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Sweet taste and nonnutritive suckling produce analgesia to transient noxious stimuli in infant rats and humans. The present study evaluated the pain-modulating effects of sucrose and suckling in a rat model of persistent pain and hyperalgesia that mimics the response to tissue injury in humans. Fore- and hindpaw withdrawal latencies from a 30 [degrees] or 48 [degrees] C brass stylus were determined in 10-day-old rats following paw inflammation induced by complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA; 1:1 injected s.c. in a 0.01 ml volume). CFA markedly decreased escape latencies to both 48 [degrees] and 30 [degrees] C stimulation, thereby demonstrating thermal hyperalgesia and mechanical allodynia. The combination of nonnutritive suckling and sucrose (7.5%, 0.01-0.06 ml/min) infusion markedly increased escape latencies to forepaw stimulation in both CFA-treated and control rats. In contrast, intraoral sucrose and suckling did not increase hindpaw withdrawal latencies in either control or CFA-inflamed rats. The effect was specific to sweet taste because neither water nor isotonic saline infusion affected forepaw escape latencies. Parallel findings were obtained for CFA-induced Fos-like immunoreactivity (Fos-LI), a marker of neuronal activation. Fos-LI was selectively induced in cervical and lumbar regions ipsilateral to forepaw and hindpaw inflammation, respectively. Suckling-sucrose treatment significantly reduced Fos-LI at the cervical but not at the lumbar regions. These findings demonstrate: (i) the development of persistent pain and hyperalgesia in 10-day-old rats that can be attenuated by endogenous pain-modulating systems activated by taste and nonnutritive suckling; (ii) the mediation of the sucrose-suckling analgesia and antihyperalgesia at the spinal level; and (iii) a differential rostrocaudal maturation of descending pain-modulating systems to the spinal cord of 10-day-old rats. These findings may provide new clinical approaches for engaging endogenous analgesic mechanisms in infants following tissue injury and inflammation.

