Time to Play Zimna, Katarzyna
2014, 2014-12-09
eBook
Play art’ or interactive art is becoming a central concept in the contemporary art world, disrupting the traditional role of passive observance usually assumed by audiences, allowing them active ...participation. The work of ‘play’ artists - from Carsten Holler’s ‘Test Site’ at the Tate Modern to Gabriel Orozco’s ‘Ping Pond Table’ - must be touched, influenced and experienced; the gallery-goer is no longer a spectator but a co-creator. Time to Play explores the role of play as a central but neglected concept in aesthetics and a model for ground-breaking modern and postmodern experiments that have intended to blur the boundary between art and life. Moving freely between disciplines, Katarzyna Zimna links the theory and history of 20th and 21st century art with ideas developed within play, game and leisure studies, and the philosophical theories of Kant, Gadamer and Derrida, to critically engage with current discussion on the role of the artist, viewers, curators and their spaces of encounter. She combines a consideration of the philosophical implications of play with the examination of how it is actually used in modern and postmodern art - looking at Dada, Surrealism, Fluxus and Relational Aesthetics. Focusing mainly on process-based art, this bold book proposes a fresh approach - reaching beyond classical cultural theories of play.
The main purpose of the article is to present the potential use of hemp fibers as reinforcement in composites, but from a design perspective. The authors ask whether sustainable nonwovens, produced ...based on natural fibers, have the potential as a material for designers and artists and not only as a technical textile. Technical production of nonwovens like carding, punching and laser cutting was used to achieve not just functional, but also aesthetic quality of the samples. The possibilities of utilizing natural materials for design endeavors were presented. The production process of these items was described, along with the main design concept. Research was carried out through a series of interdisciplinary activities, using the knowledge and tools typical for textile and materials engineering, as well as the methodology and strategies derived from the fields of visual art and design. It has been shown that during the development of a new sustainable material significant attention should be paid to design aspects, so it shows its full potential, as not just being eco-friendly, but also functional and aesthetic. While technical hemp and PLA composites have been produced and studied before, the design aspect is unique in the current study.
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic allowed physicians to gain experience in lung ultrasound (LUS) during the acute phase of the disease. However, limited data are available on LUS findings during the ...recovery phase. The aim of this study was to evaluate the utility of LUS to assess lung involvement in patients with post-COVID-19 syndrome. This study prospectively enrolled 72 patients who underwent paired LUS and chest CT scans (112 pairs including follow-up). The most frequent CT findings were ground glass opacities (83.3%), subpleural lines (72.2%), traction bronchiectasis (37.5%), and consolidations (31.9%). LUS revealed irregular pleural lines as a common abnormality initially (56.9%), along with subpleural consolidation >2.5 mm ≤10 mm (26.5%) and B-lines (26.5%). A strong correlation was found between LUS score, calculated by artificial intelligence percentage involvement in ground glass opacities described in CT (r = 0.702, p < 0.05). LUS score was significantly higher in the group with fibrotic changes compared to the non-fibrotic group with a mean value of 19.4 ± 5.7 to 11 ± 6.6, respectively (p < 0.0001). LUS might be considered valuable for examining patients with persistent symptoms after recovering from COVID-19 pneumonia. Abnormalities identified through LUS align with CT scan findings; thus, LUS might potentially reduce the need for frequent chest CT examinations.
Sarcoidosis is a systemic, granulomatous disease of unknown etiology, most often manifested by mediastinal and hilar lymph node enlargement and parenchymal nodules in the lungs. However, it may ...involve any other organ. Neuro-sarcoidosis, a condition that affects up to 20% of sarcoidosis patients, can be found in any part of the central or peripheral nervous system and has important ophthalmic and neuro-ophthalmic manifestations. We present two patients with sudden vision loss due to neurosarcoidosis. In both cases, biopsy of the mediastinal lymph node showed non-caseating granulomas consistent with sarcoidosis. Treatment involved high doses of methylprednisolone intravenously, followed by topical dexamethasone eye drops in the first case and a systemic steroid treatment in the second, resulting in symptom relief. Those two cases demonstrate that sarcoidosis should be considered as a differential diagnosis in cases of optic neuritis.
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis share commonalities in pathogenesis shifting haemostasis balance towards the procoagulant and antifibrinolytic activity. ...Several studies have suggested an increased risk of venous thromboembolism in IPF. The association between venous thromboembolism and chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis has not been studied yet.
A retrospective cohort study of IPF and chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis patients diagnosed in single tertiary referral center between 2005 and 2018 was conducted. The incidence of symptomatic venous thromboembolism was evaluated. Risk factors for venous thromboembolism and survival among those with and without venous thromboembolism were assessed.
A total of 411 (259 IPF and 152 chronic hypersensitivity) patients were included (mean age 66.7 ± 8.4 vs 51.0 ± 13.3 years, respectively). There were 12 (4.6%) incident cases of venous thromboembolism in IPF and 5 (3.3%) in chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis cohort. The relative risk (RR) of venous thromboembolism in chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis was not significantly different to that found in patients with IPF (7.1 vs 11.8/1000 person-years, RR 1.661 95% CI 0.545-6.019, respectively). The treatment with systemic steroids (OR 5.38; 95% CI 1.65-18.8, p = 0.006) and GAP stage 3 (OR 7.85; 95% CI 1.49-34.9; p = 0.037) were significant risk factors for venous thromboembolism in IPF. Arterial hypertension and pulmonary hypertension significantly increased risk of venous thromboembolism in chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis. There were no significant differences in survival between patients with and without venous thromboembolism.
