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This study aims to determine the student and teacher characteristics affecting middle school students' test anxiety. There are three different research groups in this study designed according to the predictive correlational research model. The first two research groups were formed to collect evidence for the reliability and validity of the data collection tools, and the other research group was formed to find answers to the research questions. The first research group included 238 teachers, the second research group included 247 students, and the third research group included 30 teachers and 2156 students. Since the data set was suitable for a two-level structure, the research data were analyzed with a two-level Hierarchical Linear Model. As a result of the research, it was determined that 51% of the variance in middle school students' test anxiety was caused by the difference between teachers. It was determined that as teachers' test anxiety increased, students' test anxiety also increased. It was determined that female students had more test anxiety than male students, students with higher grade levels had more test anxiety than students with lower grade levels, and students with lower grade point averages had more test anxiety than students with higher grade point averages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The health risks of cooking with solid fuels are widespread, especially among low-income people. Therefore, we decide to explore the impact of cooking fuel on the physical and mental health of Chinese residents and the heterogeneity of effects across income groups. This study estimates the potential relationship between household air pollution and health status by using data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). Household air pollution is measured by different types of cooking fuels, and health status is evaluated from the perspective of respondents' self-ratings of health, mental health, and interviewer-assessed health. The data comprises more than 100,000 samples between 2012 and 2019. We employ a Hierarchical Linear Model to infer the potential impact of household air pollution caused by cooking fuel on residents' health. After adjusting control variables, we find cleaner cooking fuels such as solar energy and biogas are more conducive to residents' health status. Our findings manifest that cleaner fuels and lower exposure to household air pollution are better for residents' health. Low-income households are more likely to be affected by household air pollution. This study emphasizes the consequence of the potential health effects on residents due to household air pollution from cooking fuels and the uneven distribution of those effects. It is recommended that such factors as household air pollution risks, health, and environmental fairness and justice should be considered in the policy formulation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of e-Education Research is the property of Northwest Normal University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objectives: Predictors of subjective well-being vary across cultures. The current study focused on personal value orientation, analyzing how culture moderates the effects of agency and communion on subjective well-being. Methods: Integrating Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and data from the sixth wave of the World Values Survey, we used hierarchical linear models to analyze 40,195 responses from 31 countries. How the effects of agency and communion vary across different cultural dimensions was visualized. Results: Agency and communion have positive effects on subjective well-being, with significant cross-national variation in both effects. The results of cross-level interaction analyses do not support the hypothesis of a “value assimilation benefit” but rather support the hypothesis of a “value complementary benefit”: the positive effect of agency on well-being is stronger in countries with a stronger cultural emphasis on collectivism, restrained societal norms, and acceptance of power inequality. Moreover, agency may even have a negative effect on well-being in countries with a strong culture of indulgence. Conclusions: Subjective well-being may be enhanced by developing personal value orientations distinct from those of the collective culture rather than by assimilating mainstream cultural values. Policy makers promoting well-being should consider individuals’ value orientation within cultural contexts and encourage individuals to understand both the emphasized and neglected aspects of their culture and accept values different from those of the collective mainstream. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aims to explore the mechanism for the impact of job embeddedness on safety performance, the mediating role of perceived insider status and the cross-level moderating role of safety climate among miners. The questionnaire data used for analysis in this study were collected from 310 miners in 38 coal mine production teams in China. Bootstrap analysis was performed to explore the mediating role of perceived insider status, and multilevel linear analysis was performed to explore the cross-level moderating role of safety climate. The results showed that job embeddedness was positively related to miners' safety performance; perceived insider status mediating the relationship between job embeddedness and miners' safety performance; and safety climate moderating the relationship between perceived insider status and miners' safety performance across levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multichannel retailers need to understand how to allocate marketing budgets to customer segments and online and offline sales channels. We propose an integrated methodological approach to assess how email and direct mail effectiveness vary by channel and customer value segment. We apply this approach to an international beauty retailer in six countries and to an apparel retailer in the United States. We estimate multi-equation hierarchical linear models and find that sales responsiveness to email and direct mail varies by customer value segment. Specifically, direct mail drives customer acquisition in the offline channel, while email drives sales for both online and offline channels for current customer segments. A randomized field experiment with the beauty retailer provides causal support for the findings. The proposed reallocation of marketing resources would yield a revenue lift of 13.5% for the beauty retailer and 9.3% for the apparel retailer, compared with the 6.5% actual increase in the field experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A public budget consists of financial input for implementing governmental operations. It is generally expected that financial resources will increase organizational performance because they can be used to obtain other types of resources. This study aims to make a theoretical contribution to the punctuated equilibrium theory literature by examining how the different patterns of budget changes affected the competing dimensions of public service performance (3Es: efficiency, effectiveness, and equity) before and after the Myanmar budget reform in 2011. We collected a two-level dataset including budget allocation data at the ministry level and public service providers' perceptions of performance at the individual level and employed multilevel modeling. Our results show that the effectiveness of public services can be improved by increasing a significant amount of budget allocation (positive punctuations), but this has no effect on efficiency or equity. However, any level of budget reduction can decrease the efficiency and equity of public services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundThis study examines the factors affecting unmet healthcare experiences by integrating individual-and community-level extinction indices.MethodsUsing spatial autocorrelation and multilevel modeling, the study utilizes data from the Community Health Survey and Statistics Korea for 218 local government regions from 2018 to 2019.ResultsThe analysis identifies significant clustering, particularly in non-metropolitan regions with a higher local extinction index. At the individual level, some factors affect unmet medical needs, and unmet healthcare needs increase as the local extinction index at the community level increases.ConclusionThe findings underscore the need for strategic efforts to enhance regional healthcare accessibility, particularly for vulnerable populations and local infrastructure development.

