The Effects of X-rays and Beta Rays (Tritium) on the Growth of \u3cem\u3eRickettsia mooseri\u3c/em\u3e and \u3cem\u3eRickettsia akari\u3c/em\u3e in Embryonate Eggs

The growth of Rickettsia mooseri was accelerated and quantitatively increased in embryonate eggs containing tritium oxide at levels of 180, 90, and 45 mc./egg during the growth period. The eggs of a group containing 22.5 mc./egg showed only a slight increase in the rate of growth of organisms; the infections in the eggs of a group given 11.2 mc./egg did not differ significantly from those of the control group. On the other hand, growth of R. akari was inhibited in embryonate eggs containing tritium oxide at levels of 180, 90, and 45 mc./egg, and partially inhibited in groups containing 22.5 and 11.2 mc./egg. The patterns of growth of R. mooseri and of R. akari exposed to tritium oxide for 6 hours prior to inoculation into embryonate eggs did not differ significantly from that of the control group

The foreign language classroom anxiety scale and academic achievement: an overview of the prevailing literature and a meta-analysis

Foreign language learners experience a unique type of anxiety during the language learning process: Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA). This situation-specific anxiety is frequently examined alongside academic achievement in foreign language courses. The present meta-analysis examined the relationship between FLCA measured through the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) and five forms of academic achievement: general academic achievement and four competency-specific outcome scores (reading-, writing-, listening-, and speaking academic achievement). A total of k = 99 effect sizes were analysed with an overall sample size of N = 14128 in a random effects model with Pearson correlation coefficients. A moderate negative correlation was found between FLCA and all categories of academic achievement (e.g., general academic achievement: r = -.39; k = 59; N = 12585). The results of this meta analysis confirm the negative association between FLCA and academic achievement in foreign language courses

Toward Quantum Superposition of Living Organisms

The most striking feature of quantum mechanics is the existence of superposition states, where an object appears to be in different situations at the same time. The existence of such states has been tested with small objects, like atoms, ions, electrons and photons, and even with molecules. More recently, it has been possible to create superpositions of collections of photons, atoms, or Cooper pairs. Current progress in optomechanical systems may soon allow us to create superpositions of even larger objects, like micro-sized mirrors or cantilevers, and thus to test quantum mechanical phenomena at larger scales. Here we propose a method to cool down and create quantum superpositions of the motion of sub-wavelength, arbitrarily shaped dielectric objects trapped inside a high--finesse cavity at a very low pressure. Our method is ideally suited for the smallest living organisms, such as viruses, which survive under low vacuum pressures, and optically behave as dielectric objects. This opens up the possibility of testing the quantum nature of living organisms by creating quantum superposition states in very much the same spirit as the original Schr\"odinger's cat "gedanken" paradigm. We anticipate our essay to be a starting point to experimentally address fundamental questions, such as the role of life and consciousness in quantum mechanics.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, published versio

By the old gods and the new: the effect of Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety and Enjoyment Congruence on Self-Perceived Proficiency

The negative emotion of Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA) and the positive emotion of Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE) have both been linked to foreign language (FL) learners’ Self-Perceived Proficiency (SPP). In linear correlational studies, SPP has been found to be negatively affected by FLCA and positively affected by FLE. However, linear correlational research methods are limited in the extent to which they can depict these interrelations. In this study, we examined how different levels of FLCA and FLE influenced SPP in concert in a sample of n = 1039 FL learners by utilising polynomial regression with response surface analysis. The response model generated visually depicted a complex SPP pattern as a result of differing levels of FLCA and FLE. This three-dimensional model provides considerable insight into the interaction of positive and negative emotions above and beyond what could be derived from ‘classical’ methods of correlation and linear regression

The power to improve: effects of multilingualism and perceived proficiency on enjoyment and anxiety in foreign language learning

The study examines whether already knowing several languages and feeling proficient in a new foreign language (FL) has an effect on positive and negative emotions during the learning. The emergence of positive psychology in language acquisition studies has led to the examination of positive emotions in the FL learning process, such as Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE). FLE is a positive emotional state where psychological needs are met and was introduced as the positive emotion counterpart to the oft studied negative emotion, Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA). A international sample of 1622 FL learners were analysed utilising multivariate tests of variance, examining the level of multilingualism and the level of self-perceived FL proficiency as independent variables, with FLE and FLA as dependent variables. Results indicated a very small, but statistically significant interaction effect between the level of multilingualism and self-perceived FL proficiency on the FLA of the language learner, but not on FLE. In addition, higher levels of multilingualism were associated with higher levels of enjoyment and lower levels of anxiety in FL learners. In turn, more self-perceived proficient FL learners indicated higher levels of enjoyment and lower levels of anxiety. Although effect sizes were in some cases very small, the results do indicate the benefits multilinguals and higher proficiency FL learners have when learning a FL

Sources and effects of Foreign Language Enjoyment, Anxiety and Boredom: a structural equation modelling approach

The present study is among the first to investigate how three foreign language (FL) emotions, namely FL enjoyment (FLE), anxiety (FLCA) and boredom (FLB) are related to each other. It is the first study to consider how the three FL emotions are shaped by one learner-internal variable (attitude toward the FL), by two perceived teacher behaviours (frequency of use of the FL in class and unpredictability) and how all these variables jointly affect leaners’ FL achievement. Participants were 332 FL learners from all over the world studying a wide variety of FLs who filled out an online questionnaire. A close-fitting structural equation model revealed associations between FLE, FLCA, and FLB. Teacher behaviours positively affected FLE, with no discernible effect on FLB or FLCA. Only FLCA was found to have a (negative) effect on academic achievement. The study confirms the complex relationship between teacher behaviours and positive emotions in the FL classroom