Oxytocin (OT) is widely used to induce labor in the clinical setting. However, its physiological role in normal human parturition remains unclear. We demonstrated the enhanced expression of OT receptor (OTR) mRNA in chorio-decidual tissue, using the polymerase chain reaction after the reverse transcriptase reaction (RT-PCR) and Northern blot analysis. OTR gene expression in chorio-decidual tiss...

The outputs of epidemiological models are strongly related to the structure of the model and input parameters. The latter are defined by fitting theoretical concepts to actual data derived from field or experimental studies. However, some parameters may remain difficult to estimate and are subject to uncertainty or sensitivity analyses to determine their variation range and their global impact ...

A plasmid vector, termed pSG5rab.gp, expressing the glycoprotein of rabies virus was tested in young adult or neonatal mice in the presence of maternally transferred immunity or passively administered antibodies to rabies virus for induction of an antibody response. Mice born to rabies virus-immune dams developed an impaired antibody response to genetic immunization at 6 weeks of age, as had be...

Most mitotic mutants in Drosophila do not lead to lethality in early development despite the highly abnormal chromosome behaviour that they elicit. This has been explained as being the effect of maternally provided wild-type products. We have tested this hypothesis by studying cuticular clones derived from cells in which there has been loss of a marked Y chromosome due to chromosome nondisjunct...