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.

In the modern organic synthesis industries, one of which is the synthetic rubber industry, ever increasing use is made of physical and physicochemical methods of analysis, which sur pass chemical methods in speed, accuracy, and sensitivity. By these methods it is often possible to arrive at the solution of problems in the investigation of complex mixtures of organic products which are not amenable to the usual chemical methods of analysis. One such physical method is ultraviolet spectrophotometry. The field of application of this method is restricted, in the main, to aromatic compounds and to systems containing double bonds conjugated among themselves or with functional groups. In the synthetic rubber industry ultraviolet spectroscopy finds appli cation in the analysis of a great variety of substances used in that industry: for the determination of impurities in monomers and intermediate products, in the study of the composition of certain polymers, for the quantitative estimation of various ingredients in rubbers, in the control of certain copolymeriza tion processes, and for many other purposes. The method can be used for the identification of certain compounds and can be applied in the determination of the composition of syn thetic rubber samples. Shortcomings of the method, which limit its analytical application in certain cases, are the super position of absorption spectra and their inadequate selectivity."

Morphology-Property Relationship in Rubber-Based Nanocomposites: Some Recent Developments, by A. K. Bhowmick, M. Bhattacharya, S. Mitra, K. Dinesh Kumar, P. K. Maji, A. Choudhury, J. J. George and G. C. Basak; * Rubber-Clay Nanocomposites: Some Recent Results, by Amit Das, De-Yi Wang, Klaus Werner Stoeckelhuber, Rene Jurk, Juliane Fritzsche, Manfred Kluppel and Gert Heinrich; * Surface Modification of Fillers and Curatives by Plasma Polymerization for Enhanced Performance of Single Rubbers and Dissimilar Rubber/Rubber Blends, by J. W. M. Noordermeer, R. N. Datta, W. K. Dierkes, R. Guo, T. Mathew, A. G. Talma, M. Tiwari and W. van Ooij; * Recent Developments on Thermoplastic Elastomers by Dynamic Vulcanization, by R. Rajesh Babu and Kinsuk Naskar; * PTFE-Based Rubber Composites for Tribological Applications, by M. S. Khan and G. Heinrich

Honolulu is a most beautiful place, suitable for all occa sions. Its choice as the meeting site for the first Joint Chemical Congress between the American Chemical SOCiety and the Chemical Society of Japan was praised by scientists from both sides. During this Congress, the International Conference on Adhesion and Adsorption of Polymers was held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel between April 2 and 5, 1979. We had speakers from ten nations presenting over forty papers related to the subject matter. It was a memorable event. Unlike our two previous adhesion symposia held in 1971 and 1975, this was the first time in the same conference that we discussed both adhesion and adsorption of polymers simultaneously. These two important phenomena are not only inter-related, but also equally important in adhesive technology as well as biochemical processes. The papers presented to this Conference deal with these two phenomena from both fundamental and practical viewpoints. Furthermore, with the advance of new surface analytical techniques, the actual, microscopic happenings at the interfaces can be pin pointed. Thus, characterization of interface became one of the major focuses of this Conference. As a result, a broad coverage of the subject matter includes statistical thermodynamics, surface physics, surface analysis, fracture mechaniCS, viscoelasticity, failure analysis, surface modification, adsorption kinetics, bio polymer adsorption, etc. Thanks to the diligence of our contri butors, we are now able to publish the final papers in these two volumes."

One of the most significant challenges facing mankind in the twenty-first century is the development of a sustainable global economy. Within the scientific community, this calls for the development of processes and technologies that will allow the sustainable production of materials from renewable natural resources. Plant material, in particular lignin, is one such resource. During the annual production of about 100 million metric tons of chemical wood pulps worldwide, approximately 45 and 2 million metric tons/year of kraft lignin and lignosulfonates, respectively, are also generated. Although lignosulfonates have found many applications outside the pulp and paper industry, the majority of kraft lignin is being used internally as a low-grade fuel for the kraft pulping operation. A surplus of kraft lignin will become available as kraft mills increase their pulp production without expanding the capacity of their recovery boilers that utilize lignin as a fuel. There is a tremendous opportunity and an enormous economic incentive to find better uses of kraft lignin, lignosulfonates and other industriallignins. The pulp and paper industry not only produces an enormous amount of lignins as by products of chemical wood pulps, but it also utilizes about 10 million metric tons of lignin per year as a component of mechanical wood pulps and papers. Mechanical wood pulps, produced in a yield of 90-98% with the retention of lignin, are mainly used to make low-quality, non-permanent papers such as newsprint and telephone directories because of the light-induced photooxidation of lignin and the yellowing of the papers.

