ABSTRACT
This seminal study examines how Taiwanese immigrants make friends and their convivial experiences interacting with social others in the host society in Belgium. In this study, the author successfully recruited 24 Taiwanese immigrant restaurateurs and housewives to participate in semi-structured interviews during the author's three years of fieldwork as the Chinese language and cultural courses teacher at the Ecole Sun Yat Sen Brussels. The study finds that sharing foods with others is one of the important friendshipmaking strategies in migrants' everyday life. In so doing, food does not only provide its material and nutrition functions, but it also makes many social meanings and functions for people who participate in activities and assist them to obtain sense of belonging, group identity and emotional support. In addition to food sharing, social media use is another vital tool for Taiwanese immigrants to make friends and cultivate their social networks living in a foreign country. However, a significant difference in using social media in making friends exists between different genders and age generations. With regard to convivial experiences, most of the research participants had positive experiences interacting with locals and social others before the COVID-19 pandemic. As they successfully accumulated such convivial experiences, these experiences, in turn, helped them construct a cosmopolitan identity and improve their personal inter-cultural competences. However, after the pandemic has worsened, Taiwanese immigrants have faced discriminations due to their race and migrant backgrounds more frequently. On the contrary, the frequencies of convivial interactions between Taiwanese immigrants with locals and social others have obviously decreased because of the pandemic. Notably, although Taiwanese immigrant restaurateurs and housewives may have different experiences and practices in making friends, they have similar social network characteristics as they have more intra-ethnic than interethnic friends and social ties. In addition, the limitations of the study and the suggestions for further research will also be discussed in the article. © 2022, City University of Hong Kong Press. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
This seminal study examines how Taiwanese immigrants make friends and their convivial experiences interacting with social others in the host society in Belgium. In this study, the author successfully recruited 24 Taiwanese immigrant restaurateurs and housewives to participate in semi-structured interviews during the author’s three years of fieldwork as the Chinese language and cultural courses teacher at the Ecole Sun Yat Sen Brussels. The study finds that sharing foods with others is one of the important friendshipmaking strategies in migrants’ everyday life. In so doing, food does not only provide its material and nutrition functions, but it also makes many social meanings and functions for people who participate in activities and assist them to obtain sense of belonging, group identity and emotional support. In addition to food sharing, social media use is another vital tool for Taiwanese immigrants to make friends and cultivate their social networks living in a foreign country. However, a significant difference in using social media in making friends exists between different genders and age generations. With regard to convivial experiences, most of the research participants had positive experiences interacting with locals and social others before the COVID-19 pandemic. As they successfully accumulated such convivial experiences, these experiences, in turn, helped them construct a cosmopolitan identity and improve their personal inter-cultural competences. However, after the pandemic has worsened, Taiwanese immigrants have faced discriminations due to their race and migrant backgrounds more frequently. On the contrary, the frequencies of convivial interactions between Taiwanese immigrants with locals and social others have obviously decreased because of the pandemic. Notably, although Taiwanese immigrant restaurateurs and housewives may have different experiences and practices in making friends, they have similar social network characteristics as they have more intra-ethnic than interethnic friends and social ties. In addition, the limitations of the study and the suggestions for further research will also be discussed in the article. © 2022, City University of Hong Kong Press. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
The use of convalescent plasma in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the general population has not been shown to have a clear benefit. However, there are limited data available on its use in specific populations, such as in personswithhumanimmunodeficiencyvirus(HIV;PWH).The present case series study describes 12 hospitalized PWH who received convalescent plasma for severe COVID-19 between March 2020 and July 2020. Demographics, pre-existing comorbidities, HIV status, and COVID-19 management were reported and examined in a multivariate analysis. A high mortality rate of 58%, (7 out of 12 PWH) was observed in those receiving the convalescent plasma. By contrast, a brief review of 13 previously published cohorts of PWH hospitalized with COVID-19 revealed a cumulative mortality of 19% (85 of 439 PWH). In the present case series study, PWH had a significantly higher relative risk for in-hospital COVID-19-associated mortality compared with individuals without HIV (unadjusted range, 2.10-2.52;and adjusted range, 1.79-2.08;P<0.02 in all analyses). Covariate-adjustments were made for patient demographics, pre-existing co-morbidities, and mechanical ventilation needs. The high mortality rate of the present case series may be related to random sampling or an adverse effect of convalescent plasma in PWH and severe COVID-19. Additional research is thus required to investigate the risks and benefits of the use of COVID-19 convalescent plasma in PWH. © 2022 the Author(s).