The FIRST MEXICAN MEETING ON MATHEMATICAL AND EXPERI MENTAL PHYSICS was held at EL COLEGIO N ACIONAL in Mexico Cit y, Mexico, from September 10 to 14, 2001. This event consisted of the LEOPOLDO GARciA-COLiN SCHERER Medal Lecture, delivered by Prof. Nicholas G. van Kampen, a series of plenary talks by Leopoldo Garcia-Colin, Giinter Nimtz, Luis F. Rodriguez, Ruoon Barrera, and Donald Saari, and of three parallel symposia, namely, Cosmology and Gravitation, Statistical Physics and Beyond, and Hydrodynamics and Dynamical Systems. The response from the Physics community was enthusiastic, with over 200 participants and around 80 speakers, from allover the world: USA, Canada, Mexico, Germany, France, Holland, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Spain, and Hungary. The main aim of the conference is to provide a scenario to Mexican researchers on the topics of Mathematical and Experimental Physics in order to keep them in contact with work going on in other parts of the world and at the same time to motivate and support the young and mid career researchers from our country. To achieve this goal, we decided to the most distinguished experts in the subjects of the invite as lecturers conference and to give the opportunity to young scientist to communi cate the results of their work. The plan is to celebrate this international endeavor every three years.

This book presents the laboratory, scientific and clinical aspects of nanomaterials used for medical applications in the fields of regenerative medicine, dentistry and pharmacy. It gives a broad overview on the in vitro compatibility assessment of nanostructured materials implemented in the medical field by the combination of classical biological protocols and advanced non-destructive nano-precision techniques with special emphasis on the topographical, surface energy, optical and electrical properties. Materials in the physical form of nanoparticles, nanotubes, and thin films are addressed in terms of their toxicity. The different pillars of the Nanomedicine field are also highlighted. The book takes an interdisciplinary approach of medicine, biology, pharmacy, physics, chemistry, engineering, nanotechnology and materials science. The international group of authors specifically chosen for their distinguished expertise belong to the academic and industrial world in order to provide a broader perspective. It appeals to researchers and graduate students.

Hardly any phenomenon in the modern environment is as ubiquitous as electromagnetic fields and waves. We have learned to understand the physical characteristics of these energy forms, and we have applied them in abundant ways to embellish our ways of life and our standards of living. Furthermore, we have come to depend on them for health, safety, information, comfOli, and conveyance. Apart from their intended roles, these electromagnetic fields and waves produce other effects which may influence the activities of living organisms. The effects produced depend on many physical, chemical, and biological factors. They may be grossly apparent and visible soon after exposure of the living organism or they may not appear to have influenced the organism at all upon casual examination. Even then, there may be subtle changes which are only detectable upon careful chemical or microscopic study, or which are apparent only after a considerable time delay. Nevertheless, our understanding of the interaction of electromagnetic fields with living systems is advancing in a wide range of topical areas. This bi-annual series with invited reviews by recognized leaders in their respective specialties, will present progress to date in key areas of research and scholarship. The guiding philosophy of this undertaking is the presentation of integrated, known, and confilmed phenomenological observations, basic mechanism of interactions, and applications in biology and medicine, as well as perspectives on current topics of interest.

Jurgen Schulte and Christian Endler met in 1990 at an international conference on the Structure of Water held in the Lecture Halls of the University of Graz (Austria). Disappointed by the lack of a systematic strategy of research into the physics of homoeopathy Jurgen Schulte started to work on the establishment of scientifically acceptable research standards in physics of homoeopathy and encouraged academic researchers to establish a coordinated and focused research strategy. In 1994, with the help of major representatives of the international research community, they edited one of the fIrst academic interdisciplinary books on Ultra High Dilution and homoeopathy that underwent a rigorous scientific international referee process before publishing. Due to the dedicated help of the prominent referees (BD Josephson, Nobel Laureate, Cavendish Lab. , Cambridge; M Bastide, Fac de Pharmacy, University Montpellier; RG Jahn, Aerospace Science, Princeton University), the book 1994 was quickly considered a mile stone and turning point for the scientific approach of research into Ultra High Dilution and homoeopathy. Since then the academic research community has grown considerably and many international conferences have been held. Today, research into homoeopathy is to be accepted by the European Union as part of the academic sciences, worthy to be funded at European Union level; an effort that took many years of research coordination and research strategy development. Excerpts of the Research Strategy of the European Committee for Homoeopathy (ECH) have been included in this book.

