The roles of 5-HT in orofacial pain.

OBJECTIVES: Acute and chronic orofacial pain are very common and remain a vexing health problem that has a negative effect on the quality of life. Serotonin (5-HydroxyTryptamine, 5-HT) is a kind of monoamine neurotransmitter that is involved in many physiological and pathological processes. However, its role in orofacial pain remains inconclusive. Therefore, this review aims to summarize the recent advances in understanding the effect exerted by 5-HT on the modulation of orofacial pain. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: An extensive search was conducted on PubMed and Web of Science for pertinent studies focusing on the effects of 5-HT on the modulation of orofacial pain. RESULTS: In this review, we concisely review how 5-HT mediates orofacial pain, how 5-HT is regulated and how we can translate these findings into clinical applications for the prevention and/or treatment of orofacial pain. CONCLUSIONS: 5-HT plays a key role in the modulation of orofacial pain, implying that 5-HT modulators may serve as effective treatment for orofacial pain. However, further research on the precise mechanisms underlying the modulation of orofacial pain is still warranted.

COVID-19's impacts on the scope, effectiveness, and interaction characteristics of online learning: A social network analysis.

The COVID-19 outbreak brought online learning to the forefront of education. Scholars have conducted many studies on online learning during the pandemic, but only a few have performed quantitative comparative analyses of students' online learning behavior before and after the outbreak. We collected review data from China's massive open online course platform called icourse.163 and performed social network analysis on 15 courses to explore courses' interaction characteristics before, during, and after the COVID-19 pan-demic. Specifically, we focused on the following aspects: (1) variations in the scale of online learning amid COVID-19; (2a) the characteristics of online learning interaction during the pandemic; (2b) the characteristics of online learning interaction after the pandemic; and (3) differences in the interaction characteristics of social science courses and natural science courses. Results revealed that only a small number of courses witnessed an uptick in online interaction, suggesting that the pandemic's role in promoting the scale of courses was not significant. During the pandemic, online learning interaction became more frequent among course network members whose interaction scale increased. After the pandemic, although the scale of interaction declined, online learning interaction became more effective. The scale and level of interaction in Electrodynamics (a natural science course) and Economics (a social science course) both rose during the pan-demic. However, long after the pandemic, the Economics course sustained online interaction whereas interaction in the Electrodynamics course steadily declined. This discrepancy could be due to the unique characteristics of natural science courses and social science courses.

Association of miR-155 and MIR155HG polymorphisms with cancer risk: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Analysis of emerging data shows that miRNAs, including miR-155, play important roles in tumorigenesis. Several studies have indicated that miR-155 and MIR155HG polymorphisms may be related to cancer risk, but the association was controversial. Therefore, we conducted this first-reported comprehensive meta-analysis of the association of miR-155 and MIR155HG polymorphisms with cancer risk. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched several databases, including PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science, to identify the eligible studies reporting the association of miR-155 and MIR155HG polymorphisms with cancer risk. We calculated the pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to analyze the association. Stata software (version 16.0) was used to analyze the data we collected. RESULTS: After being carefully and strictly screened, eight articles reporting on six common single-nucleotide polymorphisms consisting of 6184 cases and 6896 controls were included in this meta-analysis. The six polymorphisms included were rs767649 (T>A), rs928883 (A>G), rs2829803 (G>A), rs1893650 (T>C), rs4143370 (G>C), and rs12482371 (T>C). Our results showed that, in the overall analysis, heterozygotes increased cancer risk, with a marginal P value, compared with wild-type (OR = 1.06, 95% CI = 1.00-1.12, P = 0.062). Subsequent analyses showed that only rs767649 was associated with an increased risk of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in an allele model (T vs. A: OR = 1.15, 95% CI = 1.04-1.26, P = 0.007), a homozygote model (TT vs. AA: OR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.06-1.60, P = 0.011), and a recessive model (TT vs. AT + AA: OR = 1.30, 95% CI = 1.08-1.55, P = 0.005). CONCLUSION: The present meta-analysis indicates that the rs767649 polymorphism might be a potential factor for NSCLC risk; however, more studies should be conducted to confirm these findings.