Abstract Background With the advent of the new media era, the understanding of adolescent internet addiction needs to be enriched. It is also necessary to distinguish the related factors of adolescent internet addiction at different levels to clarify the mechanisms of this phenomenon. Methods This study used hierarchical linear model analysis to explore the effects of student-level factors and school-level factors on adolescent internet addiction, along with cross-level moderating effects. A total of 1,912 students between the 4th and 8th grades in China participated in the study. Participants completed the Self-Esteem Scale, Parents Phubbing Scale, Classroom Environment Scale, and the Diagnostic Questionnaire of Internet Addiction. Results Correlational analyses revealed that internet addiction was found to be negatively correlated with both self-esteem and the teacher-student relationship (p

Common prosperity is a social policy goal pursued by the Chinese government and an ideal social status for humanity. On the basis of three theoretical hypotheses, this study involved the analysis of county-level digital inclusive finance data and rural survey data. The Hierarchical Linear Model was employed to empirically analyze the impact and mechanism of digital inclusive finance on the common prosperity of rural households. The results indicate that the county-level digital inclusive finance index, as well as its depth and coverage, can significantly and directly promote common prosperity. Furthermore, it was found that household livelihood strategies are one of the regulatory mechanisms, and digital inclusive finance significantly promotes common prosperity through factors such as opportunities for migrant work, property income, business livelihood models, and agricultural livelihood models. In addition, financing methods are also important adjustment mechanisms, and digital inclusive finance significantly promotes the common prosperity through digital tools and loan availability variables. Our research provides favorable evidence for the cross-level interaction effect of county-level digital inclusive finance on the common prosperity of rural households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research from both Empirical studies and Positive Psychology has indicated that pro-sociality has a universal effect on happiness; however, this does not take into account the national or cultural differences of a given country. The hierarchical linear model (HLM) is employed in this study to investigate the link between pro-sociality and happiness at the individual level, as well as the effect of four national cultures (i.e., power distance, individualism versus collectivism, masculinity versus femininity, and uncertainty avoidance) at the country/territory level on this relationship. This study utilizes the public World Value Survey dataset, which adopts random probability representative adult samples from 32 countries or territories (N = 53,618; Mage = 44.10, SD = 16.51). Results suggest that pro-sociality is associated with happiness, even when accounting for demographics and the country/territory code. Additionally, the country/territory level displays variations in happiness, which can be partially explained by masculinity versus femininity (positively) and uncertainty avoidance (negatively). Moreover, the connection between pro-sociality and happiness is not influenced by national cultures. This research provides evidence for the universal happiness reward of pro-sociality. Implications, restrictions, and potential future research directions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the appeal of promoting and forming collaborative relationships between schools, empirical evidence for an association between school-to-school collaboration and school outcomes is still somewhat lacking. This study utilized data from 76 schools nested within 56 districts in the United States to examine the association between a school's reciprocal relationships and school outcomes by employing social network analysis and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). After controlling for school and district demographic characteristics, we found the indices of reciprocal collaboration are associated with the school's 2018 student proficiency level in both math and reading and the growth in proficiency level between 2017 and 2018. The implications and limitations were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transformation of the government into a digital entity is imperative, serving not only as a catalyst for the modernization of China's governance system and capacity but also as a cornerstone for advancing the digital economy and the establishment of a digital China. This paper presents a multi-level analytical framework designed to assess the digital transformation performance of local governments. Utilizing a dataset comprising macro-regional and micro-individual data from Hubei province, we conduct an extensive analysis to examine the underlying mechanisms that influence the digital transformation performance of local governments and employ the hierarchical linear model (HLM) as the primary analytical instrument. The results of our analysis show that individual-level government–citizen interactions, government image, and district-level department collaborative capacities exert substantial and positive influences on the digital transformation performance of local governments. Furthermore, it is worth noting that department collaborative capacity plays a significant and positive moderating role in the relationship between government image and the digital transformation performance of local governments. These findings not only offer valuable insights for optimizing policy formulation but also contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms underlying the digital transformation performance of local governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population migration has become a dominant force in shaping local demographic changes in the United States, surpassing natural growth rates. However, whether the migration pattern and the influential factor have distinctive disparities between hierarchical county pairs is still elusive. This study delves into the spatial diversity and driving forces behind migration patterns at the county level, with a particular focus on the disparities through an examination of migration levels and scales. We utilize county-pair-level migration data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey to unveil the intricate network structure of population movement. Our findings reveal a pronounced spatial diversity in migration patterns, while cities witness a net influx of population, and in contrast to rural areas, majority of population inflow of cities primarily stems from metro areas. We employ Hierarchical Linear Models to analyze the impact of social connectedness, local wealthiness, and racial diversity on migration flows. The results highlight that cities with robust social networks, higher economic status, and balanced racial diversity are more attractive to migrants. Notably, the influence of racial diversity differences between origin and destination counties is found to be more significant in attracting migration compared to per capita income disparities. The findings offer valuable insights for policymakers and urban planners in managing demographic changes and addressing the challenges associated with migration-driven population redistribution. The study underscores the importance of considering social, economic, and racial factors in understanding and shaping migration patterns, with implications for regional development and social cohesion.

