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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1988

Factors affecting the sticking of insects on modified aircraft wings

Previous work showed that the total number of insects sticking to an aluminum surface was reduced by coating the aluminum surface with elastomers. Due to a large number of possible experimental errors, no correlation between the modulus of elasticity, the elastomer, and the total number of insects sticking to a given elastomer was obtained. One of the errors assumed to be introduced during the road test is a variable insect flux so the number of insects striking one surface might be different from that striking another sample. To eliminate this source of error, the road test used to collect insects was simulated in a laboratory by development of an insect impacting technique using a pipe and high pressure compressed air. The insects are accelerated by a compressed air gun to high velocities and are then impacted with a stationary target on which the sample is mounted. The velocity of an object exiting from the pipe was determined and further improvement of the technique was achieved to obtain a uniform air velocity distribution.

Yi, O.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Factors affecting the sticking of insects on modified aircraft wings

The adhesion of insects to aircraft wings is studied. Insects were collected in road tests in past studies and a large experimental error was introduced caused by the variability of insect flux. The presence of such errors has been detected by studying the insect distribution across an aluminum-strip covered half-cylinder mounted on the top of a car. After a nonuniform insect distribution (insect flux) was found from three road tests, a new arrangement of samples was developed. The feasibility of coating aircraft wing surfaces with polymers to reduce the number of insects sticking onto the surfaces was studied using fluorocarbon elastomers, styrene butadiene rubbers, and Teflon.

Yi, O.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Insect abatement system

An insect abatement system prevents adhesion of insect debris to surfaces which must be kept substantially free of insect debris. An article is coated with an insect abatement coating comprising polyorganosiloxane with a Shore A hardness of less than 50 and a tensile strength of less than 4 MPa. A method for preventing the adhesion of insect debris to surfaces includes the step of applying an insect abatement coating to a surface which must be kept substantially free of insect debris.

Spiro, Clifford Lawrence↗
NASA NTRS2011

Insect Residue Contamination on Wing Leading Edge Surfaces: A Materials Investigation for Mitigation

Flight tests have shown that residue from insect strikes on aircraft wing leading edge surfaces may induce localized transition of laminar to turbulent flow. The highest density of insect populations have been observed between ground level and 153 m during light winds (2.6 -- 5.1 m/s), high humidity, and temperatures from 21 -- 29 C. At a critical residue height, dependent on the airfoil and Reynolds number, boundary layer transition from laminar to turbulent results in increased drag and fuel consumption. Although this represents a minimal increase in fuel burn for conventional transport aircraft, future aircraft designs will rely on maintaining laminar flow across a larger portion of wing surfaces to reduce fuel burn during cruise. Thus, insect residue adhesion mitigation is most critical during takeoff and initial climb to maintain laminar flow in fuel-efficient aircraft configurations. Several exterior treatments investigated to mitigate insect residue buildup (e.g., paper, scrapers, surfactants, flexible surfaces) have shown potential; however, implementation has proven to be impractical. Current research is focused on evaluation of wing leading edge surface coatings that may reduce insect residue adhesion. Initial work under NASA's Environmentally Responsible Aviation Program focused on evaluation of several commercially available products (commercial off-the-shelf, COTS), polymers, and substituted alkoxy silanes that were applied to aluminum (Al) substrates. Surface energies of these coatings were determined from contact angle data and were correlated to residual insect excrescence on coated aluminum substrates using a custom-built "bug gun." Quantification of insect excrescence surface coverage was evaluated by a series of digital photographic image processing techniques.

Lorenzi, Tyler M.↗
NASA NTRS2014

An Automated Approach to Map the History of Forest Disturbance from Insect Mortality and Harvest with Landsat Time-Series Data