Cyclophilin A (CypA), a key member of the immunophilin family, is the most abundantly expressed one among the 16 identified cyclophilins. Besides acting as an intracellular receptor for cyclosporine A, CypA plays a vital role in various pathological responses such as inflammation and microbial infections. In the present study, the full-length cDNA of Fenneropenaeus chinensis CypA (FcCypA) was cloned by RACE technique. The complete sequence of FcCypA cDNA contained a 5' untranslated region (UTR) of 33 bp, a 3' UTR of 341 bp with a polyA tail, and an open reading frame (ORF) of 495 bp encoding a polypeptide of 164 amino acids with the predicted molecular weight of 17.70 kDa. The amino acid sequence of CypA has a typical peptidyl prolyl cis-trans isomerase family tag sequence (YKGSTFHRVIPNFMCQGG) as those of other species. The mRNA transcripts of FcCypA were constitutively expressed in all the tested tissues, including eyestalk, gill, gonad, heart, hemocytes, hepatopancreas, intestine, muscle, nerve and stomach, with the highest expression level in hepatopancreas. The mRNA expression profiles of FcCypA in hemocytes and hepatopancreas could be significantly induced by the stimulation of Vibrio anguillarum suspension and white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) stock, which verifies that CypA has an effect on viral and bacterial infection in shrimps. These results indicate that CypA may be involved in the innate immunity, biological immune response and physiological stress response of Chinese shrimps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on lots of results, the QM protein was proposed to be a tumor suppressor, and facilitate in the innate immune responses, especially the prophenoloxidase (proPO) activation system. In the present study, a cDNA of 761 bp for the QM of Chinese shrimp, Fenneropenaeus chinensis (designated as FcQM) was cloned via rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) technique. The complete cDNA sequence of FcQM contained an open reading frame (ORF) of 663 bp, 5' untranslated regions (UTR) of 42 bp and 3' UTR of 56 bp, which encoded a polypeptide of 155 amino acid residues. The analysis of the peptide sequence of FcQM revealed that FcQM sequence contained a Ribosomal_L16 domain, an SH3-binding motif, an N-acylation site, two putative antibiotic binding sites, two putative protein kinase C phosphorylation sites and two acylamidation sites, which shared over 80 % similarity with previously identified QM protein genes. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) results showed that the transcript of FcQM was extensively distributed in all the tested tissues and most highly expressed in hemocytes and hepatopancreas. After challenged with Vibrio anguillarum or white spot syndrome virus (WSSV), the FcQM transcripts were significantly increased (p < 0.05) both in hepatopancreas and hemocytes. Hence, the analysis of sequence and transcription suggested that FcQM might play crucial roles responses to bacterial and viral invasion in innate immunity of arthropods. This study is the first report of the QM protein gene from F. chinensis, which would enrich the understanding of the innate immune defense mechanism in shrimp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iron oxides compounds constitute an important component of mineral dust aerosol. Several previous studies have shown that these minerals are strong absorbers at visible wavelengths and thus that they play a critical role in the overall climate forcing caused by dust aerosol. When compiling a database of complex refractive indices of possible mineral species of iron-oxides to study their optical properties, we found that uniformly continuous optical constants for a single type of iron-oxides in the wavelength range between 0.2 and 50 µm is very scarce and that the use of hematite to represent all molecular or mineral iron-oxides types is a popular hypothesis. However, the crucial problem is that three continuous datasets for complex refractive indices of hematite are employed in climate models, but there are significant differences between them. Thus, the real role of iron-oxides in the optical properties of dust aerosols becomes a key scientific question, and we address this problem by considering different refractive indices, size distributions, and more logical weight fractions and mixing states of hematite. Based on the microscopic observations, a semi-external mixture that employs an external mixture between Fe-aggregates and other minerals and partly internal mixing between iron-oxides and aluminosilicate particles is advised as the optimal approximation. The simulations demonstrate that hematite with a spectral refractive indices from Longtin et al. (1988) shows approximately equal absorbing capacity to the mineral illite over the whole wavelength region from 0.55 to 2.5 µm, and only enhances the optical absorption of aerosol mixture at ? < 0.55 µm. Using the dataset from Querry (1985) may overestimate the optical absorption of hematite at both visible and near-infrared wavelengths. More laboratory measurements of the refractive index of iron-oxides, especially for hematite and goethite in the visible spectrum, should therefore be taken into account when assessing the effect of mineral dust on climate forcing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obesity has become one of the most serious public health problems worldwide, and an increasing number of studies indicate that the gut microbiota can affect host metabolism. Therefore, the present study was conducted to evaluate whether long-term use of probiotics can alleviate host obesity and metabolism by altering gut microbiota. The high-fat diet (HFD) starting from weaned period led to higher levels of visceral fat and a significantly heavier liver in male mice. Moreover, HFD resulted in disorders of glucose and lipid metabolism, changes in insulin-resistance indices (IR), and an increase in serum insulin and leptin in mice. Of note, 15 weeks use of Lacticaseibacillus paracasei N1115 decreased visceral fat, liver weight, serum levels of insulin and leptin, and IR and alleviated lipid dysmetabolism. HFD resulted in a significant increase in the relative abundance of Bilophila , Lachnoclostridium , and Blautia and may decrease the faecal short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) levels in mice; in turn, treatment with the potential probiotic strain L. paracasei N1115 protected mice from these negative effects. HFD significant impaired the physiology of the host especially in male mice and dramatically changed the composition of host gut microbiota. However, the use of potential probiotic strain, such as L. paracasei N1115, may prevent these impairments due to HFD via effecting the host gut microbiota and SCFA.

