Birkhäuser nov 2003 (30 resultados)

Buch. Condición: Neu. Neuware - Modern finite element analysis has grown into a basic mathematical tool for almost every field of engineering and the applied sciences.This introductory textbook fills a gap in the literature, offering a concise, integrated presentation of methods, applications, software tools, and hands-on projects.Included are numerous exercises, problems,and Mathematica/Matlab-based programmingprojects.The emphasis is oninterdisciplinary applications to serve a broadaudience of advanced undergraduate/graduate students with different backgrounds in applied mathematics, engineering, physics/geophysics.The work may also serve as a self-study reference for researchers and practitioners seeking a quick introduction to the subject for their research. …

Buch. Condición: Neu. Neuware - The current use of complex materials in nanotechnology and industrial engineering has led to a number of intricate problems in mechanics, and the macroscopic behavior of such materials often depends critically on their substructures. This work, written by leading mathematicians and engineers, features a broad range of topics that offer both experimental results and clear, detailed answers to fundamental questions about the general formulation of multifield theories within the context of modeling material substructures.Applied mathematicians, mechanical and structural engineers, material scientists, graduate students, and researchers in the above areas will benefit from the work and may find suggestions for further research in its rich collection of open problems.…

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This collection of historical research studies covers the evolution of technology as knowledge, the emergence of an autonomous engineering science in the Industrial Age, the idea of scientific managment of production and operation systems, and the interaction between mathematical models and technological concepts.The book is published with the support of the UNESCO Venice Office - Regional Office for Science & Technology in Europe as an activity of the Project: The evolution of events, concepts and models in engineering systems. 268 pp. Englisch.…

Taschenbuch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The subject of Clifford (geometric) algebras offers a unified algebraic framework for the direct expression of the geometric conceptsin algebra, geometry, and physics.Thisbird's-eye view ofthediscipline is presented by six of the world's leading experts in the field; itfeatures an introductory chapter on Clifford algebras, followed by extensive explorations of their applications to physics, computer science, and differential geometry. Thebook is ideal for graduate students in mathematics, physics, and computer science; it is appropriateboth for newcomers who havelittle prior knowledge of the field andprofessionals who wish to keep abreast of the latest applications. 240 pp. Englisch.…

Taschenbuch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The book describes two stages in the historical development of the notion of mathematical structures: first, it traces its rise in the context of algebra from the mid-nineteenth century to its consolidation by 1930, and then it considers several attempts to formulate elaborate theories after 1930 aimed at elucidating, from a purely mathematical perspective, the precise meaning of this idea.First published in the series Science Networks Historical Studies, Vol. 17 (1996).In the second rev. edition the author has eliminated misprints, revised the chapter on Richard Dedekind, and updated the bibliographical index. 472 pp. Englisch.…

Taschenbuch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The main goal of the two authors is to help undergraduate students understand the concepts and ideas of combinatorics, an important realm of mathematics, and to enable them to ultimately achieve excellence in this field. This goal is accomplished by familiariz ing students with typical examples illustrating central mathematical facts, and by challenging students with a number of carefully selected problems. It is essential that the student works through the exercises in order to build a bridge between ordinary high school permutation and combination exercises and more sophisticated, intricate, and abstract concepts and problems in undergraduate combinatorics. The extensive discussions of the solutions are a key part of the learning process. The concepts are not stacked at the beginning of each section in a blue box, as in many undergraduate textbooks. Instead, the key mathematical ideas are carefully worked into organized, challenging, and instructive examples. The authors are proud of their strength, their collection of beautiful problems, which they have accumulated through years of work preparing students for the International Math ematics Olympiads and other competitions. A good foundation in combinatorics is provided in the first six chapters of this book. While most of the problems in the first six chapters are real counting problems, it is in chapters seven and eight where readers are introduced to essay-type proofs. This is the place to develop significant problem-solving experience, and to learn when and how to use available skills to complete the proofs. 252 pp. Englisch.…

