The natural history and risk factors of musculoskeletal conditions resulting in disability among US Army personnel

We describe the natural history of 13 musculoskeletal conditions requiring hospitalization and identify demographic, behavioral, psychosocial, occupational, and clinical characteristics most strongly associated with disability discharge from the Army. Subjects included 15,268 active-duty personnel hospitalized for a common musculoskeletal condition between the years 1989-1996 who were retrospectively followed through 1997. Back conditions had the greatest 5-year cumulative risk of disability (21%, 19%, and 17% for intervertebral disc displacement, intervertebral disc degeneration, and nonspecific low back pain, respectively). Cox proportional hazards models identified the following risk factors for disability among males: lower pay grade, musculoskeletal diagnosis, shorter length of service, older age, occupational category, lower job satisfaction, recurrent musculoskeletal hospitalizations, more cigarette smoking, greater work stress, and heavier physical demands. Among females, fewer covariates reached statistical significance, although lower education level was significant in more than one model. Modifiable risk factors related to work (job satisfaction, work stress, physical demands, occupation) and health behaviors (smoking) suggest possible targets for intervention.     

Surviving the Americanizing New Right*

Benjamin Barber établit un lien entre la mondialisation des entre‐prises et la résurgence des nationalismes ethnoculturels. Selon lui, ces deux phénomènes affaiblissent la démocratie. Barber ne parle pas des effets de la mondialisation sur l'autre aspect du nationalisme — le nationalisme civique, Aetatisé, qui prédomine dans les démo‐craties comme le Canada. Cet article étudie les liens qui unissent ethos, traditions et État au Canada, et qui en font un pays différent des États‐Unis. L'auteur se demande si le nouveau libéralisme de droite des années 1980 et 1990 n'a pas remis en question le caractère distinct du Canada. L'article présente aussi les tendances qui s'opposent à la nouvelle droite libérale au Canada. Benjamin Barber draws a connection between corporate globalization and the resurgence of ethno‐cultural nationalisms. Both weaken democracy, he contends. Barber does not discuss the effects of globalization on the other variety of nationalism—the civic, state‐based kind that predominates in highly diverse, democratic countries such as Canada. This paper examines the state‐based ethos and traditions that have kept Canada distinct from the United States and explores whether the new right liberalism of the 1980s and 1990s has eroded Canada's raison d'etre as a separate country. Counter trends to new right liberalism in Canada are also discussed.     

Who wants to be an ICH Euro billionaire?

The ICH E9 guideline on Statistical Principles for Clinical Trials is a pivotal document for statisticians in clinical research in the pharmaceutical industry guiding, as it does, statistical aspects of the planning, conduct and analysis of regulatory clinical trials. New statisticians joining the industry require a thorough and lasting understanding of the 39-page guideline. Given the amount of detail to be covered, traditional (lecture-style) training methods are largely ineffective. Directed reading, perhaps in groups, may be a helpful approach, especially if experienced staff are involved in the discussions. However, as in many training scenarios, exercise-based training is often the most effective approach to learning. In this paper, we describe several variants of a training module in ICH E9 for new statisticians, combining directed reading with a game-based exercise, which have proved to be highly effective and enjoyable for course participants.     

Risk and Planning in Agriculture: How Planning on Dairy Farms in Ireland Is Affected by Farmers’ Regulatory Focus

This article examines how planning on dairy farms is affected by farmers' motivation. It argues that farmers' choice of expansion strategies can be specified in terms of risk decision making and understood as either prevention‐focused or promotion‐focused motivation. This relationship was empirically examined using mediated regression analyses where promotion/prevention focus was the independent variable and its effect on total milk production via planned expansion strategies was examined. The results indicate that promotion focus among farmers has an indirect effect on farm expansion via planning strategies that incur greater risk to the farm enterprise. Regulatory focus on the part of farmers has an influence on farmers' planning and risk management activities and must be accounted for in the design and implementation of policy and risk management tools in agriculture.     

Teacher–Child Relationship Quality and Children's Peer Victimization and Aggressive Behavior in Late Childhood

This investigation examines the extent to which characteristics of the teacher–child relationship (closeness, dependency, and conflict) are predictive of changes in children's peer victimization and aggressive behavior over the course of a school year. Relational and physical forms of victimization and aggression were studied, and changes in peer acceptance and number of friendships were tested as possible mediators. Longitudinal data from 410 fourth‐ and fifth‐grade students (193 boys; 217 girls) and their teachers (N = 25) were analyzed. Whereas dependency on the teacher predicted heightened victimization from peers, a close relationship with the teacher forecasted less physical aggression toward peers. Moreover, decreases in number of friendships partially mediated the link between dependency on the teacher and heightened relational victimization for boys. These findings have implications for understanding the continuing influence of teacher–child relationships on children's social development in late childhood and for identifying interpersonal risk factors associated with involvement in peer harassment.     

Bust after boom: First marriage trends in Australia

Since the early 1970s Australia has experienced a pronounced trend to later and less universal marriage. This stands in sharp contrast to a marriage boom that began with the outbreak of World War II and lasted for three decades. The boom was the product of three sets of forces: those peculiar to wartime, those emerging in the early postwar period and creating a climate favorable to marriage, and those surfacing in the 1960s with the advent of oral contraception. Its reversal is attributed largely to less frequent resort to marriage when premaritally pregnant, the rise of cohabitation as a prelude or alternative to marriage, economic forces hindering family formation, and ideological change.