Sensing Urban Manufacturing: From Conspicuous to Sensible Production

Environmental destruction, social inequalities, geopolitical vulnerability—the limits of the long‐time praised paradigm of post‐industrial cities and globalised value chains are becoming evident, while calls for (re)localising production in cities are getting increasingly vocal. However, the material implications—i.e., where and in which form manufacturing should concretely take place in cities and the consequences on urban space and relations—are rarely addressed in debates on (re)industrialisation. In this article, we engage with the concept of conspicuous production by combining research on mixed‐use zones with sensory methodologies. We focus on the multisensory dimension of urban manufacturing to inter‐ rogate the spatial possibilities for production in a small town in Switzerland. Together with a group of graduate students, we apply sensory methods to explore how production shapes urban sensescapes and how these sensescapes affect our relation to production. Our exploratory endeavour provides ideas of how sensory methods can be integrated into urban planning research and practice: we suggest that these methods, which necessarily emphasise subjective experience, can constitute powerful tools if they take into attentive consideration the local political and economic context, including the norms and power relations that shape individual perception. Our study sparks critical questions about conspicuous production and mixed‐use zoning and tentatively advances the concept of sensible production: a production that not only is perceptible and can actively be engaged with, but that also shows good sense, makes sense, and focuses on what we need rather than on appearance

The influence of water-based training on arrhythmia in patients with stable coronary artery disease and preserved left ventricular function

Background: Water immersion may cause adverse cardiovascular events, including arrhythmias in patients with damaged cardiac muscle, e.g. with cardiac failure. So far, there have been rather few reports on arrhythmia induced by water training in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). The aim of the study was to assess the influence of exercise training in moderately cold water (28–30°C) on arrhythmia and physical capacity in stable CAD patients with preserved left ventricular (LV) function. Methods: Sixty-two post-myocardial infarction male patients, mean age 50.9 ± 7.9 years, participated in 16 water-based trainings (WBT), which lasted 55-min, twice a week in water at 28–30°C. Each subject underwent 24 h Holter on-land monitoring (Holter-24) once during the study and twice in-water Holter monitoring (Holter-W) during WBT. Before and after WBT cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) was performed. The following parameters were analyzed: peak oxygen consumption (peak VO2), mean number of ventricular ectopic beats (VEBs) and supraventricular ectopic beats (SVEBs) during Holter-24 and Holter-W, the percentage of men who developed arrhythmia during CPET vs. Holter-24 and vs. Holter-W. Results: WBT significantly improved patients’ physical capacity, and more often provoked arrhythmia, mainly SVEBs, than CPET or daily activity assessed during Holter-24. During WBT 58% men developed VEBs and 62% SVEBs. Conclusions: 1. WBT provoked arrhythmias significantly more often than did CPET and normal daily activity. 2. Owing to WBT patients improved their physical capacity which was still maintained at 1-year follow-up.

Influence of exercise training on left ventricular diastolic function and its relationship to exercise capacity in patients after myocardial infarction

Background: The study&#8217;s aim was to examine the effect of exercise training on left ventricular diastolic function (LVDF) and whether LVDF could predict an improvement in exercise capacity (EC) in post-myocardial infarction patients. Methods: Forty-eight males, aged 56.4 &#177; 7.2 years, with preserved left ventricular systolic function (LVSF) and mild diastolic dysfunction (the ratio of transmitral early left ventricular filling velocity to early diastolic mitral annulus velocity E/E&#8217; > 8 as the average of the septal and lateral annulus velocities), were assigned to either a training group (TG, n = 32) or controls (n = 16). Before, and at the end of the study, all patients underwent a cardiopulmonary test and echocardiography with tissue Doppler imaging (TDI). Results: After a 4.5-month training program, maximal oxygen consumption increased significantly in TG (26.66 &#177; 3.88 vs. 28.79 &#177; 5.00 mL/kg/min, p < 0.0001). TDI-derived E/E&#8217; did not change after the training program. After dividing TG according to septal E/E&#8217;s > 10 and 8 and < 8, exercise capacity improved significantly only in patients with E/E&#8217;s < 10 and E/E&#8217;l < 8. Conclusions: A 4.5-month training program in post-myocardial infarction patients with preserved LVSF and mild diastolic dysfunction led to improved exercise capacity only in TG. The diastolic function did not change significantly. The improvement in exercise capacity was significantly greater in patients with a better LVDF measured by TDI. (Cardiol J 2010; 17, 2: 136-142

