Staphylococcus aureus is highly prevalent among patients with atopic dermatitis (AD), and this pathogen may trigger and aggravate AD lesions. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of S. aureus in the nares of pediatric subjects and verify the phenotypic and molecular characteristics of the isolates in pediatric patients with AD. Isolates were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility, SCCmec typing, and Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (PVL) genes. Lineages were determined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). AD severity was assessed with the Scoring Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) index. Among 106 patients, 90 (85%) presented S. aureus isolates in their nares, and 8 also presented the pathogen in their skin infections. Two patients had two positive lesions, making a total of 10 S. aureus isolates from skin infections. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) was detected in 24 (26.6%) patients, and PVL genes were identified in 21 (23.3%), including 6 (75%) of the 8 patients with skin lesions but mainly in patients with severe and moderate SCORAD values (P=0.0095). All 24 MRSA isolates were susceptible to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, while 8 isolates had a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) to mupirocin >1024 μg/mL. High lineage diversity was found among the isolates including USA1100/ST30, USA400/ST1, USA800/ST5, ST83, ST188, ST718, ST1635, and ST2791. There was a high prevalence of MRSA and PVL genes among the isolates recovered in this study. PVL genes were found mostly among patients with severe and moderate SCORAD values. These findings can help clinicians improve the therapies and strategies for the management of pediatric patients with AD.

Dois cultivares de soja, Santa Rosa e UFV-1, foram cultivados em solução nutritiva na presença de excesso de alumínio, cloro e manganês. Além de provocar o aparecimento de sintomas foliares (cloro e manganês) ou radiculares (alumínio), os elementos em excesso causaram diminuições no crescimento e impediram a produção de vagens. A análise mineral das folhas mostrou a influência dos tratamentos na composição do tecido.

Two soybean cultivars, Santa Rosa and FV-1, were grown in nutrient solution in the presence of high concentrations of Al (24 ppm), CI (1750 ppm) and Mn (25 ppm). Observations, measurements and chemical analyses allowed for the following conclusions to be drawn: (1) symptoms of toxicity are in agreement with those described in the literatura; (2) the detrimental effect obeyed the decreasing order - Mn Al CI; (3) dry matter production by the variety UFV - 1 was relatively more affected by the treatments; (4) leaf analyses do not provide a reliable indication of the sensitivity of the two varieties to the high levels of the three elements in the substrate; (5) Ca/Al ratio in the roots keeps a good relationship with the relative tolerance of the two cultivas to excess Al in the medium.