Flammability has been recognized as an increasingly important social and scientific problem. Fire statistics in the United States (Report of the National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control. "America Burning: ' 1973) emphasized the vast devastation to life and property--12.000 lives lost annually due to fire. and these deaths are usually caused by inhaling smoke or toxic gases: 300.000 fire injuries: 11.4 billion dollars in fire cost at which 2.7 billion dollars is related to property loss: a billion dollars to burn injury treatment: and 3.3 billion dollars in productivity loss. It is obvious that much human and economic misery can be attributed to fire situations. In relation to this. polymer flammability has been recognized as an in creasingly important social and scientific problem. The development of flame-retardant polymeric materials is a current example where the initia tive for major scientific and technological developments is motivated by sociological pressure and legislation. This is part of the important trend toward a safer environment and sets a pattern for future example. Flame retardancy deals with our basic everyday life situations-housing. work areas. transportation. clothing and so forth-the "macroenvironment" capsule within which "homosapiens" live. As a result. flame-retardant polymers are now emerging as a specific class of materials leading to new and diversified scientific and technological ventures."

The development and application of bioactive nano-structured constructs for tissue regeneration is the focus of the research summarised in this thesis. Moreover, a particular focus is the rational use of supercritical carbon dioxide foaming and electrospinning technologies which can lead to innovative polymeric bioresorbable scaffolds made of hydrolysable (both commercial and 'ad-hoc' synthesized) polyesters. Mainly, the author discusses the manipulation of polymer chemical structure and composition to tune scaffold physical properties, and optimization of scaffold 3D architecture by a smart use of both fabrication techniques. The multidisciplinary nature of this research is imperative in pursuing the challenge of tissue regeneration successfully. One of the strengths of this thesis is the integration of knowledge from chemistry, physics, engineering, materials science and biomedical science which has contributed to setting up new national and international collaborations, while strengthening existing ones.

This volume is devoted to solidification of polymers in general; crystalline, liquid crystalline, and amorphous polymers, including oriented polymers and the effects of pressure and processing are discussed. A distinguished international group of authors has contributed to the volume.

H. Yoshida, T. Ichikawa Electron Spin Echo Studies of Free Radicals in Irridated Polymers M. Ogasawara Application of Pulse Radiolysis to the Study of Polymers and Polymerizations I. Kaetsu Radiation Synthesis of Polymeric Materials for Biomedical and Biochemical Applications S. Tagawa Radiation Effects of Ion Beams on Polymers H.Yamaoka Polymer Materials for Fusion Reactors

With contributions by: R.H. Boyd; B.G. Sumpter, D.W. Noid, G.L. Liang, B. Wunderlich; M.D. Ediger, D.B. Adolf; R.-J. Roe; I. Bahar, B. Erman, L. Monnerie; A.A. Gusev, F. Muller-Plathe, W.F. van Gunsteren, U.W. Suter; L.R. Dodd, D.N. Theodorou; E. Leontidis, J.J. de Pablo, M. Laso, U.W. Suter; K.S. Schweizer."

"Imagination and shrewd guesswork are powerful instruments for acquiring scientific knowledge . . . " 1. H. van't Hoff The last decades have witnessed a rapid growth of quantum chemistry and a tremendous increase in the number of very accurate ab initio calculations of the electronic structure of molecules yielding results of admirable accuracy. This dramatic progress has opened a new stage in the quantum mechanical description of matter at the molecular level. In the first place, highly accurate results provide severe tests of the quantum mecha nics. Secondly, modern quantitative computational ab initio methods can be synergetically combined with various experimen tal techniques thus enabling precise numerical characterization of molecular properties better than ever anticipated earlier. However, the role of theory is not exhausted in disclosing the fundamental laws of Nature and production of ever increasing sets of data of high accuracy. It has to provide additionally a means of systematization, recognition of regularities, and ratio nalization of the myriads of established facts avoiding in this way complete chaos. Additional problems are represented by molecular wavefunctions provided by the modern high-level computational quantum chemistry methods. They involve, in principle, all the information on molecular system, but they are so immensely complex that can not be immediately understood in simple and physically meaningful terms. Both of these aspects, categorization and interpretation, call for conceptual models which should be preferably pictorial, transparent, intuitively appealing and well-founded, being sometimes useful for semi quantitative purposes."

