This volume looks at various approaches to study the pleiotropic roles of b-arrestins (b-arrs) in the control of signal transduction, and the resulting cellular and in vivo consequences that arise. The chapters in this book cover diverse topics around b-arrs such as their established roles in GPCR regulation and trafficking; regulatory scaffolding functions of b-arrs in MAPK signaling, cAMP hydrolysis and cytoskeletal dynamics; proteomic analysis of the b-arr interactome; mathematical modelling of b-arr signaling networks; functional selectivity involving biased ligands; nucleocytoplasmic trafficking and primary cilia-associated functions of b-arrs; conformational plasticity of b-arrs; and the roles of b-arrs in allergic inflammation, Type 2 Diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and cancer. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Cutting-edge and authoritative, Beta-Arrestins: Methods and Protocols is a valuable resource for researchers interested in learning more about the function and regulation of b-arrestins.

In the years leading up to the Civil War, southern evangelical denominations moved from the fringes to the mainstream of the American South. Scott Stephan argues that female Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians played a crucial role in this transformation. While other scholars have pursued studies of southern evangelicalism in the context of churches, meetinghouses, and revivals, Stephan looks at the domestic rituals over which southern women had increasing authority-from consecrating newborns to God's care to ushering dying kin through life's final stages. Laymen and clergymen alike celebrated the contributions of these pious women to the experience and expansion of evangelicalism across the South.

This acknowledged domestic authority allowed some women to take on more public roles in the conversion and education of southern youth within churches and academies, although always in the name of family and always cloaked in the language of Christian self-abnegation. At the same time, however, women's work in the name of domestic devotion often put them at odds with slaves, children, or husbands in their households who failed to meet their religious expectations and thereby jeopardized evangelical hopes of heavenly reunification of the family.

Stephan uses the journals and correspondence of evangelical women from across the South to understand the interconnectedness of women's personal, family, and public piety. Rather than seeing evangelical women as entirely oppressed or resigned to the limits of their position in a patriarchal slave society, Stephan seeks to capture a sense of what agency was available to women through their moral authority.

This issue of Facial Plastic Surgery Clinics, Guest Edtied by Dr. Scott Stephan, is devoted to Cosmetic and Reconstructive Surgery of Congenital Ear Deformities. Articles in this issue include: Molding Therapy for Infants with Deformational Auricular Anomalies; Evidence-based Review of Otoplasty Techniques; Cosmetic Otoplasty; Otoplasty for Congenital Auricular Malformations; Autologous Rib Microtia Reconstruction: Nagata Rechnique; Autologous Rib Microtia Reconstruction: Modified Brent Technique; Porous Polyethylene Microtia Reconstruction; Atresiaplasty in Congenital Aural Atresia; and Auricular Prosthesis.