Earthquakes are caused by the sudden release of energy during the fracture of stressed rock within the Earth's crust. This phenomenon is similar to that which occurs in materials under load, and although they take place on very different scales, these two phenomena - earthquakes in geophysics and damage in structural materials - have similarities. In both cases, there is a release of elastic energy from sources located inside a medium. These are selected papers from special sessions at the 11th International Conference on Fracture, held in Turin in 2005. They provide an outline of topics related to earthquakes and Acoustic Emission, and discuss the latest developments in this area. The papers have been divided into two categories: Seismic Mechanics & Earthquakes and Structural Failure & Acoustic Emission. Earthquakes and Acoustic Emission will serve as a useful supplementary textbook for postgraduates, while being of special interest to professionals in the field of earthquakes and acoustic emission.

Proteins and macromolecular structures represent one of the most important building blocks for a variety of biological processes. Their biological activity is performed in a dynamic fashion, hence the concepts of waves and vibrations can help to explain how proteins function. This book has the goal of highlighting the importance of wave and vibrational phenomena in the realm of proteins. It targets younger students as well as graduate researchers who work in various scientific fields and are interested in learning how mechanical vibrations affect and drive the biological activity of proteins and macromolecular structures. Great attention is given to the computational approaches dedicated to the evaluation of protein dynamics and biological behavior, and modern experimental techniques are addressed as well. The book is written in a way that non-experts in the field can grasp most of the presented subjects. However, it is also based on the most relevant and recent scientific literature, providing a rather comprehensive library for the reader eager to know more about specific topics.