The symposium on Acoustical Signal Processing in the Central Auditory System which was held in Prague on September 4--7, 1996 was the third in a series organized in Prague, after the Neuronal Mechanisms of Hearing symposium in 1980 and Auditory Pathway - Structure and Function symposium in 1987. Approximately 100 scientists regis tered for the symposium and presented 82 separate papers and posters. The present vol ume contains 53 of these contributions, mostly presented at the symposium as invited review papers. Several essential changes occurred since the previous meeting in 1987. In auditory neuroscience, recently developed methods opened new horizons in the investigation of the structure and function of the central auditory pathway. Methods like c-fos tracing tech niques and monoclonal antibodies for neurotransmitters and their receptors, like the intro duction of electrophysiological recording from brain slices have made possible new insights into the function of individual neurons and their interconnections, particularly in the cochlear nuclei and in the superior olivary complex. Integrative approaches towards understanding the central auditory function started to dominate in the field. It is not easy at the present time to differentiate between purely morphological and neurochemical ap proaches; similarly electrophysiological approaches are accompanied inevitably by behav ioral and psychophysical studies. The understanding of human brain function advanced significantly during the last several years. mainly due to the contribution of magneto encephalography. positron emission tomography and functional nuclear magnetic reso nance imaging.

During the period August 5-9, 1992, and immediately preceding the 1992 Gordon Research Conference on Motile and Contractile Systems, the "Third International Conference on the Structure and Function of Ubiquitous Cellular Protein Actin" was held at the Emma Willard School in Troy, New York, under the title "ACTIN '92". This conference focused on the fundamental properties and cellular functions of actin and actin based microfilament systems. The first conference in this series was held in 1982, in Sydney, Australia, and hosted by Dr. Cristobal G. dos Remedios and Dr. Julian A. Barden, both from the University of Sydney (New South Wales, Austrailia). The second conference convened in Monza, Italy in June 1987, and was organized by Dr. Roberto Colombo, University of Milan (Italy). This third gathering of researchers devoted to the study of actin and actin-associated proteins was organized by Dr. James E. Estes, Albany Stratton V A Medical Center and Dr. Paul 1. Higgins, Albany Medical College, who were assisted by an Organizing Committee consisting of Dr. Edward D. Korn (National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, NIH), Dr. Thomas P. Stossel (Massachusetts General Hospital), Dr. Fumio Matsumura (Rutgers University), and Dr. Stephen Farmer (Boston University). This meeting was dedicated to the many pioneering contributions of Professor Fumio Oosawa to the field of actin research.

The presentation and interpretation of visual information is essential to almost every activity in human life and most endeavors of modern technology. This book examines the current status of what is known (and not known) about human vision, how human observers interpret visual data, and how to present such data to facilitate their interpretation and use. Written by experts who are able to cross disciplinary boundaries, the book provides an educational pathway through several models of human vision; describes how the visual response is analyzed and quantified; presents current theories of how the human visual response is interpreted; discusses the cognitive responses of human observers; and examines such applications as space exploration, manufacturing, surveillance, earth and air sciences, and medicine. The book is intended for everyone with an undergraduate-level background in science or engineering with an interest in visual science. This second edition has been brought up to date throughout and contains a new chapter on "Virtual reality and augmented reality in medicine."

This book includes articles relating to presentations given in a variety of forms (lectures, posters, contributions to round tables, software presentations) at the 5th International Biothermokinetics Meeting held in Bordeaux-Bombannes, September 23-26, 1992. The fact that not just lectures were considered for these proceedings reflects the aims of BTK meetings to instigate discussion, promote scientific cooperation and confront as many different ideas as possible with each other (at best heretical ones). BTK conferences have expanded more and more; 130 participants came to the 1992 meeting from 20 countries. It was therefore necessary to hold the round tables in parallel sessions. It is difficult to have an unbiased feeling of what should be selected as the salient features of the meeting. As the name suggests, Biothermokinetics embraces thermodynamic and kinetic approaches to experimental and theoretical investigations of biological processes, in particular at the cellular level. This "classical" point of view is mainly represented in the chapter "Thermodynamics and Kinetics of Transport Processes and Biological Energy Transduction."