Forests contain a majority of the aboveground carbon (C) found in ecosystems, and understanding biomass lost from disturbance is essential to improve our C-cycle knowledge. Our study region in the Wisconsin and Minnesota Laurentian Forest had a strong decline in Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from 1982 to 2007, observed with the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) series of Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR). To understand the potential role of disturbances in the terrestrial C-cycle, we developed an algorithm to map forest disturbances from either harvest or insect outbreak for Landsat time-series stacks. We merged two image analysis approaches into one algorithm to monitor forest change that included: (1) multiple disturbance index thresholds to capture clear-cut harvest; and (2) a spectral trajectory-based image analysis with multiple confidence interval thresholds to map insect outbreak. We produced 20 maps and evaluated classification accuracy with air-photos and insect air-survey data to understand the performance of our algorithm. We achieved overall accuracies ranging from 65% to 75%, with an average accuracy of 72%. The producer's and user's accuracy ranged from a maximum of 32% to 70% for insect disturbance, 60% to 76% for insect mortality and 82% to 88% for harvested forest, which was the dominant disturbance agent. Forest disturbances accounted for 22% of total forested area (7349 km2). Our algorithm provides a basic approach to map disturbance history where large impacts to forest stands have occurred and highlights the limited spectral sensitivity of Landsat time-series to outbreaks of defoliating insects. We found that only harvest and insect mortality events can be mapped with adequate accuracy with a non-annual Landsat time-series. This limited our land cover understanding of NDVI decline drivers. We demonstrate that to capture more subtle disturbances with spectral trajectories, future observations must be temporally dense to distinguish between type and frequency in heterogeneous landscapes.

Forest↗
DOE OSTI2018

Utilization of organic residues using heterotrophic microalgae and insects

Highlights: • Organic waste management strategies using microalgae and insects have been carried out. • Biological and technical aspects of both approaches have been illuminated. • Process complexity, challenges as well as advantages have been described. - Abstract: Various organic residues occur globally in the form of straw, wood, green biomass, food waste, feces, manure etc. Other utilization strategies apart from anaerobic digestion, composting and incineration are needed to make use of the whole potential of organic residues as sources of various value added compounds. This review compares the cultivation of heterotrophic microalgae and insects using organic residues as nutrient sources and illuminates their potential with regard to biomass production, productivity and yield, and utilization strategies of produced biomasses. Furthermore, cultivation processes as well as advantages and disadvantages of utilization processes are identified and discussed. It was shown that both heterotrophic algae and insects are able to reduce a sufficient amount of organic residues by converting it into biomass. The biomass composition of both organisms is similar which allows similar utilization strategies in food and feed, chemicals and materials productions. Even though insect is the more complex organism, biomass production can be carried out using simple equipment without sterilization and hydrolysis of organic residues. Contrarily, heterotrophic microalgae require a pretreatment of organic residues in form of sterilization and in most cases hydrolysis. Interestingly, the volumetric productivity of insect biomass exceeds the productivity of algal biomass. Despite legal restrictions, it is expected that microalgae and insects will find application as alternative food and feed sources in the future.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
NASA NTRS1981

Insects: A nutritional alternative

Insects are considered as potential food sources in space. Types of insects consumed are discussed. Hazards of insect ingestion are considered. Insect reproduction, requirements, and raw materials conversion are discussed. Nutrition properties and composition of insects are considered. Preparation of insects as human food is discussed.

Dufour, P. A.↗
NASA NTRS1984

The role of airfoil geometry in minimizing the effect of insect contamination of laminar flow sections

A method has been developed to predict the contamination of an airfoil by insects and the resultant performance penalty. Insect aerodynamics have been modeled and the impingement of insects on an airfoil are solved by calculating their trajectories. Upon impact, insect rupture and the resulting height of the debris is determined based on experimental data. A boundary layer analysis is performed to determine which insects cause boundary layer transition and the resultant drag penalty. A contaminated airfoil figure of merit is presented to be used to compare airfoil susceptibility. Results show that the insect contamination effects depend on accretion conditions, airfoil angle of attack and Reynolds number. The importance of the stagnation region to designing airfoils for minimum drag penalties is discussed.

Maresh, J. L.↗
NASA NTRS1985

A fundamental study of the sticking of insect residues to aircraft wings

The aircraft industry has long been concerned with the increase of drag on airplanes due to fouling of the wings by insects. The present research studied the effects of surface energy and surface roughness on the phenomenon of insect sticking. Aluminum plates of different roughnesses were coated with thin films of polymers with varying surface energies. The coated plates were attached to a custom jig and mounted on top of an automobile for insect collection. Contact angle measurements, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and specular reflectance infrared spectroscopy were used to characterize the surface before and after the insect impact experiments. Scanning electron microscopy showed the topography of insect residues on the exposed plates. Moments were calculated in order to find a correlation between the parameters studied and the amount of bugs collected on the plates. An effect of surface energy on the sticking of insect residues was demonstrated.

