The politics and ethics of relocated art

At the end of Word War II, Soviet occupation forces removed countless art objects from German soil. Some of them were returned during the 1950s, but most either disappeared for good or were stored away secretly in cellars of Soviet museums. The Cold War then covered the issue with silence. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, museums in St Petersburg and Moscow started to exhibit some of the relocated art for the first time in half a century. The unusual quality of the paintings-mostly impressionist masterpieces-not only attracted the attention of the international art community, but also triggered a diplomatic row between Russia and Germany. Both governments advanced moral and legal claims to ownership. To make things even more complicated, many of the paintings once belonged to private collectors, some of whom were Jews. Their descendants also entered the dispute. The basic premise of this article is that the political and ethical dimensions of relocated art can be understood most adequately by eschewing a single authorial standpoint. Various positions, sometimes incommensurable ones, are thus explored in an attempt to outline possibilities for an ethics of representation and a dialogical solution to the international problem that relocated art has become.

Differential tumor surveillance by natural killer (NK) and NKT cells

Natural tumor surveillance capabilities of the host were investigated in six different mouse tumor models where endogenous interleukin (IL)-12. does or does not dictate the efficiency of the innate immune response. Gene-targeted and lymphocyte subset-depleted mice were used to establish the relative importance of natural killer (NK) and NK1.1(+) T (NKT) cells in protection from tumor initiation and metastasis. In the models examined, CD3(-) NK cells were responsible for tumor rejection and protection from metastasis in models where control of major histocompatibility complex class I-deficient tumors was independent of IL-12, A protective role for NKT cells was only observed when tumor rejection required endogenous IL-12 activity. In particular, T cell receptor J alpha 281 gene-targeted mice confirmed a critical function for NKT cells in protection from spontaneous tumors initiated by the chemical carcinogen, methylcholanthrene. This is the first description of an antitumor function for NKT cells in the absence of exogenously administered potent stimulators such as IL-12 or alpha-galactosylceramide.

Perforin-mediated cytotoxicity is critical for surveillance of spontaneous lymphoma

Immune surveillance by cytotoxic lymphocytes against cancer has been postulated for decades, but direct evidence for the role of cytotoxic lymphocytes in protecting against spontaneous malignancy has been lacking. As the rejection of many experimental cancers by cytotoxic T lymphocytes and natural killer cells is dependent on the pore-forming protein perforin (pfp), we examined pfp-deficient mice for increased cancer susceptibility. Here we show that pfp-deficient mice have a high incidence of malignancy in distinct lymphoid cell lineages (T, B, NKT), indicating a specific requirement for pfp in protection against lymphomagenesis. The susceptibility to lymphoma was accentuated by simultaneous lack of expression of the p53 gene, mutations in which also commonly predispose to human malignancies, including lymphoma. In contrast, the incidence and age of onset of sarcoma was unaffected in p53-deficient mice. Pfp-deficient mice were at least 1,000-fold more susceptible to these lymphomas when transplanted, compared with immunocompetent mice in which tumor rejection was controlled by CD8(+) T lymphocytes. This study is the first that implicates direct cytotoxicity by lymphocytes in regulating lymphomagenesis.

Innate immune surveillance of spontaneous B cell lymphomas by natural killer cells and gamma delta T cells

Few studies have demonstrated that innate lymphocytes play a major role in preventing spontaneous tumor formation. We evaluated the development of spontaneous tumors in mice lacking beta-2 microglobulin (beta2m; and thus MHC class I, CD1d, and CD16) and/or perform, since these tumor cells would be expected to activate innate effector cells. Approximately half the cohort of perform gene-targeted mice succumbed to spontaneous disseminated B cell lymphomas and in mice that also lacked beta2m, the lymphomas developed earlier (by more than 100 d) and with greater incidence (84%). B cell lymphomas from perforin/beta2m gene-targeted mice effectively primed cell-mediated cytotoxicity and perform, but not IFN-gamma, IL-12, or IL-18, was absolutely essential for tumor rejection. Activated NK1.1(+) and gammadeltaTCR(+) T cells were abundant at the tumor site, and transplanted tumors were strongly rejected by either, or both, of these cell types. Blockade of a number of different known costimulatory pathways failed to prevent tumor rejection. These results reflect a critical role for NK cells and gammadeltaTCP(+) T cells in innate immune surveillance of B cell lymphomas, mediated by as yet undetermined pathway(s) of tumor recognition.

