Research centering on blood flow in the heart continues to hold an important position, especially since a better understanding of the subject may help reduce the incidence of coronary arterial disease and heart attacks. This book summarizes recent advances in the field; it is the product of fruitful cooperation among international scientists who met in Japan in May, 1990 to discuss the regulation of coronary blood flow.

In recent years there has been a growth in interest in studying the heart from the perspective of the physical sciences: mechanics, fluid flow, electromechanics. This volume is the result of a workshop held in July 1989 at the Institute for Nonlinear Sciences at the University of California at San Diego that brought together scientists and clinicians with graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who shared an interest in the heart. The chapters were prepared by the invited speakers as didactic reviews of their subjects but also include the structure, mechanical properties, and function of the heart and the myocardium, electrical activity of the heart and myocardium, and mathematical models of heart function.

This report considers the biological and behavioral mechanisms that may underlie the pathogenicity of tobacco smoke. Many Surgeon General's reports have considered research findings on mechanisms in assessing the biological plausibility of associations observed in epidemiologic studies. Mechanisms of disease are important because they may provide plausibility, which is one of the guideline criteria for assessing evidence on causation. This report specifically reviews the evidence on the potential mechanisms by which smoking causes diseases and considers whether a mechanism is likely to be operative in the production of human disease by tobacco smoke. This evidence is relevant to understanding how smoking causes disease, to identifying those who may be particularly susceptible, and to assessing the potential risks of tobacco products.

Recent advances have changed the way heart failure is treated and have resulted in substantial improvements in heart failure management. Improving Outcomes in Heart Failure addresses innovative ways of dealing with issues such as quality of life, treatment compliance, effective patient and family education and counseling, nonpharmacologic therapy, and new health care delivery models for improving the management of heart failure. With an interdisciplinary approach, this reference shows how heart failure outcomes and health care resource utilization can be improved significantly. Written by the editors of the distinguished Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, Debra K. Moser, DNSc, RN and Barbara Riegel, DNSc, RN, CS, FAAN are well-known and nationally recognized experts in the field of cardiovascular nursing. Moser and Riegel have received numerous prestigious awards and honors and have contributed to many renowned journals on a wide variety of cardiovascular topics.

Hemodynamics makes it possible to characterize in a quantitative way, the function of the heart and arterial system, thereby producing information about what genetic and molecular processes are of importance for cardiovascular function. Snapshots of Hemodynamics: An Aid for Clinical Research and Graduate Education by Nico Westerhof, Nikos Stergiopulos and Mark I. M. Noble is a quick reference guide designed to help basic and clinical researchers as well as graduate students to understand hemodynamics. The layout of the book provides short and independent chapters that provide teaching diagrams as well as clear descriptions of the essentials of basic and applied principles of hemodynamics. References are provided at the end of each chapter for further reading and reference.