Description of a new species of Speiser , 1905 (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) from Southern Vietnam with the updated key to the subgenus .

The family Hippoboscidae, commonly known as "louse flies," comprises pupiparous Diptera that are ectoparasites of birds and mammals, with significant impacts on their hosts and epidemiological importance. The louse fly fauna of Vietnam is relatively understudied compared to other countries in the Southeast Asia region. In this study, we describe a new species of the genus Speiser, 1905 (Diptera: Hippoboscidae), , collected from the lesser coucal (Gmelin, JF, 1788) in Cat Tien National Park, Vietnam.

Neuronal gene expression in two generations of the marine parasitic worm, Cryptocotyle lingua.

Trematodes, or flukes, undergo intricate anatomical and behavioral transformations during their life cycle, yet the functional changes in their nervous system remain poorly understood. We investigated the molecular basis of nervous system function in Cryptocotyle lingua, a species of relevance for fisheries. Transcriptomic analysis revealed a streamlined molecular toolkit with the absence of key signaling pathways and ion channels.

A miniaturized nigrostriatal-like circuit regulating locomotor performance in a protochordate.

To gain insight into the evolution of motor control systems at the origin of vertebrates, we have investigated higher-order motor circuitry in the protochordate Oikopleura dioica. We have identified a highly miniaturized circuit in Oikopleura with a projection from a single pair of dopaminergic neurons to a small set of synaptically coupled GABAergic neurons, which in turn exert a disinhibitory descending projection onto the locomotor central pattern generator. The circuit is reminiscent of the nigrostriatopallidal system in the vertebrate basal ganglia, in which disinhibitory circuits release specific movements under the modulatory control of dopamine.

Post-gastrulation transition from whole-body to tissue-specific intercellular calcium signaling in the appendicularian tunicate Oikopleuradioica.

We recently described calcium signaling in the appendicularian tunicate Oikopleura dioica during pre-gastrulation stages, and showed that regularly occurring calcium waves progress throughout the embryo in a characteristic spatiotemporal pattern from an initiation site in muscle lineage blastomeres. Here, we have extended our observations to the period spanning from gastrulation to post-hatching stages. We find that repetitive Ca2+ waves persist throughout this developmental window, albeit with a gradual increase in frequency.

Basal metabolic rate in free-ranging tropical birds lacks long-term repeatability and is influenced by ambient temperature.

Tropical birds live longer, have smaller clutches and invest more resources into self-maintenance than temperate species. These "slow" life-histories in tropical birds are accompanied by low basal metabolic rate (BMR). It has recently been suggested that the low BMR of tropical species may be related not to their slow "pace of life" or high ambient temperatures (T ) in tropical latitudes, but to the stability of environmental conditions in tropics.