bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Debatable Land: National and Local Identity in a Border Town
Authors: Kiely Richard , McCrone David , Bechhofer Frank , Stewart Robert
Published: March 2010

Through a systematic programme of research into national identity we have developed a sound understanding of the processes of identity claim, attribution and receipt. Central to these processes are identity markers and rules. We have always sought contexts where national identity is either salient or problematic as identity construction then becomes most clearly apparent. Berwick- upon-Tweed, a town in England but located close to the Scottish border, provides such a context. One would expect people from Berwick-upon-Tweed (‘Berwickers’) to claim an English national identity. They live in a town jurisdictionally in England and in the county of Northumberland. Moreover, one might think that, living only 3 miles south of the Scottish border, they would feel a heightened sense of their English national identity. However, our research shows that national identity in Berwick-upon-Tweed is complex and problematic. This is not simply due to close proximity to the border but a combination of unique forces - historical, cultural and demographic - that has led some Berwickers to avoid explicitly articulating a definitive nationality. Instead, they mobilise a specific identity strategy of localism. Context dramatically affects the willingness to claim a national identity. Key findings are presented from 70 household interviews conducted in Berwick-upon-Tweed and 48 divided evenly across Eyemouth, a nearby town in Scotland, and Alnwick, a town slightly further south in England. These data allowed us also to explore how Berwickers’ identity claims are received, how national identity is attributed to them by others and how these attributions are in turn received. Two of the aims of our work are to demonstrate the fluid nature of national identity processes and the crucial importance of context to these. Our work in Berwick-Upon-Tweed has done much to meet and further these aims.
Conducting Qualitative Research on Wife Abuse: Dealing with the Issue of Anxiety
Authors: Chatzifotiou Sevaste
Published: March 2010

Abused women are a very sensitive group with whom to conduct research. As such, researchers need to be aware of this inherent sensitivity and should design their research accordingly. The ethics of social research, the implications of conducting research on sensitive topics, the possible exposition of the participants to stressful moments for the sake of the interview are important issues to be taken under serious consideration by the researcher prior to undertaking the fieldwork. However, during the fieldwork the researcher might face issues which she had paid less attention to while designing the inquiry, namely issues of dealing with the anxiety that the interviews would expose on herself too. It is well recognised in the literature that the rights and safety of the participants must be of paramount importance to the researchers in every research project. Still, the researcher's ‘safety’ should not be underestimated or be given little attention. This paper, based on the experience of conducting research with abused women documents the issue of researcher's anxiety which was a salient issue throughout the study. Documenting the research process, from the research design through to issues which arose after the fieldwork, the paper draws attention on the issue of anxiety experienced by the researcher in various stages of the research, including prior, during and after leaving the field, and provides ways that these were dealt with.
Informal Settlement Characteristics in a Rural Land Restitution Case: Elandskloof, South Africa
Authors: Barry Michael , Mayson David
Published: March 2010

Research in informal settlements in South Africa has shown that conflict is inherent between groups within a settlement and between the broader community and the land administration authorities. In general, groups and sub-groups continually form, reform and dissolve within informal settlements. Moreover, the internal rules that a community creates relating to land tenure tend to be manipulated by sub-groups as they compete for land, resources and power. Internal rules are not static but are subject to continual change. Similar characteristics were observed in Elandskloof, a rural land restitution case in the Western Cape province of South Africa.
Shifting Classes: Interactions with Industry and Gender Shifts in the 1980s
Authors: Gubbay Jon
Published: March 2010

Data drawn from Population Census of Great Britain suggest that both the images of proletarianisation and upward shift of the class structure are over-generalised. Shift- share analysis is used for the period 1981-1991 to explore the complex interactions between changes in class composition within industrial sectors, change in the relative size of sectors and sex composition shifts (within classes, within sectors and within class/sector categories). For example, sector shifts explain change in numbers of self-employed professionals and semi-skilled manual workers but changes in class composition within sectors account for changes in numbers of managers, non-manual ancillary workers and artists, unskilled workers and own account workers other than professionals. Change in class composition does not account for the change in the sex ratios within classes. Although sector shifts contribute to a decline of the male/female ratio in most classes, this process is uneven, with both declining male dominated and growing female dominated sectors, whose effect is partly counterbalanced by growing male dominated and declining female dominated sectors.
Queer Frameworks and Queer Tendencies: Towards an Understanding of Postmodern Transformations of Sexuality
Authors: Roseneil Sasha
Published: March 2010

This article aims to extend the theorization of postmodernity to consider social changes in the realm of sexuality. It offers a discussion of recent developments in queer theory, which, it is argued, can contribute significant new theoretical frameworks for the analysis of sexuality. It then traces some of the shifts in the organization of sexuality in the second half of the twentieth century, the emergence of modern sexual identities, and the changing relationships between ‘the homosexual’ and ‘the heterosexual’, as categories, identities and ways of life. The article then outlines what are conceptualized as the ‘queer tendencies’ of postmodernity, which it is suggested characterize the contemporary re-organization of relations of sexuality. These queer tendencies are: queer auto-critique, the decentring of heterorelations, the emergence of hetero-reflexivity, and the cultural valorizing of the queer.
The Importance of Convention Status: A Case Study of the UK
Authors: Bloch Alice
Published: March 2010

