@article{moye jr_thomas_2023, title={There Goes the Neighborhood: How Racial Threat Shapes the Formation of Integrated and Segregated Neighborhoods}, ISSN={["1475-682X"]}, DOI={10.1111/soin.12550}, abstractNote={Neighborhoods in the United States are highly segregated by race. Black–white segregation is particularly acute. Although racial segregation has been declining in recent years, it remains extremely high—especially in the largest metropolitan areas. The historical pattern has been that as African Americans move into a neighborhood, whites move out and thus the neighborhood (gradually or rapidly) transitions from predominantly white to predominantly black. A seemingly contradictory pattern has recently been observed: integrated neighborhoods are becoming more common. Why do some neighborhoods transition from white to black and others become integrated? We use racial competition theory to answer this question. We examine the characteristics of stable, integrated neighborhoods and contrast them with segregated predominantly white, predominantly black, and rapidly transitioning neighborhoods in six large metropolitan areas. We find that the location of black neighborhoods is a key factor in whether an integrated neighborhood remains integrated. Specifically, we find integrated neighborhoods are spatially distant from majority black neighborhoods while transitioning neighborhoods are adjacent to them. Our findings support the “sense of threat” hypothesis of racial competition theory.}, journal={SOCIOLOGICAL INQUIRY}, author={Moye Jr, Richard Greg and Thomas, Melvin}, year={2023}, month={Jun} }
 @article{thomas_herring_horton_semyonov_henderson_mason_2020, title={Race and the Accumulation of Wealth: Racial Differences in Net Worth over the Life Course, 1989-2009}, volume={67}, ISSN={["1533-8533"]}, DOI={10.1093/socpro/spz002}, abstractNote={Using data from the 1989–2009 Panel Study of Income Dynamics, this research examines racial differences in wealth accumulation over the life course. We ask: (1) How have racial differences in wealth changed over time? (2) Do racial wealth gaps change over the life course? (3) Are racial gaps in net worth expanding, contracting, or staying the same over time and over the life course? and (4) Do these patterns differ by cohort? The analysis is informed by (1) the declining significance of race and post-racial perspectives; (2) the cumulative effects of discrimination explanation; and (3) the vintage hypothesis. Results show that African Americans’ wealth as a percentage of whites’ wealth fell in 2009. Results do not support the declining significance of race and post-racial perspectives. Partially consistent with the vintage hypothesis, post-1960s African Americans are relatively better off than are pre-1960s African Americans (compared with whites of the same cohort). Consistent with the cumulative effects of discrimination model, the African American-white wealth gap increases over the life course for each historical period. If current patterns persist, presumed gains made by young African Americans relative to young whites may turn out to be illusory as they progress through the life course.}, number={1}, journal={SOCIAL PROBLEMS}, author={Thomas, Melvin and Herring, Cedric and Horton, Hayward Derrick and Semyonov, Moshe and Henderson, Loren and Mason, Patrick L.}, year={2020}, month={Feb}, pages={20–39} }
 @article{moye_thomas_2018, title={"Race and Housing Values: What Happens When Whites Don't All Move Out?"}, volume={17}, ISSN={["1540-6040"]}, DOI={10.1111/cico.12289}, abstractNote={Previous research on neighborhood racial composition and housing values has demonstrated that as the proportion of Black residents in a neighborhood increases housing values lag. In this paper, we investigate whether there are neighborhood types or locations where racial diversity does not have a negative impact on housing values. This research contributes to the study of residential segregation by focusing on stable integrated neighborhoods. Using metropolitan Philadelphia as a strategic case, we compare stable, integrated neighborhoods to racially transitioning neighborhoods and predominantly White and Black neighborhoods. To do this, we comparatively examine housing prices and rates of home value appreciation from 1990 to 2005. We find that stable integrated neighborhoods have rates of appreciation slightly higher than predominantly White neighborhoods.}, number={1}, journal={CITY & COMMUNITY}, author={Moye, Richard and Thomas, Melvin}, year={2018}, month={Mar}, pages={109–133} }
 @article{thomas_grinshpon_swartz_clark_2018, title={Modifications to a common phosphorylation network provide individualized control in caspases}, volume={293}, ISSN={["1083-351X"]}, DOI={10.1074/jbc.ra117.000728}, abstractNote={Caspase-3 activation and function have been well-defined during programmed cell death, but caspase activity, at low levels, is also required for developmental processes such as lymphoid proliferation and erythroid differentiation. Post-translational modification of caspase-3 is one method used by cells to fine-tune activity below the threshold required for apoptosis, but the allosteric mechanism that reduces activity is unknown. Phosphorylation of caspase-3 at a conserved allosteric site by p38-MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) promotes survival in human neutrophils, and the modification of the loop is thought to be a key regulator in many developmental processes. We