These volumes constitute the Proceedings of a Symposium ort the Fracture Mechanics of Cerarnics, held at the Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, July 11, 12, and 13, 1973. The theme of the symposium focussed on the mechanical behavior of brittle cerarnics in terms of the characteristics of cracks. The 52 contributed papers by 87 authors, present an overview of the cur rent understanding of the theory and application of fracture mechan ics to brittle cerarnics. The prograrn chairmen gratefully acknowledge the financial assistance for the Symposium provided by the Office of Naval Re search, the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences of the Pennsyl vania State University, the Materials Research Center of Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvana and Westinghouse Research Laboratories, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Special appreciation is extended to the expert organization provided by the J. Orvis Keller Conference Center of the Pennsyl vania State Conference Center of the Pennsylvania State University. In particular, Mrs. Patricia Ewing should be acknowledged for the excellent prograrn organization and planning. Dean Harold J. O'Brien, who was featured as the after-dinner speaker and who presented a most stimulating talk on the cornrnunication between people, also contrib uted to the success of the meeting. Finally, we also wish to thank our joint secretaries for the patience and help in bringing these Proceedings to press. University Park R. C. Bradt Bethlehem D. P. H. Hasseiman Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania F. F. Lange July, 1973 v CONTENTS OF VOLUME 2 Contents of Volume 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

'Recent Advances in Elastomeric Nanocomposites' reviews the recent progresses in the synthesis, processing as well as applications of elastomeric nanocomposites. Elastomers are a very important class of polymer materials and the generation of their nanocomposites by the incorporation of nano-filler has led to significant enhancement of their properties and, hence, expansion of their application potential. Most of the studies related with these materials are present in the form of research papers. Here, the authors present a comprehensive text covering the whole of the subject. The book is tailored more from the applications point of view, but also provide enough introductory material for research scholars new to this field.

Making Flory-Huggins Practical: Thermodynamics of Polymer-Containing Mixtures, by B. A. Wolf * Aqueous Solutions of Polyelectrolytes: Vapor-Liquid Equilibrium and Some Related Properties, by G. Maurer, S. Lammertz, and L. Ninni Schafer * Gas-Polymer Interactions: Key Thermodynamic Data and Thermophysical Properties, by J.-P. E. Grolier, and S. A.E. Boyer * Interfacial Tension in Binary Polymer Blends and the Effects of Copolymers as Emulsifying Agents, by S. H. Anastasiadis * Theory of Random Copolymer Fractionation in Columns, by Sabine Enders * Computer Simulations and Coarse-Grained Molecular Models Predicting the Equation of State of Polymer Solutions, by K. Binder, B. Mognetti, W. Paul, P. Virnau, and L. Yelash * Modeling of Polymer Phase Equilibria Using Equations of State, by G. Sadowski

On this, the dawning of a new age in high technology, man is seeking answers to increasingly complex problems. We are routinely launching reusable vehicles into space, designing and building computers with seemingly limitless powers, and developing sophisticated communications systems using laser technology, fiber optics, holography, etc., all of which require new and advanced materials. Polymer alloys continue to provide new solutions to the materials problems, and remain an area of ever increasing research. Polymer alloys are mu1ticomponent macromolecular systems. The components may be all on the same chain (as in block co polymers), on side chains (as in graft copolymers), or in different molecules (as in po1yb1ends and interpenetrating polymer networks). The variety of morphologies possible and the synergistic effects on ultimate properties continue to stimulate research on new polymer alloys. More and more studies on synthesis of new alloys, the kinetics and mecha nisms of their formation, and their characterization, are taking place, as well as studies on their processing and applications. This book presents the proceedings of the Symposium on Polymer Alloys, sponsored by the American Chemical Society's Division of OrganiC Coatings and Plastics Chemistry held at the 182nd meeting of the American Chemical Society in New York, in August, 1981. The most recent efforts of scientists and engineers from allover the world in this increasingly important field are presented in the following pages."