Convention status accords refugees social and economic rights and security of residence in European countries of asylum. However, the trend in Europe has been to prevent asylum seekers reaching its borders, to reduce the rights of asylum seekers in countries of asylum and to use temporary protection as a means of circumventing the responsibility of long-term resettlement. This paper will provide a case study of the United Kingdom. It will examine the social and economic rights afforded to different statuses in the areas of social security, housing, employment and family reunion. It will explore the interaction of social and economic rights and security of residence on the experiences of those seeking protection. Drawing on responses to the crisis in Kosovo and on data from a survey of 180 refugees and asylum seekers in London it will show the importance of Convention status and the rights and security the status brings.
Asylum, Refuge and Public Policy: Current Trends and Future Dilemmas
Authors: Schuster Liza , Solomos John
Published: March 2010

Britain is a signatory of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rightsand Fundamental Freedoms and the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. It is only in the last decade, however, with the passage of the 1993 Asylum and Immigration Appeal Act and the 1998 Human Rights Act, that these two Conventions have became part of British law. This paper begins by exploring the impact of the incorporation of the 1951 Convention and then moves on to look at the hopes that are now pinned on the Human Rights Act. It concludes by considering the (actual and potential) impact of these two Conventions on asylum policy and practice since their incorporation into British law and explores the possible conflict between the Conventions and recent British legislation on asylum. In doing so it highlights the need to develop a deeper and contextualised understanding of current preoccupations with the issue of asylum and refuge in Britain and other European societies.
The Internet Matters: Exploring the Use of the Internet as a Research Tool
Authors: Illingworth Nicola
Published: March 2010

The arrival of the virtual realm and computer mediated communication (CMC) continues to attract considerable interest from a wide range of disciplines. Hine (2000) has suggested that previously negative understandings of CMC have been transcended. The virtual realm is now welcomed as a site for richer and more sustained interaction than previously envisaged. For the research community, the rapid development of the World Wide Web has opened new horizons and provided access to a new frontier and tool for data collection. The researcher can now engage in research on a world-wide, low cost, almost instantaneous scale - and in ways which potentially overcome some of the barriers imposed by more conventional research approaches. However, this somewhat idealistic view obscures both methodological and ethical difficulties that have become apparent throughout this research. If these difficulties are left unchecked, they may serve to undermine the use of the Internet as a tool for social research. The primary aim of this paper is to expose these difficulties and thus broaden the scope of discourse surrounding the Internet. A secondary aim is to explore the implications of the use of the Internet for the feminist methodological and research project. My aim here is to problematise the transference of existing methodological frameworks to an online setting. In this respect, I have presented this paper in the form of a research trajectory, outlining the course of my research from its conception to latter stages. The intention here is to suggest an avoidance of the use of the Internet as an ‘easy option’ and encourage a more developed focus on the justification, applicability and benefits of Internet research to the particular project. What has become apparent is that the effectiveness of CMC is much dependent on who is being researched, what is being researched and why.
Modernization, Rationalization, and Education: Responding to the Other
Authors: Papastephanou Marianna
Published: March 2010

As societies forfeit increasingly their homogeneous character and cross-cultural encounters are being multiplied, demands for multicultural and Other- oriented education appear legitimate and convincing. However, to endorse such demands does not suffice on its own, if it is not accompanied by appropriate theoretical shifts in sociological core assumptions. In this article, I propose that one such shift should concern the old coupling of modernization with societal rationalization. By discussing Habermas's conception of rationalization, I defend the rejection of the identification of modernization with rational development. I show the benefits of this rejection for multicultural education by highlighting what ethnocentric vices (Martha Nussbaum's term) it staves off. I conclude with some suggestions for a sociology of education that is sensitive to otherness.
Looking for Sociology after 11 September
Authors: Fuller Steve
Published: March 2010

This piece, completed one month after the events of 11 September, examines the sociological presuppositions of the major intellectual and journalistic frameworks used to understand the unfolding ‘war on terrorism’. The major frameworks include sociobiology, theodicy, political realism and ‘the clash of civilizations’. Mainstream sociological theorizing has been largely absent from the debate, and some of its more fashionable claims (e.g. about our ‘informatized world-order’) may even be cast into doubt. In general the discussion has resembled the old ‘Cold War’ rhetoric that was supposedly laid to rest with the fall of the Soviet Union, with ‘terrorism’ and ‘Islam’ replacing the threats previously posed by ‘totalitarianism’ and ‘Communism’. The sociology we teach our students may influence whether this tendency continues.
Confidence amid Uncertainty: Ambitions and Plans in a Sample of Young Adults
Authors: Anderson Michael , Bechhofer Frank , Jamieson Lynn , McCrone David , Li Yaojun , Stewart Robert
Published: March 2010

