Evidence of ancient papillomavirus recombination

An open question amongst papillomavirus taxonomists is whether recombination has featured in the evolutionary history of these viruses. Since the onset of the global AIDS epidemic, the question is somewhat less academic, because immune-compromised human immunodeficiency virus patients are often co-infected with extraordinarily diverse mixtures of human papillomavirus (HPV) types. It is expected that these conditions may facilitate the emergence of HPV recombinants, some of which might have novel pathogenic properties. Here, a range of rigorous analyses is applied to full-genome sequences of papillomaviruses to provide convincing statistical and phylogenetic evidence that evolutionarily relevant papillomavirus recombination can occur. © 2006 SGM.

A highly divergent South African geminivirus species illuminates the ancient evolutionary history of this family

Background. We have characterised a new highly divergent geminivirus species, Eragrostis curvula streak virus (ECSV), found infecting a hardy perennial South African wild grass. ECSV represents a new genus-level geminivirus lineage, and has a mixture of features normally associated with other specific geminivirus genera. Results. Whereas the ECSV genome is predicted to express a replication associated protein (Rep) from an unspliced complementary strand transcript that is most similar to those of begomoviruses, curtoviruses and topocuviruses, its Rep also contains what is apparently a canonical retinoblastoma related protein interaction motif such as that found in mastreviruses. Similarly, while ECSV has the same unusual TAAGATTCC virion strand replication origin nonanucleotide found in another recently described divergent geminivirus, Beet curly top Iran virus (BCTIV), the rest of the transcription and replication origin is structurally more similar to those found in begomoviruses and curtoviruses than it is to those found in BCTIV and mastreviruses. ECSV also has what might be a homologue of the begomovirus transcription activator protein gene found in begomoviruses, a mastrevirus-like coat protein gene and two intergenic regions. Conclusion. Although it superficially resembles a chimaera of geminiviruses from different genera, the ECSV genome is not obviously recombinant, implying that the features it shares with other geminiviruses are those that were probably present within the last common ancestor of these viruses. In addition to inferring how the ancestral geminivirus genome may have looked, we use the discovery of ECSV to refine various hypotheses regarding the recombinant origins of the major geminivirus lineages. © 2009 Varsani et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Engaging Noemi Lakmeier's living installations : the ethics of embarrassment

In Exercise in Losing Control (2007) and We Are for You Because We are Against Them (2010), Austrian-born artist Noemi Lakmaier represents Otherness – and, in particular, the experience of Otherness as one of being vulnerable, dependent or visibly different from everyone else in a social situation – by placing first herself then a group of participants in big circular balls she calls ‘Weebles’. In doing so, Lakmaier depicts Otherness as an absurd, ambiguous or illegible element in otherwise everyday ‘living installations’ in which people meet, converse, dine and connect with spectators and passersby on the street. In this paper I analyse the way spectators and passersby respond to the weeble-wearers. Not surprisingly, responses vary – from people who hurry away, to people who try to talk to the weeble-wearer, to people who try to kick or tip the weeble to test its reality. The not-quite-normal situation, and the visibility of the spectators in the situation, asks spectators to rehearse their response to corporeal differences that might be encountered in day-to-day life. As the range of comments, confrontations and struggles show, the situation transfers the ill-at-ease, embarrassed and awkward aspects of dealing with corporeal difference from the disabled performer to the able spectator-become-performer. In this paper, I theorise some of the self-conscious spectatorial responses this sort of work can provoke in terms of an ethics of embarrassment. As the Latin roots of the word attest, embarrassment is born of a block, barrier or obstacle to move smoothly through a social or communicative encounter. In Lakmaier’s work, a range of potential blocks present themselves. The spectators’ responses – from ignoring the weeble, to querying the weeble, to asking visual, verbal or physical questions about how the weeble works, and so on – are ways of managing the interruption and moving forward. They are, I argue, strategies for moving from confusion to comprehension, or from what Emmanuel Levinas would call an encounter with the unknown to back into the horizon of the known, classified and classifiable. They flag the potential for what Levinas would call an ethical face-to-face encounter with the Other in which spectators and passersby may unexpectedly find themselves in a vulnerable position.

