[Quality of maternal mortality statistics in Cuba, 2013Qualidade das estatísticas de mortalidade materna em Cuba, 2013].

Objective: Evaluate the degree of integrity of the Cuban statistical registry of maternal deaths and the quality of the classification of the causes of death included in that registry.

Methods: We analyzed the information of all Cuban women who died in fertile age in 2013 according to the continuous mortality registry of the Directorate of Medical Records and Health Statistics of the Ministry of Public Health of Cuba (MINSAP), regardless of the main cause of death informed. Four research groups (national, expert, provincial and health units), each with defined functions, applied four forms to establish if the women had been pregnant in the year prior to death, to reassess whether the cases corresponded to a maternal death and, in that case, to review the classification.

[Maternal and child health care in Cuba: achievements and challengesCuidados de saúde materno-infantil em Cuba: conquistas e desafios].

In Cuba, maternal and child health care is based on the priority granted by the State, the implementation of the National Maternal and Child Health Program and the guarantee of equitable access to health services. This article describes the Cuban experience in this field, as well as its main achievements, challenges, and lessons learned. Among the most relevant results up to 2015 are the reduction of infant mortality rate and under-five mortality rate to 4.

The cardiac torsion as a sensitive index of heart pathology: A model study.

The torsional behaviour of the heart (i.e. the mutual rotation of the cardiac base and apex) was proved to be sensitive to alterations of some cardiovascular parameters, i.

Finite element analysis of the mechanical behavior of preterm lamb tracheal bifurcation during total liquid ventilation.

Knowledge of the mechanical behavior of immature airways is crucial to understand the effects exerted by ventilation treatments, namely by Total Liquid Ventilation (TLV). A computational approach was adopted to investigate preterm airways in the range of pressure applied during TLV. A 3D finite-element model of the tracheal bifurcation was developed.

Trends in biomedical engineering: focus on Patient Specific Modeling and Life Support Systems.

Over the last twenty years major advancements have taken place in the design of medical devices and personalized therapies. They have paralleled the impressive evolution of three-dimensional, non invasive, medical imaging techniques and have been continuously fuelled by increasing computing power and the emergence of novel and sophisticated software tools. This paper aims to showcase a number of major contributions to the advancements of modeling of surgical and interventional procedures and to the design of life support systems.