Can the current attitudes toward utopia be described as hollow space in the Blochian sense? The political debate is dominated by apocalyptic imagination which fuels populist movements but ultimately ...it does not have any emancipatory potential. Contemporary reflection on utopia can be either defined by a outopian attitude that is critical towards the status quo but sees alternative arrangements as no-places or as a contemplative utopia, that recognizes the need for utopian visions but cannot identify any political agency. Activism without utopian mental picture often disintegrates for lack of a unified goal and therefore cannot live up to its transformative potential. Retopia, the fourth attitude towards utopia could refocus the eutopian impulse and counter the apocalyptic imagination with a radical imagination that is based on the encouragement of political action. Politics is a confidence game and action inspired by retopian mental pictures could create a sense of an opening in the There is No Alternative doctrine that dominates the political sphere..
KEYWORDS: outopia/eutopia, retopia, action, imagination, political agency
--Pueden describirse las actitudes actuales hacia la utopía como un espacio vacío en el sentido Blochiano? El debate político está dominado por la imaginación apocalíptica que alimenta los movimientos populistas pero que, en última instancia, no tiene ningún potencial emancipatorio. La reflexión contemporánea sobre la utopía puede definirse por una actitud outópica, crítica hacia el status quo, pero que ve las propuestas alternativas como no-lugares o como una utopía contemplativa, que reconoce la necesidad de visiones utópicas pero no puede identificar a ninguna agencia política. El activismo sin imagen mental utópica a menudo se desintegra por falta de un objetivo unificado y, por lo tanto, no puede estar a la altura de su potencial transformador. Retopía, la cuarta actitud hacia la utopía podría reenfocar el impulso eutopista y contrarrestar la imaginación apocalíptica con una imaginación radical que se basa en el estímulo de la acción política. La política es un juego de confianza y la acción inspirada en las imágenes mentales retópicas podría crear una sensación de apertura en la doctrina de No hay alternativa que domina la esfera política.PALABRAS CLAVE: outopía/eutopía, retopía, acción, imaginación, agencia política
In this study, we evaluated whether point correlation dimension (PD2), a measure of heart rate variability, can predict hypotension accompanying spinal anesthesia for cesarean delivery. After the ...administration of spinal anesthesia with bupivacaine, hypotension was defined as systolic blood pressure </=75% of baseline within 20 min of intrathecal injection. Using the median prespinal PD2 (3.90) to form 2 groups, LO and HI, all 11 hypotensive patients were in the LO group, and all 11 patients without hypotension were in the HI group. Baseline heart rate in the LO group was 95 bpm (10.2 sd), versus 81 bpm (9.6 sd) in the HI group. PD2 shows promise as a predictor of hypotension in pregnant women receiving spinal anesthesia.
This article investigates the contradictory information about the Estonian identity of the filmmaker Dimitri Kirsanoff (1899–1957) and examines the archival material that provides final confirmation ...of his birth and childhood in Tartu. In addition, Kirsanoff’s substantial contribution to silent cinema and his significance in the context of French avant-garde impressionism are discussed. Kirsanoff’s most acclaimed film
(France, 1926) was released 90 years ago. It is still frequently screened all over the world, due to its experimental montage techniques, the early use of handheld cameras, its innovative use of actual locations and the actors’ performances that still resonate with contemporary audiences.
is also influential because of its elliptical narrative style. However, with the advent of sound film, Kirsanoff’s career declined because the reorganisation of the film industry limited the creative freedom he enjoyed in the 1920s. This article attempts to contribute to a wider acknowledgement of Dimitri Kirsanoff’s Estonian origins, his films and his important place in the world cinema.
This article investigates the contradictory information about the Estonian identity of the filmmaker Dimitri Kirsanoff (1899–1957) and examines the archival material that provides final confirmation ...of his birth and childhood in Tartu. In addition, Kirsanoff’s substantial contribution to silent cinema and his significance in the context of French avant-garde impressionism are discussed. Kirsanoff’s most acclaimed film Ménilmontant (France, 1926) was released 90 years ago. It is still frequently screened all over the world, due to its experimental montage techniques, the early use of handheld cameras, its innovative use of actual locations and the actors’ performances that still resonate with contemporary audiences. Ménilmontant is also influential because of its elliptical narrative style. However, with the advent of sound film, Kirsanoff’s career declined because the reorganisation of the film industry limited the creative freedom he enjoyed in the 1920s. This article attempts to contribute to a wider acknowledgement of Dimitri Kirsanoff’s Estonian origins, his films and his important place in the world cinema.
