Shaping their own Contemporary Art ‎World: Iranian Ceramic Artists and the ‎Biennials of Contemporary Ceramics ‎1988-2020‎

For over thirty years, from 1988 to 2020, the Iranian National Biennials of Contemporary ‎Ceramics were the country’s most important showcase for ceramic art. The body of work ‎which emerged from Iranian national ceramics biennials offers a fascinating record of ‎artistic response to a unique set of political, cultural, and social influences, in which ‎opportunities for ceramic art expanded in alignment with international trends and even ‎foreshadowed the rejection of the art/craft divide happening elsewhere at the time. ‎Participation in the biennials would eventually grow to include more than five hundred ‎people and provide the impetus for the establishment of an independent professional ‎association for ceramic artists. Although they have largely been overlooked in the ‎institutional collections and academic histories of Islamic art, contemporary Iranian art, ‎and studio ceramics, they gave Iranian ceramicists a platform on which to help renegotiate ‎their identity as artists and the position of ceramics in Iranian life. This thesis details ‎events leading to the establishment of the biennials, their integration into the field of ‎contemporary art after the 1979 Iranian revolution, characteristics which emerged to ‎distinguish contemporary pottery from other types of ceramics, and the evolving ‎relationship between utilitarian form and abstract sculpture. It also covers the ‎professionalisation of the field and the influence of the biennial exhibitions on ‎contemporary studio ceramics practice. The ceramics biennials are significant events in ‎contemporary craft culture which have implications for building a more inclusive narrative ‎of global art history. It builds an interdisciplinary social and artistic history, drawing from ‎contemporary art, Islamic art, and studio ceramics, to establish a new and cohesive ‎narrative for an underrepresented aspect of global art history.

Traumatic deep vein thrombosis in a soccer player: A case study

A 42 year-old male former semi-professional soccer player sustained a right lower extremity popliteal contusion during a soccer game. He was clinically diagnosed with a possible traumatic deep vein thrombosis (DVT), and sent for confirmatory tests. A duplex doppler ultrasound was positive for DVT, and the patient was admitted to hospital for anticoagulation (unfractionated heparin, warfarin). Upon discharge from hospital the patient continued oral warfarin anticoagulation (six months), and the use of compression stockings (nine months). He followed up with his family doctor at regular intervals for serial coagulation measurements, and ultrasound examinations. The patient's only identified major thrombotic risk factor was the traumatic injury. One year after the initial deep vein thrombosis (DVT) the patient returned to contact sport, however he continued to have intermittent symptoms of right lower leg pain and right knee effusion. Athletes can develop vascular injuries in a variety of contact and non-contact sports. Trauma is one of the most common causes of lower extremity deep vein thrombosis (DVT), however athletic injuries involving lower extremity traumatic DVT are seldom reported. This diagnosis and the associated risk factors must be considered during the initial physical examination. The primary method of radiological diagnosis of lower extremity DVT is a complete bilateral duplex sonography, which can be augmented by other methods such as evidence-based risk factor analysis. Antithrombotic medication is the current standard of treatment for DVT. Acute thrombolytic treatment has demonstrated an improved therapeutic efficacy, and a decrease in post-DVT symptoms. There is a lack of scientific literature concerning the return to sport protocol following a DVT event. Athletic individuals who desire to return to sport after a DVT need to be fully informed about their treatment and risk of reoccurrence, so that appropriate decisions can be made

A prospective study of physician-observed concussion during a varsity university hockey season: Metabolic changes in ice hockey players. Part 4 of 4