The limited and sometimes contradictory published literature, mostly relating to younger age groups and non-British societies, suggests that planning and a longer time perspective are inhibited by economic insecurity, by tight structuring of the life course, and a track record of failing to achieve ambitions. This paper uses survey data, backed by qualitative interviews, to investigate planning and forethought in a sample of young adults in the Scottish town of Kirkcaldy in the late 1990s. Responses are compared with those of older age groups and of people of the same age twelve years earlier. Economic insecurity and failure to achieve ambitions had been seen by our older respondents as particularly characteristic of the lives of young adults. However, in spite of considerable sense of insecurity, the young adults we studied do in general feel in control of their lives, and do have well articulated ambitions and plans to achieve them with respect especially to work and housing. Indeed, conditions of modern life almost force many to seek to plan to some degree in these areas. Forethought and an element of planning, albeit often quite provisional in its nature, seems actually to provide some sense of security in an uncertain world. Respondents also show considerable commitment to future childbearing and partnership, though past experience of entry to both has often been fairly haphazard and there is evidence of cultural resistance to overly rational planning in such areas. Failing to achieve ambitions in the past does not affect ambitions but does limit willingness to plan for the future, especially for the long-run. Poverty and job insecurity, and also the presence of children, inhibit planning, in some cases to extreme degrees.
Will Sociology find some New Concepts before the US finds Osama bin Laden?
Authors: Fuller Steve
Published: March 2010

Five months have now passed since the 11 September 2001 suicide bombing of the World Trade Center that prompted my original article and the responses published in this journal. Some responses convey the impression of sociologists so eager to find new opportunities to ride their hobby horses that they ignore the potential for the social world to confound their cherished expectations. To partially remedy this situation, I propose the concept of ‘meso- knowledge’ as a sensitising device for understanding the current geopolitical scene that attempts to get beyond the theoretical ruts of contemporary postmodernism.
Cosmopolitanism, Multiculturalism and Citizenship
Authors: Stevenson Nick
Published: March 2010

This paper argues that the study of citizenship needs to engage with both cosmopolitan and multicultural questions. Despite their difference social and political theory needs to find new ways to bring these concerns together. In particular it is argued that such a venture is only possible if cosmopolitanism opens questions of cultural identity, and multiculturalism decouples itself from specifically national concerns. These moves are likely to bring these approaches into a fruitful dialogue taking their arguments beyond mainstream liberalism, but maintaining a dialectic between universalism and difference. The paper ends by considering the challenge played by fundamentalism.
The Campaign against ‘Live Exports’ in the UK: Animal Protectionism, the Stigmatisation of Place and the Language of Moral Outrage
Authors: Walls John
Published: March 2010

In this paper I will emphasise the centrality that the animal protectionist theme plays in generating a specific language of moral outrage, including its ability to mobilise a range of diverse social actors toward collective action. Focusing upon a recent animal welfare campaign, the campaign to end the export of live farm animals to continental Europe, I will argue that the language of moral outrage reflected adherence to the AP theme, and was a reaction to a strong sense of ‘spoiled identity’ within the local communities, which assisted in the development of a temporary protest consciousness in the two towns under study. Furthermore, the moral outrage expressed by protesters was given additional intensity by the heavy handed public order policing strategies implemented by the two regional police forces, this further strengthened the protesters resolve to continue the protests. The campaign will be shown to be an outcome of a combination of specific local factors and broader social, cultural and historical values of concern over our treatment of non-human animals. I will theorise the protests as an attempt to purify a stigmatised social space of a perceived contaminating practice, or moral ‘evil’.
Community Matters: Reflections from the Field
Authors: Sherlock Kirsty
Published: March 2010

This article asserts that community matters, not least because of the continued importance of community demonstrated by residents of a post-fordist resort town in North Australia. Far from being an outdated concept, confined to stable rural villages, (as often argued in the literature), even this extremely transient population profess a strong desire to find and maintain ‘community’. A sense of community is constructed through narratives of place and lifestyle to create an inclusive collective identity. However, my fieldwork demonstrated that the ideal remains elusive. Access to social networks is unequal and the norms of community fall short of reciprocity or duty, making it a ‘community without obligation’.
The Problem of Representation: Realism and Operationalism in Survey Research
Authors: Williams Malcolm
Published: March 2010

This paper is concerned with the question of representation in survey research, specifically in respect of the operationalisation of variables. In sociology, empiricist explanations of the social world are largely discredited and some form of realism is now commonly favoured by researchers. Here I will argue that whilst realism has made theoretical progress in sociology, in survey research there has been an unfortunate accommodation between empiricist operationalism and a naive methodological realism. I will argue that operationalism is not a viable strategy and instead will put the case for a realist approach to definition and measurement in survey research.
Desire Lines: ‘Queering’ Health and Social Welfare
Authors: Hicks Stephen , Watson Katherine
Published: March 2010