This volume contains the proceedings of the "International Workshop on Optical Methods and the Physics of Colloidal Dispersions," held in memory of Prof. Dr. Klaus Schatzel at the end of September, 1996, in Mainz, Germany. The meeting focused on two special aspects of colloidal science, namely novel optical methods and the physics of colloidal dispersions. In particular, the contributed papers show that the increase in the quality and number of suitable model systems has significantly enhanced our knowledge of colloidal properties, structures and dynamics."

The action of enzymes fascinated mankind long before they were rec ognized for the complex chemicals that they are. The first application of these remarkable compounds to produce ethanol by fermentation is lost to antiquity. Payer and Persoz (Ann. Chim. Phys., 53, 73 (1833ii)) appear to have provided the first step toward understanding this com plex area when they reported the isolation of diastase in 1833. These workers showed that diastase could catalyze the hydrolysis of starches to sugars. Somewhat earlier Kirchhoff (Schwigger's Journal, 4, 108 (1812)) had shown that a small amount of dilute acid could hydrolyze a seemingly endless amount of starch to sugars. The genius of Berzelius recognized the commonality of these two observations in connection with a few other isolated observations and in 1834 coined the term catalysis to describe such actions. Professor Leibig was one of the giants of the chemical world in 1840. In addition to his own work, Liebig was training the world's next generation of chemists in his laboratory in Giessen. This cadre of chemists were very impressed by the master teacher so that is it only natural that Liebig's views should dominate with this next generation of chemists. Leibig was, in the 1830s and 1840s, developing his mastery of agricultural chemistry. The mechanism of putrefication was of great concern to Leibig, and he turned to the newly defined area of catalysis for an explanation."

A reasonable case could be made that the scientific interest in catalytic oxidation was the basis for the recognition of the phenomenon of catalysis. Davy, in his attempt in 1817 to understand the science associated with the safety lamp he had invented a few years earlier, undertook a series of studies that led him to make the observation that a jet of gas, primarily methane, would cause a platinum wire to continue to glow even though the flame was extinguished and there was no visible flame. Dobereiner reported in 1823 the results of a similar investigation and observed that spongy platina would cause the ignition of a stream of hydrogen in air. Based on this observation Dobereiner invented the first lighter. His lighter employed hydrogen (generated from zinc and sulfuric acid) which passed over finely divided platinum and which ignited the gas. Thousands of these lighters were used over a number of years. Dobereiner refused to file a patent for his lighter, commenting that "I love science more than money." Davy thought the action of platinum was the result of heat while Dobereiner believed the ~ffect ~as a manifestation of electricity. Faraday became interested in the subject and published a paper on it in 1834; he concluded that the cause for this reaction was similar to other reactions.

The subject of this volume is limited in that it addresses amphiphiles at liquid/air, liquid/liquid, and liquid/solid interfaces, with litte attention paid to vapor/solid interfaces. This volume will serve to summarize our current understanding of interfacial structure at the molecular level in these systems, and the relation of this structure to chemical and physicochemical phenomena.

Pedagogical Cases in Physical Education and Youth Sport is a completely new kind of resource for students and practitioners working in physical education or youth sport. The book consists of 20 richly described cases of individual young learners, each written by a team of authors with diverse expertise from across the sport, exercise and movement sciences. These cases bring together knowledge from single sub-disciplines into new interdisciplinary knowledge to inform best practice in physical education, teaching and coaching in youth sport settings. At the heart of each case is an individual young person of a specified age and gender, with a range of physical, social and psychological characteristics. Drawing on current research, theory and empirical data from their own specialist discipline, each chapter author identifies the key factors they feel should be taken into account when attempting to teach or coach the young person described. These strands are then drawn together at the end of each chapter and linked to current research from the sport pedagogy literature, to highlight the implications for planning and evaluating teaching or coaching sessions. No other book offers such a rich, vivid and thought-provoking set of pedagogical tools for understanding and working with children and young people in sport. This is an essential resource for any student on a physical education, coaching, kinesiology or sport science course, and for any teacher, coach or instructor working in physical education or youth sport.

