Atmospheres of retail and the asceticism of civilized consumption

Abstract. During recent decades, consumption-oriented spaces of comfort and hospitality have proliferated – including, for instance, lounge shopping malls, food court plazas, spas, entertainment retail, visitor centres, and the development of ever larger pedestrian precincts. In this article we explore shopping malls as capitalist "domes" in Sloterdijk's sense. We observe atmospheric production, atmospheric management and atmospheric culture (which we propose to call atmoculture) inside such domes. Processes of retailization and mallification – whereby shopping malls and retail spaces absorb increasing economic and societal energies – can be regarded as correlative to the rise of an atmoculture of civilized consumption. Such atmoculture is visible for instance in stress-avoidance strategies and the production of a pleasurable experience in consumption-oriented public zones. The design of contemporary retail spaces seems to pivot around specific atmospheric strategies developed to promote and sustain civilized consumption. In this piece, we describe four different strategies of atmospheric production, identifying their possible shortcomings and failings. Finally, we advance the hypothesis that the atmospheric production of retail can also be analyzed with reference to Sloterdijk's theorization of asceticism as self-disciplination.</p

Rhythmanalysing the urban runner: Pildammsparken, Malmö

In this article we discuss the development of urbanized running culture by exploring how the embodied rhythms of running interact with other urban rhythms in a park. The analysis focuses on the timings, sensations and materialities produced through running, and how the rhythms of running intersect with the materialities and rhythms of others. The investigation draws on interviews, observations and a running diary undertaken at Pildammsparken in central Malmö. Our research shows that while the runner, in endeavouring to align with the rhythms of others, may becoming a more disciplined figure, running in the park is more concerned with practising a sharing of space than moving on auto-pilot. Consequently, running is largely a mobile rhythmic practice that negotiates and adapts to co-produce eurhythmic choreographies in this particular urban location

Territorialising brand experience and consumption: negotiating a role for pop-up retailing

The evolving consumption landscape creates challenges for retailers in accommodating their modus operandi to negotiate changing consumer needs, arguably requiring a ‘new’ type of retailing to hopefully facilitate future success. We suggest that an important aspect of such negotiation will be the use of ‘pop-up’ activity, and we critically evaluate the potential of these ephemeral consumption spaces to constitute and shape consumers’ brand-oriented relations and experiences into the future. Informed by the work of Deleuze and Guattari, we take a territorological perspective. Drawing on data from eight UK-based pop-up cases, we analyse: (1) how these temporary ‘territories’ of brand experience are developed and implemented; (2) what differentiates them from other, traditionally conceived, territories of brand experience; and (3) critically evaluate pop-up’s neglected characterisation in terms of a more ‘fluid’ spatial-temporal retail territory, to better understand its role in contemporary consumer culture. We posit that the development of pop-up activities occurs through the coordination of actions of a variety of stakeholders, constituting a spatial-temporal confluence of both material and processual elements to create a ‘refrain’, through the compression and compaction of interior, intermediary, exterior and annexed milieus. In doing so, we offer a new lens through which to view the creation of retail consumption spaces

18 years of results with cemented primary hip prostheses in the Norwegian Arthroplasty Register: Concerns about some newer implants

Background and purpose Few studies have compared the long-term survival of cemented primary total hip arthroplasties (THAs), and several prostheses have been used without adequate knowledge of their endurance. We studied long-term outcome based on data in the Norwegian Arthroplasty Register

A randomized study on migration of the Spectron EF and the Charnley flanged 40 cemented femoral components using radiostereometric analysis at 2 years