This article considers how knowledge about lesbians and gay men is produced in health and social welfare texts. It looks at the consequences of a reliance upon the liberal ‘ethnic model’ of sexuality. The authors provide a critique of ‘anti-discriminatory practice’ versions of sexuality categories which, in their view, assert the liberal model at the expense of ideas found in the sociological traditions of gay liberation, lesbian feminist, interactionist and queer/postmodern theories. Through a queer reading of health and social welfare texts specifically addressed to sexuality, the article considers the hierarchy of sexual knowledges which promote heteronormativity; the reliance upon fixed identity models of sexuality; the functionalist view of a “gay culture”; the silencing of lesbian feminism; and the traditionally gendered and fetishistic versions of ‘the lesbian’ produced. The authors argue against merely ‘adding in’ lesbians and gay men, and in terms of practice, encourage a reflexive engagement by all practitioners with the ways in which these dominant discourses concerning sexuality populate and discipline knowledges within health and social welfare.
‘Communication, Conflict and Risk in the 21st Century: Critical Issues for Sociology’
Authors: Anderson Alison
Published: March 2010

The recent war in Iraq has generated much discussion about the role of the news media in representing war. This piece calls for greater sociological intervention into this debate. In particular, it cautions against exaggerating the ideological effects of media propaganda on public attitudes to war. The decision to go to war generated unusually high levels of public opposition. In times of war it is commonplace for policymakers and military personnel to attack the media for bias and credit them with a determining influence on public opinion. However, this piece suggests that there is a need for greater critical engagement with developments in audience research. Also, current debates also exhibit considerable confusion over concepts of ‘objectivity’, ‘impartiality’ and ‘bias’. Recent sociological work reveals both the complexities arising from the ambiguity of concepts of ‘objectivity’ and ‘bias’, and the need for a more fine-grained approach towards media effects.
‘Uneven Possibilities: Understanding Non-Heterosexual Ageing and the Implications of Social Change’
Authors: Heaphy Brian , Yip Andrew K. T.
Published: March 2010

The article draws from focus group data generated for a UK study of the life circumstances of lesbians, gay men and bisexuals aged 50 and above, to consider some key elements of the conceptual framework we are developing for understanding the issue of non-heterosexual ageing. The article considers ways in which non-heterosexual ways of living have been positively evaluated as ‘prime’ experiments in late modern ways of living, and identifies three core areas (identity, relationships and community) where it has been argued that lesbian and gay lifestyles can be viewed as indicators of the implications of social change. Employing the data to discuss the notion of ‘do-it-yourself’ biographies, we identify a number of factors that work to enable and limit an empowered sense of self amongst older lesbians and gay. In doing so, we also highlight the uneven possibilities that exist for self-creation in detraditionalised settings. Non- heterosexual couples and friendships can offer distinct possibilities for ‘negotiated’ and ‘chosen’ relationships. These are not, however, uniformly adopted or created by older non- heterosexuals. Finally, our data indicates that while non- heterosexual communities can provide crucial supports and resources for their members, some older lesbians and gay men experience these communities as exclusionary. This raises a number of questions about the dynamics that facilitate inclusion or exclusion in reflexive or critical communities. While the article highlights that non- heterosexual ageing cannot be understood without reference the creative possibilities open to non-heterosexuals, and late modern individuals generally, we caution against celebratory accounts of both non-heterosexual and late modern ways of living, and of social and cultural constraints transformed, that is inherent within them.
‘Cash-In-Hand Work: Unravelling Informal Employment from the Moral Economy of Favours’
Authors: Williams Colin C.
Published: March 2010

Through the study of cash-in-hand work, an illicit type of monetary transaction often seen to epitomise unbridled profit-motivated market exchange, the aim of this paper is to challenge the dominant narrative that monetary transactions are universally market-like and profit-motivated. Until now, most studies contesting this narrative have focused upon relatively small marginal sites (e.g., car boot sales, local currency schemes) that can be simply explained away as peripheral or even superfluous to an understanding of monetised exchange in the mainstream economy. Unravelling the characteristics and logics of monetary exchange in this larger economic sphere can be viewed as an exemplar of unconstrained profit-motivated market exchange, however, the intention is to provide a more robust challenge to the view that monetary transactions are always profit- motivated than has so far been the case. To do this, the conventional focus of studies of cash-in-hand work on its variable magnitude is transcended and instead, evidence is reported of a study conducted in North Nottinghamshire that investigates the characteristics and logics underpinning such work. This reveals that although there exists cash-in-hand work of both an ‘organised’ and ‘autonomous’ variety that is conducted under profit-motivated market-like exchange relations (what I here call ‘informal employment’), there is also cash-in-hand work imbued with not-for-profit rationales and non-market economic relations that represents a ‘moral economy of paid favours’ and is more akin to unpaid mutual aid. This paper thus concludes that if not-for-profit monetised transactions can be found even in this sphere, then those contesting the view that monetised exchange is always profit- motivated so as to illuminate alternative futures beyond profit- motivated capitalism should be encouraged to extend their enquiries to more mainstream economic spaces in order to mount a more serious challenge to the hegemony of capitalist relations.
‘Consumed with Sleep? Dormant Bodies in Consumer Culture’
Authors: Williams Simon J , Boden Sharon
Published: March 2010

