Methods: In this cross-sectional survey study, 285 Malaysian elite athletes (170 males, 115 females) aged 15-44 years (M = 18.89, SD = 4.49) completed measures of various PSTs and mental toughness. Latent profile analysis was employed to determine the type and number of profiles that best represent athletes' reports of their use of PSTs in practice and competition settings, and examine differences between these classes in terms of self-reported mental toughness.
Results: Our results revealed three profiles (low, moderate, high use) in both practice and competition settings that were distinguished primarily according to quantitative differences in the absolute levels of reported use across most of the PSTs assessed in practice and competition settings, which in turn, were differentially related with mental toughness. Specifically, higher use of PSTs was associated with higher levels of mental toughness.
Conclusion: This study provides one of the first analyses of the different configurations of athletes' use of PSTs that typify unique subgroups of performers. An important next step is to examine the longitudinal (in) stability of such classes and therefore provide insight into the temporal dynamics of different configurations of athletes' use of PSTs.
METHOD: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 51 nurse managers in Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan (HTAA), Kuantan, Pahang, by using modified and self-developed questionnaire with the Cronbach's alpha value 0.994. The data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics such as central tendency, frequency and percentage.
RESULTS: The gender of respondents was predominantly female (100%). The mean age is 45.41 (SD ± 4.51). In terms of level of education, the majority of the respondents (76.5%) were having a diploma. The majority has been in practice as a staff nurse between 11 to 20 years, and most of them have been practicing as nurse managers for about five years and less. Meanwhile, results showed that the nurse managers had positive perceptions upon newly graduated nurses' performance in the mentorship program, concerning on their effective communication, professional development and creative thinking.
CONCLUSIONS: It is vital to identify the effectiveness of the mentorship program among nurses; hence, it enhances job satisfaction among new nurses.
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among the GDPs of Karachi. A questionnaire was designed to collect data from 100 GDPs. The questionnaire included general/demographic information (practitioner's education, experience, and place of practice) and an average number of fixed prosthesis constructed by the GDP. The questionnaire was further categorized to evaluate the knowledge/practice of pontic design selection and latest recommendations.
Results: For the maxillary anterior segment, the ridge lap pontic was the most common (32%) followed by the modified ridge lap (28%). In the maxillary posterior segment, the ridge lap pontic was the most common (37%) followed by sanitary design (34%). For the mandibular anterior segment, the modified ridge lap (50%) was the most common followed by ridge lap pontic (17%). In case of the mandibular posterior segment, the sanitary design (34%) was the most common followed by ridge lap pontic (30%).
Conclusions: The pontic design selection for the fixed prosthesis is a neglected domain. The contemporary guidelines are not followed with full spirit by the GDPs leading to wide variations in the pontic design selection.