Stimulation of the cuneiform nucleus enables training and boosts recovery after spinal cord injury.

Severe spinal cord injuries result in permanent paraparesis in spite of the frequent sparing of small portions of white matter. Spared fibre tracts are often incapable of maintaining and modulating the activity of lower spinal motor centres. Effects of rehabilitative training thus remain limited. Here, we activated spared descending brainstem fibres by electrical deep brain stimulation of the cuneiform nucleus of the mesencephalic locomotor region, the main control centre for locomotion in the brainstem, in adult female Lewis rats. We show that deep brain stimulation of the cuneiform nucleus enhances the weak remaining motor drive in highly paraparetic rats with severe, incomplete spinal cord injuries and enables high-intensity locomotor training. Stimulation of the cuneiform nucleus during rehabilitative aquatraining after subchronic (n = 8 stimulated versus n = 7 unstimulated versus n = 7 untrained rats) and chronic (n = 14 stimulated versus n = 9 unstimulated versus n = 9 untrained rats) spinal cord injury re-established substantial locomotion and improved long-term recovery of motor function. We additionally identified a safety window of stimulation parameters ensuring context-specific locomotor control in intact rats (n = 18) and illustrate the importance of timing of treatment initiation after spinal cord injury (n = 14). This study highlights stimulation of the cuneiform nucleus as a highly promising therapeutic strategy to enhance motor recovery after subchronic and chronic incomplete spinal cord injury with direct clinical applicability.

Aspen Plus® and economic modeling of equine waste utilization for localized hot water heating via fast pyrolysis.

Aspen Plus(®) based simulation models have been developed to design a pyrolysis process for on-site production and utilization of pyrolysis oil from equine waste at the Equine Rehabilitation Center at Morrisville State College (MSC). The results indicate that utilization of all the available waste from the site's 41 horses requires a 6 oven dry metric ton per day (ODMTPD) pyrolysis system but it will require a 15 ODMTPD system for waste generated by an additional 150 horses at the expanded area including the College and its vicinity. For this a dual fluidized bed combustion reduction integrated pyrolysis system (CRIPS) developed at USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) was identified as the technology of choice for pyrolysis oil production. The Aspen Plus(®) model was further used to consider the combustion of the produced pyrolysis oil (bio-oil) in the existing boilers that generate hot water for space heating at the Equine Center. The model results show the potential for both the equine facility and the College to displace diesel fuel (fossil) with renewable pyrolysis oil and alleviate a costly waste disposal problem. We predict that all the heat required to operate the pyrolyzer could be supplied by non-condensable gas and about 40% of the biochar co-produced with bio-oil. Techno-economic Analysis shows neither design is economical at current market conditions; however the 15 ODMTPD CRIPS design would break even when diesel prices reach $11.40/gal. This can be further improved to $7.50/gal if the design capacity is maintained at 6 ODMTPD but operated at 4950 h per annum.