The International Societyon Oxygen Transport to Tissue (ISOTT) was founded in 1973 "to facilitate the exchange of scientific information among those interested in any aspect of the transport and/or utilization of oxygen in tissues". Its members span virtually all disciplines, extending from various branches of clinical medicine such as anesthesiology, ophthalmology and surgery through the basic medical sciences of physiology and biochemistry to most branches ofthe physical sciences and engineering. The eighteenth annual meeting of ISOTT was held in 1990 for four days, from July 19 to 22, in the Sheraton Hotel in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. The usual ISOTT format, which was originated in 1985 by Dr. Ian Longmuir, was continued. Almost all presentations were posters with an accompanying, scheduled, brief, slide presentation and discussion. All posters remained in place for the entire four days of the meeting. There were no simultaneous sessions. Essentially all aspects of physiological transport were covered at this meeting with possibly somewhat more emphasis on methods and instrumentation. The editors gratefully acknowledge the photographic skills of Dr. Jens Hoper who took the group picture during the outing to Magnetic Island on July 21. We are also most grateful to Dr. Rod D. Braun of Evanston for his invaluable editorial assistance. This volume is the thirteenth in the Plenum series Oxygen Transport to Tissue.

Seventeen years after the 2nd International Symposium on Oxygen Transport to Tissue, which was held in Mainz in March 1975, the local Organizing Committee and the Board of ISOTT were pleased to host the ISOTT Conference in Mainz on the Rhine again. The venue of the 20th meeting was the prestigious, fully restored Schloss Waldthausen (Waldthausen Castle) which provided a special setting for ISOTT 1992. The beautiful front view of the castle became part of the ISOTT 1992 logo. The 20th ISOTT Meeting was held in Mainz from August 26th through August 30th, 1992. The Conference attracted 200 active participants from 16 countries. The theme of this meeting emphasized oxygen transport to tumors but as in earlier meetings, essentially all aspects of oxygen transport within the body were covered as demonstrated by the manuscripts comprising this volume of the series "Oxygen Transport to Tissue". All manuscripts were reviewed. Extensive revisions were made in about 25% and modest revision in about another 30%. Because we had to compromise between the aim of rapid publication on the one hand and the need for thorough review on the other, minor errors in format and some typographical errors were not corrected. Except for some revisions, all of the original camera-ready manuscripts in this volume were prepared by the authors themselves and we greatly appreciate their cooperation.

Since its inception in 1973, The International Society on Oxygen Transport to Tissue (ISOTT) has provided a unique forum to facilitate and encourage scientific interaction and debate. Welcoming scientists and clinicians from a broad spectrum of disciplines, each with their own particular skills and expertise, ISOTT unites them under the common theme of oxygen transport. The successful blend of scientific presentations and informal discussion which characterizes ISOTT is epitomized best by the many fundamental discoveries and technical advancements which it has spawned. The breadth and strengths of The Society's scientific base promotes the rapid progression of ideas from theoretical concepts to rigorous scientific testing and often, ultimately to the clinical arena. Each publication of the ISOTT proceedings has been recognized by Science Citation Index listing and the papers frequently establish scientific precedents and become considered as standard works in their respective fields. The 21st ISOTT Meeting was held in San Diego from August 14th through August 18th, 1993. The San Diego Meeting attracted about 150 registrants and 40 accompanying persons. Ten state-of-the-art lectures were presented by international experts in ~ transport and there were in addition two symposia -one dealing with assessment of tissue hypoxia and the other with functional heterogeneity in different organ systems. There were 100 free communications, consisting of posters accompanied by an abbreviated oral summary. All manuscripts were reviewed by the Editors for form and content, but as is customary for the ISOTT proceedings, rigorous scientific peer review was not undertaken.

The International Society on Oxygen Transport to Tissue (lSOTT) held its 26th annual meeting from August 23-26, 1998, and met for the second time in Budapest. As captured in the design of the ISOTT'98 logo, the venue of the conference was the Budapest Hilton in the heart of the historic Castle District in Buda, across from Hungary's coronation church-the Matthias Church-and the fairy-tale-like Fisherman's Bastion; a special place with a historical touch situated atop the Castle Hill, from where participants enjoyed the spectacular panoramic views of Budapest exquisitely laid out on both sides of the Danube. In preparation for ISOTT'98, major emphasis was given to the application of informatics in collecting, presenting, and disseminating scientific and other information associated with the meeting. Electronic submission of the abstracts made it possible to publish the illustrated Abstracts on the ISOTT'98 Web Site well before the meeting. Following the meeting, an ISOTT'98 CD was published as a digital, searchable record of ISOTT'98. The scientific program was designed with the active participation of prospective attendees, in that priority and momentum was given to the topics selected by those visiting the Web Site. Poster and oral presentations were considered as equivalently effective formats, reflected by the fact that posters were on display throughout the meeting.

First multi-year cumulation covers six years: 1965-70.

In 1996, for its 24th scientific meeting, the International Society on Oxygen Trans port to Tissue made its third visit to the United Kingdom. The previous two meetings were held in Cambridge in 1977 and 1986, but this was the first meeting to be held "north of the border" in Scotland. It was attended by some 186 delegates and accompanying persons and there were 128 presentations. The venue was the West Park Centre, the University of Dundee's residential conference centre, and ISOTT was only the second major meeting to be held there using the new Villa accommodation. Dundee's slogan is "City of Discovery" since it became the permanent home of the Royal Research Ship Discovery which was built in the city and was used by Captain Scott on his first ex pedition to the Antarctic. The ISOTT meeting also fulfilled its promise of being a meeting of dis covery with sessions on all aspects of oxygen transport to tissue. The inclusion of a session on oxygen transport in vascular disease reflected the interests of the local participants. All of the manuscripts were reviewed both for their scientific and editorial accept ability and in some 50% of cases, revisions were requested from the authors. Some manu scripts were ultimately rejected. However, in view of the importance of producing the Proceedings as quickly as possible it is possible that some minor errors may have slipped through, for which the editors apologise.