Eiss, N. S., Jr.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Anatomy of an agricultural antagonist: Feeding complex structure and function of three xylem sap‐feeding insects illuminated with synchrotron‐based 3D imaging

Abstract Many insects feed on xylem or phloem sap of vascular plants. Although physical damage to the plant is minimal, the process of insect feeding can transmit lethal viruses and bacterial pathogens. Disparities between insect‐mediated pathogen transmission efficiency have been identified among xylem sap‐feeding insects; however, the mechanistic drivers of these trends are unclear. Identifying and understanding the structural factors and associated integrated functional components that may ultimately determine these disparities are critical for managing plant diseases. Here, we applied synchrotron‐based X‐ray microcomputed tomography to digitally reconstruct the morphology of three xylem sap‐feeding insect vectors of plant pathogens: Graphocephala atropunctata (blue‐green sharpshooter; Hemiptera, Cicadellidae) and Homalodisca vitripennis (glassy‐winged sharpshooter; Hemiptera, Cicadellidae), and the spittlebug Philaenus spumarius (meadow spittlebug; Hemiptera, Aphrophoridae). The application of this technique revealed previously undescribed anatomical features of these organisms, such as key components of the salivary complex. The visualization of the 3D structure of the precibarial valve led to new insights into the mechanism of how this structure functions. Morphological disparities with functional implications between taxa were highlighted as well, including the morphology and volume of the cibarial dilator musculature responsible for extracting xylem sap, which has implications for force application capabilities. These morphological insights will be used to target analyses illuminating functional differences in feeding behavior.

3D imaging↗
DOE OSTI2020

Symbiont-Mediated Digestion of Plant Biomass in Fungus-Farming Insects

Feeding on living or dead plant material is widespread in insects. Seminal work on termites and aphids has provided profound insights into the critical nutritional role that microbes play in plant-feeding insects. Here, some ants, beetles, and termites, among others, have evolved the ability to use microbes to gain indirect access to plant substrate through the farming of a fungus on which they feed. Recent genomic studies, including studies of insect hosts and fungal and bacterial symbionts, as well as metagenomics and proteomics, have provided important insights into plant biomass digestion across insect–fungal mutualisms. Not only do advances in understanding of the divergent and complementary functions of complex symbionts reveal the mechanism of how these herbivorous insects catabolize plant biomass, but these symbionts also represent a promising reservoir for novel carbohydrate-active enzyme discovery, which is of considerable biotechnological interest.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

Insect taste receptors relevant to host identification by recognition of secondary metabolite patterns of non-host plants

Highlights: • Three putative bitter gustatory receptor of silkworm respond to several secondary metabolites in non-host plants. • Secondary metabolites responsive to the gustatory receptor are representative feeding-deterrents in non-host plants. • One feeding-deterrent gustatory receptor respond to multiple feeding deterrents. • Feeding deterrent receptors are expressed in silkworm mouthparts. • Representative secondary metabolite of a non-host plant, coumarin exactly had a suppressive effect on food intake of silkworm. The taste sensing system is crucial for food recognition in insects and other animals. It is commonly believed that insect gustatory receptors (Grs) expressed in gustatory organs are indispensable for host plant selection. Many behavioral studies have shown that mono- or oligo-phagous lepidopteran insects use the balance between feeding attractants and feeding deterrents in host plants and that these are sensed by taste organs for host plant recognition. However, the molecular mechanism underlying taste recognition, especially of feeding deterrents, remains to be elucidated. To better understand this mechanism, we studied orphan Grs, including Bombyx mori Gr (BmGr) 16, BmGr18, and BmGr53, from the mono-phagous insect, Bombyx mori. Using Calcium imaging in mammalian cells, we first confirmed in lepidoptera insects that three of the putative bitter Grs widely responded to structurally different feeding deterrents. Although the phylogenetic distance of these Grs was considerable, they responded to partially overlapping deterrents of plant secondary metabolites. These findings suggest that not only these three Grs but also most of the Grs that have been assigned to putative bitter Grs are feeding-deterrent receptors that play a role in host plant recognition.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2017