utilized phylogenetic, structural, and biophysical studies to define the interaction networks that facilitate the allosteric mechanism in caspase-3. We show that, within the modified loop, Ser150 evolved with the apoptotic caspases, whereas Thr152 is a more recent evolutionary event in mammalian caspase-3. Substitutions at Ser150 result in a pH-dependent decrease in dimer stability, and localized changes in the modified loop propagate to the active site of the same protomer through a connecting surface helix. Likewise, a cluster of hydrophobic amino acids connects the conserved loop to the active site of the second protomer. The presence of Thr152 in the conserved loop introduces a “kill switch” in mammalian caspase-3, whereas the more ancient Ser150 reduces without abolishing enzyme activity. These data reveal how evolutionary changes in a conserved allosteric site result in a common pathway for lowering activity during development or a more recent cluster-specific switch to abolish activity.}, number={15}, journal={JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY}, author={Thomas, Melvin E., III and Grinshpon, Robert and Swartz, Paul and Clark, A. Clay}, year={2018}, month={Apr}, pages={5447–5461} }
 @article{thomas_2018, title={"It's Hardly Fair to Bring a Child Into the World With the Way Things Look...": Anomie, Mistrust, and the Impact of Race, SES, and Gender}, volume={88}, ISSN={["1475-682X"]}, DOI={10.1111/soin.12191}, abstractNote={This article examines the impact of race, socioeconomic status (SES), and gender on subjective outlook using anomie and general mistrust as indicators. Specifically, this study addresses the following questions: (1) How do African Americans and whites compare with respect to anomie and mistrust? (2) Do racial differences in anomie and mistrust vary by SES? (3) Do African American women have higher levels of anomie and mistrust than whites and African American men? and (4) Are African Americans becoming more or less trusting and anomic over time? Using data from the General Social Survey (GSS) (1972–2014), the analysis reveals significant racial differences in social outlook as measured by anomie and mistrust. African Americans indicate higher levels of both anomie and mistrust than whites even after controls for SES and the other variables. The racial gap in anomie and mistrust increases with increases in SES. Being African American and female is associated with higher levels of anomie but not mistrust. African American mistrust decreases relative to whites over time. More affluent African Americans’ anomie levels slightly increase relative to similar whites over time. Explanations using the “rage of a privileged class” and “intersectionality” ideas are evaluated.}, number={2}, journal={SOCIOLOGICAL INQUIRY}, author={Thomas, Melvin}, year={2018}, month={May}, pages={254–273} }
 @article{henderson_herring_horton_thomas_2015, title={Credit Where Credit is Due?: Race, Gender, and Discrimination in the Credit Scores of Business Startups}, volume={42}, ISSN={0034-6446 1936-4814}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/S12114-015-9215-4}, DOI={10.1007/S12114-015-9215-4}, abstractNote={ This research seeks to understand the degree to which credit scores of new business startups are influenced by racial or gender discrimination. It examines the degree to which access to business credit lines is influenced by racial and gender-related factors that go beyond would-be borrowers’ credit scores. Using credit data from new startups, the analysis finds that, when controlling for firm and human capital characteristics, Black-owned startups receive lower than expected business credit scores. Whites are more favorably treated in credit score determination than are African Americans with the same firm characteristics and owner characteristics. Moreover, Whites are more favorably treated when it comes to access to credit lines than are African Americans, Latinos, and Asians with the same firm characteristics, owner characteristics, and credit scores. Men are more favorably treated when it comes to access to credit lines than are women. A Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition suggests that credit lines for Black-owned businesses would more than double, Latino-owned businesses’ lines of credit would nearly triple, Asian-owned businesses’ lines of credit would more than triple, and those where the primary owners are women would be more than twice as large if their business lines of credit were determined in the same way as those for businesses owned primarily by Whites and by men. The implications of these results are discussed. }, number={4}, journal={The Review of Black Political Economy}, publisher={SAGE Publications}, author={Henderson, Loren and Herring, Cedric and Horton, Hayward Derrick and Thomas, Melvin}, year={2015}, month={Jan}, pages={459–479} }
 @article{herring_horton_thomas_2015, title={LIFE AT THE EDGE: PRECARITY AND ECONOMIC INSECURITY IN THE OBAMA ERA}, volume={19}, ISBN={["978-1-78350-982-9"]}, ISSN={["0195-7449"]}, DOI={10.1108/s0195-744920140000019007}, abstractNote={Abstract 
Purpose 
Precarity is a condition that exists when there is little predictability or security with respect to people’s material well-being or psychological welfare. It is a condition that often increases during times of economic uncertainty. But there can be a paradox associated with precarity: the sense of doom can become worse even as objective conditions improve. 
