Unpacking Transnational Social Capital and its Effects: Insights from an International Study Experience in Belgium

This paper studies (trans)national social capital gained through an international study experience in Belgium. Drawing upon a multi-method alumni study, we explore different types of (inter)national networks of male and female graduates, the extent to which different networks remained after graduation as well as effects on personal and professional development and organizational performance. Findings show that graduates have particularly gained networks with non-co-nationals which evolve from bridging relations at the outset to bonding relations while particularly networks with the host population remain limited. After returning home, bonding social interaction relations remain most important, irrespective of the nationality of the graduates, whereas information sharing and collaboration networks survive better among co-nationals, particularly when these are triggered through national alumni chapters. Our study finds network effects on individual's intercultural skills, knowledge and attitudes, their professional career and organizational performance, with intercultural gains being particularly high for networks with non-co-nationals from other continents.

BNT162b2 boosted immune responses six months after heterologous or homologous ChAdOx1nCoV-19/BNT162b2 vaccination against COVID-19

Reports suggest that COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness is decreasing, either due to waning immune protection, emergence of new variants of concern, or both. Heterologous prime/boost vaccination with a vector-based approach (ChAdOx-1nCov-19, ChAd) followed by an mRNA vaccine (e.g. BNT162b2, BNT) appeared to be superior in inducing protective immunity, and large scale second booster vaccination is ongoing. However, data comparing declining immunity after homologous and heterologous vaccination as well as effects of a third vaccine application after heterologous ChAd/BNT vaccination are lacking. We longitudinally monitored immunity in ChAd/ChAd (n=41) and ChAd/BNT (n=88) vaccinated individuals and assessed the impact of a second booster with BNT in both groups. The second booster greatly augmented waning anti-spike IgG but only moderately increased spike-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in both groups to cell frequencies already present after the boost. More importantly, the second booster efficiently restored neutralizing antibody responses against Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta, but neutralizing activity against B.1.1.529 (Omicron) stayed severely impaired. Our data suggest that inferior SARS-CoV-2 specific immune responses after homologous ChAd/ChAd vaccination can be cured by a heterologous BNT vaccination. However, prior heterologous ChAd/BNT vaccination provides no additional benefit for spike-specific T cell immunity or neutralizing Omicron after the second boost.

BNT162b2 boosted immune responses six months after heterologous or homologous ChAdOx1nCoV-19/BNT162b2 vaccination against COVID-19

Reports suggest that COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness is decreasing, either due to waning immune protection, emergence of new variants of concern, or both. Heterologous prime/boost vaccination with a vector-based approach (ChAdOx-1nCov-19, ChAd) followed by an mRNA vaccine (e.g. BNT162b2, BNT) appeared to be superior in inducing protective immunity, and large scale second booster vaccination is ongoing. However, data comparing declining immunity after homologous and heterologous vaccination as well as effects of a third vaccine application after heterologous ChAd/BNT vaccination are lacking. We longitudinally monitored immunity in ChAd/ChAd (n=41) and ChAd/BNT (n=88) vaccinated individuals and assessed the impact of a second booster with BNT in both groups. The second booster greatly augmented waning anti-spike IgG but only moderately increased spike-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in both groups to cell frequencies already present after the boost. More importantly, the second booster efficiently restored neutralizing antibody responses against Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta, but neutralizing activity against B.1.1.529 (Omicron) stayed severely impaired. Our data suggest that inferior SARS-CoV-2 specific immune responses after homologous ChAd/ChAd vaccination can be cured by a heterologous BNT vaccination. However, prior heterologous ChAd/BNT vaccination provides no additional benefit for spike-specific T cell immunity or neutralizing Omicron after the second boost.

