We developed an automated, non-invasive method to detect real-time cardiac contraction in post-larval (1.1-1.7 mm length), juvenile oysters (i.e., oyster spat) via a fiber-optic trans-illumination system. The system is housed within a temperature-controlled chamber and video microscopy imaging of the heart was coupled with video edge-detection to measure cardiac contraction, inter-beat interval...

Since 2006, the production of Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas in the Ebro Delta area has dramatically declined from around 800 metric tons (MT) per year to 138 MT in 2011. This decline in production has had a significant socio-economic impact in a region where the shellfish sector is a traditional economic activity for many families. The identified agent responsible for this reduction in C. gi...

Two methods were used to estimate the reproductive output of female Pacific oysters reared in Normandy: histology with image analysis and ELISA (Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay) which allowed the quantification of egg protein. Condition indices, gonad area and gametogenetic stages of the oysters were determined in the entire population (males and females) between May and October 2005. All inv...

The application of mussel spat rope for enabling the passage of redfin bully Gobiomorphus huttoni through culverts, which create velocity barriers, was trialled in the laboratory. No fish were able to access the un-roped control pipes whereas 52% successfully negotiated the pipes in the rope treatments. The success of fish ascending treatment pipes suggests mussel spat rope may be effective for...

Ž . Ž . Pacific oysters spat Crassostrea gigas were fed an algal diet Tetraselmis suecica whether or not supplemented with emulsions or liposomes rich in 18:1ny9, 18:2ny6 and 22:6ny3. The preferential accumulation and partitioning of the latter fatty acids between the polar and neutral lipids of C. gigas spat were followed. Additionally, the efficiency of emulsions and liposomes as fatty acid c...

SPAT-SCENE is a graphical user interface and spatial sound processor embedded in computer-aided composition software. It combines the interface and the rendering engine of Ircam Spatialisateur with a compositional and temporal control of spatial scene descriptors. Previous studies of the composition process as well as interviews with the composers themselves emphasized the needs for tools integ...

The Polycomb repression complex 2 (PRC2) methylates histone H3 lysine 27 at target genes to modify gene expression, and this mark is recognized by PRC1, which ubiquitylates histone H2A. In Caenorhabditis elegans, a complex of the MES-2, MES-3 and MES-6 proteins is functionally analogous to the PRC2 complex, but the functional analog of PRC1, and indeed whether C. elegans has such a complex, has...

In 2008 and 2009, acute mortalities occurred in France among Pacific cupped oyster, Crassostrea gigas, spat. Different hypothesis including the implication of environmental factors, toxic algae and/or pathogens have been explored. Diagnostic tests indicated that OsHV-1 including a particular genotype, termed OsHV-1 μVar, was detected in most of samples and especially in moribund oysters with th...