BACKGROUND The activity of matrix degrading enzymes plays a leading role in the rupture of the fetal membranes under normal and pathological human labor, and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) it is considered a biomarker of this event. To gain further insight into local MMP-9 origin and activation, in this study we analyzed the contribution of human placental leukocytes to MMP-9 secretion and ...

Progesterone and corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) have a critical role in pregnancy and labor, as changes related to these hormones are crucial for the transition from myometrial quiescence to contractility. The mechanisms related to their effect differ between humans and other species, thus, despite extensive research, many questions remain to be answered regarding their mediation in huma...

Parturition is associated with increased production of proinflammatory mediators by gestational tissues. Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is an antiinflammatory cytokine produced by human chorion, decidual, and trophoblast tissues. To study the effects of immunomodulators on IL-10, IL-6, and PGE2 production by human choriodecidua before and after labor, an organ explant system was established. Tissue dis...

A customary gender division of labor is one in which women and men are directed towards certain tasks and/or explicitly prohibited from performing others. We offer an explanation as to why the gender division of labor is so often enforced by custom, and why customary gender divisions of labor generally involve both direction and prohibition. Our model builds on the literature on the marital hol...

the objective of this research is to explore the effect of international outsourcing on economic growth in asia-pacific countries. accordingly, a panel regression model based on soderbom and teal (2003) is estimated using data of the considered countries over the period 1995-2006. in addition to international outsourcing, the model includes human capital, labor force and physical capital as the...

in this study, the impact of internal r&d; expenditure, technology imports and interaction effects between human capital and technology imports on value added of iranian large industries are investigated over the period of 1994-2008. for this purpose, an endogenous growth model is used in which production is a function of labor, capital stock, human capital, internal r&d; expenditure, technolog...

I examine the econometric and behavioral implications of including human capital in the life-cycle labor supply model. With human capital, the wage no longer equals the opportunity cost of time – which is, instead, the wage plus returns to work experience. This has a number of important implications, of which I highlight four: First, labor supply elasticities become functions of both preference...

We consider the effect of labor market rigidities on human capital accumulation and economic growth when some human capital is difficult to observe prior to employment. We distinguish between two types of human capital, those that formal schooling and test scores can measure (“knowledge”) and those that can be observed by employers only after a period of employment (“creativity”). We build a si...

Vaginal delivery is a natural process that usually does not require significant medical intervention. Management guided by current knowledge of the relevant screening tests and normal labor process can greatly increase the probability of an uncomplicated delivery and postpartum course. All women should be screened for group B streptococcus; women who test positive should be treated with antibio...