Hardbound. This volume contains five articles presenting reviews of several topics of current research which are likely to be of interest to many optical scientists and optical engineers. The first article, by J. Ohtsubo, deals with the dynamics of feedback-induced instability and chaos. The characteristics of semiconductor lasers based on the rate equations, including various laser structures, are reviewed and the effects of optical feedback in semiconductor lasers are then discussed. In the second article, by F.G. Omenetto, the progress made in recent years in the general area of the nonlinear interaction of ultrafast pulses with optical and photonic crystal fibers are discussed. In particular, ultrafast pulse measurements, pulse shaping and pulse control are discussed. The next article, by A.B. Shvartsburg and G. Petite, presents a review of transient optical phenomena that take place in the spatial-temporal dynamics of ultrashort pulses. The interplay