Participation Of Professionals Research Articles

Engagement of Healthcare Professionals in Voluntary Activities During COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: The coming various disasters, especially probable pandemics, will need a large number of volunteers with different capabilities. Motivation of volunteers, as a driving force, will be very important for future pandemic disaster planning. The aim of this study was to determine the enablers and barriers to the engagement of healthcare professionals in voluntary activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
 Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the General Internal Medicine Departments of Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex in Tehran, Iran. A 44-item questionnaire was designed based on the Literature Review and Experts Panel. Items were scored on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from “strongly disagree (1)” to “strongly agree (5)”. Content validity and face validity of the questionnaire were checked by 10 experts and 10 respondents, respectively. Cronbach’s alpha of the items of stimulating and inhibitory factors’ section was calculated 0.83 and 0.92, respectively. A self-administrated paper-based questionnaire has been distributed among healthcare team members. 
 Results: Out of 105 health care professionals, 80 (76.2%) were female and 41 (39%) were married. The most significant demographic predictor of willingness to volunteering was having no child (p-value=0.001). History of infection, admission, or death of family members or friends in the current pandemic was an important factor to reduce the desire to voluntary activities significantly (p-value=0.019). Depressive disorders and using antidepressants had no relation with the attraction to volunteering, but anxiety disorders had a significant relation with the willingness to be a volunteer (p-value=0.04).
 Conclusion: The most important demographic variables influencing the unwillingness to participate in voluntary activities during the COVID-19 crisis are parenting role, history of anxiety disorders, and history of hospitalization or death of relatives or friends. Furthermore, the voluntary participation of healthcare professionals is influenced by facilitating factors such as giving rewards, reducing the period of obligatory military service, having a sense of altruism, and helping others.

COVID-19 and the elaboration of personal plans in + 50: a Brazilian experience

BackgroundIn front of the physical and social isolation, as well as feelings of fear and instability imposed by the pandemic of COVID-19, especially for risk groups such as people 50 + , it became even more relevant to discuss the formulation of personal plans for this age population. This study aimed to analyse the individual plans of people 50 + , considering their perception, feelings and life experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsThis is a mixed study (quali-quantitative), using Minayo’s methodology for content analysis and frequency analyses, made with 39 participants from the University of Brasília Educational Program, Universidade do Envelhecer – UniSER/UnB. We used a word cloud system and a wheel of life tool to showcase the results. ResultsAnalysing professional achievements and situations participants want to overcome, the categories of feelings that stand out were Loving Relationships, Sadness, Family Absence, Grief, Trauma and Regret. Intellectual Development, Personal Fulfilment, Purpose and Creativity, Hobbies and Fun were the most mentioned personal plans displayed by the wheel of life. The key personal changes mentioned were to be less shy, prioritise themselves, change how they interact with others, and focus on their health.ConclusionsThis study concludes that perception, feelings and life experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic did not seem to directly affect the path in elaborating personal plans.

The Effect of Instructor's Professional Competence, Training Methods, and Training Participants' Motivation Based on Competency-Based Fund Transfer Management on the Performance of Bank Employees in Jakarta

This research analyzed the Professional Competence of the Instructor, Training Methods and Motivation of the trainees based on the competence of fund management on the performance of the employees whose training was carried out by Praveena. The model was analyzed with regression analysis using statistical software SPSS 28 and EXCEL 365. Data was collected from training participants using a questionnaire, and the data obtained were 100 respondents. The results of this research are that the instructor's professional competence and training methods partially have no direct effect on employee performance, training motivation has a direct effect on employee performance, and the instructor's professional competence, training methods and training motivation simultaneously have a positive effect on employee performance.

Context, Process, and Participant Response in the Implementation of Family Support Programmes in Spain

Implementation research addresses how well a programme is conducted when applied in real-world conditions. However, research based on quality standards is still scarce as it requires monitoring context, process, and participant response. This study applies implementation quality standards to 57 Spanish parenting and family support programmes identified in the COST European Family Support Network project, using an ten-component evaluation sheet sheet. Descriptive analyses showed a good implementation level. The latent profile analysis identified four patterns defined by programme setting: profile 1, Social Services/NGO setting (21.1%), profile 2, Health setting (31.6%), profile 3, Multi-setting (14%), and profile 4, Educational setting (33.3%), differing in professional discipline, training, participant response, and professional perception of implementation. Profile memberships were related to programme outcomes, scaling up, and sustainability. Findings illustrate conceptual and practical challenges that researchers and professionals usually encounter during implementation, and the efforts required to deliver programmes effectively in real-world settings in Spain.

