Only an Inch Away

OVER TIME, GEOGRAPHICAL DISTANCE SLOWLY BECOMES EMOTIONAL DISTANCE, AND LOSS IS COMPOUNDED. THE PIECES IN ONLY AN INCH AWAY SPEAKS ABOUT DISTANCE, AND ABSENCE AND PRESENCE, TO HOLDING ONTO MEMORIES OF PEOPLE WHEN THEY LEAVE, MOMENTARILY OR FOREVER.Master of Fine Arts (MFA)Penny W. Stamps School of Art & DesignUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108246/1/2014_Ghaderi_MFA_Thesis.pdfDescription of 2014_Ghaderi_MFA_Thesis.pdf : thesi

Are There any Relations Between Posture and Pelvic Floor Disorders? A Literature Review

Objective: Pelvic floor disorders (PFDs) include a wide variety of diseases. According to biomechanical theories, it can be suspected that there are relations between posture and PFDs. This review tries to find out if there are any postural, bony or muscular changes in patients with PFDs. Materials and Methods: Relevant key words were used to search in different databases such as Medline, Cochrane, Elsevier and CINHAL. We found 22 related articles about postural change in patients with PFDs. Results: The results showed increased thoracic kyphosis, decreased lumbar lordosis, wider transverse pelvic inlet and outlet, increased contraction of pelvic floor muscles (PFMs) with ankle in dorsiflexion, increasing protrusion in shoulders and decreasing in the angle of head in patients with PFDs compared to control group in different researches with different methodologies. Conclusion: From this narrative review, it can be concluded that postural changes may be seen more often in women with PFDs so it should be considered in conservative treatment methods in these patients

Non-thermal plasma radiation-induced changes in antibiotic susceptibility and protein profile of Staphylococcus aureus

Background and Objectives: Plasma radiation is a widely used technique for sterilization or decontamination in various industries, as well as in some healthcare settings such as dentistry. The primary aim of this study was to assess the potential of plasma radiation to create a new population of Staphylococcus aureus cells with distinct characteristics that could lead to novel healthcare challenges. Materials and Methods: A homemade non-thermal plasma apparatus was applied and the effects of plasma treatment on S. aureus ATCC25923 was assessed. Plasma radiation was applied under controlled conditions to ensure that some bacterial cells remained viable. The treatment was repeated 10 times, with each round followed by a recovery phase to collect any surviving bacterial cells. To assess the potential changes in the bacterial population, we examined the antibiotic susceptibility pattern, micro-structural characteristics using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and total protein profile using the matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) technique. Results: The experimental results revealed slight variations in the antibiotic susceptibility patterns of certain cell wall agents (imipenem, cephalothin, and cefepime), as well as in the MALDI-TOF spectra. However, no changes were observed in the SEM images. Conclusion: The insufficient application of non-thermal plasma in bacterial decontamination may lead to physiological changes that could enrich or select certain subpopulations of S. aureus

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My work is about the distance created by compounded loss and the opacity of language. Using photography and video, I explore moments of pause that are filled with vulnerability, silence and contradiction.Moving from Iran to the U.S. revealed an in-between state about distance; I never fully arrived and never fully left. There is always something in between which is dysfunctional and paralyzing. Something is always missing. To show this void, I use cutout letters and self-portraits to focus on paradoxical emotions in dealing with distance and loss. I am fascinated by the human face and the silence in portraiture because the face has complicated our idea of identity and rootedness. Often my portraits are captured in a mundane domestic setting with confronting gaze, exploring personal and communal loss. Language is another distance, especially when it comes to translation. Translation makes you nauseous and numb; you become a different person in another culture; you silence the things you are good at and become shy, polite, apologetic, stupid, weak, and self conscious. Language itself is a void in communication. I intentionally avoid translation in my work to take access away from my audience, making them feel like alien to the language- to illustrate how language fails us when we need to communicate and how some words and expressions are untranslatable. This is a very common and difficult experience in every immigrant’s life. This series, is a visual narrative based on poems of Forugh Farrokhzad, one of Iran’s most controversial female poets of the 1950’s and 60’s. In her poems she discusses contradictory feelings women experience in their daily lives; such as hope and despair, desire and repulsion, and captivity and freedom. For example, she describes herself as a prisoner who has fallen in love with her prison guard, or a bird who does not want to leave the cage. She uses metaphor to better capture details and moments which are often overlooked. For this project I chose lines from Forugh’s poems that resonated with my own feelings of alienation, loss and distance. Then I cut Farsi words out of paper, fabric and latex gloves. The act of cutting out letters was very therapeutic for me because during that period, I was grieving the loss of my mother. This became a metaphor for my own frustration and anger over the geographical distance and her absence. The series also examines cross-cultural literature about the woman’s role in society and family, the emotional and physical distance they feel in daily life, contradiction over having multiple identities, honor versus labor and the concept of reward. Moving through time and geography, I will continue to explore themes surrounding distance, loss, language and identity in my work. Each time, I approach the work with a new perspective in the hopes of removing borders and creating relatable, empathic, transparent and translatable experiences