International student mobility in a German and Portuguese university: Which factors in the host institution matter?

In a globalising world, international mobility in higher education is an important phenomenon for students and higher education institutions. It is therefore essential to understand the factors that determine international students' satisfaction with higher education institutions that serve as hosts. Through research of an exploratory, quantitative nature, this study presents results from a survey among 289 incoming international students in two universities in Germany and Portugal. Our findings show that the factor we define as educational experience was an important determinant of student satisfaction. Furthermore, the appraisal of academic reputation is dependent on the university. We conclude that satisfaction with academic factors is more important for international students than satisfaction with non-academic aspects.     

Test-retest reliability and agreement of the SPI-Questionnaire to detect symptoms of digital ischemia in elite volleyball players

The Shoulder posterior circumflex humeral artery Pathology and digital Ischemia – questionnaire (SPI-Q) has been developed to enable periodic surveillance of elite volleyball players, who are at risk for digital ischemia. Prior to implementation, assessing reliability is mandatory. Therefore, the test-retest reliability and agreement of the SPI-Q were evaluated among the population at risk.

A questionnaire survey was performed with a 2-week interval among 65 elite male volleyball players assessing symptoms of cold, pale and blue digits in the dominant hand during or after practice or competition using a 4-point Likert scale (never, sometimes, often and always). Kappa (κ) and percentage of agreement (POA) were calculated for individual symptoms, and to distinguish symptomatic and asymptomatic players. For the individual symptoms, κ ranged from “poor” (0.25) to “good” (0.63), and POA ranged from “moderate” (78%) to “good” (97%). To classify symptomatic players, the SPI-Q showed “good” reliability (κ = 0.83; 95%CI 0.69–0.97) and “good” agreement (POA = 92%). The current study has proven the SPI-Q to be reliable for detecting elite male indoor volleyball players with symptoms of digital ischemia.     

The location of the tibial accelerometer does influence impact acceleration parameters during running

Tibial accelerations have been associated with a number of running injuries. However, studies attaching the tibial accelerometer on the proximal section are as numerous as those attaching the accelerometer on the distal section. This study aimed to investigate whether accelerometer location influences acceleration parameters commonly reported in running literature. To fulfil this purpose, 30 athletes ran at 2.22, 2.78 and 3.33 m · s^–1 with three accelerometers attached with double-sided tape and tightened to the participants’ tolerance on the forehead, the proximal section of the tibia and the distal section of the tibia. Time-domain (peak acceleration, shock attenuation) and frequency-domain parameters (peak frequency, peak power, signal magnitude and shock attenuation in both the low and high frequency ranges) were calculated for each of the tibial locations. The distal accelerometer registered greater tibial acceleration peak and shock attenuation compared to the proximal accelerometer. With respect to the frequency-domain analysis, the distal accelerometer provided greater values of all the low-frequency parameters, whereas no difference was observed for the high-frequency parameters. These findings suggest that the location of the tibial accelerometer does influence the acceleration signal parameters, and thus, researchers should carefully consider the location they choose to place the accelerometer so that equivalent comparisons across studies can be made.     

Bureaucratization in Public Research Institutions

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the nature of bureaucratization within public research bodies and its relationship to scientific performance, focusing on an Italian case-study. The main finding is that the bureaucratization of the research sector has two dimensions: public research labs have academic bureaucratization since researchers spend an increasing part of their time in administrative matters (i.e., preparing grant applications, managing grants/projects, and so on); whereas universities mainly have administrative bureaucratization generated by the increase over time of administrative staff in comparison with researchers and faculty. In addition, I show that research units with higher bureaucratization have lower scientific performance.

An empirical test of anchoring the NEP scale in environmental ethics

Some argue that the new ecological paradigm (NEP) scale is incomplete and does not adequately reflect contemporary debates in environmental ethics. We focus on one specific shortcoming of the NEP, its lack of an item to reflect an ecocentric viewpoint. To test this concern, we administered the NEP to three different audiences and included one additional item to capture an ecocentric perspective. The empirical tests were designed to determine whether the addition of such an item changed results in a meaningful way. We find evidence that NEP may already capture ecocentric viewpoints, but our investigation leads us to question the validity and reliability of the NEP in capturing ecological worldview.     

Assisting Parents of Bilingual Students to Achieve Equity in Public Schools

This article provides school-based consultants with an overview of the English language learner (ELL) student population and common programs available to ELL students (such as English-only programs, pull-out English as a second language [ESL], content-based ESL, transitional bilingual programs, maintenance bilingual programs, and two-way or dual language bilingual education programs). Past and current research examining bilingual education programs and guidelines and recommendations for the application of bilingual education knowledge to consultative practice with school personnel and culturally and linguistically diverse parents are discussed. Because of the paucity of research regarding school-based consultation related to bilingual education issues, guidelines and recommendations are presented within the larger framework of multicultural and cross-cultural consultation. Recommendations for future research regarding school-based consultation related to bilingual education issues are provided.