 
 
Methodology/approach 
Using data from the 2006–2012 American National Election Surveys and other sources, this chapter examines precarity and economic insecurity in the United States before and during the Obama era. It provides an overview of patterns that undergird the sense of insecurity by presenting trends in economic well-being before, during, and after the Great Recession. 
 
 
Findings 
The results show that supporters of President Obama were more optimistic about the future. Those who voted for Bush, despite precarity is a racialized, politicized, and partisan condition. It is not simply based on objective conditions. Precarity has far-reaching social effects. 
 
 
Originality/value 
Current perceptions of insecurity are complex and cannot be traced to a single source such as precarity at work. The problem of economic insecurity provides some formidable challenges to policymakers concerned with reducing the waste of human capabilities. Ultimately, the only true solution for precarity is sustained, vigorous economic growth with fairness for all, but how to get there and to get people to believe that such growth is real and sustainable remain a challenge.}, journal={RACE IN THE AGE OF OBAMA, PT 2}, author={Herring, Cedric and Horton, Hayward Derrick and Thomas, Melvin}, year={2015}, pages={125–143} }
 @article{mackenzie_schipper_england_thomas_blackburn_swartz_clark_2013, title={Lengthening the Intersubunit Linker of Procaspase 3 Leads to Constitutive Activation}, volume={52}, ISSN={["0006-2960"]}, DOI={10.1021/bi400793s}, abstractNote={The conformational ensemble of procaspase 3, the primary executioner in apoptosis, contains two major forms, inactive and active, with the inactive state favored in the native ensemble. A region of the protein known as the intersubunit linker (IL) is cleaved during maturation, resulting in movement of the IL out of the dimer interface and subsequent active site formation (activation-by-cleavage mechanism). We examined two models for the role of the IL in maintaining the inactive conformer, an IL-extension model versus a hydrophobic cluster model, and we show that increasing the length of the IL by introducing 3-5 alanines results in constitutively active procaspases. Active site labeling and subsequent analyses by mass spectrometry show that the full-length zymogen is enzymatically active. We also show that minor populations of alternately cleaved procaspase result from processing at D169 when the normal cleavage site, D175, is unavailable. Importantly, the alternately cleaved proteins have little to no activity, but increased flexibility of the linker increases the exposure of D169. The data show that releasing the strain of the short IL, in and of itself, is not sufficient to populate the active conformer of the native ensemble. The IL must also allow for interactions that stabilize the active site, possibly from a combination of optimal length, flexibility in the IL, and specific contacts between the IL and interface. The results provide further evidence that substantial energy is required to shift the protein to the active conformer. As a result, the activation-by-cleavage mechanism dominates in the cell.}, number={36}, journal={BIOCHEMISTRY}, author={MacKenzie, Sarah H. and Schipper, Joshua L. and England, Erika J. and Thomas, Melvin E., III and Blackburn, Kevin and Swartz, Paul and Clark, A. Clay}, year={2013}, month={Sep}, pages={6219–6231} }
 @article{thompson_thomas_head_2012, title={Race, socioeconomic status, and self-esteem: The impact of religiosity}, volume={32}, DOI={10.1080/02732173.2012.694792}, abstractNote={This research examines two factors that have an impact on the self-esteem of African Americans and whites: religion and socioeconomic status (SES). Using data from the National Survey of Families and Households, we find that for whites, belief in the Bible (i.e., that it is the literal word of God) and self-identifying as fundamentalist were significant predictors of self-esteem. For African Americans, belief in the Bible and being Catholic were significant predictors of self-esteem. However, the association between belief in the Bible and self-esteem was stronger for African Americans than whites. SES was positively associated with self-esteem for both groups. The interactions between SES and the measures of religiosity reveal a greater impact on self-esteem for lower SES respondents. This was especially true for African Americans. These findings are discussed in light of the resource compensation hypothesis.}, number={5}, journal={Sociological Spectrum}, author={Thompson, M. S. and Thomas, M. E. and Head, R. N.}, year={2012}, pages={385–405} }
 @article{smith_nanda_slominski_hernandez_brown_thomas_2008, title={Construction and characterization of mutant Dengue2 virus vaccine candidates displaying a host-range phenotype}, journal={Vaccine}, author={Smith, K. M. and Nanda, K. and Slominski, C. J. and Hernandez, R. and Brown, D. T. and Thomas, M. E.}, year={2008} }
