The two volumes "New Developments in Polymer Analytics" deal with recent progress in the characterization of polymers, mostly in solution but also at s- faces. Despite the fact that almost all of the described techniques are getting on in years, the contributions are expected to meet the readers interest because either the methods are newly applied to polymers or the instrumentation has achieved a major breakthrough leading to an enhanced utilizaton by polymer scientists. The first volume concentrates on separation techniques. H. Pasch summarizes the recent successes of multi-dimensional chromatography in the characteri- tion of copolymers. Both, chain length distribution and the compositional h- erogeneity of copolymers are accessible. Capillary electrophoresis is widely and successfully utilized for the characterization of biopolymers, particular of DNA. It is only recently that the technique has been applied to the characterization of water soluble synthetic macromolecules. This contributrion of Grosche and Engelhardt focuses on the analysis of polyelectrolytes by capillary electopho- sis. The last contribution of the first volume by Coelfen and Antonietti sum- rizes the achievements and pitfalls of field flow fractionation techniques. The major drawbacks in the instrumentation have been overcome in recent years and the"triple F techniques" are currently advancing to a powerful competitor to size exclusion chromatography.

Thermodiffusion describes the coupling between a temperature gradient and a resulting mass flux. Traditionally, the focus has been on simple fluids, and it is now extending to more complex systems such as electrolytes, polymers, colloidal dispersions and magnetic fluids. This book widens the scope even further by including applications in ionic solids. Written as a set of tutorial reviews, it will be useful to experts, nonspecialist researchers and postgraduate students alike.

This book is your guide to becoming an empowerment leader. Its purpose: to redirect and re-energize leadership in government.
If you are involved in any form of government leadership, this new publication will show you exactly how to develop and implement the principles of empowerment and improve quality.
Transformational Leadership in Government is written for administrators and managers who are committed to improving the efficiency and effectiveness of their staff. Koehler and Pankowski illustrate how true leadership is the creation of a working environment that encourages those closest to the problem to take the responsibility for solving it.
The authors provide new principles of leadership that will enable leaders to successfully manage any government organization. The book focuses on governmental organizations that should be customer driven, process oriented, team based, and data driven. The essence of Transformational Leadership in Government can be summed up in the words of W. Edwards Deming: Give the worker a chance to work with pride.

Key to the success of quality implementation is the understandingteam members have of the process and the tools to be used. Continual Improvement in Government: Tools and Methods was designed to provide users with a complete description and practical examples of these tools and viable techniques that will benefit teams. This book examines the four most popular tools: flowcharting; cause and effect diagrams; Pareto charts; and histograms-and shows how to apply them in the public service sector. To improve processes requires effective decision-making and effective decision-making begins with accurate data. Koehler and Pankowski dispel the myths and fears of data collection and analysis. In a step-by-step approach, they lead you through the very heart of Quality Management...DATA. Continual Improvement in Government: Tools and Methods provides an understandable format that explains the importance of data, the differences in the quality of data, why it is collected, and how it is used.

The two volumes "New Developments in Polymer Analytics" deal with recent progress in the characterization of polymers, mostly in solution but also at s- faces. Despite the fact that almost all of the described techniques are getting on in years, the contributions are expected to meet the readers interest because either the methods are newly applied to polymers or the instrumentation has achieved a major breakthrough leading to an enhanced utilizaton by polymer scientists. The first volume concentrates on separation techniques. H. Pasch summarizes the recent successes of multi-dimensional chromatography in the characteri- tion of copolymers. Both, chain length distribution and the compositional h- erogeneity of copolymers are accessible. Capillary electrophoresis is widely and successfully utilized for the characterization of biopolymers, particular of DNA. It is only recently that the technique has been applied to the characterization of water soluble synthetic macromolecules. This contributrion of Grosche and Engelhardt focuses on the analysis of polyelectrolytes by capillary electopho- sis. The last contribution of the first volume by Coelfen and Antonietti sum- rizes the achievements and pitfalls of field flow fractionation techniques. The major drawbacks in the instrumentation have been overcome in recent years and the"triple F techniques" are currently advancing to a powerful competitor to size exclusion chromatography.

In September 2000, the University of Bayreuth, Germany, hosted the Fourth International Meeting on Thermodi?usion (IMT4). TheIMTconferenceswerebornfromtheideaofbringingtogetherresearchers in the ?eld of thermodi?usion. Under the auspices of the European Group of Research in Thermodi?usion(EGRT)theconferenceseriesstartedin1994with IMT1 in Toulouse and has been continued every other year with IMT2 (Pau, 1996), IMT3 (Mons, 1998), and IMT4 (Bayreuth, 2000). The next conference, IMT5, will be held in 2002 in Lyngby, Denmark. Thermodi?usion, alsocalledthermaldi?usionortheLudwig-Sorete?ect, - scribes the coupling between a temperature gradient and a resulting mass ?ux. Although the e?ect was already discovered in the 19th century by Ludwig and Soret, it has gained growing interest during the last years due to improved - perimentaltechniqueslikestate-of-the-artthermogravitationalcolumns, modern opticalmethods, ?owchannels, andmicrogravityexperiments, tomentiononlya few. We are still far from a detailed microscopic picture, but analytical theories have been improved and the availability of fast computers and e?cient al- rithmsfornonequilibriummoleculardynamicssimulationshasprovidedvaluable input from the theoretical side. TheIMTconferencescoverallaspectsofthermodi?usionfromfundamentals to new applications. Traditionally, the focus has been on the ?uid state, ra- ing from mixtures of simple liquids to more complex systems such as critical mixtures, electrolytes, polymers, colloidal dispersions, or magnetic ?uids. IMT4 tried to widen the scope by including a plenary lecture about thermodi?usion in ionic solids. Scienti?c input comes from diverse disciplines such as physics, chemistry, engineering, and geophysics. Sadly, Leo Kempers passed away while this book was being prepared. Many ofushavelostafriendandrespectedcolleague.Hismanuscripthasbeenbrought into its ?nal state by A. Shapiro, whom we want to thank