Repositioning Roald Dahl : morality and fantasy in Dahl’s life and writing for children

This thesis aims to reposition Roald Dahl and his children’s fiction in the evolution of the morality debate in other popular children’s writers. His works for children, which were written during the last three decades of his life, have been frequently attacked by critics on grounds of violence, racism, and sexism. Dahl’s narrative treatment of his characters and his moral outlook are seen as problematic since his texts often feature amoral adult enemies of the child characters, and an unsentimental and subversive view of families. They have equally been subject to debate over their ‘suitability,’ and some have been challenged and banned. The author himself denies preaching morality, yet his child characters become moral crusaders and there are moral undertones and overt moral messages in his books.As a non-Western reader, I discovered that Dahl’s stories fire the imagination of both adults and children, but there remains a contradictory treatment of social decency in the texts. Dahl criticism drives my investigation of the relationship between morality, reading, and interpretation in his fiction. Throughout the thesis, I apply close reading techniques to examine the way in which Dahl engages with moral issues in his works. Chapter One examines Dahl’s exceptional life through his autobiographies, and children’s and adult biographies to uncover Dahl’s contradictory personality. Several of his tragic experiences inform the issue of psychological trauma which is discussed in Chapter Two where Dahl appears briefly to acknowledge trauma but minimises the impact on his protagonists who subsequently become more resilient and optimistic. Chapter Three interrogates gender bias and negative representation of men and women, while Chapter Four focuses in detail on how humour, wordplay, and neologism play crucial roles in his comic fantasy. Chapter Five explores the case of his continuing posthumous popularity as evidenced by his endorsement by marketing campaigns, culminating in his 2016 centenary celebration, while the phenomenal success of the Harry Potter series poses a new challenge to his dominance of the market. The thesis as a whole, therefore, reappraises Dahl’s works, the significance of his moral position, and his ongoing impact in the twenty-first century

The influence of a surfactant, linear alkylbenzene sulfonate, on the estrogenic response to a mixture of (xeno)estrogens in vitro and in vivo

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Aquatic Toxicology. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.The effect of the presence of a surfactant on the activity of a mixture of environmental estrogens was assessed. In their natural habitat, fish are subject not only to exposure to mixtures of estrogenic compounds, as has been addressed in previous publications, but also to other confounding factors (chemical, physical and biological), which may, in theory, affect their responses to such compounds. To assess the potential for such interference, the commonly occurring surfactant, linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS), was applied to the yeast estrogen screen at various concentrations, independently and together with a mixture of estrogens at constant concentrations. LAS enhanced the estrogenic activity of the mixture, an effect which became less pronounced over the course of time. This information was used to design an in vivo study to assess induction of vitellogenin in fathead minnows exposed to the same mixture of estrogens plus LAS. A similar trend was observed, that is, the response was enhanced, but the effect became less pronounced as the study progressed. However, the enhanced response in vivo occurred only at the highest concentration of LAS tested (362 μg/L), and was transient because it was no longer apparent by the end of the study. Although LAS is a significant contaminant in terms of both concentration and frequency of detection in the aquatic environment, these data do not suggest that it will have a significant impact on the response of fish to environmental estrogens

Hypoxia does not influence the response of fish to a mixture of estrogenic chemicals

The official published version can be obtained from the link below - Copyright @ 2009 American Chemical SocietyChemical risk assessment procedures assign a major role to standardized toxicity tests, in which the response of a particular organism to a single test substance is determined under otherwise constant and favorable conditions in the laboratory. This approach fails to consider the potential for chemical interactions, as well as failing to consider how the toxicological response varies, depending on the conditions of exposure. As yet, the issue of confounding factors on chemically mediated effects in wildlife has received little attention, despite the fact that a range of physicochemical parameters, including temperature, water quality, and pH, are known to modify chemical toxicity. Here, we consider how the estrogenic response of fish varies with regard to hypoxia. Fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) were exposed to a mixture of estrogenic chemicals under hypoxic or normoxic conditions. Their estrogenic response was characterized using an in vivo assay, involving the analysis of the egg yolk protein, vitellogenin (VTG). The results revealed that there was no effect of hypoxia on the VTG response in either treatment group at the end of the exposure period. This suggests that this end point is robust and relatively insensitive to the effects of any physiological changes that arise as a result of hypoxia. The implications of these negative findings are discussed in terms of their relevance with regard to the development of risk assessment policy.This work was funded by a grant from the Natural Environment Research Council(NE/D00389X/1)

