The distribution of afferent terminals from VL nucleus to cruciate cortex was studied by using nerve fibers degeneration and electron microscopic technigues. Cortical area 4 could be further divided into three subdivisions according to their geographical relations to the eruciate sulcus: an anterior, a posterior and a lateral zone, respectively. It was demonstrated that the degenerating axon terminals were mainly distributed in anterior and lateral zones. Much less terminals were observed in the posterior zone. Totally 112 terminals were observed in the anterior zone. Among them, 78.6％ were seen in layer Ⅲ, 19.6％ in layer Ⅰ, 1.8％ in layer Ⅴ. Of the 112 terminals found in the lateral zone, 62.5％ were distributed in layer Ⅲ, 31.2％ in layer Ⅰ and 6.3％ in layer Ⅴ. On the other hand, only 33 degenerating terminals were found in posterior zone. their distributions were: 51.6％ in layer Ⅰ, 42.4％ in layer Ⅲ and 6.0％ in layer V. Approximately 75％ of the degenerating axon terminals examined in these three zones made synaptie contacts with dendritic spines, and 25％ with dendritic shafts. The vast majority of these synapses could be classified as asymmetrical type synapse.In area 6, most of the degenerating terminals were encountered in layer Ⅰ and Ⅲ. All of them formed asymmetrical type synapses with dendritic spines. No degenerating terminals could be found in area 3a.

Synaptic connections of commissural axon terminals from contralateral motor cortex have been studied by using anterograde degeneration and electron microscopy in the cortical area 4? of cat. The results showed that most of the commissural terminals display electron-dense type degeneration, and 92 degenerating terminals were identified in area 4?. The number of terminals in layer Ⅰ was nearly equal to layer Ⅲ. In layer Ⅲ, an asymmetrical synapse formed between a degenerating terminal and the soma of a bipolar cell was observed. In layers Ⅴ-Ⅵ, no degenerating terminal could be found. Among the total degenerating terminals, 77.2% were found to make synapses with dendritic spines, 21.7% made synapses with dendritic shafts and 1.1% with soma, and all of these synapses were of the assymmetrical type.

The afferent and efferent connections of middle suprasylvian gyrus (MSS) were studied in 18 cats by means of anterograde and retrograde transport of horseradish peroxidase (HRP). 0.1～0.4?l of saline solution containing 50％ HRP and 2％ DMSO (dimethylsulfoxide) was injected into the cortical areas (areas 5, 7, LS, 21, 19) of MSS according to the map of Heath and Jones (1971). The frozen sections were processed with TMB method. Each cortical area of MSS has reciprocal connections with ipsilateral pulvinar (PUL), lateral posterior nucleus (LP) and posterior nucleus (PN) of the lateral nuclear group of thalamus and central medial nucleus (NCM), paracentral nucleus (PC) and central lateral nucleus (CL) of the intralaminar nuclear group. The cortical areas in rostral part of MSS have additional connections with posterior nuclear group (PO), central median nucleus (CM), parafascicular nucleus (PF), ventral anterior nucleus (VA) and ventral lateral nucleus (VL). Labeled terminals are more packed in lateral nuclear group than in intralaminar nuclear group. In nuclear reticularis (R), zona incerta (ZI) and ventral nucleus of lateral geniculate body (GLv) only labeled terminals could be found.In addition, labeled terminals were found in caudate nucleus, putamen, pretecrum, colliculus superior and nuclei pontis and labeled cells could be seen in locus caeruleus, amygdala and nuclei raphe. Both labeled cells and terminals were present in claustrum bilaterally, but notably ipsilaterally.

All the cortical areas in MSS except for area 7 have reciprocal connections with primary sensory areas of the cerebral cortex (SⅠ, SⅡ) and with some thalamic nuclei which are related with specific sensations (e. g. layer B of lateral geniculate nucleus, medial interlaminar nucleus, medial part of posterior nuclear group).Area 7 lying in the central part of MSS, has close connections with its surrounding areas and is thus indirectly connected with the specific sensory system.Both homotopic and heterotopic callosal connections exist for some cortical areas of cat's MSS. The heterotopic callosal connections of a given cortical area are always corresponding to the areas which have ipsilateral connections with the given area.Most of the labeled cells are found in layer Ⅲ of cerebral cortex and are pyramidal in shape, the rest are in layer Ⅱ, Ⅳ,Ⅴ and Ⅵ. The labeled terminals (and/or preterminals) are distributed to all layers of cortex, predominantly in superficial layers (Ⅰ～Ⅲ).

