Bücher veröffentlicht von Springer US

In the last few years, the world of information networks has undergone significant changes that will revolutionize the future of communications. Data rates have reached the gigabit per second range. Optical fibers have become the transmission medium of choice. Standardization activities have very aggressively produced a set of well established standard for future LANs, MANs and WANs. It has become very difficult for computer and communications professionals to follow these rapidly evolving technologies and standards. High Performance Networks: Technology and Protocols provides a timely technical overview of the start-of-the-art in high performance networking. Chapters cover lightweight protocols, high performance protocol implementation techniques, high speed MAC protocols, optical networks, as well as emerging standards, including ATM, SMDS, B-ISDN, SONET, FCS and HIPPI. Professionals, engineers, and researchers in communications and computers, who need to understand the underlying technologies of high performance (gigabit) networks, will find this volume to be an invaluable reference. The book is also suitable for use as a text for advanced courses on the subject.

Mathematical Nonlinear Image Processing deals with a fast growing research area. The development of the subject springs from two factors: (1) the great expansion of nonlinear methods applied to problems in imaging and vision, and (2) the degree to which nonlinear approaches are both using and fostering new developments in diverse areas of mathematics. Mathematical Nonlinear Image Processing will be of interest to people working in the areas of applied mathematics as well as researchers in computer vision. Mathematical Nonlinear Image Processing is an edited volume of original research. It has also been published as a special issue of the Journal of Mathematical Imaging and Vision. (Volume 2, Issue 2/3).

Power supply current monitoring to detect CMOS IC defects during production testing quietly laid down its roots in the mid-1970s. Both Sandia Labs and RCA in the United States and Philips Labs in the Netherlands practiced this procedure on their CMOS ICs. At that time, this practice stemmed simply from an intuitive sense that CMOS ICs showing abnormal quiescent power supply current (IDDQ) contained defects. Later, this intuition was supported by data and analysis in the 1980s by Levi (RACD, Malaiya and Su (SUNY-Binghamton), Soden and Hawkins (Sandia Labs and the University of New Mexico), Jacomino and co-workers (Laboratoire d'Automatique de Grenoble), and Maly and co-workers (Carnegie Mellon University). Interest in IDDQ testing has advanced beyond the data reported in the 1980s and is now focused on applications and evaluations involving larger volumes of ICs that improve quality beyond what can be achieved by previous conventional means. In the conventional style of testing one attempts to propagate the logic states of the suspended nodes to primary outputs. This is done for all or most nodes of the circuit. For sequential circuits, in particular, the complexity of finding suitable tests is very high. In comparison, the IDDQ test does not observe the logic states, but measures the integrated current that leaks through all gates. In other words, it is like measuring a patient's temperature to determine the state of health. Despite perceived advantages, during the years that followed its initial announcements, skepticism about the practicality of IDDQ testing prevailed. The idea, however, provided a great opportunity to researchers. New results on test generation, fault simulation, design for testability, built-in self-test, and diagnosis for this style of testing have since been reported. After a decade of research, we are definitely closer to practice.

As the majority of cardiovascular deaths are related to myocardial ischemia, it is necessary to understand the various aspects of ischemic heart disease. In this regard, it is noteworthy that ischemic heart disease is commonly associated with atherosclerosis, coronary spasm, as well as thrombosis leading to the development of arrhythmias, cardiovascular cell damage, myocardial infarction, cardiac hypertrophy and congestive heart failure. Furthermore, it is also important to appreciate various physiological, electrophysiological and biochemical processes in the normal heart if we are to understand their significance under pathological situations. Heart Function in Health and Disease has been organized in five sections to provide an outline of a complex problem in a convenient manner. One section of this book is devoted to shedding light on the restructuring and ontogenic changes in the developing heart whereas in the next section some hypertrophic alterations due to chronic hypoxia are described. The third and fourth sections of this book are concerned with the regulation of cardiac channels as well as signal transduction mechanisms and cardiac electric field. The fifth section contains some pathophysiological events during the development of cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure. All of these areas encompass a significant body of new information that will be invaluable to those who work in the field of cardiovascular sciences, as well as those who treat people with heart disease.

