Influenza B outbreak on a cruise ship off the São Paulo Coast, Brazil.

Background: In February 2012, crew and passengers of a cruise ship sailing off the coast of São Paulo, Brazil, were hospitalized for acute respiratory illness (ARI). A field investigation was performed to identify the disease involved and factors associated.

Methods: Information on passengers and crew with ARI was obtained from the medical records of hospitalized individuals.

Root colonization and spore abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in distinct successional stages from an Atlantic rainforest biome in southern Brazil.

The influence of plant functional groups and moderate seasonality on arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal status (root colonization and spore density) was investigated during 13 consecutive months in a chronosequence of succession in southern Brazil, consisting of grassland field, scrub vegetation, secondary forest and mature forest, in a region of transition from tropical to subtropical zones. AM root colonization and spore density decreased with advancing succession and were highest in early successional sites with grassland and scrub vegetation, intermediary in the secondary forest and lowest in the mature forest. They were little influenced by soil properties, but were sufficiently influenced by the fine root nutrient status and fine root traits among different functional plant groups.

Changes in arbuscular mycorrhizal associations and fine root traits in sites under different plant successional phases in southern Brazil.

Fine root morphological traits and distribution, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, soil fertility, and nutrient concentration in fine root tissue were compared in sites under different successional phases: grass plants, secondary forest, and mature forest in Londrina county, Paraná state, southern Brazil. Soil cores were collected randomly at the 0-10- and 10-20-cm depths in three quadrants (50 m2) in each site. Plants from the different successional stages displayed high differences in fine root distribution, fine root traits, and mycorrhizal root colonization.