Modelling shelter choices in a class of mixture models for ordinal responses

In rating surveys, people are requested to evaluate objects, items, services, and so on, by choosing among a list of ordered categories. In some circumstances, it may happen that a subset of respondents selects a specific option just to simplify a more demanding choice. In this context, we generalize a class of ordinal data models (called cub and proven effective for fitting and interpretation), for taking the possible presence of a shelter choice into account. After the discussion of interpretative and inferential issues, the usefulness of the approach is checked against real case studies and by means of a simulation experiment. Some final remarks end the paper.     

Phthalate Exposure Through Food and Consumers' Risk Perception of Chemicals in Food

Phthalates have been detected in various types of retail foods. Consumers' exposure to phthalates is common. Consumers are concerned about chemicals in food. Our aim was to investigate the relationships between consumers' exposure to phthalates through food, consumers' interest in a natural and healthy diet, risk perception of food chemicals, and consumers' diet patterns. We collected data through a mail survey in the adult Swiss-German population ( N  = 1,200). We modeled exposure to di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), and diethyl phthalate (DEP) based on a food frequency questionnaire and phthalate concentrations reported from food surveys. Using rating scales, we assessed risk perceptions of chemicals in food and interest in a natural and healthy diet. Higher risk perceptions and higher natural and healthy diet interest were associated with higher daily doses of DEHP, BBP, and DEP. No health risk from phthalates in food was identified for the vast majority of the population. Four consumers' diet clusters were discerned, with differences in phthalate exposure, risk perceptions, and interest in a natural and healthy diet. This study shows that even those consumers who express strong interest in natural food and low acceptance of food chemicals, and who try to make respective food choices, are exposed to contaminants such as phthalates.     

Differences in occupation between ancestry subgroups of Asian birthplace groups in Australia

Asia‐born migrants form a majority of Australia's immigrants. Most of the larger Asian birthplace groups are ethnically heterogeneous. However, the literature on the occupations of migrants in Australia has tended to overlook the diversity within individual migrant groups. Using 2011 census data, this study details for the first time the significant variation in the occupational distributions between ancestry subgroups of the 10 largest Asian birthplace groups in Australia. A majority of the birthplace and ancestry groups have higher overall occupational status scores than the Australia‐born. The European and Australian ancestry subgroups are more likely to be managers, while the Chinese and Indian ancestry groups are more likely to be in particular professional occupations and to have higher overall occupational status than other ancestry groups from the same birthplace. In other ancestry subgroups such as Punjabi and Sikh ancestry India‐born, high proportions of migrants are in low‐skilled occupations, indicating wastage of skills.     

I hardly see my baby: challenges and highlights of being a New Zealand working mother of an infant

Combining motherhood and paid work presents a significant challenge for many women. We asked 2388 working New Zealand mothers of infants about their biggest highlight and challenge since the birth of their child. Thematic analysis revealed the top three reported highlights were Enjoyment of the Child (40%), Child Development (29%) and Attributes of the Child (16%). The top three challenges included Time Management (24%), difficulties with maternal role and responsibilities (21%) and work-related challenges (18%). Using logistic regression, working was more likely to be reported as a challenge by mothers who worked longer hours, returned to work when their infants were younger, had greater household incomes, or expressed concern about negative career consequences if they stayed on leave. Working was less likely to be reported as a challenge for mothers whose infants had health or developmental problems and who ‘wanted to get out of the house’. Practical implications are explored.     

Vulnerable children's rights to participation,protection, and provision: The process of defining the problem in Swedish child and family welfare

This study addresses the relationship between children's participation and the protection and provision offered to them by social services in Sweden. It applies a theoretical framework for analysing child welfare that is anchored in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. How child participation may affect child protection and provision is examined empirically using case documentation from 2 municipalities. The main finding is that when children are not given voice or opportunity to influence the framing of what “the problem” is, the design of protection and care tends to be poorly matched to the actual problems documented in the child investigation and vice versa; when children can influence framing, this is associated with well‐matched protection and care. This suggests that traditional child welfare ethos, to the effect that protection should be of such overriding concern that children even should be protected from participation, is misguided. The study further illustrates the intrinsic problems with the family orientation of Swedish social services and its reliance on partnership with parents, which makes it difficult to live up to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Incorporating child participation into existing service models can transform Swedish social services to an augmented child‐focused system that by ensuring participation also promotes protection and provision.     

新形势下拓宽高校思想政治教育途径研究

结合自身工作实际,以安徽农业大学思想政治教育工作为例,着重阐述在思想政治教育实践中要在＂实＂上下功夫,切实加强针对性,努力做到＂四个结合＂,即思想政治教育与心理健康教育相结合、思想政治教育与解决实际问题相结合、思想政治教育与多媒体信息技术相结合、思想政治教育与社会实践相结合,进一步拓宽教育途径,增强高校思想政治教育的实效性。     

Limiting behavior of the maximum of the partial sum for asymptotically negatively associated random variables under residual Cesàro alpha-integrability assumption

Asymptotically negative association is a special dependence structure. By relating such dependence condition to residual Cesàro alpha-integrability and to strongly residual Cesàro alpha-integrability, some L_p-convergence and complete convergence results of the maximum of the partial sum are derived, respectively. In addition, some of these conclusions are based on a new Rosenthal type inequality concerning asymptotically negatively associated random variables, which is of independent interest.