, looking at possible future concepts for a partly or totally reusable space vehicle which are being considered to replace the Shuttle.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This is a Foreword by an archaeologist, not a conservator, but as Brad Rodgers says, ¿Conservation has been steadily pulled from archaeology by the forces of specialization¿(p. 3),andhewantstoremedythatsituationthroughthismanual. He seesthisworkasäcalltoactionforthenon-professionalconservator,¿permitting ¿curators, conservators, and archaeologists to identify artifacts that need prof- sional attention and, allow these professionals to stabilize most artifacts in their own laboratories with minimal intervention, using simple non-toxic procedures¿ (p. 5). It is the mission of Brad¿s manual to ¿bring conservation back into arch- ology¿ (p. 6). The degree of success of that goal depends on the degree to which archaeologists pay attention to, and put to use, what Brad has to say, because as he says, ¿The conservationist/archaeologist is responsible to make preparation for an artifact¿s care even before it is excavated and after its storage into the foreseeable future¿. . . a tremendous responsibility¿ (p. 10). The manual is a combination of highly technical as well as common sense methods of conserving wood, iron and other metals, ceramics, glass and stone, organicsandcomposits¿afarbetterguidetoartifactconservationthanwasava- able to me when I rst faced that archaeological challenge at colonial Brunswick Town, North Carolina in 1958¿a challenge still being faced by archaeologists today. The stage of conservation in 1958 is in dramatic contrast to the procedures Brad describes in this manual¿conservation has indeed made great progress. For instance,acommonprocedurethenwastoheattheartifactsredhotinafurnace¿a method that made me cringe.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 236 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This is a Foreword by an archaeologist, not a conservator, but as Brad Rodgers says, ¿Conservation has been steadily pulled from archaeology by the forces of specialization¿(p. 3),andhewantstoremedythatsituationthroughthismanual. He seesthisworkasäcalltoactionforthenon-professionalconservator,¿permitting ¿curators, conservators, and archaeologists to identify artifacts that need prof- sional attention and, allow these professionals to stabilize most artifacts in their own laboratories with minimal intervention, using simple non-toxic procedures¿ (p. 5). It is the mission of Brad¿s manual to ¿bring conservation back into arch- ology¿ (p. 6). The degree of success of that goal depends on the degree to which archaeologists pay attention to, and put to use, what Brad has to say, because as he says, ¿The conservationist/archaeologist is responsible to make preparation for an artifact¿s care even before it is excavated and after its storage into the foreseeable future¿. . . a tremendous responsibility¿ (p. 10). The manual is a combination of highly technical as well as common sense methods of conserving wood, iron and other metals, ceramics, glass and stone, organicsandcomposits¿afarbetterguidetoartifactconservationthanwasava- able to me when I rst faced that archaeological challenge at colonial Brunswick Town, North Carolina in 1958¿a challenge still being faced by archaeologists today. The stage of conservation in 1958 is in dramatic contrast to the procedures Brad describes in this manual¿conservation has indeed made great progress. For instance,acommonprocedurethenwastoheattheartifactsredhotinafurnace¿a method that made me cringe.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 232 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -From the preface:Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 340 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Cryptography is a key technology in electronic key systems. It is used to keep data secret, digitally sign documents, access control, and so forth. Users therefore should not only know how its techniques work, but they must also be able to estimate their efficiency and security. Based on courses taught by the author, this book explains the basic methods of modern cryptography. It is written for readers with only basic mathematical knowledge who are interested in modern cryptographic algorithms and their mathematical foundation. Several exercises are included following each chapter. This revised and extended edition includes new material on the AES encryption algorithm, the SHA-1 Hash algorithm, on secret sharing, as well as updates in the chapters on factoring and discrete logarithms.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 356 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware - Classicalexamples of moreand more oscillatingreal valued functions on a domain N of R are the functions u (x)=sin(nx)with x=(x ,.,x ) or the so-called n 1 1 n n+1 Rademacherfunctionson]0,1[,u (x)=r (x) = sgn(sin(2 x))(seelater3.1.4). n n They may appear as the gradients v of minimizing sequences (v ) in some n n n N variationalproblems. Intheseexamples,thefunctionu convergesinsomesenseto n ameasure µ on ×R, called Young measure. In Functional Analysis formulation, this is the narrow convergence to µ of the image of the Lebesgue measure on by ( ,u ( )). In the disintegrated form (µ ) ,the parametrized measure µ n captures the possible scattering of the u around . n Curiously if (X ) is a sequence of random variables deriving from indep- n n N dent ones, the n-th one may appear more and more far from the k rst ones as 2 if it was oscillating (think of orthonormal vectors in L which converge weakly to 0). More precisely when the laws L(X ) narrowly converge to some probability n measure , it often happens that for any k and any A in the algebra generated by X ,.,X , the conditional law L(X A) still converges to (see Chapter 9) 1 k n which means 1 C (R) (X ( ))dP( ) d b n P(A) A R or equivalently, denoting the image of P by ( ,X ( )), n X n (1l )d (1l )d[P ].