In a unified treatment for the broad subject of materials, this book presents some fascinating phenomena associated with the remarkable performance of polymers and chemical materials. It provides a comprehensive description of the applications and tools for chemical polymeric materials. It also includes the background information necessary for assimilating the current academic literature on complex materials and their applications.

Experiments showinga rapid and reversible change ofcolor s eem likemagic and are always fascinating. The process involved, photochromism, has a few real and many potential applications. Photochromic glasses thatdarken int he s unlight (protecting eyes from excessive light intensity) and bleach ind im lighta re today a part ofe v eryday life. Organic photochromic compounds in plastic ophthalmic lenses, more comfortable to wear, are now competing with silversalts in glasses, despite the longer lifetime oft he inorganic system. This successful commercial application has given a new impetus to research in the general field of photo chromism, which had its most recent revival in the early eighties. The storyo forganic photochromism with its ups anddowns, from the breakthroughs oft he pioneering periodi n the fifties, through the hardtimes dueto the drawbacks of photodegradation, tot he recent successes is in many ways a saga. The upsurges in this domain were marked by an increasing flow of articles in scientific journals andt he publication of several books (in 1971, 1990, and 1992) that have collectedt he important accumulatedknowledge. Over this period, a considerable number ofpatents have been issued. International meetings have accompanied this activity, the most recent being held in 1993 (ISOP 93 atLes Embiez Island, France) and in 1996 (ISOP 96 inClearwater, Florida). Remark ably, these meetings had good representation from both academia and industry. The next ISOP is planned for 1999 in Fukuoka, Japan.

Although in nature the vast majority of polymers are condensation polymers, much publicity has been focused on functionalized vinyl polymers. Functional Condensation Polymers fulfills the need to explore these polymers which form an increasingly important and diverse foundation in the search for new materials in the twentyfirst century. Some of the advantages condensation polymers hold over vinyl polymers include offering different kinds of binding sites, their ability to be made biodegradable, and their different reactivities with various reagents under diverse reaction conditions. They also offer better tailoring of end-products, different tendencies (such as fiber formation), and different physical and chemical properties. Some of the main areas emphasized include dendrimers, control release of drugs, nanostructure materials, controlled biomedical recognition, and controllable electrolyte and electrical properties.

The three sections of this volume deal with topics of broad interest. The first deals with cetyl alcohol and is a most comprehensive study of this essential ingredient in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry, with an explanation of its functionality. The second is a most comprehensive, up-to-date review of acid/base interactions of a variety of materials, including small molecules, proteins and polyelectrolytes. The third section describes the combined radiochemical and electrochemical methods in the evaluation of the properties of solids in contact with solutions.

These volumes, 3 and 4, of Fracture Mechanics of Ceramics con stitute the proceedings of an international symposium on the frac ture mechanics of ceramics held at the Pennsylvania State Univer sity, University Park, PA on July 27, 28, and 29, 1977. Volumes 1 and 2 were published previously as the proceedings of a sympo sium of the same name held July 11, 12, and 13, 1973, also at Penn State. All four volumes published to date concentrate on the fracture aspects of the mechanical behavior of brittle'ceramics in terms of the characteristics of cracks. The program chairmen gratefully acknowledge the financial as sistance for the symposium provided by the Office of Naval Re search, the Energy Research and Development Administration, and the Army Research Office. Without their support the quality and mag nitude of this conference simply would not have been possible. Numerous individuals contributedto the success of the con ference, but unfortunately they cannot all be listed here. However the program chairmen would especially like to recognize the contri butions of Penn State Conference Coordinator, Mr. Ronald Avillion, whose expertise in planning and organization was indispensable; Dr. Fred R. Matson for his interesting after dinner speech; and Drs. A. M. Diness, J. C. Hurt, and D. W. Readey for their en couragement and valuable suggestions regarding the program. Finally, we wish to also thank our joint secretaries for the patience and help in bringing these proceedings to press."

