As always this newly revised version of the text would not have been possible without the support and guidance of numerous colleagues, friends, family, and all those poor souls who had to listen to us bounce ideas off of them, or for that matter anyone that just had to listen to us!

Many people contributed to this book as it now appears—in particular, several faculty at the University of North Carolina who contributed to the original edition and to this revision in various ways.

We would like to thank proposal reviewers Nan Liu, Xinliang Liu, Lawrence A. West, Jr., James Porto, and Graciela E. Silva, who provided valuable feedback on the original book proposal. Echu Liu, John P. Gaze, and James Porto provided thoughtful and constructive comments on the complete draft manuscript.

John thanks his wife, Novine, and his daughters, Samantha and Sabrina, for always being by his side and encouraging him in the special way they do when the light at the end of the tunnel starts to dim. At present Samantha is 13 years old and always reminds her dad that she loves him, and maybe someday he will be cool again (no date has been set yet). Sabrina is 11 years old and tells her dad that she expects great things from the East Carolina University Pirate football squad, the Texas Longhorn and Nebraska Cornhusker football teams, and the Virginia Cavaliers. She also invites anyone interested to eat brunch on any given Sunday at her favorite establishment, the West End Dining Hall on East Carolina University's campus. John would like to say thank you to Novine, Samantha, and Sabrina and that he loves them very much. John also must thank his parents, Bernie and Kaye, who have always supported him, even when they didn't exactly know what he was writing about. Finally, John has to thank Scott Bankard of Vidant Health for setting things in motion way back in 2007 and suggesting the project.

David thanks his wife Allyson for her unending and unwavering support, and his son, daughter, and son-in-law for being so easily impressed by his modest professional achievements.

—John F. Kros, PhD, and David A. Rosenthal, PhD