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -M. LUCERTINI, A. MILLAN GASCA, AND F. NICOLO 1 Technology as Knowledge: The Case of Modern Engineering Systems In recent years scholars coming from the fields of history and philosophy of sci ence and technology have devoted much attention to the problem of 'technology as knowledge' and to the emergence of an autonomous engineering science in the Industrial Agel. This interest echoes a growing awareness among engineers of the independence of their conceptual approach with respect to other forms of knowl edge, linked to the consolidation of autonomous academic engineering research in th the 20 century. A careful examination of the nature of technological knowledge appears particularly valuable in view of the pervasive presence of technology in contemporary life and culture, not only as a result of its impressive achievements, but through the less obvious influence of its concepts and viewpoints as well. The activity of engineers and technicians has been traditionally based on the practical ability to cope with specific situations and to attain the corresponding specific goal by means of the design and realization of an artifact or structure, on the basis of past experience handed down by tradition and applied by means of trial-and-error and rule-of-thumb procedures. But the existence of a theoreti cal background and of principles underpinning this activity can be traced back to classical antiquity.Springer Basel AG in Springer Science + Business Media, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin 268 pp. Englisch.…

Taschenbuch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -The subject of Clifford (geometric) algebras offers a unified algebraic framework for the direct expression of the geometric concepts in algebra, geometry, and physics. This bird's-eye view of the discipline is presented by six of the world's leading experts in the field; it features an introductory chapter on Clifford algebras, followed by extensive explorations of their applications to physics, computer science, and differential geometry. The book is ideal for graduate students in mathematics, physics, and computer science; it is appropriate both for newcomers who have little prior knowledge of the field and professionals who wish to keep abreast of the latest applications.Springer Nature c/o IBS, Benzstrasse 21, 48619 Heek 240 pp. Englisch.…

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The title High Dimensional Probability is an attempt to describe the many trib utaries of research on Gaussian processes and probability in Banach spaces that started in the early 1970's. In each of these fields it is necessary to consider large classes of stochastic processes under minimal conditions. There are rewards in re search of this sort. One can often gain deep insights, even about familiar processes, by stripping away details that in hindsight turn out to be extraneous. Many of the problems that motivated researchers in the 1970's were solved. But the powerful new tools created for their solution, such as randomization, isoperimetry, concentration of measure, moment and exponential inequalities, chaining, series representations and decoupling turned out to be applicable to other important areas of probability. They led to significant advances in the study of empirical processes and other topics in theoretical statistics and to a new ap proach to the study of aspects of Levy processes and Markov processes in general. Papers on these topics as well as on the continuing study of Gaussian processes and probability in Banach are included in this volume. 346 pp. Englisch.…

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This concise, well-written handbook provides a distillation of real variable theorywith a particular focus on the subject's significant applications to differential equations and Fourier analysis. Ample examples and brief explanations---with very few proofs and little axiomatic machinery---are used to highlight all the major results of real analysis, from the basics of sequences and series to the more advanced concepts of Taylor and Fourier series, Baire Category, and the Weierstrass Approximation Theorem. Replete with realistic, meaningful applications to differential equations, boundary value problems, and Fourier analysis, this unique work is a practical, hands-on manual of real analysis that is ideal for physicists, engineers, economists, and others who wish to use the fruits of real analysis but who do not necessarily have the time to appreciate all of the theory. Valuable as a comprehensive reference, a study guide for students, or a quick review, 'A Handbook of Real Variables' will benefit a wide audience. 220 pp. Englisch.…

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The book consists of articles at the frontier of current research in Algebraic Topology. It presents recent results by top notch experts, and is intended primarily for researchers and graduate students working in the field of algebraic topology. Included is an important article by Cohen, Johnes and Yan on the homology of the space of smooth loops on a manifold M, endowed with the Chas-Sullivan intersection product, as well as an article by Goerss, Henn and Mahowald on stable homotopy groups of spheres, which uses the cutting edge technology of 'topological modular forms'. 304 pp. Englisch.…

