A decentralised neural model explaining optimal integration of navigational strategies in insects

Insect navigation arises from the coordinated action of concurrent guidance systems but the neural mechanisms through which each functions, and are then coordinated, remains unknown. We propose that insects require distinct strategies to retrace familiar routes (route-following) and directly return from novel to familiar terrain (homing) using different aspects of frequency encoded views that are processed in different neural pathways. We also demonstrate how the Central Complex and Mushroom Bodies regions of the insect brain may work in tandem to coordinate the directional output of different guidance cues through a contextually switched ring-attractor inspired by neural recordings. The resultant unified model of insect navigation reproduces behavioural data from a series of cue conflict experiments in realistic animal environments and offers testable hypotheses of where and how insects process visual cues, utilise the different information that they provide and coordinate their outputs to achieve the adaptive behaviours observed in the wild

Robustness of Bio-Inspired Visual Systems for Collision Prediction in Critical Robot Traffic

Collision prevention sets a major research and development obstacle for intelligent robots and vehicles. This paper investigates the robustness of two state-of-the-art neural network models inspired by the locust’s LGMD-1 and LGMD-2 visual pathways as fast and low-energy collision alert systems in critical scenarios. Although both the neural circuits have been studied and modelled intensively, their capability and robustness against real-time critical traffic scenarios where real-physical crashes will happen have never been systematically investigated due to difficulty and high price in replicating risky traffic with many crash occurrences. To close this gap, we apply a recently published robotic platform to test the LGMDs inspired visual systems in physical implementation of critical traffic scenarios at low cost and high flexibility. The proposed visual systems are applied as the only collision sensing modality in each micro-mobile robot to conduct avoidance by abrupt braking. The simulated traffic resembles on-road sections including the intersection and highway scenes wherein the roadmaps are rendered by coloured, artificial pheromones upon a wide LCD screen acting as the ground of an arena. The robots with light sensors at bottom can recognise the lanes and signals, tightly follow paths. The emphasis herein is laid on corroborating the robustness of LGMDs neural systems model in different dynamic robot scenes to timely alert potential crashes. This study well complements previous experimentation on such bio-inspired computations for collision prediction in more critical physical scenarios, and for the first time demonstrates the robustness of LGMDs inspired visual systems in critical traffic towards a reliable collision alert system under constrained computation power. This paper also exhibits a novel, tractable, and affordable robotic approach to evaluate online visual systems in dynamic scenes

A Versatile Vision-Pheromone-Communication Platform for Swarm Robotics

This paper describes a versatile platform for swarm robotics research. It integrates multiple pheromone communication with a dynamic visual scene along with real time data transmission and localization of multiple-robots. The platform has been built for inquiries into social insect behavior and bio-robotics. By introducing a new research scheme to coordinate olfactory and visual cues, it not only complements current swarm robotics platforms which focus only on pheromone communications by adding visual interaction, but also may fill an important gap in closing the loop from bio-robotics to neuroscience. We have built a controllable dynamic visual environment based on our previously developed ColCOS$\Phi$ (a multi-pheromones platform) by enclosing the arena with LED panels and interacting with the micro mobile robots with a visual sensor. In addition, a wireless communication system has been developed to allow transmission of real-time bi-directional data between multiple micro robot agents and a PC host. A case study combining concepts from the internet of vehicles (IoV) and insect-vision inspired model has been undertaken to verify the applicability of the presented platform, and to investigate how complex scenarios can be facilitated by making use of this platform

Historical development and novel concepts on electrolytes for aqueous rechargeable batteries

In battery systems, aqueous electrolytes are superior in ionic conductivity, interfacial wettability, safety and environmentally benign compared to organic liquids, polymers, inorganic solid-state and ionic liquid electrolytes

ColCOSΦ: A Multiple Pheromone Communication System for Swarm Robotics and Social Insects Research

