Occurrence of OsHV-1 in Crassostrea gigas cultured in Ireland during an exceptionally warm summer. Selection of less susceptible oysters

The occurrence of OsHV-1, a herpes virus causing mass mortality in the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas was investigated with the aim to select individuals with different susceptibility to the infection. Naïve spat transferred to infected areas and juveniles currently being grown at those sites were analyzed using molecular and histology approaches. The survey period distinguishes itself by very warm temperatures reaching up to 3.5°C above the average. The virus was not detected in the virus free area although a spread of the disease could be expected due to high temperatures. Overall mortality, prevalence of infection and viral load was higher in spat confirming the higher susceptibility in early life stages. OsHV-1 and oyster mortality were detected in naïve spat after 15 days of cohabitation with infected animals. Although, infection was associated with mortality in spat, the high seawater temperatures could also be the direct cause of mortality at the warmest site. One stock of juveniles suffered an event of abnormal mortality that was significantly associated with OsHV-1 infection. Those animals were infected with a previously undescribed microvariant whereas the other stocks were infected with OsHV-1 μVar. Cell lesions due to the infection were observed by histology and true infections were corroborated by in situ hybridization. Survivors from the natural outbreak were exposed to OsHV-1 μVar by intramuscular injection and were compared to naïve animals. The survival rate in previously exposed animals was significantly higher than in naïve oysters. Results derived from this study allowed the selection of animals that might possess interesting characteristics for future analysis on OsHV-1 resistance

Neutral red retention time assay in determination of toxicity of nanoparticles

The neutral red retention time (NRRT) assay is useful for detecting decreased lysosomal membrane stability in haemocytes sampled from bivalves, a phenomenon often associated with exposure to environmental pollutants including nanomaterials. Bivalves are popular sentinel species in ecotoxicology and use of NRRT in study of species in the genus Mytilus is widespread in environmental monitoring. The NRRT assay has been used as an in vivo test for toxicity of carbon nanoparticles (Moore MN, Readman JAJ, Readman JW, Lowe DM, Frickers PE, Beesley A. 2009. Lysosomal cytotoxicity of carbon nanoparticles in cells of the molluscan immune system: An in vivo study. Nanotoxicology. 3 (1), 40-45). We here report application of this assay adapted to a microtitre plate format to a panel of metal and metal oxide nanoparticles (2 ppm). This showed that copper, chromium and cobalt nanoparticles are toxic by this criterion while gold and titanium nanoparticles are not. As the former three nanoparticles are often reported to be cytotoxic while the latter two are thought to be non-cytotoxic, these data support use of NRRT as a general in vitro assay in nanotoxicology

Narration, Rhetoric and ideology in A.R. Rangavis novels

A.R.Ragavis composed his novels and short stories during the formative years of greek prose writing.Given Ragavis' great influence,i endeavoural to study the narrative,stylistic and ideological aspects of his short stories,offering thus a view of an important part of greek prose writing.The study showed that Ragavis'short stories doserve the narrative norms of the European romantic novels(e.g., omniscient narrator,third person "authorial" narrator,"telling the truth" technics).Having the double purpose of pleasure and moral benefit of the reader,these short stories advance explicit ethical or political views The artistic and meticulous composition and the presentation of certain ideological views lead to the conclusion that Ragavis'public reservation concerning the literaryvalue of prose writing was superficialΤα διηγήματα του Ραγκαβή τοποθετούνται σε μια περίοδο που η ελληνική πεζογρα- φία βρίσκεται υπό διαμόρφωση.Με δεδομένη την επίδραση του Ραγκαβή στην εποχή του,επεχείρησα να διερευνήσω τα αφηγηματικά,υφολογικά και ιδεολογικά χαρακτη- ριστικά των διηγημάτων του,δίνοντας έτσι, μιαν εικόνα για ένα σημαντικό τμήμα της ελληνικής πεζογραφίας.Η έρευνα και η μελέτη τους έδειξε ότι τηρούν πιστά τις βασικές αφηγηματικές δομές και τους κανόνες της ευρωπαικής ρομαντικής πεζογραφίας (λ.χ. παντογνώστης,αφηγητής,τριτοπρόσωπη αφήγηση,επαληθευτικές τεχνικές).Επιφορτισμένα με τη διπλή αποστολή να τέρπουν και να ωφελούν,προβάλ- λουν σαφείς ηθικές ή πολιτικές ιδεολογικές θέσεις.Η συστηματική και προσεγμέ- νη σύνθεση και η ιδεολογική λειτουργία των διηγημάτων φανερώνουν πως οι δημόσιες επιφυλάξεις του Ραγκαβή για τη λογοτεχνική αξία της πεζογραφίας ήταν επιφανειακές