Objective: To explore the distribution characteristics of pathogens in adult patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and to provide basis for the diagnosis, treatment, prevention of CAP. Methods: 1 446 inpatients with CAP were prospectively enrolled in a third-class hospital in Beijing in recent 5 years (from January 2015 to December 2019). Respiratory tract samples were collected for smear, culture, nucleic acid, antigen and antibody detection to identify the pathogen of CAP. Mann-Whitney U test was used for continuous variables and χ 2 test or Fisher's exact test was used for categorical data for statistical analysis. Results: Among the 1 446 patients, 822 (56.85%) patients were infected with a single pathogen, 231 (15.98%) patients were infected with multiple pathogens, and 393 (27.18%) patients were not clear about the pathogen. Influenza virus is the first pathogen of CAP (20.95%, 303/1 446), mainly H1N1 (8.51%, 123/1 446), followed by mycoplasma pneumoniae (7.19%, 104/1 446), Mycobacterium tuberculosis (5.33%, 77/1 446) and Streptococcus pneumoniae (5.05%, 73/1 446). The outbreak of H1N1 occurred from December 2018 to February 2019, and the epidemic of mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia was monitored from August to November 2019. Patients under 65 years old had high detection rates of Mycoplasma pneumoniae (14.41% vs. 2.41%, χ²=74.712, P <0.001), Streptococcus pneumoniae (8.16% vs. 2.99%, χ²=18.156, P< 0.001), rhinovirus (6.08% vs. 3.56%, χ²=5.025, P< 0.025), Chlamydia pneumoniae (5.90% vs. 1.15%, χ²=26.542, P< 0.001) and adenovirus (3.13% vs. 0.92%, χ²=9.547, P =0.002). The severe disease rate of CAP was 14.66% (212/1 446), and the average mortality rate was 3.66% (53/1 446). The severe illness rate and mortality rate of bacterial-viral co-infection were 28.97% (31/107) and 19.63% (21/107), respectively. Conclusions: Influenza virus is the primary pathogen of adult CAP. Outbreaks of Mycoplasma pneumoniae and H1N1 were detected in 2018 and 2019, respectively. The remission rate and mortality rate of virus-bacteria co-infection were significantly higher than those of single pathogen infection. Accurate etiological basis not only plays a role in clinical diagnosis and treatment, but also provides important data support for prevention and early warning.

Objective: To study the clinical and etiological characteristics of viral pneumonia in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(VP-COPD), and to identify the risk factors associated with poor prognosis. Methods: From August 1, 2017 to August 1, 2019, totally 235 patients in a general hospital in Beijing were prospectively enrolled in this research, and all patients were diagnosed with viral pneumonia by imaging and etiology. The patients were divided into VP-COPD group( n =60) and VP-nCOPD(viral pneumonia in non-COPD patients) group( n =175). Pathogen detection and clinical characteristics were compared between the two groups.Finally, the binomial logistic regression was used to explore the risk factors associated with severe VP-COPD. Results: Compared with the VP-nCOPD group, the VP-COPD group was older(76.5 vs 66.0 years, P =0.001), and the CURB-65 score(2 vs 1, P = 0.001) and the PSI score(111 vs 85, P <0.001) were higher at admission. Pseudomonas aeruginosa ( χ²= 10.308, P = 0.001) and Staphylococcus aureus(χ²= 5.953, P =0.028) were the most common co-infection bacteria. In the VP-COPD group type Ⅱ respiratory failure was more common(23.3% vs 6.8%, P <0.001), the number of severely ill patients was larger(48.3% vs 30.3%, P =0.011), the length of hospital stay was longer(13 vs 8, P <0.001), and the mortality rate during hospitalization was higher(18.3% vs 7.4%, P =0.016) in the VP-nCOPD group. Multivariate analysis showed that the level of blood glucose( OR : 1.73, 95% CI : 1.22-2.44, P = 0.002) and pleural effusion( OR : 133.12, 95% CI : 7.57-2 340.36, P =0.001) were risk factors for severe VP-COPD patients. Conclusion: Viral pneumonia in patients with COPD tended to develop into severe cases and had a poor prognosis.

