| differential screening | Process in development of a multicellular organism by which cells become specialised for particular functions. Requires that there is selective expression of portions of the genome, the fully differentiated state may be preceded by a stage in which the cell is already programmed for differentiation but is not yet expressing the characteristic phenotype determination. (18 Nov 1997) |
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| drug screening | Preclinical testing of drugs in experimental animals or in vitro for their biological and toxic effects and potential clinical applications. (12 Dec 1998) |
| drug screening assays, antitumour | Methods of investigating the effectiveness of anticancer cytotoxic drugs and biologic inhibitors. These include in vitro cell-kill models and cytostatic dye exclusion tests as well as in vivo measurement of tumour growth parameters in laboratory animals. (12 Dec 1998) |
| familial screening | Screening directed at close relatives of probands with diseases that may lie latent, as in age-dependent dominant traits, or that may involve risk to progeny, as X-linked traits. (05 Mar 2000) |
| rate, maternal mortality | The number of maternal deaths related to childbearing divided by the number of live births (or by the number of live births + foetal deaths) in that year. The maternal mortality rate in the united states in 1993 (and 1994) was 0.1 per 1,000 live births, or 1 mother dying per 10,000 live births. (12 Dec 1998) |
| maternal | Relating to or derived from the mother. Origin: L. Maternus, fr. Mater, mother (05 Mar 2000) |
| maternal age 35 and over | Pregnancy in women 35 or more years of age. It is used for normal pregnancies and for problems of pregnancy occurring in a woman's late reproductive years. These include effects on the mother's physical and mental health as well as risks of perinatal mortality and foetal abnormality. (12 Dec 1998) |
| maternal antibody | Any antibody transferred from a mammalian mother transplacentally into the foetus. See under immunoglobulin for details of the classes of Ig that are transferred to the foetus. (18 Nov 1997) |
| maternal behaviour | The behaviour patterns associated with or characteristic of a mother. (12 Dec 1998) |
| maternal-child health centres | Facilities which administer the delivery of health care services to mothers and children. (12 Dec 1998) |
| maternal-child nursing | The nursing specialty that deals with the care of women throughout their pregnancy and childbirth and the care of their newborn children. (12 Dec 1998) |
| maternal cotyledon | A unit of the placenta made up of trophoblastic cells, fibrous tissue, and abundant blood vessels, which is visible grossly on the maternal surface as an irregularly shaped lobe circumscribed by a deep cleft and made up of a stem villus with numerous branching free villi and anchoring villi; placental vessels in the chorionic plate supply the stem villus and its branches, allowing gas and metabolite exchange across the trophoblastic layer with maternal blood in the intervillous space; traditionally called clinicians' cotyledon. (05 Mar 2000) |
| maternal death | Death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days after the termination of gestation, irrespective of the duration and site of pregnancy and the cause of death; two periods are recognised in the 42-day interval: period 1 includes day 1 to day 7; period 2 includes day 8 to day 42. Maternal death's are further classified as: (05 Mar 2000) |
| maternal death rate | The number of maternal deaths that occur as the direct result of the reproductive process per 100,000 live births. See: rate. See: maternal death. (05 Mar 2000) |
| maternal deprivation | Prolonged separation of the offspring from the mother. (12 Dec 1998) |