Screening Children's Intellectual Disabilities with Phonetic Features, Facial Phenotype and Craniofacial Variability Index.

Intellectual Disability (ID) is a kind of developmental deficiency syndrome caused by congenital diseases or postnatal events. This syndrome could be intervened as soon as possible if its early screening was efficient, which may improve the condition of patients and enhance their self-care ability. The early screening of ID is always achieved by clinical interview, which needs in-depth participation of medical professionals and related medical resources. A new method for screening ID has been proposed by analyzing the facial phenotype and phonetic characteristic of young subjects. First, the geometric features of subjects' faces and phonetic features of subjects' voice are extracted from interview videos, then craniofacial variability index (CVI) is calculated with the geometric features and the risk of ID is given with the measure of CVI. Furthermore, machine learning algorithms are utilized to establish a method for further screening ID based on facial features and phonetic features. The proposed method using three feature sets, including geometric features, CVI features and phonetic features was evaluated. The best performance of accuracy was closer to 80%. The results using the three feature sets revealed that the proposed method may be applied in a clinical setting in the future after continuous improvement.

The Doctors of Democracy: Self-Image and Democratic Values of Participatory Practitioners

Against the backdrop of a perceived crisis of democracy, governments around the globe have extended citizens’ opportunities for public participation. Due to the increasing routinization of participatory processes, a vibrant participation industry has emerged where Professional Participation Practitioners (PPP) sell their services and knowledge to public clients. Despite the powerful role PPP play throughout the process of public participation, scholarly attention has been limited. This study provides seldom insides on PPP self-image and democratic value perceptions using an innovative Q-methodology design. Findings reveal similarities between PPP with regard to the commitment to strengthen democracy, providing transparent and fair participatory processes and raising citizens democratic competences. Further, PPP perceive their influential role within the participatory process but unanimously reject responsibility for final outcomes. Regarding difference among the surveyed PPP an explorative factor analysis suggests five distinguished types (Empowering Democracy Enhancer, Mediating Facilitator, Enlightening Contractor, Democratic Teacher, Agonistic Mediator). This typology sets the ground for further research on PPP who are likely to affect democratic practices not only nowadays but also in the future.

Лингвокогнитивное моделирование категории "участник дискурса" (на материале интернет-мемов профессиональных сообществ юристов в социальных сетях)

The aim of the research is to identify semantic models of humorous utterances that express the stereotypical ideas of the lawyers’ professional community about the content of the categories of its participants in informal settings. The research methodology integrates two approaches: a critical analysis of discourse and a semantic approach to humour based on scripts by Salvatore Attardo and Victor Raskin. We applied the following analysis model: (1) discursive analysis of texts in accordance with the procedure presented in the papers of foreign and Russian scholars; (2) analysis of humour in accordance with the six-level model of analysis proposed by Attardo; (3) as the research includes transformed statements consisting of a complex of elements and their interrelationships to varying degrees, the methodology is supplemented by the theory of conceptual integration developed by Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner. The research methods are: discourse analysis, including standard techniques of communicative-pragmatic and semantic analysis; content analysis, the semantic categories of which are the parameters of the sociocommunicative level of the model, and the units are their typical lexical markers. The data include Internet memes constituting the content of professional legal groups on the social networks Instagram and Facebook. The data include 260 units. The analysis revealed a quantitative predominance in Internet memes expressing the subjects of legal discourse of models based on contrast and referential humour. The semantic dominants actualised in such models coincide with the stereotypical attitudes currently existing in society in relation to the legal community and its professional participants. The uneven distribution of models in accordance with the categories of participants indicates the predominance of reflection in relation to several professional participants – an advocate and a lawyer: intensity of professional activity and high fatigue, prestige of professional status and high social responsibility of professional participants, competence and professionalism (unprofessionalism), complexity and incomprehensibility of the language, high profit. In relation to non-professional participants (client/ accused/ defendant/ respondent/ witness), the stereotypes about their stupidity, greed, arrogance, venality are replicated. Referential models are distinguished by the diversity of the subjects represented and the uniformity of the meanings expressed: the subject’s originality of thinking, cunningness and resourcefulness. Semantic models based on conceptual integration were identified only in relation to professional participants – a lawyer. They actualise such values as professionalism, reliability, competence; stress associated with responsibility at work, danger and charm of the profession, special status; superiority; friendliness; help and superpowers of the professional.