BACKGROUND:Xenogeneic bone has a natural porous structure that is similar to human bone. In the treatment of bone defects, the porous structure is helpful to guide bone regeneration, but different degrees of immune responses wil be caused during the implantation process. OBJECTIVE:To prepare a freeze-dried antigen-extracted sheep cancelous bone scaffold and to evaluate its biocompatibility. METHODS: The sheep vertebral cancelous bone was colected to prepare two kinds of antigen-extracted heterologous bone scaffolds that were treated with chemical methods as chemical group and treated with chemical methods+cryopreservation at a-80℃ refrigerator for 4 weeks+drying in vacuum apparatus+60 RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Freeze-dried bone had no cytotoxicity, no acute toxicity and heat reaction, and was negative for the intracutaneous stimulation test. The scaffold in the chemical group had cytotoxicity and mild irradiation as freeze-dried bone group. (1)Cytotoxicity test: Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cels isolated from sheep were cultured in extracts of the chemical group, free-dried bone group and Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium/Ham’s nutrient mixture F-12. (2) Heat reaction and acute toxicity tests: Extracts from the chemical group, freeze-dried bone group and normal saline were respectively injected into the ear vein of rabbits. (3) Intracutaneous stimulation test: Extracts from the chemical group, freeze-dried bone group and normal saline were respectively injected subcutaneously into the back of rabbits. Co acute toxicity reaction, sent heat source and had mild irritation. Results show that after freeze drying processing, the sheep vertebral cancelous bone has good biocompatibility, can meet the requirements of bone tissue engineering, but the bone that through chemical processing exhibits a relatively poor biocompatibility that cannot achieve the safety standard of biological scaffold materials.

BACKGROUND:Xenogeneic bone structure and biological characteristics are similar to human bone tissue, and the xenogeneic bone has a decreased antigenicity after physicochemical treatment, with a natural porous structure and rich source, and can be kept for a long time, which is considered to be an effective way to solve the shortage of the autogenous bone and al ograft bone.
OBJECTIVE:To compare the physical and chemical properties of xenogenic bone materials prepared by two different methods.
METHODS:Sheep cancellous bone treated with chemical method was placed into the muffle furnace at 1 000 ℃for 2 hours to prepare calcined bone. Another cancellous bone was placed into an 80 ℃ refrigerator for 4 weeks and then placed into a vacuum instrument to prepare freeze-dried bone. Cancellous bone rinsed with ultra-pure water served as controls.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Three groups of samples retained three-dimensional porous structure which similar with human bone tissue under microscopic observation. The framework was stil intact, with a smal pore of 55-650μm and high porosity of 65%-80%. For the calcined bone, the toughness was decreased and the brittleness increased significantly, but the freeze-dried bone had a little changes in the mechanical properties. Through diffraction analysis, hydroxyapatite was the main composition of the three groups. However, there was a smal amount ofβ-tricalcium phosphate in the calcined bone. Spectrum analysis confirmed that calcium and phosphorus content in these three groups were al close to the human body. The results suggest the cancellous bone treated with these two methods is similar to human bone structure, and the major elements are close to the body. In addition, the cancellous bone after processing has enough smal pore and higher porosity. However, calcination process has a more influence on the mechanical property of scaffold materials, and the freeze-dried bone has a little change but the antigen cannot be completely removed that can reach the basic requirements.

