This book presents key concepts in the structure and function of vascular smooth muscle cells in health and disease. Supplemental reading may be drawn from the extensive references listed at the end of each chapter. Vascular smooth muscle cell is the major cell type in blood vessels. Dysfunction of vascular smooth muscle cells is an important cause of vascular diseases, for example, atherosclerosis, hypertension, and circulatory shock. Vascular smooth muscle cells are phenotypically plastic, capable of switching between two major phenotypes - contractile/differentiated phenotype and invasive/proliferative phenotype in response to environmental clues. Chapter 1 introduces the major areas of research presented in this monograph. Chapters 2 to 4 address the structure and function of the contractile/differentiated phenotype of vascular smooth muscle cell. Chapters 5 and 6 address the developmental basis of vascular smooth muscle cell phenotype and structure and function of podosomes (invasive organelles) in the invasive/proliferative phenotype of vascular smooth muscle cell. Chapters 7 to 9 address the role of vascular smooth muscle cell dysfunction in vascular diseases - atherosclerosis, hypertension, and circulatory shock.

Would you give up your pet to save your country? During WWII, the U.S. Military established the Fort Robinson War Dogs Training Center in western Nebraska, training over 17,000 "dogs for defense" and deploying them to battlefields and installations all over the world. This book tells the incredible story of the War Dog program as seen through the eyes of Major, a World War Two soldier dog. At the beginning of the program, without a ready supply of dogs to train, the U.S. government asked civilians throughout the region to volunteer their dogs for service. Thousands answered the call, and their pets served our country courageously as guards, scouts, messengers, sled runners, and more. Told from the point of view of Major, a border collie based on a real dog from North Dakota, Major: A Soldier Dog tells the incredible story of the War Dog program through his eyes, following him through the heartbreaking separation from his family, the training at Fort Robinson, his harrowing war service in Italy, his return home for detraining and discharge, and finally the wonderful reunion with his family.