Spatial vision in insects is facilitated by shaping the dynamics of visual input through behavioral action

Egelhaaf M, Boeddeker N, Kern R, Kurtz R, Lindemann JP. Spatial vision in insects is facilitated by shaping the dynamics of visual input through behavioral action. Frontiers in Neural Circuits. 2012;6:108.Insects such as flies or bees, with their miniature brains, are able to control highly aerobatic flight maneuvres and to solve spatial vision tasks, such as avoiding collisions with obstacles, landing on objects, or even localizing a previously learnt inconspicuous goal on the basis of environmental cues. With regard to solving such spatial tasks, these insects still outperform man-made autonomous flying systems. To accomplish their extraordinary performance, flies and bees have been shown by their characteristic behavioral actions to actively shape the dynamics of the image flow on their eyes ("optic flow"). The neural processing of information about the spatial layout of the environment is greatly facilitated by segregating the rotational from the translational optic flow component through a saccadic flight and gaze strategy. This active vision strategy thus enables the nervous system to solve apparently complex spatial vision tasks in a particularly efficient and parsimonious way. The key idea of this review is that biological agents, such as flies or bees, acquire at least part of their strength as autonomous systems through active interactions with their environment and not by simply processing passively gained information about the world. These agent-environment interactions lead to adaptive behavior in surroundings of a wide range of complexity. Animals with even tiny brains, such as insects, are capable of performing extraordinarily well in their behavioral contexts by making optimal use of the closed action-perception loop. Model simulations and robotic implementations show that the smart biological mechanisms of motion computation and visually-guided flight control might be helpful to find technical solutions, for example, when designing micro air vehicles carrying a miniaturized, low-weight on-board processor

Octopaminergic modulation of a fly visual motion-sensitive neuron during stimulation with naturalistic optic flow

Rien D, Kern R, Kurtz R. Octopaminergic modulation of a fly visual motion-sensitive neuron during stimulation with naturalistic optic flow. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience. 2013;7:155.In a variety of species locomotor activity, like walking or flying, has been demonstrated to alter visual information processing. The neuromodulator octopamine was shown to change the response characteristics of optic flow processing neurons in the fly's visual system in a similar way as locomotor activity. This modulation resulted in enhanced neuronal responses, in particular during sustained stimulation with high temporal frequencies, and in shorter latencies of responses to abrupt onsets of pattern motion. These state-dependent changes were interpreted to adjust neuronal tuning to the range of high velocities encountered during locomotion. Here we assess the significance of these changes for the processing of optic flow as experienced during flight. Naturalistic image sequences were reconstructed based on measurements of the head position and gaze direction of Calliphora vicina flying in an arena. We recorded the responses of the V1 neuron during presentation of these image sequences on a panoramic stimulus device ("FliMax"). Consistent with previous accounts, we found that spontaneous as well as stimulus-induced spike rates were increased by an octopamine agonist and decreased by an antagonist. Moreover, a small but consistent decrease in response latency upon octopaminergic activation was present, which might support fast responses to optic flow cues and limit instabilities during closed-loop optomotor regulation. However, apart from these effects the similarities between the dynamic response properties in the different pharmacologically induced states were surprisingly high, indicating that the processing of naturalistic optic flow is not fundamentally altered by octopaminergic modulation

Neural processing of naturalistic optic flow

Kern R, Petereit C, Egelhaaf M. Neural processing of naturalistic optic flow. The Journal of Neuroscience. 2001;21(8):1-5.Stimuli traditionally used for analyzing visual information processing are much simpler than what an animal sees in normal life. When characterized with traditional stimuli, neuronal responses were found to depend on various parameters such as contrast, texture, or velocity of motion, and thus were highly ambiguous. In behavioral situations, all of these parameters change simultaneously and differently in different parts of the visual field. Thus it is hardly possible to predict from traditional analyses what information is encoded by neurons in behavioral situations. Therefore, we characterized an identified neuron in the optomotor system of the blowfly with image sequences as they were seen by animals walking in a structured environment. We conclude that during walking, the response of the neuron reflects the animal's turning direction nearly independently of the texture and spatial layout of the environment. Our findings stress the significance of analyzing the performance of neuronal circuits under their natural operating conditions

Taking a goal-centred dynamic snapshot as a possibility for local homing in initially naïve bumblebees

