Impact of therapeutic choices on outcome of osteomyelitis caused by MRSA

Fifty-four patients with chronic osteomyelitis sustained by methicillin-resistant staphylococcus were treated with daptomycin, linezolid, or teicoplanin and observed over time. Median time to CRP normalization was 7 weeks for daptomycin, 8 weeks for linezolid, and 12 weeks for teicoplanin (X2 =14.1; p < 0.001). Cure rate (intention to treat analysis) was 83% for the cases receiving teicoplanin, 77% for those receiving linezolid and 92% for those receiving daptomycin. We conclude that daptomycin and linezolid have to be considered at least equivalent to teicoplanin for the treatment of MRSA osteomyelitis

Recovering a positive Attitude toward Mathematics in future elementary Teachers

In this brief communication some strategical suggestions are proposed to enhance motivation and true understanding of mathematics in future teachers. Two ingredients are shown as crucial to this purpose: the active participation in modelization activities based on simple phenomena, where the interaction between mathematics and physics appears culturally and historically well-rooted; a metacognitive-based methodology

A perturbative approach to domain structure analysis in elastic cubic ferromagnetic crystals

A model of a continuum with an interface is adopted to describe domain structures in elastic ferromagnetic crystals at equilibrium. A perturbative method is applied to field equations and jump conditions in order to simplify their analysis, in the approximation of "infinitesimal" strains. In particular, a well-known domain structure for cubic ferromagnetic crystals in the absence of a magnetic field is studied