Decolonising Minority Languages Through Language Revitalization:The case of Occitan new speakers in France

Doing language revitalisation by undoing hegemonic language ideologies. This is one of the current and most complex challenges for endangered language planners. Minoritised languages are in a subordinated position because of the power structures imposed onto them, not because of their number of speakers. This fact echoes very clearly colonial and postcolonial settings. Social hierarchies establishing a sense of superiority for the restricted few and inherent subjugation of the less powerful, rural and mostly lower-class peripheries is a modus operandi of the colonialist tradition found in the function of several European nation-states. For linguistic conceptions to evolve and lead to a more equal and tolerant perspective on internal linguistic diversity, some beliefs and practices about languages need be decolonised, that is to say be rid of a sense of superiority of one form over all others. This article deals mainly with the much-discussed concept of internal colonialism and identifies the correlations between colonialist-type domination and the use of the hegemonic language ideology used by the centralist state to control regional minorities. The country under scrutiny, France, has a long centralist tradition and is also well-known for its colonial past and its strict prescriptive approach to language. After examining some of the mechanisms of domination typical of a situation of ‘internal colonialism’ including its ontological usefulness and limits, this article focuses on the possibility of interpreting inter-regional exchanges as a case of internal colonialism in France. Then, it explores the use of the national language as a power-enhancing tool for the ruling elite and, simultaneously, an instrument of marginalisation and forced submission of the regional minorities. Finally, it analyses how national and standard language ideologies are internalised but also sometimes challenged in the classroom context which becomes a vital space for the acquisition of a regional language such as Occitan and for the deconstruction of hegemonic and colonialist-type ideologies

Deux langues à valeurs contrastées: Représentations et perceptions de l'occitan et du catalan

Summary: This chapter presents a comparative analysis of the Catalan and Occitan sociolinguistic situations. Whereas these two sister languages have often been studied in parallel up until the modern period, they are now often opposed because of the differences in institutional support and prospects of maintenance. This comparative or contrastive study investigates the origins of the discrepancy of the Occitan and Catalan situations in terms of the speakers’ linguistic conscience and linguistic identity. An analysis of the treatment of diglossia by Occitan and Catalan sociolinguists sheds lights on the similarities and differences in the theorisation of power relations between dominant and dominated languages over two territories, France and Spain. The transnational aspect of these two languages, with Occitan being spoken in the Aran valley and Catalan in the region of Roussillon, is also examined and demonstrates the impact of national policies in France and the lack of global community identification for Occitan. In this way, the findings highlight the manner in which language ideologies present at the macro-level, can affect the speakers’ socio-psychological representations of Occitan and Catalan. [Keywords: Occitan sociolinguistics; Catalan sociolinguistics; Romance sociolinguistics; diglossia; language ideologies; language attitudes; linguistic conscience; linguistic identity; transnational situation; power relations]Summary: This chapter presents a comparative analysis of the Catalan and Occitan sociolinguistic situations. Whereas these two sister languages have often been studied in parallel up until the modern period, they are now often opposed because of the differences in institutional support and prospects of maintenance. This comparative or contrastive study investigates the origins of the discrepancy of the Occitan and Catalan situations in terms of the speakers’ linguistic conscience and linguistic identity. An analysis of the treatment of diglossia by Occitan and Catalan sociolinguists sheds lights on the similarities and differences in the theorisation of power relations between dominant and dominated languages over two territories, France and Spain. The transnational aspect of these two languages, with Occitan being spoken in the Aran valley and Catalan in the region of Roussillon, is also examined and demonstrates the impact of national policies in France and the lack of global community identification for Occitan. In this way, the findings highlight the manner in which language ideologies present at the macro-level, can affect the speakers’ socio-psychological representations of Occitan and Catalan. [Keywords: Occitan sociolinguistics; Catalan sociolinguistics; Romance sociolinguistics; diglossia; language ideologies; language attitudes; linguistic conscience; linguistic identity; transnational situation; power relations]Summary: This chapter presents a comparative analysis of the Catalan and Occitan sociolinguistic situations. Whereas these two sister languages have often been studied in parallel up until the modern period, they are now often opposed because of the differences in institutional support and prospects of maintenance. This comparative or contrastive study investigates the origins of the discrepancy of the Occitan and Catalan situations in terms of the speakers’ linguistic conscience and linguistic identity. An analysis of the treatment of diglossia by Occitan and Catalan sociolinguists sheds lights on the similarities and differences in the theorisation of power relations between dominant and dominated languages over two territories, France and Spain. The transnational aspect of these two languages, with Occitan being spoken in the Aran valley and Catalan in the region of Roussillon, is also examined and demonstrates the impact of national policies in France and the lack of global community identification for Occitan. In this way, the findings highlight the manner in which language ideologies present at the macro-level, can affect the speakers’ socio-psychological representations of Occitan and Catalan. [Keywords: Occitan sociolinguistics; Catalan sociolinguistics; Romance sociolinguistics; diglossia; language ideologies; language attitudes; linguistic conscience; linguistic identity; transnational situation; power relations

Reuse of medical face masks in domestic and community settings without sacrificing safety: Ecological and economical lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic

The need for personal protective equipment increased exponentially in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. To cope with the mask shortage during springtime 2020, a French consortium was created to find ways to reuse medical and respiratory masks in healthcare departments. The consortium addressed the complex context of the balance between cleaning medical masks in a way that maintains their safety and functionality for reuse, with the environmental advantage to manage medical disposable waste despite the current mask designation as single-use by the regulatory frameworks. We report a Workflow that provides a quantitative basis to determine the safety and efficacy of a medical mask that is decontaminated for reuse. The type IIR polypropylene medical masks can be washed up to 10 times, washed 5 times and autoclaved 5 times, or washed then sterilized with radiations or ethylene oxide, without any degradation of their filtration or breathability properties. There is loss of the antiprojection properties. The Workflow rendered the medical masks to comply to the AFNOR S76-001 standard as “type 1 non-sanitory usage masks”. This qualification gives a legal status to the Workflow-treated masks and allows recommendation for the reuse of washed medical masks by the general population, with the significant public health advantage of providing better protection than cloth-tissue masks. Additionally, such a legal status provides a basis to perform a clinical trial to test the masks in real conditions, with full compliance with EN 14683 norm, for collective reuse. The rational reuse of medical mask and their end-of-life management is critical, particularly in pandemic periods when decisive turns can be taken. The reuse of masks in the general population, in industries, or in hospitals (but not for surgery) has significant advantages for the management of waste without degrading the safety of individuals wearing reused masks

Antiretroviral-naive and -treated HIV-1 patients can harbour more resistant viruses in CSF than in plasma

Objectives The neurological disorders in HIV-1-infected patients remain prevalent. The HIV-1 resistance in plasma and CSF was compared in patients with neurological disorders in a multicentre study. Methods Blood and CSF samples were collected at time of neurological disorders for 244 patients. The viral loads were >50 copies/mL in both compartments and bulk genotypic tests were realized. Results On 244 patients, 89 and 155 were antiretroviral (ARV) naive and ARV treated, respectively. In ARV-naive patients, detection of mutations in CSF and not in plasma were reported for the reverse transcriptase (RT) gene in 2/89 patients (2.2%) and for the protease gene in 1/89 patients (1.1%). In ARV-treated patients, 19/152 (12.5%) patients had HIV-1 mutations only in the CSF for the RT gene and 30/151 (19.8%) for the protease gene. Two mutations appeared statistically more prevalent in the CSF than in plasma: M41L (P = 0.0455) and T215Y (P = 0.0455). Conclusions In most cases, resistance mutations were present and similar in both studied compartments. However, in 3.4% of ARV-naive and 8.8% of ARV-treated patients, the virus was more resistant in CSF than in plasma. These results support the need for genotypic resistance testing when lumbar puncture is performe

Performances des filtres plissés à Très Haute Efficacité en fonction de l'humidité relative de l'air

Pleated High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters are used for maintaining the containment of radioactive substances in nuclear plants; thus, they are sensitive elements of nuclear safety. Some accidental situations, such as the emergence of a hole on a pipe with release of steam, can lead to a high increase of the air humidity. This work can overcome the lack of analytical data in the literature regarding the behaviour of pleated HEPA filters, in terms of changes in pressure drop and efficiency, in presence of humidity (unsaturated air). Experimental clogging tests have been performed on a test bench with two aerosols: non-hygroscopic micronic alumina particles and hygroscopic submicronic sodium chloride particles. The results showed that the influence of humidity during the clogging of a HEPA filter depends on several parameters: the geometry of the filter (plane or pleated), the size distribution and hygroscopicity of the aerosol clogging and finally the interaction time between the aerosol and humid air. Measurements of efficiency of clean and clogged filters (at different degrees of clogging), performed with the normalized soda fluorescein aerosol, are also sensitive to the presence of more or less relative humidity in the air. Finally, all results helped to develop an empirical model for estimating the evolution of the pressure drop of HEPA filters; this model is applicable during the formation of the particulate cake in presence of humidity without reducing of the surface area filtrationLes filtres plissés à Très Haute Efficacité (THE) sont utilisés pour le maintien du confinement des substances radioactives dans les installations nucléaires ; ils constituent ainsi un des éléments sensibles de la sûreté nucléaire. Certains scénarios accidentels, comme l'apparition d'une brèche sur une tuyauterie avec relâchement de vapeur, peuvent conduire à une forte augmentation de l'humidité relative de l'effluent gazeux filtré. Ces travaux permettent de pallier le manque de données analytiques dans la littérature concernant le comportement des filtres plissés THE, en termes de variations de leur perte de charge et de leur efficacité, en cas d'exposition à un débit d'air humide non saturé. Des expériences de colmatage de filtres ont été réalisées sur un banc d'essais à l'aide de deux aérosols : un aérosol non-hygroscopique micronique d'alumine et un aérosol hygroscopique submicronique de chlorure de sodium. Les résultats ont mis en évidence que l'influence de l'humidité durant le colmatage d'un filtre THE dépend de plusieurs paramètres : la géométrie du filtre (plane ou plissée), la granulométrie et la nature hygroscopique de l'aérosol de colmatage et enfin, le temps d'interaction entre l'aérosol et l'air humide. Des mesures d'efficacité des filtres plissés vierges et à différents degrés de colmatage, réalisées avec l'aérosol normalisé d'uranine, se sont également révélées sensibles à la présence plus ou moins importante d'humidité relative dans l'air. Enfin, l'ensemble des résultats a permis d'élaborer une approche empirique d'estimation de l'évolution de la perte de charge d'un filtre THE ; le modèle qui en résulte est applicable durant la formation sous humidité d'un gâteau de particules sans réduction de la surface de filtratio