Feasibility of home-based cardiac telerehabilitation: Results of TeleInterMed study

Background: Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is recommended as an important component of a comprehensive approach to cardiovascular disease (CVD) patients. Data have shown that a small percentage of eligible patients participate in CR despite their well established benefits. Applying telerehabilitation provides an opportunity to improve the implementation of and adherence to CR. The purpose of the study was to evaluate a wide implementation and feasibility of home-based cardiac telerehabilitation (HTCR) in patients suffering from CVD and to assessits safety, patients’ acceptance of and adherence to HTCR.Methods: The study included 365 patients (left ventricular ejection fraction 56 ± 8%; aged 58 ± 10 years). They participated in 4-week HTCR based on walking, nordic walking or cycloergometer training. HTCR was telemonitored with a device adjusted to register electrocardiogram (ECG) recording and to transmit data via mobile phone to the monitoring center. The moments of automatic ECG registration were pre-set and coordinated with CR. The influence on physical capacity was assessed by comparing changes — in time of exercise test, functional capacity, 6-min walking test distance from the beginning and the end of HTCR. At the end of the study, patients filled in a questionnaire in order to assess their acceptance of HTCR.Results: HTCR resulted in a significant improvement in all parameters. There were neither deaths nor adverse events during HTCR. Patients accepted HTCR, including the need for interactive everyday collaboration with the monitoring center. There were only 0.8% non-adherent patients.Conclusions: HTCR is a feasible, safe form of rehabilitation, well accepted by patients. The adherence to HTCR was high and promising.

The outcomes of Polish patients with advanced BRAFpositive melanoma treated with vemurafenib in a safety clinical trial

Aim of the study: The BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib has improved progression- free survival and overall survival in patients with BRAFV600-mutationpositive metastatic melanoma. Here we present the results of an open-label safety study with vemurafenib in patients with metastatic melanoma enrolled in Polish oncological centres. Material and methods: Patients with untreated or previously treated Stage IIIC/IV BRAFV600 mutation-positive melanoma were treated with oral vemurafenib in an initial dose of 960 mg twice daily. Assessments for safety and efficacy were made every 28 days. For the survival analysis the Kaplan-Meier estimator was used with the log-rank tests for bivariate comparisons. Results: In total, 75 Polish patients were enrolled in the safety study across four centres. At data cut-off, 28 patients died (37%), mainly (26) due to disease progression; 33 (44%) patients continued vemurafenib after disease progression. The objective response rate was 46%, including two patients with a complete response and 29 with a partial response. Median progression-free survival was 7.4 months. The one-year overall survival rate was 61.9% (median overall survival was not reached). Seventy-three (97.3%) patients reported adverse events (AEs), and grade 3–5 toxicity was reported in 49.4% (37) patients. The most common AEs were: skin lesions (including rash and photosensitivity), arthralgia, and fatigue. Conclusions: The overall safety profile and response rate of vemurafenib were comparable to those reported in previous studies of this drug. Our study confirmed the value of well-established prognostic features for overall survival, such as initial LDH (lactate dehydrogenase) level and AJCC staging

