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Commercially available bioethanol-fueled fireplaces are a potential source of burns and are commonly used for home use. The present study aimed to evaluate the quality of life following burn injuries that were caused by bioethanol-related accidents. Burned patients who were admitted to our burn unit with burn injury due to bio-ethanol fueled fire places between January 2010 and December 2021 were contacted to ask for their willingness to participate in this study. They were asked to answer questions regarding the circumstances of the accident and three questionnaires to capture burn specific and general health related quality of life (Burn Specific Health Scale-Brief (BSHS-B), Short-Form Health Survey 36 (SF-36)) and general information about the accident. Patients were matched and compared to a group of patients suffering comparable burns from other burn mechanisms, which were also admitted to our burn unit at the same time. Of 35 patients that met the inclusion criteria, 19 answered the questionnaire and were compared to 38 patients with other burn mechanisms. There were no statistical differences regarding age (bioethanol: 37.4 ± 14.7 years vs. control: 36.2 ± 14.3 years, p = 0.777), TBSA (9.9 ± 6.8% vs. 8.9 ± 10.4, p = 0.715), and sex (42.1% females vs. 36.8% females, p = 0.882). Most patients in the bioethanol-group reported that they did not follow the manual instructions (68.4%) and that the accident happened during the refilling process (52.6%). There was no significant difference in any subscale of the BSHS-B or the SF-36. Burns related to bioethanol-fueled fireplaces are rare compared to other typical burn mechanisms. However, as they are used for personal pleasure and interior design, psychological impairment following burn may be even more critical. Detailed education on the use of these fireplaces needs to take place in order to reduce the risk of accidents. • The instruction manual but it was not (thoroughly) studied before the first use. Most accidents happened when refilling • When comparing the means of each subscale of the Burns Specific Health-Scale Brief between the bioethanol and the control groups, there was no significant differences in any of the subscales. • Regarding general health related quality of life when measuring with the SF-36 questionnaire, there was no significant difference in the physical health summary scale or the mental health summary scale, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the seventeenth-eighteenth centuries, the houses of Vilnius' citizens were heated by fireplaces and tile stoves, and brick cooking stoves and dough troughs as well as other baking stoves were used for cooking. Cooking stoves and baking stoves mostly stood in the kitchen equipped in the entry, but sometimes, baking stoves were bricked in the rooms or other premises. In some kitchens, cooking stoves and baking stoves stood separately, while in others, the baking stove was placed under the cooking stove. There was a brick chimney above the cooking stove for the smoke and steam to escape. The houses in Vilnius were heated by stoves of colorless, green, white, brown tiles, less rarely - tiles of other colors. In the seventeenth century, green-tile stoves were the most popular, although white-tile ones are also found in the homes of wealthy inhabitants, which were usually located in the premises used for representative purposes. They became more prevalent in the eighteenth century, especially its second half. In addition to the stoves described above, the stoves in the rooms began to be decorated with tiles of green, brown and other colors with horizontal bands of white tiles. Stoves with one band are the most common; however, there were also those with several bands, as well as ornate colored-tile stoves with white-tile ledges, figural cornices and other architectural elements and details. Such stoves were usually bricked in the representative premises of wealthy citizens. In the houses of the less wealthy people there were colorless or greentile stoves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2021, the Centro Internazionale di Studi di Architettura Andrea Palladio (CISAAP) in Vicenza and the Department of Architecture at the University of Bologna collaborated for a didactical joint initiative involving students from the Photogrammetry for Architecture course. The main goal was to develop a new teaching approach for architectural education exploiting photogrammetry as a digital tool for joining the Architectural Heritage (AH) documentation with the architecture analysis and design interpretation. Beginning from the new technological advances (semi-automatic workflows and smartphone cameras use), a ‘learning-by-doing’ didactical method and situated real work problems, a whole systematic process, based on the concept of a digital copy of an architectural artifact as mean to collect and to aggregate knowledge, was developed and inferred to the student. Starting from the designed teaching path, in which the perspectives of the historian, the surveyor, and the designer are blended to get a holistic vision of the architecture, 29 fireplaces by Andrea Palladio were chosen as emblematic case studies. These microarchitectures let students understand the complexities of historic objects and of their digitalization to produce 3D models as outcomes of an acquisition pipeline useful to train them for a future professional career.

Background and aim: Epidemiological studies conducted mostly in low- and middle-income countries have found a positive association between household combustion of wood and lung cancer. However, most studies have been retrospective, and few have been conducted in the United States where indoor wood-burning usage patterns differ. We examined the association of exposure to indoor wood smoke from fireplaces and stoves with incident lung cancer in a U.S.-wide cohort of women. Methods: We included 50,226 women without prior lung cancer participating in the U.S.-based prospective Sister Study. At enrollment (2003–2009), women reported frequency of use of wood-burning stoves and/or fireplaces in their longest-lived adult residence. Cox regression was used to estimate adjusted hazard ratios (HRadj) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) for the association between indoor wood-burning fireplace/stove use and incident lung cancer. Lung cancer was self-reported and confirmed with medical records. Results: During an average 11.3 years of follow-up, 347 medically confirmed lung cancer cases accrued. Overall, 62.3 % of the study population reported the presence of an indoor wood-burning fireplace/stove at their longest-lived adult residence and 20.6 % reported annual usage of ≥30 days/year. Compared to those without a wood-burning fireplace/stove, women who used their wood-burning fireplace/stove ≥30 days/year had an elevated rate of lung cancer (HRadj = 1.68; 95 % CI = 1.27, 2.20). In never smokers, positive associations were seen for use 1–29 days/year (HRadj = 1.64; 95 % CI = 0.87, 3.10) and ≥30 days/year (HRadj = 1.99; 95 % CI = 1.02, 3.89). Associations were also elevated across all income groups, in Northeastern, Western or Midwestern U.S. regions, and among those who lived in urban or rural/small town settings. Conclusions: Our prospective analysis of a cohort of U.S. women found that increasing frequency of wood-burning indoor fireplace/stove usage was associated with incident lung cancer, even among never smokers.

This study investigates fireplaces in the Neolithic settlement of Çatalhöyük in Anatolia, Turkey (levels South L–S and 4040 G–H, 6700–6100 BC). Taking a holistic view with a contextual, multi-scalar approach, I consider spatial and temporal dimensions: Large-scale landscape resources and small-scale material assemblages associated with food processing provide the context for the fireplaces, and I observe the changes over the long-term, the 600 years of my study, and the short-term impact of daily practice. Firstly, I determine the criteria for identifying different types of fireplaces, their practical function and uses. I then look at the construction of ovens and hearths in Çatalhöyük and their internal and external locations. I find individual variations between households and alterations over time and challenge interpretations that emphasise uniformity and seek trends and a grand narrative of symbolic meaning in the fireplaces. I find the abandonment of fireplaces is mainly guided by practical considerations, while the few symbolic deposits suggest the importance given to food preparation. I argue that not only natural resources and culture, but also daily practice impacts on landscape, architectural features and artefacts. I conclude that fire installations enabled households to be self-sufficient and therefore ovens and hearths had special significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the evolution of Ottoman fireplaces, limited scholarly attention. It explores the technical and aesthetic changes in wall-mounted fireplaces between the 17 and 19 centuries, emphasizing their emergence as luxury appliances and their sociocultural significance. It mentions the significance of chimneys in the external profile of dwellings as markers of wealth and social status, particularly in regions central to the Ottoman imperial economy and trade.