While previously available methodologies for software - like those published in the early days of object technology - claimed to be appropriate for every conceivable project, situational method engineering (SME) acknowledges that most projects typically have individual characteristics and situations. Thus, finding the most effective methodology for a particular project needs specific tailoring to that situation. Such a tailored software development methodology needs to take into account all the bits and pieces needed for an organization to develop software, including the software process, the input and output work products, the people involved, the languages used to describe requirements, design, code, and eventually also measures of success or failure.

The authors have structured the book into three parts. Part I deals with all the basic concepts, terminology and overall ideas underpinning situational method engineering. As a summary of this part, they present a formal meta-model that enables readers to create their own quality methods and supporting tools. In Part II, they explain how to implement SME in practice, i.e., how to find method components and put them together and how to evaluate the resulting method. For illustration, they also include several industry case studies of customized or constructed processes, highlighting the impact that high-quality engineered methods can have on the success of an industrial software development. Finally, Part III summarizes some of the more recent and forward-looking ideas.This book presents the first summary of the state of the art for SME. For academics, it provides a comprehensive conceptual framework and discusses new research areas. For lecturers, thanks to its step-by-step explanations from basics to the customization and quality assessment of constructed methods, it serves as a solid basis for comprehensive courses on the topic. For industry methodologists, it offers a reference guide on features and technologies to consider when developing in-house software development methods or customising and adopting off-the-shelf ones.

Since the beginning of the 21st Century there has been a rapid increase in our understanding of the cellular trafficking mechanisms of molecular chaperones in eukaryotes and in prokaryotes. In the former, molecular chaperone trafficking can occur between the various cellular compartments, with concomitant movement of other proteins. Such events can also result in the release of molecular chaperones from cells. In bacteria, molecular chaperones are involved in the trafficking of other proteins and are themselves released into the external milieu. The increasing appreciation of the role of molecular chaperones and Protein-Folding Catalysts in the interplay between bacteria and the cells of their hosts is now an important area of research for understanding the mechanisms of infectious diseases. This volume brings together experts in the biochemistry, cellular biology, immunology and molecular biology of molecular chaperones and Protein-Folding Catalysts with a focus on the mechanisms of cellular trafficking of these proteins and the role of these variegated trafficking mechanisms in both human and animal health and disease.

Methods in Bone Biology is unique in being devoted to describing the methodology used by bone researchers. This book describes in detail the techniques of cell and organ culture used in the study of bone and bone cell function and the techniques used to monitor the skeleton and skeletal remodelling both in clinical and experimental settings.

This book contains the papers from the IFIP Working Group 8.1 conference on Situational Method Engineering. Over the last decade, Method Engineering, defined as the engineering discipline to design, construct and adapt methods, including supportive tools, has emerged as the research and application area for using methods for systems development.

Microbial infection is increasingly seen as a problem as we begin to run out of antibiotics. Understanding how microbes cause disease is essential. In recent years it has begun to emerge that bacteria, fungi, protozoa and viruses can use their cell stress proteins to cause infection. This volume brings together the world's leading experts in the study of the microbial and human cell stress proteins that are involved in enabling microorganisms to infect humans and cause serious disease.

A complete lexicon of technical information, the Dictionary of Computer Science, Engineering, and Technology provides workable definitions, practical information, and enhances general computer science and engineering literacy. It spans various disciplines and industry sectors such as: telecommunications, information theory, and software and hardware systems. If you work with, or write about computers, this dictionary is the single most important resource you can put on your shelf.
The dictionary addresses all aspects of computing and computer technology from multiple perspectives, including the academic, applied, and professional vantage points. Including more than 8,000 terms, it covers all major topics from artificial intelligence to programming languages, from software engineering to operating systems, and from database management to privacy issues. The definitions provided are detailed rather than concise.
Written by an international team of over 80 contributors, this is the most comprehensive and easy-to-read reference of its kind. If you need to know the definition of anything related to computers you will find it in the Dictionary of Computer Science, Engineering, and Technology.

Microbial infection is increasingly seen as a problem as we begin to run out of antibiotics. Understanding how microbes cause disease is essential. In recent years it has begun to emerge that bacteria, fungi, protozoa and viruses can use their cell stress proteins to cause infection. This volume brings together the world's leading experts in the study of the microbial and human cell stress proteins that are involved in enabling microorganisms to infect humans and cause serious disease.

Since the beginning of the 21st Century there has been a rapid increase in our understanding of the cellular trafficking mechanisms of molecular chaperones in eukaryotes and in prokaryotes. In the former, molecular chaperone trafficking can occur between the various cellular compartments, with concomitant movement of other proteins. Such events can also result in the release of molecular chaperones from cells. In bacteria, molecular chaperones are involved in the trafficking of other proteins and are themselves released into the external milieu. The increasing appreciation of the role of molecular chaperones and Protein-Folding Catalysts in the interplay between bacteria and the cells of their hosts is now an important area of research for understanding the mechanisms of infectious diseases. This volume brings together experts in the biochemistry, cellular biology, immunology and molecular biology of molecular chaperones and Protein-Folding Catalysts with a focus on the mechanisms of cellular trafficking of these proteins and the role of these variegated trafficking mechanisms in both human and animal health and disease.