"Are there any right or wrong answers in teaching philosophy": ethics, epistemology, and philosophy in the classroom

This article assesses undergraduate teaching students’ assertion that there are no right and wrong answers in teaching philosophy. When asked questions about their experiences of philosophy in the classroom for primary children, their unanimous declaration that teaching philosophy has ‘no right and wrong answers’ is critically examined across the three sub-disciplinary areas to which they were generally referring, namely, pedagogy, ethics, and epistemology. From a pedagogical point of view, it is argued that some teaching approaches may indeed be more effective than others, and some pupils’ opinions less defensible, but pedagogically, in terms of managing the power relations in the classroom, it is counter-productive to continually insist on notions of truth and falsity at every point. From an ethical point of view, it is contended that anti-realist approaches to meta-ethics may represent a viable intellectual position, but from the point of view of normative ethics, notions of right and wrong still retain significant currency. From an epistemological point of view, it is argued using Karl Poppers’ work that while it may be difficult to determine what constitutes a right answer, determining a wrong one is far more straightforward. In conclusion, it is clear that prospective teachers engaging in philosophy in the classroom, and also future teachers in general, require a far more nuanced philosophical understanding of the notions of right and wrong and truth and falsity. In view of this situation, it we wish to promote the effective teaching of philosophical thinking to children, or produce educators who can understand the conceptual limits of the claims they make and their very real and often serious practical and social consequences, it is recommended that philosophy be reinstated to a fundamental, foundational place within the pre-service teaching curriculum.

Chlamydia pneumoniae : modern insights into an ancient pathogen

Chlamydia pneumoniae is an enigmatic human and animal pathogen. Originally discovered in association with acute human respiratory disease, it is now associated with a remarkably wide range of chronic diseases as well as having a cosmopolitan distribution within the animal kingdom. Molecular typing studies suggest that animal strains are ancestral to human strains and that C. pneumoniae crossed from animals to humans as the result of at least one relatively recent zoonotic event. Whole genome analyses appear to support this concept – the human strains are highly conserved whereas the single animal strain that has been fully sequenced has a larger genome with several notable differences. When compared to the other, better known chlamydial species that is implicated in human infection, Chlamydia trachomatis, C. pneumoniae demonstrates pertinent differences in its cell biology, development, and genome structure. Here, we examine the characteristic facets of C. pneumoniae biology, offering insights into the diversity and evolution of this silent and ancient pathogen.

Countering the ADHD epidemic : a question of ethics?

Recently in Australia, another media skirmish has erupted over the problem we currently call “Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder”. This particular event was precipitated by the comments of a respected District Court judge. His claim that doctors are creating a generation of violent juvenile offenders by prescribing Ritalin to young children created a great deal of excitement, attracting the attention of election-conscious politicians who appear blissfully unaware of the role played by educational policy in creating and maintaining the problem. Given the short (election-driven) attention span of government policymakers, I bypass government to question what those at the front line can do to circumvent the questionable practice of diagnosing and medicating young children for difficulties they experience in schools and with learning.

Education for social responsibility: Ethics and imagination for engaging students and teachers in educational reform

In this chapter we make assumptions about the primary role of education for the life of its beneficiaries and for society. Undoubtedly, formal education plays an important role in enhancing the likelihood for participation in future social life, including enjoyment and employment, by the student as well as the development of the well being of society in general. Similarly, education is often seen as a main means for intergenerational transmission of knowledge and culture. However, as Dewey (1916) argues, in liberal societies, education has the capacity of enhancing democratic participation in society that goes beyond passive participation by its members. One can argue that the achievement of the ideals of democracy demands a free and strong education system. In other words, while education can function as an instrument to integrate students into the present society, it also has the potential to become an instrument for its transformation by means of which citizens can develop an understanding of how their society functions and a sense of agency towards its transformation. Arguably, this is what Freire (1985) meant when he talked about the role of education to “read and write” the world. A stream of progressive educators (e.g., Apple (2004), Freire, (1985), Giroux (2001) and McLaren (2002)) taught us that the reading of the world that is capable of leading into writing the world is a critical reading; i.e., a reading that poses “Why” questions and imagines “What else can be” (Carr & Kemmis, 1987).