Lobecke A, Kern R, Egelhaaf M. Taking a goal-centred dynamic snapshot as a possibility for local homing in initially naïve bumblebees. The Journal of Experimental Biology. 2018;221(2): jeb168674.It is essential for central place foragers, such as bumblebees, to return reliably to their nest. Bumblebees, leaving their inconspicuous nest hole for the first time need to gather and learn sufficient information about their surroundings to allow them to return to their nest at the end of their trip, instead of just flying away to forage. Therefore, we assume an intrinsic learning programme that manifests itself in the flight structure immediately after leaving the nest for the first time. In this study, we recorded and analysed the first outbound flight of individually marked naïve bumblebees in an indoor environment. We found characteristic loop-like features in the flight pattern that appear to be necessary for the bees to acquire environmental information and might be relevant for finding the nest hole after a foraging trip. Despite common features in their spatio- temporal organisation, first departure flights from the nest are characterised by a high level of variability in their loop-like flight structure across animals. Changes in turn direction of body orientation, for example, are distributed evenly across the entire area used for the flights without anysystematic relationship to the nest location. By considering the common flight motifs and this variability, we came to the hypothesis that a kind of dynamic snapshot is taken during the early phase of departure flights centred at the nest location. The quality of this snapshot is hypothesised to be ‘tested’ during the later phases of the departure flights concerning its usefulness for local homing

Chasing Behavior and Optomotor Following in Free-Flying Male Blowflies: Flight Performance and Interactions of the Underlying Control Systems

The chasing behavior of male blowflies after small targets belongs to the most rapid and virtuosic visually guided behaviors found in nature. Since in a structured environment any turn towards a target inevitably leads to a displacement of the entire retinal image in the opposite direction, it might evoke optomotor following responses counteracting the turn. To analyze potential interactions between the control systems underlying chasing behavior and optomotor following, respectively, we performed behavioral experiments on male blowflies and examined the characteristics of the two flight control systems in isolation and in combination. Three findings are particularly striking. (i) The characteristic saccadic flight and gaze style – a distinctive feature of blowfly cruising flights – is largely abandoned when the entire visual surroundings move around the fly; in this case flies tend to follow the moving pattern in a relatively continuous and smooth way. (ii) When male flies engage in following a small target, they also employ a smooth pursuit strategy. (iii) Although blowflies are reluctant to fly at high background velocities, the performance and dynamical characteristics of the chasing system are not much affected when the background moves in either the same or in the opposite direction as the target. Hence, the optomotor following response is largely suppressed by the chasing system and does not much impair chasing performance

Hot water supply using a transcritical carbon dioxide heat pump : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Engineering at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

In New Zealand (NZ) a typical household uses between 160-330 I of hot water per day at 50 to 60°C. Most hot water systems are electrically heated. Heat pumps using carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the transcritical heat pump cycle offer high potential for energy savings. The use of CO₂ also offers further benefits such high volumetric heating capacity, reduced environmental impact, good availability and low costs. The objective of this project was to design, build and test a hot water supply system (HWSS) using a CO₂ heat pump. The main components of the HWSS were the heat pump, a stratified hot water storage cylinder (HWC), a water pump and a control system. The heat pump design was based on a prototype Dorin CO₂ compressor which was available. Key features were use of a vented spiral tube-in-tube heat exchanger for the gas cooler, use of a low pressure receiver incorporating an internal heat exchanger after the evaporator and the use of a back-pressure regulator as the expansion valve. The heat pump had a nominal design heating capacity of 8.1 kW with a COP of 3.9 at 0°C/34.8 bar.a evaporation temperature/pressure and 100 bar.a discharge pressure when heating water from 15°C to 60°C. The prototype heat pump performance was measured for a range of operating conditions including 0°C/33.8 bar.g to 15°C/49.8 bar.g evaporation temperatures/pressures, 18 to 30°C cold water inlet temperature, 40 to 60°C hot water outlet temperature and 90 to 120 bar.g discharge pressures. Liquid refrigerant and/or oil carry over caused by limited LPR separation capacity and/or oil foaming in the LPR was apparent for some trials but could not be completely eliminated. The compressor isentropic and volumetric efficiencies were about 30% lower than stated by the manufacturer. Possible reasons were mechanical and/or compressor oil related problems. The gas cooler was marginal in capacity especially when the heat pump operated at high evaporation pressure conditions. The measured heat pump heating capacity at the design conditions was 5.3 kW at a COP of 2.6. The heat pump COP was not sensitive to the discharge pressure across a wide range of operating conditions, so constant discharge pressure control was adopted. Overall best heat pump efficiency for 60°C hot water was achieved at 105 bar.g discharge pressure. At these discharge conditions the heating capacity and COP ranged from 4.8 kW and 2.2 at 0°C/33.8 bar.g evaporation temperature/pressure and 30°C cold water inlet temperature to 8.7 kW and 3.9 at 15°C/49.8 bar.g evaporation and 18°C water inlet respectively. A mathematical model of the HWSS was developed. The model parameters were determined from a small set of separate trials. The overall agreement between measured and the predicted HWSS performance was good. The HWSS performance was predicted for conditions likely to occur in a one or two family home. The biggest efficiency losses were HWC standing losses to the ambient air. The heat pump operated with close to the maximum COP of 2.75 because the water inlet temperature seldom rose above 25°C. There was potential for efficiency improvements if the short on/off intervals caused by the relatively small HWC relative to the heating capacity of the heat pump could be avoided. Overall, the investigation has shown that the CO₂ heat pump combined with a stratified HWC can provide a very efficient HWSS. The heat pump prototype performance was competitive with conventional heat pumps but there was significant potential for efficiency improvements due to the poor compressor performance. However, the availability and costs of heat pump components and the poor compressor performance constrain the commercial implementation

