This special issue of Complex Variables and Elliptic Equations is dedicated to Professor Franco Nicolosi on the occasion of his 70th birthday. It contains a selection of original refereed contributions of international specialists and of his close friends. Three more contributions, namely by S. Carillo, M. Chipot and R. Spigler, will be published in a regular issue of Applicable Analysis.
The topics of the works in this special issue were presented at the international symposium “Nonlinear Partial Differential Equations and Applications” (NPDE 2009) held at the Department of Mathematics and Informatics of the University of Catania from 22-25 June 2009 and they concern a wide range of modern Mathematical Analysis and its applications.
The congress would not have been realized without the precious help of my friends and colleagues S. Bonafede, V. Cataldo, P. Cianci, G. R. Cirmi, S. D'Asero and the participation of valuable speakers from several countries:
J. Appell, H. Begehr, M. Biroli, V. Burenkov, S. Bonafede, S. Carillo, M. Chipot, S. D’Asero, N. Fusco, R. Gilbert, G. Jaiani, V. Kondratiev, A. Kovalevsky, M. Kucera, A. Kufner, E. Lanconelli, M. L. Lapidus, F. Leonetti, A. M. Micheletti, G. Mingione, S. Necasova, M. Pierre, E. Radkevich, L. Recke, P. E. Ricci, L. Rodino, A. Salvatore, S. Samko, A. Shishkov, R. Spigler, J. Stará, A. Tarsia, A. Tedeev, D. Trigiante, F. Zirilli, D. Zubrinic.
Moreover I must thank H. Begehr, V. Burenkov and R. Gilbert of the I.S.A.A.C., and N.Fusco at G.N.A.M.P.A. for their active support.
Special thanks also go to Provincia Regionale di Catania and Regione Sicilia and last but not least to Rector A. Recca of the University of Catania, Dean G. Li Volsi of the Faculty of Sciences, and Director G. Mulone of the Department of Mathematics and Informatics.