Bøger udgivet af Birkhauser Basel

The articles in this volume study various cohomological aspects of algebraic varieties:- characteristic classes of singular varieties;- geometry of flag varieties;- cohomological computations for homogeneous spaces;- K-theory of algebraic varieties;- quantum cohomology and Gromov-Witten theory.The main purpose is to give comprehensive introductions to the above topics through a series of "e;friendly"e; texts starting from a very elementary level and ending with the discussion of current research. In the articles, the reader will find classical results and methods as well as new ones. Numerous examples will help to understand the mysteries of the cohomological theories presented. The book will be a useful guide to research in the above-mentioned areas. It is adressed to researchers and graduate students in algebraic geometry, algebraic topology, and singularity theory, as well as to mathematicians interested in homogeneous varieties and symmetric functions. Most of the material exposed in the volume has not appeared in books before.Contributors:Paolo AluffiMichel BrionAnders Skovsted BuchHaibao DuanAli Ulas Ozgur KisiselPiotr PragaczJorg SchurmannMarek SzyjewskiHarry Tamvakis

Epitaxy is a very active area of theoretical research since several years. It is experimentally well-explored and technologically relevant for thin film growth. Recently powerful numerical techniques in combination with a deep understanding of the physical and chemical phenomena during the growth process offer the possibility to link atomistic effects at the surface to the macroscopic morphology of the film. The goal of this book is to summarize recent developments in this field, with emphasis on multiscale approaches and numerical methods. It covers atomistic, step-flow, and continuum models and provides a compact overview of these approaches. It also serves as an introduction into this highly active interdisciplinary field of research for applied mathematicians, theoretical physicists and computational materials scientists.

Scientific interest in regulatory T cells has revived during the last decade. Initially described in the early seventies as suppressor T cells, the concept of suppressor/regulatory T cells went through turbulent times during the eighties when molecular analysis failed to identify putative suppressor genes. The constructive and elegant cellular experiments on regulatory T cells during the nineties, initiated by Shimon Sakaguchi and co-workers, however have brought these cells back into the limelight. Nowadays, regulatory T cells are regarded as essential components of the immune system, and several different subsets of regulatory T cells have been described. Considerable regulatory function has been attributed to the CD4+CD25+ T cell subset. These cells act by suppressing adaptive and possibly also innate immune responses thereby maintaining or restoring the balance between immunity and tolerance. The suppressive effects of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells are cell-contact dependent but a role for soluble factors, particularly in vivo, has been suggested as well.The aim of this book is to bring together recent developments and viewpoints in the field of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells and to discuss the potential use of regulatory T cells in immunotherapy of inflammatory diseases. By linking data on regulatory T cells from experimental models with recent findings from the clinic, this topical book will be of interest to immunologists and other biomedical researchers as well as clinicians that are interested in regulation and manipulation of the immune response during (chronic) inflammatory disease.

Quadrature domains were singled out about 30 years ago by D. Aharonov and H.S. Shapiro in connection with an extremal problem in function theory. Since then, a series of coincidental discoveries put this class of planar domains at the center of crossroads of several quite independent mathematical theories, e.g., potential theory, Riemann surfaces, inverse problems, holomorphic partial differential equations, fluid mechanics, operator theory. The volume is devoted to recent advances in the theory of quadrature domains, illustrating well the multi-facet aspects of their nature. The book contains a large collection of open problems pertaining to the general theme of quadrature domains.

The Romanian conferences in operator theory, as they are now commonly called, havestartedintheyear1976asanannualworkshoponoperatortheoryheldatthe University of Timi soara, originally only with Romanian attendance. The meeting soon evolved into an international conference, with an increasingly larger parti- pation. It has been organized jointly, initially by the Department of Mathematics of INCREST and by the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Timi soara, then (since 1990) by the Institute of Mathematics of the Romanian Academy and the Faculty of Mathematics of the West University of Timi soara. The venue was u- ally Timi soara (and, occasionally, Herculane, Bucharest or Predeal). Since 1986 the conference has been regularly held biannually at the beginning of the summer. The 19th Conference on Operator Theory (OT 19) took place between June 27th and July 2nd 2002, at the West University of Timi soara. It is a pleasure to acknowledge the considerable ?nancial support received through the p- gramme EURROMMAT of the European Community, under contract ICA1-CT- 2000-70022. Partial support has also been provided by the Romanian Ministry of Education, Research and Youth, grants CERES 152/2001 and 153/2001. The full programme of the conference is included in the sequel. It is worth mentioning also a special event that has taken place during the conference: p- fessor Israel Gohberg has been awarded the title of Doctor Honoris Causa of the West University of Timi soara.

