Slow Death Research Articles

Факторы идентичности и конфликты самоопределения в войнах Антиохии и Армении

Аннотация Статья рассматривает ряд определяющих факторов, связанных с войнами Антиохии-Армении, т.е. с циклом военных столкновений между княжеством Антиохийским и королевством Армения. Этот цикл войн, протекавших с небольшими перерывами в период между 1185 и 1226 годами, обескровил христианские государства северного Леванта, и по праву может считаться одним из наиболее интенсивных и сложных конфликтов эпохи крестовых походов. Исходными факторами в продолжающихся конфликтах служило стремление франкских князей Антиохии восстановить свое господство над давно утраченными территориями Киликийской Равнины и прямо противоречившее этому стремление гораздо более сильной стороны – армянского «властителя гор», а позднее первого короля Армении – к утверждению своего господства над Антиохией. Цикл войн Антиохии-Армении самым парадоксальным образом разделил жителей Киликии и северной Сирии. Abstract The article examines a series of factors, connected to the Antioch-Armenia wars, in other words — the cycle of military conflicts between the Crusader Principality of Antioch and the Kingdom of Armenia. This cycle of wars, which raged — with brief interludes — between 1185 and 1226, bled-dry the Christian states of the northern Levant, and can be rightfully called one of the most intense and complex conflicts of the Crusades. There were two motives for the continuing wars: the ambition of the Princes of Antioch to reclaim their rule over the longlost Cilician Plain, and the opposing desire of the far stronger ruler — the Armenian “Lord of the Mountains” and later on — the King of Armenia — to assert his authority over Antioch. The cycle of the Antioch-Armenia wars divided the inhabitants of Cilicia and northern Syria in the most paradoxical ways. The “Crusader” ruler of the Principality of Antioch and the County of Tripoli — Bohemond IV — completely ignored the demands and interdicts of the Roman pontiff, literally murdered (or rather — ‘condemned’ to slow and painful death) the Latin Patriarch, restored a Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Antioch (from which — for about 2 years — he and his nobles accepted the sacraments), along with the Muslim rulers of Syria and Anatolia he continuously raided the Christian lands and settlements of the Kingdom of Armenia… Nevertheless, this excommunicated ruler was supported not only by the Latin population (including a significant part of the nobility) of Syria, but also by the Knights Templar. Bohemond IV’s main rival — King Leo (Levon) I the Great — proved to be an equally complex statesmen, willing to renounce the religious and social ties traditional for the medieval world in order to secure the desired political alliances and to promulgate his own aims. To secure the recognition of his state and regnal title he forced the Armenian Church to accept the Union with Rome (even though the Armenians did have a plethora of the Union’s proponents, including the great theologian — the Armenian Archbishop of Tarsus St. Nerses of Lampron). In his war for Antioch he secured the support of the Knights Hospitaliers and a major part of the Frankish nobility of Antioch. Yet he proved equally acute to the ethno-religious balance in Antioch: if initially (in 1193) he tried to take Antioch used the forces of the fervent Armenian Miaphysite Hethum of Sasoun, later on the first Rex Armeniae entrusted the war for with the predominantly Greek Orthodox city and Principality to a Chalcedonian Armenian (Greek Orthodox) baron — Adam of Baghras.In his attempts to secure the sympathies of northern Syria’s population, King Leo I welcomed the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch in his kingdom and handed over to him a significant part of ecclesiastic properties, confiscated from the Latin Church. This step, naturally, ensured a papal excommunication for the newly-enthroned ‘Catholic’ king. But even after a formal excommunication from the Roman Church, Leo I continued to enjoy the support of two Catholic military orders — the Hospitaliers and the Teutonic Knights. Also, this monarch — whom later-day Armenian historiography viewed as a hero of Armenian nationalism — left his kingdom to a regent who was an adherent of the “Greek faith”, and a suitor for his young daughter — whom — in any scenario would be a Latin. Obviously, the article examines not only the motivation of the heads of state, but also of social, regional and ethno-religious communities that made this series of wars and a radical deconstruction of medieval norms and alliances possible. The author also examines the traditional chronology of this war cycle, especially the campaigns of the so-called War for the Antiochian Succession.