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Arachidonic acid (AA) and other 20 or 22-carbon polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are precursors of lipid mediators of inflammation known as eicosanoids. These mediators are critical in disease processes and in regulating normal cell function. Remodeling is important in maintaining homeostasis and in regulating cell function by dictating how PUFAs are converted to lipid mediators of inflammation. Thus, PUFA remodeling is a critical process in the biosynthesis of a multitude of mediators, and understanding this process will unravel better therapeutic targets for controlling inflammatory diseases such as asthma and Alzheimer's disease.AA metabolism is described in an integrated context linking the remodeling processes with the biosynthesis of mediators and diseases. By following the movement of the substrate (AA), the volume describes how upstream biosynthetic pathways influence the formation of lipid mediators of inflammation, showing the metabolic interrelationship between all AA-derived mediators. 243 pp. Englisch.…

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -In recent years, the area of pharmacotherapy of GI inflammation has witnessed important progress, with new drugs and therapeutic approaches being introduced. The volume reviews the pharmacotherapy of selected gastrointestinal inflammatory conditions chosen on the basis of their clinical importance and/or the areas where important and exciting progress has been maderecently. Besides discussing current pharmacotherapy to treat the most important GI inflammation conditions, the book also indicates possible future therapeutic avenues likely to become available in a few years.The book is of interest to various sectors of the scientific community ranging from clinicians to pharmacologists and from biochemists to microbiologists, who will find it a useful tool for their clinical practice and research activity. 146 pp. Englisch.…

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -In July 1998, I received an e-mail from Alfred Gray, telling me: ' . . . I am in Bilbao and working on the second edition of Tubes . . . Tentatively, the new features of the book are: 1. Footnotes containing biographical information and portraits 2. A new chapter on mean-value theorems 3. A new appendix on plotting tubes ' That September he spent a week in Valencia, participating in a workshop on Differential Geometry and its Applications. Here he gave me a copy of the last version of Tubes. It could be considered a final version. There was only one point that we thought needed to be considered again, namely the possible completion of the material in Section 8. 8 on comparison theorems of surfaces with the now well-known results in arbitrary dimensions. But only one month later the sad and shocking news arrived from Bilbao: Alfred had passed away. I was subsequently charged with the task of preparing the final revision of the book for the publishers, although some special circumstances prevented me from finishing the task earlier. The book appears essentially as Alred Gray left it in September 1998. The only changes I carried out were the addition of Section 8. 9 (representing the discus sion we had), the inclusion of some new results on harmonic spaces, the structure of Hopf hypersurfaces in complex projective spaces and the conjecture about the volume of geodesic balls. 280 pp. Englisch.…

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The theory of rigid (analytic) spaces, originally invented to describe degenerations, reductions, and moduli of algebraic curves and abelian varieties, has undergone significant growth in the last two decades; today the theory has applications to arithmetic algebraic geometry, number theory, the arithmetic of function fields, and padic differential equations. This work, a revised and greatly expanded new English edition of the earlier French text by the same authors, is an accessible introduction to the theory of rigid spaces and now includes a large number of exercises.Key topics:- Chapters on the applications of this theory to curves and abelian varieties: the Tate curve, stable reduction for curves, Mumford curves, Néron models, uniformization of abelian varieties- Unified treatment of the concepts: points of a rigid space, overconvergent sheaves, Monsky--Washnitzer cohomology and rigid cohomology; detailed examination of Kedlaya s application of the Monsky--Washnitzer cohomology to counting points on a hyperelliptic curve over a finite field- The work of Drinfeld on 'elliptic modules' and the Langlands conjectures for function fields use a background of rigid étale cohomology; detailed treatment of this topic- Presentation of the rigid analytic part of Raynaud s proof of the Abhyankar conjecture for the affine line, with only the rudiments of that theoryA basic knowledge of algebraic geometry is a sufficient prerequisite for this text. Advanced graduate students and researchers in algebraic geometry, number theory, representation theory, and other areas of mathematics will benefit from the book s breadth and clarity. 316 pp. Englisch. …