In Volume 12, eminent international ornithologists further elucidate endocrinological correlates of mating strategies and hormones and reproductive behavior; assess the value of the ''brood reduction hypothesis'' in explaining ''the paradox of hatching asynchrony''; and explore the validity and sensitivity of growth bands in feathers as an indication of nutritional condition and the use of feather banding in studying growth. Chapters are well supported with charts, maps, schematic diagrams, and photographs. Current Ornithology is the only English-language publication currently devoted exclusively to extensive reviews and synthesis of topics pertaining to all aspects of the biology of birds. Chapters fall under such diverse rubrics as ecology, evolution, behavior, phylogeny, behavioral ecology, anatomy and physiology, and conservation biology. All authors are leading authorities on their subjects, and each chapter is refereed by experts in the topics covered. Although all chapters focus primarily on birds, some topics, such as the social cognition of birds as compared to primates (Volume 13), have significant application to disciplines outside of ornithology. Current Ornithology aims to provide an accessible, up-to-date, accurate source of data and to contribute to conceptual generalization and unification across the biological sciences.

The International Society for Arterial Chemoreception (ISAC) was founded in August 1988 during the 9th International Symposium on Arterial Chemoreception which was held at Park City, Utah, USA. ISAC was established with the aim of providing a framework to support the increasing number of investigators from a wide variety of disciplines (anatomists, pathologists, respiratory physiologists and clinicians, high altitude physiologists, biochemists, biophysicists, physiologists and pharmacologists) who share a common interest in arterial chemoreception. ISAC took over the co-ordination of the international chemoreceptor meetings, with the membership deciding the venue for forthcoming meetings. During the Park City symposium Dublin was selected to host the 1993 meeting, under the Presidency of Professor Ronan O'Regan. The 12th International Meeting on Arterial Chemoreception, which was held in Dublin in August 1993, was acclaimed as a great success by all those present. The delegates not only shared in a wide-ranging feast of chemoreceptor based science, they had plenty of opportunity during the meeting for renewing acquaintances and establishing new friendships. The location for the meeting at University College Dublin's modem Belfield campus helped to promote such interaction, and the social programme was outstanding.

Understanding how the brain works is undoubtedly the greatest challenge for human intelligence and one of the most ambitious goals of contemporary science. We are certainly far from this goal, but significant advancements in several fields of Neuroscience and Neurobiology are being obtained at an increasing pace. The NATO ASI School in Neurobiology, held in Erice May 2-12,1995, as the 23rd Course of the International School of Biophysics, provided an update on three basic topics: Biophysics and Molecular Biology ofIon Channels, Sensory Transduction, and Higher Order Functions. Current knowledge on these subjects was covered by formal lectures and critical discussions between lecturers and participants. This book collects original contributions from those scientists who attended the School. Many students presented their results in poster sessions, steering lively informal discussions. A selection of these contributions is also included. A major portion of the program of the School was devoted to a general overview of current trends of thought and experimental approaches in neurobiology, emphasising the importance of understanding molecular aspects of the elementary events underlying sensory transduction and processing in the nervous system, without indulging however in a pure reductionistic view of such complex phenomena. Recent studies of molecular biology and the electrophysiology of heterologously expressed ionic channels, have shed new light on the molecular mechanisms underlying ionic permeation of excitable membranes and its regulation by physical and chemical parameters.

