Bücher veröffentlicht von Springer Netherlands

The idea for organizing an Advanced Study Institute devoted largely to neutron star timing arose independently in three places, at Istanbul, Garching and Amster- dam; when we became aware of each other's ideas we decided to join forces. The choice of a place for the Institute, in Turkey, appealed much to us all, and it was then quickly decided that Qeme would be an excellent spot. When the preparations for the Institute started, early in 1987, we could not have guessed how timely the subject actually was. Of course, the recently dis- covered QPO phenomena in accreting neutron stars and half a dozen binary and millisecond radio pulsars known at the time formed one of the basic motivations for organizing this Institute. But none of us could have guessed that later in 1987 we were to witness the wonderful discovery of the binary and millisecond radio pulsars in globular clusters and, -as if Nature wished to give us a special present for this the discovery in March 1988 of a millisecond pulsar in an eclipsing binary Institu- system, the first eclipsing radio pulsar ever found, and the second fastest in the sky! The discussion of this pulsar, its formation and fate was one of the highlights of this meeting, especially since its discoverers were among the participants of the Institute and could provide us with first-hand information.

Within the framework of Ispra Courses, a course on "e;Applications of Remote Sensing to Agrometeorology"e; was held from April 6th to 10th, 1987 at the Joint Research Centre of the European Communities, Ispra Italy. The purpose of the course was to familiarize scientists, active in Agrometeorology and related fields, with remote sensing techniques and their potential applications in their respective disciplines. Conventional ground investigations in various fields of natural sciences such as hydrology, pedology and agrometeorology can be supple- mented by a range of instruments carried by airborne or earth orbiting platforms. The last few years, in particular, have seen many developments in this respect and a growing amount of information can now be derived not only from dedicated earth resources satellites such as the LANDSAT and SPOT, but also from other platforms such as METEOSAT and the series of NOAA-TIROS. Future platforms (ERS-l, Space Station, etc.) with their advanced sensors will further broaden the range of applications open to the investigators. The use of these data sources, together with field investigations, can lead, at a reduced cost, to a better characterization of the spatial and temporal properties of natural systems.

J.P.C. de Weerd Evoked potentials are the electrical voltage fluctuations which can be recorded from parts of the nervous system in response to stimulation of sensory modalities. One may distinguish between evoked potentials from the peripheral and the central nervous system. For the latter type a further subdivision can be made into spinal, brainstem, and cortical evoked potentials, according to the (assumed) structures from which the responses derive. Another possible subdivision can be made with respect to the specific sensory ffiodality which is stimulated. Accordingly, one has auditory, somatosensory, visual, gustatory and olfactory evoked potentials. At the present time, the former three types of evoked potentials are the ones that are commonly measured in diagnostic procedures. Yhe corresponding sensory systems are relatively easy to stimulate, for example by means of an acoustic click, abrief electrical shock or a reversing light pattern. In contrast, stimulation of the olfactory and gustatory systems has proven to be technically and physiologically difficult and research in these areas is still in an early stage.

This volume represents the proceedings ofthe invited lectures ofthe first International Symposium on "e;Serotonin from Cell Biology to Pharmacology and Therapeutics"e; which was held in Florence on March 29 -Aprill, 1989. This meeting, held under the co-sponsorship of the Serotonin Club and the Fondazione Giovanni Lorenzini, represents the first attempt to bring together scientists fascinated by the complexity of the action of 5-hydroxytryptamine throughout the body and in various species. Hence this volume provides the reader with the unique overview of the sources, effects, receptors, physiological actions and pathological role of Serotonin. As such it will be of interest not only to the person devoting herorhis research efforts to the study of 5-hydroxytryptamine but also to all scholars and even clinicians wanting to know how the powerful monoamine can modulate cellular functions. To accelerate the publication of these proceedings the Editors and the publishers have selected the camera ready format and have avoided a lengthy refereeing process. Hence the scientific content of, and the opinions expressed in the chapters are the sole responsibility of the authors. The Editors Milan and Houston The Editors want to thank Mrs. H. Liepman and her staff at Kluwer for the prompt and efficient handling of the manuscripts.

This volume is the last contribution of a series of With the present book, a further gap concern- studies concerned with the plant material of one ing leaf morphology and leaf venation, as well and the same area of Venezuelan Guiana. The as some structural peculiarities of physiological importance, is closed so that an exhaustive survey studies originated through a collaboration with the forest engineer Dr. B. Rollet, the FAO expert in of bark and leaf morphology and anatomy as well forest inventory who collected the material of tree as of fruit and seed structure of the plants of a barks, leaves, fruits and seeds in Venezuelan certain well-known area is herewith given. Not Guiana around the "e;Rio Grande"e;, "e;EI Paraiso"e;, only were hundreds of species studied, but and "e;EI Dorado"e; camps. In the first place, tree structural characteristics were related to "e;forest barks of about 280 species of dicotyledons stratification"e;, i. e. to the different micro climatic belonging to 48 families were studied (family by conditions in the forest, as the height of the trees family) by Roth in separate publications which and shrubs studied was known. It is of common mainly appeared in Acta Botanica Venezuelica knowledge that in the lower forest layers, light is a and in Acta Biol6gica Venezuelica (see the bibli- limiting factor, while humidity is sufficiently avail- ography in Roth 1981).