TECHNOLOGY LITERACY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IMPACT ON THE 2018 NAEP EIGHTH GRADE INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT SCORES

This study explored the impact of teacher technology literacy professional development participation on the 2018 NAEP eighth-grade information and communication technology literacy scale scores. This quantitative study analyzed data from the National Assessment of Educational Process (NAEP) Data Explorer to examine the impact of teacher technology literacy professional development participation on the 2018 NAEP eighth-grade information and communication technology literacy scale scores. The findings of this study indicate that (1) there is no impact of teacher professional development on student achievement based on the NAEP data, (2) there is no significant impact on the frequency of team teaching on student achievement scores, and (3) teacher observation has no significant impact on the average scale scores. These findings may indicate that while teacher professional development participation does not have a direct impact on student achievement, it is beneficial to teachers, teacher candidates, and students in other ways.

Cuidados à criança indígena Tembé no acompanhamento do crescimento e desenvolvimento: um estudo de reflexão

Abstract Objective to reflect on health care for the indigenous child of the Tembé ethnicity, to monitor their growth and development. Method theoretical-reflexive study, based on the authors’ experiences and anchored in the literature on Tembé culture and health care for indigenous peoples. Results studies about ethnicity and culture are starting points to produce notes about technical care in relation to the child, based on those already performed by Tembé women. The care based on ethnic issues signals cultural dynamics and is placed, in health policies and in their processes, as primordial to direct instruments, technologies and actions of multidisciplinary teams, with the pertinent participation of indigenous people and/or indigenous health professionals in their development. Conclusions and Implications for Practice Equity in health care for the Tembé indigenous child requires the development of specific procedures and devices that consider their particularities, well-being, and cosmology. There is a need for approaching, deepening, and respecting the specificity of this ethnic group. By reflecting on the health care of Tembé children, it becomes possible to understand divergences and convergences with the content of the Ministry of Health manuals.

Sepsis after Administering an Intramuscular Iron Injection in the Arm of an Elder Patient with Multiple Comorbidities: A Case Report

Background: Skin reactions and musculoskeletal injuries caused by intramuscular injection are an increased risk for skin and soft tissue infections and may culminate in sepsis. Objective: To describe the history of an elderly patient who developed a lesion in her right arm after home administration of intramuscular iron injection in this arm and its outcome. Methods: This is a case report of a patient who participated in a study in an intensive care unit. Results: This study describes a 65-year-old patient with multiple comorbidities who was admitted to the hospital complaining of pain for two months and difficulty in moving her right shoulder associated with skin and soft tissue infections in her right arm after intramuscular iron administration by a relative for the treatment of multifactorial anemia and refractory melena. The patient worsened her general condition and was transferred to the intensive care unit. Despite the therapy instituted, the patient developed sepsis of cutaneous origin, multiple organ dysfunction, and death. Conclusions: The administration of intramuscular medication requires the participation of qualified professionals, such as nurses, mainly within the scope of the Brazilian public health system which commonly comprises patients in a context of vulnerability.

Present status of newborn screening in Bangladesh through the participation of health professionals

The idea of newborn screening is to discover potentially fatal or disabling problems in infants as early as possible, usually, before the baby shows any signs or symptoms of an illness or condition. As part of the government's newborn screening program, almost all infants in developed nations are checked at birth for uncommon, severe, and treatable disorders (NBS). As newborn screening remains a major difficulty in Bangladesh, there have lately been proposals for a wider voluntary strategy to aid in the early detection and treatment of a broader range of disorders. A self-administered online survey was carried out in collaboration with Bangladeshi health professionals. Using a mixed qualitative-quantitative statistical approach, the knowledge, engagement, intents, and preferences of healthcare professionals about testing methodologies, testing characteristics, hospital infrastructure, cost estimation, and parental attitudes toward newborn screening were investigated. The final analysis included 281 individuals, of which 59 percent were men and 41 percent were women. Males had a higher level of knowledge of newborn screening than females in relation to gender (79.1 percent for male participants and 77.7 percent for the female participants). Knowledge and the current occupation had a significant connection (p 0.05). Congenital Hypothyroidism disease was screened by NBS the most (18.7% of cases), numerous other diseases were also screened by NBS. The significance of this work to public health is the attribution of participants who want to reduce child mortality and improve child health in their community, as well as the potential to construct public discussion groups that recognize screening diseases, investigate hospital facilities for it, and provide information to families and health professionals about the importance of newborn screening.