 @article{cipani_thomas_martin_2007, title={A theoretical analysis of potential extinction properties of behavior-specific manual restraint.}, volume={8}, ISSN={1539-4352}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/H0100624}, DOI={10.1037/H0100624}, abstractNote={This paper will examine possible extinction properties of behavior-specific manual restraint. It will analyze the possibility of extinction being produced via restraint with respect to the target behavior's possible environmental functions. The theoretical analysis will involve the analysis of behavioral properties of restraint during two temporal periods: (1) during the restraint itself and (2) subsequent to the restraint. Keywords: manual restraint, target behavior function, socially mediated access, socially mediated escape direct access, replacement behavior. ********** The use of manual restraint procedures is a controversial and endemic topic for personnel working with clients in residential and day treatment programs, schools, inpatient units and community settings. Manual restraint involves physically containing a client or student, without mechanical devices, in a position where movement of the arms, legs, and/or body becomes improbable. Manual restraint can be authorized for use in some facilities and school programs when a client exhibits behaviors that are considered to be dangerous (Harris, 1996) and thereby constitute a behavioral crisis or emergency (as found in California Positive Behavioral Intervention Regulations, Education Code Section 3052). When emergency restraint is deployed, its application is deemed clinically necessary by designated staff members to prevent an impending (or curtail a currently existing) dangerous situation. Behaviors such as self-injury and aggression towards people or property, which appear to threaten the welfare of the client or others, can be considered to constitute such an emergency. A decision is made "on the spot" to deploy restraint procedures by such designated persons. While the use of emergency restraint is often justified as a mechanism to assure the safety of the client and persons in the immediate vicinity, its effects on client behavior are inevitable. What treatment effects accrue from emergency restraint has not received sufficient research attention, with the results of one study showing differential results between the two subjects (Luiselli, Kane, Treml, & Young, 2000). Due to the subjective nature of emergency restraint, its deployment for specific target behaviors may be haphazard and submit an intermittent contingency for target behavior problems. Research studies have demonstrated that the effects of intermittent schedules of a punishing stimulus may not result in significant changes in behavior when compared to a continuous schedule or more dense schedule (Cipani, Brendlinger, McDowell, & Usher, 1991; Clark, Rowbury, Baer, & Baer, 1973). Without evaluating whether punishing effects can result from emergency implementation of restraint, untoward results may occur. Emergency restraint can certainly be justified as a safety procedure. However, failing to understand its functional effects while using it may result in an exacerbation of problem behavior, thus necessitating restraint more frequently. While the treatment effects of emergency restraint are not sufficiently understood, the behavioral effects of behavior-specific restraint across several topographies of problem behavior have been demonstrated (Bitgood, Crowe, Suarez, & Peters, 1980; Cipani & Wolter, 1983; Luiselli et. al., 2000; Grace, et al., 1994; Matson & Keyes, 1988; Rapoff, Altman, & Christopherson, 1980; Rolider, Williams, Cummings, & VanHouten, 1991). For example, a client with mental retardation who engaged in self-injury was effectively treated by immobilizing his arms (i.e., on the table he was seated at) as a contingency for hits to his head (Cipani & Wolter, 1983). In another study, a 30-second restraint contingent upon self-hitting reduced such behavior to zero levels for a two month period of treatment (Rapoff, et al., 1980). The effectiveness of behavior-specific restraint is often assessed in combination with other treatment components. …}, number={3}, journal={The Behavior Analyst Today}, publisher={American Psychological Association (APA)}, author={Cipani, Ennio and Thomas, Melvin and Martin, Daniel}, year={2007}, pages={325–335} }
 @article{tomaskovic-devey_thomas_johnson_2005, title={Race and the accumulation of human capital across the career: A theoretical model and fixed-effects application}, volume={111}, ISSN={["0002-9602"]}, DOI={10.1086/431779}, abstractNote={The authors develop an explicitly sociological variant on human capital theory, emphasizing that most human capital acquisition is a social product, not an individual investment decision. The authors apply this model to racial earnings inequality, focusing on how exposure to discrimination influences both human capital acquisition and earnings inequalities as they develop across the career. The authors estimate models of career earnings trajectories, which show flatter trajectories for black and Hispanic men relative to white men, partial mediation by human capital acquired inside the labor market, and much larger race/ethnic career inequalities among the highly educated.}, number={1}, journal={AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY}, author={Tomaskovic-Devey, D and Thomas, M and Johnson, K}, year={2005}, month={Jul}, pages={58–89} }