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Many phenomena of interest for applications are represented by differential equations which are defined in a domain whose boundary is a priori unknown, and is accordingly named a 'free boundary'. A further quantitative condition is then provided in order to exclude indeterminacy. Free boundary problems thus encompass a broad spectrum which is represented in this state-of-the-art volume by a variety of contributions of researchers in mathematics and applied fields like physics, biology and material sciences. Special emphasis has been reserved for mathematical modelling and for the formulation of new problems. 360 pp. Englisch.…

Taschenbuch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -This unique approach to combinatorics is centered around unconventional, essay-type combinatorial examples, followed by a number of carefully selected, challenging problems and extensive discussions of their solutions. Topics encompass permutations and combinations, binomial coefficients and their applications, bijections, inclusions and exclusions, and generating functions. Each chapter features fully-worked problems, including many from Olympiads and other competitions, as well as a number of problems original to the authors; at the end of each chapter are further exercises to reinforce understanding, encourage creativity, and build a repertory of problem-solving techniques. The authors' previous text, '102 Combinatorial Problems,' makes a fine companion volume to the present work, which is ideal for Olympiad participants and coaches, advanced high school students, undergraduates, and college instructors. The book's unusual problems and examples will interest seasoned mathematicians as well. 'A Path to Combinatorics for Undergraduates' is a lively introduction not only to combinatorics, but to mathematical ingenuity, rigor, and the joy of solving puzzles.Springer Nature c/o IBS, Benzstrasse 21, 48619 Heek 252 pp. Englisch.…

Taschenbuch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -The book describes two stages in the historical development of the notion of mathematical structures: first, it traces its rise in the context of algebra from the mid-nineteenth century to its consolidation by 1930, and then it considers several attempts to formulate elaborate theories after 1930 aimed at elucidating, from a purely mathematical perspective, the precise meaning of this idea.First published in the series Science Networks Historical Studies, Vol. 17 (1996).In the second rev. edition the author has eliminated misprints, revised the chapter on Richard Dedekind, and updated the bibliographical index.Springer Nature c/o IBS, Benzstrasse 21, 48619 Heek 472 pp. Englisch.…

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This text offers a collection of survey and research papers by leading specialists in the field documenting the current understanding of higher dimensional varieties. Recently, it has become clear that ideas from many branches of mathematics can be successfully employed in the study of rational and integral points. This book will be very valuable for researchers from these various fields who have an interest in arithmetic applications, specialists in arithmetic geometry itself, and graduate students wishing to pursue research in this area. 308 pp. Englisch.…

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -Many phenomena of interest for applications are represented by differential equations which are defined in a domain whose boundary is a priori unknown, and is accordingly named a 'free boundary'. A further quantitative condition is then provided in order to exclude indeterminacy. Free boundary problems thus encompass a broad spectrum which is represented in this state-of-the-art volume by a variety of contributions of researchers in mathematics and applied fields like physics, biology and material sciences. Special emphasis has been reserved for mathematical modelling and for the formulation of new problems.Springer Nature c/o IBS, Benzstrasse 21, 48619 Heek 360 pp. Englisch.…

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -The title High Dimensional Probability is an attempt to describe the many trib utaries of research on Gaussian processes and probability in Banach spaces that started in the early 1970's. In each of these fields it is necessary to consider large classes of stochastic processes under minimal conditions. There are rewards in re search of this sort. One can often gain deep insights, even about familiar processes, by stripping away details that in hindsight turn out to be extraneous. Many of the problems that motivated researchers in the 1970's were solved. But the powerful new tools created for their solution, such as randomization, isoperimetry, concentration of measure, moment and exponential inequalities, chaining, series representations and decoupling turned out to be applicable to other important areas of probability. They led to significant advances in the study of empirical processes and other topics in theoretical statistics and to a new ap proach to the study of aspects of Levy processes and Markov processes in general. Papers on these topics as well as on the continuing study of Gaussian processes and probability in Banach are included in this volume.Springer Nature c/o IBS, Benzstrasse 21, 48619 Heek 360 pp. Englisch.…