The previous volume of this series on soft tissue sarcomas highlighted the importance of the multidisciplinary approach to treatment, the focus of which is continued in the present edition. Proper diagnosis and staging remain the cornerstone of the treatment strategy. Sophisticated histopathology techniques and growing consensus on grading systems have further increased the importance of the histopathologist in providing estimates of the prognosis of the patient as well as providing data for the planning of treatment strategy. The use of cytogenetics is relatively new in this field. This might enable the distinction of subgroups in specific histological tumor types. Furthermore, molecular biological studies not only help to reveal inherited predispositions and details in oncogenesis in tumor development, but they may also provide additional predictive factors for tumor behavior. Further data on treatment strategy will be provided by diagnostic imaging, a field in which the role of magnetic resonance imaging is rapidly developing. As far as actual treatment is concerned, surgery still provides the major chance for cure. In view of the endeavor to be as sparing as possible, the addition of radiotherapy to surgery is of utmost importance. Usually radiotherapy is given after surgery, but the optimal sequence of the two modalities still needs to be defined. The combined use of surgery with radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy does have an impact on wound healing.

This book is based on papers presented at a Symposium held in Seoul, Korea in 1992. The idea for the symposium developed naturally from work in which Professor Yung E Earm, at Seoul National University, had been involved both in my laboratory in Oxford and in his own laboratory in Seoul concerning the possible role of certain amino acids, like taurine that are strongly concentrated by the cells of the heart, and the relationship between such acids and membrane ionic currents. The first obvious question was whether it is possible to identify the transport mechanisms involved for taurine and whether they are electrogenic. The second question is what function could be served by such processes: does taurine play an essential role in cardiac tissue and is this important in protecting the heart from disease? With his colleagues in the Korean Physiological Society, Professor Earm set about the task of fmancing and organizing a meeting at which some of the world's leading cardiac electrophysiologists and taurine specialists could discuss these questions. The fmance was generously provided by the Dong-A Pharmaceutical Company, one of the leading scientific companies in Korea.

Distributed and Parallel Database Object Management brings together in one place important contributions and state-of-the-art research results in this rapidly advancing area of computer science. Distributed and Parallel Database Object Management serves as an excellent reference, providing insights into some of the most important issues in the field.

As we approach the end of the present century, the elementary particles of light (photons) are seen to be competing increasingly with the elementary particles of charge (electrons/holes) in the task of transmitting and processing the insatiable amounts of infonnation needed by society. The massive enhancements in electronic signal processing that have taken place since the discovery of the transistor, elegantly demonstrate how we have learned to make use of the strong interactions that exist between assemblages of electrons and holes, disposed in suitably designed geometries, and replicated on an increasingly fine scale. On the other hand, photons interact extremely weakly amongst themselves and all-photonic active circuit elements, where photons control photons, are presently very difficult to realise, particularly in small volumes. Fortunately rapid developments in the design and understanding of semiconductor injection lasers coupled with newly recognized quantum phenomena, that arise when device dimensions become comparable with electronic wavelengths, have clearly demonstrated how efficient and fast the interaction between electrons and photons can be. This latter situation has therefore provided a strong incentive to devise and study monolithic integrated circuits which involve both electrons and photons in their operation. As chapter I notes, it is barely fifteen years ago since the first demonstration of simple optoelectronic integrated circuits were realised using m-V compound semiconductors; these combined either a laser/driver or photodetector/preamplifier combination.

Although there are many books on angina, few are devoted to the important problem of how to evaluate drug efficacy in angina pectoris. Drug Evaluation in Angina Pectoris has two fundamental aims: the first is to review the methodological aspects of drug evaluation in stable and unstable angina pectoris; the second is to provide a logical and methodological background for future studies aimed at assessing the ability of medical treatment to improve prognosis. Part I updates the pathophysiology, clinical presentation and prognosis of angina pectoris. Part II aims to `put in numbers' the symptoms and signs of myocardial ischemia, starting from a revision of the currently used parameters. It is extremely important to quantify the variability of the disease for the correct design of clinical trial, a subject dealt with in Part III, which also discusses some clinico-pharmacological aspects of therapy. Part IV is a critical review of the drugs currently used for the treatment of stable and unstable angina, and particularly considers some important unresolved issues concerning their use. The current FDA and EC guidelines for the evaluation of antianginal drugs are briefly discussed in Part V, giving clinical investigators insight into how antianginal drugs are evaluated by regulatory agencies and what is considered as proof of a valid efficacy/tolerability ratio. Drug Evaluation in Angina Pectoris will assist discerning cardiologists, pharmacologists, and advanced students of cardiology as well as innovative pharmaceutical companies, all of whom need to understand what angina is, how to evaluate treatment, and how to judge the agents used in its treatment.