Aspergillus alliaceus infection fatally shifts Orobanche hormones and phenolic metabolism.

In this study, the physio pathological effects of Aspergillus alliaceus (Aa, fungi, biocontrol agent) on Orobanche (parasitic plant) were investigated by hormone and phenolic substance tests. In experimental group, Orobanches were treated with the fungi, considering control group was fungus-free. Based on the hormonal tests, in the experimental group, salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA), abscisic acid (ABA) and gibberellic acid (GA) levels significantly decreased, and only indole acetic acid (IAA) hormone levels were fairly higher than the control group. According to phenolic substance tests, it was found that only gallic acid, syringic acid and caffeic acid values significantly increased compared with control, and catechin and p-coumaric acid values were significantly lower. Consequently, it was determined that Aa pathogenesis (1) considerably reduces the effects of all defence hormones (JA, ABA, SA), (2) operates an inadequate defence based solely on the IAA hormone and several phenolic substances (gallic acid, syringic acid and caffeic acid), (3) and inevitably the fungi lead the Orobanche to a slow and continuous death. The results were evaluated in detail in the light of similar recent article and current literature in terms of biocontrol and pathology.

Medicine: before COVID-19, and after

Medicine: before COVID-19, and after

Problems with the Care of a Patient with Huntington’s Disease Hospitalised in a Psychiatric Ward — Case Report

Introduction. Huntington’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease, autosomal dominant inherited, characterised by a slow death of central nervous system cells. One of the most common causes of death is suicide.Aim. The aim of the paper is to present the problems and needs of a patient with Huntington’s disease, hospitalised psychiatrically because of organic mood disorders.Case Report. The case report concerns a 60-year-old patient with Huntington’s disease who, due to suicidal thoughts and tendencies, was admitted to the psychiatric ward. The paper presents selected care problems observed in the patient.Discussion. Almost every patient with Huntington’s disease experiences psychiatric symptoms. They appear at different stages of the disease. The described patient, hospitalised psychiatrically, experienced mental and somatic problems. The main objectives of nursing care were to reduce or eliminate the identified problems, mainly to ensure safety and improve functioning. Interventions included, in particular, close observation, assistance in self-care activities, motivating the patient to exercise and perform tasks independently, care in the event of fever, education on sleep hygiene.Conclusions. Patient care problems were related to mental and somatic disorders, in particular suicidal thoughts and tendencies and fever, difficulties in sleeping, moving and passing urine. The main nursing interventions included close observation and a holistic approach in collaboration with all members of the therapeutic team. The patient was discharged in a good general condition, in a balanced mood, without suicidal thoughts. He did not attempt suicide during hospitalisation. (JNNN 2020;9(1):33–38)

A sustained note of disquiet: On being a Christian in a predominantly Hindu India

With psychoanalytic vision, traumatic patterns in individual or collective life, carved out by wounds of the past, become increasingly visible. One such pattern in the Indian socio-political narrative is woven out of the silenced voices of its minority community. This paper picks up on experiences of being a Christian in a predominantly Hindu State, in which Christians, as perceived descendants of the coloniser responsible for the nation’s traumatic history, are unthinkingly relegated to the role of the ‘outsider’. Although India is taking leaps in its economic development, the diminishing tolerance for ethnic diversity is emerging as a blot of shame on Indian society. In recent times, attacks on Christians have become rampant, worsened by the callousness of law enforcement agencies. These attacks, typically carried out by masked assailants, serve to magnify the paranoia this community experiences. The eminent Indian social psychologist Ashis Nandy (1988) notes that, behind such movements to homogenise a society, is the political use of ‘religion-as-ideology’ (p. 178). Nandy’s countervailing concept of ‘religion-as-faith’ (p. 178) preserves space for plurality and makes everyday existence increasingly meaningful. However, religion-as-faith is dying a slow death. Fluidity in definitions of Indian selfhood is giving way to rigidification. The Christian response to these attacks typically remains ‘We are blessed, for we are tortured in His name’. In leaning on psychoanalytic thinking, this paper is a reflection on the intermediary space where the majority’s intolerance of and the minority’s submission to a ‘higher plan’ meet to co-create a narrative of terror.