本研究從教育與勞動市場連結的觀點探討「學用相符」與「就業職能」對畢業生初入職場薪資的影響，以文憑主義、訊號理論與人力資本論為理論依據，研究方法採多層次分析，總體層次包含團隊合作能力、溝通協調能力、專業技術能力三項就業職能，個體層次則探討垂直和水平學用相符程度對薪資的影響，且考慮總體與個體兩個層次的互動效應。資料來源為「臺灣高等教育整合資料庫」95 學年度畢業後一年流向調查，合併學士及碩士之資料。研究發現，總體層次的「團隊合作能力」以及「專業技術能力」對於薪資有顯著的提升效果，「溝通協調能力」則是負向作用；個體層次方面，垂直與水平的學用不符皆會導致薪資減少。總體與個體層次的調節效果呈現：縱向的學用相符與薪資間的關係會受到「團隊合作能力」與「專業技術能力」調節作用之影響，而三個就業職能在水平學用相符與薪資間則無調節效果。回應到理論的解釋，文憑和訊號對職場新鮮人的薪資提升皆有正向的影響，它的作用就像是過濾器，在第一階段先淘汰了學用不符者，人力資本在第二階段才發生實質的效果。本研究主題契合聯合國「永續發展目標」中「勞力市場制度」關懷的議題。 This study investigated the factors influencing graduates’ salaries. pecifically, this study analyzed the relationship between education and the labor market by considering education-job match and employee competencies. This article used credentialism, signaling theory and human capital theory as the theoretical basis to conduct in-depth analysis and discussion. To achieve research purpose, a multilevel analysis was adopted. At the group level, the study investigated several competencies, such as teamwork, communication skills, and expertise, among individuals with different university majors. At the individual level, the study focused on how vertical and horizontal education-job matches influence salary. The moderating effect of the two levels was also considered. Data were obtained from the 2006 follow-up of a university graduate survey from the Taiwan Integrated Higher Education Database, which contains data from bachelor’s and master’s degree holders. Our findings at the group level indicate that teamwork and expertise positively affect salaries. However, communication skills have the opposite effect. At the individual level, both vertical and horizontal education-job mismatches result in lower salaries. The interactions between these two levels, teamwork, and expertise moderate the relationship between vertical education-job match and salary. The three competencies do not moderate the relationship between horizontal education-job match and salary. In terms of theoretical explanations, credentialism and signaling theory have a positive impact on the salary increase of freshmen to the labor market. They act as a filter, eliminating education-misfit and major-misfit workers in the first stage. Thereafter, human capital theory takes substantial effect in the second stage. The research topic and analysis process are consistent with the labor market institution issues concerned by the “decent work and economic growth” project under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Background: The role home-schooling of children in parental mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan remains unknown. This study aimed to assess the association between parental psychological distress and home-schooling in a socio-ecological context during the peak of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan. Methods: This was a prospective cohort study. In total, 902 parents (father: n = 206, mother: n = 696) who home-schooled children under 18 years of age were recruited by purposive sampling from 17 cities in Taiwan. Data were collected between 19 July and 30 September 2021 through a survey. Multilevel regression models were used to examine the association between parents’ psychological distress and home-schooling considering the characteristics at the person and city levels. Results: Parental psychological distress was positively associated with difficulty in setting up electronic devices and increased disputes between parents and children, and it was negatively associated with time management and increased time spent bonding with their children during home-schooling (Ps

Common prosperity is a social policy goal pursued by the Chinese government and an ideal social status for humanity. On the basis of three theoretical hypotheses, this study involved the analysis of county-level digital inclusive finance data and rural survey data. The Hierarchical Linear Model was employed to empirically analyze the impact and mechanism of digital inclusive finance on the common prosperity of rural households. The results indicate that the county-level digital inclusive finance index, as well as its depth and coverage, can significantly and directly promote common prosperity. Furthermore, it was found that household livelihood strategies are one of the regulatory mechanisms, and digital inclusive finance significantly promotes common prosperity through factors such as opportunities for migrant work, property income, business livelihood models, and agricultural livelihood models. In addition, financing methods are also important adjustment mechanisms, and digital inclusive finance significantly promotes the common prosperity through digital tools and loan availability variables. Our research provides favorable evidence for the cross-level interaction effect of county-level digital inclusive finance on the common prosperity of rural households.

