A comparative study of the evolution of prestige formations and of speakers' attitudes in Occitan and Catalan

This thesis explores the nature and the mechanism of change of language prestige and language attitudes in two neighbouring languages: Occitan and Catalan. These two Romance minority languages show great similarities in their early external history and striking differences in their more recent past. The concepts of language attitudes and prestige call for a multidisciplinary approach which incorporates aspects from social psychology, ethnography, historical sociolinguistics and sociology to enable the author to depict in a comprehensive manner the interaction between the formation of the perception of language prestige and the declaration of language attitudes.An important rationale in this thesis is the search for an understanding of the patterns of change in prestige descriptions. Prestige and attitudes are generally interpreted as static entities but a diachronic overview of the values attached to Catalan and Occitan displays signs of disparity and evolution which are scrutinised through the analysis of selected Occitan and Catalan grammars from different periods. The data collected through semi-structured interviews with Occitan and Catalan speakers and processed with the method of Critical Discourse Analysis provides an enlightening synchronic perspective on the language situations. The combination of diachronic and present-day approaches to language representations fosters an original apparatus to investigate the gradually developing contrasts between the symbolisation of the two languages. A second point of focus for the comparison of the Occitan and Catalan linguistic situations resides in the transnational position of their linguistic communities. Since Occitan and Catalan are both spoken in France and Spain, the fascinating mismatch between the linguistic borders and the political territories provide an original and supplementary instrument of analysis of the influences of the national policies on individual attitudes. The bi-national division of Catalan and Occitan offers an examination of the inter-relation between macro-level representations and micro-level perceptions and a clarification of the dynamicity of the power relations between minority and majority groups.The objective of the study is primarily to contribute to a theorisation of language prestige through its conceptualisation as a process, and not an inherent quality, influencing, renewing or destroying, positive language attitudes which, in turn, can reinforce or challenge the preconceived and established form of prestige. The dynamic and malleable forms of prestige and attitudes need the explanatory help of the concept of language ideologies which, taken as beliefs about a language, embodies the modern and growing differentiation in the attribution of language values to Catalan and Occitan. Language ideologies as well as constituting a link between the macro and micro-domains reflect the emblematic discrepancies between a growingly powerful and confrontational Catalan prestige and a compartmentalised and disunited Occitan prestige.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceAHRCGBUnited Kingdo

A comparative study of the evolution of prestige formations and of speakers' attitudes in Occitan and Catalan

This thesis explores the nature and the mechanism of change of language prestige and language attitudes in two neighbouring languages: Occitan and Catalan. These two Romance minority languages show great similarities in their early external history and striking differences in their more recent past. The concepts of language attitudes and prestige call for a multidisciplinary approach which incorporates aspects from social psychology, ethnography, historical sociolinguistics and sociology to enable the author to depict in a comprehensive manner the interaction between the formation of the perception of language prestige and the declaration of language attitudes.An important rationale in this thesis is the search for an understanding of the patterns of change in prestige descriptions. Prestige and attitudes are generally interpreted as static entities but a diachronic overview of the values attached to Catalan and Occitan displays signs of disparity and evolution which are scrutinised through the analysis of selected Occitan and Catalan grammars from different periods. The data collected through semi-structured interviews with Occitan and Catalan speakers and processed with the method of Critical Discourse Analysis provides an enlightening synchronic perspective on the language situations. The combination of diachronic and present-day approaches to language representations fosters an original apparatus to investigate the gradually developing contrasts between the symbolisation of the two languages. A second point of focus for the comparison of the Occitan and Catalan linguistic situations resides in the transnational position of their linguistic communities. Since Occitan and Catalan are both spoken in France and Spain, the fascinating mismatch between the linguistic borders and the political territories provide an original and supplementary instrument of analysis of the influences of the national policies on individual attitudes. The bi-national division of Catalan and Occitan offers an examination of the inter-relation between macro-level representations and micro-level perceptions and a clarification of the dynamicity of the power relations between minority and majority groups.The objective of the study is primarily to contribute to a theorisation of language prestige through its conceptualisation as a process, and not an inherent quality, influencing, renewing or destroying, positive language attitudes which, in turn, can reinforce or challenge the preconceived and established form of prestige. The dynamic and malleable forms of prestige and attitudes need the explanatory help of the concept of language ideologies which, taken as beliefs about a language, embodies the modern and growing differentiation in the attribution of language values to Catalan and Occitan. Language ideologies as well as constituting a link between the macro and micro-domains reflect the emblematic discrepancies between a growingly powerful and confrontational Catalan prestige and a compartmentalised and disunited Occitan prestige.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceAHRCGBUnited Kingdo

