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Presents a short story entitled `Take Heart for the Journey,' by Maura Laverty about how a woman overcame her grief over the death of her husband when she saw the ghost of a dead woman carrying a baby.

Presents Maura Laverty's `The Height of Happiness,' a short story about an unusually tall woman's search for love and happiness.

Presents Maury Laverty's `The Friends,' a short story about the friendship between a young Irish Catholic girl and a Quaker family.

Presents Maura Laverty's `No Love Like Our Love,' a short story that revolves around the idealistic romance of a teenage couple.

Presents Maura Laverty's `The Black King's Gift,' a short story about an Irish governess' first Christmas in Spain.

Presents the short story `Dan Doherty's Deficiency,' by Maura Laverty which is about a carpenter's ignorance of table manners.

Presents the short story `The Proud Woman,' by Maura Laverty, about an old woman's desire to be of use to people around her.

Presents the short story `Marcella & the Count,' by Maura Laverty dealing with an old-maid's late lifetime love affair.

IntroductionHIV and congenital syphilis are major public health burdens contributing to substantial perinatal morbidity and mortality globally. Although studies have reported on the costs and cost effectiveness of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for syphilis screening within antenatal care in a number of resource constrained settings, empirical evidence on country specific cost and estimates of single RDTs compared to dual RDTs for HIV and syphilis are limited. MethodsA cluster randomised control study design was used to compare the incremental costs of two testing algorithms: 1) single RDTs for HIV and syphilis; and 2) dual RDTs for HIV and syphilis, in 12 health facilities in Bogotá and Cali, Colombia. The costs of single HIV and syphilis RDTs and dual HIV and syphilis RDTs were collected from each of the health facilities. The economic costs per woman tested for HIV and syphilis and costs per woman treated for syphilis defined as the total costs required to test and treat one woman for syphilis were estimated.ResultsA total of 2214 women were tested in the study facilities. Cost per pregnant woman tested and cost per woman treated for syphilis were $10.26 and $607.99 respectively in the single RDT arm. For the dual RDTs, the cost per pregnant woman tested for HIV and syphilis and cost per woman treated for syphilis were $15.89 and $1,859.26 respectively. Overall costs per woman tested for HIV and syphilis and cost per woman treated for syphilis were lower in Cali compared to Bogotáá across both intervention arms. Staff costs accounted for the largest proportion of costs while treatment costs comprised less than 1% of the preventive program.ConclusionFindings show lower average costs for single RDTs compared to dual RDTs with costs sensitive to personnel costs and the scale of output at the health facilities.

The article by Jurado and colleagues1 on the prozone phenomenon in secondary syphilis, with their suggestion that this may be more prevalent in dysgammaglobulinemic patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), prompts us to describe yet another case, remarkable for the development of the prozone phenomenon after clinically effective therapy for syphilis.A 41-year-old homosexual man who had been identified as HIV seropositive 2 weeks earlier presented with deteriorating vision in the left eye over the previous 6 months. He also reported occasional difficulty in word finding and intermittent paresthesia in the feet.On examination, there was scaly hyperkeratosis of the palms and soles, consistent with secondary syphilis. There was a marked loss of visual acuity in the left eye; the patient was able to count fingers only at 50 cm. Ophthalmological examination revealed bilateral anterior uveitis and vitritis, more pronounced on the left side. The results of neurological examination

Presents a short story about love entitled `La Belle Frances,' by Maura Laverty.

Presents the short story `The Dressmaker.'

Presents the short story `A Rose for Miss Caroline,' which narrates how a spurned woman was able to regain her pride after an unidentified person started sending her flowers regularly.

Presents the short story `The Plain Cook' about cooking and a plain country girl.

Presents Maura Laverty's `The Bunty Pot,' a short story which revolves around the sentimental value of an antique bunty pot.

Presents Maura Laverty's `Entrance and Exit,' a short story about a boy's embarrassing experience in church.

Presents the short story `Too Many Cooks,' by Maura Laverty about the nature of two different housekeepers Mary Behan and Katie O'Neill and how the former married the chemist Mr. MacNamara.

Presents the short story `The Secret Love of Brigid Keane,' by Maura Laverty. Secret love of Brigid, the carthorse, half-wit, mountain-woman.

Presents the short story `Once Bitten, Twice Shy...' by Maura Laverty, about a man who is embittered by love.

Presents several recipes for pancakes. Includes American Apple Pancake; Basic Pancake Recipe; German Pancakes.