Solitons and their observable signatures in quasi-one-dimensional systems -- Local modes in molecules -- Dynamics of nonlinear excitations in DNA -- Nonlinear excitations in chains of hydrogen-bonded molecules: Incoherent neutron scattering in acetanilide and derivatives -- NMR study of nonlinear excitations in prebiological systems -- Finite temperature behaviour of the exciton bound states in the compressible molecular chain -- Solitons on a diatomic chain with alternating interactions -- Longitudinal and transverse proton collective dynamics on a two-dimensional multistable substrate -- Critical fluctuations in the 2D XY antiferromagnet BaNi2(PO4)2 : NMR measurements -- 1/S quantum corrections for the magnetic solitons in various Heisenberg models -- Defects in non-linear waves in convection -- Gap solitons in nonlinear electrical transmission lines -- Can a nontrivial solitonic mode be observed in a square Josephson junction? -- Radiative damping of driven sine-Gordon breathers -- Fluxon trapping by inhomogeneities in long Josephson junctions -- Dynamical regimes phase-locked to an external microwave field in a long, unbiased Josephson junction -- Existence and stability of driven and damped phase-locked NLS-solitons and SG-breathers -- Spectral characterization of 2-D nonlinear coherent structures -- The stochastic ? 4 model -- Invariants for the generalized Lotka-Volterra equations -- Slow relaxation effects in the evolution of nonlinear quantum systems.

This book is devoted to the applications of the mathematical theory of solitons to physics, statistical mechanics, and molecular biology. It contains contributions on the signature and spectrum of solitons, nonlinear excitations in prebiological systems, experimental and theoretical studies on chains of hydrogen-bonded molecules, nonlinear phenomena in solid-state physics, including charge density waves, nonlinear wave propagation, defects, gap solitons, and Josephson junctions. The content is interdisciplinary in nature and displays the new trends in nonlinear physics.