Glial Cells-The Strategic Targets in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Treatment.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurological disease, which is characterized by the degeneration of motor neurons in the motor cortex and the spinal cord and subsequently by muscle atrophy. To date, numerous gene mutations have been linked to both sporadic and familial ALS, but the effort of many experimental groups to develop a suitable therapy has not, as of yet, proven successful. The original focus was on the degenerating motor neurons, when researchers tried to understand the pathological mechanisms that cause their slow death. However, it was soon discovered that ALS is a complicated and diverse pathology, where not only neurons, but also other cell types, play a crucial role via the so-called non-cell autonomous effect, which strongly deteriorates neuronal conditions. Subsequently, variable glia-based in vitro and in vivo models of ALS were established and used for brand-new experimental and clinical approaches. Such a shift towards glia soon bore its fruit in the form of several clinical studies, which more or less successfully tried to ward the unfavourable prognosis of ALS progression off. In this review, we aimed to summarize current knowledge regarding the involvement of each glial cell type in the progression of ALS, currently available treatments, and to provide an overview of diverse clinical trials covering pharmacological approaches, gene, and cell therapies.

Requiem for the Sliding Scale: The Quiet Ascent - and Slow Death - of the Tenth Circuit's Peculiar Approach to Qualified Immunity

Requiem for the Sliding Scale: The Quiet Ascent - and Slow Death - of the Tenth Circuit's Peculiar Approach to Qualified Immunity

From Asbestos: The Story of a Tuscan Welder

from Asbestos: The Story of a Tuscan Welder Alberto Prunetti (bio) Translated by Oonagh Stransky (bio) I carry an image of him wearing green coveralls and a pair of chamois gloves. He kneels down on the gravel at the construction site with the angle grinder in front of him. He picks up his mallet and screwdriver, strikes the well-worn handle of the screwdriver to loosen the ring that holds the wire wheel in the grinder, and inserts a cutting wheel. He flicks the switch on with his gloved thumb. The blade spins at the speed of ten thousand rotations per minute. He brings the disc up to the gray pipe. When they come into contact, there’s a metallic scream, followed by an explosion of sparks and a dry eruption of regularly shaped fibrous particles. Small crystalline darts. Invisible shards that find their way into the esophagus or lungs, that stick to the pleura for twenty, thirty, even forty years, and that cause a wound that the body can’t heal or eradicate, triggering a process of cellular degeneration. A tumor. He stretches an industrial extension cord around the perimeter of a storage tank filled with hydrocarbons. The ground is viscous with slimy oil, black veering towards cobalt. He connects the welding machine to the cord, attaches the clamp to a metal component, inserts an electrode to a second clamp, and then places it on the ground. With his left hand, he picks up a welder’s mask and holds it to his face. Another worker grabs a dirty gray blanket and unfolds it over him, leaving him completely in the dark. With his right hand, he grabs the clamp and brings the electrode to the metal. A violent burst of light, attenuated by the tinted lens of the mask, bursts out: sparks fly off the tip of the quickly disappearing electrode, melting and lumping metal on metal. When the electrode is completely consumed, the man under the cloth grabs the mallet and, in total darkness, infers where the clump of now solid—but still incandescent—metal is located. He strikes the clot with the mallet and breaks apart the crust of slag. Welding only a few inches away from a fuel tank is dangerous. A single spark could trigger an explosion that could blow up an entire refinery. That’s why they tell him to use that dirty gray blanket. It’s heat resistant since it’s made from a lightweight, indestructible material: asbestos. Under the blanket, it’s just him and the sparks and the substances that are freed up by the fusion of the electrode. Just one single fiber of asbestos, and twenty-six years later, he will be dead. [End Page 29] ________ This is the story of a man who has the same surname as me and the same birthday as me, but he’s not me. This is a story that begins with a pop song by Nada and ends with the toxic science of heavy metals. It’s 1969, the Swinging Sixties are coming to an end, and we’re at the Cardellino nightclub in Castiglioncello, near Livorno. Nada Malanima, a singer fresh off the Sanremo musical festival circuit, has become popular for her tune “Ma che freddo fa.” A member of the paparazzi from Livorno, locally known as “Nick Flash” for the blinding halogen light on his camera, takes a picture of her surrounded by waiters and fans. Standing next to her is a tall, thin man who vaguely resembles Jean-Paul Belmondo. Nada is just sixteen, and he’s twenty-four. His name is Renato, and he’s the main character of this story, which begins with an iconic song from the sixties and ends with his slow death. If this were a noir, the name of the killer would be revealed outright, but in this case, it’s a “workplace homicide.” The culprit is surrounded by evidence and by witnesses who deny any and all responsibility. There’s no happy ending and no resolution. The threat is still out there: a silent killer protected by an army of doctors, engineers, consultants, and businessmen. I’m reluctant to begin telling...