According to the Theory of Justice, the characteristics of vulnerable groups should be considered in realizing the mental health benefits of blue-green spaces, so as to promote substantive equity and welfare in cities. The unclear relationship between the blue-green space indicator system and the mental health of older adults at both the quantitative and qualitative levels has hindered the development of spatial justice and health equity in cities. Based on the theories of stress reduction and attention restoration, this paper uses the Hierarchical Linear Model to systematically explore the relationship between the qualitative (environmental characteristics and landscape patterns of parks and water bodies) and quantitative (visibility and accessibility) characteristics of blue-green spaces and the mental health of older adults. The research finds that in the spatial dimension, there is a significant difference in the relationship between the qualitative and quantitative indicators of blue-green space and the mental health of older adults, and the relationship between the availability, visibility, and accessibility of blue-green space and the mental health of older adults is weakened in turn. In the social dimension, resilient ecological spaces can regulate and buffer the negative impacts on the mental health of older adults that are brought about by unfavorable socio-economic factors like having no homeownership. The research can provide guidance for environmental design and the selection of planning indicators to improve the mental health of older adults, and give empirical evidence for reaching a more "equitable" layout of urban blue-green spaces, so as to promote the development of age friendly cities and green and healthy cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

College students, as a new force in energy saving and emission reduction, play an important role in environmental protection. However, there is a lack of empirical research on the factors that affect college students' energy-saving behaviors at the individual and organizational levels. In this study, an extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) model is employed to narrow this gap. A total of 661 valid data points collected from 51 Chinese universities were used to test related hypotheses. The findings reveal that attitude, perceived responsibility, perceived behavior control and subjective norms are significantly related to energy-saving intention. Meanwhile, energy-saving intention is the most decisive factor for Chinese college students' energy-saving behavior. More importantly, this paper verified the positive effect of organizational factors (energy-saving climate) on students' energy-saving intentions and behaviors. Finally, implications for improving students' energy-saving intention and theoretical and managerial implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paying less cash dividend is one type of pledging shareholders' opportunistic behaviour. Previous literature leaves unclear evidence about the impacts of share pledging on such firm-level decisions. Using the data of listed firms between 2014 and 2020 in China, we fill this void by examining the relationship between share pledging and cash dividend payouts from the perspective of social trust. Using a Heckman two-stage model, we find that share-pledging firms are less likely to pay cash dividend and the cash dividend payout is negatively related to pledged shares. We employ a hierarchical linear model and find that the level of social trust positively moderates the relationship between share pledging and cash dividend payout. Further, we find the effect is more pronounced for firms with higher free cash flows. The results indicate that social trust reduces the moral risk of pledging shareholders of listed firms in emerging market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Research in Education Sciences is the property of National Taiwan Normal University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The role home-schooling of children in parental mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan remains unknown. This study aimed to assess the association between parental psychological distress and home-schooling in a socio-ecological context during the peak of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan. This was a prospective cohort study. In total, 902 parents (father: n = 206, mother: n = 696) who home-schooled children under 18 years of age were recruited by purposive sampling from 17 cities in Taiwan. Data were collected between 19 July and 30 September 2021 through a survey. Multilevel regression models were used to examine the association between parents' psychological distress and home-schooling considering the characteristics at the person and city levels. Parental psychological distress was positively associated with difficulty in setting up electronic devices and increased disputes between parents and children, and it was negatively associated with time management and increased time spent bonding with their children during home-schooling (P s < 0.05). Parents who had a child with health conditions, lived in an extended family, worked from home, lived during the Level 3 alert level, and lived with a median/sporadic level of the COVID-19 community spread by city also reported greater psychological distress (P s < 0.05). However, parents who had greater household family support reported less psychological distress (P <.05). Clinicians and policy makers must carefully consider parental mental health while home-schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic in a broader socio-ecological context. A focus is advised on the home-schooling experiences of parents and other risk and protective factors for parental psychological distress at the person and city levels, especially for those with children who require medical interventions and have a medical condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As for the paradigm of sustainable development, policies and research focusing on the improvement on convenience for mobility disadvantaged persons are currently underway. Physical facilities are constantly improving, but mobility disadvantaged pedestrian satisfaction is not commensurate with it. Therefore, local government should consider other requirements as well as improving the installation of mobility convenience facilities. This study paid attention to the opinion in urban planning that compact cities are walkable cities and examined whether the urban form, a regional characteristic, affects the pedestrian satisfaction of the mobility disadvantaged persons. In order to investigate the relationship between urban form and pedestrian satisfaction, hierarchical linear models were performed using the HLM program. The urban form was measured by land cover in the city using GIS and Fragstats. The results of analyses (Model 1∼4) showed that the urban form used as a variable at the regional level can explain 22–26% (variance) of the walking satisfaction. In addition, the mobility disadvantaged and sprawl urban form showed (−) in pedestrian satisfaction. The more sprawl, the opposite of compactness, the lower the satisfaction of the mobility disadvantaged person. This suggest that urban planning elements should be considered together to increase the convenience of pedestrians, including mobility disadvantaged persons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In multilevel analysis, Level-1 predictors that also explain variance at a higher level are called contextual predictors. In the multilevel manifest covariate model, the Level-2 component is modeled as the average of the Level-1 predictor scores within a cluster. In the multilevel latent covariate model, the predictor is decomposed into two latent variables at Level-1 and Level-2. Performance conditions of these modeling approaches for three-level models are largely unexplored. We investigate the two approaches’ performance with respect to bias, coverage, and power in a three-level random intercept model. Results reveal differences in estimation quality and required sample sizes. We provide sampling recommendations for both approaches.