Adopting an interdisciplinary approach to the chemistry and physics of materials, their biocompatibility, and the consequences of implantation of such devices into the human body, this text introduces readers to the principles of polymer science and the study of metals, ceramics and composites, and also to the basic biology required to understand the nature of the host-transplant interface. Topics covered include the macromolecular components of cells and tissues, self-assembly processes, biological cascade systems, microscopic structure of cells and tissues, immunology, transplantation biology, and the pathobiology of wound healing. The materials science section includes the structures and properties of polymers, metals, ceramics and composites, and the processes for forming materials as well as the pathobiology of devices. The final two chapters deal with tissue engineering and the relations between the biology of cells and tissue transplantation, and the engineering of tissue replacements using passaged cells.

In June 1998 the Fourth International Workshop on Digital Mammography was held in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, where it was hosted by the department of Radiology of the University Hospital Nijmegen. This series of meetings was initiated at the 1993 SPIE Biomedical Image Processing Conference in San Jose, USA, where a number of sessions were entirely devoted to mammographic image analysis. At very successful subsequent workshops held in York, UK (1994) and Chicago, USA (1996), the scope of the conference was broadened, establishing a platform for presentation and discussion of new developments in digital mammog raphy. Topics that are addressed at these meetings are computer-aided diagnosis, image processing, detector development, system design, observer performance and clinical evaluation. The goal is to bring researchers from universities, breast cancer experts, and engineers together, to exchange information and present new scientific developments in this rapidly evolving field. This book contains all the scientific papers and posters presented at the work shop in Nijmegen. Contributions came from as many as 20 different countries and 190 participants attended the meeting. At a technical exhibit companies demon strated new products and work in progress. Abstracts of all papers were reviewed by members of the scientific committee. Many of the accepted papers had excellent quality, but due to limited space not all of them could be included as full papers in these proceedings. Papers that were rated high by the reviewers are included as long or short papers, others appear as extended abstracts in the last chapter.

The occurrence of hysteresis phenomena has been traditionally associated with mechanical and magnetic properties of materials. However, recent studies on the dynamics of biological processes suggest switch-like behavior that could be described by mathematical models of hysteresis. This book presents the milestones and perspectives of biological hysteresis and provides a comprehensive and application-oriented introduction to this subject. The target audience primarily comprises researchers but the book may also be beneficial for graduate students.

This book presents the state of the art in nanoscale surface physics. It outlines contemporary trends in the field covering a wide range of topical areas: atomic structure of surfaces and interfaces, molecular films and polymer adsorption, biologically inspired nanophysics, surface design and pattern formation, and computer modeling of interfacial phenomena. Bridging "classical" and "nano" concepts, the present volume brings attention to the physical background of exotic condensed-matter properties. The book is devoted to Iwan Stranski and Rostislaw Kaischew, remarkable scientists, who played a crucial role in setting up the theoretical fundamentals of nucleation and crystal growth phenomena in the last century.

This comprehensive report on sight correction through laser surgery provides the practitioner with solid background information from top industry researchers. Carefully illustrated, it details the latest techniques and clinical results in wavefront technology for laser surgery, which is now defining a new standard of practice. This second edition has been significantly expanded to include in-depth descriptions of important new advances as well as glimpses of what the future holds. The book will be indispensable to all wishing to expand their knowledge of customized refractive surgery with an understanding of the underpinning technology.