Evidence of estrogenic mixture effects on the reproductive performance of fish

The official published version can be obtained from the link below - Copyright @ 2007 American Chemical SocietyRecent research into the effects of mixtures of estrogenic chemicals has revealed the capacity for similarly acting chemicals to act in combination, according to the principles of concentration addition. This means that, collectively, they may pose a significant environmental risk, even when each component is present at a low and individually ineffective concentration. The aim of this study was to investigate the ecological significance of mixture effects at low-effect concentrations by assessing the combined effect of estrogenic chemicals on the reproductive performance of fish. Pairs of fathead minnows were exposed to five estrogenic chemicals. Endpoints analyzed included fecundity, the expression of male secondary sexual characteristics, somatic indices, and vitellogenin induction. In the first phase of the study, a concentration-response analysis was performed to investigate the relative sensitivity of these endpoints. In the second phase, mixture effects at low-effect concentrations were explored by exposing fish to each of the mixture components, individually and in combination. Data from these experiments provide evidence of mixture effects on fitness and fecundity, demonstrating the capacity for chemicals to act together to affect reproductive performance, even when each component is present belowthe threshold of detectable effects. This has important implications for hazard assessment and contributes to our understanding of mixture effects at increasing levels of biological complexity.This work was funded by the European Commission, under contract EVK1-2001-00091

Towards a strategy for the recovering of the Mediterranean monk seal in the Adriatic-Ionian Basin

Occasional but recurrent sightings indicate that the endangered Mediterranean monk seal is still present in most of its historical range within the Adriatic-Ionian region in the central Mediterranean Sea. However, in most of the adjacent countries, the species' abundance and distribution are practically unknown. An actively reproducing sub-population with a minimum of 25 adult/sub-adult seals lives in the Greek central Ionian Sea. The latter can form a nucleus from which the entire Adriatic-Ionian Basin could be re-colonized if adequate conservation measures are implemented throughout the area and in a coordinated manner. We examine the historical presence in the region as a baseline for providing a benchmark for conservation. We further look into the species' habitat availability, possibilities for a rapid population assessment and various parameters that are considered crucial for its conservation, such as the existence of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), corridors for connectivity purposes as well as needs for raising public awareness. We recommend a series of interlinked actions within the framework of a conservation strategy the implementation of which will ensure the conditions for maintaining ecologically, demographically, and genetically viable sub-populations of this species emblematic for the entire Mediterranean Sea. To achieve this goal, a coalition of partners from this area is required in order to adopt the strategy and jointly implement the measures required

Analisi spettroscopiche non invasive delle lapidi

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Preliminary non-invasive study of Roman glasses from Jesolo (Venice), Italy

Archaeological excavations at ‘Le Mure’ site (Jesolo, VE, Italy) have followed each other since the sixties, when the first evidence of an Early Medieval church (6th–7th century AD) was found under the ruins of a Medieval Cathedral (11th–12th AD). The last few years of investigations by Ca’Foscari University have led to the collection of large amounts of glass fragments, including many tesserae, dating between the 4th and the 12th centuries AD. A selection of glass fragments and mosaic tesserae taken from the excavations performed in 2013–14 at this site were studied by means of reflectance spectroscopy in order to identify their chromophore ions, in particular Cu0, Cu2+, Co2+, Fe2+ and Fe3+, which were detected in both transparent and opaque samples. In addition, the use of high resolution close-up images allowed for the attribution of surface characteristics to specific manufacturing techniques, while glass chemistry was studied in order to group them into known compositional classes. This study, carried out by non-invasive analytical techniques that allowed for the acquisition of preliminary data, will prove useful in driving further methodologies involving other non-invasive and micro-invasive analysis in order to obtain archaeometric information that can be related to concurrent archaeological results

Coupling of electron and vibrational spectroscopy with false colour imaging for the investigation of natural dyes in historical fabrics (15th-18th centuries)

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Nuove tecnologie virtuali per la valorizzazione della sua storia

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CHARACTERIZATION OF SILK-COTTON AND WOOL-COTTON BLENDS PATTERN BOOKS BY FIBER OPTICS REFLECTANCE SPECTROSCOPY. THE BOOMING MARKET OF FIRST SYNTHETIC TEXTILE DYES IN EARLY 20th CENTURY

A remarkable number of early 20th century azo synthetic textile dyes was characterized by Fiber Optics Reflectance Spectroscopy (FORS). Items are part of silk-cotton and wool-cotton blends pattern books of Leopold Cassella & Co., a leading firm at that time. Focusing on early dyes from this privileged point of view, meant for us providing our own scientific contribution to restore luster to a historical period that represented the keystone from upmarket natural dyes to synthetic ones on a large scale. A selection of spectra on silk-cotton blend with the same dye concentration was compared color by color. In the case of wool-cotton blend textiles, two concentrations were available for each dye. Therefore, spectra comparisons between the same dyes used in silk-cotton and wool-cotton blends were carried out, as well as between the same dyes in different concentration in the case of wool-cotton textiles, simulating possible fading conditions. In addition, almost each analyzed dye was linked to its molecular structure. Finally, the obtained set of data has been statistically treated. The complete dataset was subjected to an exploratory analysis using PCA that exhibited an organization of the samples based on brightness and colors. The generation and validation of a PLS-DA model confirmed the recognizability of the samples based on color and pointed out the excellent conservation conditions implemented. The method provides a non-invasive, fast and low-cost approach for the recognition of azo dyes, based on the combined application of FORS, colorimetric parameters and chemometrics and lays the foundation for a reference database