This paper takes the neglected sociological matter of sleep and applies the insights contained therein to issues and debates within the sociology of consumption. Sleep, it is argued, is pursued if not consumed in a variety of ways in consumer culture, including its (lifestyle) associations with health and beauty, leisure and pleasure. It is also increasingly recognised if not contracted for in the workplace, construed as the ‘ultimate performance enhancer’ and the ‘cheapest form of stress relief’. These and other insights are located in the context of a burgeoning ‘sleep industry’ and the consumer identities it spawns: one which is busy capitalising on this dormant third part of our lives through a range of products, from beds to bedding, night-wear to night-cream, pills to pillows. Sleep, it is concluded, is a crucial element of consumption, augmenting existing theoretical and empirical agendas in significant new ways. The broader sociological implications of sleep are also touched upon and addressed, as a stimulus to further research, discussion and debate.
Dead or Alive: The Discursive Massacre or the Mass-suicide of Post-Soviet Intelligentsia?
Authors: Kotchetkova Inna
Published: March 2010

This paper seeks to make sense of the transformation of identity in post-Soviet Russia by exploring the debates surrounding the social category ‘intelligentsia’. I argue that the concept of intelligentsia should be seen as both a source of collective identity and a rhetorical resource in the struggle for power and domination. Here then, the usage of the category intelligentsia becomes a means for understanding broader post-Communist cultural change and some of its underlying tensions and conflicts. The paper examines two competing discourses about the intelligentsia currently vying for supremacy in Russia and their associated rival interests: one discourse is affirmative, the other negative. In relation to each discourse, several discursive practices are identified and observed on political and academic territories. The analysis of the discursive struggle over definitions contributes to understanding the transformation of power relations in modern Russia. Importantly the paper speculates on the present and future implications of these different tendencies.
Living Alone: Its Place in Household Formation and Change
Authors: Chandler Joan , Williams Malcolm , Maconachie Moira , Collett Tracey , Dodgeon Brian
Published: March 2010

In recent decades there has been a significant rise in the numbers of people who live alone and it was predicted that by 2002 that a third of all households will be single-person households. The predicted increase has occurred with indications of continued growth in this type of living arrangement. Furthermore, although living alone remains common among older age groups, the largest growth has been within younger populations.

This demographic trend has attracted speculation about the numbers of people who will experience solo living, the stability of living alone in people's biography, and the impact of gender differences in the likelihood and stability of living alone. To answers these questions, this paper uses longitudinally linked Census data from England and Wales to explore the household origins and household destinations of working age people who live alone. This longitudinal data derives from the 1971, 1981 and 1991 Censuses.

The data from this analysis confirms other research demonstrating the increasingly numbers of non-retired people who live alone. Furthermore it demonstrates that once a person lives alone, they are more likely to continue to live in that household arrangement than any other and that the tendency to live alone and to continue to live alone is more likely amongst younger cohorts of people. It also demonstrates that the largest increase in living alone in amongst men, but that once women live alone they are more likely to continue to live alone.

These findings have an important bearing on current debates about ‘individualisation’, the contemporary experience of family life, life course trajectories and the emergent life styles of younger populations.
Gait changes in patients with knee osteoarthritis are replicated by experimental knee pain
Authors: Henriksen Marius , Graven‐Nielsen Thomas , Aaboe Jens , Andriacchi Thomas P. , Bliddal Henning
Published: March 2010

Objective

Medial knee osteoarthritis (OA) is characterized by pain and associated with abnormal knee moments during walking. The relationship between knee OA pain and gait changes remains to be clarified, and a better understanding of this link could advance the treatment and prevention of disease progression. This study investigated changes in knee moments during walking following experimental knee pain in healthy volunteers, and whether these changes replicated the joint moments observed in medial knee OA patients.

Methods

In a crossover study, 34 healthy subjects were tested on 3 different days; gait analyses were conducted before, during, and after pain induced by hypertonic saline injections (0.75 ml) into the infrapatellar fat pad. Isotonic saline and sham injections were used as control conditions. Peak moments in frontal and sagittal planes were analyzed. The results were compared with data from 161 medial knee OA patients. The patients were divided into less severe OA and severe OA categories, which was based on radiographic disease severity of the medial compartment.

Results

Experimental knee pain led to reduced peak moments in the frontal and sagittal planes in the healthy subjects, which were similar to the patterns observed in less severe OA patients while walking at the same speed.

Conclusion

In healthy subjects, pain was associated with reductions in knee joint moments during walking in a manner similar to less severe knee OA patients. The experimental model may be used to study mechanically‐driven knee OA progression and preventive measures against abnormal joint loading in knee OA.
Patient‐reported outcomes one year after primary hip replacement in a European Collaborative Cohort
Authors: Judge Andy , Cooper Cyrus , Williams Sue , Dreinhoefer Karsten , Dieppe Paul
Published: March 2010

Objective

To identify whether patients have symptomatic improvement 12 months following total hip replacement (THR) surgery.