Temporal loudness weights: Primacy effects, loudness dominance and their interaction

Loudness judgments of sounds varying in level across time show a non-uniform temporal weighting, with increased weights assigned to the beginning of the sound (primacy effect). In addition, higher weights are observed for temporal components that are higher in level than the remaining components (loudness dominance). In three experiments, sounds consisting of 100- or 475-ms Gaussian wideband noise segments with random level variations were presented and either none, the first, or a central temporal segment was amplified or attenuated. In Experiment 1, the sounds consisted of four 100-ms segments that were separated by 500-ms gaps. Previous experiments did not show a primacy effect in such a condition. In Experiment 2, four- or ten-100-ms-segment sounds without gaps between the segments were presented to examine the interaction between the primacy effect and level dominance. As expected, for the sounds with segments separated by gaps, no primacy effect was observed, but weights on amplified segments were increased and weights on attenuated segments were decreased. For the sounds with contiguous segments, a primacy effect as well as effects of relative level (similar to those in Experiment 1) were found. For attenuation, the data indicated no substantial interaction between the primacy effect and loudness dominance, whereas for amplification an interaction was present. In Experiment 3, sounds consisting of either four contiguous 100-ms or 475-ms segments, or four 100-ms segments separated by 500-ms gaps were presented. Effects of relative level were more pronounced for the contiguous sounds. Across all three experiments, the effects of relative level were more pronounced for attenuation. In addition, the effects of relative level showed a dependence on the position of the change in level, with opposite direction for attenuation compared to amplification. Some of the results are in accordance with explanations based on masking effects on auditory intensity resolution.

Causation in Terms of causae causantes

The chapter analyses singular causation within an indeterministic context. It assumes that effects are transitions and causes are basic indeterministic transitions, called causae causantes. It considers a variety of transitions as effects, depending on what their outcomes are (outcome chains, scattered outcomes, or disjunctive outcomes). By this analysis, a causa causans for a given transition occurs at a risky junction, where alternative basic transitions could prohibit the occurrence of the given transition. The causa causans keeps the occurrence of this transition possible. As an argument for the adequacy of this analysis, the chapter offers a few theorems showing that causae causantes satisfy inus-like conditions as proposed by Mackie.

Oilseed Cake Flour Composition, Functional Properties and Antioxidant Potential as Effects of Sieving and Species Differences

Oilseed cakes are produced as a by-product of oil pressing and are mostly used as feed. Their use for human consumption is due to the functional properties and benefits for human health. Herein, oilseed cake flours of eight species (flax, hemp, milk thistle, poppy, pumpkin, rapeseed, safflower, sunflower) were sieved into fractions above (A250) and below (B250) 250 µm. The chemical composition, SDS-PAGE profiles, colour, functional properties and antioxidant activities of these flours were evaluated. The B250 fractions were evaluated as being protein and ash rich, reaching crude protein and ash content ranging from 31.78% (milk thistle) to 57.47% (pumpkin) and from 5.0% (flax) to 11.19% (poppy), respectively. A high content of carbohydrates was found in the flours of hemp, milk thistle and safflower with a significant increase for the A250 fraction, with a subsequent relation to a high water holding capacity (WHC) for the A250 fraction (flax, poppy, pumpkin and sunflower). The A250 milk thistle flour was found to have the richest in polyphenols content (TPC) (40.89 mg GAE/g), with the highest antioxidant activity using an ABTS•+ assay (101.95 mg AAE/g). The A250 fraction for all the species exhibited lower lightness than the B250 fraction. The obtained results indicate that sieving oilseed flour with the aim to prepare flours with specific functional characteristics and composition is efficient only in combination with a particular species.

Polysemy: A Second Language Pedagogical Concern

<p>This thesis is an examination of polysemy and its effects on second language learners, revealing it as a greater concern than it is normally accorded in pedagogical research. Arguing against a reliance on the dictionary to determine the number of senses a given word has, it begins with a thorough exploration of the concept, both from diachronic and synchronic perspectives, by contrasting it with the related concepts of homonymy and monosemy. A monosemic stance is argued for, which does not deny the existence of polysemy but argues for a framework in which contextual variations of a word are not considered discrete meanings. The British National Corpus is consulted for data demonstrating that instances of a word that may appear as discrete units of meanings actually form a single, unified usage. With monosemy redistributed to account for more than it normally does, and with polysemy relegated solely to semantics (factoring out syntax, pragmatics, etc.), polysemy becomes a considerably less sloppy concept, revealing that, at a top-down level, there are essentially only two varieties. The first of these is 'lexical metaphor,' in which there is a clear literalmetaphoric divide between uses, and the second is 'vicariant polysemy' in which senses are discrete but not synchronically explainable by metaphor. Using Hoey's notion of lexical priming, the factored-out elements of syntax, collocation, etc. are returned to, but strictly as effects of the semantic process of sense generation that should not be mistaken for the cause, though they frequently are. The second part of this thesis moves from the theoretical to the applied, reviewing the sparse literature on the subject. Techniques for raising awareness of the issue among students are discussed as are dictionary skills relevant to polysemy and homonymy. Attention is then turned toward homonymy, examining the problem it poses to word lists and providing the beginning of a solution by revealing which words on the General Service List are homonymic and giving the relative frequency of each meaning. A technique to assist learners in acquiring additional meanings of homonyms is examined, as is a technique for guessing new or novel meanings of polysemes in context.</p>