Cropland abandonment is a widespread phenomenon with an increasing trend around the world, including China. Cropland abandonment is the result of a multi-scale and multifactor nested structure. In order to comprehensively identify the individual and background effects, this study explores the causes of the differences in farmland abandonment levels at two levels: farm household and village, based on a hierarchical linear model. The results show that (1) 83.63% of the differences in farm abandonment rates are differences in farm households, while 16.37% are differences in their villages; (2) several factors, including whether the head of household is healthier, per capita cropland area, ratio of transferred farmland, possession of large-scale agricultural production machinery or livestock for agricultural production, ratio of agricultural income, and whether there are village cadres, have a significant negative impact on abandonment rates at the farm household level, while at the village level, commuting distance, whether it is a suburb of a large or medium-sized city, topography of the village is plain or not, and the ratio of the number of people in agricultural production in the village have a significant positive impact on abandonment rates. Furthermore, whether it has experienced land expropriation has a significant positive effect on the abandonment rate; (3) commuting distance weakens the negative correlation between the ratio of transferred cropland and the ratio of agricultural income and the abandonment rate. In addition, whether it is a suburb of a large or medium-sized city strengthens the negative correlation between whether it owns large-scale agricultural production machinery or livestock and the abandonment rate, and whether the topography of the village is plain weakens the negative correlation between the possession of large agricultural production machinery or livestock for agricultural production and the agricultural income ratio and the abandonment rate. Furthermore, ratio of the number of people in agricultural production in the village weakens the negative correlation between the ratio of transferred cropland and abandonment rate, and whether the village has experienced land expropriation strengthens the negative correlation between the ratio of agricultural income and abandonment rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban parks play a pivotal role in shaping physical activity (PA), yet our comprehension of the specific influence of park greenery remains limited. In this study, we focused on three Shanghai urban parks, conducting a comprehensive year-long on-site observation to delve into greenery's impact on PA. By employing the hierarchical linear model analysis, we uncovered a robust correlation between internal and surrounding park greenery and PA density and diversity. Within a 400 m radius, indicators such as normalized difference vegetation index, green view ratio, Shannon's diversity index, and color-leaf plant ratio demonstrated a negative relationship with PA density. Conversely, the green coverage ratio and green view ratio within the 400 m radius exhibited a positive link with PA density. In terms of PA diversity, factors such as green visibility rate, color-leaf plants, and green coverage ratio displayed negative associations, while the 400 m green view ratio showcased a positive impact. Notably, our study revealed a dual interplay between internal and surrounding greenery, manifesting as both collaborative and competitive dynamics that collectively shape PA. Additionally, we subjected greenery indicators to seasonal assessments, yielding insights that illuminate how urban park greenery shapes PA. These findings offer valuable guidance for future park planning and fostering environments conducive to PA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the number one health threat globally. Adverse indoor thermal environments are associated with excess mortality caused by CVDs in the cold season. While many studies have focused on the impact of indoor temperature on CVDs, none has considered the fluctuation of indoor temperature. To quantify the effect of indoor temperature on blood pressure and the effect of indoor temperature fluctuation on blood pressure variability (BPV), 172 middle-aged and elderly people in areas that experience both hot summers and cold winters in China completed a household survey regarding their characteristics and living habits. A hierarchical linear model (HLM) was used to analyze the impact of indoor temperature on home blood pressure. A multiple linear model was used to analyze the effect of indoor temperature fluctuation on day-to-day home blood pressure variability. The results showed that there was a significant negative correlation between morning temperature below 18 °C and blood pressure, especially systolic blood pressure (SBP). At the same time, morning temperature fluctuations have an independent influence on BPV, and a deviation of morning temperature fluctuation greater than 1.1 °C significantly increased BPV. Morning temperature and its fluctuation threshold for the rise of SBP and its variability of middle-aged and elderly people were clarified, which can provide a basis for the design, operation, and evaluation of residential thermal environmental health performance for the middle-aged and elderly population in this area, thereby reducing the cardiovascular health risk of the corresponding population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Income inequality remains one of the most burning issues discussed in the world. The difficulty of the problem arises from its multiple manifestations at regional and local levels and unique patterns within countries. This paper employs a multilevel approach to identify factors that influence income and wage inequalities at regional and municipal scales in Russia. We carried out the study on data from 2017 municipalities of 75 Russian regions from 2015 to 2019. A Hierarchical Linear Model with Cross-Classified Random Effects (HLMHCM) allowed us to establish that most of the total variances in population income and average wages accounted for the regional scale. Our analysis revealed different variances of income per capita and average wage; we disclosed the reasons for these disparities. We also found a mixed relationship between income inequality and social transfers. These variables influence income growth but change the relationship between income and labour productivity. Our study underlined that the impacts of shares of employees in agriculture and manufacturing should be considered together with labour productivity in these industries.