Methods

The European Collaborative Database of Cost and Practice Patterns of Total Hip Replacement study consists of 1,327 patients receiving primary THR for osteoarthritis (OA) across 20 European orthopedic centers. The primary outcome was the difference in Western Ontario and McMaster Universities OA Index (WOMAC) score between preoperative and 12‐month postoperative measurements. To classify whether patients responded to THR at 12 months, we used return to normal, Outcome Measures in Rheumatology Clinical Trials (OMERACT)–OA Research Society International (OARSI) criteria, minimum important difference (MID), and minimum clinically important difference. Exposures were age, sex, obesity, employment, educational attainment, American Society of Anesthesiologists status, and radiographs.

Results

On average, there was a large improvement in WOMAC scores 12 months after surgery, but whereas some patients improved, others got worse. The OMERACT‐OARSI method classified 85.7% of patients as responders, MID 70.1%, and return to normal 64.1%. In general, each approach classified the same groups of patients as responding to THR. Based on total WOMAC score, patients who were younger, morbidly obese, employed, and better educated were more likely to respond to THR, but the effects were attenuated after adjustment for confounding, with only the effect of education remaining important.

Conclusion

The overall average response to THR was good, but ∼14–36% of patients did not improve, or were worse, 12 months postsurgery. Although the OMERACT‐OARSI criteria were originally designed for use in clinical drug trials, they performed well in classifying patient response 12 months post‐THR. Further research is required to understand the determinants of patient outcomes following THR.
Low‐dose aspirin in the primary prevention of rheumatoid arthritis: The women's health study
Authors: Shadick Nancy A. , Karlson Elizabeth W. , Cook Nancy R. , Maher Nancy E. , Buring Julie E. , Lee I‐Min
Published: March 2010

Objective

Low‐dose aspirin may reduce the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA) through its effect on cyclooxygenase activity and its antioxidant pathways. Previous randomized trial data have demonstrated a beneficial effect of low‐dose aspirin in reducing other inflammatory diseases, such as asthma and colorectal adenomas, but no trial has evaluated the role of aspirin in RA prevention.

Methods

The Women's Health Study is a randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled trial conducted between 1992 and 2004 designed to evaluate the risks and benefits of low‐dose aspirin (100 mg every other day) and vitamin E in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease and cancer among 39,876 female health care professionals age ≥45 years throughout the US. After excluding women with RA at baseline, 39,144 women were evaluated for the present study. A definite diagnosis of RA was assessed during followup by self‐report and confirmed using a connective tissue disease screening questionnaire, followed by a medical record review by a rheumatologist for American College of Rheumatology criteria.

Results

During an average followup of 10 years, 106 women developed definite RA (48 women in the aspirin group and 58 in the placebo group). There was a nonsignificant risk for RA (relative risk [RR] 0.83, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.56–1.21; P = 0.33) associated with aspirin. There were 64 seropositive RA cases (60%) and 42 seronegative RA cases (40%). Aspirin also had no significant effect on either seropositive RA (RR 1.0, 95% CI 0.61–1.63) or seronegative RA (RR 0.62, 95% CI 0.33–1.15).

Conclusion

One hundred milligrams of aspirin taken every other day was not associated with a significant reduction in the risk of developing RA among women in a randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled trial.
Early outcomes and improvement of patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis enrolled in a Canadian multicenter inception cohort
Authors: Oen Kiem , Duffy Ciarán M. , Tse Shirley M. L. , Ramsey Suzanne , Ellsworth Janet , Chédeville Gaëlle , Chetaille Anne‐Laure , Saint‐Cyr Claire , Cabral David A. , Spiegel Lynn R. , Schneider Rayfel , Lang Bianca , Huber Adam M. , Dancey Paul , Silverman Earl , Rosenberg Alan M. , Cameron Bonnie , Johnson Nicole , Dorval Jean , Scuccimarri Rosie , Campillo Sarah , Petty Ross E. , Duffy Karen N. Watanabe , Boire Gilles , Haddad Elie , Houghton Kristin , Laxer Ronald , Turvey Stuart E. , Miettunen Paivi , Gross Katherine , Guzman Jaime , Benseler Susanne , Feldman Brian M. , Espinosa Victor , Yeung Rae S. M. , Tucker Lori
Published: March 2010

Objective

To determine early outcomes and early improvements in a prospective inception cohort of children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) treated with current standard therapies.

Methods

Patients selected were enrolled in an inception cohort of JIA, the Research in Arthritis in Canadian Children Emphasizing Outcomes Study. The juvenile rheumatoid arthritis core criteria set measures were completed at enrollment and 6 months later. Frequencies of normal values for each of the core set measures and the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Pediatric 30, 50, and 70 (Pedi 70) criteria response rates achieved at 6 months after enrollment were calculated for each JIA‐onset subtype group.