Significant progress has been made in recent years in understanding the origins of cutaneous maligant melanoma. Knowledge of the relationship between solar radiation and melanoma has changed and it now appears that both the character and timing of exposure may be more important than total cumulative dose in accounting for risk. The melanoma-sunlight model may prove an instructive heuristic exercise for environmental epidemiology, as we currently tend to restrict ourselves to a search for uniform total dose--response relationships between cancers and suspected environmental carcinogens. The study of the relationship between acquired melanocytic nevi and melanoma has led to useful new information about predictors of melanoma risk, and in addition has opened new perspectives on the development of nevi in children. Definition of the factors for nevus development in children may lead to the possibility of primary prevention programs for melanoma in younger generations of children. Recent new evidence suggests that certain occupational groups may be at elevated risk of melanoma. A great deal of work is going into the study of ways of screening high risk populations in order to detect melanoma at its earliest stages when current treatment protocols are most effective. The visibility of lesions on the skin challenges classical definitions of early detection and screening in epidemiology.

More often than not, progress in medicine occurs incrementally. The report of an 'important' new observation is typically greeted by a mixture of excitement and skepticism. Yet the true value of the discovery may not be known for several years until it is confirmed (or refuted) by independently conducted studies. In some cases, controversy may continue to shroud a topic due to the discordant results generated by different research groups. Since the last Gynecologic Oncology volume in the Cancer Treatment and Research series, a number of new areas have emerged that shed new light on the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of gynecologic malignancies. In this volume of the Cancer Treatment and Research series, I have attempted to integrate articles that highlight some of these newest developments with chapters that provide an overview of selected areas of controversy. This volume is not meant to be an abbreviated text of gynecologic oncology but rather a collection of selected works that can provide the reader with a better perspective on the areas of change within the field. The application of molecular biology to cervical cancer has allowed us to understand more completely the roles of human papilloma viruses and cellular oncogenes in the development of cancer of the uterine cervix.

The VLISP project showed how to produce a comprehensively verified implemen- tation for a programming language, namely Scheme [4, 15). Some of the major elements in this verification were: * The proof was based on the Clinger-Rees denotational semantics of Scheme given in [15). Our goal was to produce a "e;warts-and-all"e; verification of a real language. With very few exceptions, we constrained ourselves to use the se- mantic specification as published. The verification was intended to be rigorous, but. not. complet.ely formal, much in the style of ordinary mathematical discourse. Our goal was to verify the algorithms and data types used in the implementat.ion, not their embodiment. in code. See Section 2 for a more complete discussion ofthese issues. Our decision to be faithful to the published semantic specification led to the most difficult portions ofthe proofs; these are discussed in [13, Section 2.3-2.4). * Our implementation was based on the Scheme48 implementation of Kelsey and Rees [17). This implementation t.ranslates Scheme into an intermediate-level "e;byte code"e; language, which is interpreted by a virtual machine. The virtual machine is written in a subset of Scheme called PreScheme. The implementationissufficient.ly complete and efficient to allow it to bootstrap itself. We believe that this is the first. verified language implementation with these properties.

Model Generation in Electronic Design covers a wide range of model applications and research. The book begins by describing a model generator to create component models. It goes on to discuss ASIC design and ASIC library generation. This section includes chapters on the requirements for developing and ASIC library, a case study in which VITAL is used to create such a library, and the analysis and description of the accuracy required in modeling interconnections in ASIC design. Other chapters describe the development of thermal models for electronic devices, the development of a set of model packages for VHDL floating point operations, a techniques for model validation and verification, and a tool for model encryption. Model Generation in Electronic Design is an essential update for users, vendors, model producers, technical managers, designers and researchers working in electronic design.

Modern electronics is driven by the explosive growth of digital communications and multi-media technology. A basic challenge is to design first-time-right complex digital systems, that meet stringent constraints on performance and power dissipation. In order to combine this growing system complexity with an increasingly short time-to-market, new system design technologies are emerging based on the paradigm of embedded programmable processors. This concept introduces modularity, flexibility and re-use in the electronic system design process. However, its success will critically depend on the availability of efficient and reliable CAD tools to design, programme and verify the functionality of embedded processors. Recently, new research efforts emerged on the edge between software compilation and hardware synthesis, to develop high-quality code generation tools for embedded processors. Code Generation for Embedded Systems provides a survey of these new developments. Although not limited to these targets, the main emphasis is on code generation for modern DSP processors. Important themes covered by the book include: the scope of general purpose versus application-specific processors, machine code quality for embedded applications, retargetability of the code generation process, machine description formalisms, and code generation methodologies. Code Generation for Embedded Systems is the essential introduction to this fast developing field of research for students, researchers, and practitioners alike.