Simulation and molding are efficient techniques that can aid the city and regional planners and engineers in optimizing the operation of urban systems such as traffic light control, highway toll automation, consensus building, public safety, and environmental protection. When modeling transportation systems such as freeway systems, arterial or downtown grid systems, the city planner and engineer is concerned with capturing the varied interactions between drivers, automobiles, and the infrastructure. Modeling and simulation are used to effectively optimize the design and operation of all of these urban systems. It is possible that in an urban simulation community workshop, citizens can work interactively in front of computers and be able using the click of the mouse to walk up to their own front porch, looking at the proposed shopping mall alternatives across the street from virtually any angle and proposed bridge or tunnel and see how it can reduce traffic congestion. Buildings can be scaled down or taken out, their orientation can be changed in order to check the view and orientation in order to have better site with efficient energy-conservation. The stone or brick material on a building can be replaced by colored concrete, or more trees and lampposts can be placed on the site. Such flexibility in simulation and animation allows creative ideas in the design and orientation of urban sites to be demonstrated to citizens and decision makers before final realization.

These volumes, 7 and 8, of Fracture Mechanics of Ceramics constitute the proceedings of an international symposium on the fracture mechanics of ceramic materials held at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia on June 19, 20 and 21, 1985. These proceedings constitute the fourth pair of volumes of a continuing series of conferences. The theme of this conference, as the previous three, focused on the mechanical behavior of ceramic materials in terms of the characteristics of cracks, particularly the roles which they assume in the fracture process. The 78 contributed papers by over 100 authors and co-authors represent the current state of the field. They address many of the theoretical and practical problems of interest to those concerned with brittle fracture. The program chairmen gratefully acknowledge the financial assistance for the Symposium provided by the EXXON Foundation, the Army Research Office, the National Science Foundation, and the Office of Naval Research. Without their support, this conference simply would not have been possible. The suggestions of Drs. J. C. Hurt, R. C. Pohanka, and L. Toth were particularly helpful in assuring the" success of this symposium. Special appreciation is extended to Professor J. I. Robertson, C. P. Miles Professor of History, whose presentation following the banquet on the American Civil War was very well received by the audience. Finally, we wish to also thank our joint secretaries, especially Karen Snider, for their patience and help in finally bringing these proceedings to press.

From the symposium on Advances in Zeolites and Pillared Clays Synthesis, sponsored by the Petroleum Chemistry Division of the American Chemical Society experts from around the world review: You'll find everything you've ever wanted to know about zeolites and pillared clays: For the novice - how to information on zeolite synthesis. For the expert - a survey of advances in novel zeolites. The mechanism of zeolite crystallisation and crystal growth; spectroscopic characterization of reactants and reaction intermediates; chemistry of silicate solution and reaction effects on crystallization products; the role of organic additives in zeolite formation; novel synthesis methods and procedures for zeolites and pillared clays preparation; new pillaring agents and pillared products; delaminated clays.

This work is a collection of short reviews on membranes and transport. It portrays the field as a mosaic of bright little pieces, which are interesting in themselves but gain full signif icance when viewed as a whole. Traditional boundaries are set aside and biochemists, biophysicists, physiologists, and cell biologists enter into a natural discourse. The principal motivation of this work was to ease the problems of communication that arose from the explosive growth and interdisciplinary character of membrane research. In these volumes we hope to provide a readily available comprehensive source of critical information covering many of the exciting, recent developments on the structure, biosyn thesis, and function of biological membranes in microorganisms, animal cells, and plants. The 182 reviews contributed by leading authorities should enable experts to check up on recent developments in neighboring areas of research, allow teachers to organize material for membrane and transport courses, and give advanced students the opportunity to gain a broad view of the topic. Special attention was given to developments that are expected to open new areas of investigation. The result is a kaleidoscope of facts, viewpoints, theories, and techniques, which radiates the excitement of this important field. Publication of these status reports every few years should enable us to follow progress in an interesting and easygoing format. I am grateful to the authors, to Plenum Publishing Corporation, and to several of my colleagues for their thoughtful suggestions and enthusiastic cooperation, which made this work possible.

