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A novel method for the recycling of end-of-life mattresses foam, using an AIR-LAY process which employs a bi-component fiber as a binder for the polyurethane foam, have been developed and optimized. This method permits to obtain materials with the same density of the starting foam (25 kg/m3) and with a significantly lower density with respect to that obtainable with the rebonding process (above 70 kg/m3) that uses isocyanates to bond the foam particles. The obtained recycled foams have been tested by mechanical compression and recovery tests showing that compression values of 3.7 KPa, similar to that of the mattress foam (3.0 KPa), can be achieved using 20 % of bi-component fibers as binders and a density of 35 kg/m3. On the contrary, only 3 times stiffer and denser materials can be obtained using the rebonding technology, thus making them not suitable for application in mattresses. On the basis of the results of the optimization tests a set of mattresses containing a layer of the recycled foams have been prepared. The results of the tests on the prepared mattresses have shown that they have the same compression behavior, recovery time and durability (after 30,000 cycles of compression) of a standard mattress without the recycled layer, thus proving that a fully circular approach in the recycling of the foam of the mattresses is possible using the AIR-LAY process.

The postnatal development of nitric oxide (NO)-producing intracallosal neurons was studied in rats by nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase (NADPH-d) histochemistry from postnatal day 0 (P0) to P30. NADPH-d-positive neurons (NADPH-d+ Ns ) were detected already at P0, mainly in the rostral region of the corpus callosum (cc). Their location and the intensity of staining allowed them to be classified as type I NO-producing neurons. At P0, tufts of intensely labeled fibers, probably corresponding to the callosal septa described in the monkey and human cc, entered the ventral cc region and reached its dorsal portion. From P5, cell bodies and dendrites were often associated to blood vessels. The number of intracallosal NADPH-d+ Ns rose in the first postnatal days to peak at P5, it declined until P10, and then remained almost constant until P30. Their size increased from P0 to P30, dramatically so (>65%) from P0 to P15. From P10 onward their distribution was adult-like, i.e. NADPH-d+ Ns were more numerous in the lateral and intermediate portions of the cc and diminished close to the midline. In conjunction with previous data, these findings indicate that intracallosal NADPH-d+ Ns could have a role in callosal axon guidance, myelination, refinement processes, and callosal blood flow regulation., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

The presence of substance P (SP) receptor (Neurokinin-1 receptor, NK1R) in the indusium griseum (IG) and anterior hippocampal continuation (AHC) during postnatal development was studied by immunocytochemistry (ICC). NK1R-immunopositive neurons (NK1R IP-n ) first appeared in both areas on postnatal day (P) 5. From P5 onward, their distribution pattern was adult-like. In sagittal sections NK1R IP-n formed a narrow strip of neurons and dendrites that were located over the corpus callosum (cc); in coronal sections they were found in a roughly triangular area at the base of the cingulate cortex (Cg) on the dorsal surface of the cc. NK1R IP-n were also found in the AHC, which is considered as a subcallosal extension of the IG, located ventral to the genu of the cc. At all ages studied, IG NK1R IP-n sent dendrites to the contralateral IG, the underlying cc, and the Cg. Moreover, NK1R IP-n located in the Cg and the cc sent dendrites to the IG. The present findings are in line with previous ICC studies describing dopaminergic and serotoninergic afferents to the IG. Together these data suggest that, through NK1R, SP could play an important role in regulating the release mechanisms of these afferents and that it could be an important developmental factor. Notably, IG neurons could be activated by cortical and intracallosal afferents., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ireland Ltd and Japan Neuroscience Society. All rights reserved.)

Electrical stimulation of the dorsal columns (DCs; spinal cord stimulation; SCS) has been proposed to treat chronic neuropathic pain. SCS may activate a dual mechanism that would affect both the spinal cord and supraspinal levels. Stimulation of DCs or DC nuclei (DCN) in animals where neuropathic pain has been induced causes activation of brainstem centers including the periaqueductal gray (PAG), which is involved in the endogenous pain suppression system. Biotinylated dextran-amine (BDA) was iontophoretically injected into the DCN to analyze the ascending projection directed to the PAG. Separate injections into the gracile nucleus (GrN) and the cuneate nucleus (CunN) showed BDA-positive fibers terminating in different regions of the contralateral PAG. GrN-PAG afferents terminated in the caudal and middle portions of PAG-l, whereas CunN-PAG fibers terminated in the middle and rostral portions of PAG-l. Based on the DCN somatotopic map, the GrN sends information to the PAG from the contralateral hindlimb and the tail and the CunN from the contralateral forelimb, shoulder, neck and ear. This somatotopic organization is consistent with earlier electrophysiological and PAG stimulation studies. These fibers could form part of the DCs-brainstem-spinal cord loop, which may be involved in the inhibitory effects of SCS on neuropathic pain., (Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.)