Low-Voltage Low-Power Analog Integrated Circuits brings together in one place important contributions and state-of-the-art research results in this rapidly advancing area. Low-Voltage Low-Power Analog Integrated Circuits serves as an excellent reference, providing insight into some of the most important issues in the field.

Responsive Computer Systems: Steps Towards Fault-Tolerant Real-Time Systems provides an extensive treatment of the most important issues in the design of modern Responsive Computer Systems. It lays the groundwork for a more comprehensive model that allows critical design issues to be treated in ways that more traditional disciplines of computer research have inhibited. It breaks important ground in the development of a fruitful, modern perspective on computer systems as they are currently developing and as they may be expected to develop over the next decade. Audience: An interesting and important road map to some of the most important emerging issues in computing, suitable as a secondary text for graduate level courses on responsive computer systems and as a reference for industrial practitioners.

Over the past two decades, research in the theory of Petri nets and the development of graphical tools has yielded a powerful methodology. The contributions in Petri Nets in Flexible and Agile Automation present theoretical development of Petri nets as well as in industrial applications to areas such as discrete- event control design, scheduling, performance evaluation and deadlock avoidance. These contributions also include comparative studies of Petri nets and other approaches. A primary theme of this book is to provide a unified approach to the applications of Petri nets in flexible and agile automation and, in that regard, a common notation and terminology is used. The book also allows readers to evaluate the benefits and applicability of state-of-the-art Petri net methods and apply CAD tools to problems of interest. Petri Nets in Flexible and Agile Automation is not only an essential reference for researchers, it is also a very useful tool for engineers, analysts and managers who are responsible for the design, implementation and operation of the next generation of manufacturing systems.

This book explores afresh the long-standing interest, and emphasis on, the `special' capacities of primates. Some of the recent discoveries of the higher cognitive abilities of other mammals and also birds challenge the concept that primates are special and even the view that the cognitive ability of apes is more advanced than that of nonprimate mammals and birds. It is therefore timely to ask whether primates are, in fact, special and to do so from a broad range of perspectives. Divided into five sections this book deals with topics about higher cognition and how it is manifested in different species, and also considers aspects of brain structure that might be associated with complex behavior.

Signal Transduction through phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of proteins in the cell is now a well-recognized mechanism involved in countless physiological and pathological processes. Consequently, the enzymes, known as protein kinases, which catalyze the phosphorylation of proteins, are critical regulators of cellular events. One of these protein kinases is the protein kinase CK2 (also known as casein kinase 2) that has been implicated in multiple functions including control of cell growth and proliferation. CK2 is a protein serine/threonine kinase which is a highly conserved and ubiquitous protein kinase. It is localized in the cytoplasmic and nuclear compartments, which accords with its multiple functional activities in the cell. Pertinent to this is also the recognition that a large number of putative substrates for this kinase have been identified in various compartments of the cell. New evidence from several laboratories has further reinforced the involvement of CK2 in signal transduction related to many cellular functions, thus underscoring the significance of its functional role in normal and abnormal cell growth and proliferation. This volume provides an overview of the state of knowledge concerning this intriguing protein kinase. It brings together contributions from leading investigators engaged in research in this field. Key developments during the past three years pertain to the elaboration of the crystal structure and definition of novel functions of the kinase, such as its role as an inhibitor of apoptosis. Additionally, the shuttling of the kinase to various compartments in response to physiological and stress stimuli appears to be a key feature of the functional regulation of its activity in the cell.

American trypanosomiasis, or Chagas disease, is caused by the protozoan parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi. Sixteen to eighteen million people are currently infected with this organism, and 45,000 deaths are attributed to the disease each year. Infection with T. cruzi is life-long, and 10-30% of persons who harbor the parasite chronically develop cardiac and gastrointestinal problems associated with the parasitosis. Although major progress has been made in recent years in reducing vector-borne and transfusion-associated transmission of T. cruzi, the burden of disability and death in persons chronically infected with the organism continues to be enormous. Eight to ten million persons born in countries in which Chagas disease is endemic currently reside in the United States, and epidemiologic and census data suggest that 50,000-100,000 are chronically infected with T. cruzi. The presence of these infected persons poses a risk of transmission of the parasite in the USA through blood transfusion and organ transplantation and several such cases have now been documented.American Trypanosomiasis, volume seven of World Class Parasites is written for students of tropical medicine, parasitology and public health, for researchers and practitioners alike who wish to bring themselves abreast of the status quo with respect to this disease. It is intended to supplement formal textbooks, in order to broaden and illuminate current areas of scientific and public health concern. Uniquely for T. cruzi, this book addresses parasite, vector and host biology, the pathogenesis of Chagas disease and current and prospective therapeutics and control strategies in a single volume.

