Atrial fibrillation is frequent but does not affect risk stratification in pulmonary embolism

Background: Although prior studies indicate a high prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients with pulmonary embolism (PE), the exact prevalence and prognostic impact are unknown. Methods: We aimed to investigate the prevalence, risk factors and prognostic impact of AF on risk stratification, in-hospital adverse outcomes and mortality in 528 consecutive PE patients enrolled in a single-centre registry between 09/2008 and 09/2017. Results: Overall, 52 patients (9.8%) had known AF and 57 (10.8%) presented with AF on admission; of those, 34 (59.6%) were newly diagnosed with AF. Compared to patients with no AF, overt hyperthyroidism was associated with newly diagnosed AF (OR 7.89 [2.99–20.86]), whilst cardiovascular risk comorbidities were more frequently observed in patients with known AF. Patients with AF on admission had more comorbidities, presented more frequently with tachycardia and elevated cardiac biomarkers and were hence stratified to higher risk classes. However, AF on admission had no impact on in-hospital adverse outcome (8.3%) and in-hospital mortality (4.5%). In multivariate logistic regression analyses corrected for AF on admission, NT-proBNP and troponin elevation as well as higher risk classes in risk assessment models remained independent predictors of an in-hospital adverse outcome. Conclusion: Atrial fibrillation is a frequent finding in PE, affecting more than 10% of patients. However, AF was not associated with a higher risk of in-hospital adverse outcomes and did not affect the prognostic performance of risk assessment strategies. Thus, our data support the use of risk stratification tools for patients with acute PE irrespective of the heart rhythm on admission

The liquid architecture of bodily folding

Bodily folding, which includes enfolding and unfolding as points of entrance and departure or pathways that change spatial navigation through and with a particular material, matter or substance, could be seen as the baseline state of being within the continuum of action. Biologically, enfolding nurtures the self. It is a form of nest building, a fractal development of an internal structure, a deepening with the self. Unfolding, on the other hand, opens to the world. Unfolding is readiness, structural stability and creative mobility. It’s movement beyond the self. In this interview, Susan Sentler, dancer, choreographer and multidisciplinary artist, discusses folding as a cellular, bodily and geological practice as well as a form of somatic intelligibility

Softening the borders of codification

Should a formal, traditional ‘western’ modern dance technique be a necessary component for dance education in the globalised twenty-first century? Can the specificity of boarders that codification embraces, be crossed and dissolve allowing the language to transform and continue to grow? As a teacher of the Martha Graham technique for over 30 years, I question its relevance daily, especially working now in Asia, noticing the dancers needs within the landscape of the art field. This chapter will not only question the relevance of the Graham technique but also emphasise the methodologies and strategies I have developed to teach the principles inherent within it, focusing on my current pedagogic practice with dance students, ages 16 to early 20s. Moreover, I will interrogate how, through a combination of varied somatic practices and creative improvisational play, I can encourage students not only to embody this particular technique with greater efficiency but also stretch their confidence of agency and curiosity, working towards an individual artistic voice

How visual and kinaesthetic imagery shape movement improvisation: a pilot study

Western contemporary dance has long benefited from mental imagery practice for enhancing choreography, somatic embodiment and performance. Although science supports many psychophysical benefits of mental imagery practice, less is known about its effects on dance creation. Here, two dance educators report the results of a pilot study using two contrasting imagery modes in teaching improvisation. Four conservatory dance students engaged in two weeks of improvisation. In week one, Glenna used tactile-kinaesthetic imagery as verbal prompts. During week two, Susan emphasized visual prompts. Each mode gave rise to unique movement patterns and reflections on embodiment, bearing on future research questions. The authors aim to situate the study within the conversation on imagery specificity in teaching improvisation. In addition, the study supports the ongoing evolution of an articulate scientific-somatic discourse on tactile-kinaesthetic and visual phenomena within dance

Human Origami: uncovering meta-levels of corporeal embodiment through movement improvisation

Human Origami is an improvisational exploration of body folding that addresses multiple levels of embodiment – biological, meta-physical, creative and performative. This process-based, somatic movement approach to expanding the corporeal took its point of departure from phenomenologist Gilles Deleuze, explicitly from his writings on the fold. Human Origami evolved over two years of applied dance research with students at a London dance conservatory, expanding to other sites in Europe, the USA and Asia (Singapore). Here, dancer and multi-media artist Susan Sentler, and dance educator Glenna Batson situate Human Origami within the evolving discourse of multidimensional corporeality

On movement, rhythm and data [blog post]

Chief Editor Christina J. Chua speaks to choreographer Susan Sentler and musician-coder Jamie Forth about their collaborations in the fields of technology, choreography and more

The threshold of language: design and soma

This paper explores the soft, fluid space in between disciplines that allow for an expansion of creativity. Disciplines often employ their own diverse modalities to express their work, including verbal vocabulary. The paper is an extended case study into a cross-disciplinary project between fashion design and dance students at LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore. The project uses origami as a shared provocation. While origami tends to be a set of instructions aimed at arriving at a specific form or figure, in this project, paper folding, more specifically the concept of the fold itself, was used in loose, abstract and organic manner to allow students to explore it as a language responding to visual, haptic and verbal stimuli