The mechanism of action of a serotype-specific natural human antibody against dengue virus has been identified.

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Although there has been an upsurge of interest in research on women's sexual and reproductive health, most of the research has remained confined to the obstetrics and gynecology disciplines, without knowledge flow to the biomechanics community. Thus, the mechanics of the female reproductive system and the changes determined by pregnancy, age, obesity, and various medical conditions have not been thoroughly studied. In recent years, more investigators have been focusing their efforts on evaluating the mechanical properties of the reproductive organs and supportive connective tissues, but, despite the many advances, there is still a lot that remains to be done. This paper provides an overview of the research published over the past few decades on the mechanical characterization of the primary female reproductive organs and supporting connective tissues. For each organ and tissue, after a brief description of the function and structure, the testing methods and main mechanical results are presented. Constitutive equations are then reviewed for all organs/tissues together. The goal is to spark the interest of new investigators to this largely untapped but fast-evolving branch of soft tissue mechanics that will impact women's gynecologic, reproductive, and sexual health care.

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This study reviewed the 18-year experience of acute dialysis in the pediatric intensive care unit, in order to identify factors that could predict outcome, and to determine whether newer modalities of acute dialysis have influenced this outcome. Sixty-six children (ages 1 day to 19 years) received acute dialysis from May 1980 to April 1998. Factors predicting outcome were analyzed using univariate and Cox regression analysis. Modality of dialysis in the first 15 years was exclusively peritoneal dialysis. with a mortality of 63.9%. However, in the last 3 years, with increasing patient numbers, continuous hemodiafiltration (CHDF) was the modality of choice (56.7%), with a mortality of 73.3%. Univariate analysis showed that age <1 year, coma, acute tubular necrosis, disseminated intravascular coagulopathy, assisted ventilation, and hypotension were associated significantly with poor outcome (P<0.05). Cox regression analysis revealed that mortality was significantly higher in patients on mechanical ventilation (RR 5.96, 95% CI 1.82-19.50), or with age <1 year (RR 2.00, 95% CI 1.08-3.73). In conclusion, despite the increasing use of CHDF over the last 3 years, there was no significant improvement in mortality, probably related to the fact that more critically ill patients were dialyzed.

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