An Optimistic Engineer

An Optimistic Engineer Nick Arvin (bio) They depart in the early morning hours in a rainstorm, and as they drive north the sheets of falling water turn to windblown snow. The client leads in an SUV with a couple of his employees; Jake follows in his own SUV, Reggie beside him. Despite the weather, the client presses the speed limit, 75 mph in Colorado, 80 mph in Wyoming. Two hours. Three hours. "We're going to die," Jake says, repeatedly. "We're going to die in flames and snow." The wipers labor, and the tires carry forward on the icy lanes as if floating. In the passenger seat, Reggie sleeps. Reggie is hard of hearing. It is late May; five days ago it was 90 degrees. Despite the specter of imminent death, it is a long drive, and Jake's thoughts stray to other depressing topics. When they finish their work today, they will spend the night in Gillette. Jake's ex-wife, Deb, is from Gillette, her father a welder and rodeo cowboy, but she moved to Denver the moment she finished high school, and she always said she loathed the wind, dust, and emptiness of Wyoming. Then, as soon as she and Jake were divorced, she moved back to Gillette. Jake notes gloomily that it would be a terrible mistake to go see her. Fiascos will ensue. Yet, of course, while he's in Gillette, he will try to see her. It's doom. But maybe she can help him with the boys. Maybe there's some tiny chance. Reggie in the passenger seat wakes and tells a story about a compressor station that he helped design years ago, which later caught fire. "Of course, a fire starts, they just get everyone out, close the block valves, and let the place burn to the ground! Wasn't my fault, thank God! Bad relief valve!" Due to his difficulty hearing, Reggie speaks as if yelling to someone in another room. The snow turns back to rain. Perhaps they won't die after all. And maybe it doesn't matter anyway, Jake thinks, since every day is either a slow death or a fast death. That's the only real choice. He tells Reggie—because it's necessary during this trip, and he wants to get it out of the way—that he'll probably have to shut down the office next week and file for bankruptcy. "You've said that a hundred times!" Reggie says. [End Page 18] This time it's absolutely true, but Jake doesn't say that. Instead he says, "The thing everyone forgets about the boy who cried wolf is that eventually the wolf did come and eat everything up." ________ At a gas station, they meet several men who work for the Arroyo Pipeline Company. In a convoy of SUVs, they pass over a cattle guard and proceed by gravel backroads and two-tracks into the rolling empty expanse of prairie. Eventually, they arrive at a complex of machinery on a large square of gravel. Massive engines power reciprocating compressors interconnected by steel pipes with huge vessels half buried in the earth and a 25-foot flare stack flaming at the top with a continuous ripping sound. The machines here pull natural gas from wellheads, knock out some of the liquids that come with the gas, and then push the gas on to other facilities for more cleanup, more compression, and finally to factories, power plants, homes, and kitchen stovetops. Jake has spent a lot of time in places like this, and still it seems a miracle that it all doesn't blow up and kill him. Who knows when the relief valves were last tested? The operators mention that these engines have more than 100,000 operating hours each. They mention "deferred maintenance." The client draws Jake away from the others. The client's name is Samuel, and Jake worked with him years ago, when they were young engineers, designing and building natural gas liquids terminals in the Four Corners area. He wants to know what Jake thinks. "What are you hoping I'll think?" Jake asks. "I think it looks fine," Samuel...

