Biomedical subjects

Harald Wolf

Publications and source records attributed to Harald Wolf.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2007

The desert ant odometer: a stride integrator that accounts for stride length and walking speed.

Desert ants, Cataglyphis, use path integration as a major means of navigation. Path integration requires measurement of two parameters, namely, direction and distance of travel. Directional information is provided by a celestial compass, whereas distance measurement is accomplished by a stride integrator, or pedometer. Here we examine the recently demonstrated pedometer function in more detail. By manipulating leg lengths in foraging desert ants we could also change their stride lengths. Ants with elongated legs ('stilts') or shortened legs ('stumps') take larger or shorter strides, respectively, and misgauge travel distance. Travel distance is overestimated by experimental animals walking on stilts, and underestimated by animals walking on stumps - strongly indicative of stride integrator function in distance measurement. High-speed video analysis was used to examine the actual changes in stride length, stride frequency and walking speed caused by the manipulations of leg length. Unexpectedly, quantitative characteristics of walking behaviour remained almost unaffected by imposed changes in leg length, demonstrating remarkable robustness of leg coordination and walking performance. These data further allowed normalisation of homing distances displayed by manipulated animals with regard to scaling and speed effects. The predicted changes in homing distance are in quantitative agreement with the experimental data, further supporting the pedometer hypothesis.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMed2006

The ant odometer: stepping on stilts and stumps.

Desert ants, Cataglyphis, navigate in their vast desert habitat by path integration. They continuously integrate directions steered (as determined by their celestial compass) and distances traveled, gauged by as-yet-unknown mechanisms. Here we test the hypothesis that navigating ants measure distances traveled by using some kind of step integrator, or "step counter." We manipulated the lengths of the legs and, hence, the stride lengths, in freely walking ants. Animals with elongated ("stilts") or shortened legs ("stumps") take larger or shorter strides, respectively, and concomitantly misgauge travel distance. Travel distance is overestimated by experimental animals walking on stilts and underestimated by animals walking on stumps.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Common and specific inhibitory motor neurons innervate the intersegmental muscles in the locust thorax.

The inhibitory innervation of the intersegmental (body wall) muscles between the first and the second thoracic segment of the migratory locust, Locusta migratoria, was investigated using neuroanatomical, immunocytochemical and electrophysiological techniques. Three neurons located in the prothoracic ganglion show GABA-like immunoreactivity and project into the intersegmental nerve. Two are common inhibitors. One of those innervates the oblique intersegmental muscle M59 and two dorsal longitudinal muscles (M81 and M82). The second common inhibitor also innervates M59 and the ventral longitudinal muscle M60. The third neuron innervates M60 exclusively and, for that reason, has to be regarded as the first specific inhibitor ever observed in insect neuromuscular assemblies. According to their innervation pattern, we term these neurons CI(59/60), CI(59/81/82), and SI(60). CI(59/81/82) and CI(59/60) appear to be segmentally homologous to CI(a) and CI(b) neurons, respectively, in the other body segments.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Walking on inclines: energetics of locomotion in the ant Camponotus.

To assess energetic costs during rest and locomotion in a small insect, we measured metabolic rate in freely moving ants Camponotus sp. (average body mass 11.9 mg). The animals ran in a straight respirometric chamber in which locomotor speed and CO2 release were monitored simultaneously using flow-through respirometry and conventional video analysis. In resting intact ants, standard metabolic rate was on average 0.32 ml CO2 g(-1) body mass h(-1). During walking, the ants breathed continuously and metabolic rate increased between 4.3 times (level walking at 0-5 mm s(-1)) and 6.9 times (30 degrees ascent at 85-95 mm s(-1)) over resting rates. Metabolic rate increased linearly with increasing walking speed but superficially leveled off beyond speeds of about 70 mm s(-1). Walking on incline (uphill) or decline slopes (downhill) of up to 60 degrees had only a small effect on energy consumption compared to level walking. During slope walking, total metabolic rate averaged over all running speeds ranged from a minimum of 1.55+/-0.4 (horizontal running) to a maximum of 1.89+/-0.7 ml CO2 h(-1) g(-1) body mass (30 degrees downhill). The mean cost of transport in Camponotus was approximately 130 J g(-1) km(-1). The metabolic requirements in the comparatively small insect Camponotus for walking were mostly in the range expected from data obtained from other insects and small poikilotherms, and from allometric scaling laws.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Desert ants compensate for navigation uncertainty.

During foraging trips, desert ants Cataglyphis fortis do not rely only on their well-studied path integration system, they also use olfactory cues when approaching a familiar food source. When a wind is blowing from a constant direction, as is characteristic of their desert habitat, the ants do not approach the feeder directly. They rather steer some distance downwind of the food source to pick up odour filaments emanating from the food. They follow this odour trail upwind, and find the source quickly and reliably. This approach behaviour was examined in more detail in order to identify the underlying orientation strategy. First, the ants may employ a 'goal expansion strategy', using odour spread as a spatially limited indicator for the presence of food. In that case, the distance steered downwind of the feeder should be determined by the range of the odour plume (and, for instance, wind speed). It should be independent of the distance between nest and feeder. Second, the ants may apply an 'error compensation strategy', using odour filaments as a guideline towards the food source. Steering downwind by a margin just exceeding their maximum navigation error will lead the ants safely across the odour guide. In that case, the distance steered downwind of the feeder should increase more or less linearly with the nest-feeder distance. Our results unambiguously support the second strategy. When feeders were established at distances of 5-75 m from the nest, the distances steered downwind of the food increased from 0.7 m to 3.4 m in a linear fashion. This result was independent of wind speed or wind direction. It translates into an ant's estimate of its navigation error within a range of 3 degrees to 8 degrees.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

The insecticide pymetrozine selectively affects chordotonal mechanoreceptors.

Pymetrozine is a neuroactive insecticide but its site of action in the nervous system is unknown. Based on previous studies of symptoms in the locust, the feedback loop controlling the femur-tibia joint of the middle leg was chosen to examine possible targets of the insecticide. The femoral chordotonal organ, which monitors joint position and movement, turned out to be the primary site of pymetrozine action, while interneurons, motoneurons and central motor control circuitry in general did not noticeably respond to the insecticide. The chordotonal organs associated with the wing hinge stretch receptor and the tegula were influenced by pymetrozine in the same way as the femoral chordotonal organ, indicating that the insecticide affects chordotonal sensillae in general. Pymetrozine at concentrations down to 10(-8) mol l(-1) resulted in the loss of stimulus-related responses and either elicited (temporary) tonic discharges or eliminated spike activity altogether. Remarkably, pymetrozine affected the chordotonal organs in an all-or-none fashion, in agreement with previous independent studies. Other examined sense organs did not respond to pymetrozine, namely campaniform sensillae on the tibia and the subcosta vein, hair sensillae of the tegula (type I sensillae), and the wing hinge stretch receptor (type II sensillae).

Action Potentials↗

PubMed2004

From variable to constant cell numbers: cellular characteristics of the arthropod nervous system argue against a sister-group relationship of Chelicerata and "Myriapoda" but favour the Mandibulata concept.

In the new debate on arthropod phylogeny, structure and development of the nervous system provide important arguments. The architecture of the brain of Hexapoda, Crustacea and Chelicerata in recent years has been thoroughly compared against an evolutionary background. However, comparative aspects of the nervous systems in these taxa at the cellular level have been examined in only a few studies. This review sets out to summarize these aspects and to analyse the existing data with respect to the concept of individually identifiable neurons. In particular, mechanisms of neurogenesis, the morphology of serotonergic interneurons, the number of motoneurons, and cellular features and development of the lateral eyes are discussed. We conclude that in comparison to the Mandibulata, in Chelicerata the numbers of neurons in the different classes examined are much higher and in many cases are not fixed but variable. The cell numbers in Mandibulata are lower and the majority of neurons are individually identifiable. The characters explored in this review are mapped onto an existing phylogram, as derived from brain architecture in which the Hexapoda are an in-group of the Crustacea, and there is not any conflict of the current data with such a phylogenetic position of the Hexapoda. Nevertheless, these characters argue against a sister-group relationship of "Myriapoda" and Chelicerata as has been recently suggested in several molecular studies, but instead provide strong evidence in favour of the Mandibulata concept.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Cost-effectiveness in diagnosis of patients with long-standing fever.

