scholarly journals Comparative Cutaneous Water Loss and Desiccation Tolerance of Four Solenopsis spp. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Southeastern United States

Insects ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 418
Author(s):  
Olufemi S. Ajayi ◽  
Arthur G. Appel ◽  
Li Chen ◽  
Henry Y. Fadamiro
Keyword(s):  
Water Loss ◽  
Desiccation Tolerance ◽  
High Surface ◽  
High Surface Area ◽  
Volume Ratio ◽  
Southeastern Usa ◽  
Cuticular Permeability ◽  
Lethal Time ◽  
Total Body ◽  
Terrestrial Insects

The high surface area to volume ratio of terrestrial insects makes them highly susceptible to desiccation mainly through the cuticle. Cuticular permeability (CP) is usually the most important factor limiting water loss in terrestrial insects. Water loss rate, percentage of total body water (%TBW) content, CP, and desiccation tolerance were investigated in workers of four Solenopsis species in the southeastern USA. We hypothesized that tropical/subtropical ants (S. invicta and S. geminata) will have lower CP values and tolerate higher levels of desiccation than temperate ants (S. richteri and S. invicta × S. richteri). The %TBW content was similar among species. Solenopsis invicta had a 1.3-fold and 1.1-fold lower CP value than S. invicta × S. richteri and S. richteri, respectively. Solenopsis geminata had a 1.3-fold lower CP value than S. invicta × S. richteri, and a 1.2-fold lower CP value than S. richteri. The LT50 values (lethal time to kill 50% of the population) ranged from 1.5 h (small S. geminata) to 8.5 h (large S. invicta). Desiccation tolerance ranged between 36 and 50 %TBW lost at death and was not related to a species’ location of origin. This study is the first report of water relations of S. invicta × S. richteri. It demonstrates that desiccation stress differentially can affect the survival of different Solenopsis species and implies that environmental stress can affect the distribution of these species in the southeastern USA.

Water Loss and Desiccation Tolerance of the Two Yearly Generations of Adult and Nymphal Kudzu Bugs, Megacopta cribraria (Hemiptera: Plataspidae)

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 651-659
Author(s):  
Gokhan Benk ◽  
Patrick J Thompson ◽  
Xing P Hu ◽  
Arthur G Appel
Keyword(s):  
Mass Loss ◽  
Water Loss ◽  
Desiccation Tolerance ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Second Generation ◽  
Generation Adult ◽  
Adult Females ◽  
Soybean Pest ◽  
Cuticular Permeability ◽  
Total Body

Abstract Water loss rate, percentage total body water content (%TBW), cuticular permeability (CP), and desiccation tolerance were investigated in adult and immature stages of the invasive kudzu bug, Megacopta cribraria (Fab.) (Hemiptera: Plataspidae), a serious soybean pest and an urban nuisance. Adults and all five nymphal instars were weighed prior to and 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 24 h after desiccated at 30 ± 1°C and 0–2% RH. Both % initial mass and %TBW loss increased linearly with time of desiccation. Rates of loss ranged from approximately 1–7%/h. Mortality occurred at 10 h after desiccation. Desiccation tolerance (%TBW lost at death) ranged between 25.6% for first-generation adult females and 75% for first-generation fifth-instar nymphs. First-generation first-instar nymphs had significantly greater %TBW (88.9%) than the other generations and instars, whereas second-generation fifth instars had the lowest %TBW (62.4%). The CP value of first-generation adult females (12.3 ± 1.6 µg cm−1 h−1 mmHg−1) was the greatest across generations. First-generation first instars had the greatest mass loss (111.11 mg/g) among all instars and generations, whereas overwintered second-generation adult females had the lowest mass loss (18.39) across generations. This study demonstrated that desiccation stress differentially affected the survival of adult and nymphal kudzu bugs and may imply that environmental stress can affect the relative abundance of this species in the fields and around homes.

