Paralinguistic Features Communicated through Voice can Affect Appraisals of Confidence and Evaluative Judgments

Journal of Nonverbal Behavior - This article unpacks the basic mechanisms by which paralinguistic features communicated through the voice can affect evaluative judgments and persuasion. Special...     

Longitudinal Changes in Religiosity Among Emerging Adult College Students

Issues of religion are important aspects of the identity process, which for many emerging adults may be intensified by the college experience. This study investigated longitudinal changes in the religiosity of 434 emerging adult college students (52% female) of diverse ethnic backgrounds (32% African American, 29% Latino American, and 39% European American) during the first 3 semesters of university. Results suggest that changes occur throughout this period, but that such changes are not monolithic across dimensions of religiosity. In the aggregate, significant declines in the behavioral aspects of religiosity were observed across semesters. In contrast, importance of religious beliefs remained relatively constant during this time. However, variations in these patterns were observed when considered at the individual level. Findings further demonstrate that heterogeneity in religiosity is also evident based upon gender and religious affiliation, suggesting that it is fruitful to consider the unique ways in which individuals change during this developmental period.     

Residential Segregation of European and Non-European Migrants in Sweden: 1990–2012

In this paper, we analyse how a migrant population that is both expanding and changing in composition has affected the composition of Swedish neighbourhoods at different scales. The analysis is based on Swedish geocoded individual-level register data for the years 1990, 1997, 2005, and 2012. This allows us to compute and analyse the demographic composition of neighbourhoods that range in size from encompassing the nearest 100 individuals to the nearest 409,600 individuals. First, the results confirm earlier findings that migrants, especially those from non-European countries, face high levels of segregation in Sweden. Second, large increases in the non-European populations in combination with high levels of segregation have increased the proportion of non-European migrants living in neighbourhoods that already have high proportions of non-European migrants. Third, in contrast to what has been the established image of segregation trends in Sweden, and in an apparent contrast to the finding that non-European migrants increasingly live in migrant-dense neighbourhoods, our results show that segregation, when defined as an uneven distribution of different populations across residential contexts, is not increasing. On the contrary, for both European migrants from 1990 and non-European migrants from 1997, there is a downward trend in unevenness as measured by the dissimilarity index at all scale levels. However, if segregation is measured as differences in the neighbourhood concentration of migrants, segregation has increased.     

Application of Whole-Genome Sequences and Machine Learning in Source Attribution of Salmonella Typhimurium

Prevention of the emergence and spread of foodborne diseases is an important prerequisite for the improvement of public health. Source attribution models link sporadic human cases of a specific illness to food sources and animal reservoirs. With the next generation sequencing technology, it is possible to develop novel source attribution models. We investigated the potential of machine learning to predict the animal reservoir from which a bacterial strain isolated from a human salmonellosis case originated based on whole-genome sequencing. Machine learning methods recognize patterns in large and complex data sets and use this knowledge to build models. The model learns patterns associated with genetic variations in bacteria isolated from the different animal reservoirs. We selected different machine learning algorithms to predict sources of human salmonellosis cases and trained the model with Danish Salmonella Typhimurium isolates sampled from broilers (n = 34), cattle (n = 2), ducks (n = 11), layers (n = 4), and pigs (n = 159). Using cgMLST as input features, the model yielded an average accuracy of 0.783 (95% CI: 0.77–0.80) in the source prediction for the random forest and 0.933 (95% CI: 0.92–0.94) for the logit boost algorithm. Logit boost algorithm was most accurate (valid accuracy: 92%, CI: 0.8706–0.9579) and predicted the origin of 81% of the domestic sporadic human salmonellosis cases. The most important source was Danish produced pigs (53%) followed by imported pigs (16%), imported broilers (6%), imported ducks (2%), Danish produced layers (2%), Danish produced cattle and imported cattle (<1%) while 18% was not predicted. Machine learning has potential for improving source attribution modeling based on sequence data. Results of such models can inform risk managers to identify and prioritize food safety interventions.     

Latest-Late Fertility? Decline and Resurgence of Late Parenthood Across the Low-Fertility Countries

After decades of fertility postponement, we investigate recent changes in late parenthood across low-fertility countries in the light of observations from the past. We use long series of age-specific fertility rates from the Human Fertility Database (1950–2016) for women, and new data covering the period 1990–2016 for men. In 1950, the contribution of births at age 40 and over to female fertility rates ranged from 2.5 to 9 percent, but then fell sharply until the 1980s. From the 1990s, however, the prevalence of late first births increased rapidly, especially so in countries where it was initially lowest. This has produced a late fertility rebound in the last two decades, occurring much faster for women than for men. Comparisons between recent and past extremely late (age 48+) fertility levels confirm that people are now challenging the natural fertility barriers, particularly for a first child.     

对认识论中女性主义视角的进一步反思

女性主义对西方传统认识论的批评,主要涉及到知识与表述的问题、知识与理性的中立性、男权的影响和客观性的概念。女性主义对知识构成和认识论的看法,关联着两个有影响力的女性主义立场,即女性主义经验论和女性主义立场论。对这些女性主义观点所遇到的问题、困难和批评的进一步反思,都围绕着一个中心问题:所谓的‘女性主义认识论’是否可能?     

The scoring rules in an endogenous election

Plurality rule is mostly criticized from being capable of choosing an alternative considered as worst by a strict majority. This paper considers elections in which the agenda consists of potential candidates strategically choosing whether or not to enter the election. In this context, we examine the ability of scoring rules to fulfil the Condorcet criterion. We show for the case of three potential candidates that Plurality rule is the only scoring rule that satisfies a version of the Condorcet criterion in two cases: 1) when preferences are single-peaked and, 2) when preferences are single-dipped.

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