Community Perceptions of Health Equity: A Qualitative Study.

Notable inequities in patient experiences exist in the healthcare system. Communities with a large concentration of blacks and immigrants are often marginalized rather than centralized in the healthcare system. These inequities may fuel distrust and exacerbate adverse outcomes, thereby widening the health gap. Addressing differences in patients' experiences of care is paramount for reducing health inequities. In this qualitative study, we used a purposive sampling method to recruit 62 participants to conduct 10 FGs (44 participants total) and 18 key informant interviews with stakeholders across Central Brooklyn. The data revealed three primary themes: Trust, Discrimination, and Social Determinants of Health (SDOHs). Each theme comprised subthemes as follows: For Trust, the subthemes included (1) confidence in the healthcare professional, (2) provider empathy, and (3) active participation in healthcare decisions. Regarding Discrimination, the subthemes involved (1) racism and identity, as well as (2) stigma related to diagnosis, disease state, and pain management. Lastly, for Social Determinants of Health, the key subtheme was the acknowledgment by providers that patients encounter competing priorities acting as barriers to care, such as housing instability and food insecurity. For the first theme, participants' interactions with the healthcare system were prompted by a necessity for medical attention, and not by trust. The participants reported that experiences of discrimination resulting from identity and stigma associated with diagnosis, disease state, and pain management amplified the disconnect between the community, the patients, and the healthcare system. This also exacerbated the poor healthcare experiences suffered by many people of color. For SDOHs, the participants identified housing, food security, and other various social factors that may undermine the effectiveness of the healthcare that patients receive. Improvements in the health system, based on feedback from patients of color regarding their unique care experiences, are important initiatives in combating inequities in healthcare.

“Soccer is all I am, there is nothing else”: Self, future orientation, and cultural capital among low SES youth who play professional soccer

This paper examines how low SES youth who play soccer in professional clubs experience and define themselves and the place of soccer (and being professional youth players) in their self-concept from the perspective of Bourdieu's class theory. In-depth interviews with 22 youth revealed four key findings: self-definitions and perceptions of their significant others (parents, teachers, and coaches); school experiences; descriptions of professional soccer participation experiences; and future orientation. These findings provide insights into the link between class, sports, and education, including the characteristics of the sporting habitus and class habitus of youth and their contribution to social inequality and educational stratification. Moreover, the discussion section emphasizes the educational importance of a future orientation and practicing it as an agentic means of coping with the habitus of constraint, structural vulnerabilities, and social exclusions.

Ativismo político de enfermeiras chilenas sindicalizadas: um estudo de teoria fundamentada em dados

Abstract Objective To explain the political activism of professional nurses affiliated with Nursing union organizations in Chile, through a theory based on data. Method It is approached from the interpretive paradigm, qualitative methodology, and with a systematic Grounded Theory design of Strauss and Corbin. The sample corresponds to 14 nurses who actively participate in union organizations. Conducting in-depth interviews, with several rounds of data analysis and interpretation for conceptual refinement, following the TF trajectory: open, axial and selective phase. Results Four codes are obtained, with 16 subcodes, which are expressed in the selective phase, through the political activism central code, which maintains professional depoliticization as a causal, intervening and contextual condition, which develops as a consequence of political disinterest, as well as the professional defense that groups the strategies carried out or identified to maintain professional activism arises. Conclusions and implications for practice The theory highlights political activism as the central code, and reveals weak collective strategies to promote professional political participation. This opens up interesting lines of research, and challenges for the teaching and community work of nurses.

Financial sector: regulatory and communication transformations in the digital economy

Introduction. The financial sector is an important segment of the national economy and in the conditions of the new economic reality should play a key role in the recovery of the economy, taking into account various scenarios of guaranteeing financial security. The formation of a system of institutional and legal regulation of the activities of financial and credit institutions requires a consensus on increasing responsibility and trust between society and the financial sector for digitization, unification and transfer of financial technologies, prevention of overvaluation of financial investments and optimization of transaction costs in capital markets and organized commodity markets. Purpose. The goal is scientific substantiation of the development priorities of the main segments of the financial sector in the conditions of regulatory and communication transformations in the digital economy. Method (methodology). The research methodology is based on general scientific methods of cognition (empirical research, analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction) and special methods (classification methods, modelling). Results. The organizational and legal approaches to the unification of information support for professional participants, investors and consumers of financial services under the influence of military aggression and the scaling of economic crisis phenomena are revealed at the doctrinal level. Attention is focused on the scaling of financial transactions at the international and local level within the scope of providing international donor funds and grants, private investments. The methodical and applied approaches of the investor's strategy when choosing the participants of the industrial and financial group according to the relevant criteria are characterized. The priority directions of the development of the financial sector have been determined, taking into account the organizational-management and technical-informational dimensions of the transformation of the market microstructure.