Bayesian Hierarchical models has been widely used in modern statistical application. To deal with the data having complex structures, we propose a generalized hierarchical normal linear (GHNL) model which accommodates arbitrarily many levels, usual design matrices and ‘vanilla’ covariance matrices. Objective hyperpriors can be employed for the GHNL model to express ignorance or match frequentist properties, yet the common objective Bayesian approaches are infeasible or fraught with danger in hierarchical modelling. To tackle this issue, [Berger, J., Sun, D., & Song, C. (2020b). An objective prior for hyperparameters in normal hierarchical models. Journal of Multivariate Analysis, 178, 104606. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmva.2020.104606] proposed a particular objective prior and investigated its properties comprehensively. Posterior propriety is important for the choice of priors to guarantee the convergence of MCMC samplers. James Berger conjectured that the resulting posterior is proper for a hierarchical normal model with arbitrarily many levels, a rigorous proof of which was not given, however. In this paper, we complete this story and provide an user-friendly guidance. One main contribution of this paper is to propose a new technique for deriving an elaborate upper bound on the integrated likelihood, but also one unified approach to checking the posterior propriety for linear models. An efficient Gibbs sampling method is also introduced and outperforms other sampling approaches considerably.

Most existing agronomic trait models of winter wheat vary across growing seasons, and it is an open question whether a unified statistical model can be developed to predict agronomic traits using a vegetation index (VI) across multiple growing seasons. In this study, we constructed a hierarchical linear model (HLM) to automatically adapt the relationship between VIs and agronomic traits across growing seasons and tested the model’s performance by sensitivity analysis. Results demonstrated that (1) optical VIs give poor performance in predicting AGB and PNC across all growth stages, whereas VIs perform well for LAI, LGB, LNC, and SPAD. (2) The sensitivity indices of the phenological information in the AGB and PNC prediction models were 0.81–0.86 and 0.66–0.73, whereas LAI, LGB, LNC, and SPAD prediction models produced sensitivity indexes of 0.01–0.02, 0.01–0.02, 0.01–0.02, and 0.02–0.08, respectively. (3) The AGB and PNC prediction models considering ZS were more accurate than the prediction models based on VI. Whether or not phenological information is used, there was no difference in model accuracy for LGB, LNC, SPAD, and LAI. This study may provide a guideline for deciding whether phenological correction is required for estimation of agronomic traits across multiple growing seasons.