OBJECTIVE To analyze impulsive-like behaviors of SD rats induced by pramipexole in Y-maze avoidance tasks. METHODS Behaviors of SD rats in Y-maze avoidance tasks were recorded with a camera and analyzed by Noldus Etho Vision XT8 software after acute subcutaneous injection of pramipexole(0.1,1 and 10 mg · kg-1),including right reaction numbers of 20 consecutive avoidance tasks,shuttle number of times between the three arms of Y-maze, distance covered in Y-maze and time spent in safe arms during 20 consecutive avoidance tasks. Then,the prepulse inhibition(PPI)of the startle reflex test was used to assess the effect of pramipexole on sensorimotor gating (SG). Effects of pramipexole on the dialyzed content of monoamine neurotransmitter and its metabolites in the striatum and amygdala of SD rats were measured by microdialysis in vivo. RESULTS Compared with normal control group,the rats of pramipexole group showed a significant increase in the shuttle number of times and distance covered in Y-maze between Y-maze avoidance tasks(P<0.01),but a statistically significant decrease in the time spent in safe arms(P<0.01),while the number of right reactions in Y-maze avoidance tasks was not changed. Such premature responses were quite similar to certain impulsive-compulsive behaviors in rodent models,such as five-choice serial reaction time tasks. In the PPI test,pramipexole displayed an impairing effect on SG(P<0.01). The microdialysis results showed that there was an increase of dopamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine in the striatum of pramipexole group, but not statistically significant. Monoamine neurotransmitters and their metabolites were not significantly changed in the amygdala. CONCLUSION Pramipexole can induce impulsive-compulsive behaviors in Y-maze avoidance tasks,which might be attributed to impaired SG.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the protective effect of sGC003,a novel agonist of soluble guanylate cyclase,on endothelin-1(ET-1)-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. METHODS Cardiomy?ocytes were isolated from neonatal Sprague-Dawley rats using serial enzymatic digestion and then incubated with ET-1 10 nmol·L-1 in the absence or presence of sGC003 0.01,0.1 and 1.0μmol·L-1. Hyper?trophic responses including the cardiomyocyte area(Image-Pro Plus 6.0),the expression of atrial natri?uretic peptide gene(ANP)mRNA(RT-PCR method)and total protein content(BCA method)were detect?ed. RESULTS After 48 h stimulation with ET-1 10 nmol·L-1,the cardiomyocyte area increased by 80%(P<0.01),the total protein content increased by 120%(P<0.01) and the expression of ANP mRNA up-regulated by 140%(P<0.01). sGC003 0.01,0.1 and 1.0μmol · L-1 elicited antihypertrophic actions, including inhibition of ET-1-mediated increase in the cardiomyocyte area(P<0.01),raised total protein content(P<0.05)and upregulation of ANP mRNA(P<0.05). CONCLUSION sGC003 has protective,car?diomyocyte-selective antihypertrophic effects in vitro.

Objective To systematically evaluate the association between lactotransferrin(LTF) gene rs1126478 polymor‐phism and caries susceptibility .Methods The published literatures on the association between LTF gene rs1126478 polymorphism and caries susceptibility were retrived from the electronic databases of Pubmed ,Web of science ,Embase ,EBSCO ,Springerlink , CNKI ,VIP ,Wanfang and CBM by computer .The pooled odds ratios (ORs) and its 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were used as the effect indicators .The statistical analysis was performed by using the RevMan 5 .2 and Stata 12 .0 softwares .The bias evalua‐tion and sensitivity analysis were also performed .Results A total of 5 case‐control studies involving 720 cases and 412 controls were included .The meta analysis results showed that no statistical significance in the association between LTF gene rs1126478 pol‐ymorphism and caries susceptibility was revealed in all four genetic models (GG+ AG vs .AA :P= 0 .75 ,OR= 0 .93 ,95% CI=0 .59-1 .46 ;G vs .A :P=0 .88 ,OR=0 .97 ,95% CI=0 .68 -1 .38 ;GG vs .AA :P=0 .84 ,OR=1 .07 ,95% CI =0 .57 -1 .99 ;GG vs .AG+AA :P=0 .52 ,OR=1 .12 ,95% CI = 0 .79-1 .58) .Similarly ,the subgroup analysis by ethnicity showed no statistical sig‐nificance in the onset risk between Caucasian and Asian populations as well (both P>0 .05) .Conclusion The LTF gene rs1126478 polymorphism may have no relation with the susceptibility to caries .

0.05),but these positive rates were notable decreased comparing with nPCR and immunohistochemistry techniques(P