Tratamiento quirúrgico de ptosis palpebral miogénica adquirida

Objective: To report the surgical outcome of aponeurosis surgery in patients with acquired myogenic eyelid ptosis and describe surgical guidelines for their correction. Methods: The clinical records of two patients with acquired myogenic eyelid ptosis after surgical correction were reviewed. Results: In two patients with acquired myogenic eyelid ptosis and barely good levator function, levator resection surgery was performed. Corneal complications appeared in both cases. Conclusion: Patients with acquired myogenic eyelid ptosis are at risk of post-operative surgical complications from corneal exposure. Surgical correction should be conservative and performed only when the visual axis is compromise

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi and their Value for Ecosystem Management

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) are root obligate symbionts of nearly all the plants living on Earth. They are considered as living fossils: there are evidences that date back to 460 million years ago their presence on our planet. Taxonomically, they belong to the Glomeromycota phylum. They are found in roots of 80% of plant species and give and get back benefits to their partners, as happens in all mutual symbiotic relationships. They build up a bridge between plant and soil, growing their mycelia both inside and outside plant roots. AMF provide the plant with water, soil mineral nutrients (mainly phosphorus and nitrogen), and pathogen protection. In exchange, photosynthetic compounds are transferred to the fungus. Besides physiological benefits to the host-plant, AMF play an important ecological role. They are important in soil structuring thanks to their thick extraradical hyphal network able to aggregate soil particles. They help plants establish in degraded ecosystems (e.g. desert areas and mine spoils) and positively affect phytoremediation. They can influence processes (i.e. soil carbon sequestration) related to climate change. Last but not least, their belowground presence and diversity can positively affect the aboveground plant biodiversity and productivity. These roles played by AMF for the ecosystem functioning lead to consider them as key soil organisms. Therefore, every AMF aspect is extensively studied: from biological features, through biogeography and biodiversity, to phylogeny. [...]JRC.H.5-Land Resources Managemen

Bridging reproductive and microbial ecology: a case study in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

Offspring size is a key trait for understanding the reproductive ecology of species, yet studies addressing the ecological meaning of offspring size have so far been limited to macro-organisms. We consider this a missed opportunity in microbial ecology and provide what we believe is the first formal study of offspring-size variation in microbes using reproductive models developed for macro-organisms. We mapped the entire distribution of fungal spore size in the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi (subphylum Glomeromycotina) and tested allometric expectations of this trait to offspring (spore) output and body size. Our results reveal a potential paradox in the reproductive ecology of AM fungi: while large spore-size variation is maintained through evolutionary time (independent of body size), increases in spore size trade off with spore output. That is, parental mycelia of large-spored species produce fewer spores and thus may have a fitness disadvantage compared to small-spored species. The persistence of the large-spore strategy, despite this apparent fitness disadvantage, suggests the existence of advantages to large-spored species that could manifest later in fungal life history. Thus, we consider that solving this paradox opens the door to fruitful future research establishing the relationship between offspring size and other AM life history traits