 @article{horton_allen_herring_thomas_2000, title={Lost in the storm: The sociology of the black working class, 1850 to 1990}, volume={65}, ISSN={["0003-1224"]}, DOI={10.2307/2657294}, abstractNote={Contemporary sociologists implicitly have assumed that the race-class debate has been resolved: Blacks tend to fall in one of two categories - the black middle class or the truly disadvantaged. However, lost amid the controversies over the supposed privileges of the former and the problems of the latter is the plight of the forgotten category of blacks: the black working class. Accordingly, we present a sociological analysis of the black working class and ask: How has the black working class changed compared to its white counterpart from 1850 to 1990? Employing the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) for our analysis, we find that for the last five decades blacks are more likely to be working class than middle class or bottom class. In addition, blacks currently are more likely to be working class than are whites. In fact, in recent decades the percentage of blacks who are working class exceeds those for whites and, indeed, are higher than ever recorded for whites}, number={1}, journal={AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW}, author={Horton, HD and Allen, BL and Herring, C and Thomas, ME}, year={2000}, month={Feb}, pages={128–137} }
 @article{thomas_2000, title={Race, gender, and status: A content analysis of print advertisements in four popular magazines}, volume={20}, ISSN={["0273-2173"]}, DOI={10.1080/027321700405090}, abstractNote={In this article, we consider the continuation of race gender stereotypes in advertising images by way of the product's suggestive messages, specifically, connotations of higher or lower social status and promises of intangible social rewards (e.g., friendship, appearance, romance). We examined 1, 709 advertisements in magazines whose primary reading audiences differ by race and/or gender: Life, Cosmopolitan, Ebony, and Essence (1988-1990). For the analysis, we created and then compared three dimensions of status (affluent, trendy, and everyday) and five product promises (celebrity identification, sex romance, appearance, marriage family, and good times) as they are modeled by and presented to male, female, Black, and White readers in the magazines examined. We hypothesized that these status-image portrayals differ by race and gender. We found that most ads make use of positive (i.e., high-status) images of Blacks and Whites and women and men and that differences between magazines are more pronounced than differences between models. Some patterns in the use of status and product promises may be suggestive of continued, though subtle, stereotyping.}, number={3}, journal={SOCIOLOGICAL SPECTRUM}, author={Thomas, ME}, year={2000}, pages={357–371} }
 @article{horton_thomas_1998, title={Race, class, and family structure: Differences in housing values for black and white homeowners}, volume={68}, DOI={10.1111/j.1475-682x.1998.tb00456.x}, abstractNote={Several scholars have argued that the continuing disadvantage of Blacks vis‐à‐vis Whites has more to do with social class factors than with race. Other scholars have suggested that differences in family structure account for Black disadvantage. This study addresses these issues in terms of housing values by analyzing (1) the effects of race on housing values net of socioeconomic status and other relevant demographic variables, (2) the interaction of race with socioeconomic status in determining housing values, (3) the interaction of race with household structure in determining housing values and, (4) changes in the relative impact of race on housing values from 1970 to 1990. The findings indicate that Blacks own homes of lower value regardless of their socioeconomic status or household structure. Additionally, the negative effect of race was greater for Blacks of higher status. However, there was a stronger negative association between race and housings values in 1970 than in 1980 or 1990, providing some evidence for a narrowing of the Black‐White gap in housing values. Implications of the findings are discussed.}, number={1}, journal={Sociological Inquiry}, author={Horton, H. D. and Thomas, M. E.}, year={1998}, pages={114–136} }
 @article{hughes_thomas_1998, title={The continuing significance of race revisited: A study of race, class, and quality of life in America, 1972 to 1996}, volume={63}, ISSN={["1939-8271"]}, DOI={10.2307/2657501}, abstractNote={More than a decade ago, we (Thomas and Hughes 1986) demonstrated that the subjective well-being of African Americans in the United States was significantly and consistently lower than that for whites over the 14-year period from 1972 to 1985. Since then, evidence has accumulated on several important dimensions of well-being that African Americans fare as well as or better than whites, suggesting a change in the pattern observed for nearly 40 years. Using data from the General Social Survey (GSS) for the period 1972 to 1996, we show that quality of life continues to be worse for African Americans than it is for whites, although anomia and mistrust have increased a little more rapidly in recent years for whites than for blacks. Racial disparities in quality of life do not vary by and are not explained by socioeconomic status. Although racial inequality appears to be the primary cause of these differences, the exact processes producing them are as yet unknown.}, number={6}, journal={AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW}, author={Hughes, M and Thomas, ME}, year={1998}, month={Dec}, pages={785–795} }