Učiteljica Marija Milutinović Punktatorka - prva žena pravozastupnik u Srbiji

The paper shows the development of legal representation in the Principality of Serbia, with a special focus on the professional participation of women in court proceedings, shown through the character and work of Marija Milutinović Punktatorka, a teacher and the first female attorney in Serbia. In the judicial system of the Principality of Serbia, women were not prohibited from practicing law, which enabled an educated woman to pave the way for future women lawyers in the period of 'Little Serbia'. In the relevant literature, one can find rare texts in which the life and work of Marija Milutinović are mentioned casually and inconspicuously without an insight into the complete biography. By researching unpublished archival sources, significant information was obtained about the life and work of Marija Milutinović Punktatorka, the wife of the poet Sima Milutinović Sarajlija and the mother of the architect and professor of the Grande école, Dragutin (Dragiša) Milutinović. Marija Milutinović Punktatorka was born in 1809 into the Popović family in Timisoara. As the 'first Serbian' teacher, she educated girls and thus strove for women in the 19th century to fight for their place in the society. She was educated in Buda, where she also studied several sciences privately, with a 'very good approach and accuracy'. After the death of her husband, in October 1848, she opened a private elementary school in Belgrade. Soon, in 1849, she entered the civil service and started working as a teacher at the state school in Belgrade near the Great Church (Saborna crkva), where she received a pension in August 1874. Marija Milutinović's main motive to engage in legal representation stemmed from humane motives and not from material benefit. She practiced law even during her married life. She charged wealthier people, whom she successfully represented and won lawsuits in court with large compensation-modest, symbolic sums, more as a reward than as a fee (Ignjatović, 1860, p. 24). Even after her husband's death (1847), she continued to practice law and fulfil her husband's bequest, providing legal aid and representing the poor free of charge, which reflected badly on her impoverished family fund (Javor, 1862-1863; 1874-1893, p. 350). During the working life of Marija Milutinović, legal regulations did not prohibit women from practicing law, nor did the prohibition result indirectly. With the entry into force of the Law on Legal Representatives (1862), the previous decrees and orders, which often ad hoc solved the issue of providing legal aid in the Principality of Serbia. Officially, Marija Milutinović did not submit a request to be recognized as a lawyer before the competent authorities because she did not graduate from the Faculty of Law. In a formal sense, Marija Milutinović was never recognized by the Ministry as having the right to call herself a lawyer. Based on the real facts, it cannot be disputed that Marija Milutinović Punktatorka was the first woman in the Principality of Serbia to engage in a free profession, in this particular case, legal work.

ИНСТИТУЦИОНАЛЬНЫЕ УСЛОВИЯ ПОВЫШЕНИЯ ЭФФЕКТИВНОСТИ ИНВЕСТИЦИОННОЙ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ В РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ

In order to develop the economy and improve the efficiency of investment activity in the state, it is necessary to form and develop a system for transferring the savings of the population into investments. The key to the functioning of the financial market is to create a mechanism for attracting investments to the market by establishing contacts between those who seek to invest excess income and those who need funds to develop their project. Thus, temporarily free capital of individual small investors is mobilized and the accumulated funds are effectively distributed among numerous consumers. This has a positive effect not only on the state of the economy, but also on the rate of growth in the efficiency of investment activity. At the same time, the stock market, in terms of its impact on economic growth indicators, can be considered as a direct, key part of the financial market as a whole, which, in its essence, is generally a set of institutions, both formal and informal, that provide households, entrepreneurs, enterprises and other market agents with financial resources. services. The main such institutions are the banking services market, the insurance market and the stock market. Within the framework of stock markets, one of the most promising means of attracting financial resources of private investors to the financial market is collective investment. Collective investment organizations make it possible to involve in this process, along with large investors, the population, transforming their savings into investments. The further development of collective investment is due to the globalization of financial relations: the stable, successful positioning of the country in the global financial market is largely determined by the growth in the capitalization of professional participants in the securities market, including investment funds. Investment funds are currently one of the most interesting instruments of collective investment and are gaining more and more popularity. However, in the domestic financial market, this form of collective investment is in its infancy. The global financial crisis had a negative impact on the state of the investment funds market and revealed the problems of its development. In addition, the relevance of the topic is also emphasized by the need to improve the mechanisms for attracting funds from the population to the stock market using such tools as investment tax deductions and individual investment accounts. All the considered mechanisms for attracting funds from the population to the stock market act as a factor in increasing the efficiency of investment activity in the Russian Federation.