We have considered it to be a demanding assignment to provide a complete exposition dealing with the nature of radiation, its effects, and protection against it to workers in health-related activities. "Radiation" (and more precisely "ionizing radiation") is emitted by X-ray machines, nuclear reactors, and nuclear weapons, but also comes from natural sources to which we are all exposed. It would have been easier to deal with this subject area with the terminology and mathematics employed by specialists. However, although most of the potential readers probably have obtained further pertinent knowledge, we assume no more than a high school education in science and mathematics and the challenge was to provide maximum information within this constraint. This book contains five sections: (A) Radiation Physics, (B) Radiological Physics, (C) Radiation Biology, (D) Radiation Effects on Human Populations, and (E) Radiation Protection. Each section is preceded by a synopsis covering its essential features. It provides sufficient information to enable readers to obtain a general under standing of the subject of the section and an adequate background for comprehension of other sections. The more detailed presentation in the bulk of each section is followed by appendixes that generally contain more advanced topics. This scheme necessarily involves some repetition but permits a more flexible approach for readers who are especially interested in the contents of particular sections.

Since its inception in 1973, The International Society on Oxygen Transport to Tissue (ISOTT) has provided a unique forum to facilitate and encourage scientific interaction and debate. Welcoming scientists and clinicians from a broad spectrum of disciplines, each with their own particular skills and expertise, ISOTT unites them under the common theme of oxygen transport. The successful blend of scientific presentations and informal discussion which characterizes ISOTT is epitomized best by the many fundamental discoveries and technical advancements which it has spawned. The breadth and strengths of The Society's scientific base promotes the rapid progression of ideas from theoretical concepts to rigorous scientific testing and often, ultimately to the clinical arena. Each publication of the ISOTT proceedings has been recognized by Science Citation Index listing and the papers frequently establish scientific precedents and become considered as standard works in their respective fields. The 21st ISOTT Meeting was held in San Diego from August 14th through August 18th, 1993. The San Diego Meeting attracted about 150 registrants and 40 accompanying persons. Ten state-of-the-art lectures were presented by international experts in ~ transport and there were in addition two symposia -one dealing with assessment of tissue hypoxia and the other with functional heterogeneity in different organ systems. There were 100 free communications, consisting of posters accompanied by an abbreviated oral summary. All manuscripts were reviewed by the Editors for form and content, but as is customary for the ISOTT proceedings, rigorous scientific peer review was not undertaken.

Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics describes recent fundamental advances in the experimental and theoretical study of molecular dynamics and stochastic dynamic simulations, X-ray crystallography and NMR of biomolecules, the structure of proteins and its prediction, time resolved Fourier transform IR spectroscopy of biomolecules, the computation of free energy, applications of vibrational CD of nucleic acids, and solid state NMR. Further presentations include recent advances in UV resonance Raman spectroscopy of biomolecules, semiempirical MO methods, empirical force fields, quantitative studies of the structure of proteins in water by Fourier transform IR, and density functional theory. Metal-ligand interactions, DFT treatment of organometallic and biological systems, and simulation vs. X-ray and far IR experiments are also discussed in some detail. The book provides a broad perspective of the current theoretical aspects and recent experimental findings in the field of biomolecular dynamics, revealing future research trends, especially in areas where theoreticians and experimentalists could fruitfully collaborate.

In recent years there has been tremendous activity in computational neuroscience resulting from two parallel developments. On the one hand, our knowledge of real nervous systems has increased dramatically over the years; on the other, there is now enough computing power available to perform realistic simulations of actual neural circuits. This is leading to a revolution in quantitative neuroscience, which is attracting a growing number of scientists from non-biological disciplines. These scientists bring with them expertise in signal processing, information theory, and dynamical systems theory that has helped transform our ways of approaching neural systems. New developments in experimental techniques have enabled biologists to gather the data necessary to test these new theories. While we do not yet understand how the brain sees, hears or smells, we do have testable models of specific components of visual, auditory, and olfactory processing. Some of these models have been applied to help construct artificial vision and hearing systems. Similarly, our understanding of motor control has grown to the point where it has become a useful guide in the development of artificial robots. Many neuroscientists believe that we have only scratched the surface, and that a more complete understanding of biological information processing is likely to lead to technologies whose impact will propel another industrial revolution. Neural Systems: Analysis and Modeling contains the collected papers of the 1991 Conference on Analysis and Modeling of Neural Systems (AMNS), and the papers presented at the satellite symposium on compartmental modeling, held July 23-26, 1992, in San Francisco, California. The papers included, present an update of the most recent developments in quantitative analysis and modeling techniques for the study of neural systems.