Targeted! Population segmentation, electronic surveillance and governing the unemployed in Australia

Targeting is increasingly used to manage people. It operates by segmenting populations and providing different levels of opportunities and services to these groups. Each group is subject to different levels of surveillance and scrutiny. This article examines the deployment of targeting in Australian social security. Three case studies of targeting are presented in Australia's management of benefit overpayment and fraud, the distribution of employment services and the application of workfare. In conceptualizing surveillance as governance, the analysis examines the rationalities, technologies and practices that make targeting thinkable, practicable and achievable. In the case studies, targeting is variously conceptualized and justified by calculative risk discourses, moral discourses of obligation and notions of welfare dependency Advanced information technologies are also seen as particularly important in giving rise to the capacity to think about and act on population segments.

Something moves: a philosophical and ethical praise to the combat practicing as art and education

In this work we tried to produce a philosophic-ethic praise to the Martial Arts` combat practice, based in our years of Martial Arts training accompanied with studies of oriental and occidental Philosophy. Tracing a critical history of the changes happened to the Martial Arts we brought the concept of combat as a martial practice of life empowerment. Opposing this, we presented the notion of fight as a result of the capture that the war arts suffered because of the despotic empires. Besides, we demonstrated that the combat practice is simultaneously an artistic and educational activity, because it aims at the production of an immanence field witch is loyal to the event.

A stepwise approach to stroke surveillance in Brazil: the EMMA (Estudo de Mortalidade e Morbidade do Acidente Vascular Cerebral) study

Background Stroke mortality rates in Brazil are the highest in the Americas. Deaths from cerebrovascular disease surpass coronary heart disease. Aim To verify stroke mortality rates and morbidity in an area of Sao Paulo, Brazil, using the World Health Organization Stepwise Approach to Stroke Surveillance. Methods We used the World Health Organization Stepwise Approach to Stroke Surveillance structure of stroke surveillance. The hospital-based data comprised fatal and nonfatal stroke (Step 1). We gathered stroke-related mortality data in the community using World Health Organization questionnaires (Step 2). The questionnaire determining stroke prevalence was activated door to door in a family-health-programme neighbourhood (Step 3). Results A total of 682 patients 18 years and above, including 472 incident cases, presented with cerebrovascular disease and were enrolled in Step 1 during April-May 2009. Cerebral infarction (84 center dot 3%) and first-ever stroke (85 center dot 2%) were the most frequent. In Step 2, 256 deaths from stroke were identified during 2006-2007. Forty-four per cent of deaths were classified as unspecified stroke, 1/3 as ischaemic stroke, and 1/4 due to haemorrhagic subtype. In Step 3, 577 subjects over 35 years old were evaluated at home, and 244 cases of stroke survival were diagnosed via a questionnaire, validated by a board-certified neurologist. The population demographic characteristics were similar in the three steps, except in terms of age and gender. Conclusion By including data from all settings, World Health Organization stroke surveillance can provide data to help plan future resources that meet the needs of the public-health system.

Outbreak of vancomycin-resistant enterococci in a tertiary hospital: The lack of effect of measures directed mainly by surveillance cultures and differences in response between Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis

To describe the effect of active surveillance to control vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) after an outbreak, 549 surveillance rectal cultures were performed in 308 patients (35% positive). An educational intervention to prevent transmission was implemented. Infection and colonization by VR-Enterococcus faecalis decreased, but Enterococcus faecium persisted despite control measures. Infections by VR-E faecalis fell to zero in 2008. We observed difficulties in controlling colonization with measures directed mainly by surveillance cultures and differences between responses of E faecium and E faecalis.