The Lifelines of Empire: Logistics as Infrastructural Power in Occupied South Vietnam

In this essay, I argue that an important yet understudied consequence of the Vietnam War was an imperial turn toward modern logistics management. I track how the US empire-state used the war as a crucible for forging new hybridizations of military and corporate logistics. Over the course of the war, imperial forces assembled a transpacific infrastructure for managing the just-in-time flows of commodities and bodies between the United States and South Vietnam. Drawing on prior US imperial experiences in Korea and the Philippines, American supply chain managers recruited a multinational workforce of Vietnamese, South Korean, and Filipinx nationals to labor along transpacific supply chains. I read archival sources to track how supply chain managers enmeshed these logistics workers in regimes of slow violence and death. As the war dragged on, logistics workers struggled to dismantle these sociospatial infrastructures of exploitation, devalorization, attrition, and control. What emerged out of this frictional politics of encounter was the blueprint for a new, more just-in-time form of imperialism.

Let Us Never Forget

Let Us Never Forget Bob Blundell (bio) In a secluded forest near the city of Krakow, a young sentry stood watch. Muted rays of sunlight filtered through the pines casting a pale light on the soldier, just a boy of 17. A tattered grey uniform sagged over his thin frame and the silver eagle on his helmet was faded to the color of dust. The emblem, denoting him as an infantryman in the army of the Third Reich, had once been a symbol of pride and honor. But those days had long since passed. Though it was early Spring, a biting wind whispered softly through the treetops, and he raised his collar and peered up into a morning sky turned murky grey. He felt the moist sting of snowflakes on his cheeks and closed his eyes, reflecting on more tranquil times. His mind began to drift and for a moment he could see his loving mother's face, the noble lines of age etched above her lips, and the gentle creases beneath deep azure eyes. But soon the image faded, and he returned to this place and time. He wiped a smudge from his watch and stared pensively back toward the camp below him, watching the soldiers scurry about in preparation. Soon the trains would come, and the madness would begin. A tall SS colonel, hardened by years of combat in north Africa, strutted from the comforting warmth of his barracks and quietly surveyed the expanse of rail tracks stretching to the south. He lit a cigarette with his right hand and exhaled, sending a blue plume of smoke drifting into the frigid air. His left arm dangled uselessly at his side and a serpentine scar snaked along the length of his jaw. [End Page 349] Both were remnants of his service to the cause. He had been selected for this commission because he had spent his life devoted to the fatherland. But more important, there was a harsh coldness in his heart that suited this task well. Thin strands of ice clung to the barbed wire stretching around the camp, and he seemed to regard this curiously. He stood in the early morning mist, pacing and smoking his cigarette, then tossed it to the ground and began to shout orders to the troops. The young soldier and his comrades moved to their assigned positions, and within minutes the ground began to rumble, and the mechanical grind of the locomotive pierced the air as it lumbered toward the camp. Suddenly the face of the engine broke through a silver fog hovering over the tracks, and it crept toward them slowly like a great beast. It's bones creaked as its weight was absorbed by the steel rails, and when it finally came to a stop, it uttered a loud sigh like a mournful mother. The soldiers quickly began their business of unloading the cargo as terrified screams filtered through the tired wooden slats of the cars. The victims, men, women, and children poured through the narrow doors and some stumbled to the icy ground to be trampled by those behind them. The officer watched this melee with no emotion, then strutted to the entrance of the camp and waited while the people were herded into two lines. As the innocents marched past him, he studied them carefully as a farmer would view livestock for purchase. The strongest would be chosen for a slow death through starvation, and disease. The rest would be ushered into the buildings for disposal. The first group of women and children were herded into the courtyard by guards brandishing rifles with bayonets. The wet steel of the blades glistened like teeth in the morning mist, and the terrified shrieks of frightened children filled the air. After they had been carefully counted, they were ordered to remove their clothing. They slowly disrobed, dropping their garments to the snow, and as their bodies were exposed, the soldiers laughed, shouting taunts and jeers. The women huddled against one another, covering their breasts, and shivered under an icy mist that fell like tears from the sky. [End Page 350] Towels and bars of soap were distributed to some, and they...