This study used large-scale regional monitoring data of eighth-grade mathematics students at the compulsory education stage from various areas of mainland China. It extracted a total of 156,661 students and 4,676 junior high school mathematics teachers from 146 districts and counties located in six regions (provinces or cities). The study analysed academic achievement in mathematics in these areas and established a hierarchical linear model to explore the factors affecting academic achievement at different levels. The results are as follows: (1) approximately 94% of eighth-grade students reached the level C academic benchmark - students in East China had the highest compliance rate with this level, followed by those in North, South, and Central China; (2) girls, non-leftover students, and children without siblings performed better, and urban students performed significantly better than county and rural students; (3) approximately 34% of students' mathematics academic performance came from inter-school variability - regional background had a greater impact on mathematics than did teaching factors, while urban and rural background had the least impact. In contrast, the influence of individual characteristic variables was higher than that of student background variables, including a greater positive effect of self-efficacy and a greater negative effect of mathematics anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In multilevel analysis, Level-1 predictors that also explain variance at a higher level are called contextual predictors. In the multilevel manifest covariate model, the Level-2 component is modeled as the average of the Level-1 predictor scores within a cluster. In the multilevel latent covariate model, the predictor is decomposed into two latent variables at Level-1 and Level-2. Performance conditions of these modeling approaches for three-level models are largely unexplored. We investigate the two approaches' performance with respect to bias, coverage, and power in a three-level random intercept model. Results reveal differences in estimation quality and required sample sizes. We provide sampling recommendations for both approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzed the statistical relation between the Sustainable Development Goals and their relative indicators for the UN's 2030 Agenda through the implementation of a two-level linear hierarchical model (HLM2) using STATA/SE 16 statistical software. The objective of this model was to address priorities by saying how much and where each country should invest so that they can achieve these goals by the end of the decade. Intrinsically, it was checked whether the indicators listed by the UN are statistically capable of describing the expected output. After analyzing the results, SDGs 8, 9 and 7 were, respectively, identified as priorities. The HLM2 also pointed out that economic growth is the most important variable amongst all considered. Finally, it was concluded that a generic answer does not serve to respond to the complexities worldwide, and therefore, it would be more appropriate to direct actions on a case-by-case basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides empirical evidence on students' achievements determinants in Sub-Saharan Africa based on a sample of 26602 students from the ten countries that participated in the PASEC 2014 assessment. By using a two-level hierarchical linear model, I find that learning inequalities are primarily explained by differences in schools' characteristics. Furthermore, the estimation findings corroborate this result by showing the relevance of resources at the school level and how it affects students' performances depending on school type and location. Additionally, my results showed gender disparities and peer effects related to socioeconomic status, which disproportionately influence children from disadvantaged backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Road traffic safety issues pose a serious threat to urban health, and how the built environment affects traffic crashes has been hotly discussed. However, there are limitations in the selection of built environment factors according to the classic 5Ds system in most previous studies. Few studies have considered the influence exerted by visibility factors in intersection level and road diversity at the community level on traffic crashes, and the multi-level structure of crash data may be ignored. Therefore, the proposed visibility analysis method considering visible triangles and visual sensitivity is used to quantify the visual environment features of the intersections. Based on the proposed six-dimensional factors (6Ds) of the built environment (considering the intersection visibility degree and road diversity) and the hierarchical linear model (HLM), this paper proposes the 6Ds-HLM framework to analyze how road traffic crashes are influenced by the built environment factors. The results show that (1) the full model of the proposed 6Ds-HLM which contained the variables of intersection level and community level considering road diversity and the cross-level interactive effect performed best. (2) Interactive effects between intersection visibility and community built environment are founded, and significant 6Ds variables are identified using HLM: a) There was a positive cross-effect between intervisibility and road diversity. The viewshed area of the middle visual sensitive region also presented significant positive cross effects with traffic congestion speed, entertainment venue density, and road diversity. b) There was a significant negative cross-effect between the viewshed area of the middle visual sensitive region and school density.

The transformation of the government into a digital entity is imperative, serving not only as a catalyst for the modernization of China’s governance system and capacity but also as a cornerstone for advancing the digital economy and the establishment of a digital China. This paper presents a multi-level analytical framework designed to assess the digital transformation performance of local governments. Utilizing a dataset comprising macro-regional and micro-individual data from Hubei province, we conduct an extensive analysis to examine the underlying mechanisms that influence the digital transformation performance of local governments and employ the hierarchical linear model (HLM) as the primary analytical instrument. The results of our analysis show that individual-level government–citizen interactions, government image, and district-level department collaborative capacities exert substantial and positive influences on the digital transformation performance of local governments. Furthermore, it is worth noting that department collaborative capacity plays a significant and positive moderating role in the relationship between government image and the digital transformation performance of local governments. These findings not only offer valuable insights for optimizing policy formulation but also contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms underlying the digital transformation performance of local governments.

The inverse probability of treatment weighted (IPTW) estimator can be used to make causal inferences under two assumptions: (1) no unobserved confounders (ignorability) and (2) positive probability of treatment and of control at every level of the confounders (positivity), but is vulnerable to bias if by chance, the proportion of the sample assigned to treatment, or proportion of control, is zero at certain levels of the confounders. We propose to deal with this sampling zero problem, also known as practical violation of the positivity assumption, in a setting where the observed confounder is cluster identity, i.e., treatment assignment is ignorable within clusters. Specifically, based on a random coefficient model assumed for the potential outcome, we augment the IPTW estimating function with the estimated potential outcomes of treatment (or of control) for clusters that have no observation of treatment (or control). If the cluster-specific potential outcomes are estimated correctly, the augmented estimating function can be shown to converge in expectation to zero and therefore yield consistent causal estimates. The proposed method can be implemented in the existing software, and it performs well in simulated data as well as with real-world data from a teacher preparation evaluation study.

