Iron line diagnostics in X-ray sources

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Frank Puppe (ed

A special year like 1999 invites one to draw a balance of what has been achieved in the roughly 30 years of research and development in knowledge based systems (still abbreviated as XPS following the older term “expert systems”) and to take a look at th what the future may hold. For the 5 German conference on knowledge-based systems we therefore asked current and former speakers of the four working groups (FG’s) in the subdivision of knowledge-based systems (FA 1.5) of the German association of Informatics (GI) to present a survey of and future prospects for their respective fields: knowledge engineering, diagnosis, configuration, and case-based reasoning. An additional 14 technical papers deal with current topics in knowledge-based systems with an equal emphasis on methods and applications. They are selected from more than 50 papers accepted in the 4 parallel workshops of XPS-99: a) Knowledge Management, Organizational Memory and Reuse, b) various fields of applications, c) the traditional PuK Workshop (planning and configuration), and d) the GWCBR (German workshop on case-based reasoning). The other papers presented at these workshops are not included in this volume but are available as internal reports of Würzburg university together with the exhibition guide that emphasizing tool support for building knowledge based systems.

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T. Tajima, K. Shibata

In this graduate-level text, Tajima and Shibata offer a new synthesis starting where the classic works on plasma physics left off. Beginning with a view of plasma astrophysics through fundamental processes of quasi-magnetostatic equilibria, quasi-hydrostatic equilibria, and non-equilibria, the authors go on to develop unique approaches to violent astrophysical plasmas - as opposed to the more quiescent laboratory variety - and their processes. The text continues with an exploration of the fundamental processes in hydrostatic, magnetostatic, and gravitational objects. The final chapter is devoted to a discussion of the applications of plasma astrophysics to cosmology, anticipating future developments in this exciting field. This text will be of enormous use to graduate - and some advanced undergraduate - students, as well to physicists entering the field of plasma physics.

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R.C. Tinsley and H.R. Kobel

Xenopus, the African clawed frog, is one of the three most widely cited vertebrate animals in the biological literature, yet almost all knowledge is based on laboratory experience of a single species, Xenopus laevis from South Africa. Despite the occurrence of these frogs in habitats ranging from rainforest to semi-desert and from lowland swamps to alpine lakes in sub-Saharan Africa, the rest of the genus was until recently considered relatively uniform and uninteresting. During the past twenty years, field research has transformed our knowledge of these animals in their natural environment, and currently seventeen species are recognized. This book is the first attempt to describe their biology and natural history. The first five chapters cover systematics, ecology, distribution, and species interactions. The second section covers behaviour, sensory perception, and development. The next section focuses on infections and defence, followed by a final group of chapters on evolutionary and phylogenetic aspects. The aim of this volume is to provide a reference work for researchers working with Xenopus in the lab and to highlight for them and others the potential of Xenopus for future work in evolutionary biology, genetics, behaviour, immunology, parasitology, and ecology.

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Dany Page, Jorge G. Hirsch (eds

The enormous advances in observational techniques over the last two decades has produced a wealth of data and unexpected discoveries which have helped to reshape astrophysics as a field with well-formulated theories and sophisticated numerical calculations. In nuclear particle physics, plasma physics, as well as in general relativity, the Universe has become a laboratory for cutting-edge research. The courses collected in the book are intended to provide students with this insight, giving a general background on each topic such as cosmic rays, nuclear and neutrino astrophysics, solar physics and strong fields, as well as a presentation of the current research and open problems. The book is aimed at graduate students in physics and astrophysics, as well as researchers, bridging a gap between the specialized reviews and the comprehensive books.