Objective: To investigate the effects of implantable Collamer lens (ICL) with a central hole on the accommodative function of patients with high myopia at different ages after implantation. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted on 75 patients (150 eyes, 23 men and 52 women) with high myopia who underwent ICL implantation in Department of Ophthalmology of First Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University from January 2017 to December 2018. The age was (28.99±7.26) years (range, 18-48 years). Forty patients (80 eyes) aged 18-34 years were included in the younger group and 35 patients (70 eyes) aged 35-48 years were included in the elderly group. To compare the changes and differences of accommodative function between the two groups, the uncorrected visual acuity, best corrected visual acuity, spherical equivalent error, amplitude of accommodation (AMP), negative relative accommodation (NRA), positive relative accommodation, single and both eyes' accommodation of facility (AF), fused cross cylinder, near and far distance horizontal phoria, accommodative convergence/accommodation and visual satisfaction questionnaire before surgery and at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after surgery were analyzed. ANOVA for repeated design, LSD, unpaired sample t -test, Paired t -test, Chi-square test and Fisher's exact test were used for data analyses. Results: At each time point before and after operation, there were significant differences between the two groups in the AMP ( F =16.511, P <0.05). The AMP of the younger group increased from (8.88±2.27) D at baseline to (9.51±1.34) D at 12 months, while it was decreased in the elderly group from (7.67±2.36) D at baseline to (6.56±2.63) D at 12 months. The trend of changes was significantly different ( F =15.044, P <0.05). The AMP of the elderly group was significantly lower than that of the younger group at all time points ( F =47.678, P< 0.05). The NRA of the younger group was better than that of the elderly group ( F =13.459, P <0.05), but the NRA had no significant changes in both groups postoperatively ( F =1.788, P =0.141). We could not find any significant changes of positive relative accommodation between two groups ( F =1.447, P =0.233). The monocular and binocular AF of two groups was increased significantly after surgery ( F =34.296, 21.839, P <0.05). The AF of the younger group was better than that of the elderly group ( F =80.327, 43.08, P <0.05). The fused cross cylinder was improved from baseline (0.12±0.32) D to (0.38±0.49) D at 12 months ( F =4.752, P <0.05), while the difference was not found in the younger group ( F =2.110, P =0.151). We could not find any significant changes of accommodative convergence/accommodation between two groups (F =0.389, P =0.505) or in each group ( F =1.049 , P =0.309) preoperatively and at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after surgery. Conclusions: ICL implantation is effective in the treatment of high myopia. The visual acuity, AMP, monocular and binocular AF may increase obviously. Big improvements in the accommodative function and high satisfaction of vision can be achieved, especially in younger patients. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2021, 57: 113-121) .

Objective: To assess the prevalence of visual impairment and the influencing factors among rural residents aged 60 years and above in Yugan county, Jiangxi province. Researchers analyzed influencing factors and provided scientific rationale for blindness prevention and control. Methods: Stratified cluster random sampling was used in randomly selecting 3 789 rural residents aged ≥ 60 in Yugan county. Eligible residents were invited to receive ophthalmic examinations and epidemiological investigations. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to analyze any influencing factors. Results: Three thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine rural residents completed the ophthalmic examination and investigation. Based on presenting visual acuity, the prevalence of visual impairment was 24.1%(915), of which blindness and moderate and severe was 2.9%(108) and 21.3%(807). The top five causes ranked are (1) cataract (283, 30.9%), (2) Refractive error (81, 8.9%), (3) macular degeneration (29, 3.2%), (4) Corneal opacity (14, 1.5%). Multivariate logistic regression showed that age, gender, education, occupation, marital status, ophthalmic anamnesis, smoking situation, and daily fruit intake were the main factors that were the influencing factors of visual impairment. Conclusions: The prevalence of visual impairment in the elderly population in rural areas of Yugan County is quite high. Keep a healthy diet, timely correction of eye disease, could reduce the risk of visual impairment. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2018, 54:605-610) .

Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy and characteristics of intratympanic methylprednisolone perfusion (IMP) as a salvage treatment in sudden sensorineural hearing loss（SSNHL） patients who failed in conventional treatments. Method: One hundred and ten SSNHL patients who failed to respond to conventional therapies were recruited. And a 10-day IMP was adopted as a salvage treatment to improve their hearing. Twenty five SSNHL patients who failed to respond to conventional therapies and without any other treatment were recruited as control group. The pure tone average(PTA) before and after IMP treatment was observed by pure tone audiometry. Data analysis was performed using SPSS13.0 and test level was set α=0.05. Result: The total effective rate of IMP was 49.09%, significantly higher than control group 16.00%. Significant hearing improvement was observed at all frequencies after IMP treatment. Especially PTA gain at the low frequencies was (13.45±18.10) dB, obviously higher than high frequency. An obvious improvement of PTA were detected in profound group(15.62±13.95)dB compared with in moderate group(7.97±14.90) dB and in severe group［PTA gain(5.59±13.88) dB］. However, there was no significant difference between the two latter groups. PTA gain was(12.26±14.69) dB,(13.37±17.11) dB and (3.21±10.51) dB respectively in patients who suffer from SSNHL within 2 weeks, >2-4 weeks and over 4 weeks. Whether accompanied with vertigo or tinnitus had no significant influence on the efficacy of IMP treatment in SSNHL patients who failed investigated. Conclusion: IMP treatment could improve the hearing in SSNHL patients who failed to respond to conventional therapies. The gain was closely related to the onset time and the severity of hearing loss before IMP treatment., Competing Interests: The authors of this article and the planning committee members and staff have no relevant financial relationships with commercial interests to disclose., (Copyright© by the Editorial Department of Journal of Clinical Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery.)