Fluorescence reporter is the key element of any sensing or imaging technology. Its optimal choice and implementation is very important for increasing the sensitivity, precision, multiplexing power, and also the spectral, temporal, and spatial reso- tion in different methods of research and practical analysis. Therefore, design of ?uorescence reporters with advanced properties is one of the most important problems. In this volume, top experts in this ?eld provide advanced knowledge on the design and properties of ?uorescent dyes. Organic dyes were the ?rst ?uorescent materials used for analytical purposes, and we observe that they retain their leading positions against strong competition of new materials - conjugated polymers, semiconductor nanocrystals, and metal chelating complexes. Recently, molecular and cellular biology got a valuable tool of organic ?uorophores synt- sized by cell machinery and incorporated into green ?uorescent protein and its analogs. Demands of various ?uorescence techniques operating in spectral, anisotropy, and time domains require focused design of ?uorescence reporters well adapted to these techniques. Near-IR spectral range becomes more and more attractive for various applications, and new dyes emitting in this range are strongly requested. Two-photonic ?uorescence has become one of the major tools in bioimaging, and ?uorescence reporters well adapted to this technique are in urgent need. These problems cannot be solved without the knowledge of fundamental principles of dye design and of physical phenomena behind their ?uorescence response.

A presentation of the most elementary form of pulsatile flow as an important prerequisite for the study of other flow applications in biological systems. The book provides in a single source a complete treatment of the fluid dynamics of flow with the required mathematics and emphasis on the basis mechanics. The style and level of this book make it accessible to students and researchers in biophysics, biology, medicine, bioengineering and applied mathematics working in theoretical and clinical work on the cardiovascular system, as well as in the design of new instrumentation, medical imaging systems, and artificial organs. With problems and exercises.

"The greater our knowledge increases, the more our ignorance unfolds. " U. S. President John F. Kennedy, speech, Rice University, September 12, 1962 My primary purpose for writing this book was much more than to provide another information source on Chemistry, Manufacturing & Controls (CMC) that would rapidly become out of date. My primary purpose was to provide insight and practical suggestions into a common sense business approach to manage the CMC regulatory compliance requirements for biopharmaceuticals. Such a common sense business approach would need (1) to be applicable for all types of biopharmaceutical products both present and future, (2) to address the needs of a biopharmaceutical manufacturer from the beginning to the end of the clinical development stages and including post market approval, and (3) to be adaptable to the constantly changing CMC regulatory compliance requirements and guidance. Trying to accomplish this task was a humbling experience for this author In Chapter 1, the CMC regulatory process is explained, the breadth of products included under the umbrella ofbiopharmaceuticals are identified, and the track record for the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industry in meeting CMC regulatory compliance is discussed. In Chapter 2, while there are many CMC commonalities between biopharmaceuticals and chemically-synthesized pharmaceuticals, the significant differences in the way the regulatory agencies handle them are examined and the reasons for why such differences are necessary is discussed. Also, the importance of CMC FDA is stressed."

Two techniques were used to estimate the L/M cone ratio, best-fit linear sum of the L- and M-cone spectral sensitivities to heterochromatic flicker photometric spectral sensitivity and psychometric function shape for point source detection of lights of varying wavelength. Data from five color-normal observers run on both paradigms all are consistent with a preponderance of L-cones relative to M-cones though there are individual differences in the estimates of L/M cone ratio. The observers showed congruence in their individual results across technique. In a separate study, the perceptual consequences of individual variation in L/M cone populations were evaluated by looking for a relation between flicker photometric spectral sensitivity and the spectral locus of equilibrium yellow. No significant relation was found, suggesting that receptor populations do not play a major role in the normalization of the perceptual red/green opponent channel. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Supported in part by USPH NEI grant EY00901. REFERENCES Adam, A. (1969) Foveal red-green ra. C10S c:,f normals, colorblinds and heterozygotes. Proceedings Tel-Hasrcomer Hospital (Tel-Aviv). 8: 2-6. Ahnelt, P. , H. Kolb and R. Pflug. (1987). Identification of a subtype of cone photoreceptor, likely to be blue sensitive, in the human retina. Journal of Compa:cative Neurology. 255: 18-34. Alpern, M. and E. Pugh. (1977). variation in the action spectrum of erythrolabe among deuteranopes. Journal of Physiology (London). 266: 613-646. Boynton, R. (1979). Human Color Vision. New York, Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Brindley, G. (1954) The summation areas of human colour-receptive mechanisms at increment threshold.

