The effect of local anesthetics on tear production

Local anesthetics act on any part of the nervous system and on every type of nerve and fibre. Different sensations are lost according to the size of the axon serving them. Lignocaine due to its moderate properties is one of the most versatile agents in anesthesia and as such is often used by optometrists and ophthalmologists alike in different clinical procedures. Tear production using Schirmer's technique was measure before and after the instillation of a local anesthetic (Lignocaine 2%) in fifty (50) subjects of both male and female within the age range 18 -35 years. Results from data collected showed that Lignocaine caused a slight reduction in tear production; with a mean percentage reduction of 29.06%. Statistical analysis also revealed the effect of lignocaine on tear production to be significant (

Special issue on the role of extracellular vesicles in human diseases

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Application and Lesson Learned in Civil Engineering, Environmental Science Service-Learning Program

Environmental Science class is an integral part of any modern 21st century Civil Engineering education curriculum. The rising need for sustainable development education in addition of education that does not only focus on the cognitive part but also the affective part required an evaluation of Environmental Science class curriculum. Petra Christian University began to apply Service-Learning style of education in its Environmental Science class since 2017, in order to fulfill the previously stated challenges. Reworks on class material and implementation of classwide Service-Learning project was done. Putting student�s creativity and autonomy at the forefront of the Service-Learning project, the class is considered as a success. The student produced reflections and academic report that demonstrated their comprehension of sustainable development showed that the Service-Learning project managed to educate their heart. The Service-Learning based Environmental Science class can be used as a model and precedent for other Civil Engineering Departments that want to implement meaningful and impactful Environmental Science class

Laser Microdissection of Sensory Organ Precursor Cells of Drosophila Microchaetes

BACKGROUND: In Drosophila, each external sensory organ originates from the division of a unique precursor cell (the sensory organ precursor cell or SOP). Each SOP is specified from a cluster of equivalent cells, called a proneural cluster, all of them competent to become SOP. Although, it is well known how SOP cells are selected from proneural clusters, little is known about the downstream genes that are regulated during SOP fate specification. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In order to better understand the mechanism involved in the specification of these precursor cells, we combined laser microdissection, toisolate SOP cells, with transcriptome analysis, to study their RNA profile. Using this procedure, we found that genes that exhibit a 2-fold or greater expression in SOPs versus epithelial cells were mainly associated with Gene Ontology (GO) terms related with cell fate determination and sensory organ specification. Furthermore, we found that several genes such as pebbled/hindsight, scabrous, miranda, senseless, or cut, known to be expressed in SOP cells by independent procedures, are particularly detected in laser microdissected SOP cells rather than in epithelial cells. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These results confirm the feasibility and the specificity of our laser microdissection based procedure. We anticipate that this analysis will give new insight into the selection and specification of neural precursor cells

Journal of extracellular vesicles: the seven year itch!

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Extracellular vesicles as emerging intercellular communicasomes

All living cells release extracellular vesicles having pleiotropic functions in intercellular communication. Mammalian extracellular vesicles, also known as exosomes and microvesicles, are spherical bilayered proteolipids composed of various bioactive molecules, including RNAs, DNAs, proteins, and lipids. Extracellular vesicles directly and indirectly control a diverse range of biological processes by transferring membrane proteins, signaling molecules, mRNAs, and miRNAs, and activating receptors of recipient cells. The active interaction of extracellular vesicles with other cells regulates various physiological and pathological conditions, including cancer, infectious diseases, and neurodegenerative disorders. Recent developments in high-throughput proteomics, transcriptomics, and lipidomics tools have provided ample data on the common and specific components of various types of extracellular vesicles. These studies may contribute to the understanding of the molecular mechanism involved in vesicular cargo sorting and the biogenesis of extracellular vesicles, and, further, to the identification of disease-specific biomarkers. This review focuses on the components, functions, and therapeutic and diagnostic potential of extracellular vesicles under various pathophysiological conditions.X115449Ysciescopu