Improved annotation of the insect vector of citrus greening disease: biocuration by a diverse genomics community

The Asian citrus psyllid ( Diaphorina citri Kuwayama) is the insect vector of the bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas), the pathogen associated with citrus Huanglongbing (HLB, citrus greening). HLB threatens citrus production worldwide. Suppression or reduction of the insect vector using chemical insecticides has been the primary method to inhibit the spread of citrus greening disease. Accurate structural and functional annotation of the Asian citrus psyllid genome, as well as a clear understanding of the interactions between the insect and CLas, are required for development of new molecular-based HLB control methods. A draft assembly of the D. citri genome has been generated and annotated with automated pipelines. However, knowledge transfer from well-curated reference genomes such as that of Drosophila melanogaster to newly sequenced ones is challenging due to the complexity and diversity of insect genomes. To identify and improve gene models as potential targets for pest control, we manually curated several gene families with a focus on genes that have key functional roles in D. citri biology and CLas interactions. This community effort produced 530 manually curated gene models across developmental, physiological, RNAi regulatory and immunity-related pathways. As previously shown in the pea aphid, RNAi machinery genes putatively involved in the microRNA pathway have been specifically duplicated. A comprehensive transcriptome enabled us to identify a number of gene families that are either missing or misassembled in the draft genome. In order to develop biocuration as a training experience, we included undergraduate and graduate students from multiple institutions, as well as experienced annotators from the insect genomics research community. The resulting gene set (OGS v1.0) combines both automatically predicted and manually curated gene models.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

Characterization of a novel insect-specific flavivirus from Brazil: Potential for inhibition of infection of arthropod cells with medically important flaviviruses.

In the past decade, there has been an upsurge in the number of newly described insect-specific flaviviruses isolated pan-globally. We recently described the isolation of a novel flavivirus (tentatively designated ‘Nhumirim virus’; NHUV) that represents an example of a unique subset of apparently insect-specific viruses that phylogenetically affiliate with dual-host mosquito-borne flaviviruses despite appearing to be limited to replication in mosquito cells. We characterized the in vitro growth potential and 3' untranslated region (UTR) sequence homology with alternative flaviviruses, and evaluated the virus’s capacity to suppress replication of representative Culex spp.-vectored pathogenic flaviviruses in mosquito cells. Only mosquito cell lines were found to support NHUV replication, further reinforcing the insect-specific phenotype of this virus. Analysis of the sequence and predicted RNA secondary structures of the 3' UTR indicated NHUV to be most similar to viruses within the yellow fever serogroup and Japanese encephalitis serogroup, and viruses in the tick-borne flavivirus clade. NHUV was found to share the fewest conserved sequence elements when compared with traditional insect-specific flaviviruses. This suggests that, despite apparently being insect specific, this virus probably diverged from an ancestral mosquito-borne flavivirus. Co-infection experiments indicated that prior or concurrent infection of mosquito cells with NHUV resulted in a significant reduction in virus production of West Nile virus (WNV), St Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV) and Japanese encephalitis virus. As a result, the inhibitory effect was most effective against WNV and SLEV with over a 106-fold and 104-fold reduction in peak titres, respectively.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

Convergent bacterial microbiotas in the fungal agricultural systems of insects

The ability to cultivate food is an innovation that has produced some of the most successful ecological strategies on the planet. Although most well recognized in humans, where agriculture represents a defining feature of civilization, species of ants, beetles, and termites have also independently evolved symbioses with fungi that they cultivate for food. Despite occurring across divergent insect and fungal lineages, the fungivorous niches of these insects are remarkably similar, indicating convergent evolution toward this successful ecological strategy. Here, we characterize the microbiota of ants, beetles, and termites engaged in nutritional symbioses with fungi to define the bacterial groups associated with these prominent herbivores and forest pests. Using culture-independent techniques and the in silico reconstruction of 37 composite genomes of dominant community members, we demonstrate that different insect-fungal symbioses that collectively shape ecosystems worldwide have highly similar bacterial microbiotas comprised primarily of the genera Enterobacter, Rahnella, and Pseudomonas . Although these symbioses span three orders of insects and two phyla of fungi, we show that they are associated with bacteria sharing high whole-genome nucleotide identity. Due to the fine-scale correspondence of the bacterial microbiotas of insects engaged in fungal symbioses, our findings indicate that this represents an example of convergence of entire host-microbe complexes.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

