Evidence for Clonally Associated Increasing Rates of Azithromycin Resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Azithromycin is one of the drugs used in the combined therapy for syndromic treatment of gonorrhoea in many countries, including Brazil. Our research group, which receives isolates from clinical laboratories since 2006, has detected, after 2016, a tendency of rising rates of azithromycin resistance, with isolates showing higher minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) than those previously reported in this country. In this study, we report the susceptibility to azithromycin of 93 N. gonorrhoeae isolates obtained between 2014 and 2017. Strains with MIC ≥2 μg/mL were characterized according to azithromycin resistance mechanisms and strain typing. Results indicate that azithromycin resistance has emerged in all these years in unrelated MLST-STs, but after 2016 a clonal complex connected with ST1901 has been more frequently detected, grouping isolates with MIC varying from 2 to 64 μg/mL, with DelA mutations at the mtrR promoter region associated or not with mutations at rrl alleles. High rates of azithromycin resistance may compromise the use of this drug in the combined therapy with ceftriaxone. Inclusion of Rio de Janeiro in the Brazilian gonococcal surveillance program is important to evaluate if this data indicates an epidemiological phenomenon in the country

Substituição de areia de quartzo por finos de gnaisse em massa cerâmica para telhas: teste industrial Replacing quartz sand for gnaisse fines waste into roofing tile body: industrial test

Foi avaliado o efeito da substituição de areia por um resíduo de beneficiamento de rocha ornamental, finos de gnaisse, em uma massa de cerâmica vermelha utilizada para fabricação de telhas. Foram preparadas telhas prensadas, do tipo "portuguesa", para queima a 900 ºC em forno industrial. As seguintes propriedades foram determinadas: retração linear, absorção de água e carga de ruptura na flexão. Além disso, avaliaram-se as características das matérias-primas e a plasticidade das composições por meio dos limites de Atterberg. Os resultados indicaram que a utilização de finos de gnaisse em substituição à areia possibilitou uma melhoria na trabalhabilidade/plasticidade da massa cerâmica e acarretou uma pequena redução na absorção de água das telhas. A resistência mecânica não se alterou, dentro da precisão estatística das medidas.<br>The effect of replacing sand for gnaisse sawing waste into a red ceramic body used for roofing tile fabrication was evaluated. Pressed roofing tiles, "portuguese" style, were prepared before firing at 900 ºC in an industrial furnace. The following properties were evaluated: linear shrinkage, water absorption and load rupture strength. The plasticity of the elaborated compositions was determined by the Atterberg limits. The results show that the use of gnaisse fines replacing the sand, improved the workability of the ceramic body and promoted a slight decrease on the water absorption of the roofing tiles. The mechanical strength was not changed within the statistical error