Research on the influence of objective ecological environment on residents' happiness is emphasized more and more, but results of the previous empirical researches related have not reached a consensus on its significance, and the divergence has not been explained fully in theoretical mechanism. In this research, the divergence is explained theoretically based on the happiness theory, and then, the influence of the key ecological environment factors on the happiness of residents in Zhejiang Province of China is analyzed empirically using hierarchical linear model. Results show that in theory the effect of objective environment on the residents' happiness depends on their cognition and emphasis on the environment factors which are subject to the economic context where they live and their income and is not significant enough if the residents live in underdeveloped economic context and have low income. In the case region, while the individual income is the most prominent impact factor, the objective ecological environment has not significant effect on the residents' happiness directly and also does not function by affecting the individual income and health due to the residents with the relatively high life pressure and paying stronger attention to earnings than the ecological environment in general during the research period, in order to improve residents' happiness, it is necessary to increase the residents' income and their cognition and emphasis on environment by developing green economy and environmental education, and in order to stimulate their pro-environmental behaviors, it is effective to adopt the economic measures, such as the environment property right reform, ecological compensation mechanism construction, environmental charge and penalty and developing ecotourism industry. This research highlights the direct influence of individual subjective factors such as the environment cognition and emphasis level on the happiness effect of ecological environment, and the indirect impact of economic factors such as the region development and residents' income on ecological happiness. It also advocates application of educational and economic means on enhancing residents' environmental protection behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise of omni‐channel retailing poses challenges for e‐marketplace platforms. To retain third‐party sellers in the face of competitive pressure from rivals, e‐marketplace platforms are compelled to provide support for online‐offline channel integration (OOCI). However, the provision of OOCI support can adversely affect an OOCI‐enabled platform's product sales growth by encouraging consumers to switch to brick‐and‐mortar stores operated by third‐party sellers. To ascertain how the OOCI‐enabled platform can outperform under such circumstances, we analyzed data on sales of 51,409 products on a dominant Chinese e‐marketplace platform as well as inter‐platform function usage difference across 209 third‐party sellers. Combining propensity score matching with hierarchical linear modeling, we discovered that informational OOCI (e.g., concurrent availability of a product on both online and offline channels) negatively influences the OOCI‐enabled platform's product sales growth, whereas the effect of physical OOCI (e.g., the option of store pickup for online purchases) is not significant. Additionally, we found that the three constituent sub‐dimensions of third‐party sellers' inter‐platform function usage difference (i.e., volume difference, category orientation specialization, and uniqueness) moderate the impact of OOCI on the OOCI‐enabled platform's product sales growth differently. Findings from this study thus yield actionable guidelines for e‐marketplace platforms pursuing omni‐channel retailing strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Income inequality remains one of the most burning issues discussed in the world. The difficulty of the problem arises from its multiple manifestations at regional and local levels and unique patterns within countries. This paper employs a multilevel approach to identify factors that influence income and wage inequalities at regional and municipal scales in Russia. We carried out the study on data from 2017 municipalities of 75 Russian regions from 2015 to 2019. A Hierarchical Linear Model with Cross-Classified Random Effects (HLMHCM) allowed us to establish that most of the total variances in population income and average wages accounted for the regional scale. Our analysis revealed different variances of income per capita and average wage; we disclosed the reasons for these disparities. We also found a mixed relationship between income inequality and social transfers. These variables influence income growth but change the relationship between income and labour productivity. Our study underlined that the impacts of shares of employees in agriculture and manufacturing should be considered together with labour productivity in these industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learner satisfaction is the degree of consistency between learners' perception and expectation of learning experience. In massive online open courses, analyzing the influencing factors of learner satisfaction is of great significance to improving the quality of course development and learning experience. Taking the open course reviews as data source, the paper adopted topic sentiment analysis and intermediary hierarchical linear modelling to analyze the impact of different student and course level features on learner satisfaction. The data analysis shows that the schedule, workload and completion status, as well as the video, instructor, content and evaluation topics play significant roles in explaining learner satisfaction; However, perceived difficulty, structure and interaction are not related to learner satisfaction; Meanwhile, sentiment-mediated analysis found that, teachers and evaluation topics have significant mediating effect on schedule; Video topic has a significant mediating effect on workload. Based on the above analysis, enlightenment to curriculum designers and developers are also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper present and discussed a multilevel analysis of digital reading acceptance intention and behavior. It aims to develop and extend the existing Technology Acceptance Model into digital reading products purchase behaviors by proposing, operationalizing, and testing emerging variables. The study utilized a survey approach to gathering data regarding consumers' acceptance intention of digital reading products. Surveys were administered to 359 respondents from mobile readers. A hierarchical linear model was adopted to test the hypotheses generated from the model. Results show that perceived social benefit and trust affect acceptance of digital reading products and that ubiquitous connection and familiarity as antecedents of social benefit with a significant influence. The finding is a theoretical supplement of the acceptance behavior of multi-screen reading devices. The finding on consumer behavior analysis indicated that trust was outperformed by social influence in the mediating process at all levels and these differences were statistically significant. This study strongly endorses the view that the acceptance of mobile readers is linked to the extent of the context-aware and ubiquitous connection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]