Alcoholism is a pathological behavioural syndrome, characterised by comp- sive alcohol use, craving and relapses, even recurring after many years of abstinence. It is suggested that chronic alcohol abuse leads to persistent changes within several neurochemical pathways in the brain and furthermore that an imprinted drug and addiction memory may scarcely be extinguished. Hence, the question arises as to whether there ought to be a reasonable hope that pharmacological drugs will be developed that interfere with an addiction memory, and as a result, finally lead to a cure? In this book, leading preclinical and clinical experts in the field of alcohol relapse prevention strive to furnish an answer to this question. None of the researchers or clinicians believes in a magic bullet that will be of help to all alcoholic patients in overcoming this disease. However, there is now convi- ing evidence demonstrating that specific subpopulations of alcoholic patients experience satisfactory benefit from currently available treatments. Today we have two medications for relapse prevention on the market - acamprosate and naltrexone. Although, currently, only a minority of alcoholic patients benefit from these medications, the approval of these compounds may be considered a hallmark in the field of psychopharmacology, even comparable to the era when the first antidepressant compounds were introduced. In recent years we have been witnessing an enormous growth in the science and knowledge regarding the field of relapse prevention.

Although the potential for immunomodulation has been recognized for many years there has been an explosion of data in this field with relevance especially to the treatment of chronic airway diseases. Most of the work in this field has been conducted by Japanese investigators but in the last decade there has been a body of work outside of Japan that supports and enhances these findings. The book covers basic research like effects on bacteria, anti-inflammatory and mucoregulatory effects, but also clinical results with up-to-date information for the use of such medications to potentially treat diseases as diverse as chronic airway diseases, arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and cancer. The volume is intended for pulmonary physicians, researchers in inflammation research, and pharmaceutical companies interested in the development of such agents. It provides background information for the clinician as well as in depth exploration of cutting edge science.

Gentechnisch hergestellte Produkte werden heute bereits in der Medizin und der Diagnostik, in den Agrarwissenschaften, in der Lebensmitteltechnologie aber auch in zahlreichen Bereichen des taglichen Lebens verwendet. Seit der Einfuhrung des ersten gentechnisch hergestellten Medikamentes im Jahr 1983 hat sich die Gentechnik in rasanter Weise zu einer Schlusseltechnologie in der Grundlagenforschung, der angewandten Forschung und der Wirtschaft entwickelt.Die Gentechnik, ihre Vorteile und ihre moglichen Risiken, werden heute in der Offentlichkeit und in den Medien sehr breit und mit viel Engagement diskutiert. Trotz allen Interesses an diesem Thema zeigt es sich immer wieder, dass die Gentechnik in ihren Grundzugen oft nur unvollstandig bekannt und verstanden ist.Auch die 3. erweiterte und uberarbeitete Auflage dieses erfolgreichen Buches bietet kurz und knapp, im Detail und anschaulich illustriert einen verstandlichen Einblick in die Theorie und Praxis der Materie. Hochaktuelle Themen wie Stammzellen in Forschung und Therapie, "e;Elegante Zuchtung"e; bei transgenen Pflanzen, Sequenzierungsmeilensteine oder Einfuhrungen in Begriffe wie Genomics und Proteomics sind neu hinzugekommen. Durch das Buch wird der Leser vor allem die vielfaltigen Verflechtungen zwischen Theorie und Anwendung der Gentechnik erkennen und beurteilen konnen. Diese neue Auflage soll einen wichtigen Beitrag dazu leisten, dass die Diskussion uber Gentechnik um Sachinhalte und nicht um Ideologien gefuhrt wird.

The Eighth International Conference of the Inflammation Research Association was held on October 27 to 31, 1996 at Hershey Lodge and Convention Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. As have others in this series, the conference focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in acute and chronic inflammatory reactions as well as on therapeutic approaches to treating inflammatory diseases. One outstanding symposium focused on new drugs and was de­ signed as a forum for the dissemination of early clinical results on new anti-inflammatory agents. Other symposia spotlighted exciting advances being made in defining intracellular signaling path­ ways and the potential for future therapeutics that target cytokines and costimulatory pathways. This conference was characterized by a high level of participation by attendees, who represent both the academic and industrial sectors. It was gratifying to note that a large proportion of the attending scientists presented their latest findings during workshops, poster discussions, and pos­ ter se.ssions. This volume covers many of the highlights of the Eighth International Conference and should become a valuable resource for scientists involved in inflammation research and drug discovery.