Background and purpose: We performed a randomized study to determine the migration patterns of the Spectron EF femoral stem and to compare them with those of the Charnley stem, which is regarded by many as the gold standard for comparison of implants due to its extensive documentation. Patients and methods: 150 patients with a mean age of 70 years were randomized, single-blinded, to receive either a cemented Charnley flanged 40 monoblock, stainless steel, vaquasheen surface femoral stem with a 22.2-mm head (n = 30) or a cemented Spectron EF modular, matte, straight, collared, cobalt-chrome femoral stem with a 28-mm femoral head and a roughened proximal third of the stem (n = 120). The patients were followed with repeated radiostereometric analysis for 2 years to assess migration. Results: At 2 years, stem retroversion was 2.3° and 0.7° (p < 0.001) and posterior translation was 0.44 mm and 0.17 mm (p = 0.002) for the Charnley group (n = 26) and the Spectron EF group (n = 74), respectively. Subsidence was 0.26 mm for the Charnley and 0.20 mm for the Spectron EF (p = 0.5). Interpretation: The Spectron EF femoral stem was more stable than the Charnley flanged 40 stem in our study when evaluated at 2 years. In a report from the Norwegian arthroplasty register, the Spectron EF stem had a higher revision rate due to aseptic loosening beyond 5 years than the Charnley. Initial stability is not invariably related to good long-term results. Our results emphasize the importance of prospective long-term follow-up of prosthetic implants in clinical trials and national registries and a stepwise introduction of implants

The benefits of collaboration:The Nordic Arthroplasty Register Association

□ The Nordic Arthroplasty Register Association (NARA) was established in 2007 by arthroplasty register representatives from Sweden, Norway and Denmark with the overall aim to improve the quality of research and thereby enhance the possibility for quality improvement with arthroplasty surgery. Finland joined the NARA collaboration in 2010. □ NARA minimal hip, knee and shoulder datasets were created with variables that all countries can deliver. They are dynamic datasets, currently with 25 variables for hip arthroplasty, 20 for knee arthroplasty and 20 for shoulder arthroplasty. □ NARA has published statistical guidelines for the analysis of arthroplasty register data. The association is continuously working on the improvement of statistical methods and the application of new ones. □ There are 31 published peer-reviewed papers based on the NARA databases and 20 ongoing projects in different phases. Several NARA publications have significantly affected clinical practice. For example, metal-on-metal total hip arthroplasty and resurfacing arthroplasty have been abandoned due to increased revision risk based on i.a. NARA reports. Further, the use of uncemented total hip arthroplasty in elderly patients has decreased significantly, especially in Finland, based on the NARA data. □ The NARA collaboration has been successful because the countries were able to agree on a common dataset and variable definitions. The collaboration was also successful because the group was able to initiate a number of research projects and provide answers to clinically relevant questions. A number of specific goals, set up in 2007, have been achieved and new one has emerged in the process

Local treatment of cancellous bone grafts with BMP-7 and zoledronate increases both the bone formation rate and bone density: A bone chamber study in rats

Background and purpose The remodeling of morselized bone grafts in revision surgery can be enhanced by an anabolic substance such as a bone morphogenetic protein (BMP). On the other hand, BMPs boost catabolism and might cause a premature resorption, both of the graft and of the new-formed bone. Bisphosphonates inactivate osteoclasts and can be used to control the resorption. We studied a combination of both drugs as a local admix to a cancellous allograft. Methods Cancellous bone allografts were harvested and freeze-dried. Either saline, BMP-7, the bisphosphonate zoledronate, or a combination of BMP-7 and zoledronate were added in solution. The grafts were placed in bone conduction chambers and implanted in the proximal tibia of 34 rats. The grafts were harvested after 6 weeks and evaluated by histomorphometry. Results Bone volume/total volume (BV/TV) was 50% in the grafts treated with the combination of BMP-7 and zoledronate and 16% in the saline controls (p < 0.001). In the zoledronate group BV/TV was 56%, and in the BMP group it was 14%. The ingrowth distance of new bone into the graft was 3.5 mm for the combination of BMP-7 and zoledronate and 2.6 mm in the saline control (p = 0.002). The net amount of retained remodeled bone was more than 4 times higher when BMP-7 and zoledronate were combined than in the controls. Interpretation An anabolic drug like BMP-7 can be combined with an anti-catabolic bisphosphonate as local bone graft adjunct, and the combination increases the amount of remaining bone after remodeling is complete

The Nordic Arthroplasty Register Association: A unique collaboration between 3 national hip arthroplasty registries with 280,201 THRs

Background and purpose The possibility of comparing results and of pooling the data has been limited for the Nordic arthroplasty registries, because of different registration systems and questionnaires. We have established a common Nordic database, in order to compare demographics and the results of total hip replacement surgery between countries. In addition, we plan to study results in patient groups in which the numbers are too small to be studied in the individual countries