In contrast to animals, plants are immobile and, thus, cannot leave a drastically changed environment. Therefore, plants have developped specific strategies involving particular signal and transduction systems as well as a form of cellular organization that allow them to buffer against sudden changes in external conditions. This state-of-the-art summary written by leading scientists deals with: - the most recent data available on the molecular mechanism involved in the response of plant cells to different stimuli; - the critical domaine of ignorance such as the signifi cance of site occupancy of receptors for growth substances; - the estimation of the applicability of new techniques such as electrophysiology, cell imaging and DNA recombinant technology; - directions for future work.

Dr. Howard House, founder of the House Ear Institute and House Ear Clinic often uses the analogy of planting a seed when referring to establishing the House Ear Institute in 1946. Two grateful patients of Dr. House put forth the idea that his knowledge and innovative skills could be used to expand the understanding of hearing impairment and its treatment. Those two early patients provided the "seed money" to begin the Institute. Since that time, the growth has been phenomenal from a one-man laboratory to a multidisciplinary facility boasting over 175 scien tists, physicians, and support staff, all dedicated to the advancement of otologic research and education. Six years ago after a half-century of remarkable success with prosthetic and device research, the Institute began cultivating a new field of endeavor-cell and molecular biology. Don Nielsen, then the Institute's Executive Vice President for Research and Scientific Director, began exploring the potential for hair cell regen eration and presented his ideas to the Board of Trustees. For a period of six months, we did a lot of fact finding to assess what role the Institute might take in this excit ing new field.

This volume addresses a fundamental puzzle in biology and medicine, namely, how does tissue develop, repair and replace itself. The answer appears to lie in growth factors and their regulation. To thrive and survive we need growth factors and this book concentrates on two factors that are related to growth hormone. Growth hormone does not act directly on all tissues, but mediates many of its actions through the release of insulin-like growth factors from the liver. The growth factors were originally called somatomedins by McConaghey and Sledge (1), who discovered that they mediated growth-like effects of growth hormone. However, the factors were purified on the basis of their insulinomimetic actions on fat and muscle and it is their relationship to the insulin family of pep tides that now gives them their name (2,3) of insulin-like growth factors (IGFs). They mediate the actions of. growth hormone on the proteoglycan synthesis of cartilage and produce mitogenic effects in fibroblast cultures.

This is the third volume in the series, in which the topic of the effects of radio frequencies on human tissue, now increasingly a concern with the prevalence of cell phones, is explored by Prof. Lin and other researchers. The impact of electromagnetics on imaging and cardiology, both very keen areas of research at present, is also explored.

'Et moi, ..., si j'avait su comment en revenir, One service mathematics has rendered the je n'y serais point alle.' human race. It has put common sense back Jules Verne where it belongs, on the topmost shelf next to the dusty canister labelled 'discarded non- The series is divergent; therefore we may be sense'. able to do something with it. Eric T. Bell O. Heaviside Mathematicsis a tool for thought. A highly necessary tool in a world where both feedback and non- linearities abound. Similarly, all kinds of parts of mathematics seIVe as tools for other parts and for other sciences. Applying a simple rewriting rule to the quote on the right above one finds such statements as: 'One seIVice topology has rendered mathematical physics ...'; 'One service logic has rendered com- puter science ...'; 'One service category theory has rendered mathematics ...'. All arguably true. And all statements obtainable this way form part of the raison d'etre of this series.

