Since the begining of the sixties, control theorists have developed a large body of knowledge concerning complex or large-scale systems theory. Using the state space approach, their purpose was to extend methods to cope with the increasingly sophisticated automation needs of man-made systems. Despite several remarkable contributions, and some successful applications, it can be stated that this theory has not yet become an engineering tool. On the other hand, the emergence of cheap and reliable microprocessors has profoundly transformed industrial instrumentation and control systems. Process...

The cause of many of the adverse reproductive outcomes and developmental diseases among offspring is not well understood. Most of the epidemiologic and experimental animal research has focused on the relationship between maternal exposures including medications, tobacco smoke, alcohol, infections, and occupation and the occurrence of spontaneous abortion, low birth weight, and birth defects. The potential role of paternal exposures has not been investigated as extensively despite long-standing animal research that demonstrates the induction of mutations in the male germ cell after exposure to...

Five questions dominated the ARW on Physics and Materials Science of High Temperature Superconductors, of which this book forms the permanent record. Briefly, these are: (i) How close are we to a unified theory? The consensus is that we are not. (ii) Flux pinning: can it be achieved in bulk materials? Still an open question. The following three questions are related. (iii) Can grain boundary contributions be brought under control? (iv) What is the real requirement for purity and general chemistry control? (v)What is the practical outlook for bulk products - tapes and wires?...

Biotechnology for Waste Management and Site Restoration covers: waste management - solid, gaseous, liquid; site restoration - radioactivity, organics, toxic metals; educational, economic, social and business aspects; and international collaboration.
International collaboration is growing apace and many concrete projects have been started. The body of knowledge is growing. Over the long term, it is envisaged that this international collaboration will result in a long-term scientific and technological strategy, new technologies and alternative solutions, and practical...

Environmental issues continue to burden governments and economies throughout the post-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union. Severe environmental degradation is endemic to the region, the existing environmental infrastructure is often inadequate, significant new investment is perhaps decades away, and there is little knowledge of advanced techniques for impact assessment, project evaluation, and project financing.
The first two papers of Environmental Infrastructure Management survey available...

LESLIE J. JARDINE Lmvrence Livermore National LaboratOlY Livermore, CA 94551 U. S. A. The Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) on Nuc1ear Materials Safety held lune 8-10, 1998, in St. Petersburg, Russia, was attended by 27 Russian experts from 14 different Russian organizations, seven European experts from six different organizations, and 14 V. S. experts from seven different organizations. The ARW was conducted at the State Education Center (SEC), a former Minatom nuc1ear training center in St. Petersburg. Thirty-three technical presentations were made using simultaneous translations. These...

This is a book about the simultaneous location, production and distri- bution decisions of a firm entering a competitive market whose spatial nature is describable by a network in which the market either achieves an equilibrium or is equilibrium tending. As such, the problem is of clear theoretical and practical importance, for it is a rather general version of the problem faced by real firms every day in deciding where to locate. Further, the timeliness of this subject manifests itself in the growing excitement and interest found both in the research/academic communities and in the...

There is a great deal of interest in extending nondestructive technologies beyond the location and identification of cracks and voids. Specifically there is growing interest in the application of nondestructive evaluation (NOEl to the measurement of physical and mechanical properties of materials. The measurement of materials properties is often referred to as materials characterization; thus nondestructive techniques applied to characterization become nondestructive characterization (NDCl. There are a number of meetings, proceedings and journals focused upon nondestructive technologies and...

There has been an explosion of research related to free radicals and antioxidants in recent years, and hundreds of laboratories worldwide are actively involved in many as pects of free radicals, oxidative stress, and antioxidants. The literature on these topics in creases exponentially every year. Over the last few years, we have been fortunate to witness a widespread recognition of the important role of free radicals in a wide variety of pathological conditions including diseases such as atherosclerosis, cardiovascular and neurological diseases, ischemia, emphysema, diabetes, radiation...

This volume features the proceedings of the NATO AR Workshop held in Kishinev, the capital of Moldova, a fom1er Soviet Republic in the South Eastern Europe. OUiing 3 working days 26 reports were presented, 8 of them by, or in collaboration with, speakers from Kishinev. The reports arc presented in the order they were given at the Workshop. As the topic was rather wide-ranged, all the sittings were plenmy. The opening communication was made by the Mayor of Kishinev S. Urckian, who was the Chainnan of the Organizing Committee. It was followed by other reports of general orientation. The second...