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -Arachidonic acid (AA) and other 20 or 22-carbon polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are precursors of lipid mediators of inflammation known as eicosanoids. These mediators are critical in disease processes and in regulating normal cell function. Remodeling is important in maintaining homeostasis and in regulating cell function by dictating how PUFAs are converted to lipid mediators of inflammation. Thus, PUFA remodeling is a critical process in the biosynthesis of a multitude of mediators, and understanding this process will unravel better therapeutic targets for controlling inflammatory diseases such as asthma and Alzheimer¿s disease.AA metabolism is described in an integrated context linking the remodeling processes with the biosynthesis of mediators and diseases. By following the movement of the substrate (AA), the volume describes how upstream biosynthetic pathways influence the formation of lipid mediators of inflammation, showing the metabolic interrelationship between all AA-derived mediators.Springer Basel AG in Springer Science + Business Media, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin 256 pp. Englisch.…

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -The functor T and the cohomology of mapping spaces.- On Morava K-theories of an S-arithmetic Group.- Ext groups for the composition of functors.- Homotopy operations and rational homotopy type.- The loop homology algebra of spheres and projective spaces.- On braid groups, free groups, and the loop space Of the 2-sphere.- The K-completion of E6.- The Homotopy of L2V(1) for the Prime 3.- Spherical Space Forms - Homotopy Types and Self-Equivalences.- The Homotopy Type of Two-Regular K-Theory.- Strict model structures for pro-categories.- L-s categories of simply-connected compact simple lie groups Of low rank.- The mccord model for the tensor product of a space And a commutative ring spectrum.- Spaces of multiplicative maps between Highly structured ring spectra.- Colimits, stanley-reisner algebras, and loop spaces.- Maps to spaces in the genus of infinite quaternionic Projective space.Springer Nature c/o IBS, Benzstrasse 21, 48619 Heek 316 pp. Englisch.…

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -Rigid (analytic) spaces were invented to describe degenerations, reductions, and moduli of algebraic curves and abelian varieties. This work, a revised and greatly expanded new English edition of an earlier French text by the same authors, presents important new developments and applications of the theory of rigid analytic spaces to abelian varieties, 'points of rigid spaces,' étale cohomology, Drinfeld modular curves, and Monsky-Washnitzer cohomology. The exposition is concise, self-contained, rich in examples and exercises, and will serve as an excellent graduate-level text for the classroom or for self-study.Springer Nature c/o IBS, Benzstrasse 21, 48619 Heek 316 pp. Englisch.…

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -In July 1998, I received an e-mail from Alfred Gray, telling me: ' . . . I am in Bilbao and working on the second edition of Tubes . . . Tentatively, the new features of the book are: 1. Footnotes containing biographical information and portraits 2. A new chapter on mean-value theorems 3. A new appendix on plotting tubes ' That September he spent a week in Valencia, participating in a workshop on Differential Geometry and its Applications. Here he gave me a copy of the last version of Tubes. It could be considered a final version. There was only one point that we thought needed to be considered again, namely the possible completion of the material in Section 8. 8 on comparison theorems of surfaces with the now well-known results in arbitrary dimensions. But only one month later the sad and shocking news arrived from Bilbao: Alfred had passed away. I was subsequently charged with the task of preparing the final revision of the book for the publishers, although some special circumstances prevented me from finishing the task earlier. The book appears essentially as Alred Gray left it in September 1998. The only changes I carried out were the addition of Section 8. 9 (representing the discus sion we had), the inclusion of some new results on harmonic spaces, the structure of Hopf hypersurfaces in complex projective spaces and the conjecture about the volume of geodesic balls.Springer Nature c/o IBS, Benzstrasse 21, 48619 Heek 300 pp. Englisch.…