Per-Olov Lowdin's stature is a symbol of the world of quantum theory during the past five decades, through his basic contributions to the development of the conceptual framework of Quantum Chemistry and introduction of the fundamental concepts; through a staggering number of regular summer schools, winter institutes, innumerable lectures at Uppsala, Gainesville and elsewhere, and Sanibel Symposia; by founding the International Journal of Quantum Chemistry and Advances of Quantum Chemistry, and through his vision of the possible and his optimism for the future, which has inspired generations of physicists, chemists, mathematicians, and biologists to devote their lives to molecular electronic theory and dynamics, solid state, and quantum biology.
Fundamental World of Quantum Chemistry forms a collection of papers dedicated to the memory of Per-Olov Lowdin. These volumes are of interest to a broad audience of quantum, theoretical, physical, biological, and computational chemists; atomic, molecular, and condensed matter physicists; biophysicists; mathematicians working in many-body theory; and historians and philosophers of natural science. The volumes will be accessible to all levels, from students, PhD students, and postdocs to their supervisors."

Within the various aspects of life-science technologies medicine and information technology will change next millennium's quality-of-life fundamentally. Thanks to the rapid growth of telecommunication industry and the success and popularity of the internet the face of medicine will essentially change, because information technology is expected to play a major role in future health care systems. The conference MEDICOM 2000 is a discussion forum on fast and cost efficient patient-data exchange systems between doctors' offices, medical laboratories, telearchive services, health care insurances, highly specialized experts in hospitals etc. The conference brought together scientific, medical and application experts from university, clinical and commercial sites of both areas - medicine and communication - to stimulate synergy between these rapidly evolving future technologies. We would like to acknowledge all the parties who contributed to the success of the conference. Especially, we would like to thank Gisela Niedzwetzki and Waltraud Ott for secretarial support as well as Dirk Thomsen for web mastering. Additionally, we have to acknowledge the valuable support of Holger Dorle, Thomas Giese, Peter Just, Stefan Klockner, Heike Lahr and Kerstin Ltidtke-Buzug during the conference.

The International Scientific Symposium on Fibrinogen, Thrombosis, Coagulation, and Fibrinolysis was held in Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China, on August 30 - September 1, 1989. This Symposium has provided a forum for the free exchange of information in this important and rapidly advancing research field. This proceedings volume provides a published record of 46 papers presented at the Symposium. The sponsors have exerted no influence on the scientific opinions or positions of the participants in the Symposium. It is hoped that this Symposium will stimulate further worldwide cooperation and collaboration in these vital fields for the benefit of all human kind. This volume is composed of four parts. The first part consists of 8 papers on Fibrinogen and Fibrin: Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Physiology. The second part contains 16 papers on Coagulation and Fibrinolysis: Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Physiology. The third part has 10 papers on Cardiovascular Cell Biology: Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Physiology. The fourth part comprises 12 papers on Clinical Studies of the Cardiovascular System: Thrombotic and Bleeding Disorders and Thrombolytic Therapy. The Author Index with addresses of all contributors and the Subject Index of all 46 papers are arranged at the end of this volume.

A decade ago, for most scientists investigating various issues in life sciences the word "NO" was used in a negative context. It is astounding to observe how recently researchers are addressing the issue of NO, namely, nitric oxide, in over fifty publications weekly. Science journal, while naming nitric oxide: "Molecule of the Year" (December 1992), said it all: "NO news is good news. " For a long period of time NO was considered as a pollutant and every ecology minded person tried to eliminate it. It was the discovery of NO involvement in the process of host killing by macrophages and several years later the finding that EDRF is none else but NO, that promoted this field. Nitric oxide's major role in the control of blood pressure is merely one factor of an extensive list of effects and functions attributed to it. NO is implicated in long-term potentiation (LPT), a principal process involved in memory consolidation and it is considered as the main biochemical substance responsible for penile erection. It should be noted that additional roles for NO are discovered continuously as many laboratories join the quest for the mystery of this small molecule. The observation that NO is involved in various biological processes is not unique, as other second messengers (i. e., cyclic AMP), participate in a diverse set of functions."