In this book, academic researchers and technologists will find important information on the interaction of polymeric and non-polymeric inhibitors with a variety of scale forming crystals such as calcium phosphates, calcium carbonate, calcium oxalates, barium sulfate, calcium pyrophosphates, and calcium phosphonates. Moreover, the book delivers information to plant managers and formulators who would like to broaden and deepen their knowledge about processes involved in precipitation of sparingly soluble salts and learn more about the inhibitory aspects of various commercially available materials. Furthermore, experienced researchers will obtain fruitful and inspiring ideas from the easily accessible information about overlapping research areas, which will promote discoveries of new inhibitors (synthetic and/or natural) for the currently unmet challenges.

Asphaltenes have traditionally been viewed as being extremely complex, thus very hard to characterize. In addition, certain fundamental properties of asphaltenes have pre viously been inaccessible to study by traditional macroscopic methods, further limiting understanding of asphaltenes. These limitations inhibited development of descriptions regarding the microscopic structure and solution dynamics of asphaltenes. However, a variety ofmore recent studies have implied that asphaltenes share many chemical properties with the smaller, more tractable components of crude oils. Recent measurements have indicated that asphaltene molecular weights are not as arge as previously thought, perhaps in the range of 600 to I 000 amu. In addition, new experimental methods applied to asphaltene chemical structures have been quite revealing, yielding a broad understanding. Conse quently, the ability to relate chemical structure with physical and chemical properties can be developed and extended to the understanding of important commercial properties of asphal tenes. This book treats significant new developments in the fundamentals and applications of asphaltenes. In the first section ofthe book, new experimental methods are described that characterize asphaltene structures from the molecular to colloidallength scale. The colloidal properties are understandable in terms of asphaltene chemical structures, especially with regard to the heteroatom impact on bonding. However, quantitative measurements of the of asphaltene self-association still need to be determined. In the second section of enthalpy this book, the fundamental understanding of asphaltenes is related riirectly to asphaltene utilization."

Among various branches of polymer physics an important position is occupied by that vast area, which deals with the thermal behav ior and thermal properties of polymers and which is normally called the thermal physics of polymers. Historically it began when the un usual thermo-mechanical behavior of natural rubber under stretch ing, which had been discovered by Gough at the very beginning of the last century, was studied 50 years later experimentally by Joule and theoretically by Lord Kelvin. This made it possible even at that time to distinguish polymers from other subjects of physical investigations. These investigation laid down the basic principles of solving the key problem of polymer physics - rubberlike elasticity - which was solved in the middle of our century by means of the statistical thermodynamics applied to chain molecules. At approx imately the same time it was demonstrated, by using the methods of solid state physics, that the low temperature dependence of heat capacity and thermal expansivity of linear polymers should fol low dependencies different from that characteristic of nonpolymeric solids. Finally, new ideas about the structure and morphology of polymers arised at the end of the 1950s stimulated the development of new thermal methods (differential scanning calorimetry, defor mation calorimetry), which have become very powerful instruments for studying the nature of various states of polymers and the struc tural heterogeneity."

The U. S. -Japan Polymer Symposium-1980 at the Tenth Biennial Symposium was held during the period November 21-26, 1980 at the Palm Springs Spa Hotel in Palm Springs, California. This Symposium was jointly sponsored by the Division of Polymer Chemistry of the American Chemical Society and the Society of Polymer Science, Japan. It is hoped that this joint symposium between the Japanese and Americans will become a regular event with the next sym- posium to be held in Japan. Although there have been several small joint meetings between the Japanese and American poly- mer scientists sponsored by the governments of the two countries with restricted topics and restricted attendance held in both countries, this symposium represented the first large meeting held in cooperation between the two societies with broad spectrum of topics and unrestricted attendance. In planning the program the Co-Chairmen, William J. Bailey and Teiji Tsuruta, tried to make the program as balanced as possible, both with regards to subject matter and representation from the two countries. They selected 24 invited lecturers, twelve from Japan as follows: Kohei Sanui, Sophia University Takeo Shimidzu, Kyoto University Shohei Inoue, University of Tokyo Itaru Mita, University of Tokyo Yuka Yamashita, Nagoya University Yozo Chatani, Osaka University Itsuo Aishima, Asahi Chemical Industry Co. , Ltd. Toshio Hayashi, Kyoto University Takuhei Nose, Tokyo Institute of Technology Tisato Kajiyama, Kyushu University Shigeo Tazuke, Tokyo Institute of Technology Naohiro Murayama, Kureha Chemical Industry CO. ,Ltd.

