Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) are serious, debilitating conditions that affect millions of people in the United States and around the world. ME/CFS can cause significant impairment and disability. Despite substantial efforts by researchers to better understand ME/CFS, there is no known cause or effective treatment. Diagnosing the disease remains a challenge, and patients often struggle with their illness for years before an identification is made. Some health care providers have been skeptical about the serious physiological - rather than psychological - nature of the illness. Once diagnosed, patients often complain of receiving hostility from their health care provider as well as being subjected to treatment strategies that exacerbate their symptoms. Beyond Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome proposes new diagnostic clinical criteria for ME/CFS and a new term for the illness - systemic exertion intolerance disease(SEID). According to this report, the term myalgic encephalomyelitis does not accurately describe this illness, and the term chronic fatigue syndrome can result in trivialization and stigmatization for patients afflicted with this illness. Beyond Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome stresses that SEID is a medical - not a psychiatric or psychological - illness. This report lists the major symptoms of SEID and recommends a diagnostic process.One of the report's most important conclusions is that a thorough history, physical examination, and targeted work-up are necessary and often sufficient for diagnosis. The new criteria will allow a large percentage of undiagnosed patients to receive an accurate diagnosis and appropriate care. Beyond Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome will be a valuable resource to promote the prompt diagnosis of patients with this complex, multisystem, and often devastating disorder; enhance public understanding; and provide a firm foundation for future improvements in diagnosis and treatment.

Twenty-seven papers from fatigue researchers and practitioners review in detail recent progress in the development of methods to predict fatigue performance of materials and structures and to assess the extent to which these new methods are finding their way into practice. The papers, from the ASTM

The design of mechanical structures with improved and predictable durability cannot be achieved without a thorough understanding of the mechanisms of fatigue damage and more specifically the relationships between the microstructure of materials and their fatigue properties. Written by leading experts in the field, this book (which is complementary to Fatigue of Materials and Structures: Application to Damage and Design, also edited by Claude Bathias and André Pineau), provides an authoritative, comprehensive and unified treatment of the mechanics and micromechanisms of fatigue in metals, polymers and composites. Each chapter is devoted to one of the major classes of materials or to different types of fatigue damage, thereby providing overall coverage of the field. The book deals with crack initiation, crack growth, low-cycle fatigue, gigacycle fatigue, shorts cracks, fatigue micromechanisms and the local approach to fatigue damage, corrosion fatigue, environmental effects and variable amplitude loadings, and will be an important and much used reference for students, practicing engineers and researchers studying fracture and fatigue in numerous areas of mechanical, structural, civil, design, nuclear, and aerospace engineering as well as materials science.

This volume contains the edited version of lectures and selected research contributions presented at the NATO ADVANCED STUDY INSTITUTE on ADVANCES IN FATIGUE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. held in Alvor. Portugal, 4th to 15th of April 1988. and organized by CEMUL - Center of Mechanics and Materials of The Technical University of Lisbon. The Institute was attended by 101 participants, including 15 lecturers. from 14 countries. The participants were leading scientists and engineers from universities, research institutions and industry. and also Ph.D~ students. Some participants presented papers during the Institute reporting the state-of-art of their research projects. All the sessions wel'e very active and quite extensive discussions on scientific aspects took place during the Institute. The Advanced Study Institute provided a forum for interaction among eminent scientists and engineers. from different schools of thought and young researchers. The Institute addressed the foundations and current state of the art of essential aspects related to fatigue science and technology, namely: Short Cracks, Metallurgical Aspects, Environmental Fatigue, Threshold Behaviour, Notch Behaviour. Creep and Fatigue Interactions at High Temperature, Multiaxial Fatigue, Low Cycle Fatigue, Methodology of Fatigue Testing, Variable Amplitude Fatigue, Fatigue of Advanced Materials. Elastic-Plastic Fatigue, and several engineering applications such as welded joints, energy systems, offshore structures, automotive industry, machine and engine components. This book is organized in three parts: Part I: Fundamentals of Fatigue Part II: Engineering Applications Part III: Research Contributions The research contributions covered most of the areas referred above.