Ninety percent of the cells in the human body are bacteria, and humans may be host to many thousands of different species of bacteria. These striking statistics are part of a new paradigm in microbiology in which bacteria are no longer viewed as disease-causing killers but more as lifelong partners which are often essential for the survival of their host. This book brings together a group of diverse scientists - evolutionary biologists, immunologists, molecular biologists, microbiologists, pathologists and mathematicians - to discuss the evolution and mechanisms of bacteria-host interactions at all levels of complexity. Chapters deal with the evolution of these interactions over the last 60 years (since the introduction of antibiotics) to a period of 3.8 billion years (since the evolution of single-celled life) and discuss bacterial interactions with multicellular life forms from coral reefs to humans. Researchers and graduate students across the life sciences will find this book of interest.

Methods in Bone Biology is unique in being devoted to describing the methodology used by bone researchers. This book describes in detail the techniques of cell and organ culture used in the study of bone and bone cell function and the techniques used to monitor the skeleton and skeletal remodelling both in clinical and experimental settings.

Computing as a discipline is maturing rapidly. However, with maturity often comes a plethora of subdisciplines, which, as time progresses, can become isolationist. The subdisciplines of modelling, metamodelling, ontologies and modelling languages within software engineering e.g. have, to some degree, evolved separately and without any underpinning formalisms. Introducing set theory as a consistent underlying formalism, Brian Henderson-Sellers shows how a coherent framework can be developed that clearly links these four, previously separate, areas of software engineering. In particular, he shows how the incorporation of a foundational ontology can be beneficial in resolving a number of controversial issues in conceptual modelling, especially with regard to the perceived differences between linguistic metamodelling and ontological metamodelling. An explicit consideration of domain-specific modelling languages is also included in his mathematical analysis of models, metamodels, ontologies and modelling languages. This encompassing and detailed presentation of the state-of-the-art in modelling approaches mainly aims at researchers in academia and industry. They will find the principled discussion of the various subdisciplines extremely useful, and they may exploit the unifying approach as a starting point for future research.

Over the last decade, Method Engineering, defined as the engineering discipline to design, construct and adapt methods, including supportive tools, has emerged as the research and application area for using methods for systems development. This book contains the papers from the IFIP Working Group 8.1 conference on Situational Method Engineering.

This is the eighth year that the Agent-Oriented Information Systems (AOIS) workshops have been held. Papers submitted to AOIS show an increase in quality and maturity as agent technology is being increasingly seen as a viable alternative for software and systems development. In AOIS, we focus on the application of agent technology in information systems development and explore the potential for facilitating the increased usage of agent technology in the creation of information systems in the widest sense. This year's workshops were held in conjunction with two major, international computing research conferences: the first, in May 2006, was affiliated with the AAMAS conference in Hakadote, Japan and chaired by Garcia, Ghose and Kolp. The second was held in conjunction with the international CAiSE conference held in Luxembourg (June 2006) and chaired by Bresciani, Henderson-Sellers and Mouratidis. (Details of all preceding workshops are to be found at http:// www. aois. org. ) The best papers from both these meetings were identified and authors invited to revise and extend their papers in light of the reviewers' comments and feedback at the workshop. Following submission to this compendium volume, another round of reviews was undertaken resulting in what you can read here. These re-reviews were undertaken by three members of the Programme Committee - we wish to thank both the authors for undertaking the necessary revisions and the reviewers for this extra call on their precious time.

This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-proceedings of the 7th International Bi-Conference Workshop on Agent-Oriented Information Systems, AOIS 2005, held in Utrecht, Netherlands, in July 2005 and in Klagenfurt, Austria, in October 2005. The 19 revised full papers are organized in topical sections on agent behavior, communications and reasoning, methodologies and ontologies, agent-oriented software engineering, as well as applications.

Information systems have become the backbone of all kinds of organizations - day. In almost every sector - manufacturing, education, health care, government and businesses large and small - information systems are relied upon for - eryday work, communication, information gathering and decision-making. Yet, the in?exibilities in current technologies and methods have also resulted in poor performance, incompatibilities and obstacles to change. As many organizations are reinventing themselves to meet the challenges of global competition and e-commerce, there is increasing pressure to develop and deploy new technologies that are ?exible, robust and responsive to rapid and unexpected change. Agent concepts hold great promise for responding to the new realities of - formation systems. They o?er higher-level abstractions and mechanisms which address issues such as knowledge representation and reasoning, communication, coordination, cooperation among heterogeneous and autonomous parties, p- ception, commitments, goals, beliefs, intentions, etc., all of which need conc- tual modelling. On the one hand, the concrete implementation of these concepts can lead to advanced functionalities, e.g., in inference-based query answering, transaction control, adaptive work ?ows, brokering and integration of disparate information sources, and automated communication processes. On the other hand, their rich representational capabilities allow for more faithful and ?- ible treatments of complex organizational processes, leading to more e?ective requirements analysis and architectural/detailed design.