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware - The developmentsin the recent yearsof the potential theoryemphasized a classof functions larger than that of excessive functions (i.e. the positive superharmonic functionsfromtheclassicalpotentialtheoryassociatedwiththeLaplaceoper ator), namely the strongly supermedian functions. It turns out that a positive Borel function will be strongly supermedian if and only if it is the in mum of all its excessive majorants. Apparently, these functions have been introduced by J.F. Mertens and then they have been studied mainly by P.A. Meyer, G. Mokobodzki, D. Feyel and recently by P.J. Fitzsimmons and R.K. Getoor. The aimofthis bookisamongothersto developa potential theoryappropriate to this new class of functions. Although our methods are analytical, we present also the probabilistic counterparts from the Markov processes theory. The natural frame in which this theory is settled is given by a sub-Markovian resolvent of kernels on a Radon measurable space. After a possible extension of the space, such a resolvent becomes that one associated with a right process on a Radon topological space, not necessary locally compact and without existing a reference measure. Intimately related to the excessive functions we present certain basic tools of the theory: the Ray topology and compacti cation, the ne carrier and the reduction operation on measurable sets. We examine di erent types of negligible sets with respect to a nite measure :the -polar, -semipolar and -mince sets. We take advantage of the cone of potentials structure for both excessive functions and measures.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Constantin Carathéodory (Berlin 1873-1950 Munich) - Mathematics and Politics in Turbulent Times is a biography of a mathematician who became famous during his life, but has hitherto been ignored by historians for half a century after his death.In a thought-provoking approach, Maria Georgiadou devotes to Constantin Carathéodory all the attention such a personality deserves. With breathtaking detail and the appropriate scrutiny she elucidates his oeuvre, life and turbulent political/historical surroundings: descending from the Greek élite of Constantinople, Carathéodory graduated from the military school of Brussels, became engineer at the Assiout dam in Egypt and finally dedicated a life of effort to mathematics and education. He studied and embarked on an international academic career, haunted by wars, catastrophes and personal tragedies. Over the last years of his life, he stayed in Munich despite World War II, an ambiguous decision upon which the author sheds unprecedented light.Carathéodory's most significant mathematical contributions were to the calculus of variations, the theory of point set measure, and the theory of functions of a real variable, pdes, also to complex function theory.The interdisciplinarity of the text allows easy access for both scholars and readers with a general interest in mathematics, politics and history. The thoroughness of the author¿s research and evaluations is certain to leave everyone impressed and more knowledgeable.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 680 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Quantum mechanics was already an old and solidly established subject when the first edition of this book appeared in 1966. The context in which a graduate text on quantum mechanics is studied today has changed a good deal, however. In 1966, most entering physics graduate students had a quite limited exposure to quan tum mechanics in the form of wave mechanics. Today the standard undergraduate curriculum contains a large dose of elementary quantum mechanics, and often intro duces the abstract formalism due to Dirac. Back then, the study of the foundations by theorists and experimenters was close to dormant, and very few courses spent any time whatever on this topic. At that very time, however, John Bell's famous theorem broke the ice, and there has been a great flowering ever since, especially in the laboratory thanks to the development of quantum optics, and more recently because of the interest in quantum computing. And back then, the Feynman path integral was seen by most as a veryimaginative but rather useless formulation of quantum mechanics, whereas it now plays a large role in statistical physics and quantum field theory, especially in computational work. For these and other reasons, this book is not just a revision of the 1966 edition. It has been rewritten throughout, is differently organized, and goes into greater depth on many topics that were in the old edition.