The role of nitric oxide and hydrogen sulfide in spinal cord injury: an updated review.

Medical gases play an important role in the pathophysiology of human diseases and have received extensive attention for their role in neuroprotection. Common pathological mechanisms of spinal cord injury include excitotoxicity, inflammation, cell death, glial scarring, blood-spinal cord barrier disruption, and ischemia/reperfusion injury. Nitric oxide and hydrogen sulfide are important gaseous signaling molecules in living organisms; their pathological role in spinal cord injury models has received more attention in recent years. This study reviews the possible mechanisms of spinal cord injury and the role of nitric oxide and hydrogen sulfide in spinal cord injury.

Clinical Effects of MOTOmed Intelligent Exercise Training Combined with Intensive Walking Training on the Rehabilitation of Walking, Nerve and Lower Limb Functions among Patients with Hemiplegia after Stroke.

Objectives: To investigate the clinical effects of MOTOmed intelligent exercise training combined with intensive walking training on the rehabilitation of walking, nerve and lower limb functions among patients with hemiplegia after stroke. Methods: Randomized controlled trial was used in this study. Fifty-two patients with hemiplegia after stroke treated in 82nd Army Group Military Hospital from February 2017 to February 2018 were selected as the subjects and randomly divided into the control group and the observation group, each with 26 cases. The control group underwent intensive walking training, and the observation group underwent MOTOmed intelligent exercise training on the control group basis. Both groups' rehabilitation of walking function, nerve function and lower limb function were observed. Results: Both groups had significantly increased FAC score and 10-m maximum walking speed (P < 0.05), and the observation group had significantly higher results than those of the control group (P < 0.05); both groups had significantly higher FMA scores than before treatment (P < 0.05), and the observation group had significantly higher scores than those of the control group (P < 0.05); both groups after two months of treatment had significantly increased NGF, NT-3 and BDNF (P<0.05), and the observation group had significantly higher levels than those of the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion: MOTOmed intelligent exercise training combined with intensive walking training can significantly improve the walking function, nerve function and lower limb function among patients with hemiplegia after stroke.

Genome-Wide Association Studies of Salt-Alkali Tolerance at Seedling and Mature Stages in Brassica napus.

Most plants are sensitive to salt-alkali stress, and the degree of tolerance to salt-alkali stress varies from different species and varieties. In order to explore the salt-alkali stress adaptability of Brassica napus, we collected the phenotypic data of 505 B. napus accessions at seedling and mature stages under control, low and high salt-alkali soil stress conditions in Inner Mongolia of China. Six resistant and 5 sensitive materials, respectively, have been identified both in Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for 15 absolute values and 10 tolerance coefficients (TCs) of growth and agronomic traits were applied to investigate the genetic basis of salt-alkali tolerance of B. napus. We finally mapped 9 significant QTLs related to salt-alkali stress response and predicted 20 candidate genes related to salt-alkali stress tolerance. Some important candidate genes, including BnABA4, BnBBX14, BnVTI12, BnPYL8, and BnCRR1, were identified by combining sequence variation annotation and expression differences. The identified valuable loci and germplasms could be useful for breeding salt-alkali-tolerant B.napus varieties. This study laid a foundation for understanding molecular mechanism of salt-alkali stress adaptation and provides rich genetic resources for the large-scale production of B. napus on salt-alkali land in the future.