Interest in the biological effects of ionising radiation closely followed the identification of such radiation. The realisation that DNA is the site of genetic infonnation in cells subsequently focussed attention on DNA as an important target in the lethal and mutagenic effects of ionising radiation. Thus radiation effects upon DNA became an important area for fundamental scientific studies by radiation biologists, chemists and physicists. To a first approximation, the concerns of the three disciplines can be divided by time scales: the physical process of energy deposition from photon or charged 16 12 particle and subsequent relaxation (-10- to 10- secs), followed by chemical 12 2 reactions (- 10- to 10 secs), and fmally, the expression of biological effect (minutes to years). Thus, the concept of 'early processes' conveys different ideas to different scientists, although they are all interrelated. To attempt to describe in any detail all these processes is a mammoth task which is not made easier by the different conventions and experimental approaches of the three disciplines. However, the recent advances in all these scientific areas seemed, to the organisers at least, to offer the opportunity to stimulate more active interaction between physicists, chemists and biologists. With this in mind, a multi-disciplinary workshop was organised, which brought together some fifty scientists to present their own specialist interests and, through extensive discussion, explore which problems are of high priority and require input from the different disciplines to resolve them.

New textbooks at all levels of chemistry appear with great regularity. Some fields like basic biochemistry, organic reaction mechanisms, and chemical thermody namics are well represented by many excellent texts, and new or revised editions are published sufficiently often to keep up with progress in research. However, some areas of chemistry, especially many of those taught at the graduate level, suffer from a real lack of up-to-date textbooks. The most serious needs occur in fields that are rapidly changing. Textbooks in these subjects usually have to be written by scientists actually involved in the research which is advancing the field. It is not often easy to persuade such individuals to set time aside to help spread the knowledge they have accumulated. Our goal, in this series, is to pinpoint areas of chemistry where recent progress has outpaced what is covered in any available textbooks, and then seek out and persuade experts in these fields to produce relatively concise but instructive introductions to their fields. These should serve the needs of one semester or one quarter graduate courses in chemistry and biochemistry. In some cases, the availability of texts in active research areas should help stimulate the creation of new courses. New York, New York CHARLES R. CANTOR Preface This book is not a traditional quantum chemistry textbook. Instead, it represents a concept that has evolved from teaching graduate courses in quantum chemistry over a number of years, and encountering students with diverse backgrounds."

Hyperthermia as a safe and effective cancer treatment modality is rapidly evolving propelled by widespread research and clinical efforts worldwide. Presentations on Hyperthermia experience are now commonplace at Oncology meetings, as are congresses dedicated entirely to the intertwined interactions between basic sciences and patient treatment that together are forming the structure of a new medical specialty. Such was the XII International Symposium on Clinical Hyperthermia held in Rome, Italy, April 27 - 29, 1989. Papers presented therein constitute the backbone of this book. Biology research has provided data describing mechanisms of action for the cancer cell killing and physiological effects of Hyperthermia. Physics research has led to the development of equipment enabling treatment of many areas of the human body, as well as explained the limitations that still constrain our ability to treat, especially in the areas of deep seated tumor heating and non-invasive thermometry. The main question that will decide the future of this modality is that of its clinical use. To put it succinctly, what do we do with this potentially useful tool in an everyday clinical oncological practice . ** ? This is the main question addressed in this book as "Consensus on Hyperthermia for the 1990s. " The book in cludes 28 presented papers and 25 invited chapters from some of the leading experts in the field. Their basic mechanisms of action were physics principles, treatment quality assurance and especially, clinical indications.

Physics and the life sciences have established new connections within the past few decades, resulting in biological physics as an established subfield with strong groups working in many physics departments. These interactions between physics and biology form a two-way street with physics providing new tools and concepts for understanding life, while biological systems can yield new insights into the physics of complex systems. To address the challenges of this interdisciplinary area, The Physics of Proteins: An Introduction to Biological Physics and Molecular Biophysics is divided into three interconnected sections. In Parts I and II, early chapters introduce the terminology and describe the main biological systems that physicists will encounter. Similarities between biomolecules, glasses, and solids are stressed with an emphasis on the fundamental concepts of living systems. The central section (Parts III and IV) delves into the dynamics of complex systems. A main theme is the realization that biological systems, in particular proteins, do not exist in unique conformations but can assume a very large number of slightly different structures. This complexity is captured in the concept of a free energy landscape and leads to the conclusion that fluctuations are crucial for the functioning of biological systems. The final chapter of this section challenges the reader to apply these concepts to a problem that appears in the current literature. An extensive series of appendices (Part V) provide descriptions of the key physical tools and analytical methods that have proven powerful in the study of the physics of proteins. The appendices are designed to be consulted throughout the section on protein dynamics without breaking the deductive flow of the logic in the central section of the book.