The Functional Design of the Insect Excretory System

1981 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. H. P. MADDRELL
Keyword(s):  
High Surface ◽  
High Surface Area ◽  
Volume Ratio ◽  
Selective Advantage ◽  
Excretory System ◽  
High Concentrations ◽  
Terrestrial Insects ◽  
Stressful Environments ◽  
Very High ◽  
Rate Of Movement

Insects have a slowly operating excretory system in which the passive rate of movement of haemolymph solutes into a slowly secreted primary excretory fluid is restricted by a reduction in the area available for passive transfer. They may have come to possess such an energy-saving system as a result of their evolution as small animals in osmotically and ionically stressful environments. Although the possession of a waxy cuticle is a major element in their ability to live in such environments, insects have a very high surface-area/volume ratio and this is likely to have conferred a selective advantage on individuals able to withstand unusually variable extracellular conditions. Among their major adaptations evolved to allow them to tolerate such conditions are the lack of a blood-borne respiratory pigment to be affected and the development of a system whereby their most sensitive tissues are protected by the regulatory activities of special covering epithelia. Because of these features it follows that there has been less evolutionary pressure for rapid excretory control of the haemolymph composition. With an excretory system that only slowly filters the haemolymph, less energy expenditure is involved in the production of the primary excretory fluid and in reabsorption of useful substances from it. In addition, insects are able to maintain in circulation high concentrations of substances such as amino acids, trehalose, and lipids. They can also eliminate excess fluid at very high rates with the loss of only trace amounts of haemolymph solutes. It is argued that terrestrial insects owe much of their success to their ability to recover virtually all the water from the slow flow of primary excretory fluid. The hindgut cells that are responsible for this recovery are aided by their cuticular lining which protects them from contact with the very high concentrations of potentially interfering compounds in the excretory material.

scholarly journals Electrospun Nanofibers for Sensing and Biosensing Applications—A Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (12) ◽  
pp. 6357
Author(s):  
Kinga Halicka ◽  
Joanna Cabaj
Keyword(s):  
High Surface ◽  
High Surface Area ◽  
Toxic Metal ◽  
Volume Ratio ◽  
Electrospun Nanofibers ◽  
Clinical Diagnostics ◽  
Loading Capacity ◽  
Electrospun Nanofiber ◽  
Sensing Platforms ◽  
Different Types

Sensors and biosensors have found applications in many areas, e.g., in medicine and clinical diagnostics, or in environmental monitoring. To expand this field, nanotechnology has been employed in the construction of sensing platforms. Because of their properties, such as high surface area to volume ratio, nanofibers (NFs) have been studied and used to develop sensors with higher loading capacity, better sensitivity, and faster response time. They also allow to miniaturize designed platforms. One of the most commonly used techniques of the fabrication of NFs is electrospinning. Electrospun NFs can be used in different types of sensors and biosensors. This review presents recent studies concerning electrospun nanofiber-based electrochemical and optical sensing platforms for the detection of various medically and environmentally relevant compounds, including glucose, drugs, microorganisms, and toxic metal ions.

scholarly journals Design Considerations for Borehole Thermal Energy Storage (BTES): A Review with Emphasis on Convective Heat Transfer

Geofluids ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helge Skarphagen ◽  
David Banks ◽  
Bjørn S. Frengstad ◽  
Harald Gether
Keyword(s):  
Energy Storage ◽  
Thermal Energy ◽  
Thermal Energy Storage ◽  
Theoretical Calculations ◽  
High Surface ◽  
High Surface Area ◽  
Volume Ratio ◽  
Thermal Recovery ◽  
Conductive Heat ◽  
Geological Environment