Results

Among 354 patients in the study, the median interval between diagnosis and enrollment was 0.7 months. At 6 months after enrollment, median values of active joint counts were highest in patients with rheumatoid factor (RF)–positive polyarthritis (4) and RF‐negative polyarthritis (2), but were 0 or 1 for other subtypes. Fifty percent or more of patients with oligoarthritis, systemic arthritis, enthesitis‐related arthritis, and undifferentiated arthritis had no active joints, and the ACR Pedi 70 criteria response rate was 48% or more in those with oligoarthritis, RF‐negative polyarthritis, and systemic arthritis.

Conclusion

With current management strategies in clinical practice, improvement in disease activity was noted in considerable proportions of patients in all of the JIA subtype groups, but low levels of disease activity persisted in many. We expect that these early outcomes will prove to be significant predictors of long‐term outcomes.
Prevalent vertebral fractures among children initiating glucocorticoid therapy for the treatment of rheumatic disorders
Authors: Huber A. M. , Gaboury I. , Cabral D. A. , Lang B. , Ni A. , Stephure D. , Taback S. , Dent P. , Ellsworth J. , LeBlanc C. , Saint‐Cyr C. , Scuccimarri R. , Hay J. , Lentle B. , Matzinger M. , Shenouda N. , Moher D. , Rauch F. , Siminoski K. , Ward L. M. ,   Canadian Steroid‐Associated Osteoporosis in the Pediatric Population (Stopp) Consortium
Published: March 2010

Objective

Vertebral fractures are an under‐recognized problem in children with inflammatory disorders. We studied spine health among 134 children (87 girls) with rheumatic conditions (median age 10 years) within 30 days of initiating glucocorticoid therapy.

Methods

Children were categorized as follows: juvenile dermatomyositis (n = 30), juvenile idiopathic arthritis (n = 28), systemic lupus erythematosus and related conditions (n = 26), systemic arthritis (n = 22), systemic vasculitis (n = 16), and other conditions (n = 12). Thoracolumbar spine radiograph and dual x‐ray absorptiometry for lumbar spine (L‐spine) areal bone mineral density (BMD) were performed within 30 days of glucocorticoid initiation. Genant semiquantitative grading was used for vertebral morphometry. Second metacarpal morphometry was carried out on a hand radiograph. Clinical factors including disease and physical activity, calcium and vitamin D intake, cumulative glucocorticoid dose, underlying diagnosis, L‐spine BMD Z score, and back pain were analyzed for association with vertebral fracture.

Results

Thirteen vertebral fractures were noted in 9 children (7%). Of these, 6 patients had a single vertebral fracture and 3 had 2–3 fractures. Fractures were clustered in the mid‐thoracic region (69%). Three vertebral fractures (23%) were moderate (grade 2); the others were mild (grade 1). For the entire cohort, mean ± SD L‐spine BMD Z score was significantly different from zero (−0.55 ± 1.2, P < 0.001) despite a mean height Z score that was similar to the healthy average (0.02 ± 1.0, P = 0.825). Back pain was highly associated with increased odds for fracture (odds ratio 10.6 [95% confidence interval 2.1–53.8], P = 0.004).

Conclusion

In pediatric rheumatic conditions, vertebral fractures can be present prior to prolonged glucocorticoid exposure.
Serum uric acid and risk of occupational disability: Findings from a cohort study of male construction workers in Germany
Authors: Claessen Heiner , Brenner Hermann , Drath Christoph , Arndt Volker
Published: March 2010

Objective

The role of serum uric acid (UA) as an independent risk factor for several health outcomes remains controversial. However, given the accumulating evidence that UA is related to predictors of occupational disability such as obesity, excessive alcohol consumption, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus, UA may represent a relevant risk indicator for occupational disability, which has emerged as an important public health problem.

Methods

The association between UA and occupational disability was examined in a cohort of 16,532 male construction workers in Germany who underwent occupational health examinations from 1986 to 1992 and were followed until 2005. Cox regression analysis was employed with adjustment for established risk factors.

Results

A total of 3,002 cases of disability pension occurred during the followup. Risk of all‐cause occupational disability was significantly increased for UA concentration in the top quartile (hazard ratio [HR] 1.25, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.12–1.40) after adjustment for potential confounders when compared with UA levels in the lowest quartile (≤5.23 mg/dl). Cause‐specific analysis revealed a significant association between increased UA and occupational disability due to cardiovascular diseases (HR 1.62, 95% CI 1.20–2.17). In addition, positive but statistically nonsignificant associations were observed for occupational disabilities due to respiratory diseases (HR 1.78, 95% CI 0.99–3.23), musculoskeletal disorders (HR 1.16, 95% CI 0.98–1.37), diseases of the digestive system (HR 1.59, 95% CI 0.69–3.67), and mental disorders (HR 1.40, 95% CI 0.95–2.06).

