Three abandoned orphans in New York find themselves thrown together, and in the process, bring together three separate worlds. They discover a country riddled with spell-casting elves, war-mongering Cyclopes, hidden kingdoms, stolen thrones, and centuries of war. While the three struggle to grow and change, they also transform the worlds around them, breaking age-old hatreds and ushering in new levels of acceptance, trust, and peace. Derek, born a Cyclops with his single eye, lives a solitary life until the young, talkative elf named Ferris, joins him in the orphanage. Restless for change, the Cyclops and elf escape their limited lives for new freedom. When their lives are threatened their freedom demands things of them they never dreamed. Secrets are revealed and trust tested as they decide who is friend and who is foe - the stubborn girl who once wanted to hurt them, the elf king who wanted to tear the three apart, or the revolutionary hoard of Cyclopes? The Orphans is a story for everyone who struggles to be accepted, longs to be loved, and desires to change their world.

Originally published in 2006, this book provides an in-depth account of trophoblast: the tissue derived from the fertilised egg that nourishes and protects the developing fetus. The cells of the trophoblast have many unique qualities, and exhibit great variability across different species. It has a fascinating role in the development of the placenta and as a regulator during early growth of the embryo. These aspects are all fully covered as well as studies on why it is not rejected by the mother as 'foreign' tissue. Disorders of trophoblast during development also manifest themselves in several clinical conditions during pregnancy, including gestational trophoblastic disease and pre-eclampsia. From stem cells through to epigenetics, implantation and X-chromosome inactivation, there is a lot to be learned about trophoblast, this volume provides a detailed summary of knowledge regarding the subject.