This volume contains the invited contributions that were presented at the Predeal International Summer School in Nuclear Physics 2006. It covers the recent achievements in the fields of nuclear structure, double beta decay, nuclear multifragmentation, kaon and dilepton production in heavy ion collisions, and the quark-gluon plasma. The treatment is both theoretical and experimental, with emphasis on the collective aspects and related phase transitions. The papers are authored by many leading researchers in the field.

The book represents the proceedings of the conference with the same name, held for two weeks in the Carpathian mountains resort of Sinaia, Romania. It aims to provide the reader with comprehensive reviews on topics in exotic nuclei, nuclear and particle astrophysics, including the most recent results in the field. The articles are written by outstanding professors from prestigious research centers over the world. It treats phenomena from the smallest to largest scales in the Universe, from nuclei to galaxies. On one hand, the study of exotic nuclei is seeking answers about the structure and interaction of unique finite quantum mechanical many-body systems. On another hand, it provides data that have impact on the understanding of the origin of the elements in the Universe. The abundance of the elements are indelible fingerprints of the evolution of the Universe, of the large array of processes and places where nucleosynthesis took place. The High Energy cosmic rays give access to phenomena we cannot reproduce on Earth and places we will never want to visit, but seek to understand. The book collects articles that offer insights on how experiments in the terrestrial nuclear physics laboratories can be combined with observations of the outer space to enlarge our basic knowledge. The volume is dedicated to the 60th anniversary of Professor Robert E. Tribble (Texas A&M University).

This volume contains the lectures and contributions presented at the NATO Advanced Study Institute (ASI) on "Frontier Topics in Nuclear Physics", held at Predeal in Romania from 24 August to 4 September 1993. The ASI stands in a row of 23 Predeal Summer Schools organized by the Institute of Atomic Physics (Bucharest) in Predeal or Poiana-Brasov during the last 25 years. The main topics of the ASI were cluster radioactivity, fission and fusion. the production of very heavy elements, nuclear structure described with microscopic and collective models, weak: interaction and double beta decay, nuclear astrophysics, and heavy ion reactions from low to ultrarelativistic energies. The content of this book is ordered according to these topics. The ASI started with a lecture by Professor Greiner on the "Present and future of nuclear physics", showing the most important new directions of research and the interdisciplinary relations of nuclear physics with other fields of physics. This lecture is printed in the first chapter of the book.

This publication has been prepared by staff members of the World Bank and selected guest contributors. It sets out a framework to study subnational governments as borrowers and the range of credit markets in which they may operate. It also contains a number of case studies which detail the recent experience of 18 countries in developing markets for subnational borrowers., and offer insights into lessons to be drawn on fostering responsible credit market access within a framework of fiscal and financial discipline. Other issues discussed include: the issuing of municipal debt and its characteristics, and the role of macroeconomic conditions and market development in the success or failure of those borrowings.

Drawing on the author’s forty-plus years of experience as a researcher in the interaction of charged particles with matter, this book emphasizes the theoretical description of fundamental phenomena. Special attention is given to classic topics such as Rutherford scattering; the theory of particle stopping; the statistical description of energy loss and multiple scattering and numerous more recent developments.

A history of the Romanian people which seeks to make intelligible their aspirations, achievements and plight. The author, who died in 1988, had been for many years the Director of the Romanian Radio Service for Europe.