Conclusion

Our study is the first to our knowledge to indicate that increased UA might also serve as a potential independent risk indicator for occupational disability, in particular due to cardiovascular diseases.
Analysis of linear and adaptive feedback synchronization in a new unified chaotic system
Authors: Pan Lin , Zhou Wuneng , Fang Jian'an , Li Dequan
Published: March 2010

In this paper, the linear feedback synchronization and adaptive feedback synchronization with only one controller are applied to a new unified chaotic system, which is consisted of three subsystems, and is constructed according to Vaněček and Čelikovský criterion, but it is different from any existing chaotic systems. Moreover, numerical simulations will be given to show the effectiveness of these methods. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
State smoothing in Markov jump systems with lagged mode observation
Authors: Liang Yan , Zhang Lei , Pan Quan , Chen Tongwen
Published: March 2010

Estimation involving Markov jump systems (MJSs) is widely used in target tracking, speech recognition and communication. It is assumed in MJSs that state measurement and mode observation are synchronous. In applications such as image‐based target tracking, the target orientation, as one of the mode observations, needs additional computation time for pattern recognition and thus can be delayed. This motivates us to explore the smoothing problem of MJSs with mode observation lagged to state measurement. This brief paper presents a recursive estimator by deriving the conditional state mean and the conditional model probability from both delayed mode observation and state measurement. Simulations on maneuvering target tracking are carried out to validate the performance of the proposed smoother in comparison with existing methods. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Have we neglected the societal importance of sand dunes? An ecosystem services perspective
Authors: Everard Mark , Jones Laurence , Watts Bill
Published: March 2010

Coastal sand dunes are widespread worldwide, including around the coasts of the British Isles and Europe, providing a wide range of functions some of which are recognized for their socio‐economic benefits.

In some localities, their contribution to coastal defence and to tourism and regional character have been acknowledged in local plans, but this is far from ubiquitous.

A rapid assessment was undertaken of the range of ecosystem services provided by coastal sand dune systems, using the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment ecosystem services classification augmented with habitat‐ and locally‐appropriate additions.

Sand dunes were shown to provide a wide range of provisioning, regulatory, cultural and supporting services, many of which remain substantially overlooked.

Although the importance of coastal sand dune for a diversity of characteristic and often rare organisms from a variety of taxa has been addressed, many of the broader ecosystem services that these habitats provide to society have been overlooked. This suggests that coastal sand dune systems are neglected ecosystems of significant and often under‐appreciated societal value. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Chondrocyte innate immune myeloid differentiation factor 88–dependent signaling drives procatabolic effects of the endogenous toll‐like receptor 2/toll‐like receptor 4 ligands low molecular weight hyaluronan and high mobility group box chromosomal protein 1 in mice
Authors: Liu‐Bryan Ru , Terkeltaub Robert
Published: March 2010

Objective

Toll‐like receptor 2 (TLR‐2)/TLR‐4–mediated innate immunity serves as a frontline antimicrobial host defense, but also modulates tissue remodeling and repair responses to endogenous ligands released during low‐grade inflammation. We undertook the present study to assess whether the endogenous TLR‐2/TLR‐4 ligands low molecular weight hyaluronan (LMW‐HA) and high mobility group box chromosomal protein 1 (HMGB‐1), which are increased in osteoarthritic (OA) joints, drive procatabolic chondrocyte responses dependent on TLR‐2 and TLR‐4 signaling through the cytosolic adaptor myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88).

Methods

We studied mature femoral head cap cartilage explants and immature primary knee articular chondrocytes from TLR‐2/TLR‐4–double‐knockout, MyD88‐knockout, and congenic wild‐type mice. Generation of nitric oxide (NO), degradation of hyaluronan, release of HMGB‐1, matrix metalloproteinase 3 (MMP‐3), and MMP‐13, and protein expression of type X collagen were assessed by Griess reaction and Western blotting analyses. Expression of messenger RNA for type II and type X collagen, MMP‐13, and RUNX‐2 was examined by real‐time quantitative reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction.

Results

Interleukin‐1β and TLR‐2 and TLR‐4 ligands induced both HMGB‐1 release from chondrocytes and extracellular LMW‐HA generation in normal chondrocytes. TLR‐2/TLR‐4−/− and MyD88−/− mouse cartilage explants and chondrocytes lost the capacity to mount procatabolic responses to both LMW‐HA and HMGB‐1, demonstrated by >95% suppression of NO production (P < 0.01), and attenuated induction of MMP‐3 and MMP‐13. Combined deficiency of TLR‐2/TLR‐4, or of MyD88 alone, also attenuated release of NO and blunted induction of MMP‐3 and MMP‐13 release. MyD88 was necessary for HMGB‐1 and hyaluronidase 2 (which generates LMW‐HA) to induce chondrocyte hypertrophy, which is implicated in OA progression.

Conclusion

MyD88‐dependent TLR‐2/TLR‐4 signaling is essential for procatabolic responses to LMW‐HA and HMGB‐1, and MyD88 drives chondrocyte hypertrophy. Therefore, LMW‐HA and HMGB‐1 act as innate immune cytokine‐like signals with the potential to modulate chondrocyte differentiation and function in OA progression.