Transcriptional responses of Arabidopsis thaliana to chewing and sucking insect herbivores

We tested the hypothesis that Arabidopsis can recognize and respond differentially to insect species at the transcriptional level using a genome wide microarray. Transcriptional reprogramming was characterized using co-expression analysis in damaged and undamaged leaves at two times in response to mechanical wounding and four insect species. In all, 2778 (10.6%) of annotated genes on the array were differentially expressed in at least one treatment. Responses differed mainly between aphid and caterpillar and sampling times. Responses to aphids and caterpillars shared only 10% of up-regulated and 8% of down-regulated genes. Responses to two caterpillars shared 21 and 12% of up- and down-regulated genes, whereas responses to the two aphids shared only 7 and 4% of up-regulated and down-regulated genes. Overlap in genes expressed between 6 and 24 h was 3–15%, and depended on the insect species. Responses in attacked and unattacked leaves differed at 6 h but converged by 24 h. Genes responding to the insects are also responsive to many stressors and included primary metabolism. Aphids down-regulated amino acid catabolism; caterpillars stimulated production of amino acids involved in glucosinolate synthesis. Co-expression analysis revealed 17 response networks. Transcription factors were a major portion of differentially expressed genes throughout and responsive genes shared most of the known or postulated binding sites. However, cis-element composition of genes down regulated by the aphid M. persicae was unique, as were those of genes down-regulated by caterpillars. As many as 20 cis-elements were over-represented in one or more treatments, including some from well-characterized classes and others as yet uncharacterized. We suggest that transcriptional changes elicited by wounding and insects are heavily influenced by transcription factors and involve both enrichment of a common set of cis-elements and a unique enrichment of a few cis-elements in responding genes.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2017

The Ingestion of Fluorescent, Magnetic Nanoparticles for Determining Fluid-uptake Abilities in Insects

Here, fluid-feeding insects ingest a variety of liquids, which are present in the environment as pools, films, or confined to small pores. Studies of liquid acquisition require assessing mouthpart structure and function relationships; however, fluid uptake mechanisms are historically inferred from observations of structural architecture, sometimes unaccompanied with experimental evidence. Here, we report a novel method for assessing fluid-uptake abilities with butterflies (Lepidoptera) and flies (Diptera) using small amounts of liquids. Insects are fed with a 20% sucrose solution mixed with fluorescent, magnetic nanoparticles from filter papers of specific pore sizes. The crop (internal structure used for storing fluids) is removed from the insect and placed on a confocal microscope. A magnet is waved by the crop to determine the presence of nanoparticles, which indicate if the insects are able to ingest fluids. This methodology is used to reveal a widespread feeding mechanism (capillary action and liquid bridge formation) that is potentially shared among Lepidoptera and Diptera when feeding from porous surfaces. In addition, this method can be used for studies of feeding mechanisms among a variety of fluid-feeding insects, including those important in disease transmission and biomimetics, and potentially other studies that involve nano- or micro-sized conduits where liquid transport requires verification.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1984

A fundamental approach to the sticking of insect residues to aircraft wings

A proposed testing scheme is described for obtaining data on the effects of surface roughness and surface energy on insect adhesion. The road test apparatus is discussed as well as surface preparation techniques. Uncoated and polymer coated metal substrates were analyzed by SEM/ESCA/IRS before and following collision with insects. Critical surface tensions of unexposed Nyebar and poly sulfone coatings were 10 and 33 dynes/cm, respectively, as determined from contact angles. A total of 95% of insect residues collected belong to order Diptera. Significantly less insect debris was detected on the coated plates as compared to the uncoated plates. Minimal contamination at the 5 nm level of both coated and uncoated plates occurs even after hours of exposure to road conditions as determined by ESCA analysis. The presence of nitrogen detected by ESCA on exposed plates is unequivocal evidence for insect residues left on plates.

Eiss, N. S., Jr.↗