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The nuts and bolts of blood banking haven't changed much over the years. The test methods may be different at larger labs, and of course today's disease testing for donor blood has advanced. But this book deals with the theory behind serological reactions and explains blood and blood groups on a cellular and molecular level ... that hasn't changed.
I studied back in 1988. My last lab job was in 2000, and the lessons from the Ortho book still applied. These are the chapters from the edition published in 1982:
1. Antigens and Antibodies and their In Vitro Interaction
("in vitro" means in the lab)
2. Blood Group Genetics
3. The ABO System
(This is the biggie ... handing out an ABO-incompatible unit is almost always fatal to the patient.)
4. The Rh System and Rh Typing
(We think "DCe", but we say R1 because it's easier than saying "D big C little e"; both nomenclature systems are introduced).
5. Antibody Detection
(This is the "screen" in a Type & Screen blood test.)
6. Antibody Identification
(In a moderate-to-large lab, this pretty much separates blood bank specialists from lab generalists. It takes experience to see the big picture sometimes.)
7. Blood Group Anitbodies Other Than ABO
Rh, Lewis, Kell, Duffy, Kidd, MNSs, P
(Kell is the easiest to learn. It's also notorious at eliciting an immune response in patients, so study it well.)
8. In Vivo Reactions of Antigens and Antibodies
("In Vivo" means in the body, as opposed to in a test tube.)
Best of luck in your studies ... this book will help alot.
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This book will encourage you to reflect back on your own life, seeing where you have been, and encouraging you to nurture all your braided streams.
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Still, for the most part, this book is a conventional dates-and-events human history of South Florida rather than an argument for environmental protection. The environmental theme doesn't really get going until after the Civil War, well past the middle of the book, when draining the Everglades was first proposed, and it isn't until "The Eleventh Hour," the final chapter of the original edition, that the book becomes an impassioned plea for saving the wilderness. A final chapter added in 1987 brings the story into our era, continues the catalog of degradation, and makes the key point that most of the forces that threaten the Everglades flourish outside the boundaries of the National Park.
I confess that I found the historical narrative a bit dull in places, though it's hard to imagine a more colorful cast of characters than the conquistadors, pirates, hardy Native Americans, escaped slaves, adventurers, poachers, speculators and old-time politicians who all play a part in the story. Nevertheless, "River of Grass" is still the best history of South Florida, and should be on the reading list of anyone who wants something a little more substantial than the tourist guides and coffee-table fluff that dominate the shelf of books about the region.
And grand and old she was. One of the most amazing facts about her life is the way it seems to have paralleled the recent history of the Everglades itself. Consider this. The first real encroachment of the Everglades began in 1890 when settlers started draining the area around the Kissimmee river. This was just 10 years before Douglas was born. When she wrote THE EVERGLADES: RIVER OF GRASS in 1947 she was 57 years old. The book played a huge part in creating public awareness about the vital importance of the area and was the prime impetus for the creation of the Everglades National Park. Douglas was in fact there when Harry Truman officially opened the park in late 1947. She was still around to receive an honor from president Clinton in 1993. Most incredibly she lived to see the publishing of this - the Fiftieth Anniversary edition of her best known book - dying shortly after at the age of 108! One of the salient points to note about this edition is that it offers an added chapter by another writer titled "Coming Together" which highlights some of the recent progress being made in reversing the damage done to the Everglades watershed area. Progress which can trace it's origins back decades ago to the constant cajoling and inspiration of one Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Never has the saying "Life imitates Nature" been any truer.
Douglas's original book is in keeping with the times it was written in. A natural history of the Everglades with a heavy emphasis on wildlife and the local culture, written in a simple straightforward style. This "just-the-facts" approach is used when recounting the early history of the area, giving names and dates of conquerors and explorers. The writing style occasionally feels a bit dry but these moments quickly pass as we get so caught up in reading about history by someone who was themselves a bit of living history.
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