This multi-authored effort, Mathematics of the nineteenth century (to be fol­ lowed by Mathematics of the twentieth century), is a sequel to the History of mathematics from antiquity to the early nineteenth century, published in three volumes from 1970 to 1972. 1 For reasons explained below, our discussion of twentieth-century mathematics ends with the 1930s. Our general objectives are identical with those stated in the preface to the three-volume edition, i. e. , we consider the development of mathematics not simply as the process of perfecting concepts and techniques for studying real-world spatial forms and quantitative relationships but as a social process as well. Mathematical structures, once established, are capable of a certain degree of autonomous development. In the final analysis, however, such immanent mathematical evolution is conditioned by practical activity and is either self-directed or, as is most often the case, is determined by the needs of society. Proceeding fromthis premise, we intend, first, to unravel the forces that shape mathe­ matical progress. We examine the interaction of mathematics with the social structure, technology, the natural sciences, and philosophy. Through an anal­ ysis of mathematical history proper, we hope to delineate the relationships among the various mathematical disciplines and to evaluate mathematical achievements in the light of the current state and future prospects of the science. The difficulties confronting us considerably exceeded those encountered in preparing the three-volume edition.

Over the past ten years, a number of cytokines and growth factors have proven to be as effective therapeutics. While these products have certainly established recombinant biologics as a major pharmaceutical growth sector, the continued interest in this class of drugs arises from the fact that today we have a far better understanding of the human immune response, both at a cellular and molecular level. This has resulted in a more methodical characterisation of these factors which has given clinical researchers an opportunity to plan Phase 1 clinical trials that can provide substantial information on the activity of the cytokine in humans. Currently, a great deal of effort is also being channelled into identifying cytokines from the various DNA databases. Our major objective for this book is to profile cytokines that have been recently identified. The therapeutic potential of these cytokines based on their known properties will be discussed by the authors. The main aim of this book is to provide...

The aim of this text is to treat selected topics of the subject of contemporary cryptology, structured in five quite independent but related themes: - efficient distributed computation modulo a shared secret- multiparty computation- foundations of modern cryptography- provable security for public key schemes- efficient and secure public-key cryptosystems.

Ausgehend von den chemischen Grundlagen werden in diesem Buch die Anwendung und der Einsatz von Kunststoffen im Bauwesen beschrieben. Neben dem allgemeinen Schutz von Oberflächen gehen die Autoren auf die Verfahren im Rahmen von Sanierungsmaßnahmen ein und analysieren kunststoffmodifizierte Baustoffe.

-There is an acceleration in prion disease research because of the spread of mad cow disease.-This book covers in vitro, cellular, and animal models adapted for the study of TSEs.-Includes bio-saftey procedures.

der schwacheren Formulierung von Hilbert (1956). Es wird gezeigt, dass dieses Axiom genau die Definition einer multiplikativen Untergruppe des Korpers der Inzidenzebene ist. Ein Punkt liegt nicht zwischen zwei anderen (mit ihm kollinearen) Punkten (bzw. zwei Punktpaare trennen sich nicht in der projek- tiven Formulierung) genau dann, wenn das Doppelverhaltnis ein Element der Untergruppe ist. Umgekehrt wird das Axiomensystem durch die Angabe einer beliebigen multiplikativen Untergruppe befriedigt. Ein vollstandiges Axiomen- system der Anordnung erreicht man, falls man durch ein zusatzliches Axiom die grosste eigentliche Untergruppe, zum Beispiel die mit Index 2 im Fall einer ungeraden Charakteristik, auswahlt. Im Teil 2. 5 wird gezeigt, dass das scharfere Paschsche Axiom genau die Untergruppe mit Index 2 aus- wahlt. Im Kapitel 3 wird die Kongruenzrelation (eine euklidische Metrik) durch die gleichen Axiome wie im ersten Teil des Buches (aber ohne die Annahme uber die Beschranktheit der Eichkurve) zu der vollstandigen Inzidenzebene des ersten Kapitels (also unabhangig von der Anordnung) hinzugefugt. Im Teil 3. 3 wird gezeigt, dass dieses Axiomensystem fur die Ebenen mit einer un- geraden Charakteristik vollstandig ist, wobei das Axiom 3. 2 zwar etwas schwacher als im ersten Teil des Buches formuliert werden muss, indem die Existenz von zwei inkommensurablen Eichkurven gestattet wird. Der wesent- liche Teil des Beweises ist das Theorem 3. 7 von Segre (1954, 1955). Im Teil 3.