The patients with chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis have a marked increase in the risk of venous thromboembolism, similar to the patients with IPF. Venous thromboembolism does not affect the survival of patients with IPF and chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis.
Amyloidosis is an uncommon condition, which results from accumulation of misfolded extracellular insoluble protein in tissues and organs of the body, causing its damage and dysfunction. ...Histologically, after staining with Congo red, the amyloid deposits show an apple-green birefringence under polarized light microscope. Amyloidosis can affect all organ systems and is classified into hereditary or acquired, localized or systemic. Respiratory involvement occurs in 50% of the patients with amyloidosis and it may take tracheobronchial, nodular parenchymal, diffuse alveolar septal and lymphatic forms.
We report four cases of pulmonary amyloidosis. A female patient with localized form of tracheobronchial and nodular parenchymal pulmonary amyloidosis, which was initially misdiagnosed as sarcoidosis. A male patient who was referred to our department for further evaluation of multiple tumors in lungs accompanied by mediastinal lymphadenopathy, liver and peritoneal tumors. A male patient with suspect of lung malignancy. A male patient with diagnosed idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and the possibility of malignancy.
All the diagnoses were established by demonstration of amyloid protein in tissue specimens obtained in transbronchial or open lung biopsies.
Due to its nonspecific clinical and radiological findings, amyloidosis can often mimic other diseases and should be considered as one of the differential diagnoses. In order to confirm the diagnosis, proving the presence of amyloid deposition with positive Congo red staining in respiratory specimen is mandatory.
Fibrotic hypersensitivity pneumonitis (fHP) shares many features with other fibrotic interstitial lung diseases (ILD), and as a result it can be misdiagnosed as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). ...We aimed to determine the value of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) total cell count (TCC) and lymphocytosis in distinguishing fHP and IPF and to evaluate the best cut-off points discriminating these two fibrotic ILD.
A retrospective cohort study of fHP and IPF patients diagnosed between 2005 and 2018 was conducted. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the diagnostic utility of clinical parameters in differentiating between fHP and IPF. Based on the ROC analysis, BAL parameters were evaluated for their diagnostic performance, and optimal diagnostic cut-offs were established.
A total of 136 patients (65 fHP and 71 IPF) were included (mean age 54.97 ± 10.87 vs. 64.00 ± 7.18 years, respectively). BAL TCC and the percentage of lymphocytes were significantly higher in fHP compared to IPF (
< 0.001). BAL lymphocytosis >30% was found in 60% of fHP patients and none of the patients with IPF. The logistic regression revealed that younger age, never smoker status, identified exposure, lower FEV
, higher BAL TCC and higher BAL lymphocytosis increased the probability of fibrotic HP diagnosis. The lymphocytosis >20% increased by 25 times the odds of fibrotic HP diagnosis. The optimal cut-off values to differentiate fibrotic HP from IPF were 15 × 10
for TCC and 21% for BAL lymphocytosis with AUC 0.69 and 0.84, respectively.
Increased cellularity and lymphocytosis in BAL persist despite lung fibrosis in HP patients and may be used as important discriminators between IPF and fHP.
Mycobacterium chimaera is a slow-growing, nontuberculous mycobacterium (NTM) belonging to the Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC). It was identified as a unique species in 2004. Since 2013 it has been ...reported as a cause of disseminated infection in patients after cardiac surgeries. Only a few cases associated with underlying lung diseases have been noted. M. chimaera infection is characterized by ambiguous symptoms. There is no treatment with proven effectiveness, and it has a poor prognosis. Silicosis is a disease that can predispose to mycobacterial infection. Silica damages pulmonary macrophages, inhibiting their ability to kill mycobacteria. We present a case of M. chimaera infection in a patient with silicosis and without other comorbidities. To our knowledge, it is the first case of silicosis associated with M. chimaera disease. A 45-year-old man presented with a persistent low-grade fever. Based on the clinical and radiological picture, positive cultures, and histological examination, the nontuberculous mycobacterial disease was diagnosed. First, multidrug therapy according to the treatment guidelines for MAC was implemented, then antibiotics were administrated, based on drug sensitivity. Despite the treatment, eradication was not achieved and the patient died. The analysis of M. chimaera infection cases could contribute to developing recommendations and thus improve the prognosis.
Mycobacterium chimaera is a slow-growing, nontuberculous mycobacterium (NTM) belonging to the Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC). It was identified as a unique species in 2004. Since 2013 it has been ...reported as a cause of disseminated infection in patients after cardiac surgeries. Only a few cases associated with underlying lung diseases have been noted. M. chimaera infection is characterized by ambiguous symptoms. There is no treatment with proven effectiveness, and it has a poor prognosis. Silicosis is a disease that can predispose to mycobacterial infection. Silica damages pulmonary macrophages, inhibiting their ability to kill mycobacteria. We present a case of M. chimaera infection in a patient with silicosis and without other comorbidities. To our knowledge, it is the first case of silicosis associated with M. chimaera disease. A 45-year-old man presented with a persistent low-grade fever. Based on the clinical and radiological picture, positive cultures, and histological examination, the nontuberculous mycobacterial disease was diagnosed. First, multidrug therapy according to the treatment guidelines for MAC was implemented, then antibiotics were administrated, based on drug sensitivity. Despite the treatment, eradication was not achieved and the patient died. The analysis of M. chimaera infection cases could contribute to developing recommendations and thus improve the prognosis.
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