Electronic recording of lifetime locomotory activity patterns of adult medflies.

Age-specific and diurnal patterns of locomotory activity, can be considered as biomarkers of aging in model organisms and vary across the lifetime of individuals. Τhe Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly), Ceratitis capitata, is a commonly used model-species in studies regarding demography and aging. In the present study, we introduce a modification of the automated locomotory activity electronic device LAM25system (Locomotory Activity Monitor)-Trikinetics, commonly used in short time studies, to record the daily locomotory activity patterns of adult medflies throughout the life. Additionally, fecundity rates and survival of adult medflies were recorded. Male and female medflies were kept in the system tubes and had access to an agar-based gel diet, which provided water and nutrients. The locomotory activity was recorded at every minute by three monitors in the electronic device. The locomotory activity of females was higher than that of males across the different ages. For both sexes locomotory rates were high during the first 20 days of the adult life and decreased in older ages. The activity of males was high in the morning and late afternoon hours, while that of females was constantly high throughout the photophase. Negligible locomotory activity was recorded for both sexes during the nighttime. Males outlived females. Fecundity of females was higher in younger ages. Our results support the adoption of LAM25system in studies addressing aging of insects using medfly as a model organism

A common language to assess allergic rhinitis control : results from a survey conducted during EAACI 2013 Congress

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Optimization of Brewer's Yeast Quantity in Liquid and Gel Larval Diets for the Mediterranean Fruit Fly.

Several artificial larval diets have been developed, evaluated and used for mass-rearing of the Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly), Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Teprhitidae). There are several efforts to reduce the cost of rearing and optimize the quality of the produced sterile males that are destined for release in sterile insect release programs. Survival, growth, longevity and reproductive capacity of sterile males are strongly connected with the most expensive ingredient, the brewer's yeast (protein), in the larval diet. The current study focused on settling the optimal content of brewer's yeast in a liquid diet and a gel diet. Egg hatch rates, developmental duration of immatures, pupation rate, pupae and adult survival were recorded as indicators of quantity and quality of the produced adults. Egg hatch was higher and larval developmental duration longer in the gel diet. In contrast to the liquid diet, an increase in brewer's yeast concentration was correlated with increased pupation rate and pupae survival in the gel diet. Reducing brewer's yeast up to 50% of its initial quantity had no significant effect on the survival of the emerging adults regardless of the diet type. Our findings may contribute to the production of low-cost and effective diets for use in mass-rearing facilities of medflies

3D Inversion of Automated Resistivity Profiling (ARP) Data

Electrical resistivity is a well established and widely used prospection method. The technique has also become a valuable and inseparable tool in archaeological site evaluation and excavation planning (Clark, 1990). Nowadays, it is routinely used in mapping the sub-surface resistivity variation of an archaeological site. The compilation of maps that transform the geophysical results into images that resemble a plane view of buried relics comprises the ultimate goal of geoelectrical prospectio..

3D Inversion of Automated Resistivity Profiling (ARP) Data

Electrical resistivity is a well established and widely used prospection method. The technique has also become a valuable and inseparable tool in archaeological site evaluation and excavation planning (Clark, 1990). Nowadays, it is routinely used in mapping the sub-surface resistivity variation of an archaeological site. The compilation of maps that transform the geophysical results into images that resemble a plane view of buried relics comprises the ultimate goal of geoelectrical prospectio..

Revealing the ancient city of Sikyon through the application of integrated geophysical approaches and 3D modelling

The ancient city of Sikyon is located in the northern Peloponnese covering an area of 250 ha on a plateau that rises about 4 km southwest of the Corinthian gulf.  Previous archaeological excavations revealed a limited number of monuments within the surroundings of the ancient agora. Since 2004, a consortium led by the University of Thessaly, the Institute for Mediterranean Studies/FORTH, the University of York and the 37th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities initiated the Sikyon..

Tumuli exploration using surface 3D Electrical Resistivity Tomography

Introduction The direct current resistivity method is nowadays a well established geophysical technique, used routinely and successfully in the detection and mapping of concealed subsurface structures, like walls, ditches and anthropogenic or natural cavities (Dahlin and Zhou, 2004). In archaeological geophysics, tombs constitute the most common subterranean manmade cavities of the greatest archaeological and historical importance. Several successful case studies in the detection of tombs hav..

Correction to: Is diet partly responsible for differences in COVID-19 death rates between and within countries?

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article

Correction to: Is diet partly responsible for differences in COVID-19 death rates between and within countries?

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article