QCM-D Studies on Polymer Behavior at Interfaces reviews the applications of quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) in polymer research, including the conformational change of grafted polymer chains, the grafting kinetics of polymer chains, the growth mechanism of polyelectrolyte multilayers, and the interactions between polymers and phospholipid membranes. It focuses on how QCM-D can be applied to the study of polymer behavior at various solid-liquid interfaces. Moreover, it clearly reveals the physical significance of the changes in frequency and dissipation associated with the different polymer behaviors at the interfaces.

-Effects of Electric Fields on Block Copolymer Nanostructures By H. G. Schoberth, V. Olszowka, K. Schmidt, and A. Boeker -Nanopattern Evolution in Block Copolymer Films: Experiment, Simulations and Challenges By L. Tsarkova, G.J. Agur Sevink, and G. Krausch -Controlled Wrinkling as a Novel Method for the Fabrication of Patterned Surfaces By A. Schweikart, A. Horn, A. Boeker, and A. Fery -Layered Systems Under Shear Flow By D. Svensek and H. R. Brand -Thermal Diffusion in Polymer Blends: Criticality and Pattern Formation By W. Koehler, A. Krekhov, and W. Zimmermann -Foaming of Microstructured and Nanostructured Polymer Blends By H. Ruckdaschel, P. Gutmann, V. Altstadt, H. Schmalz, and A.H.E. Muller

Catalysis involves just about every field of scientific study. This means that a multidisciplinary approach is needed in catalytic studies. Catalysis involves breaking and forming new bonds and this requires an under standing of either adsorption by bonding to an extended structures or bonding in a coordination sphere. Any understanding of catalytic action must necessarily involve an understanding of this bonding. Even 200 years ago scientists were aware that a properly treated mate rial, such as charcoal, could adsorb an enormous quantity of gas. In 1812, de Sassasure (English translation, Annal Philosphy, 6, 241 (1815 pro posed that the ability of a material to increase the rate of chemical reac tion was due to adsorption of the material in the fine structure of the solid so that the concentrations of the reactants were significantly increased, and this increase in concentration led to an increase in reaction rate. During the 1800s, little advance was made in the understanding of adsorp tion."

At the beginning of the twentieth century, engineers and technologists would have recognized the importance of adhesion in two main aspects: First, in the display of friction between surfaces - at the time a topic of growing importance to engineers; the second in crafts requiring the joining of materials - principally wood-to form engineering structures. While physical scientists would have admitted the adhesive properties of glues, gels, and certain pastes, they regarded them as materials of uncertain formulation, too impure to be amenable to precise experiment. Biological scientists were aware also of adhesive phenomena, but the science was supported by documentation rather than understanding. By the end of the century, adhesion and adhesives were playing a crucial and deliberate role in the formulation of materials, in the design and manufacture of engineering structures without weakening rivets or pins, and in the use of thin sections and intricate shapes. Miniaturization down to the micro- and now to the nano-level of mechanical, electrical, electronic, and optical devices relied heavily on the understanding and the technology of adhesion. For most of the century, physical scientists were aware that the states of matter, whether gas, liquid, or solid, were determined by the competition between thermal energy and int- molecular binding forces. Then the solid state had to be differentiated into crystals, amorphous glasses, metals, etc. , so the importance of the molecular attractions in determining stiffness and strength became clearer.