Design + ethics

The socio-cultural purpose of the university has been de-emphasised in recent decades, however, various community engagement projects that have been undertaken by design schools in higher education institutions are bringing this back into focus. Through the design skills of academic staff and students, a number of projects have been identified and undertaken in partnership with communities as well as the public and private sectors. The 2008 ‘Linking Karumba’ project, among others, shows that academy-based design and education professionals can contribute to social development through making good design accessible to disadvantaged communities.

Feminist ethics and menopause : autonomy and decision-making in primary medical care

The construction of menopause as a long-term risk to health and the adoption of discourses of prevention has made necessary a decision by women about medical treatment; specifically regarding the use of hormone replacement therapy. In a study of general practitioners’ accounts of menopause and treatment in Australia, women's ‘choice’, ‘informed decision-making’ and ‘empowerment’ were key themes through which primary medical care for women at menopause was presented. These accounts create a position for women defined by the concept of individual choice and an ethic of autonomy. These data are a basis for theorising more generally in this paper. We critically examine the construct of ‘informed decision-making’ in relation to several approaches to ethics including bioethics and a range of feminist ethics. We identify the intensification of power relations produced by an ethic of autonomy and discuss the ways these considerations inform a feminist ethics of decision-making by women. We argue that an ‘ethic of autonomy’ and an ‘offer of choice’ in relation to health care for women at menopause, far from being emancipatory, serves to intensify power relations. The dichotomy of choice, to take or not to take hormone replacement therapy, is required to be a choice and is embedded in relations of power and bioethical discourse that construct meanings about what constitutes decision-making at menopause. The deployment of the principle of autonomy in medical practice limits decision-making by women precisely because it is detached from the construction of meaning and the self and makes invisible the relations of power of which it is a part.

Communication ethics in public health

As new diseases and medical conditions emerge, new community groups appear in the public health arena as consumer advocates or lobby groups seeking to affect policy or to represent ‘communities’ formed around these new diseases and conditions. The role of these groups in public health, their political status, and the extent to which they are actually representative are highly problematic for public health. These new constellations of social groups and activities challenge traditional ideas about public health decision-making and demand a rethinking of the constituency and limits of public health. Using discourse theory, symbolic interactionism, and ethological theory, the authors examine one case, exploring the perspectives of various communities on hepatitis C, and explore some issues that this raises for public health.

Book review: Leaky Bodies and Boundaries. Feminism, Post-modernism and (Bio)ethics. Shildrick, M. (1997)

This thoughtful book is a much needed contribution to feminist ethics that is brimming with detailed and insightful analyses of the positioning of women in contemporary health care and particularly in relation to new reproductive technologies (NRTs). The clearly written and structured chapters provide accessible points to modern ethics, post-modernism, and feminist ethics. Margrit Shildrick takes on these areas with authority and vigour, building an argument for women to enter the relations of reproduction on terms more expressive of feminine desire...

Hepatitis C and policy implementation : ethics as a dialogic process for resource allocation

Hepatitis C, which was first identified in 1988, has become an important issue for public health as epidemiological and clinical evidence has emerged. These disciplines have highlighted the extent of infection and its medical consequences. Now, governments at both the state and federal levels are sifting through this evidence and are attempting to create structures to deal with the problem of hepatitis C. These structures have generally taken the form of expert committees and working parties organised from established medical, scientific and public health bodies...