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introduction: Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) is a systemic infection caused by the fungus Paracoccidioides brasiliensis.PCM is considered one of the most important systemic mycoses in Latin America. Methods: This is a clinical, epidemiological, retrospective, quantitative study of PCM cases in patients attending the National Health Service in the State of Rondônia in 1997-2012. The examined variables included sex, age group, year of diagnosis, education level, profession, place of residence, diagnostic test, prior treatment, medication used, comorbidities and case progress. Results: During the study period, 2,163 PCM cases were registered in Rondônia, and the mean annual incidence was 9.4/100,000 people. The municipalities with the highest rates were located in the southeastern region of Rondônia, and the towns of Pimenteiras do Oeste and Espigão do Oeste had the highest rates in the state, which were 39.1/100,000 and 37.4/100,000 people, respectively. Among all cases, 90.2% and 9.8% were observed in men and women, respectively, and most cases (58.2%) were observed in patients aged between 40 and 59 years. Itraconazole was used to treat 91.6% (1,771) of cases, followed by sulfamethoxazole in combination with trimethoprim (4.4% [85] of cases). One hundred thirty-one (6%) patients died. Conclusions: The State of Rondônia has a high incidence of PCM, and the municipalities in the southeastern region of the state were found to have the highest incidence rates of this disease. Our fi ndings suggest that Rondônia is the state in the northern region with the highest mortality rate for PCM.

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Resumo - Palavras-chave -Helianthus annus. Déficit hídrico. Características agronômicas. Genótipos.Abstract -With the objective to value the influence of six levels of irrigation in the agricultural performance of two cultivars of sunflower, (Catissol 01 e Embrapa 122 V-2000), was made an experiment at the Experimental Farm, Valley of Curu River,county of Pentecoste, CE. The experimental design adopted was randomized blocks with divided plots, with four replicates. The effect of six levels of irrigation based on percentage of evaporation of class A pan (ECA) by the factors 0.25; 0.50; 0.75; 1.00; 1.25 and 1.50 , was evaluated for the cultivars. The variables, diameter of head, mass of 1000 achenes, potential of production of achenes, content of oil of the achenes, potential of production of oil,were determined. The greater values were achieved by the cultivar "Catissol 01", except for the content of oil of the achenes,higher for the "Embrapa 122 V-2000". There were significant differences between the cultivars in the variable diameter of head and potential production of achenes. The level of irrigation of 533.70 mm (150% of ECA) proportioned the greater potential production of achenes that was of 4,222.76 and 3,948.02 kg ha -1 , and of oil 1,851.55 and 1,760.63 kg ha -1 to the cultivars Catissol 01 e Embrapa 122 V-2000, respectively.

Background Several mechanisms regulating gene expression contribute to restore and reestablish cellular homeostasis so that plants can adapt and survive in adverse situations. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play roles important in the transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression, emerging as a regulatory molecule key in the responses to plant stress, such as cold, heat, drought, and salt. This work is a comprehensive and large-scale miRNA analysis performed to characterize the miRNA population present in oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) exposed to a high level of salt stress, to identify miRNA-putative target genes in the oil palm genome, and to perform an in silico comparison of the expression profile of the miRNAs and their putative target genes. Results A group of 79 miRNAs was found in oil palm, been 52 known miRNAs and 27 new ones. The known miRNAs found belonged to 28 families. Those miRNAs led to 229 distinct miRNA-putative target genes identified in the genome of oil palm. miRNAs and putative target genes differentially expressed under salinity stress were then selected for functional annotation analysis. The regulation of transcription, DNA-templated, and the oxidation-reduction process were the biological processes with the highest number of hits to the putative target genes, while protein binding and DNA binding were the molecular functions with the highest number of hits. Finally, the nucleus was the cellular component with the highest number of hits. The functional annotation of the putative target genes differentially expressed under salinity stress showed several ones coding for transcription factors which have already proven able to result in tolerance to salinity stress by overexpression or knockout in other plant species. Conclusions Our findings provide new insights into the early response of young oil palm plants to salinity stress and confirm an expected preponderant role of transcription factors - such as NF-YA3, HOX32, and GRF1 - in this response. Besides, it points out potential salt-responsive miRNAs and miRNA-putative target genes that one can utilize to develop oil palm plants tolerant to salinity stress.

Plants, under natural or experimental conditions, can be subject to a range of O2 concentrations from normal (normoxia) through deficient (hypoxia) to total absence (anoxia). Many metabolic processes are affected by O2 deficiency but the most studied events are those related to respiration and metabolism of N. In the absence of a terminal electron acceptor for the electron transport chain, the tricarboxylic acid cycle functions only partially and in both directions. Acidification of the cytosol occurs and pyruvate, the product of glycolysis, is transformed to lactate and ethanol, which represent the main fermentation reactions in plants. Alanine is the third most important product of anaerobic metabolism, resulting from high rates of amino acid interconversion in which transaminases such as alanine aminotransferase play an important role. The role of alanine accumulation under anaerobiosis is not clear and appears to be independent of the source of N whether NO3-, NH4+ or N2. How nitrate exerts its beneficial effect on tolerance of root hypoxia in waterlogged plants is still not clearly understood. Such aspects of N metabolism pose interesting challenges for future research on metabolic responses of plants to oxygen deficiency.

Objetivo: descrever a incidência da hanseníase e as características dos casos notificados no estado de Rondônia, Brasil. Métodos: foi realizado estudo descritivo com dados do Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação (Sinan) referentes ao período de 2001 a 2012; foi calculada a incidência por 100 mil habitantes e a distribuição percentual dos casos segundo variáveis de interesse. Resultados: no período de 2001 a 2012, foram notificados 15.648 casos de hanseníase, com média de 1.304 casos ao ano; a maior incidência foi observada no ano de 2003 (106,5/100 mil habitantes); a maior parte dos casos ocorreu entre homens (57,1%); a forma clínica predominante foi a dimorfa (42,2%); 46,6% dos casos eram paucibacilares e 53,4% multibacilares; e 6,6% dos indivíduos notificados apresentavam grau II de incapacidade física. Conclusão: a ocorrência de hanseníase em Rondônia ainda é elevada, sendo o estado considerado hiperendêmico.

Erythrina speciosa showed 100 % survival until the 60th day of flooding and was able to recover its metabolism. The recovery during soil flooding seems to be associated with morphological alterations, such as development of hypertrophic lenticels, adventitious roots and aerenchyma tissue, and with the maintenance of neutral amino acids in roots under long-term exposure to root-zone O(2) deprivation.