7%). Daptomycin yielded a MIC(50)/MIC(90) of 0.5/1 mu g/mL in MRSA, compared with 1/2 mu g/mL for linezolid, vancomycin, and teicoplanin. Daptomycin MICs were in the range of <= 0.125-2 mu g/mL Only I MRSA strain had a reproducible daptomycin MIC of 2 mu g/mL. Among CoNS isolates, the MIC range for daptomycin was <= 0.125-1 mu g/mL Daptomycin was equally active against oxacillin-susceptible and oxacillin-resistant strains.\n\nConclusion: Selleck Etomoxir Daptomycin was highly active against the staphylococci isolates

studied. The activity of this agent was not affected by resistance to other antibiotics such as oxacillin, teicoplanin, linezolid, ciprofloxacin, orgentamicin. These data suggest that daptomycin may be useful for the treatment of severe infection caused by MRSA or CoNS. (C) 2008 Elsevier Espana, S.L. All rights reserved.”
“Despite the fact that childbirth by caesarean section (CS) does not provide significant health benefits for either the mother or the newborn, there has been a noticeable upward trend in CS births in Iran over the last two

decades. The aim of the current study was to determine the effect of using the Extended Parallel Process Model for childbirth education on decreasing the number of births by CS among Iranian women. This field study consisted of three steps. ML323 concentration In step one; a formative evaluation was conducted using a pre-test questionnaire based on the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM). In step two, a structured

childbirth education program was developed based mainly EPPM. In step three, evaluation of the outcome was conducted by comparing the scores from the post-test questionnaire and CS rates between two groups. Two hundred and eighty-four low-risk pregnant women from antenatal clinics participated find protocol in and completed the study, and they were assigned to experimental and control groups that consisted of 145 and 139 women, respectively. Follow-up pairwise comparisons using paired t-test between the comparative groups indicated significant statistical changes for the outcome variable, i.e., the intention to have vaginal birth, from the pretest to posttest in the experimental group’s score (p < 0.001, 95% CI = -3/7 – -2/8), but such a finding was not observed in the control group. Furthermore, the rate of caesarean delivery was significantly decreased in the experimental group compared with control group (66.2% and 48.2%, respectively) and the odds of giving birth by CS was 2.1 times greater in the control group (p < 0.001). Using EPPM-based childbirth education was found to effectively lower the rate of intended and actual caesarean births. The findings also indicated that childbirth preparation programs that place emphasis on promoting mothers’ self-awareness and self-confidence increased the probability of their having normal childbirth. [Sepideh Hajian, Mohammad Shariati, Khadijeh Mirzaii Najmabadi, Masood Younesian, Mohammad Esmail Ajami.