Objective: To explore the clinical and molecular genetic features of a Chinese patient with catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT). Methods: Clinical data including resting electrocardiography, echocardiography and treadmill exercise testing of a patient with CPVT admitted to our department in March 2013 were analyzed, and the peripheral venous blood samples of the patient and his family members and 400 ethnicity-matched healthy controls were obtained. All exons and exon-intron boundaries of the six CPVT-related genes including RYR2, CASQ2, TRDN, CALM1, KCNJ2 and ANKB were sequenced to detect the variants related to CPVT. The relationship between the genotypes and phenotypes was analyzed to direct the target therapy. Results: Recurrent syncope induced either by exercise or extreme frightened fear was observed in this patient. There was no positive family history of syncope or sudden death. The resting electrocardiography and echocardiography of the patient were normal, while the exercise testing revealed bidirectional and polymorphic ventricular tachycardia. A cardiac ryanodine receptor gene mutation (R2401H) was identified in this patient, while this mutation was absent in his parents and sister and 400 controls. No variant was detected in the remaining five candidate genes. Treatment with high dose of metoprolol succinate (118.75 mg/d) was effective and patient was free of syncopal attack during the 2 years follow-up. Conclusion: This is the first report on RyR2-R2401H mutation in Chinese patient with CPVT, and high dose of metoptolol is the effective therapy option for CPVT related to RyR2 mutation.

Objective: To investigate the value of non-invasive liver fibrosis models, FIB-4, S index, aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index(APRI), globulin-platelet(GP)model, aspartate aminotransferase/platelet/gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase/alpha-fetoprotein(APGA), and platelet/age/phosphatase/alpha-fetoprotein/aspartate aminotransferase(PAPAS), in the diagnosis of marked liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis B(CHB)patients with ALT < 2×upper limit of normal(ULN), as well as treatment timing for this population. Methods: A total of 389 CHB patients with ALT < 2×ULN who were admitted to Beijing Ditan Hospital and whose treatment timing was difficult to judge were enrolled. Transdermal liver biopsy was performed to obtain pathological results, and routine serological tests were performed, including routine blood test, serum biochemical parameters, hepatitis B virus(HBV)markers, and HBV DNA. According to liver pathology, the patients were divided into non-marked liver fibrosis group(S < 2)with 324 patients and marked liver fibrosis group(S≥2)with 65 patients. The non-invasive models for predicting liver fibrosis was established with reference to original articles. SPSS 19.0 software was used for statistical analysis, and the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was used to compare the value of different non-invasive models in predicting marked liver fibrosis in this population. Results: All the non-invasive models had a certain diagnostic value for liver fibrosis degree in these patients, and the areas under the ROC curve for APRI, FIB-4, APGA, S index, PAPAS, and GP model were 0.718, 0.691, 0.758, 0.729, 0.673, and 0.691, respectively. APGA had the largest area under the ROC curve(0.758, 95% CI 0.673-0.844), and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase was significantly positively correlated with liver fibrosis degree. Conclusion: The non-invasive models of liver fibrosis can identify marked liver fibrosis in CHB patients with ALT < 2×ULN in whom it is difficult to judge treatment timing and help to determine treatment timing for them. APGA model has the highest value and can reduce the need for liver biopsy to the certain degree.

This study aimed to explore the interaction and crosstalk between pathways in response to destrin mutations. All the pathways from the MINT database were downloaded, a protein-protein interaction network was then constructed, and the crosstalk between pathways was investigated, in particular, the overlap of 2 significant pathway analysis results. As expected, the results showed that regulation of the actin cytoskeleton was the significant pathway of destrin mutations in mice. Further analysis indicated that 28 significant pathways cross-talked with the pathway regulating the actin cytoskeleton. Importantly, 3 pathways, including regulation of actin cytoskeleton pathway, pathways in cancer, and the B cell receptor signaling pathway were linked by inositol phosphate metabolism based on crosstalk analysis of Gene Ontology relationships among pathways. All of these pathways have been demonstrated to participate in cytoskeleton dynamics. These findings might provide valuable insights into cytoskeleton dynamic abnormalities in destrin mutations of corneal diseases.