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 640 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Finite model theory is an area of mathematical logic that grew out of computer science applications. The main sources of motivational examples for finite model theory are found in database theory, computational complexity, and formal languages, although in recent years connections with other areas, such as formal methods and verification, and artificial intelligence, have been discovered. The birth of finite model theory is often identified with Trakhtenbrot's result from 1950 stating that validity over finite models is not recursively enumerable; in other words, completeness fails over finite models. The tech nique of the proof, based on encoding Turing machine computations as finite structures, was reused by Fagin almost a quarter century later to prove his cel ebrated result that put the equality sign between the class NP and existential second-order logic, thereby providing a machine-independent characterization of an important complexity class. In 1982, Immerman and Vardi showed that over ordered structures, a fixed point extension of first-order logic captures the complexity class PTIME of polynomial time computable propertiE~s. Shortly thereafter, logical characterizations of other important complexity classes were obtained. This line of work is often referred to as descriptive complexity. A different line of finite model theory research is associated with the de velopment of relational databases. By the late 1970s, the relational database model had replaced others, and all the basic query languages for it were es sentially first-order predicate calculus or its minor extensions.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 336 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Other publications that exist on this topic, are mainly focused on the general aspects and methodologies of the field and do not refer extensively to bank ALM. On the other hand the existing books on goal programming techniques do not involve the ALM problem and more specifically the bank ALM one. Therefore, there is a lack in the existing literature of a comprehensive text book that combines both the concepts of bank ALM and goal programming techniques and illustrates the contribution of goal programming techniques to bank ALM. This is the major contributing feature of this book and its distinguishing characteristic as opposed to the existing literature.This volume would be suitable for academics and practitioners in operations research, management scientists, financial managers, bank managers, economists and risk analysts. The book can also be used as a textbook for graduate courses of asset liability management, financial risk management and banking risks.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 188 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Business Education in Emerging Market Economies discusses the impact of business education on emerging markets and explores curricular innovation, pedagogical approaches, and strategic alliances in the context of industrializing economies. Emerging markets contain 80% of the world's population and some 75% of its trade growth in the foreseeable future, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. The potential economic growth of these emerging markets has prompted a need to understand their dynamics, business institutions and educational systems. Many American universities, for example, have responded to the demand of their students and business partners by educating them about the exciting opportunities and lurking threats in these industrializing economies. This book contains multiple chapters designed to educate American students about the curricular innovations and course development occurring in emerging markets.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 382 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Despite multiple efforts on the bilateral, regional and multilateral level to create uniform or at least harmonized rules for commercial operations and practices in the maritime transport sector and to liberalize maritime transport services by tearing down the barriers that exist in that sector, there is until today no global regime regulating (or rather deregulating) the supply of maritime transport services and ensuring open markets. In this situation, private economic actors are confronted with substantial legal uncertainty.This book provides a detailed analysis of the history of maritime transport services in the Uruguay and post-Uruguay Round negotiations and the role of the sector in the ongoing Doha Round talks, where Member States have the opportunity to work towards a global regime ensuring the progressive liberalization of the sector. The reader will be confronted with an extensive overview of the role of maritime transport services in the WTO/GATS framework, a topic basically uncovered in the literature so far.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 452 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Symplectic geometry, well known as the basic structure of Hamiltonian mechanics, is also the foundation of optics. In fact, optical systems (geometric or wave) have an even richer symmetry structure than mechanical ones (classical or quantum). The symmetries underlying the geometric model of light are based on the symplectic group. Geometric Optics on Phase Space develops both geometric optics and group theory from first principles in their Hamiltonian formulation on phase space. This treatise provides the mathematical background and also collects a host of useful methods of practical importance, particularly the fractional Fourier transform currently used for image processing. The reader will appreciate the beautiful similarities between Hamilton's mechanics and this approach to optics. The appendices link the geometry thus introduced to wave optics through Lie methods. The book addresses researchers and graduate students.