Object: Despite negative neuroimaging findings using traditional neuroimaging methods such as MRI and CT, sports-related concussions have been shown to cause neurometabolic changes in both the acute and subacute phases of head injury. However, no prospective clinical study has used an independent physician-observer design in the monitoring of these changes. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of repetitive concussive and subconcussive head impacts on neurometabolic concentrations in a prospective study of two Canadian Interuniversity Sports (CIS) ice hockey teams using MR spectroscopy (MRS). Methods: Forty-five ice hockey players (25 men and 20 women) participated in this study. All participants underwent pre- and postseason MRI, including spectroscopy imaging, using a 3-T MRI machine. The linear combination model was used to quantify the following ratios: glutamate/creatine-phosphocreatine (Cr), myoinositol/Cr, and N-acetylaspartate (NAA)/Cr. Individuals sustaining a medically diagnosed concussion were sent for MRI at 72 hours, 2 weeks, and 2 months after injury. Results: No statistically significant differences were observed between athletes who were diagnosed with a concussion and athletes who were not clinically diagnosed as sustaining a concussion. Although no statistically significant longitudinal metabolic changes were observed among athletes who were diagnosed with a concussion, the results demonstrated a predictable pattern of initial impairment, followed by a gradual return to ratios that were similar to, but lower than, baseline ratios. No significant pre- to postseason changes were demonstrated among men who were not observed to sustain a concussion. However, a substantively significant decrease in the NAA/Cr ratio was noted among the female hockey players (t(13) = 2.58, p = 0.02, ζ2 = 0.34). Conclusions: A key finding in this study, from the standpoint of future research design, is the demonstration of substantively significant metabolic changes among the players who were not diagnosed with a concussion. In addition, it may explain why there are few statistically significant differences demonstrated between players who were diagnosed with a concussion and players who were not diagnosed with a concussion (that is, the potency of the independent variable was diminished by the fact that the group of players not diagnosed with a concussion might be better described as a subgroup of the players who may have sustained a concussion but were not observed and diagnosed with a concussion). This result suggests that definitions of concussion may need to be revisited within sports with high levels of repetitive subconcussive head impacts. Future analysis of these data will examine the relationships between the modes of MRI (diffusion tensor imaging, MRS, and susceptibility-weighted MR imaging) used in this study, along with other more sensitive evaluative techniques. This type of intermodal comparison may improve the identification of concussions that were previously dependent on the unreliable self-reporting of recognized concussion symptomatology by the athlete or on poorly validated neuropsychological tests

The good bargain: An exhibition of ceramics for sale

My thesis exhibition addresses the discourse around value, object histories, and perceived worth by subverting the expectations of the gallery setting. Putting my handmade ceramic pots and sculptures on display with other found “jumble sale” objects emphasizes the contrast between those categories while labeling and pricing them draws attention to the layers of emotional, social, and artistic importance attached to them. Garage sales and roadside stands thrive on the thrill of the hunt, on finding something special, rare, and underappreciated on the outliers of consumer culture. But it is also about the relationships that are built between people and between objects as they interact. Questions of worth have been at the uncomfortable edges of the studio pottery movement since Bernard Leach’s humble pot, but I am still unsure of how to appreciate and value my own work. The underlying motivation for this project is to explore my own search for identity as a potter in the internet-trend-connected world and how other people’s perceptions are reflected through their interactions with me and with the work

A prospective study of physician-observed concussion during a varsity university ice hockey season: Incidence and neuropsychological changes. Part 2 of 4

Object: The primary objective of this study was to measure the incidence of concussion according to a relative number of athlete exposures among 25 male and 20 female varsity ice hockey players. The secondary objective was to present neuropsychological test results between preseason and postseason play and at 72 hours, 2 weeks, and 2 months after concussion. Methods: Every player underwent baseline assessments using the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool-2 (SCAT2), Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Test (ImPACT), and MRI. Each regular season and postseason game was observed by 2 independent observers (a physician and a nonphysician observer). Players with a diagnosed concussion were removed from the game, examined in the team physician\u27s office using the SCAT2 and ImPACT, and sent to undergo MRI. Results: Eleven concussions occurred during the 55 physician-observed games (20%). The incidence of concussion, expressed as number of concussions per 1000 athlete exposures, was 10.70 for men and women combined in regular season play, 11.76 for men and women combined across both the regular season and playoff season, 7.50 for men and 14.93 for women in regular season play, and 8.47 for men across both the regular season and playoff season. One male player experienced repeat concussions. No concussions were reported during practice sessions, and 1 concussion was observed and diagnosed in an exhibition game. Neuropsychological testing suggested no statistically significant preseason/postseason differences between athletes who sustained a physician-diagnosed concussion and athletes who did not sustain a physician-diagnosed concussion on either the ImPACT or SCAT2. The athletes who sustained a physician-diagnosed concussion demonstrated few reliable changes postinjury. Conclusions: Although the incidence of game-related concussions per 1000 athlete exposures in this study was half the highest rate reported in the authors\u27 previous research, it was 3 times higher than the incidence reported by other authors within the literature concerning men\u27s collegiate ice hockey and 5 times higher than the highest rate previously reported for woman\u27s collegiate ice hockey. Interestingly, the present results suggest a substantively higher incidence of concussion among women (14.93) than men (7.50). The reproducible and significantly higher incidence of concussion among both men and woman ice hockey players, when compared with nonphysician-observed games, suggests a significant underestimation of sports concussion in the scientific literature