Visiting and Narrating: An Interspecific Tale of Melancholia

My research uses sustainable book design as an outlet for studying the destructive dialogue between humans and the earth in the Anthropocene epoch. I investigate the effects of the Anthropocene on my own mental health, particularly attuned to moments of enlightenment and depression that arise as a result of the realities of human-made climate change. Our impact on earth has consequences that are both physical (droughts, flooding, illnesses/pandemics, etc.), and mental (stress, anxiety, depression, etc.). Exploring the phenomenon of loss of language in the depressed mind, I examine what experiences would improve this condition. This search leads me to the comfort I find in reading books and through the practice of finding myself in the written word. The acknowledgement of written language in books as both destructive (historically and culturally in Indigenous communities) and healing (as a sanctuary for independent mental and emotional growth) is the point of interest in this research. Books exist as a vessel for communication, capturing historical shifts in societal values. In this way they serve as a dynamic timeline. Books move through space and thought, reflecting and dictating moments past, and also imagining futures. They are physically still and contained but breathe through their connection to other literary works — fiction and nonfiction. This research will live similarly, communicating the present and future outcome of our time on earth as a result of our past; our actions, while fleeting, influence the reaction of the land. In my material explorations and compositions, I view the land as body and the body as text — relational vessels for interspecific communication

Fludarabin, ciklofosfamid i rituksimab (FCR) u liječenju bolesnika s kroničnom limfocitnom leukemijom (KLL): iskustvo Kliničkoga bolničkog centra Zagreb [Fludarabine, cyclophosphamide and rituximab (FCR) in the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL): University Hospital Centre Zagreb experience]

In clinical trials the combination of fludarabine, cyclophosphamide and rituximab (FCR) demonstrated superior results and became the gold standard for first-line treatment of fit patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy, toxicity and feasibility of this protocol in everyday clinical practice. We ­retrospectively analyzed the outcomes of 43 CLL patients treated at the Division of Haematology, Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Centre Zagreb. The dosing of rituximab differed from that in clinical trials, we administered 375mg/m2 of rituximab per cycle, in previously untreated patients for eight and in relapsed/refractory patients for six cycles. The response rate was 95% with 83% of complete remissions. Twenty–nine patients received FCR as a front–line therapy; three-year overall and progression–free survival were 90% and 80%, respectively. In relapsed/refractory disease three–year overall and progression–free survival were 86% and 62%, respectively. Severe neutropenias occurred in 46% and serious infections in 9% of patients. According to these results, the toxicity profile and treatment outcomes in everyday routine clinical practice are similar to those reported in clinical trials

FLUDARABINE, CYCLOPHOSPHAMIDE AND RITUXIMAB (FCR) IN THE TREATMENT OF CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC LEUKEMIA (CLL): UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL CENTRE ZAGREB EXPERIENCE

U kliničkim je studijama kombinacija fludarabina, ciklofosfamida i rituksimaba (FCR) pokazala odlične rezultate u liječenju bolesnika s kroničnom limfocitnom leukemijom (KLL) i postala zlatni standard u prvoj liniji liječenja takvih bolesnika bez znatnijih komorbiditeta. Cilj rada bio je ispitati terapijsku djelotvornost, toksičnost i provedivost ovog protokola u svakodnevnoj kliničkoj praksi. Retrospektivno su analizirani tijek i ishodi liječenja 43-oje bolesnika s KLL-om sa Zavoda za hematologiju Klinike za unutarnje bolesti Kliničkoga bolničkog centra Zagreb. Shema primjene rituksimaba razlikovala se od one u kliničkim studijama; primjenjivan je infuzijski u dozi od 375 mg/m2 u svim ciklusima, u ukupno osam doza u prvoj, odnosno šest u kasnijim linijama liječenja. Na liječenje je odgovorilo 95% bolesnika, a 83% postignulo je kompletnu remisiju. Trogodišnje preživljenje i preživljenje bez progresije bolesti u prvoj liniji liječenja (29 bolesnika) bilo je 90 i 80%, a u kasnijim linijama 86 i 62%. Teške neutropenije zabilježene su u 46% bolesnika, a teške infekcije u 9% bolesnika. Ishodi liječenja i toksični profil u svakodnevnome kliničkom radu usporedivi su s onima iz kliničkih studijaIn clinical trials the combination of fludarabine, cyclophosphamide and rituximab (FCR) demonstrated superior results and became the gold standard for first-line treatment of fit patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy, toxicity and feasibility of this protocol in everyday clinical practice. We ­retrospectively analyzed the outcomes of 43 CLL patients treated at the Division of Haematology, Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Centre Zagreb. The dosing of rituximab differed from that in clinical trials, we administered 375mg/m2 of rituximab per cycle, in previously untreated patients for eight and in relapsed/refractory patients for six cycles. The response rate was 95% with 83% of complete remissions. Twenty–nine patients received FCR as a front–line therapy; three-year overall and progression–free survival were 90% and 80%, respectively. In relapsed/refractory disease three–year overall and progression–free survival were 86% and 62%, respectively. Severe neutropenias occurred in 46% and serious infections in 9% of patients. According to these results, the toxicity profile and treatment outcomes in everyday routine clinical practice are similar to those reported in clinical trials