In the last few decades we have witnessed how the pheromone of social insect has become a rich inspiration source of swarm robotics. By utilising the virtual pheromone in physical swarm robot system to coordinate individuals and realise direct/indirect inter-robot communications like the social insect, stigmergic behaviour has emerged. However, many studies only take one single pheromone into account in solving swarm problems, which is not the case in real insects. In the real social insect world, diverse behaviours, complex collective performances and flexible transition from one state to another are guided by different kinds of pheromones and their interactions. Therefore, whether multiple pheromone based strategy can inspire swarm robotics research, and inversely how the performances of swarm robots controlled by multiple pheromones bring inspirations to explain the social insects’ behaviours will become an interesting question. Thus, to provide a reliable system to undertake the multiple pheromone study, in this paper, we specifically proposed and realised a multiple pheromone communication system called ColCOSΦ. This system consists of a virtual pheromone sub-system wherein the multiple pheromone is represented by a colour image displayed on a screen, and the micro-robots platform designed for swarm robotics applications. Two case studies are undertaken to verify the effectiveness of this system: one is the multiple pheromone based on an ant’s forage and another is the interactions of aggregation and alarm pheromones. The experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of ColCOSΦ and its great potential in directing swarm robotics and social insects research

Insights into midgut cell types and their crucial role in antiviral immunity in the lepidopteran model Bombyx mori

The midgut, a vital component of the digestive system in arthropods, serves as an interface between ingested food and the insect’s physiology, playing a pivotal role in nutrient absorption and immune defense mechanisms. Distinct cell types, including columnar, enteroendocrine, goblet and regenerative cells, comprise the midgut in insects and contribute to its robust immune response. Enterocytes/columnar cells, the primary absorptive cells, facilitate the immune response through enzyme secretions, while regenerative cells play a crucial role in maintaining midgut integrity by continuously replenishing damaged cells and maintaining the continuity of the immune defense. The peritrophic membrane is vital to the insect’s innate immunity, shielding the midgut from pathogens and abrasive food particles. Midgut juice, a mixture of digestive enzymes and antimicrobial factors, further contributes to the insect’s immune defense, helping the insect to combat invading pathogens and regulate the midgut microbial community. The cutting-edge single-cell transcriptomics also unveiled previously unrecognized subpopulations within the insect midgut cells and elucidated the striking similarities between the gastrointestinal tracts of insects and higher mammals. Understanding the intricate interplay between midgut cell types provides valuable insights into insect immunity. This review provides a solid foundation for unraveling the complex roles of the midgut, not only in digestion but also in immunity. Moreover, this review will discuss the novel immune strategies led by the midgut employed by insects to combat invading pathogens, ultimately contributing to the broader understanding of insect physiology and defense mechanisms

Investigating Multiple Pheromones in Swarm Robots - A Case Study of Multi-Robot Deployment

Social insects are known as the experts in handling complex task in a collective smart way although their small brains contain only limited computation resources and sensory information. It is believed that pheromones play a vital role in shaping social insects' collective behaviours. One of the key points underlying the stigmergy is the combination of different pheromones in a specific task. In the swarm intelligence field, pheromone inspired studies usually focus one single pheromone at a time, so it is not clear how effectively multiple pheromones could be employed for a collective strategy in the real physical world. In this study, we investigate multiple pheromone-based deployment strategy for swarm robots inspired by social insects. The proposed deployment strategy uses two kinds of artificial pheromones; the attractive and the repellent pheromone that enables micro robots to be distributed in desired positions with high efficiency. The strategy is assessed systematically by both simulation and real robot experiments using a novel artificial pheromone platform ColCOSΦ. Results from the simulation and real robot experiments both demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed strategy and reveal the role of multiple pheromones. The feasibility of the ColCOSΦ platform, and its potential for further robotic research on multiple pheromones are also verified. Our study of using different pheromones for one collective swarm robotics task may help or inspire biologists in real insects' research

In situ FTIRS Studies of the Electrochemically Induced Coupling of Osmium Nitrido Species in Acetonitrile