Behaviour of Horses in a Judgment Bias Test Associated with Positive or Negative Reinforcement

Moods can influence our judgment of ambiguous stimuli as positive or negative. Measuring judgment bias in animals is a promising method to objectively assess their emotional states. Our study aimed to develop a cognitive bias test in horses, in order to assess the effect of training using positive reinforcement (PR) or negative reinforcement (NR) on their emotional states. We trained 12 mares to discriminate between a rewarded and a non-rewarded location situated on each side of a paddock. The mares were then trained during five days to perform several exercises using PR (n = 6) for one group, and NR (n = 6) for the other (treatment). Finally, we compared the responses of the two groups to three ambiguous locations situated between the rewarded and non-rewarded locations (judgment bias test). During the training exercises, according to our predictions, behavioural measures suggested that NR mares experienced more negative emotions than PR mares. Surprisingly, the results of the judgment bias test suggest that NR mares were in a more optimistic mood compared to PR mares, despite previously experiencing more negative emotions during the treatment. NR mares could have been more motivated to obtain a food reward than PR mares, which had been rewarded throughout the treatment phase. Alternatively, NR mares could have developed optimistic bias triggered by release from the negative state experienced during treatment. This first attempt to test judgment bias in horses suggests that this is a promising method to measure horse mood. Knowledge about the effect of training methods on the mental health of domesticated animals can add a new dimension to animal welfare, in order to promote better ways to work with animals

Absence of Erythrocyte Sequestration and Lack of Multicopy Gene Family Expression in Plasmodium falciparum from a Splenectomized Malaria Patient

BACKGROUND:To avoid spleen-dependent killing mechanisms parasite-infected erythrocytes (IE) of Plasmodium falciparum malaria patients have the capacity to bind to endothelial receptors. This binding also known as sequestration, is mediated by parasite proteins, which are targeted to the erythrocyte surface. Candidate proteins are those encoded by P. falciparum multicopy gene families, such as var, rif, stevor or PfMC-2TM. However, a direct in vivo proof of IE sequestration and expression of multicopy gene families is still lacking. Here, we report on the analysis of IE from a black African immigrant, who received the diagnosis of a malignant lymphoproliferative disorder and subsequently underwent splenectomy. Three weeks after surgery, the patient experienced clinical falciparum malaria with high parasitemia and circulating developmental parasite stages usually sequestered to the vascular endothelium such as late trophozoites, schizonts or immature gametocytes. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:Initially, when isolated from the patient, the infected erythrocytes were incapable to bind to various endothelial receptors in vitro. Moreover, the parasites failed to express the multicopy gene families var, A-type rif and stevor but expression of B-type rif and PfMC-2TM genes were detected. In the course of in vitro cultivation, the parasites started to express all investigated multicopy gene families and concomitantly developed the ability to adhere to endothelial receptors such as CD36 and ICAM-1, respectively. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE:This case strongly supports the hypothesis that parasite surface proteins such as PfEMP1, A-type RIFIN or STEVOR are involved in interactions of infected erythrocytes with endothelial receptors mediating sequestration of mature asexual and immature sexual stages of P. falciparum. In contrast, multicopy gene families coding for B-type RIFIN and PfMC-2TM proteins may not be involved in sequestration, as these genes were transcribed in infected but not sequestered erythrocytes

Social information in equine movement gestalts

This study was funded via the Ambizione Fellowship of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) (PZ00P3_154741) awarded to CDD and by project funding of the Swiss National Science Foundation (31003A_166458) awarded to KZ.One model of signal evolution is based on the notion that behaviours become increasingly detached from their original biological functions to obtain a communicative value. Selection may not always favour the evolution of such transitions, for instance, if signalling is costly due to predators usurping signal production. Here, we collected inertial movement sensing data recorded from multiple locations in free-ranging horses (Equus caballus), which we subjected to a machine learning algorithm to extract kinematic gestalt profiles. This yielded surprisingly rich and multi-layered sets of information. In particular, we were able to discriminate identity, breed, sex and some personality traits from the overall movement patterns of freely moving subjects. Our study suggests that, by attending to movement gestalts, domestic horses, and probably many other group-living animals, have access to rich social information passively but reliably made available by conspecifics, a finding that we discuss in relation with current signal evolution theories.PostprintPeer reviewe

