Drill rap and dignity

Since 2010 drill rap has become a notorious music genre that is often associated with violent or even criminal behaviour. Drill rap can be considered a vital way of expressing emotions and dealing with social injustice and inequality. At the same time, drill rap seems to fit into a long tradition of connecting music to negative behaviour amongst juveniles and is perceived as an amplifier for criminality. In this chapter, we discuss the extent to which drill rap is at the core of conflicting human rights perspectives. We will focus on how drill rap embodies deep societal issues that involve disadvantaged young peopl

The right to food in international law with case studies from The Netherlands and Belgium

In this chapter, the enforceability of the right to adequate food is discussed in the context of industrialized countries. The right to food as a human right can be considered the fundament of food law. Human rights in themselves occupy a special position in the field of law. On the one hand they encompass rights of a high moral value which goes beyond the boundaries of a State or the consent of a State to be bound by it. On the other hand, human right agreements are put in the form of international treaties, whose effect is greatly depending on the willingness of its member States to act in compliance with their commitments. Therefore, enforcing an international human right in a domestic court, such as the right to adequate food, is not per se a matter of course. Two issues appear to be highly influential in determining whether an international human right can be effectively invoked in a domestic court. The first is the alleged difference between civil and political rights on the one hand, and economic, social and cultural rights on the other hand. Traditionally, it is assumed that the first type of rights require govern- ment abstaining and are therefore enforceable. The latter type implies government action and are not enforceable due to a margin of discretion the national govern- ments enjoy in implementing these rights. However, there are sound arguments to oppose this traditional approach in human rights typology. These arguments are frequently pointed out in the context of the United Nation's specialized institutions as well as in literature. The second issue is the working of the domestic constitution that usually regulates the effect of international law in the domestic legal order. A case study of two industrialized countries who are favorable to human rights-the Netherlands and Belgium-was conducted. Where normally the right to food is addressed in the context of developing countries, poverty and large scale hunger, the selected countries do not suffer such constraints. Instead, the circumstances within these countries would allow an enforceable right to food to work. The case study reveals that the coincidental constitutional context of a country may be of greater influence to the enforceability of internationally recognized human rights, rather than the content of the rights in itself. In both countries the right to food can hardly be enforced through the domestic courts, in contrast to what these countries communicate in the international arena

Oncogene-dependent sloppiness in mRNA translation

mRNA translation is a highly conserved and tightly controlled mechanism for protein synthesis. Despite protein quality control mechanisms, amino acid shortage in melanoma induces aberrant proteins by ribosomal frameshifting. The extent and the underlying mechanisms related to this phenomenon are yet unknown. Here, we show that tryptophan depletion-induced ribosomal frameshifting is a widespread phenomenon in cancer. We termed this event sloppiness and strikingly observed its association with MAPK pathway hyperactivation. Sloppiness is stimulated by RAS activation in primary cells, suppressed by pharmacological inhibition of the oncogenic MAPK pathway in sloppy cells, and restored in cells with acquired resistance to MAPK pathway inhibition. Interestingly, sloppiness causes aberrant peptide presentation at the cell surface, allowing recognition and specific killing of drug-resistant cancer cells by T lymphocytes. Thus, while oncogenes empower cancer progression and aggressiveness, they also expose a vulnerability by provoking the production of aberrant peptides through sloppiness

Oncogene-dependent sloppiness in mRNA translation

mRNA translation is a highly conserved and tightly controlled mechanism for protein synthesis. Despite protein quality control mechanisms, amino acid shortage in melanoma induces aberrant proteins by ribosomal frameshifting. The extent and the underlying mechanisms related to this phenomenon are yet unknown. Here, we show that tryptophan depletion-induced ribosomal frameshifting is a widespread phenomenon in cancer. We termed this event sloppiness and strikingly observed its association with MAPK pathway hyperactivation. Sloppiness is stimulated by RAS activation in primary cells, suppressed by pharmacological inhibition of the oncogenic MAPK pathway in sloppy cells, and restored in cells with acquired resistance to MAPK pathway inhibition. Interestingly, sloppiness causes aberrant peptide presentation at the cell surface, allowing recognition and specific killing of drug-resistant cancer cells by T lymphocytes. Thus, while oncogenes empower cancer progression and aggressiveness, they also expose a vulnerability by provoking the production of aberrant peptides through sloppiness

Oncogene-dependent sloppiness in mRNA translation

mRNA translation is a highly conserved and tightly controlled mechanism for protein synthesis. Despite protein quality control mechanisms, amino acid shortage in melanoma induces aberrant proteins by ribosomal frameshifting. The extent and the underlying mechanisms related to this phenomenon are yet unknown. Here, we show that tryptophan depletion-induced ribosomal frameshifting is a widespread phenomenon in cancer. We termed this event sloppiness and strikingly observed its association with MAPK pathway hyperactivation. Sloppiness is stimulated by RAS activation in primary cells, suppressed by pharmacological inhibition of the oncogenic MAPK pathway in sloppy cells, and restored in cells with acquired resistance to MAPK pathway inhibition. Interestingly, sloppiness causes aberrant peptide presentation at the cell surface, allowing recognition and specific killing of drug-resistant cancer cells by T lymphocytes. Thus, while oncogenes empower cancer progression and aggressiveness, they also expose a vulnerability by provoking the production of aberrant peptides through sloppiness