Obstetrics is a unique field of medical care because, in its uncomplicated or natural form, pregnancy, labour and delivery are not diseases, but normal physiological events constituting an integral part of human life.

Three equally important facets form the basis of obstetrics: the needs of the pregnant woman, the wellbeing of the baby, and the ability to perform a medical intervention should either of these be threatened - before, during and after birth. Clinical obstetrics is an authoritative and up-to-date textbook dealing with current obstetric practice and focusing specifically on conditions and problems prevailing in South Africa. Clinical obstetrics covers a wide range of topics from physiological adaptations, diagnosis and management of normal pregnancy and delivery, to teratogenesis, red cell allo-immunisation, congenital abnormalities and pre-term labour. It also discusses the risks involved in poor progress in labour, abnormal fetal lie and presentation, viral infections and multiple pregnancies. There are separate sections for medical and surgical conditions, as well as diagnostic procedures.

Clinical obstetrics is aimed primarily at medical students, but will also be of great value to nurses, registrars in obstetrics and gynaecology, general practitioners and specialists in this field.

Specialty Optical Fibers reviews theoretical and experimental photonic research relevant to the synthesis, processing, characterization, modeling, physical features, and applications of Specialty Optical Fibers (SOFs) with significant technological impact potential. All fiber-based advanced photonics device components rely on specialty optical fibers, which have either a unique waveguide structure or a novel material composition. High power optical amplifiers, high power fiber, and novel fabrication techniques for optical fiber design have enabled significant technological advances. The book provides discussion on these applications including current research directions, future opportunities and remaining challenges.Specialty Optical Fibers is suitable for researchers in academia and practitioners in R&D working in the subject areas of materials science, electrical engineering, and fiber optics.

As the global climate changes, scientists anticipate that the distribution of animal populations and disease vectors will expand. In the case of arthropods, such efforts hold immense significance as they have the potential to increase human mortality and suffering from arboviruses above current levels. The 238th American Chemical Society National Meeting and Exposition in Washington, D.C. on August 16-20, 2009, offered an opportunity for researchers to present and discuss new findings in invertebrate repellents research, regulations, and technology development. Recently efforts have been made to understand the role of chemicals in arthropod behavior, and screening programs are starting to incorporate repellency testing into their battery of bioassays. The lack of standardized protocols for measuring and comparison of repellents has remained a significant obstacle in arthropod research. Oftentimes studies report variable measures of success, and comparison of results across studies is not always consistent. Progress in the standardization of arthropod test methods for repellents would be valuable to many groups including academic researchers working in the field, contract labs supplying test results, government research laboratories, regulatory bodies in the process of developing guidelines for product registration, as well as companies looking to invest in new technologies. Perhaps one complicating factor in this process has been that research and technology haven't moved fast enough to meet the demand for effective arthropod repellents. Issues such as pest arthropod resurgence and insecticide/repellent resistance to chemical can create new challenges and add pressure for researchers. The collection of chapters in this book covers a range of applied and basic research on arthropod repellents. An overview of the state of arthropod repellents research is provided at the start. In the chapters that follow, there is a selection of papers demonstrating research on new repellent technologies at different stages of development. The scope of basic and applied research methods described in these chapters on new repellent technologies presents the range of testing that is often necessary to move a repellent technology forward in development. The transition from newly developed technologies to registered products is achieved in perspective of a growing market for natural arthropod repellents. New technologies that are completely developed and have gone through registration need to be accompanied by successful commercialization. The growing market for natural arthropod repellents presents such an example and highlights new opportunities in this area. The concluding chapter discusses the public entomology landscape, past and future opportunities for the development of chemical protectants.

Clinical legal education (CLE) is a springboard for entry into legal practice, preparing students for the professional challenges they will face after completing their studies and embarking on their legal careers. In her eight years of conducting research on CLE in South African universities, the author has found that the most urgent needs are in the area of student assessment. Designing a curriculum with assessable content is therefore essential for clinicians who, in certifying students' capabilities, are the gatekeepers to practice. This book identifies curriculum requirements across a number of jurisdictions, and proposes a menu of assessment methods, which may enhance the choices of assessment methodologies available to South African university law clinics. It also covers the setting of parameters for assessment, grading, grade descriptors and moderation systems, and discusses different forms of tests, assignments, essay- and oral-examinations, as well as self- and peer-evaluation, peer editing, case portfolios, and trial advocacy skills. The book addresses challenges such as clinicians' heavy workloads and differing levels of experience in supervision and assessment. It discusses challenges students face and presents solutions enabling clinicians to help them depending on their individual experience and needs. Also discussed are the potential conflicts between the needs of students and those of the local community being served by the law clinic. Although the aim of this book is to find appropriate assessment methods for CLE, the effectiveness of an assessment programme can only be determined when measured against a curriculum. The proposed curriculum is therefore measured against the identified assessment criteria. CLE Lecturers can download assessment forms, checklists and rubrics from the Juta Law website - visit https://juta.co.za/support-material/detail/clinical-legal-education for details.

