Umbilical cord diameter. This diameter decreases rapidly within the placenta. The fully patent umbilical artery has two main layers: an outer layer consisting of circularly arranged smooth muscle cells and an inner layer which shows rather irregularly and loosely arranged cells embedded in abundant ground substance staining metachromatic. The smooth muscle cells of the layer are rather poorly differentiated, contain only a few tiny myofilaments and are thereby unlikely to contribute actively to the process of post-natal closure. The umbilical cord contains Wharton's jelly, a gelatinous substance made largely from mucopolysaccharides which protects the blood vessels inside. It contains one vein, which
Social uterus Social uterus Social uterus is a developmental concept in family therapy for psychosomatic disorders. Social uterus as an integrative model of family development was invented by Vladislav Chvála and Ludmila Trapková in 1990's. The metaphor of a social uterus was formed by comparing the biological function of the uterus and the maturation of the foetus inside it from conception to childbirth with the changes in the family from the birth of the child up to its separation around the age of 18. The metaphor translates facts well known from the biology of reproduction to the social level. In the "social