A continuing preoccupation with the Occupation
In addition to a number of commemorative and traditional events and a steady stream of new publications, references and allusions to the period of the Occupation appear to have increased over the last few years. One basic reason, sometimes supported by evidence, is that after seventy years there is a danger that those years and their traumatic events will gradually be forgotten or remembered incorrectly. It may also be, however, that they are being recalled to help assuage a collective sense of guilt, or in some cases used more consciously for political and socio-political purposes with the result that they feed deep-rooted and sometimes unrealised prejudices with direct consequences for contemporary society. After rapidly rehearsing the ways in which the Occupation has hitherto been assessed, the article focuses precisely on some of this apparent modern development.1
Sarkozy-de Gaulle: Recycling the Resistance myth
The Resistance myth in France was consciously crafted by Charles de Gaulle and his supporters, during World War II and afterwards, to create a coherent narrative of national unity to help carry the country through the period of conflict and the reconstruction that followed. The consensus underpinning the viability of the myth began to fracture from the 1970s onwards and has reached the point of becoming, according to some historians, ‘balkanised’. This article will evoke the genesis of the Resistance myth and address the present-day paradox of a myth that has never been both more contested and more ubiquitous, and the reasons why, in spite of his initial disinclination to do so, Nicolas Sarkozy found himself increasingly obliged to resort to that myth in the attempt to bolster the credibility of his leadership.
Applications of nanocomposite hydrogels for biomedical engineering and environmental protection
Nanocomposite hydrogels are polymeric networks that possess a unique property of hydration. The presence of alcohols, carboxylic acids and amides as hydrophilic moieties in structure of nanocomposite hydrogels enhances their stiffness and water-absorbing capacity. Addition of cross-linker in the synthesis of hydrogels increases their stability under extreme conditions of temperature, pH and pressure. Natural polymer-based nanocomposite hydrogels are biodegradable, highly hydrophilic and possess good mechanical strength. Gelatin, chitin, cellulose, pectin, carrageenan, starch and alginate are natural polymers commonly used to fabricate nanocomposite hydrogels. Nanocomposite hydrogels have special characteristics such as high swelling rate, selectivity and stimuli-sensitive nature. Here we review nanocomposite hydrogels for environmental protection and biomedical engineering. Applications in biomedical engineering include drug delivery agents, wound dressing, tissue engineering and antibacterials. Applications in environmental protection include ion exchangers, adsorption, photocatalysis and soil conditioning. Many nanocomposite hydrogels show excellent adsorption selectivity for heavy metal ions: Cu2+ up to 30.35 mg/g, Pb2+ up to 35.94 mg/g, and Zn2+ and Fe3+ up to 94.34 mg/g. Xanthan gum-based nanocomposite hydrogel has removed 96% dye from industrial effluent as reported. In addition, most of the nanocomposite hydrogels showed better adsorption capacity for pollutants in the pH range from 5 to 7. The nanocomposite hydrogels could also be regenerated and successfully utilized for several times. Nanocomposite hydrogels are therefore good bio-absorbent materials for environmental detoxification.