INTRODUCTION: It is difficult to make an adequate diagnosis regarding patients with fever of unknown origin (FUO). The cases require time-consuming and costly investigations. Our study features a cost-effectiveness analysis and the development of an alternative diagnostic model. The diagnostic programmes include: serological and microbiological tests, blood laboratory test, radiological, histopathological and radionuclide tests. PATIENTS AND METHODS: For 100 hospitalized patients with fever (group A: > 38.0 degrees C for as long as 7 days; group B: > 38.3 degrees C for 3 weeks), the various results of clinical investigations were obtained, and the costs of a three-step programme for the four main diagnoses, including the diagnostic value, were evaluated. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between male and female patients, or patients < 35 vs. > 35, and < 50 vs. > 50 years. Infections were found in 46%, neoplasma and collagen-vascular disease/autoimmune disorders in 10% each, and other diseases in 20% of all patients. The third diagnostic programme was the most expensive in all four disease categories. In total, 30, 34, and 22 patients were diagnosed by the three diagnostic steps, respectively. In 14 patients no diagnosis was found. The overall cost of the three diagnostic programmes was 359, 1,996 and 3,496 EUR, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In the majority of the cases (64%), the first and second diagnostic programmes result in a diagnosis. The investigations of the third diagnostic programme are more accurate, more expensive, and result in a diagnosis, mainly in patients of group B. Our proposed new diagnostic model would save 134, 746, and 558 EUR for each diagnostic step, respectively.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Inhibitory motor neurones supply body wall muscles in the locust abdomen.

Inhibitory motor neurones in the abdominal ganglia of the locust Locusta migratoria were identified by combining extra- and intracellular electrophysiology, labelling of motor neurones by peripheral nerve backfills, and immunocytochemistry directed against the inhibitory transmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid. The fifth and sixth abdominal ganglia were studied in particular detail, although general findings were verified in all other abdominal segments. In each abdominal ganglion half, there are two inhibitory motor neurones, CIa and CIb, which supply dorsal (CIa) and ventral (CIb) longitudinal muscles. Their cell bodies are located in the next anterior ganglion to where the axons leave the ventral nerve cord via nerve 1. Both inhibitors have contralateral somata in the posterior ventral soma cortex, looping primary neurites and bilateral dorsal arborisations. There are homonomous (segmentally homologous) motor neurones in the fused abdominal neuromeres, the thoracic ganglia, and at least the third subesophageal neuromere. These body wall inhibitors are distinctly different from the limb muscle inhibitors, CI(1-3), described previously. This is signified, for example, by the fact that both types of inhibitory motor neurones coexist in the prothoracic segment and innervate leg and body wall muscles, respectively.

Abdomen↗

PubMed2002

Activity-dependent sensitivity of proprioceptive sensory neurons in the stick insect femoral chordotonal organ.