In 1975, a symposium was held in Midland, Michigan, co-sponsored by the Dow Chemical Company and the then Midland Macromolecular Institute in honor of Raymond F. Boyer on the occasion of his 65th birthday and retirement from Dow. The topic of that first Boyer symposium dealt with an area of interest to Boyer, namely, polymer transitions and relaxations. One decade later, after ten years of additional fruitful scientific endeavor at MMI, Ray Boyer was again honored with a symposium, this time celebrating his 75th birthday and 10th anniversary at the Michigan Molecular Institute. The topic of the second Boyer symposium in 1985 was somewhat more focused, this time concentrating on the subject of order (or structure) in the amorphous state of polymers and the attendant polymer transitions that are observed. This volume contains the full manuscripts of the contributors to the 17th MMI International Symposium, held in Midland, Michigan on August 18-21, 1985. Eleven one-hour plenary lectures and ten 20-minute contributed papers were presented during the Symposium. An open forum panel discussion was also scheduled; the edited transcript of that session is included at the end of this volume. One of our tasks in organizing this Symposium was to attempt to gather together a number of speakers who would be able to define what, if any, physical structure might be present in anwrplwus polymers and what the nature of this order might be.

Organic Additives and Ceramic Processing: With Applications in Powder Metallurgy, Ink, and Paint describes the major manufacturing processes, such as slip casting, tape casting, injection molding, etc. The book covers each subject, including the ceramic processes, organic chemical structures, polymers, colloid science and others, starting from fundamental principles, with many literature references for further reading. After the fundamentals, detailed case studies from industrial applications are described for the optimization of solvents, dispersants, binders, plasticizers, lubricants and some minor additives. A wide range of information is covered, beginning with fundamental equations for students, and extending to advanced applications for development workers and factory problem solvers. Shanefield undertook this ambitious task only because of the previous lack of resources that address the growing need for detailed information on organic additives for ceramics. Suitable for use as a textbook and as a reference source for working ceramists and chemists who wish to supply the ceramics industry with additives.

This book deals with the organic chemistry of polymers which find technological use as adhesives, fibres, paints, plastics and rubbers. For the most part, only polymers which are of commercial significance are considered and the primary aim of the book is to relate theoretical aspects to industrial practice. The book is mainly intended for use by students in technical institutions and universities who are specializing in polymer science and by graduates who require an introduction to this field. Several excellent books have recently appeared dealing with the physical chemistry of polymers but the organic chemistry of polymers has not received so much attention. In recognition of this situation and because the two aspects of polymer chemistry are often taught separately, this book deals specifically with organic chemistry and topics of physical chemistry have been omitted. Also, in this way the book has been kept to a reasonable size. This is not to say that integration of the two areas of polymer science is undesirable; on the contrary, it is of the utmost importance that the inter-relationship should b~ appreciated. I wish to record my thanks to my colleagues with whom I have had many helpful discussions, particularly Mrs S. L. Radchenko. I also thank Miss E. Friesen for obtaining many books and articles on my behalf and Mr H. Harms for encouragement and assistance. I am also grateful to Mrs M. Stevens who skilfully prepared the manuscript. Department of Chemical and Metallurgical Technology, Ryerson Polytechnical Institute, K. J. S.