Borehole thermal energy storage (BTES) exploits the high volumetric heat capacity of rock-forming minerals and pore water to store large quantities of heat (or cold) on a seasonal basis in the geological environment. The BTES is a volume of rock or sediment accessed via an array of borehole heat exchangers (BHE). Even well-designed BTES arrays will lose a significant quantity of heat to the adjacent and subjacent rocks/sediments and to the surface; both theoretical calculations and empirical observations suggest that seasonal thermal recovery factors in excess of 50% are difficult to obtain. Storage efficiency may be dramatically reduced in cases where (i) natural groundwater advection through the BTES removes stored heat, (ii) extensive free convection cells (thermosiphons) are allowed to form, and (iii) poor BTES design results in a high surface area/volume ratio of the array shape, allowing high conductive heat losses. The most efficient array shape will typically be a cylinder with similar dimensions of diameter and depth, preferably with an insulated top surface. Despite the potential for moderate thermal recovery, the sheer volume of thermal storage that the natural geological environment offers can still make BTES a very attractive strategy for seasonal thermal energy storage within a “smart” district heat network, especially when coupled with more efficient surficial engineered dynamic thermal energy stores (DTES).

Biological weathering in soil: the role of symbiotic root-associated fungi biosensing minerals and directing photosynthate-energy into grain-scale mineral weathering

2008 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. R. Leake ◽  
A. L. Duran ◽  
K. E. Hardy ◽  
I. Johnson ◽  
D. J. Beerling ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Allocation ◽  
High Surface ◽  
Turgor Pressure ◽  
High Surface Area ◽  
Volume Ratio ◽  
Mineral Weathering ◽  
Mycorrhizal Associations ◽  
P Content ◽  
Biological Weathering

AbstractBiological weathering is a function of biotic energy expenditure. Growth and metabolism of organisms generates acids and chelators, selectively absorbs nutrient ions, and applies turgor pressure and other physical forces which, in concert, chemically and physically alter minerals. In unsaturated soil environments, plant roots normally form symbiotic mycorrhizal associations with fungi. The plants provide photosynthate-carbohydrate-energy to the fungi in return for nutrients absorbed from the soil and released from minerals. In ectomycorrhiza, one of the two major types of mycorrhiza of trees, roots are sheathed in fungus, and 15—30% of the net photosynthate of the plants passes through these fungi into the soil and virtually all of the water and nutrients taken up by the plants are supplied through the fungi. Here we show that ectomycorrhizal fungi actively forage for minerals and act as biosensors that discriminate between different grain sizes (53—90 μm, 500—1000 μm) and different minerals (apatite, biotite, quartz) to favour grains with a high surface-area to volume ratio and minerals with the highest P content. Growth and carbon allocation of the fungi is preferentially directed to intensively interact with these selected minerals to maximize resource foraging.

scholarly journals Preparation and Characterization of Biocompatible Electrospun Nanofiber Scaffolds

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edit Hirsch ◽  
Márió Nacsa ◽  
Ferenc Ender ◽  
Miklós Mohai ◽  
Zsombor K. Nagy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Photoelectron Spectroscopy ◽  
High Surface ◽  
High Surface Area ◽  
Volume Ratio ◽  
Surface Characteristic ◽  
Poly Lactic Acid ◽  
Nanofibrous Scaffolds ◽  
Plasma Surface Treatment ◽  
Nanoscale Fibers ◽  
Solution Electrospinning

Nanoscale fibers were prepared for the fabrication of scaffolds by using a strong electrostatic field on the polymer solution. Electrospinning is widely applied for production of drug delivery, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine systems as well as biosensors and enzyme immobilization. Nanofibers, thanks to their high surface area to volume ratio, can also mimic the extracellular matrix, thus it has been recognized as a suitable technique for the fast fabrication of scaffolds. This article demonstrates the fabrication of several nanofibrous scaffolds from biopolymers such as polycaprolactone, poly(lactic acid), poly(lactide-co-glycolide), poly(lactide-co-caprolactone) and poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxy valerate). The characterization and comparison of the scaffolds were achieved based on the morphology and surface characteristic of the nanofibers. The samples showed hydrophobic characteristic, thus a plasma surface treatment was applied successfully to increase hydrophilicity and the effect of the treatment was evaluated based on the wettability and the change in elemental composition of the surface based on X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