Hot-iron branding for musculoskeletal pain: A tribal ritual dying a slow death as primary healthcare system flourish.

Hot-iron branding for musculoskeletal pain: A tribal ritual dying a slow death as primary healthcare system flourish.

Functional Activity of Humic Substances in Survival Prolongation of Populations of Hydrocarbon-Oxidizing Bacteria Acinetobacter junii

A new approach is described to increasing the numbers of viable cells in long-term stored populations (cultures) of the hydrocarbon-oxidizing bacterium Acinetobacter junii, which involves application of humic substances (HSs). HSs are produced due to condensation and oxidation of phenolic compounds, including alkylresorcinols, factors of intercellular microbial communication with stress-potentiating and antioxidant activity. HS addition to the stationary-phase bacterial culture was shown to result in 10- to 15-fold increase in cell viability for bacterial preparations stored for 1 to 4 months under provocative conditions (free air supply, growth medium, and temperatures of 20–25°C). Analysis of death curves for experimental and control A. junii cultures revealed two phases, with the initial stage of rapid death (0.167 log CFU/mL day), usual for autolysis of the regular stationary cells, and the stage of slower death (log 0.015 CFU/mL day), typical of persister cells. This was previously shown to be the feature determining this type of phenotypic heterogeneity in the populations of opportunistic bacteria. The concentration dependence of HSs effect on persisters formation was determined. While treatment of A. junii stationary cultures with hydrogen peroxide (0.03–0.3%) as a stress factor also resulted in enhanced persisters formation (fourfold), unlike the HS-treated variants they survived for not more than 1.5 to 2 months. Plating of the control and experimental variants (with HSs or H2O2) after long-term storage (2–4 months) revealed their phase variation spectrum to change due to replacement of the dominant colony morphology phenotype by the minor ones (40% and more), which is one of the features of the dormant cystlike bacterial forms. The ratios of the variants in the control and experiments (with HSs) were different. Comparison of the chemical composition of HS preparations indicated that the most oxidized hydrophilic HSs affected formation of persister cells, while less oxidized humates with higher antioxidant activity were responsible for the viability prolongation. Thus, the effect of HSs on bacterial populations includes induction of persister cell formation (their increased number), prolongation of the colony-forming capacity in the cells surviving under provocative storage conditions, and alteration of the phase variant spectrum of the stored populations. Formation of stress-induced persister cells developing into mature dormant forms supporting survival of the population (species) was established for saprotrophic bacteria (in the case of A. junii). In practical terms, HS-induced formation of persister cells may be recommended for development of diverse bacterial preparations.