The formal study of program behavior has become an essential ingredient in guiding the design of new computer architectures. Accurate characterization of applications leads to efficient design of high performing architectures. Quantitative and analytical characterization of workloads is important to understand and exploit the interesting features of workloads. This book includes ten chapters on various aspects of workload characterizati on. File caching characteristics of the industry-standard web-serving benchmark SPECweb99 are presented by Keller et al. in Chapter 1, while value locality of SPECJVM98 benchmarks are characterized by Rychlik et al. in Chapter 2. SPECJVM98 benchmarks are visited again in Chapter 3, where Tao et al. study the operating system activity in Java programs. In Chapter 4, KleinOsowski et al. describe how the SPEC2000 CPU benchmark suite may be adapted for computer architecture research and present the small, representative input data sets they created to reduce simulation time without compromising on accuracy. Their research has been recognized by the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC) and is listed on the official SPEC website, http://www. spec. org/osg/cpu2000/research/umnl. The main contribution of Chapter 5 is the proposal of a new measure called locality surface to characterize locality of reference in programs. Sorenson et al. describe how a three-dimensional surface can be used to represent both of programs. In Chapter 6, Thornock et al.

Genetics of Diabetes Mellitus is intended to be a resource for both researchers in the field as well as endocrinologists, diabetologists, and geneticists who seek to learn more about this rapidly changing and important field. The text contains chapters from experts in the area who review aspects of the genetics of both type 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus as well as various syndromic forms of diabetes. The chapters are approachable for those who are not experts in the field of genetics but also comprehensive, so as to serve as an important resource for researchers interested in the genetics of diabetes mellitus. A description of basic concepts of the genetics of complex diseases like type 1 and type 2 diabetes is provided as background. Type 1 diabetes is addressed in chapters exploring genetic determinants that affect the autoimmune process characteristic of type 1 diabetes, the role of the insulin gene in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes and additional genes that may impact upon the risk of type 1 diabetes. The impact of genetic determinants on the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes is covered, as are chapters that address specific genes that are important for the development of type 2 diabetes. Finally, syndromic forms of diabetes, including Maturity Onset Diabetes of the Young and mitochondrial diabetes, and the insight that these disorders provide into more common forms of diabetes are reviewed. Thus, this comprehensive and up-to-date text will serve as an important resource for those actively engaged in research in this area and clinicians treating these patients to provide an up-to-date entree for those seeking to become more knowledgeable in the area.

Growth Hormone and the Heart endeavors to bring together knowledge that has been accumulated in the area of GH and the heart, from basic to clinical studies, by research groups working on this topic throughout the world. Lessons from different experimental models and from several human diseases (acromegaly, adult GH deficiency, heart failure) suggest to endocrinologists and cardiologists that GH may not only have a role in the physiology and pathophysiology of heart function, but that GH itself may have a place in the treatment of primary heart diseases (such as dilated cardiomyopathy) or of cardiac complications of hypopituitarism. Growth Hormone and the Heart will be a useful update of the research produced in the field of cardiovascular endocrinology. The Editors also hope that this book will serve as the primary step in the recognition of the wide physiological and clinical significance of GH and heart interactions.

It is well established that cellular lipid binding proteins serve central roles in cellular lipid uptake and metabolism. Evidence has been presented that various metabolic diseases, such as hyperlipidemia, atherosclerosis, insulin resistance, and diabetes, are characterized by malfunctioning or deficiencies in cellular lipid binding proteins. For better understanding of the action of lipids as signaling compounds and the role of lipids in intermediary metabolism, it is essential to have detailed knowledge of the interactions between lipids and their cognant binding proteins. In view of this growing interest in lipid-protein interaction, the 4th International Conference on Lipid Binding Proteins was held in Maastricht, The Netherlands, in June 2001. The proceedings of the previous three meetings have been published in Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry. The present focused issue of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry comprises selected papers based on the lectures and posters presented during the 4th conference, and provides insight into the significance of these proteins for the functioning of the cell.