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -This concise, well-written handbook provides a distillation of real variable theory with a particular focus on the subject's significant applications to differential equations and Fourier analysis. Ample examples and brief explanations---with very few proofs and little axiomatic machinery---are used to highlight all the major results of real analysis, from the basics of sequences and series to the more advanced concepts of Taylor and Fourier series, Baire Category, and the Weierstrass Approximation Theorem. Replete with realistic, meaningful applications to differential equations, boundary value problems, and Fourier analysis, this unique work is a practical, hands-on manual of real analysis that is ideal for physicists, engineers, economists, and others who wish to use the fruits of real analysis but who do not necessarily have the time to appreciate all of the theory. Valuable as a comprehensive reference, a study guide for students, or a quick review, 'A Handbook of Real Variables' will benefit a wide audience.Springer Nature c/o IBS, Benzstrasse 21, 48619 Heek 220 pp. Englisch.…

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -In recent years, the area of pharmacotherapy of GI inflammation has witnessed important progress, with new drugs and therapeutic approaches being introduced. The volume reviews the pharmacotherapy of selected gastrointestinal inflammatory conditions chosen on the basis of their clinical importance and/or the areas where important and exciting progress has been made recently. Besides discussing current pharmacotherapy to treat the most important GI inflammation conditions, the book also indicates possible future therapeutic avenues likely to become available in a few years.The book is of interest to various sectors of the scientific community ranging from clinicians to pharmacologists and from biochemists to microbiologists, who will find it a useful tool for their clinical practice and research activity.Springer Basel AG in Springer Science + Business Media, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin 160 pp. Englisch.…

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -HIV infection has been a greater challenge to current medicine than any other viral disease ofmodem times. HIV leads to a persistent infection and the virus has an immense genetic flexibility under selective pressure. During its replica tive cycle in patients, HIV accumulates mutations at such a high rate that the selective pressure inflicted on the immune system, or generated by antiviral drugs rapidly triggers the appearance of escape mutants. Currently available drugs, when used singly, are not capable of suppressing virus replication in patients to such a level that the generation of mutations, from which a variant resistant to immune attack or antiviral drugs can be selected, is prevented. This is the main reason why combination therapy, usually of three drugs, has become the standard procedure for the treatment ofAIDS. It is obvious that virus eradication will not readily be achievable, so that drugs have to be taken for a prolonged time or even lifelong so as to keep the viral load as low as possible. Whether the currently used drug combinations will be able to control virus replication in a particular patient for such a pro longed period of time depends on many factors, most of which are addressed in the different chapters of this book. The aim of antiviral drug combination therapy for AIDS is ultimately to restore full function of the immune system. 243 pp. Englisch.…

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -This text offers a collection of survey and research papers by leading specialists in the field documenting the current understanding of higher dimensional varieties. Recently, it has become clear that ideas from many branches of mathematics can be successfully employed in the study of rational and integral points. This book will be very valuable for researchers from these various fields who have an interest in arithmetic applications, specialists in arithmetic geometry itself, and graduate students wishing to pursue research in this area.Springer Nature c/o IBS, Benzstrasse 21, 48619 Heek 308 pp. Englisch.…

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -HIV infection has been a greater challenge to current medicine than any other viral disease ofmodem times. HIV leads to a persistent infection and the virus has an immense genetic flexibility under selective pressure. During its replica tive cycle in patients, HIV accumulates mutations at such a high rate that the selective pressure inflicted on the immune system, or generated by antiviral drugs rapidly triggers the appearance of escape mutants. Currently available drugs, when used singly, are not capable of suppressing virus replication in patients to such a level that the generation of mutations, from which a variant resistant to immune attack or antiviral drugs can be selected, is prevented. This is the main reason why combination therapy, usually of three drugs, has become the standard procedure for the treatment ofAIDS. It is obvious that virus eradication will not readily be achievable, so that drugs have to be taken for a prolonged time or even lifelong so as to keep the viral load as low as possible. Whether the currently used drug combinations will be able to control virus replication in a particular patient for such a pro longed period of time depends on many factors, most of which are addressed in the different chapters of this book. The aim of antiviral drug combination therapy for AIDS is ultimately to restore full function of the immune system.Springer Basel AG in Springer Science + Business Media, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin 260 pp. Englisch.…