Encoding of naturalistic optic flow by motion sensitive neurons of nucleus rotundus in the zebra finch (TaeniopygiaTaeniopygia guttataguttata)

Eckmeier D, Kern R, Egelhaaf M, Bischof H-J. Encoding of naturalistic optic flow by motion sensitive neurons of nucleus rotundus in the zebra finch ($Taeniopygia$ $guttata$). Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience. 2013;7:68.The retinal image changes that occur during locomotion, the optic flow, carry information about self-motion and the three-dimensional structure of the environment. Especially fast moving animals with only little binocular vision depend on these depth cues for maneuvering. They actively control their gaze to facilitate perception of depth based on cues in the optic flow. In the visual system of birds, nucleus rotundus neurons were originally found to respond to object motion but not to background motion. However, when background and object were both moving, responses increased the more the direction and velocity of object and background motion on the retina differed. These properties may play a role in representing depth cues in the optic flow. We therefore investigated, how neurons in nucleus rotundus respond to optic flow that contains depth cues. We presented simplified and naturalistic optic flow on a panoramic LED display while recording from single neurons in nucleus rotundus of anaesthetized zebra finches. Unlike most studies on motion vision in birds, our stimuli included depth information. We found extensive responses of motion selective neurons in nucleus rotundus to optic flow stimuli. Simplified stimuli revealed preferences for optic flow reflecting translational or rotational self-motion. Naturalistic optic flow stimuli elicited complex response modulations, but the presence of objects was signaled by only few neurons. The neurons that did respond to objects in the optic flow, however, show interesting properties

Outdoor performance of a motion-sensitive neuron in the blowfly

Egelhaaf M, Grewe J, Kern R, Warzecha A-K. Outdoor performance of a motion-sensitive neuron in the blowfly. Vision research. 2001;41(27):3627-3637.We studied an identified motion-sensitive neuron of the blowfly under outdoor conditions. The neuron was stimulated by oscillating the fly in a rural environment. We analysed whether the motion-induced neuronal activity is affected by brightness changes ranging between bright sunlight and dusk, In addition, the relationship between spike rate and ambient temperature was determined. The main results are: (1) The mean spike rate elicited by visual motion is largely independent of brightness changes over several orders of magnitude as they occur as a consequence of positional changes of the sun. Even during dusk the neuron responds strongly and directionally selective to motion. (2) The neuronal spike rate is not significantly affected by short-term brightness changes caused by clouds temporarily occluding the sun. (3) In contrast, the neuronal activity is much affected by changes in ambient temperature. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Direct nitrous oxide emissions from oilseed rape cropping – a meta-analysis

Oilseed rape is one of the leading feedstocks for biofuel production in Europe. The climate change mitigation effect of rape methyl ester (RME) is particularly challenged by the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during crop production, mainly as nitrous oxide (N2O) from soils. Oilseed rape requires high nitrogen fertilization and crop residues are rich in nitrogen, both potentially causing enhanced N2O emissions. However, GHG emissions of oilseed rape production are often estimated using emission factors that account for crop-type specifics only with respect to crop residues. This meta-analysis therefore aimed to assess annual N2O emissions from winter oilseed rape, to compare them to those of cereals and to explore the underlying reasons for differences. For the identification of the most important factors, linear mixed effects models were fitted with 43 N2O emission data points deriving from 12 different field sites. N2O emissions increased exponentially with N-fertilization rates, but interyear and site-specific variability were high and climate variables or soil parameters did not improve the prediction model. Annual N2O emissions from winter oilseed rape were 22% higher than those from winter cereals fertilized at the same rate. At a common fertilization rate of 200 kg N ha−1 yr−1, the mean fraction of fertilizer N that was lost as N2O-N was 1.27% for oilseed rape compared to 1.04% for cereals. The risk of high yield-scaled N2O emissions increased after a critical N surplus of about 80 kg N ha−1 yr−1. The difference in N2O emissions between oilseed rape and cereal cultivation was especially high after harvest due to the high N contents in oilseed rape's crop residues. However, annual N2O emissions of winter oilseed rape were still lower than predicted by the Stehfest and Bouwman model. Hence, the assignment of oilseed rape to the crop-type classes of cereals or other crops should be reconsidered