Since it was introduced less than 100 years ago, analysis of the circulatory response to exercise as a measure of cardiac function has undergone remarkable development. Most recently this approach has incorporated the burgeoning technology of the last half of the 20th century to meet the physiological and diagnostic needs of scientist and clinicians. The ease of administration, economy and abundant data that characterize exercise testing for its relative staying power as the most frequently utilized noninvasive method of cardiovascular evaluation. The basic modalities of exercise electrocardiography of treadmill and bicycle have been extended by noninvasive cardiac imaging techniques, including scintigraphy and echocardiography, that have provided new insights in myocardial function during exertion and pharmacologic stress. At the same time, traditional exercise electrocardiography has also been refined by innovations that have broadened its applications. Exercise Testing: Current Concepts and Recent Advances affords the reader a state-of-the-art presentation of the diverse and expanding methods of exercise testing and their roles in patient management. The contributors to this volume include individuals who have made seminal contributions to the field during the last several decades. Indeed, it is legitimate to designate this group as a `Who's Who of Exercise Testing'. It is our hope that this book will enhance the reader's understanding of contemporary methods of exercise testing, as well as provide a glimpse into future directions of this science, that this knowledge is applied to optimal diagnosis and management of our patients.

The area of spinal cord plasticity has become a very actively researched field. The spinal cord has long been known to organize reflex patterns and serve as the major transmission pathway for sensory and motor nerve impulses. However, the role of the spinal cord in information processing and in experience driven alterations is generally not recognized. With recent advances in neural recording techniques, behavioral technologies and neural tracing and imaging methods has come the ability to better assess the role of the spinal cord in behavioral control and alteration. The discoveries in recent years have been revolutionary. Alterations due to nociceptive inputs, simple learning paradigms and repetitive inputs have now been documented and their mechanisms are being elucidated. These findings have important clinical implications. The development of pathological pain after a spinal cord injury likely depends on the sensitization of neurons within the spinal cord. The capacity of the spinal cord to change as a function of experience, and adapt to new environmental relations, also affects the recovery locomotive function after a spinal cord injury. Mechanisms within the spinal cord can support stepping and the capacity for this behavior depends on behavioral training. By taking advantage of the plasticity inherent within the spinal cord, rehabilitative procedures may foster the recovery of function.

Pituitary adenomas account for 10-15% of all intracranial tumors and they frequently impair fertility. The development of medical and surgical therapy for such tumors has turned pregnancy into a reality for women harboring pituitary adenomas. However, gestation risks for both mother and fetus are still of concern for endocrinologists, gynecologists and pediatricians. This book intends to update knowledge on this topic, mainly regarding fertility restoration as well as gestational and post gestational management of patients with pituitary tumors.

Acute lung injury (ALI) impacts patient care in every ICU in the world. Our collective understanding of this condition has grown immensely over the past decade but morbidity and mortality remain unacceptably high. To enhance the understanding of clinicians and researchers, this book addresses the pathophysiology of acute lung injury from a molecular and cellular standpoint; includes animal models of acute lung injury and points to potential therapeutic advances based on scientific findings. It is a concise compendium of the multiple pathways, mechanisms and molecules involved in the pathophysiology of acute lung injury and is intended to help caregivers understand the process and thus care for patients more effectively.

We are facing a rapidly growing capability to collect more and more data regarding our environment. With that, we must have the ability to extract more insightful knowledge about the environmental processes at work on the earth. Spatio-Temporal Information Systems (STIS) will especially prove beneficial in producing useful knowledge about changes in our world from these ever burgeoning collections of environment data.STIS provide the ability to store, analyze and represent the dynamic properties of the environment, that is, geographic information in space and time. An STIS, for example, can produce a weather map, but more importantly, it can present a user with information in map or report form indicating how precipitation progresses in space over time to affect a watershed. Other uses include forestry and even electrical systems management. Forestry experts using an STIS are able to examine the rates of movements of forest fires, how they evolve over time, and their impact on forest growth over long periods of time. A large electrical network system manager uses an STIS to track the failures and repairs of electrical transformers. Use of an STIS in this case allows the reconstruction of the status of the network at any given past time. Mining Spatio-Temporal Information Systems, an edited volume is composed of chapters from leading experts in the field of Spatial-Temporal Information Systems and addresses the many issues in support of modeling, creation, querying, visualizing and mining. Mining Spatio-Temporal Information Systems is intended to bring together a coherent body of recent knowledge relating to STIS data modeling, design, implementation and STIS in knowledge discovery. In particular, the reader is exposed to the latest techniques for the practical design of STIS, essential for complex query processing. Mining Spatio-Temporal Information Systems is structured to meet the needs of practitioners and researchers in industry and graduate-level students in Computer Science.