Cytokines have become established as key mediators of the signs and symptoms of inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, dermatitis, asthma and multiple sclerosis. Furthermore, they are involved in the cascade of events leading to cardiovascular shock and are major regulators of the function of immune cells. This book reviews recent advances in the development of new anti-inflammatory drugs. It addresses different therapeutic intervention possibilities for new drugs, such as the cellular source of cytokines, specific receptors which induce cytokine synthesis, intracellular regulators of cytokine gene induction and expression, secretion and activation of cytokines, cytokine receptors and signalling pathways from these receptors. Accordingly, experts were drawn from different backgrounds including academic research institutes, the pharmaceutical industry and clinical pharmacology. In each area, the opportunities for drug development are highlighted and, where possible, clinical data is reviewed.

This book reviews understanding of the biological roles of extracellular molecular chaperones. It provides an overview of the structure and function of molecular chaperones, their role in the cellular response to stress and their disposition within the cell. It also questions the basic paradigm of molecular chaperone biology - that these proteins are first and foremost protein-folding molecules. Paradigms of protein secretion are reviewed and the evolving concept of proteins (such as molecular chaperones) as multi-functional molecules for which the term 'moonlighting proteins' has been introduced is discussed. The role of exogenous molecular chaperones as cell regulators is examined and the physiological and pathophysiological role that molecular chaperones play is described. In the final section, the potential therapeutic use of molecular chaperones is described and the final chapter asks the question - what does the future hold for the extracellular biology of molecular chaperones?

This book is concerned with the underlying science and design of laser materials. It emphasizes the principles of crystal-field engineering and discusses the basic physical concepts that determine laser gain and nonlinear frequency conversion in optical crystals. A concise review of the essential underlying science is presented, and the predictive capabilities of crystal-field engineering are developed to show how modification of the symmetry and composition of optical centres can improve laser performance. Applications of the principles of crystal-field engineering to a variety of optical crystals are also discussed in relation to the performances of laser devices. This book will be of considerable interest to physical, chemical and material scientists and to engineers involved in the science and technology of solid state lasers. It will be used by senior undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as by established scientists.

This book reviews current understanding of the biological roles of extracellular molecular chaperones. It provides an overview of the structure and function of molecular chaperones, their role in the cellular response to stress and their disposition within the cell. It also questions the basic paradigm of molecular chaperone biology - that these proteins are first-and-foremost protein-folding molecules. The current paradigms of protein secretion are reviewed and the evolving concept of proteins (such as molecular chaperones) as multi-functional molecules for which the term 'moonlighting proteins' has been introduced is discussed. The role of exogenous molecular chaperones as cell regulators is examined and the physiological and pathophysiological role that molecular chaperones play is described. In the final section, the potential therapeutic use of molecular chaperones is described and the final chapter asks the question - what does the future hold for the extracellular biology of molecular chaperones?

Over the past fifty years cells and mediators involved in our immune defences have been painstakingly identified. However, it is only relatively recently that the ability of microorganisms to evade immunity has been recognized and investigated. This volume introduces the mechanisms used by bacteria to evade both humoral and cellular immune responses, using systems ranging in complexity from the simple quorum sensing molecules (acyl homoserine lactones) to the supramolecular syringe-like devices of type III secretion systems.

This introductory textbook explores bacterial disease mechanisms and bacteria-host interactions. The central premise is that bacteria have evolved by means of manipulating normal host cell functions and overcoming host defense systems to ensure their survival. As well as offering a new perspective on the classical bacterial virulence mechanisms, this book outlines the new molecular techniques developed to unravel the complexity of bacteria-host interactions. Current research may lead not only to a better understanding of disease mechanisms, but also to new means of preventing and/or treating bacterial infections.

The beautiful colors of many inorganic compounds, including minerals and gemstones, as well as the mysterious cold light of luminescence emitted by these materials, have attracted the inquisitiveness of natural philosophers for centuries. The scientific study of such phenomena - the optical spectroscopy of solids - has paid rich dividends in technological advances such as lasers and other optronic devices. This is a book on the art of optical spectroscopy of solids, establishing a theoretical and experimental framework for the subject, which is well illustrated with relevant spectra and experimental data.
Chapters 1 to 5 set down the quantum description of atoms, ions and defects in solids, and the interaction of such centers with electromagnetic radiation. Considerations of symmetry and the effects of lattice vibrations on the spectroscopic properties are treated in detail. The physical bases of prominent experimental techniques are presented in Chapter 6 and their application to color centers, dopant rare-earth and transition-metal ions are described in Chapters 7 -9. The spectroscopic behaviors of magnetic ions at high concentration are detailed in Chapter 10, followed by a brief review of the operational features of solid state lasers that rely on the foregoing discussion of their optical characteristics. Finally, Chapter 12 describes the application of magneto-optical double resonance techniques to the elucidation of the optical properties of insulating and semi-conducting materials. The authors emphasize that their own interests have guided the selection of topics from the panoply of available choices. They have written the book with senior undergraduates and postgraduates inmind: it is expected also to be useful to seasoned investigators from solid state physics and engineering from inorganic chemistry, and from materials and geological sciences.