The formation of patterns in developing biological systems involves the spatio-temporal coordination of growth, cell-cell signalling, tissue movement, gene expression and cell differentiation. The interactions of these complex processes are generally nonlinear, and this mathematical modelling and analysis are needed to provide the framework in which to compute the outcome of different hypothesis on modes of interaction and to make experimentally testable predictions. This collection contains papers exploring several aspects of the hierarchy of processes occurring during pattern formation. A number of papers address the modelling of cell movement and deformation, with application to pattern formation within a collection of cells in response to external signalling cues. The results are considered in the context of pattern generation in Dictyostelium discoideum and bacterial colonies. A number of models at the macroscopic level explore the possible mechanisms underlying spatio-temporal pattern generation in early development, focussing on primitive streak, somitogenesis, vertebrate limb development and pigmentation patterning.The latter two applications consider in detail the effects of growth on patterning. The potential of models to generate more complex patterns are considered and models involving different modes of cell-cell signalling are investigated. Pattern selection is analyzed in the context of chemical Turing patterns, which serve as a paradigm for morphogenesis and a model for vegetation patterns is presented.

This conference and monograph were the result of many collective efforts. The whole concept was formulated one early Wednesday morning at our weekly research meeting at Children's Hospital in our division of urology. We have been most fortunate to have a close collaboration with Bob Levin, Ed Macarak, and Pam Howard who have helped steer the course of our division's growing interest in basic science. At our weekly meetings our laboratory fellow will summarize their current work. Other ongoing areas of investigation in our labs and elsewhere are discussed. We have always made an effort to try and understand what other groups are doing who are working in the area of bladder smooth muscle research. It occurred to us that the best way to really know what everyone working in this field was doing would be to sponsor a 2-day meeting where we could all gather to discuss our ongoing work. A major limitation of the annual meeting of the American Urologic Association or the urology section of the American Academy of Pediatrics is that the scientfic sessions are limited as these are meant to be primarily clinical meetings (as they should be). For this reason the idea of a meeting devoted solely to research about the urinary bladder had great appeal. In addition to allowing for longer presentations than the standard 5 to 7 minutes, every effort would be made to encourage a dialogue amongst the presenters and the audience.

The mathematical technique of Monte Carlo, as applied to the transport of sub-atomic particles, has been described in numerous reports and books since its formal development in the 1940s. Most of these instructional efforts have been directed either at the mathematical basis of the technique or at its practical application as embodied in the several large, formal computer codes available for performing Monte Carlo transport calculations. This book attempts to fill what appears to be a gap in this Monte Carlo literature between the mathematics and the software. Thus, while the mathematical basis for Monte Carlo transport is covered in some detail, emphasis is placed on the application of the technique to the solution of practical radiation transport problems. This is done by using the PC as the basic teaching tool. This book assumes the reader has a knowledge of integral calculus, neutron transport theory, and Fortran programming. It also assumes the reader has available a PC with a Fortran compiler. Any PC of reasonable size should be adequate to reproduce the examples or solve the exercises contained herein. The authors believe it is important for the reader to execute these examples and exercises, and by doing so to become accomplished at preparing appropriate software for solving radiation transport problems using Monte Carlo. The step from the software described in this book to the use of production Monte Carlo codes should be straightforward.

