Two hot gargoyles are determined to protect her. Can she find the strength inside to love them both? Medina Argos is a woman on the run from her present and her past. One of three sisters in an international art theft ring, she flees when a routine art heist goes too far. But this curvy girl is about to learn that some hearts beat to a different drum and the road to love is sometimes the less traveled one, even for a woman with secrets. Thomas Sauveterre is a renowned art restoration specialist. Nothing is more important to him than his daughter, Gabrielle. When he takes on the largest project of his career, he also gains a security officer in the bargain. But love can be hiding in the most surprising places if he can only open his heart to find it. Grayson Maberry is a man on the brink. Charged with protecting property and guarding the family he’s currently assigned, he is torn by duty and a love that may never be. But a true guardian will wait forever and this gargoyle may have just met his match. Twice.

Published in 1991: This book explores the possibilities of protecting the heart against stress and ischemia through adaptation to intermittent hypoxia or to mild, nondamaging stress exposure. These possibilities are based on studies that show an increase in the potency and efficiency of stress-limiting systems when subjected to repeated stress actions, adaptation to high altitude hypoxia, or adaptation to increased physical loads. Any stress reaction is coupled with an activation of central and local stress-limiting systems, such as GABA-ergic, opioidergic, and serotonergic systems in the brain, as well as antioxidants, prostaglandins, and adenosine in executory organs. The book also presents the use of metabolites of stress-limiting systems rather than adaptation as a means to prevent cardiac arrythmias. It also discusses genetically determined deficiencies of stress-limiting systems and their role in the etiology of stress-induced diseases. Cardiologists and researchers studying stress and its effect on cardiovascular systems will find this book extremely useful.

Acupuncture is one of the most popular and widely accepted complementary therapies available to the general public. And yet many of us know little about it, what it can be used for, and how it works. This book explains: * What it feels like to have treatment * How acupuncture works * How acupuncture helps to balance your energy and strengthen your immune system * How it can successfully treat a wide variety of ailments, from panic attacks to hot flushes, asthma, joint pains and the common cold * Which of the 'Five Element' types you are and how this relates to your health * How acupuncture can be used safely and effectively to treat pregnant women, children, and animals * How to find the right practitioner. Self-help information and questionnaires are also included to enable you to discover more about your diagnosis.

This exciting new edition of Five Element Constitutional Acupuncture gives a clear, detailed, and accessible presentation of the main features of constitutional Five Element acupuncture. It covers the context and history of this form of acupuncture, as well as the relevant Chinese medicine theory. After examining the Elements themselves and the functions of the Organs, the book explores the basis of diagnosis in Five Element acupuncture, possible blocks to treatment and the treatment itself. It puts this style of treatment into the context of other styles of acupuncture treatment — especially Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) as it is used in the West today. Features - The Five Elements referred to in the title are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. - Gives a clear, detailed and accessible presentation of the main features of Five Element Constitutional Acupuncture treatment. - Covers the context and history of this form of acupuncture, as well as the relevant Chinese medicine theory. - Includes an unambiguous description of the principle aspects of diagnosis within a system, ironing out inconsistencies often present in discussions of these aspects. This edition has been thoroughly revised throughout and includes a new and improved colour page design. Quotes from the foreword to the first edition by Peter Eckman, San Francisco: "...the authors have shown how their approach can even integrate with TCM findings to treat patients more completely and rapidly. As the case histories illustrate, Five Element Constitutional Acupuncture is a style of practice that is second to none, and this innovative text is an excellent resource for learning it"

Over the past ?fty years, advanced techniques and strategies have arisen in the ?eld of myocardial protection. Meticulous trials, focusing on pulmonary protection during heart surgery requiring cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), have been missing. This te- book is intended to serve as a useful tool to spread information on strategies for lung protection during heart surgery with CPB. Emphasis on pulmonary protection will be turned to lung perfusion as an adjunct for minimizing the deleterious effects of pulmonary ischemia-reperfusion injury in heart surgery. Many renowned authors have contributed by presenting their expe- ence on lung perfusion in basic research and clinical trials. Furthermore, they have enlightened the quality of this textbook with new ideas, concepts, and future perspectives. The scope of this textbook is of interest to different professionals, such as card- vascular surgeons, pulmonary surgeons, transplantation physicians, cardiothoracic anesthesiologists, intensive care physicians, cardiothoracic fellows, radiologists, basic sciences physicians, cardiologists, pulmonary medicine physicians, perfusi- ists, nurses, students, and researchers. This textbook has 7 sections, aimed at addressing general and speci?c aspects of pulmonary protection during heart surgery with CPB. The ?rst section on general concepts provides information about anatomic, physiologic, histologic, molecular, and radiologic considerations regarding the lungs. The second section focuses on ischemia-reperfusion injury and is composed of several interesting chapters, addressing the basic science aspects of pulmonary p- tection, as well as experimental and clinical experiences from different heart surgery centers worldwide.

Brain injury is one of the most unacceptable complications sustained during heart surgery. This book presents the current results and thinking of a number of leading clinical investigators in this area. Nearly all have been active in serious studies designed to define various aspects of brain physiology, patho physiology, or protection during cardiac operations performed with cardio pulmonary bypass. We were particularly interested in obtaining contributions from younger investigators. Brain injury is a problem which has long troubled those involved with perioperative care of the cardiac surgical patient. The first chapter by Dr. Torkel Aberg presents a summary of his extensive investigations into this problem. It is intended both to present the perspective of a surgeon interested in this problem, and to serve as an introduction to the overall issue of avoiding brain injury during heart surgery. The next three chapters discuss the problem of perfusion pressure, outcome, and brain blood flow. Dr. Sarnquist's contribution stems from his extensive experience with low flow bypass as practiced at Stanford University and the results of the studies he performed in collaboration with Dr. Fish. Drs. Govier and Reves discuss in some detail the general effects of anesthetic agents upon brain metabolic needs as well as their important data demonstrating preserva tion of brain blood flow autoregulation during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) as practiced at the University of Alabama. Finally Dr.