Growth factors and their receptors derived from human amniotic cells in vitro

In vitro studies have shown that amnion-produced growth factors participated in angiogenesis, re-epithelialization, and immunomodulation. The aim of our study was to investigate the growth factors and receptors produced by human amnion tissue and amniotic cells. Human amnions (hAM) were isolated, and amnion circles were dissected for in vitro analysis. Some amnion fragments were digested by the use of different methods to obtain two cell fractions, which were analysed for mesenchymal and epithelial cell markers. Amniotic circles and human amniotic cell fractions were cultured in a protein-free medium. Proteins secreted into the culture medium were analysed with a human growth factor antibody array. Conditioned culture media were added to human umbilical vein epithelial cells (HUVECs) to test for stimulation of migration (scratch test) and proliferation (Ki67 expression). Fraction 1 cells expressed both cytokeratin and mesenchymal cell markers which indicated that it was composed of a mixture of human amnion epithelial cells (hAECs) and mesenchymal stromal cells (hAMSCs). Fraction 2 cells mainly expressed cytokeratin and, therefore, were designed as hAECs. Secretion of proteins by the cultured cells increased with time. The hAM cultures secreted EGF-R, IGF, and IGFBP-2,-3 and -6; Cell Fraction 1 secreted NT-4, whereas Cell Fraction 2 secreted G-CSF, M-CSF, and PDGF. Conditioned media of hAM cultures stimulated HUVECs migration. We have showed for the first time that human amnions and amniotic cells secreted IGFBP-6, MCSF-R, PDGF-AB, FGF-6, IGFBP-4, NT-4, and VEGF-R3. We found that Cell Fraction 1, Cell Fraction 2, and the whole amnion secreted different proteins, possibly due to different proportions of amnion-derived cells and different cell-cell interactions. The hAM cell factors remained functional in vitro and induced intensified migration of HUVECs. The growth factors and receptors found in amnion or amniotic cell media might be used for regenerative medicine

Porównanie efektów treningu interwałowego i treningu w wodzie u pacjentów po zawale serca i po operacyjnym leczeniu choroby wieńcowej - wyniki wstępne

Wstęp: W rehabilitacji kardiologicznej stosuje się różne formy treningów. Celem pracy jest porównanie krótkoterminowych efektów treningu interwałowego na cykloergometrach oraz treningu w wodzie u pacjentów po przebytym zawale serca i operacyjnym leczeniu choroby wieńcowej. Materiał i metody: Badaniami objęto 42 pacjentów, 22 po przebytym zawale serca i 20 po operacyjnym leczeniu choroby wieńcowej. Wszyscy chorzy w pierwszym etapie ukończyli cykl 16 treningów na ergometrze rowerowym, a następnie zostali przydzieleni losowo do następujących grup: pacjenci po przebytym zawale: trening w basenie - grupa A, trening interwałowy - grupa B; pacjenci po operacji pomostowania aortalno-wieńcowego: trening w basenie - grupa C, trening interwałowy - grupa D. U wszystkich wykonano wyjściowo, po pierwszym oraz po drugim cyklu wysiłkową próbę ergospirometryczną. Wyniki: Wszyscy pacjenci rehabilitowani w cyklu treningów na ergometrze oraz treningów w wodzie ukończyli je bez powikłań. W grupie A po dwóch cyklach rehabilitacji uzyskano VO2max 30 &plusmn; 3 ml/kg/min, istotny przyrost w porównaniu z wynikiem wyjściowym 26 &plusmn; 3 ml/kg/min (p < 0,05). Podobny przyrost obserwowano w grupie B - wynik wyjściowy 28 &plusmn; 3, końcowy 30 &plusmn; 3 ml/kg/min. Porównywalne wyniki obserwowano również w grupie C (24 &plusmn; 3,27 &plusmn; 3 ml/kg/min) i D (24 &plusmn; 4,28 &plusmn; 5 ml/kg/min). Wnioski: Ćwiczenia w wodzie są bezpieczną i atrakcyjną formą treningu dla osób po przebytym zawale serca i po operacyjnym leczeniu choroby wieńcowej. Efekty ćwiczeń w wodzie są porównywalne z efektami treningu na ergometrze. Ćwiczenia w wodzie mogą być alternatywną formą treningu w rehabilitacji kardiologicznej. (Folia Cardiol. 2004; 11: 831-837