This pioneering Research Handbook provides a comprehensive and in-depth scholarly overview of the field of soft law, exploring the scope of current thinking in the field as well as proposing future pathways for soft law research. Organized into four broad themes, the Research Handbook offers important and unique insights into the dynamic and complex nature of soft law. The first section delves into the conceptual history and development of soft law. Second, the Handbook explores the disciplinary understandings of soft law, examining how scholars from different fields investigate the topic. The third theme focuses on the public and private actors and institutions involved in soft law-making, providing a detailed analysis of the complex relationships that shape soft law. Finally, the fourth theme explores the role of soft law in addressing major global societal challenges, including among others climate change, gender inequality, and the regulation of artificial intelligence. This Research Handbook will be a key resource for students and scholars in constitutional and administrative law, public international law, regulation and governance, public administration and policy, and law and politics. Practitioners and policymakers seeking to better understand the role of soft law in domestic and international law, policy and governance will also find this book beneficial.

Garden of Mystery, the 'Gulshan-i Raz', holds a unique position in Persian Sufi literature. It is a compact and concise exploration of the doctrines of Sufism at the peak of their development that has remained a primary text of Sufism throughout the world from Turkey to India. It comprises a thousand lines of inspired poetry taking the form of answers to questions put by a fellow mystic. It provides a coherent literary bridge between the Persian 'school of love' poetry and the rapidly growing number of metaphysical and gnostic compositions from what had come to be known as the school of the 'Unity of Being'. Translated by Robert Darr who has for thirty-five years been a student of classical Islamic culture.

Presenting a contemporary outlook on how organizations must adjust to the 'Era of Me', this timely book analyses contemporary learning paradigms, sustainability, performance management, and theories of work-related attitudes to promote organizational culture and productivity in workplaces in the volatile modern era. In the 21st century, the organizational environment in most western-oriented societies is dynamic, multifaceted, complex, and ambiguous. This comprehensive book explores the unique challenges faced by modern organizations due to increasingly varied, flexible, and virtual work arrangements, shifting employee characteristics, technological developments, increased competition, and enhanced diversity in business. Covering a broad range of salient topics and shifting the employee-employer relationship to one of mutual goals and trust, chapters challenge old management styles while recommending novel future methods of engineering the world of work in an era of constant change. Using a symbiosis of research, theory, and practice, Engineering the World of Work will be an invaluable resource for students, and scholars of psychology, organizational studies and business administration. It will also be an essential guide to managers, stakeholders, consultants, and policymakers who are interested in practical ways of adjusting to the changes of the 21st century.

This cutting-edge book unpacks the relationship between culture and consumer behavior to present the state-of-the-art in cross-cultural consumer research. Examining how culture shapes what consumers seek, evaluate and choose to purchase, Cross-Cultural Consumer Behavior explains why and how cultural values such as individualism, indulgence, or uncertainty avoidance influence consumers’ buying behavior. With a balanced approach, the book explores not only how cultural differences between countries shape our decisions but also outlines the basic concepts of cross-cultural consumer research, the measurement of cultural values proposed in the Hofstede, Schwartz and GLOBE models, and the psychological foundations of culture-specific consumer behavior. Based on these conceptual foundations, the authors explain how cultural values shape consumers’ buying processes, from information searches through post-purchase behavior. This book will be valuable to researchers and students of international business, global marketing, and consumer behavior. Cross-Cultural Consumer Behavior will also be relevant for marketing practitioners and international marketing agencies.

AI in Biomedical and Modern Healthcare Informatics provide a deeper understanding of current trends in AI and machine learning within health care diagnosis. Its practical approach in healthcare gives insight into wearable sensors and device modules to help doctors and their patients in enhanced healthcare systems. The book helps readers detect common difficulties and their solutions for early detection and prediction of any disease. In 34 chapters AI in Biomedical and Modern Healthcare Informatics provides beginners and experts in the medical science field with general pictures and detailed descriptions of imaging and signal processing principles and clinical applications. With forefront applications and up-to-date analytical methods, this book captures the interests of colleagues in the medical imaging research field and is a valuable resource for healthcare professionals who wish to understand the principles and applications of signal and image processing and its related technologies in healthcare