Fabrication of Hybrid Cell-Microbead Constructs Using Laser Direct-Write of Alginate Microbeads and Adherent Breast Cancer Cells

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew D. Dias ◽  
David M. Kingsley ◽  
Douglas B. Chrisey ◽  
David T. Corr
Keyword(s):  
Drug Delivery ◽  
Mammalian Cells ◽  
Hybrid Cell ◽  
High Surface ◽  
High Surface Area ◽  
Volume Ratio ◽  
Direct Write ◽  
Cellular Interactions ◽  
Paracrine Signaling ◽  
Laser Direct Write

Microbeads are becoming popular tools in tissue engineering as 3D microstructure hydrogels. The gel nature of microbeads enables them to sequester soluble factors and mammalian cells, and their high surface area-to-volume ratio allows diffusion between the bead and the environment [1,2]. Microbeads are thus good systems for drug delivery and can serve as 3D microenvironments for cells. To fully maximize their potential as delivery systems and microenvironments, it is highly desirable to create spatially-precise hybrid cultures of microbeads and mammalian cells. Precise placement of microbeads in proximity to patterned cells will allow the study of spatial cellular interactions, paracrine signaling, and drug delivery.

scholarly journals Nanotechnology for Environmental Remediation: Materials and Applications

Molecules ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (7) ◽  
pp. 1760 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernanda Guerra ◽  
Mohamed Attia ◽  
Daniel Whitehead ◽  
Frank Alexis
Keyword(s):  
Organic Compounds ◽  
Environmental Remediation ◽  
Organophosphorus Compounds ◽  
High Surface ◽  
High Surface Area ◽  
Volume Ratio ◽  
Chlorinated Organic Compounds ◽  
Environmental Media ◽  
Chlorinated Organic ◽  
Materials Used

Environmental remediation relies mainly on using various technologies (e.g., adsorption, absorption, chemical reactions, photocatalysis, and filtration) for the removal of contaminants from different environmental media (e.g., soil, water, and air). The enhanced properties and effectiveness of nanotechnology-based materials makes them particularly suitable for such processes given that they have a high surface area-to-volume ratio, which often results in higher reactivity. This review provides an overview of three main categories of nanomaterials (inorganic, carbon-based, and polymeric-based materials) used for environmental remediation. The use of these nanomaterials for the remediation of different environmental contaminants—such as heavy metals, dyes, chlorinated organic compounds, organophosphorus compounds, volatile organic compounds, and halogenated herbicides—is reviewed. Various recent examples are extensively highlighted focusing on the materials and their applications.

scholarly journals Titanium carbide MXene: Synthesis, electrical and optical properties and their applications in sensors and energy storage devices

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 184798041882447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johnson Michael ◽  
Zhang Qifeng ◽  
Wang Danling
Keyword(s):  
Energy Storage ◽  
Electrical Properties ◽  
Titanium Carbide ◽  
Inorganic Compounds ◽  
High Surface ◽  
High Surface Area ◽  
Volume Ratio ◽  
Energy Storage Materials ◽  
Post Processing ◽  
Energy Storage Devices

MXenes have been under a lot of scientific investigation due to the novel characteristics that are inherent to two-dimensional nanostructures. There are a multitude of MXenes being studied and one of the most popular among these would be the titanium carbides. The general formula for titanium carbide is Ti n+ 1C n for the nanosheets produced that have undergone much study in the past few years. These studies include how the etching process affects the final MXene sheet and how the post-processing via heat or combining with polymers and/or inorganic compounds influences the mechanical and electrical properties. It is found that different etching techniques can be used to change the electrical properties of the produced MXenes and different post-processing techniques can be used to further change the properties of the nanosheets. The possible application of the titanium carbide MXenes as chemical sensing and energy storage materials will be briefly discussed. MXene nanosheets show promise in such devices due to their high surface area to volume ratio and their specific surface structure with feasible surface functionalization.

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