The policy adopted in Volume 1 of this series of including a relatively small number of topics for detailed review has been continued here. The techniques selected have received considerable attention in recent years. F or this reason and because of the significance of the characterisation data, further coverage of 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and small angle neutron scattering is given in the first two chapters. In Chapter I a large part of the review describes the determination of monomer sequence distributions and configurational sequences in copolymers formed from more than one polymerisable monomer. The review on neutron scattering (Chapter 2) is directed towards the determination of the chain conformation in semi-crystaIIine polymers, which has provided important results for the interpretation of chain folding and morphology in crystaIIisable polymers. Laser Raman spectroscopy has also been used for morphological studies, and this application together with a description of the theoretical and experimental aspects of the technique is given in Chapter 3. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy because of its extreme sensitivity to surface characteristics has provided information on polymeric solids that could not be obtained by other techniques. The principles and practice of this ESCA technique, including its use for simple elemental analysis, structural elucidation and depth profiling, are described in Chapter 4. The final two chapters are mainly concerned with the chain conformation of polymers in dilute solution. Ultrasonic techniques (Chapter 5) show pmmise for observing the dynamics of conformational changes.

The proceedings of the Twenty-First University Conference on Ceramic Science held at The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA on July 17, 18 and 19, 1985 are compiled in this volume "Tailoring Multiphase and Composite Ceramics." This Conference emphasized the' discussion and analysis of the properties of multiphase ceramic materials in which the microstructure is deliberately tailored for specific applications or properties. Inter nationally recognized authorities presented keynote and invited lectures on topics dealing with processing and fabrication of multiphase and com posite electroceramics, fiber reinforced composites and high temperature multiphase ceramics. Results of recent research were presented in oral and poster sessions by leading researchers from several countries. This collection of papers represents the state of the art in our understand ing of the processing-structure-property interrelationships for these materials which possess unique and useful electrical, magnetic, optical, mechanical and thermal properties as a result of their multiphase nature. We are grateful for the financial support of the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, the Air Force Office of Scien tific Research, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for this conference. We gratefully acknowledge Prof. Robert Davis' leader ship role in steering and expanding this university conference series on ceramic science. We thank Ron Avillion and Linda Rose for their expert assistance in planning and coordinating the meeting. Thanks are due to Ms. Marian Reed, Ms. Judy Bell and Ms."

The renowned theoretical physicist Victor F. Weisskopf rightly pointed out that a real understanding of natural phenomena implies a clear distinction between the essential and the peripheral. Only when we reach such an understanding - that is to say when we are able to separate the relevant from the irrelevant, will the phenomena no longer appear complex, but intelectually transparent. This statement, which is generally valid, reflects the very essence ofmodelling in the quantum theory of matter, on the molecular level in particular. Indeed, without theoretical models one would be swamped by too many details embodied in intricate accurate molecular wavefunctions. Further, physically justified simplificqtions enable studies of the otherwise intractable systems and/or phenomena. Finally, a lack of appropriate models would leave myriads of raw experimental data totally unrelated and incomprehensible. The present series ofbooks dwells on the most important models of chemical bonding and on the variety of its manifestations. In this volume the electronic structure and properties of molecules are considered in depth. Particular attention is focused on the nature of intramolecular interactions which in turn are revealed by various types ofmolecular spectroscopy. Emphasis is put on the conceptual and interpretive aspects of the theory in line with the general philosophy adopted in the series."

This book contains the collected papers presented at the Inter national Symposium on Polymers in Medicine, Biomedical and Pharma cological Applications, which was held at Porto Cervo, Italy, May 24-28, 1982. To the best of our knowledge, this symposium was the first to be organized in Italy entirely devoted to the several aspects of the use of synthetic and semisynthetic macromolecular materials in the field of biomedical and pharmacological applications. The inten~ tion of the Organizing Committee of the symposium was the promotion of a scientific and cultural initiative to gain the attention of various experts in line research of the potential of suitably de signed "man-made" polymeric materials in biomedical applications. With highly qualified and worldwide attendance, the above goal was fully satisfied. Indeed the opportunity of meeting to gether in a well conceived and discreet corner of the world, scien tists with different cultural backgrounds and objectives helped ex tend the meaning of the symposium far beyond the Italian borders and the perspectives of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) , the major sponsor of the meeting.