Mechanosensory neurons exhibit a wide range of dynamic changes in response, including rapid and slow adaptation. In addition to mechanical factors, electrical processes may also contribute to sensory adaptation. We have investigated adaptation of afferent neurons in the stick insect femoral chordotonal organ (fCO). The fCO contains sensory neurons that respond to position, velocity, and acceleration of the tibia. We describe the influence of random mechanical stimulation of the fCO on the response of fCO afferent neurons. The activity of individual sensory neurons was recorded intracellularly from their axons in the main leg nerve. Most fCO afferents (93%) exhibited a marked decrease in response to trapezoidal stimuli following sustained white noise stimulation (bandwidth = 60 Hz, amplitudes from +/-5 to +/-30 degrees ). Concurrent decreases in the synaptic drive to leg motoneurons and interneurons were also observed. Electrical stimulation of spike activity in individual fCO afferents in the absence of mechanical stimulation also led to a dramatic decrease in response in 15 of 19 afferents tested. This indicated that electrical processes are involved in the regulation of the generator potential or encoding of action potentials and partially responsible for the decreased response of the afferents. Replacing Ca(2+) with Ba(2+) in the saline surrounding the fCO greatly reduced or blocked the decrease in response elicited by electrically induced activity or mechanical stimulation when compared with control responses. Our results indicate that activity of fCO sensory neurons strongly affects their sensitivity, most likely via Ca(2+)-dependent processes.

Action Potentials↗

PubMed2002

Jumping and kicking in the false stick insect Prosarthria teretrirostris: kinematics and motor control.

The false stick insect Prosarthria teretrirostris looks and behaves like a real stick insect but can jump and kick rapidly and powerfully like a locust, to which it is more closely related. It has an elongated body with slender hind legs that are some 2.5 times longer than the front and middle legs. A male with a body 67 mm long and weighing 0.28 g can jump 90 cm with a take-off angle of 40 degrees and velocity of 2.5 ms(-1), requiring an energy expenditure of 850 microJ. The body is accelerated at 165 ms(-2) for only 30 ms. The larger and heavier females (mean body length 104 mm and weighing 1.5 g) can jump on average a distance of 49 cm. During jumping, the tibiae of the hind legs are extended in 30 ms with maximum rotational velocities of 11.5 degrees per ms, but during kicking, when there is no body weight to support, extension is complete in 7 ms with rotational velocities as high as 48 degrees per ms. The short time available to accelerate the body indicates that the movements are not powered by direct muscle contractions and that there must be storage of elastic energy in advance. The motor patterns responsible for generating the necessary forces in the hind legs for jumping and kicking are similar and consist of three phases; an initial flexion of the tibia is followed by a co-contraction of the small flexor and large extensor tibiae muscles lasting several hundred milliseconds while the tibia remains fully flexed. Finally, the flexor motor neurons stop spiking so that the tibia is able to extend rapidly. The small semi-lunar processes at the femoro-tibial joints are not distorted, so that they cannot act as energy stores. Some 7% of the energy is stored transiently by bending the thin tibiae during the initial acceleration phase of a jump and releasing it just before take-off. The jumping and kicking mechanisms of Prosarthria teretrirostris have features in common with those used by locusts but also have their own characteristics. The evolution of jumping in Orthoptera is discussed in this context.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

The locust tegula: kinematic parameters and activity pattern during the wing stroke.

The tegula is a complex, knob-shaped sense organ associated with the base of the locust wing. Despite a detailed knowledge of its role in flight motor control, little is known about the relationship between the stroke parameters of the wing, movement of the tegula organ and the pattern of tegula activity. In this study, therefore, the kinematic parameters of the fore- and hindwings were investigated with respect to the tegula activity pattern during tethered flight. The following results were obtained. (i) The tegula moves through a complex three-dimensional trajectory during the wing stroke, involving inclination and rotation about its longitudinal axis. (ii) The kinematic parameters of tegula movement are phase-locked to the wing stroke and vary in conjunction with wing stroke parameters such as amplitude and cycle period. (iii) In accordance with these phase-locked kinematics, both the onset of tegula activity with respect to the downstroke (latency) and the discharge of the organ (burst duration and amplitude) vary in conjunction with downstroke movement and cycle period, resulting in an (almost) constant phase of tegula activation during the stroke cycle. (iv) The pattern of tegula activity during flight is largely independent of stroke amplitude. (v) The latency, burst duration and amplitude of tegula activity are strongly related to the angular velocity of the wing during the downstroke, with latency reaching a steady minimum value at higher angular velocities. The data suggest that the tegula encodes the timing and velocity of the downstroke and that it may be involved in the control of the stroke's angular velocity.

Animals↗