Four years ago The Blue Light Syndrome was published as the Proceed ings of the 1 st International Conference on the Effect of Blue Light in Plants and Microorganisms. Subsequently the interest in this fascinating and growing field of re search has further increased, as is reflected by numerous publications. Blue light effects cover such a wide spectrum of organisms, responses and methods that communication among scientists with backgrounds in biology, biochemistry, and biophysics is particularly necessary. These facts not only justified, but demanded calling the "Blue Light Family" together again. In spite of many fmancial problems, the second confer ence attracted 113 active members from 19 countries. The 2nd International Conference on The Effect of Blue Light in Plants and Microorganisms was held in July 1984, like the first at the University of Marburg. The organizer could again rely on the help of the International Advisory Committee (W. Briggs, Stanford; M. Furuya, Tokyo; J. Gressel, Rehovot; S. Miyachi, Tokyo; W. Rau, Miinchen; J. Schiff, Waltham; P .-S. Song, Lubbock). The very generous financial as sistance from the DFG and the support of the Philipps-Universitat Mar burg and its Sonderforschungsbereich "Zellenergetik and Zelldifferen zierung" were the prerequisites to organizing the conference. The present book consists of 56 original papers. The partitioning into eight chapters is always a problem. The grouping of different aspects of the papers into these chapters has not always been obvious, so that one or the other contribution could possibly fit in another chapter."

Der Band enthalt die Beitrage der Sektion D des zweiten Gauss-Symposiums vom 2. - 8. August 1993 in Munchen. Die Themen der Beitrage spannen den weiten Bogen von mathematischer Modellierung von biologisch und medizinisch wichtigen Prozessen uber Fragen der Medikamentierung bis hin zur Erforschung des menschlichen Bewusstseins.

Tom S. Tenforde A programma tic effort to assess the effects of magneticfield exposure on living organisms and man is under way at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. This program, which is supported by the Division of Biomedical and Environmental Research of the U. S. Department of Energy, has three principal aspects. First, in a project for which I serve as the coordinator, a series of biophysical experiments are being carried out to determine magnetic field effects on molecular, cellular and whole-animal test systems. A second effort, headed by Dr. Thomas Budinger, involves epidemiological studies designed to evaluate potential health effects in groups of scientists and industrial workers who have been occupationally exposed to high magnetic fields. The third project is the establishment of magnetic field exposure guidelines by a six-member committee composed of scientists from through out the U. S. and headed by Dr. Edward Alpen, Director of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory Biology and Medicine Division. During the initial phase of this program, it became increasingly clear to all of the scientists involved that it would be a worthwhile effort to hold a Biomagnetic Effects Workshop. There were, in fact, three reasons underlying our decision to sponsor such a conference: First of alL more than a decade has passed since there was a large conference in the United States devoted exclusively to biomagnetic research."

Surgeons differ in their enthusiasm for autografts, allografts and metallic implants, nevertheless, all have their place in orthopedic surgery. For some defects in the skeleton, bone grafting may be the only solution. The pros and cons of bone grafting are thoroughly discussed by eighteen distinguished authorities in this book. Their exchange of views and experiences reflects the diversity of thinking worldwide and points to exciting possibilities for future improvements. The twenty-eight chapters describe: the natural history and immunology of auto and allografting; innovative surgical techniques together with results, whether successful or not; and bone banking and its related problems, especially HIV.