Polysemy: A Second Language Pedagogical Concern

<p>This thesis is an examination of polysemy and its effects on second language learners, revealing it as a greater concern than it is normally accorded in pedagogical research. Arguing against a reliance on the dictionary to determine the number of senses a given word has, it begins with a thorough exploration of the concept, both from diachronic and synchronic perspectives, by contrasting it with the related concepts of homonymy and monosemy. A monosemic stance is argued for, which does not deny the existence of polysemy but argues for a framework in which contextual variations of a word are not considered discrete meanings. The British National Corpus is consulted for data demonstrating that instances of a word that may appear as discrete units of meanings actually form a single, unified usage. With monosemy redistributed to account for more than it normally does, and with polysemy relegated solely to semantics (factoring out syntax, pragmatics, etc.), polysemy becomes a considerably less sloppy concept, revealing that, at a top-down level, there are essentially only two varieties. The first of these is 'lexical metaphor,' in which there is a clear literalmetaphoric divide between uses, and the second is 'vicariant polysemy' in which senses are discrete but not synchronically explainable by metaphor. Using Hoey's notion of lexical priming, the factored-out elements of syntax, collocation, etc. are returned to, but strictly as effects of the semantic process of sense generation that should not be mistaken for the cause, though they frequently are. The second part of this thesis moves from the theoretical to the applied, reviewing the sparse literature on the subject. Techniques for raising awareness of the issue among students are discussed as are dictionary skills relevant to polysemy and homonymy. Attention is then turned toward homonymy, examining the problem it poses to word lists and providing the beginning of a solution by revealing which words on the General Service List are homonymic and giving the relative frequency of each meaning. A technique to assist learners in acquiring additional meanings of homonyms is examined, as is a technique for guessing new or novel meanings of polysemes in context.</p>

Student perception regarding the utilization of media literacy to prevent online threats, Thailand

The objective of this research was to study students’ perception of using media literacy (ML) to prevent online threats of the students majoring in Communication Arts, Faculty of Management Science, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University (SSRU). Selected by Purposive Sampling, the samples (n = 60) of this research were the students majoring in Communication Arts, Faculty of Management Science, SSRU. The research tool was the student perception questionnaire with 4 sections: 1) personal data, 2) perception on ML (60 questions), 3) benefits of ML for students (10 questions), 4) implementation of ML (11 questions), and (5) open-ended questions (2 questions). The finding suggested that most students have paid attention to awareness on using OSM with carefulness as effects from posting messages, images, or video clips on oneself, others, and family members. The most agreed benefit of ML is that students can develop values, morality, and ethics as a result of their ML education. The application of ML in their life is based on their ML skills.

How do teachers facilitate mathematics learning in Indonesia during the COVID-19 pandemic? A rapid review

The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic forces learning, including mathematics learning, to be carried out in online or distance mode. This situation is a challenge for teachers in facilitating mathematics learning because they are required to organize mathematics content and integrate it with certain learning technologies. In this article, we reviewed a total of 14 articles to describe how mathematics teacher in Indonesia facilitates online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic by focusing on types of technology used and reasons for choosing the technology, strategies used in integrating the technology with certain learning models or methods, ways of facilitating online discussion to construct knowledge, and assessments conducted as well as effects of the online learning facilitated by the teacher. Some implications for policy and practices are also provided in this article for improvement of online mathematics learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and may also after the pandemic is over in which it is possible to combine online and offline learning.