The Retopian Approach to Art Hoyer, Dirk
REGAC - Revista de Estudios Globales y Arte Contempor neo,
2016, 2016-00-00, Letnik:
4, Številka:
2016.1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
In contemporary art there has been a resurgent interest in returning to the idea of Utopia. However 500 years after Thomas More the meaning of the word utopia has become more complex than in the 16th ...century: is utopia a outopia or a eutopia? This paper argues the need for a classification of the use of the term of utopia in the context of contemporary art. Is Utopia a contemporary outopia (as shown by artists like Thomas Hirschhorn) that reflects a critical use of the term but excludes any possibility of social change and is pessimistic about artistic agency. Is utopia a contemplative utopia (as artists like Liam Gillick propose) that acknowledges transformative potential of a reality transcending concept but does not articulate any agency? Can the social and political change be achieved through activism without a mental utopian picture (as aimed for in the projects of WochenKlausur)? Or are all three basic attitudes toward utopia in contemporary art a reduction of the transformative potential of utopia because none of them connects a utopian mental picture with the concept of political agency? Based on a critical reevaluation of Lewis Mumford’s idea of “reconstructive utopia” the concept of retopia is an attempt to revive utopia as a suggestive device that links a utopian mental picture with political agency. The retopia is a reconstructive eutopia that does not make any claim on human nature and avoids abstract universals by explicitly grounding the utopian project in the local environment. Retopia has the claim to be put into practice through social experimentation. A retopian approach to contemporary art (and politics) has the potential to reintroduce reality transcending political concepts that do not replicate the authoritarian cul de sacs of past utopias while at the same time reaffirm the catalyst function of utopian thinking.
Abstract Introduction Prenatal exposure to supraphysiological glucocorticoid (GC) levels may lead to long‐lasting developmental changes in numerous biological systems. Our prior study identified an ...association between prenatal GC prophylaxis and reduced cognitive performance, electrocortical changes, and altered autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity in children aged 8–9 years. This follow‐up study aimed to examine whether these findings persisted into adolescence. Material and Methods Prospective observational follow‐up study involving twenty‐one 14‐ to 15‐year‐old adolescents born to mothers who received betamethasone for induction of fetal lung maturation in threatened preterm birth, but who were born with a normal weight appropriate for their gestational age (median 37 +4 gestational weeks). Thirty‐five children not exposed to betamethasone served as the reference group (median 37 +6 gestational weeks). The primary endpoint was cognitive performance, measured by intelligence quotient (IQ). Key secondary endpoints included symptoms of attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and metabolic markers. Additionally, we determined electrocortical (electroencephalogram), hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis (HPAA), and ANS activity in response to a standardized stress paradigm. Results No statistically significant group difference was observed in global IQ (adjusted mean: betamethasone 103.9 versus references 105.9, mean difference −2.0, 95% confidence interval CI: −7.12 to 3.12, p = 0.44). Similarly, ADHD symptoms, metabolic markers, the overall and stress‐induced activity of the HPAA and the ANS did not differ significantly between groups. However, the betamethasone group exhibited reduced electrocortical activity in the frontal brain region (spectral edge frequency–adjusted means: 16.0 Hz versus 17.8 Hz, mean difference −1.83 Hz, 95% CI: −3.21 to −0.45, p = 0.01). Conclusions In 14‐ to 15‐year‐old adolescents, prenatal GC exposure was not associated with differences in IQ scores or ANS activity compared to unexposed controls. However, decelerated electrocortical activity in the frontal region potentially reflects disturbances in the maturation of cortical and/or subcortical brain structures. The clinical significance of these changes remains unknown. Given the small sample size, selective participation/loss of follow‐up and potential residual confounding, these findings should be interpreted cautiously. Further research is required to replicate these results in larger cohorts before drawing firm clinical conclusions.
Introduction
Glucocorticoid (GC) ‐induced fetal programming of the activity of the hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis (HPAA) and its associated cognitive and behavioral consequences in later life ...have been well characterized in several animal species. However, information on humans is scarce. In this study, we examined HPAA activity markers and associated outcomes at 8 to 9 years of age among children prenatally exposed to GC for suspected preterm birth. Our hypothesis was that antenatal exposure to the betamethasone (BM) is associated with exacerbation of HPAA activity in childhood.
