The art of selling-without-selling: Understanding the genre ecologies of content marketing

Content marketing involves creating content in genres that readers find useful. These genres individually do not persuade their readers to buy a given product and may not even mention the product or service being marketed. But collectively, they are designed to lead their readers to a purchase decision, that is, they sell without selling. The authors examine how content marketers strategically deploy these ecologies of genres.     

External load training does not alter balance performance in well-trained women

This study investigated the influence of external load training (ELT) on static and dynamic balance. Nineteen females stratified into two groups (ELT = 9, control = 10) completed three testing sessions over 6 weeks. The ELT group wore weighted vests (WV) of ~8% body mass for 32 h/week during daily living and three training sessions/week for 3 weeks. Following completion of ELT, a 3 week detraining (DET) phase was completed. Bilateral and unilateral static balance were assessed with eyes open and closed. Dynamic balance was assessed using the star excursion balance test (SEBT). Static and dynamic balance variables were analysed using a 2 (group) x 3 (time) between participants repeated measures ANOVA (p < 0.05). Results revealed significant reductions in average centre of pressure (COP) velocity in the control group on the non-dominant limb with eyes closed, and significantly greater reach distances in the ELT group on the SEBT for the posteromedial and medial directions on the dominant limb (p < 0.05). These findings suggest the ELT group did not significantly improve their balance in comparison to the control group. However, future research should further examine this unique, supplemental training method and the impact on balance performance.     

Prevalence of urinary incontinence in high-impact sports athletes and their association with knowledge,attitude and practice about this dysfunction

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of urinary incontinence (UI) in female athletes practising high-impact sports and its association with knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP).

Design: Observational study.

Methods: A semi-structured evaluation form, KAP survey and the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire – Short Form were used. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to verify the association of UI with KAP, sociodemographic, gynaecological and sports-related variables, with significant variables remaining in the model (p?Results: The prevalence of UI in 118 athletes was 82 (70%), of which 19 (23%) had pure stress UI, 19 (23%) had pure urgency UI and 44 (54%) had mixed UI; with 50 (61%) athletes losing urine during training and 37 (45%) during competitions. Regarding the KAP survey, 37 athletes (31%) demonstrated adequate knowledge, 63 (53%) adequate attitude and zero adequate practice. In the multivariate analysis, a sports practice time of over 8 years and dyspareunia presented significant values, with odds ratios (OR) of 2.66 and 2.99, respectively. Knowledge was significantly associated with UI (OR 0.43). UI had a slight impact on QOL.

Conclusions: There is a high prevalence of UI yet low levels of adequate knowledge and practice regarding the occurrence of UI in sports, with sports practice time over 8 years and dyspareunia factors predisposing female athletes to UI by 2.7 and 3 times, respectively. Athletes with adequate knowledge were 57% less likely to develop UI.     

Semantics and the medical web: a review of barriers and breakthroughs in effective healthcare query

This paper provides an overview of the research into current medical vocabularies and their impact on searching the Web for health information. The Web provides growing opportunities for laypersons to gain knowledge about specific health conditions, though research to date has been incomplete. Many studies have examined aspects of controlled medical vocabularies. Other studies have examined aspects of medical Web searching vocabularies. In this context, there is a growing need to examine more closely laypersons' Web queries using controlled medical vocabularies that were designed to serve the needs of medical professionals. It may be the case that the average consumer of Web health services is not able to use correct medical terminology, and may not be able to choose analogous or synonymous terms from a search result list. Our review suggests a growing need for studies to examine the current applicability of controlled medical vocabularies as well as alternatives to semantic query by Web search engine users.