Written especially for computer scientists, all necessary biology is explained. Presents new techniques on gene expression data mining, gene mapping for disease detection, and phylogenetic knowledge discovery.

This is a meticulously detailed chronological record of significant events in the history of medical informatics and their impact on direct patient care and clinical research, offering a representative sampling of published contributions to the field. The History of Medical Informatics in the United States has been restructured within this new edition, reflecting the transformation medical informatics has undergone in the years since 1990. The systems that were once exclusively institutionally driven – hospital, multihospital, and outpatient information systems – are today joined by systems that are driven by clinical subspecialties, nursing, pathology, clinical laboratory, pharmacy, imaging, and more. At the core is the person – not the clinician, not the institution – whose health all these systems are designed to serve. A group of world-renowned authors have joined forces with Dr Marion Ball to bring Dr Collen’s incredible work to press. These recognized leaders in medical informatics, many of whom are recipients of the Morris F. Collen Award in Medical Informatics and were friends of or mentored by Dr Collen, carefully reviewed, editing and updating his draft chapters. This has resulted in the most thorough history of the subject imaginable, and also provides readers with a roadmap for the subject well into later in the century.

Using Science to Improve the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program: A Way Forward reviews the science that underpins the Bureau of Land Management's oversight of free-ranging horses and burros on federal public lands in the western United States, concluding that constructive changes could be implemented. The Wild Horse and Burro Program has not used scientifically rigorous methods to estimate the population sizes of horses and burros, to model the effects of management actions on the animals, or to assess the availability and use of forage on rangelands. Evidence suggests that horse populations are growing by 15 to 20 percent each year, a level that is unsustainable for maintaining healthy horse populations as well as healthy ecosystems. Promising fertility-control methods are available to help limit this population growth, however. In addition, science-based methods exist for improving population estimates, predicting the effects of management practices in order to maintain genetically diverse, healthy populations, and estimating the productivity of rangelands. Greater transparency in how science-based methods are used to inform management decisions may help increase public confidence in the Wild Horse and Burro Program.

This collection of essays discusses fascinating aspects of the concept that microbes are at the root of all ecosystems. The content is divided into seven parts, the first of those emphasizes that microbes not only were the starting point, but sustain the rest of the biosphere and shows how life evolves through a perpetual struggle for habitats and niches. Part II explains the ways in which microbial life persists in some of the most extreme environments, while Part III presents our understanding of the core aspects of microbial metabolism. Part IV examines the duality of the microbial world, acknowledging that life exists as a balance between certain processes that we perceive as being environmentally supportive and others that seem environmentally destructive. In turn, Part V discusses basic aspects of microbial symbioses, including interactions with other microorganisms, plants and animals. The concept of microbial symbiosis as a driving force in evolution is covered in Part VI. In closing, Part VII explores the adventure of microbiological research, including some reminiscences from and perspectives on the lives and careers of microbe hunters. Given its mixture of science and philosophy, the book will appeal to scientists and advanced students of microbiology, evolution and ecology alike.