Material and methods
Prospective observational study in 31 children whose mothers received single (n = 19) or multiple (n = 12) courses of BM for threatened preterm birth but born with normal weight appropriate for the gestational age (median 37+6 weeks of gestation) compared with 38 non‐exposed, age‐matched children. Primary end point was the activity of the HPAA in response to the Trier Social Stress Test. Secondary end points were changes in autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity, cognitive performance (IQ), attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, and electrocortical activity (EEG).
Results
There was no statistically significant difference in HPAA activity markers between antenatal BM exposed and unexposed groups. ANS activity in BM‐exposed children shifted towards a higher parasympathetic tone reflected by a higher overall high‐frequency band power of heart rate variability. IQ scores were within normal limits for both groups; however, BM‐exposed children had lower IQ scores than the unexposed group. BM‐exposed group had marginally more ADHD core symptoms and increased electrocortical activity in the occipital brain region compared with controls. A monotonic dose–response relation between BM exposure and activity of the ANS and IQ was estimated in post‐hoc analyses.
Conclusions
Antenatal exposure to BM in the context of threatened preterm birth was not associated with changes in HPAA activity in childhood. However, BM exposure may be associated with changes in ANS activity. Antenatal GC prophylaxis is a valuable and often life‐saving therapy, but its prescription may warrant a well‐balanced risk–benefit assessment.
The autonomic nervous system interacts with the immune system via the inflammatory response. Heart rate variability (HRV), a marker of autonomic activity, is associated with inflammation, and ...nosocomial infections/sepsis, and has clinical implications for the monitoring of at-risk patients. Due to the vagal tone's influence on anti-inflammatory immune response, this association may predominately be reflected by vagally-mediated HRV indices. However, HRV's predictive significance on inflammation/infection remains unclear.
843 studies examining the associations/prognostic value of HRV indices on inflammation, and nosocomial infection/sepsis were screened in this systematic review. According to inclusion and exclusion criteria, 68 associative studies and 14 prediction studies were included.
HRV and pro-inflammatory state were consistently associated in healthy subjects and patient groups. Pro-inflammatory state was related to reduced total power HRV including vagally- and non-vagally-mediated HRV indices. Similar, compared to controls, HRV reductions were observed during nosocomial infections/sepsis.
Only limited evidence supports the predictive value of HRV in the development of nosocomial infections/sepsis. Reduced very low frequency power HRV showed the highest predictive value in adults, even with different clinical conditions. In neonates, an increased heart rate characteristic score, combining reduced total power HRV, decreased complexity, and vagally-dominated asymmetry, predicted sepsis.
Pro-inflammatory state is related to an overall reduction in HRV rather than a singular reduction in vagally-mediated HRV indices, reflecting the complex autonomic-regulatory changes occurring during inflammation.
The potential benefit of using continuous HRV monitoring for detecting nosocomial infection-related states, and the implications for clinical outcome, need further clarification.
•The autonomic nervous system controls inflammation via cholinergic pathways.•Heart rate variability (HRV) is a cardiac biomarker of autonomic activity.•HRV is reduced during inflammation.•Selective changes of parasympathetic component were not identified.•HRV monitoring in predicting nosocomial infections/sepsis needs further clarification.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Estonia experienced a radical socio-economic transformation process. In this article, we examine how this reconfiguration of society finds its expression in ...Estonian film noir of the 1990s. The transformation process generated spatio-temporal effects, reflecting the neoliberal conversion from the public to the private, and shifted the axis of identification from horizontal to vertical. The new constellations of power generated centripetal and centrifugal effects, creating winners and losers, the included and the excluded. The 1990s Estonian films noir focus on the losers of a period that was considered by many Estonians as a lost decade. Similar to American film noir of the 1940s and 1950s, the portrayals of doomed characters in a universe without moral points of orientation reflect the paradox of the rise of individualism in a world where the domestic sphere is in crisis. The doomed protagonist, the visual and narrative bleakness of the 1990s Estonian films noir, is the subject of our chronotopic analysis. The dark side of post-Soviet transformation, both in socio-economic and psychological terms, resonates in these films. We argue that the chronotope of the 1990s Estonian films noir is the outopia, the no-place.
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