Green intellectual capital and environmental product innovation: the mediating role of green social capital

Although the importance of intellectual capital has already been highlighted in the management literature, few articles have focused on the importance of its green counterpart, green intellectual capital. Nowadays, when environmental concerns cannot be ignored by firms, it is therefore time to explore the role of green intellectual capital in environmental improvement. For that reason, our research aims to explore the relationships between green intellectual capital components and the environmental performance of the firms. In particular, we try to show the importance of green organizational and social capital in the development of environmental product innovations, which are vital to the development and implementation of environmental strategies since, as scholars have pointed out, they generate some of the greatest environmental impacts. The empirical results show that green organizational capital has an indirect impact on environmental product innovation through green social capital, meaning that the latter is a significant mediator of that relationship, and at the same time emphasizing that informal relationships play a key role in the improvement of the environmental performance of the firm and, more specifically, in the development of environmental product innovations.     

Skating mechanics of change-of-direction manoeuvres in ice hockey players

Ice hockey requires rapid transitions between skating trajectories to effectively navigate about the ice surface. Player performance relates in large part to effective change-of-direction manoeuvres, but little is known about how those skills are performed mechanically and the effect of equipment design on them. The purpose of this study was to observe the kinetics involved in those manoeuvres as well as to compare whether kinetic differences may result between two skate models of varying ankle mobility. Eight subjects with competitive ice hockey playing experience performed rapid lateral (90°) left and right change-of-direction manoeuvres. Kinetic data were collected using force strain gauge transducers on the blade holders of the skates. Significantly greater forces were applied by the outside skate (50–70% body weight, %BW) in comparison to the inside skate (12–24%BW, p < 0.05). Skate model and turn direction had no main effect, though significant mixed interactions between leg side (inside/outside) with skate model or turn direction (p < 0.05) were observed, with a trend for left-turn dominance. This study demonstrates the asymmetric dynamic behaviour inherent in skating change-of-direction tasks.     

Epidemiology of injuries in First Division Spanish football

Abstract

The aim was to examine the injuries sustained by Spanish football players in the First Division and to compare injury-related variables in the context of both competition and training. The injury data were prospectively collected from 16 teams (427 players) using a specific web-based survey during the 2008/2009 season. A total of 1293 injuries were identified (145 were recurring injuries). The overall injury incidence was 5.65 injuries per 1000 h of exposure. Injuries were much more common during competition than during training (43.53 vs. 3.55 injuries per 1000 h of exposure, P < 0.05). Most of the injuries (89.6%) involved the lower extremities, and overuse (65.7%) was the main cause. Muscle and tendon injuries were the most common types of injury (53.8%) among the players. The incidence of training injuries was greater during the pre-season and tended to decrease throughout the season, while the incidence of competition injuries increased throughout the season (all P < 0.05). In conclusion, the results of this study suggest the need for injury prevention protocols in the First Division of the Spanish Football League to reduce the number of overuse injuries in the muscles and tendons in the lower extremities. In addition, special attention should be paid during the pre-season and the competitive phase II (the last four months of the season) in order to prevent training and competition injuries, respectively.     

‘Tracksuit Traitors’: Eastern German Top Athletes on the Run

In the time between its founding and the fall of the wall in November 1989, more than three million people left the German Democratic Republic, many of them illegally and under dangerous circumstances. The party leadership perceived this mass exodus of its citizens as one of the major threats for the real socialist regime.1^?1. Bispinck Bispinck, Henrick. “Republikflucht. Flucht und Ausreise als Problem der DDR-Führung.” Vor dem Mauerbau. Politik und Gesellschaft der DDR in den Fünfziger Jahren, edited by MichaelSchwartz and Hermann Wentker, 285–309. München: Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 2003. [Google Scholar], “Republikflucht.”‘Republikflucht’, as this move from East to West was called by the party leadership, was the reason for the two most important hiatuses in Eastern German history: the first result was that the SED leadership built the wall in August 1961. Many years later, in the fall of 1989, the situation culminated, when a flood of desperate refugees tried to escape to the Federal Republic of Germany via Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia, thus effectively hurrying along the regime's demise. The world of sports, too, was considerably affected by this phenomenon. The following essay shall offer a short historical summary of the different reasons and routes Eastern German top athletes chose for their escape. Examples from various decades show that in spite of individual circumstances certain similarities in pattern can be made out, especially in respect to the way the government dealt with these cases of ‘treason’.     