Hypoglossal nerve injury with long nerve resection leading to slow motoneuron death

Crush injury to peripheral nerves in adult animals is considered not to trigger retrograde neuronal cell death; however, several studies reported neuronal cell death following severe injuries including nerve transection, resection, or avulsion. However, the rate of neuronal cell death varied among studies. In this study, we evaluated the outcomes of very severe nerve injury by long nerve resection in adult rats. Right hypoglossal (XII) nerve was exposed, and a 9-mm section was resected. At 4, 8, and 12 weeks after the resection, the number of XII neurons were counted in from the rostral to caudal sections. The number of XII neurons in the injured right side was reduced after the XII nerve resection compared with the uninjured left side. The mean rates of surviving neurons at 4, 8, and 12 weeks after the nerve resection were 83.5 %, 73.9 %, and 61.1 %, respectively, which were significantly lower than those of the control. The number of XII neurons after extensive XII nerve resection declined gradually over a relatively long time period, revealing that extensive nerve resection led to slow cell death of the injured neurons.

"Poslední tanec": bolest, postižení a smrt Jeriky Bolen

In the summer of 2016, black, disabled, and gay 14-year-old Jerika Bolen announced her decision to die. The public conversation surrounding Bolen's decision, launched through a series of newspaper articles announcing a 'last dance' prom, offers a case-study through which to explore how pain frustrates an analysis of the biopolitical formations that shape both right-to-die discussions and decisions. In doing so, this article offers two interventions. It reveals how dominant views of pain and disability shape and limit how we make sense of Jerika's life and death. It also highlights the analytical leverage that this critical approach offers by reading Bolen's death as a form of what critical theorist Lauren Berlant calls 'slow death' or the gradual wearing out of populations. In this way, I extend conversations within critical theory that seek to trace the slower and more sustained impacts of structural oppression. In looking at the convergence of the biopolitics and necropolitics of disability, race, class, gender, and sexuality, I suggest Bolen's death and the 'last dance' that launched an international public conversation about it function as a celebration of slow death facilitated, in part, by dominant views of pain and disability.

The trouble with ‘truth’. On the politics of life and death in the assessment of queer asylum seekers

This article explores death and dying in the context of queer migration by reflecting on the ways in which queer asylum seekers are exposed to various forms and manifestations of death through the process of seeking asylum. The article is based on qualitative interviews with queer asylum seekers in Denmark. Drawing on the concept of necropolitics, the article considers how the politics of truth within the asylum system manage life and death not only by the rejection and deportation of applicants, but also by exposing applicants to a slow death in the temporalities of a prolonged process of seeking asylum. The politics of truth within the asylum system appear to be predicated on ideals of normalised national white queerness and homonormativity that come to determine queer asylum seekers’ legitimacy and access to inclusion. Queer migrants’ paths to protection play out in a geopolitical context where the hope of life, asylum and citizenship are infused with deathly practices and normative imaginaries of truthful queerness.

Sharjah Biennial 14

Reports| September 03 2019 Sharjah Biennial 14: Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, March 7–June 10, 2019 Sabrina Deturk Sabrina Deturk Sabrina DeTurk is an associate professor and assistant dean for research in the College of Arts and Creative Enterprises at Zayed University, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Sabrina DeTurk is an associate professor and assistant dean for research in the College of Arts and Creative Enterprises at Zayed University, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Afterimage (2019) 46 (3): 9–14. https://doi.org/10.1525/aft.2019.463002 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Sabrina Deturk; Sharjah Biennial 14: Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, March 7–June 10, 2019. Afterimage 3 September 2019; 46 (3): 9–14. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/aft.2019.463002 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAfterimage Search In an empty courtyard surrounded by stone walls, visitors made their way around stagnant pools of water, drawn toward brightly colored panels set into the back wall of the space. The sounds of birds and bubbling water surrounded them. Suddenly, a dead palm tree at the center of the courtyard spoke with a woman’s voice, telling the visitor about her slow death from loss of nutrients; the voice mourned not only life, but love, explaining that her lover drained her of existence. This mixed-media work, Aging Ruins Dreaming Only to Recall the Hard Chisel from the Past (2019), was a collaboration between the Nigerian artists Otobong Nkanga and Emeka Ogboh and won the 2019 Sharjah Biennial Prize. Haunting and evocative in its own right, the work also reflects many of the themes addressed by artists throughout this biennial: the passage of time, loss, displacement, memory. According to Hoor Al Qasimi,... You do not currently have access to this content.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the necro-populationism of ‘climate-smart’ agriculture

