Bilateral Alignment of Receptive Fields in the Olfactory Cortex.

Each olfactory cortical hemisphere receives ipsilateral odor information directly from the olfactory bulb and contralateral information indirectly from the other cortical hemisphere. Since neural projections to the olfactory cortex (OC) are disordered and nontopographic, spatial information cannot be used to align projections from the two sides like in the visual cortex. Therefore, how bilateral information is integrated in individual cortical neurons is unknown.

Experience-dependent evolution of odor mixture representations in piriform cortex.

Rodents can learn from exposure to rewarding odors to make better and quicker decisions. The piriform cortex is thought to be important for learning complex odor associations; however, it is not understood exactly how it learns to remember discriminations between many, sometimes overlapping, odor mixtures. We investigated how odor mixtures are represented in the posterior piriform cortex (pPC) of mice while they learn to discriminate a unique target odor mixture against hundreds of nontarget mixtures.

Calcium-activated chloride channels clamp odor-evoked spike activity in olfactory receptor neurons.

The calcium-activated chloride channel anoctamin-2 (Ano2) is thought to amplify transduction currents in olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs), a hypothesis supported by previous studies in dissociated neurons from Ano2 mice. Paradoxically, despite a reduction in transduction currents in Ano2 ORNs, their spike output for odor stimuli may be higher. We examined the role of Ano2 in ORNs in their native environment in freely breathing mice by imaging activity in ORN axons as they arrive in the olfactory bulb glomeruli.

How to monitor breathing in laboratory rodents: a review of the current methods.

Accurately measuring respiration in laboratory rodents is essential for many fields of research, including olfactory neuroscience, social behavior, learning and memory, and respiratory physiology. However, choosing the right technique to monitor respiration can be tricky, given the many criteria to take into account: reliability, precision, and invasiveness, to name a few. This review aims to assist experimenters in choosing the technique that will best fit their needs, by surveying the available tools, discussing their strengths and weaknesses, and offering suggestions for future improvements.

Distinct projection patterns of different classes of layer 2 principal neurons in the olfactory cortex.

The broadly-distributed, non-topographic projections to and from the olfactory cortex may suggest a flat, non-hierarchical organization in odor information processing. Layer 2 principal neurons in the anterior piriform cortex (APC) can be divided into 2 subtypes: semilunar (SL) and superficial pyramidal (SP) cells. Although it is known that SL and SP cells receive differential inputs from the olfactory bulb (OB), little is known about their projections to other olfactory regions.

Illuminating odors: when optogenetics brings to light unexpected olfactory abilities.

For hundreds of years, the sense of smell has generated great interest in the world literature, oenologists, and perfume makers but less of scientists. Only recently this sensory modality has gained new attraction in neuroscience when original tools issued from physiology, anatomy, or molecular biology were available to decipher how the brain makes sense of olfactory cues. However, this move was promptly dampened by the difficulties of developing quantitative approaches to study the relationship between the physical characteristics of stimuli and the sensations they create.

Long-term investigation of microbial fuel cells treating primary sludge or digested sludge.

The long-term performance of sludge treatment in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) was examined by operating two MFCs for almost 500 days. In Phase I, one MFC fed with primary sludge removed 69.8±24.

In situ investigation of tubular microbial fuel cells deployed in an aeration tank at a municipal wastewater treatment plant.

To examine the feasibility of integrating microbial fuel cells (MFCs) into an activated sludge process, three MFCs with different ion exchange membranes and/or cathode catalysts were installed in an aeration tank to treat primary effluent. Both contaminant treatment and electricity generation were studied during the operation for more than 400 days. The effects of membrane/catalysts on MFC performance were not observed, likely due to the low removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) (<53%) caused by low electricity generation.

Long-term performance of liter-scale microbial fuel cells treating primary effluent installed in a municipal wastewater treatment facility.

Two 4 L tubular microbial fuel cells (MFCs) were installed in a municipal wastewater treatment facility and operated for more than 400 days on primary effluents. Both MFCs removed 65-70% chemical oxygen demand (COD) at a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 11 h and reduced about 50% suspended solids. The COD removal rates were about 0.

Improving electricity production in tubular microbial fuel cells through optimizing the anolyte flow with spiral spacers.

The use of spiral spacers to create a helical flow for improving electricity generation in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) was investigated in both laboratory and on-site tests. The lab tests found that the MFC with the spiral spacers produced more electricity than the one without the spiral spacers at different recirculation rates or organic loading rates, likely due to the improved transport/distribution of ions and electron mediators instead of the substrates because the organic removal efficiency was not obviously affected by the presence of the spiral spacers. The energy production in the MFC with the spiral spacers reached 0.