The effects of inter-letter spacing in visual-word recognition: Evidence with young normal readers and developmental dyslexics

Recent research has demonstrated that slight increases of inter-letter spacing have a positive impact on skilled readers' recognition of visually presented words. In the present study, we examined whether this effect generalises to young normal readers and readers with developmental dyslexia, and whether increased inter-letter spacing affects the reading times and comprehension of a short text. To that end, we conducted a series of lexical decision and continuous reading experiments in which words were presented with the default settings or with a small increase in inter-letter spacing. Increased spacing produced shorter word identification times not only with adult skilled readers (Experiment 1), but also with young normal readers (Grade 2 and Grade 4 children; Experiment 2) and, even to a larger degree, with readers with dyslexia (Experiments 3 and 4). These experiments suggest that slight increases in inter-letter spacing would improve the readability of texts aimed at children, especially those with dyslexia.     

Multimedia in modern language teacher education

This paper discusses the professional development of primary modern language teachers through the use of new technologies. It explores the principles upon which the development of a multimedia learning environment (FLiP – Foreign Languages in Primary) was constructed. These entail principles of effective modern‐language teaching, principles of teacher education, and a conception of the effective teacher. In addition, ways in which technology can support the principles of effective professional development are discussed. Information technology can be extremely empowering, extremely motivating and extremely conducive to creating new and exciting teacher‐education environments. The most outstanding contribution is that multimedia environments can make teachers look beyond the immediate context thanks to the incorporation of indirect observation.Les multimédias dans la formation des enseignants en langues étrangères. Cet article discute le d´eveloppement professionnel des enseignants du primaire en langues modernes, grâce à l'utilisation des nouvelles technologies. Il explore les principes selon lesquels le développement d'un environnement multimédia a été construit (FLIP - Foreign Languages in Primary). Ils impliquent les principes de l'enseignement efficace des langues modernes, les principes de la formation des maîtres, et une conception du maître efficace. De plus, les façons dont la technologie vont soutenir les principes d'un développement efficace sont discutées. La technologie de l'information peut être très puissante, très motivante pour créer des nouveaux environnements excitants pour la formation des maîtres. La plus importante contribution est que les environnement mulitimédia amènent les maîtres à regarder au delà du contexte immédiat grâce à l'incorporation de l'observation indirecte.Multimedia in der Ausbildung von Lehrern für neue Sprachen. Dieses Papier erörtert die professionelle Entwicklung von Material zur Ausbildung von Grundstufenlehrern für moderne Sprachen durch die Verwendung neuer Technologien. Es vermittelt die Prinzipien, auf denen die Entwicklung einer Multimedia Lernumgebung ('FLIP - Foreign Languages in Primary') aufgebaut wurde. Diese enthalten Prinzipien modernen Sprachunterrichts, Prinzipien von Lehrerbildung und ein Konzept des 'wirksamen' Lehrers. Außerdem wird diskutiert, welche Technik die Prinzipien wirksamer professioneller Entwicklung unterstützen kann. Die Nutzung von Informationstechnologie kann extrem verstärkend, extrem motivierend und äußerst dienlich sein, neue und aufregende Möglichkeiten für die Lehrerbildung.zu schaffen. Der hervorragendste Beitrag ist, daß Multimediaumgebungen es Lehrern ermöglichen können, sich öber den unmittelbaren Kontext durch die Integration indirekter Beobachtung zu informieren.     

La enseñanza de la redacción desde el punto de vista didáctico

En este artículo se hace una reflexión en profundidad uniendo el proceso de enseñar en general al proceso específico de enseñanza de la redacción, que se configura como tarea interdisciplinar en torno a la escritura como eje integrador para lograr la unidad curricular. Esta reflexión se concreta en 10 prescripciones o sugerencias para la actuación.     

The family caregiver after the institutionalization of the dependent elderly relative

The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between the institutionalization of a dependent elderly relative and the family caregiver’s mental health, quality of life and caregiving satisfaction. We present data from 140 family caregivers caring for elderly family members, of whom 77 continued to live with family members and 63 had been institutionalized. We evaluated the factors influencing the decision to institutionalize the dependent relative, the effect of institutionalization on the caregiver’s psychological well-being and quality of life and the impact of strategies to find the meaning and cope with the relative’s placement on the caregiver’s emotional health and quality of life. Care does not end after institutionalization, but the stressors the caregiver faces change. Our results suggest that finding meaning increases satisfaction and reduces feelings of overload. They show that after institutionalization, stressors affecting caregivers are partly relieved, and that finding meaning increases the caregiver’s satisfaction, while decreasing the degree of overload. Our data, further, indicates that a good relationship and cooperation between the staff of the institution and the family are important to improve the caregivers’ emotional health and quality of life, and consequently, the quality of life of the dependent elderly relative.