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Response to Distinguished Lecture - Thomas O. Haakenson "Art, Science, and the Paradox of Knowledge: Decolonizing the European Avant-Garde"
(The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2022)
I am grateful for the opportunity to read and respond to Thomas O. Haakenson's essay and contribute to a broader discussion of decolonization in the field of German studies, which is a topic long overdue to reach the pages of German Studies Review. Haakenson's thought-provoking essay discusses the decolonial potential of Dada and the avant-garde more broadly. Haakenson's essay reflects on Dada as both an art movement with a specific chronology associated with cities such as Zurich, New York, Paris, and Berlin and connected to the racialized legacies of colonialism and appropriation, as well as an artistic praxis, with techniques such as juxtaposition and obfuscation rife with critical possibilities.
Missing in action: the right to the highest attainable standard of mental health care
(BioMed Central, 2022)
Background
The right to the highest attainable standard of mental health remains a distant goal worldwide. The Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the right of all people to enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health pleaded the urgent need for governments to act through appropriate laws and policies. We argue that Australia is in breach of international obligations, with inadequate access to mental health services, inconsistent mental health legislation across jurisdictions and ongoing structural (systematic) and individual discrimination.
Discussion
Inadequate access to mental health services is a worldwide phenomenon. Australia has committed to international law obligations under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) to ‘promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disability, with respect to their inherent dignity’. This includes people with mental health impairment and this convention includes the right to ‘the highest attainable standard of mental health’. Under the Australian Constitution, ratification of this convention enables the national government to pass laws to implement the convention obligations, and such national laws would prevail over any inconsistent state (or territory) laws governing mental health service provision.
Summary
The authors argue that enabling positive rights through legislation and legally binding mental health service standards may facilitate enhanced accountability and enforcement of such rights. These steps may support critical key stakeholders to improve the standards of mental health service provision supported by the implementation of international obligations, thereby accelerating mental health system reform. Improved legislation would encourage better governance and the evolution of better services, making mental health care more accessible, without structural or individual discrimination, enabling all people to enjoy the highest attainable standard of health.
Cannabinoid signaling modulation through JZL184 restores key phenotypes of a mouse model for Williams-Beuren syndrome
(eLife Sciences Publications Ltd, 2022)
Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS) is a rare genetic multisystemic disorder characterized by mild-to-moderate intellectual disability and hypersocial phenotype, while the most life-threatening features are cardiovascular abnormalities. Nowadays, there are no pharmacological treatments to directly ameliorate the main traits of WBS. The endocannabinoid system (ECS), given its relevance for both cognitive and cardiovascular function, could be a potential druggable target in this syndrome. We analyzed the components of the ECS in the complete deletion (CD) mouse model of WBS and assessed the impact of its pharmacological modulation in key phenotypes relevant for WBS. CD mice showed the characteristic hypersociable phenotype with no preference for social novelty and poor short-term object-recognition performance. Brain cannabinoid type-1 receptor (CB1R) in CD male mice showed alterations in density and coupling with no detectable change in main endocannabinoids. Endocannabinoid signaling modulation with subchronic (10 days) JZL184, a selective inhibitor of monoacylglycerol lipase, specifically normalized the social and cognitive phenotype of CD mice. Notably, JZL184 treatment improved cardiovascular function and restored gene expression patterns in cardiac tissue. These results reveal the modulation of the ECS as a promising novel therapeutic approach to improve key phenotypic alterations in WBS.
Instapoetry: The Anxiety of the Influencer
(Cordite Publishing Inc, 2021)
On Instagram, old questions about sincerity and identity in the lyric voice meet new pressures from the digital attention economy.