The mediating role of perceived risk in the impact of tourist behavior on liminoid behavior in the covid-19 pandemic

The main purpose of this study is to determine the mediating role of perceived risk in the impact of tourist behavior on liminoid behavior in the Covid-19 pandemic process and the risk perceived at the level of acting liminoid behaviors. The main research question of the study is to what extent liminoid behaviors are perceived as risky by healthcare professionals in the context of tourist behavior despite the precautions. Participants consist of healthcare professionals working in the health sector in Turkey in 2020. A total of 135 questionnaires were obtained using random sampling with the participation of healthcare professionals working in different hospitals in Turkey. Factor analysis and Partial Least Squares structural modeling (PLS) were applied in the analysis of the collected data. According to the analysis results, perceived risk has a mediating effect between the covid tourist behavior and liminoid behavior in various contexts. As one of the prominent findings, it was concluded that the time risk perceived by the participants mediated the relationship between tourist behavior affected by the pandemic and liminoid behavior. Also the relationship between tourist behavior and the subscales of the risk factor will enable the determination of tourism strategies to be developed for tourist behavior.

Cosmetic Use and Skin Care Behavior According to Monthly Income of Middle-aged Chinese Women

With the development of the Chinese economy and changes in cultural life, middle-aged women's desire for a healthy and beautiful life has increased, and interest in skin care has continued to increase.Pay more attention to skin care to look more attractive. In addition, investment in skin care is increasing as professional women's participation in society increases and demand for appearance. In this study, middle-aged women in their 30s and 50s living in Liaoning Province of China, were studied to find out the differences in cosmetics use and skin care behavior depending on their monthly income. A total of 205 middle-aged residents of Shenyang, Tieling and Dandong were surveyed. All 185 of them were used as the final analysis materials except for 20 inattentive or missing answers. Frequency analysis was conducted to find out the general characteristics of the survey subjects, cosmetics use, and skin care, and a case care test was conducted to find out the difference between cosmetics use management and skin care according to monthly income. This study used the SPSSWIN 21.0 program, and all empirical analyses were verified at a significance level of 5%. People with high monthly incomes have a high demand for cosmetics, and low-income middle-aged women have a lower desire to use cosmetics than working women due to a lack of income. Prices are an important factor in the cosmetics purchase process, indirectly affecting consumers' desire to buy cosmetics, and low-income middle-aged women are less willing to use cosmetics than working women because they cannot buy expensive cosmetics due to lack of income. Economic income is the basic factor that affects women's consumption behavior in beauty direction, and the basis for economic factors is that the amount of skin care expenditure of high-income people is larger depending on monthly income and facial skin care investment. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the differences in cosmetics use and skin care behavior according to monthly income for middle-aged women in their 30s to 50s living in various occupations in Shenyang, Tiering, and Dandong of China.

Agreement and Validity of Existing Anthropometric Calibration Models to Estimate Whole Body Density in Male Professional Football Players

Introduction To date no calibration models exist to estimate whole body density (Db) of professional footballers, as such the development of practical anthropometric calibration models to make sound body composition judgements is imperative. The aim of this study was to investigate the agreement and validity of estimating Db from 15 existing calibration models through comparison to a criterion method of hydrostatic weighing (HW) in male professional footballers. Materials and Methods Data were gathered from a total of n=206 professional football participants (x±s; age=24.1±5.4-years, body mass=78.8±8.4 kg, stature=180.1±7.0 cm, Db 1.075±0.01 g.ml-1). Bland and Altman limits of agreement (LoA) approaches were used to determine bias and random variation derived from the calibration models. Results Bias and random errors for the published calibration models ranged from -0.005 to +0.015 g.ml-1 and 1.012 to 1.090 g.ml-1 respectively. A priori criterion (±3.8% p=<0.05 (g.ml-1)) was set as acceptable limits for the LoA method of which 13 calibration models found that (on average) estimated Db derived from HW was greater than Db derived from the models. Discussion A rank order of LoA identified the best model to use, however, LoA were not narrow enough for measurements to be of practical use and in most instances, selected models are not appropriate for estimating Db in male professional footballers.