Aplacophoran traits in the late Ordovician septemchitonid polyplacophorans.

A sample of phosphatized, originally calcareous, mollusk shells from the Katian age uppermost Mójcza Limestone at its type locality yielded a few hundred polyplacophoran plates. The chelodids are very rare among them. Three septemchitonid species dominate.

kCSD-python, reliable current source density estimation with quality control.

Interpretation of extracellular recordings can be challenging due to the long range of electric field. This challenge can be mitigated by estimating the current source density (CSD). Here we introduce kCSD-python, an open Python package implementing Kernel Current Source Density (kCSD) method and related tools to facilitate CSD analysis of experimental data and the interpretation of results.

Brain size, gut size and cognitive abilities: the energy trade-offs tested in artificial selection experiment.

The enlarged brains of homeotherms bring behavioural advantages, but also incur high energy expenditures. The 'expensive brain' (EB) hypothesis posits that the energetic costs of the enlarged brain and the resulting increased cognitive abilities (CA) were met by either increased energy turnover or reduced allocation to other expensive organs, such as the gut. We tested the EB hypothesis by analysing correlated responses to selection in an experimental evolution model system, which comprises line types of laboratory mice selected for high or low basal metabolic rate (BMR), maximum (VO) metabolic rates and random-bred (unselected) lines.

Metabolic evolutionary roots of the macrophage immune response in amoeba-bacteria interactions: The conserved role of hypoxia-induced Factor and AMP kinase.

The bacteria Legionella, being able to infect both macrophages and protozoans, reduce oxidative phosphorylation and induce glycolysis, which allows pathogens to grow and replicate in these cells. In amoeba-like inflammatory macrophages (M1), the phagocytizing cells of the primary immune defense, an increase in the rate of glycolysis is followed by a decrease of oxidative phosphorylation. The opposite takes place in anti-inflammatory macrophages (M2).

What we can and what we cannot see with extracellular multielectrodes.

Extracellular recording is an accessible technique used in animals and humans to study the brain physiology and pathology. As the number of recording channels and their density grows it is natural to ask how much improvement the additional channels bring in and how we can optimally use the new capabilities for monitoring the brain. Here we show that for any given distribution of electrodes we can establish exactly what information about current sources in the brain can be recovered and what information is strictly unobservable.