Altered Cytokine Response of Human Brain Endothelial Cells after Stimulation with Malaria Patient Plasma

Infections with the deadliest malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, are accompanied by a strong immunological response of the human host. To date, more than 30 cytokines have been detected in elevated levels in plasma of malaria patients compared to healthy controls. Endothelial cells (ECs) are a potential source of these cytokines, but so far it is not known if their cytokine secretion depends on the direct contact of the P. falciparum-infected erythrocytes (IEs) with ECs in terms of cytoadhesion. Culturing ECs with plasma from malaria patients (27 returning travellers) resulted in significantly increased secretion of IL-11, CXCL5, CXCL8, CXCL10, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and angiopoietin-like protein 4 (ANGPTL4) if compared to matching controls (22 healthy individuals). The accompanying transcriptome study of the ECs identified 43 genes that were significantly increased in expression (≥1.7 fold) after co-incubation with malaria patient plasma, including cxcl5 and angptl4. Further bioinformatic analyses revealed that biological processes such as cell migration, cell proliferation and tube development were particularly affected in these ECs. It can thus be postulated that not only the cytoadhesion of IEs, but also molecules in the plasma of malaria patients exerts an influence on ECs, and that not only the immunological response but also other processes, such as angiogenesis, are altered

Frameshift Variant in MFSD12 Explains the Mushroom Coat Color Dilution in Shetland Ponies

Mushroom is a unique coat color phenotype in Shetland Ponies characterized by the dilution of the chestnut coat color to a sepia tone and is hypothesized to be a recessive trait. A genome wide association study (GWAS), utilizing the Affymetrix 670K array (MNEc670k) and a single locus mixed linear model analysis (EMMAX), identified a locus on ECA7 for further investigation (Pcorrected = 2.08 × 10−10). This locus contained a 3 Mb run of homozygosity in the 12 mushroom ponies tested. Analysis of high throughput Illumina sequencing data from one mushroom Shetland pony compared to 87 genomes from horses of various breeds, uncovered a frameshift variant, p.Asp201fs, in the MFSD12 gene encoding the major facilitator superfamily domain containing 12 protein. This variant was perfectly concordant with phenotype in 96 Shetland Ponies (P = 1.15 × 10−22), was identified in the closely related Miniature Horse for which the mushroom phenotype is suspected to occur (fmu = 0.02), and was absent in 252 individuals from seven additional breeds not reported to have the mushroom phenotype. MFSD12 is highly expressed in melanocytes and variants in this gene in humans, mice, and dogs impact pigmentation. Given the role of MFSD12 in melanogenesis, we propose that p.Asp201fs is causal for the dilution observed in mushroom ponies

Elevated sensitivity to tactile stimuli in stereotypic horses

Although stereotypic behaviours are a common problem in captive animals, why certain individuals are more prone to develop them remains elusive. In horses, individuals show considerable differences in how they perceive and react to external events, suggesting that this may partially account for the emergence of stereotypies in this species. In this study, we focussed on crib-biting, the most common stereotypy displayed by horses. We compared how established crib-biters (“CB”=19) and normal controls (“C”=18) differed in response to a standard ‘personality’ assessment test battery, i.e. reactivity to humans, tactile sensitivity, social reactivity, locomotor activity, and curiosity versus fearfulness (both in novel and suddenness situations). Our analyses showed that crib-biters only differed from control horses in their tactile sensitivity, suggesting an elevated sensitivity to tactile stimuli. We suggest that this higher tactile sensitivity could be due to altered dopamine or endogenous opioid physiology, resulting from chronic stress exposition. We discuss these findings in relation to the hypothesis that there may be a genetic predisposition for stereotypic behaviour in horses, and in relation to current animal husbandry and management practises.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe