The placenta is an organ that connects the developing fetus to the uterine wall, thereby allowing nutrient uptake, waste elimination, and gas exchange via the mother's blood supply. Proper vascular development in the placenta is fundamental to ensuring a healthy fetus and successful pregnancy. This book provides an up-to-date summary and synthesis of knowledge regarding placental vascular biology and discusses the relevance of this vascular bed to the functions of the human placenta.

In the 21st century the field of diagnostic medical parasitology continues to see dramatic changes, including newly recognized pathogens and the changing endemicity and classification of familiar organisms; neglected tropical diseases and the impact of global climate change; and new methodologies and risk management issues. This classic clinical laboratory parasitology reference, now in its third edition, has been extensively revised and updated in a new full-color format. Still organized to provide maximum help to the user, particularly from the bench perspective, every section has been expanded with new images and discussion. Specimen collection, preservation, and testing options are thoroughly discussed, from the routine ova and parasite examination to blood films, fecal immunoassays, and the newer molecular test panels. Specific test procedures, laboratory methods and reagents, and algorithms are provided. The ever-helpful "FAQ" section of commonly asked questions now offers expanded information on stool specimen fixatives and testing, thorough coverage of new techniques, and advice on reporting and commenting on results. The heart of the Guide, covering identification of individual pathogens, has been expanded with more discussion and comparison of organisms and dozens of new color images. An entirely new section has been added that uses extensive figures and new tables to illustrate common problems with differentiating organisms from one another and from possible microscopic artifacts. The final section has been reorganized to include identification keys and dozens of tables summarizing organism characteristics to assist the bench microbiologist with routine diagnostic testing methods.

An essential training aid and reference guide for laboratorians. • Includes easy-to-follow collection and ordering guidelines and diagnostic techniques. • Offers extensive discussion and a table to assist physicians with ordering the most appropriate diagnostic tests. • Provides extensive information on method selection, clinical relevance, and test menus. • Features diagnostic algorithms, summary tables, and identification keys. • Presents comprehensive organism information on facing pages. • Includes “how-to” tips based on 30 years of the author’s benchwork experience • Serves as a resource for microbiologists, physicians, medical technologists, public health personnel, teachers, and students.

An ethnographic study of fetoscopy that considers both the broader cultural context of this high-risk obstetrical procedure and the patient's individual experience. In Looking Within, Deborah Blizzard examines the high-risk in utero surgery known as fetoscopy, considering it as both cutting-edge medical technology and as a sociocultural construction of patients, their social networks, and medical providers. She looks at the way individual experiences shape these procedures and how fetoscopy affects individuals (both patients and providers) on a personal, emotional level. Based on an eleven-month ethnographic study of the fetoscopy practice at a community-based hospital and further interviews with former patients, Looking Within offers a vivid picture of the sometimes conflicted, often desperate, and always emotional lives of those undergoing fetoscopy, and challenges current assumptions about normal and appropriate pregnancy experiences. To convey the complex reality of fetoscopy, Blizzard draws from the experiences of the real patients she interviewed for the book to present the fictional case of Melinda and Joe, taking them through the entire process, from diagnosis to decision to outcome. She then discusses the emergence of fetoscopy as an accepted form of high-risk obstetrical care, how fetoscopy programs are established at hospitals, and why otherwise healthy women consent to surgery. Blizzard examines the use of fetoscopy in single-fetus and in twin pregnancies, looking at how religion, culture, society, and medical science inform any understanding of who or what is in utero (a baby? a tumor? a mass?). She also discusses definitions of loss and success, and the narratives patients and their social networks construct to make sense of them. Looking Within will help physicians and nurses improve the development and delivery of fetoscopy procedures, help patients understand this new technology, and help scholars evaluate fetoscopy's bioethical, social, and cultural implications.

Those who prepare the liturgy are entrusted with a very important task—helping our assemblies to encounter the real presence of Christ and to be transformed and strengthened for discipleship. Good celebrations of the liturgy help foster and nourish the faith of our parishioners. Sourcebook for Sundays, Seasons, and Weekdays is a trusted annual publication providing insightful, concise, and detailed suggestions for preparing the Mass each day of the liturgical year. With its focus on celebrating the liturgy well, this resource will guide parish teams in making “the liturgical prayers of the Christian community more alive” (On Sacred Music, 31). It includes: -Preaching points -Additional Scripture insights for the Proper of Saints -Music preparation guidance and song suggestions -Ways to connect the liturgy to the Christian life -Original Mass texts for Sundays, solemnities, and feasts of the Lord -Seasonal worship committee agendas -Ideas for celebrating other rites and customs -An online supplement for preparing the sacramental rites -Seasonal introductions -Daily calendar preparation guides -Dated entries with liturgical titles, lectionary citations, and vestment colors -Scripture insights -Brief biographies of the saints and blesseds -Guidance for choosing among the options provided in the ritual texts

This book provides a concise and engaging examination of the subculture of the Crips and Bloods—the notorious street gangs that started in Los Angeles, but have now spread throughout the United States. Despite the dangers and harsh realities intrinsic to street life and criminal activity, the no-holds-barred lifestyle of gangs continues to interest mainstream America. This provocative book provides an insider's look into the subculture of two of the most notorious street gangs—the Crips and the Bloods. Crips and Bloods: A Guide to an American Subculture traces the evolution of the two gangs, covering their origins in South Central Los Angeles to the organizations' current presence throughout the United States. The author analyzes the ways in which the gang subculture is created, promoted, and perpetuated; shows how the groups currently recruit their members; and explores the ways Crip and Blood culture has expanded beyond the gangs into the larger mainstream society.

A psychoanalytic journal dedicated to exploring the issue of war. Published by SUNY/Buffalo's Center for the Study of Psychoanalysis and Culture.

While Callista Sunders recovers in a hospital room from an unexpected accident, hopelessness fills the crack in her heart and only love can repair the fissure. Love is something she never thought she would find outside of her Grandma Anne, her mother, and her twin brotheruntil she met Lord Triton. But now he is missing and Callista fears the worst. All she has is his sigil that she wears around her neck and the hope that one day they will be reunited. Callista never thought shed be spending her eighteenth birthday in the hospital, but when she receives Tritons journal as a gift, everything changes. While studying it with Grandma Anne, Callista finds a spell designed for time travel. Anne, along with her coven attempt to send Callista back in time to the island they know as Pitcairn. If it works and she survives, Callista will know Triton, but to him, she will be a complete stranger. In this continuing tale, a young woman must use her special abilities and a time travel spell to find Triton, a merman deity who needs her help, and she, his.