These Proceedings, consisting of Parts A and B, contain the edited versions of most of the papers presented at the annual Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation held at University of San Diego, San Diego, CA, on July 27 to August 1, 1997. The Review was organized by the Center for NDE at Iowa State University, in cooperation with the Ames Laboratory of the USDOE, the American Society of Nondestructive Testing, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the National Science Foundation IndustrylUniversity Cooperative Research Centers. This year's Review of Progress in QNDE was attended by approximately 370 participants from the US and many foreign countries who presented a total of approximately 350 papers. As usual, the meeting was divided into 36 sessions with four sessions running concurrently. The Review covered all phases of NDE research and development from fundamental investigations to engineering applications and inspection systems, and methods of inspection science from acoustics to x-rays. The Review continues to experience some fluctuations in size, mostly under pressure from a decrease in funding for NDE research at the US Federal level, but increased participation from foreign laboratories has more than made up the difference. The Review is ideally sized to permit a full-scale overview of the latest developments in a collegial atmosphere that most participants favor. The opening plenary session this year concentrated on advances in imaging technologies and methodologies that have been made in recent years. Dr. K.

The First African InterQuadrennial ICF Conference “AIQ-ICF2008” on Damage and Fracture Mechanics – Failure Analysis of Engineering Materials and Structures”, Algiers, Algeria, June 1–5, 2008 is the first in the series of InterQuadrennial Conferences on Fracture to be held in the continent of Africa. During the conference, African researchers have shown that they merit a strong reputation in international circles and continue to make substantial contributions to the field of fracture mechanics. As in most countries, the research effort in Africa is und- taken at the industrial, academic, private sector and governmental levels, and covers the whole spectrum of fracture and fatigue. The AIQ-ICF2008 has brought together researchers and engineers to review and discuss advances in the development of methods and approaches on Damage and Fracture Mechanics. By bringing together the leading international experts in the field, AIQ-ICF promotes technology transfer and provides a forum for industry and researchers of the host nation to present their accomplishments and to develop new ideas at the highest level. International Conferences have an important role to play in the technology transfer process, especially in terms of the relationships to be established between the participants and the informal exchange of ideas that this ICF offers.

This proceedings volume is of the 10th International Conference of the well established series on Photoacoustic and Photothermal Phenomena. The Conference is concerned with the interdisciplinary applications of the acoustic and thermal phenomena generated in matter by the absorption of electromagnet fields. The application areas include: PA and PT spectroscopy; PA and PT imaging and microscopy; thermophysical properties; laser ultrasonics; ultrafast PA and PT phenomena; nonlinear phenomena and inverse problems; electronic and optical materials, thin film and devices; biological and medical applications; industrial applications; new instrumentation and methodology; NDE characterization; agriculture, food, and environment.