Glutamate receptors are involved in spinal nociceptive transmission and the development of persistent inflammatory hyperalgesia. It is unclear, however, whether there are changes in glutamate receptor gene expression associated with tissue injury. In the present study, we used reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to examine the modulation of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptor gene expression in the rat spinal cord by inflammation. Inflammation was introduced into the hindpaw by intraplantar injection of 0.2 ml of complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA). At 2 h-14 d after inflammation, total RNAs from L4,5 spinal cord were used for RT-PCR with primers targeted at eight flip-flop splice variants of the AMPA receptor subunits. It was found that the GluR1-flop mRNA was up-regulated at 2 h-5 h (P<0.05), down-regulated at 3 d (P=0.05), and returned to control levels at 7 d following inflammation. The GluR2-flip and GluR3-flop mRNAs were up-regulated at 5 h-1 d (P<0.05) and returned to control levels at 3 d after inflammation. The GluR1-flip mRNA was not detected in the samples and the mRNAs for other splice variants did not exhibit significant changes. Immunocytochemical analysis of GluR1 and GluR2 subunits indicate that the protein translation products of these subunits were also increased in the spinal cord. These results demonstrate an increased expression of AMPA receptor subunits that correlates with the acute phase of CFA-induced inflammation and hyperalgesia. Selective changes in the expression of the flip-flop splice variants of the AMPA receptor suggest a reorganization of the composition of the AMPA receptor complex and its involvement in the development of inflammatory hyperalgesia.

The Gossypium hirsutum cv. Liaomian No. 9 were mutagenized by 60Co gamma ray, from which the mutant line Zhonghuzhi PI 935 (be called "PI 935" for short) was bred by family selection method. The PI 935 not only has some good traits (growing period, drought tolerance, lint color and fiber quality) similar to the original cultivar, but also has higher lint outturn and lint yield than that of the Liaomian No. 9. The PI 935 has been identified and regional tested in nine places times for four years in the southern Xinjiang Weiwuer autonomous region. It was shown that the PI 935 had the higher lint outtrn for the average 47.3% was ten-point percentage more than that of the check cultivars (Junmian No. 1 or Xinluzhong No. 5), the similar lint yield by and large and the growing period by five days later than that of the checks. The PI 935 was collected in the National Bank of Crop Germplasm (unified No. ZM 114274 and named "Zhonghuzhi PI 935").

A rat model has been developed to characterize the responses of brainstem trigeminal neurons to orofacial deep and cutaneous tissue inflammation and hyperalgesia. Complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) was injected unilaterally into the rat temporomandibular joint (TMJ) or perioral (PO) skin to produce inflammation in deep or cutaneous tissues, respectively. The TMJ and PO inflammation resulted in orofacial behavioral hyperalgesia and allodynia that peaked within 4-24 h and persisted for at least 2 weeks. Compared to cutaneous CFA injection, the injection of CFA into the TMJ produced a significantly stronger inflammation associated with a selective upregulation of preprodynorphin mRNA in the trigeminal spinal complex, an enhanced medullary dorsal horn hyperexcitability, and a greater trigeminal Fos protein expression, a marker of neuronal activation. The Fos-LI induced by TMJ inflammation persisted longer, was more intense, particularly in the superficial laminae, and more widespread rostrocaudally. Thus, the inflammatory irritant produces a stronger effect in deep than in cutaneous orofacial tissue. As there is heavy innervation of the TMJ by unmyelinated nerve endings, a strong nociceptive primary afferent barrage is expected following inflammation. An increase in TMJ C-fiber input after inflammation and strong central neuronal activation may initiate central hyperexcitability and contribute to persistent pain associated with temporomandibular disorders. Since deep inputs may be more effective in inducing central neuronal excitation than cutaneous inputs, greater sensory disturbances may occur in pain conditions involving deep tissues than in those involving cutaneous tissues., (Copyright 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Changes in gastrointestinal tract mucous membrane after serious burns were studied with light microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that changes in the gastrointestinal tract mucous membrane included not only erosions and ulcers, but also mucoid necrosis and bacterial translocation. The injuries of the intestinal mucous membrane began from the apex of villi. There are epithelial necrosis, with desquamation and exposure of villi. The injuries are much more serious and extensive than that of gastric mucous membrane, especially in the jejunum. These results suggested that after serious burns, not only there were stress ulcers of the gastroduodenum, but the whole gastrointestinal tract was involved.