Agricultural and reproductive technologies ostensibly represent opposing poles within discourses on population growth: one aims to ‘feed the world,’ while the other seeks to limit the number of mouths there are to feed. There is, however, an urgent need to critically interrogate new discourses linking population size with climate change and promoting agricultural and reproductive technologies as a means to address associated problems. This article analyses the specific discourses produced by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) in relation to these ‘population technologies’ and ‘climate-smart’ agriculture in particular. Drawing on concepts and approaches developed by Black, postcolonial and Marxist feminists including intersectionality, racial capitalism, social reproduction, and reproductive and environmental justice, we explore how within these discourses, the ‘geo-populationism’ of the BMGF’s climate-smart agriculture initiatives, like the ‘demo-populationism’ of its family planning interventions, mobilises neoliberal notions of empowerment, productivity and innovation. Not only do these populationist discourses reinforce neoliberal framings and policies which extend existing regimes of racialised and gendered socio-spatial inequality, but they also underwrite global capital accumulation through new science and technologies. The BMGF’s representations of its climate-smart agriculture initiatives offer the opportunity to understand how threats of climate change are mobilised to reanimate and repackage the Malthusian disequilibrium between human fertility and agricultural productivity. Drawing upon our readings of these discourses, we critically propose the concept of ‘necro-populationism’ to refer to processes that target racialised and gendered populations for dispossession, toxification, slow death and embodied violence, even while direct accountability for the effects of these changes is dispersed. We also identify a need for further research which will not only trace the ways in which the BMGF’s global policies are materialised, spatialised, reproduced and reoriented by multiple actors in local contexts, but will also recognise and affirm the diverse forms through which these ‘necro-populationist’ processes are disavowed and resisted.

Slow or spectacular death: Reconsidering the legal history of blockade and submarines in World War I

In popular culture and imagination, World War I was a bloody, muddy, senseless, almost accidental conflict. International law seems far removed from the causes of the war or the way hostilities were conducted. This seeming irrelevance of international law in popular imagination is reflected in intellectual, literary, and scholarly accounts. However, during the centenary of the war, it is time to rethink the role law played in this first large-scale conflict of the twentieth century. Drawing on recent legal historiography as well as original research, this article will argue, through a look at the conduct of naval warfare, that law was central to how Allied, Central, and neutral states navigated the conflict. Specifically, we examine the role law played in the practices of the warring parties in navigating the interdiction of – and attacks on – the civilian shipping of belligerents and neutrals.

NK cells switch from granzyme B to death receptor-mediated cytotoxicity during serial killing.

NK cells eliminate virus-infected and tumor cells by releasing cytotoxic granules containing granzyme B (GrzB) or by engaging death receptors that initiate caspase cascades. The orchestrated interplay between both cell death pathways remains poorly defined. Here we simultaneously measure the activities of GrzB and caspase-8 in tumor cells upon contact with human NK cells. We observed that NK cells switch from inducing a fast GrzB-mediated cell death in their first killing events to a slow death receptor-mediated killing during subsequent tumor cell encounters. Target cell contact reduced intracellular GrzB and perforin and increased surface-CD95L in NK cells over time, showing how the switch in cytotoxicity pathways is controlled. Without perforin, NK cells were unable to perform GrzB-mediated serial killing and only killed once via death receptors. In contrast, the absence of CD95 on tumor targets did not impair GrzB-mediated serial killing. This demonstrates that GrzB and death receptor-mediated cytotoxicity are differentially regulated during NK cell serial killing.