采用原位 红外反射 光谱（ｉｎ＿ｓｉｔｕ Ｆ Ｔ Ｉ Ｒ Ｓ） 结合紫 外可见 光谱（ Ｕ Ｖ／ Ｖｉｓ） 和 电化学循 环伏安技术（ Ｃ Ｖ） ，研究了［ Ｏｓ Ｖ Ｉ（ Ｎ）（ Ｎ Ｈ３） ４］（ Ｃ Ｆ３ Ｓ Ｏ３） ３ 的 电化 学诱 导桥 氮偶 联过 程． 首次 在 Ｐｔ 电 极上检测到桥 氮 混 合 价 锇 物 种［ Ｏｓ＿ Ｎ ≡ Ｎ＿ Ｏｓ］ 及 其 随 电 位 的 变 化 过 程 ． 在 约 ２ ｍ ｍ ｏｌ／ Ｌ 〔 Ｏｓ Ｖ Ｉ（ Ｎ）（ Ｎ Ｈ３） ４〕（ Ｃ Ｆ３ Ｓ Ｏ３） ３ ＋ ０ ．１ ｍ ｏｌ／ Ｌ Ｔ Ｂ Ａ Ｈ 的乙腈溶 液中，选 取０ ．４ ～－ １ ．０ Ｖ 电位 区间 １００ ｍ Ｖ／ｓ 扫描速度 ，对 Ｐｔ 或 Ｇ Ｃ 电 极进行电 化学循环 伏安处 理，处 理 后的 电极 表 面均 可积 累 一层 深绿 色 的沉积物，表 明电化 学诱导 Ｎ＿ Ｎ 偶联效 应已在 电极上 发生， 并形 成了 混合 价 桥氮 络合 物． 同时 ，在 上述过程中 所生成 的混合价 锇氮物种 ，有可能 较强地 吸附在电 极表 面，且 形成 一定 厚度 的表 面层， 从而减缓了 体系中 Ｏｓ Ｖ Ｉ≡ Ｎ 物种在电 极上的 继续还 原．同 时可 以看 到，随 着 Ｃ Ｖ 的 不 断进 行，溶 液 颜色将逐渐 地由黄变 绿．经过 长时间（ 约he search for inorganic systems that can cleave N≡N triple bond under mild conditions is an important subject. It is well known that the metal nitrido (M≡N) complexes are possible intermediates in nitrogen fixation [1] and in the reduction of nitrite to ammonia [2,3] . Recently, these complexes have received considerable attention [4～9] for their intriguing photochemical and electrochemical properties. Among different high valence metal nitrido complexes, some osmium(VI) nitrido species are stable enough to be isolated [4～10] , demonstrating that the study on this class of complexes becomes feasible. Meyer and co_workers [4] have reported the electrochemical interconversion between [Os VI (N)(terpy)Cl 2] + and [Os II (NH 3)(terpy)Cl 2] (terpy=2,2':6', 2"_terpyridine). Recently, Che et al. have reported the isolation of an osmium(VI) nitrido complex [Os VI (N)(NH 3) 4Cl] 2+ through oxidation of [Os III (NH 3) 5Cl] 2+[8] . Photolysis of an acetonitrile solution of [Os VI (N)(NH 3) 4](CF 3SO 3) 3 in the presence of an organic electron donor resulted in the formation of the dinitrogen_bridged osmium(II,III) dimer {[Os(NH 3) 4(CH 3CN)] 2(N 2)} 5+[7,8] . It has been found that the one_electron reduced Os V≡N reacts with the starting Os VI ≡N to yield the μ_dinitrogen Os II _N≡N_Os III complex with a second order rate constant of (3.75±0.30)× 10 5 dm 3 mol -1 s -1 in acetonitrile at room temperature [8] . Recently, Taube and co_workers [11] reported that the electrochemical reduction of [Os VI (N)(NH 3) 4] 3+ in acetonitrile resulted also in similar N_N coupling reaction. To our knowledge there is no report, up to now, concerning the in situ FTIR spectroscopic studies of direct coupling of nitrogen atoms of metal nitrido compounds. In the present study, the potential cycling was used to induce the formation of a μ_dinitrogen complex through electrochemical reduction of [Os VI (N)(NH 3) 4](CF 3SO 3) 3 in acetonitrile (donor). The intermediates and products of the reaction on Pt electrode was investigate by means of in situ FTIRS and UV/Vis spectroscopy.作者联系地址：厦门大学固体表面物理化学国家重点实验室!化学系物化所厦门361005,厦门大学固体表面物理化学国家重点实验室!化学系物化所厦门361005,香港理工大学应用生物化学科技学系!香港Author's Address: State Key Laboratory for Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Department of Chemistry, Institute of Physical Chemistry, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005 Wong Kwokyin Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Techn