Where everybody knows your name: the role of social capital in resettlement after an employee relocation

This exploratory research investigates the process of adaptation that follows the intra-national migration of families moved for a professional employee's job. The research suggests the existence of ‘relocation enclaves’ or areas of residence that are densely populated by relocated families. Qualitative interviews with wives relocated for their husband's jobs reveal the importance of building social capital to rebuild families' lives and the positive role that relocation enclaves can play in offering that social capital. Additionally, findings suggest that, contrary to Putnam's proposition that an influx of relocated families into a community would contribute to the erosion of community connections, relocated women are highly active in their new communities and they invest time and inject new ideas into local schools and organizations.     

State political culture and support for Obama in the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries

Though ideologically similar, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton appealed to different types of voters in the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries and demographically the candidates’ support varied considerably. Relative to the demographics of the primary electorates, however, we find that state political culture played an outsized role in determining which candidate emerged victorious in a particular state. When the size of demographic groups in the 2008 Democratic primaries are utilized in ordinary least squares regression models as independent variables with state political characteristics and Daniel Elazar's state political culture typology, political culture proves to be an important determinant of the level of support given to Obama in a state. States that are characterized by a more moralistic political culture are more likely to have given Obama a greater share of the primary vote and states that are characterized by a more traditionalistic or individualistic culture were less likely to support Obama in the 2008 Democratic primaries.     

Generating Ordered Families of Lorenz Curves by Strongly Unimodal Distributions

From any strongly unimodal density on the real line, it is possible to generate a one-parameter family of Lorenz curves. The resulting families of Lorenz curves are Lorenz ordered with respect to the indexing parameter. Symmetry of the unimodal density results in the generation of symmetric Lorenz curves. A related characterization of the normal distribution is presented.     

Infant mortality by socioeconomic status and race in Richmond,Virginia 1979–1981: A research note

In this study an ecological approach, in which the census tract of the mother's usual residence is the basic unit of analysis, is used to study the general association between infant mortality and socio‐economic status for the total white and black population of Richmond, Virginia 1979–1981. The analysis reveals that for the total black and white populations of the city, the traditional, inverse relationship between socioeconomic status and infant mortality exists. For the city's black population, on the other hand, there does not appear to be any relationship between the economic or family life characteristics of census tract populations and their level of infant mortality. Possible explanations of this finding are presented and an agenda for future research is identified.     

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.     

Racing to Theory or Retheorizing Race? Understanding the Struggle to Build a Multiracial Identity Theory

Empirical research on the growing multiracial population in the United States has focused largely on the documentation of racial identification, analysis of psychological adjustment, and understanding the broader political consequences of mixed-race identification. Efforts toward theory construction on multiracial identity development, however, have been largely disconnected from empirical data, mired in disciplinary debates, and bound by historically specific assumptions about race and racial group membership. This study provides a critical overview of multiracial identity development theories, examines the links between theory and research, explores the challenges to multiracial identity theory construction, and proposes considerations for future directions in theorizing racial identity development among the mixed-race population.     

Globalization and difference: displacement,culture and homeland

Mechanisms particular to globalization and to the invention of contemporary socio-cultural dynamics are revealed through the analysis of the validation of displacement emphasized in socio-anthropological texts and in the media. Globalization occasionally activates the myth of homogeneity in social groups, yet it cannot ultimately control or even slow down intercultural exchanges.