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 396 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Toxigenic Fusarium species and ochratoxigenic fungi are responsible for various plant diseases which have important consequential effects on both human and animal health worldwide. The development of rapid, robust and sensitive detection methods based on new molecular technologies is urgently needed in order to identify fungal contamination in the field and quantify toxin accumulation in food and animal feed. Most of the contributions in this special issue are from results obtained through the EU 5th Framework project (QLKI-CT-1998-01380) 'DETOX-FUNGI: early detection of toxigenic Fusarium species and ochratoxi genic fungi in plant products', which has strongly stimulated interaction and co-operation between many European scientists. Valuable contributions from other scientists have guaranteed a complete overview of this stimulating and interesting topic. This is the third special issue published in the European Journal of Plant Pathology concerning my cotoxigenic fungi under the aegis of COST Action 835 'Agriculturally Important Toxigenic Fungi'. The first two dealt with 'Mycotoxins in Plant Disease' (Vol. 108(7) 2002) and 'Epidemiology of Mycotoxin Pro ducing Fungi' (Vol. 109(7) 2003). The present issue contains contributions which cover aspects of molecular diversity, phylogeny and PCR-detection of toxigenic Fusarium species and various ochratoxigenic fungi. We hope these will prove helpful to researchers involved in similar work and will stimulate the future studies required for the early detection of these fungi, which is so essential for overcoming the health risks associated with mycotoxin-contaminated food products.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 232 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Experts in the fields of neurology, neuroscience, neurobiology and psychiatry review and present novel findings of basic and clinical research on extrapyramidal disorders and allied conditions. New insights on the nature of extrapyramidal dysfunction and its therapy in the fields of neurology, psychiatry and neuroscience are presented.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 172 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The book is the first thorough overview of the first important steps to develop a worldwide virtual observatory so that, in the future, it could be easier to 'dial-up' a part of the sky than wait many months to access a telescope. The articles in this book present details on the status of the first efforts to develop a standardized framework for the virtual observatory, including steps towards completion and deployment of technical infrastructure, uptake by data providers worldwide, and utilization by the scientific community.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 372 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Web engineering is a new discipline that addresses the pressing need for syst- atic and tool-supported approaches for the development, maintenance and te- ing of Web applications. Web engineering builds upon well-known and succe- ful software engineering principles and practices, adapting them to the special characteristics of Web applications. Even more relevant is the enrichment with methods and techniques stemming from related areas like hypertext authoring, human-computer interaction, content management, and usability engineering. The goal of the 4th International Conference on Web Engineering (ICWE 2004), inlinewiththepreviousICWEconferences,wastoworktowardsabetterund- standing of the issues related to Web application development. Special attention was paid to emerging trends, technologies and future visions, to help the a- demic and industrial communities identify the most challenging tasks for their research and projects. Following a number of successful workshops on Web engineering since 1997 at well-known conferences, such as ICSE and WWW, the rst conference on Web engineering was held in C¿ aceres, Spain in 2001. It was followed by ICWE 2002 in Santa Fe, Argentina and ICWE 2003 in Oviedo, Spain. In 2004 ICWE moved to the center of Europe and was held in Munich, Germany from July 26 to 30. ICWE 2004 was organized by the Institute for Informatics of the Ludwig- Maximilians-Universit¿ at (LMU) Munich. The ICWE 2004 edition received a total of 204 submissions, out of which 25 paperswereselectedbytheProgramCommitteeasfullpapers(12%acceptance).Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 648 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 216 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Quantum mechanics is the set of laws of physics which, to the best of our knowledge, provides a complete account of the microworld. One of its chap ters, quantum electrodynamics (QED), is able to account for the quantal phenomena of relevance to daily life (electricity, light, liquids and solids, etc.) with great accuracy. The language of QED, field theory, has proved to be uni versal providing the theoretical basis to describe the behaviour of many-body systems. In particular finite many-body systems (FMBS) like atomic nuclei, metal clusters, fullerenes, atomic wires, etc. That is, systems made out of a small number of components. The properties of FMBS are expected to be quite different from those of bulk matter, being strongly conditioned by quantal size effects and by the dynamical properties of the surface of these systems. The study of the elec tronic and of the collective behaviour (plasmons and phonons) of FMBS and of their interweaving, making use of well established first principle quantum (field theoretical) techniques, is the main subject of the present monograph. The interest for the study of FMBS was clearly stated by Feynman in his address to the American Physical Society with the title 'There is plenty of room at the bottom'. On this occasion he said among other things: 'When we get to the very, very small world - say circuits of seven atoms - we have a lot of new things that would happen that represent completely new opportunities for design' [1].Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 248 pp. Englisch.