Fast technological development produces systems of ever-increasing complex- ity. The demand for reliable functioning of these systems has become more and more important. Thus, there is a need for highly reliable technical devices and systems, for monitoring and controlling their functioning and for planning maintenance and corrective actions to fulfill given requirements considering eco- nomic limitations. These tasks reflect the wide field of engineering activities that are accompa- nied by and based on a wide range of stochastical models. The book presents the main contributions to a...