This conceptual article argues for a broader view of the role of events in social systems. When analyzed as social phenomena, events can be seen as social actors that have the potential to both sustain and transform social systems. The maintenance of social systems is often reliant on iterative events, regularly occurring celebrations that tend to confirm social structures. In contrast, pulsar events have the potential to transform social structures. In this sense events can be seen as actors that have important influences on social systems, particularly in linking localized small world networks with the global space of flows. These ideas are explored through the case of Barcelona, which illustrates the interplay between these different types of events in their total portfolio, and how the extension of ritual in the sense of Collins can also contribute to the generation of new relationships and practices in the contemporary network society. Barcelona is examined as an eventful city in which the alternation of continuity through iterative events and change through pulsar events contributes to increasing the network effects of events.
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Expos, festivals and events have become increasingly important as tools of urban developmentin recent decades. The competitive drive to put cities on the global map has led many to adoptevent-based strategies, including the creation of ‘eventful cities’, ‘festival cities’ and ‘eventportfolios’. World Expos have taken on a particular significance as ‘pulsar events’ that canshape the host city through urban development, increased tourism and place branding. Eachhost city also uses the event in a different way, and gives it a unique flavour that tempers theeventual effects. This paper reviews the literature on World Expos and their effects, identifyingthemes including Place branding, Tourism flows, Resident attitudes and Architecture and urbandevelopment. It then analyses the experience of Barcelona, twofold Expo host and a‘paradigmatic’ example of a city developed through mega events.
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From the website of the publisher: "Use of ED medication can be seen as a marker for ED. ED is associated with increasing age, exposure to traumatic events and physical injuries in military veterans. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of use of ED medication in Dutch military personnel in the period 2003–2012 and to assess its association with age and psychotropic medication use. Data on dispensing of ED medication, age and co-medication with psychotropic medication of all Dutch military personnel between 2003 and 2012 were collected. The prevalence of ED medication use in each year was estimated, stratified for age and use of psychotropic medication. The number of ED medication users increased a hundredfold from 0.09 to 9.29 per 1000 per year between 2003 and 2012. ED medication was more often used by men over 40 than under 40 (prevalence in 2012: 2.4% vs 0.2%, OR (2003–2012, adjusted for calendar year) 15.6, 95% CI 13.5–17.9) and by men using psychotropic medication (prevalence in 2012: 3.8% vs 0.9%, OR (2003–2012, adjusted for calendar year) 3.13, 95% CI 2.66–3.67). This study shows a strong increase between 2003 and 2012 in a number of ED medication users in male Dutch military personnel. ED medication use increases with age and with psychotropic medication use."
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