Scotopic colour vision in nocturnal hawkmoths

Humans are colour-blind at night, and it has been assumed that this is true of all animals. But colour vision is as useful for discriminating objects at night as it is during the day. Here we show, through behavioural experiments, that the nocturnal hawkmoth Deilephila elpenor uses colour vision to discriminate coloured stimuli at intensities corresponding to dim starlight (0.0001 cd x m(-2)). It can do this even if the illumination colour changes, thereby showing colour constancy-a property of true colour vision systems. In identical conditions humans are completely colour-blind. Our calculations show that the possession of three photoreceptor classes reduces the absolute sensitivity of the eye, which indicates that colour vision has a high ecological relevance in nocturnal moths. In addition, the photoreceptors of a single ommatidium absorb too few photons for reliable discrimination, indicating that spatial and/or temporal summation must occur for colour vision to be possible. Taken together, our results show that colour vision occurs at nocturnal intensities in a biologically relevant context.     

Interaction between colour and motion in human vision

There is a wealth of anatomical and psychological evidence which suggests that when people look at an object in the visual world, its various attributes such as colour, 'form', motion and depth are analysed by separate channels in the visual system. If so, how are these attributes put back together again to create a unified picture of the object? And if the object moves rapidly, how is perfect perceptual synchrony maintained between different features on its surface, if it is indeed true that they are being processed separately? Our evidence suggests that the visual system extracts certain conspicuous image features based on luminance contrast, and that the signals derived from these are then attributed to other features on the object, a process that we call 'capture'. Specifically, we find that when either illusory contours or random-dot patterns are moved in the vicinity of a colour-border, the colour border will also seem to move in the same direction even though it is physically stationary.     

A unique colour and polarization vision system in mantis shrimps

The apposition compound eyes of mantis shrimps (stomatopods) are divided into three sections, the dorsal and ventral hemispheres and the midband. Many ommatidia of both hemispheres, and all those in the midband, sample the same narrow band in space. The function of the morphologically distinct midband region is not clear, but new evidence suggests that it may be adapted in a unique manner for colour and polarization vision. A series of carotenoid colour filters screen the photopigment and potentially provide a tetrachromatic input for contrast-enhanced vision or true colour vision. The filters are blocks of coloured droplets (red, orange, yellow, purple, pink or blue) within the rhabdoms of two rows of midband ommatidia. The arrangement of tiered microvilli in two other midband rows suggests that they provide a unique form of polarization vision.     

Opsin expression: new mechanism for modulating colour vision

Each cone photoreceptor in the retina responds to light in a limited range of wavelengths, giving it a spectral phenotype. This phenotype is determined by the most prevalent of the photoreceptor's visual-pigment proteins (opsins) and is assumed to remain unchanged during an animal's lifetime. Here we show that in the Pacific pink salmon, Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, single cones can switch their spectral phenotype from ultraviolet to blue by regulating the production of the appropriate opsins as the fish grow older. This photoreceptor plasticity may operate to modulate colour vision as the salmon's lifestyle changes.     

Is colour vision possible with only rods and blue-sensitive cones?

At night all cats are grey, but with the approach of dawn they take on colour. By starlight, a single class of photoreceptors, the rods, function, whereas by daylight, three classes, the blue-, green- and red-sensitive cones, are active and provide colour vision. Only by comparing the rates of quantal absorption in more than one photoreceptor class is colour vision possible. Although the comparisons generally take place between the cones, they can involve the rods as well. Here we investigate the wavelength discrimination of an extremely rare group of individuals, blue-cone monochromats, who have only rods and one class of cones. We find that these individuals can distinguish wavelengths (440 to 500 nm) in the twilight region where the rods and blue-sensitive cones are simultaneously active.     

Sensory adaptation. Tunable colour vision in a mantis shrimp

Systems of colour vision are normally identical in all members of a species, but a single design may not be adequate for species living in a diverse range of light environments. Here we show that in the mantis shrimp Haptosquilla trispinosa, which occupies a range of depths in the ocean, long-wavelength colour receptors are individually tuned to the local light environment. The spectral sensitivity of specific classes of photoreceptor is adjusted by filters that vary between individuals.     

动视觉原理在公路线形设计中的应用

在运动和静止状态下,驾驶员的视觉心理有很大差异。根据驾驶员的动视力、动视野与行驶速度的关系,分析了驾驶过程中驾驶员的动视觉特点。基于驾驶员动视觉的直线长度、平曲线、平面线形组合、平纵组合等公路线形参数,提出了满足动视觉特点的直线长度的合适范围、满足视觉条件的平曲线半径计算公式以及平纵设计中应该注意的问题。     

多米诺骨牌理论中的人为失误与风险管理(英文)

通过介绍多米诺骨牌理论在风险管理中的作用原理,提出海事风险管理应主要以控制人为失误为主的观点,深入分析人为失误的原因,提出控制人为失误的方法,总结多米诺骨牌理论的优缺点.     

视觉与色彩

论述了色彩对人的视觉产生的影响，以及视觉对色彩的选择。指出了色彩的运用和谐调，在艺术品的创作中的重要作用，从而为观赏者得到最佳效果而创造出完美的彩色艺术品；色彩无论在人的生活还是工作中都起着调节的作用，它已成为人们美化生活的重要因素，人们只有懂得色彩规律，才能更好的欣赏美。