Biophysics deals with biological systems, such as proteins, which ful?ll a va- ety of functions in establishing living systems. While the biologistuses mostly a phenomenological description, the physicist tries to ?nd the general c- cepts to classify the materials and dynamics which underly speci?c processes. The phenomena span a wide range, from elementary processes, which can be induced by light excitation of a molecule, to communication of living s- tems. Thus, di?erent methods are appropriate to describe these phenomena. From the point of view of the physicist, this may be Continuum Mechanics to deal with membranes, Hydrodynamics to deal with transportthrough vessels, Bioinformatics to describe evolution, Electrostatics to deal with aspects of binding, Statistical Mechanics to account for temperature and to learn about the role of the entropy, and last but not least Quantum Mechanics to und- stand the electronic structure of the molecular systems involved. As can be seen from the title, Molecular Biophysics, this book will focus on systems for which su?cient information on the molecular level is available. Compared to crystallizedstandard materials studied in solid-state physics, the biological systems arecharacterizedby verybig unit cells containingproteinswith th- sands of atoms. In addition, there is always a certain amount of disorder, so that the systems can be classi?ed as complex. Surprisingly, the functions like a photocycle or the folding of a protein are highly reproducible, indicating a paradox situation in relation to the concept of maximum entropy production.

Evolutionary biomechanics is the study of evolution through the analysis of biomechanical systems. Its unique advantage is the precision with which physical constraints and performance can be predicted from first principles. Instead of reviewing the entire breadth of the biomechanical literature, a few key examples are explored in depth as vehicles for discussing fundamental concepts, analytical techniques, and evolutionary theory. Each chapter develops a conceptual theme, developing the underlying theory and techniques required for analyses in evolutionary biomechanics. Examples from terrestrial biomechanics, metabolic scaling, and bird flight are used to analyse how physics constrains the design space that natural selection is free to explore, and how adaptive evolution finds solutions to the trade-offs between multiple complex conflicting performance objectives. Evolutionary Biomechanics is suitable for graduate level students and professional researchers in the fields of biomechanics, physiology, evolutionary biology and palaeontology. It will also be of relevance and use to researchers in the physical sciences and engineering.

This volume contains the scientific papers and abstracts of posters presented at the International Symposium on Molecular Insect Science held in Tucson, Arizona, October 22-27, 1989. This meeting was organized by the Center for Insect Science at the University of Arizona in response to the growing need for a forum dedicated to the impact of modern biology on insect science. While scientific studies of a few insects, notably Drosophila melanogaster, have always had a central role in the development of biology, it is only recently that tools have become available to extend these studies to other insects, including those having economic and medical importance. The Tucson meeting was evidence of how far we have come in extending modern biological tools to the study of insects. It is also evident from the contents of this book that the study of insects is making an increasingly important contribution to the advancement of biology generally. Given the large impact of insects on human life, such a development has considerable importance for human welfare, and of the welfare of the ecosystem as a whole. It should be noted that several of the participants who presented posters were invited to prepare full length papers to ensure that the book covered the major areas of insect science. The financial support of the National Science Foundation and the Monsanto Corporation is gratefully acknowledged. Thanks are also due to Sharon Richards for her dedicated work on the manuscripts. Henry H.

The Office of Health and Environmental Research (OHER) has supported and continues to support development of computational approaches in biology and medicine. OHER's Radiological and Chemical Physics Program initiated development of computational approaches to determine the effects produced by radiation of different quality (such as high energy electrons, protons, helium and other heavy ions, etc. ) in a variety of materials of biological interest-such as water, polymers and DNA; these include molecular excitations and sub-excitations and the production of ionization and their spatial and temporal distribution. In the past several years, significant advances have been made in computational methods for this purpose. In particular, codes based on Monte Carlo techniques have .been developed that provide a realistic description of track-structure produced by charged particles. In addition, the codes have become sufficiently sophisticated so that it is now possible to calculate the spatial and temporal distribution of energy deposition patterns in small volumes of subnanometer and nanometer dimensions. These dimensions or resolution levels are relevant for our understanding of mechanisms at the molecular level by which radiations affect biological systems. Since the Monte Carlo track structure codes for use in radiation chemistry and radiation biology are still in the developmental stage, a number of investigators have been exploring different strategies for improving these codes."