RESUMEN

The neighborhood effect has become an important framework with which to study the mechanisms that maintain the coexistence of tree species. Phylogenetic relatedness among neighboring plants directly affects species coexistence and the maintenance of tree diversity. And some studies have reported that seedling performance is negatively correlated with phylogenetic relatedness, which termed phylogenetic negative density dependence. Soil-borne fungal pathogens affected seedling performance of phylogenetically related host species, i.e., phylogenetic Janzen-Connell effect. Seedlings may be particularly vulnerable to habitat and neighbor characteristics. Although previous studies have demonstrated the influence of neighborhood effects, phylogenetic relatedness, and habitat filtering on seedling survival, growth, and mortality, the effect of variation in these factors on seedling abundance remains unclear. To address this question, we used a 4-ha (200 m × 200 m) and monitored four-year (2020-2023) seedling dataset from a mid-montane humid evergreen broad-leaved subtropical forest in the Gaoligong Mountains, Yunnan, Southwestern China, and which consisted of 916 seedlings belonging to 56 species. The results of generalized linear mixed models showed no significant effect of conspecific adult neighbors on seedling abundance at any of the intervals evaluated. In contrast, we found evidence of phylogenetic distance density dependence in the forests of the Gaoligong Mountains. Specifically, there was a significant positive effect of the relative average phylogenetic distance between heterospecific adult neighbors and focal seedlings on focal seedling abundance in 2020; however, the relative average phylogenetic distance between heterospecific seedling neighbors and focal seedlings had a significant negative effect on seedling abundance over the four-year period (2020-2023). Among the habitat factors, only light (canopy opening) had a negative effect on seedling abundance in all four years. Light resources may be a limiting factor for seedlings, and determine seedling dynamics in subtropical forests. Overall, our results demonstrated that phylogenetic density dependence and habitat filtering affected subtropical seedling abundance. Our findings provide new evidence of the impact of phylogenetic density dependence on seedling abundance in a subtropical mid-montane humid evergreen broad-leaved forest and highlight the need to incorporate the neighborhood effect, phylogenetic relatedness, and habitat factors in models assessing seedling abundance.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Teff is essential to most Ethiopians, but its production is hampered by farmers' characteristics and spatially related neighborhood variables. This study analyzes the neighborhood effect on the technical efficiency of teff farms in Ethiopia using panel data from the Ethiopian socioeconomic survey. The spatial Durbin regression models (SDM) and Copula stochastic frontier were used with 858 teff-growing farmers. The mean value of teff's technical efficiency was found to be 53 %, meaning that farmers had a 47 % likelihood of improving teff farm efficiency. The results from the SDM indicate a significant contribution of neighborhood effects for improving technical efficiency in teff farms. Thus, policymakers could explore implementing localized interventions and knowledge-sharing initiatives to disseminate best practices, innovative technologies, and agronomic knowledge within specific spatial clusters. By doing so, they can leverage the observed influence of neighborhood dynamics on teff farm efficiency.

RESUMEN

Despite growing interest in understanding how food environments shape dietary behaviors, European longitudinal evidence is scarce. We aimed to investigate the associations of 9-year average and change in exposure to local retail food environments with the diet quality of residents in Luxembourg. We used data from 566 adults enrolled in both waves of the nationwide ORISCAV-LUX study (2007-2017). Dietary quality was assessed by the Diet Quality Index-International (DQI-I). Exposure to "healthy" and "less healthy" food outlets was assessed by both absolute and relative GIS-based measurements. The results showed a 56.3% increase in less healthy food outlets over the period. In adjusted linear mixed models, high (vs. low) 9-year average exposure to less healthy food outlets was associated with lower DQI-I, when examining spatial access (ß = -1.25, 95% CI: -2.29, -0.22) and proportions (ß = -1.24, 95% CI: -2.15, -0.33). Stratified analyses showed these associations to be significant only among urban residents. There was no association between change in exposure to less healthy food outlets and DQI-I. Increased exposure to healthy outlets in rural areas, using absolute measurements, was associated with worsened DQI-I. Neighborhood socioeconomic status did not moderate the above associations. Findings suggest that the proliferation of less healthy food outlets may have contributed to the deterioration of the diet quality of urban residents, and support the use of relative measurements to fully capture the healthiness of food environments.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

In the context of the rapid growth of corporate green investment and the rapid dissemination of information brought about by Internet technology, it is important to explore the relationship between investor attention and corporate environmental responsibility. Unfortunately, an in-depth research on the relationship between investor attention and firms' environment, society, and governance (ESG) performance remains unexplored. The results show a mutual inhibition between investor attention and firms' ESG performance. Each 1% increase in investor attention decreases ESG performance by 0.252%, while each 1% increase in ESG performance decreases investor attention by 2.296%. Thus, ESG performance dominates this mutual influence. Moreover, ESG performance positively affects ESG performance and investor attention of neighboring firms. Each 1% increase in ESG performance increases ESG performance and investor attention of neighboring firms by 0.371% and 0.983%, respectively. Investor attention negatively affects investor attention and ESG performance of neighboring firms. Each 1% increase in investor attention decreases ESG performance and investor attention of neighboring firms by 0.04% and 0.104%, respectively. Further research reveals significant regional and organizational heterogeneity in the relationship between investor attention and ESG performance. The findings provide theoretical and empirical insights for further improvement of the ESG system and continued strengthening of investor guidance by regulators.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Associational effects are a phenomenon in which herbivore damage on co-occurring plant species is influenced by neighboring plants. Mistletoes are a group of shrubs that obtain nutrients from host plants through haustoria. Despite the potential for mistletoe herbivory to be affected by associational effects with their hosts, the effects of host and mistletoe functional traits on mistletoe herbivory have been largely overlooked. This study aimed to evaluate the associational effects of host plants and the direct effects of mistletoe functional traits on mistletoe herbivory. To achieve this, we measured leaf herbivory and leaf traits of three mistletoe species (Dendrophthoe pentandra, Scurrula chingii var. yunnanensis, and Helixanthera parasitica) and their associated 11 host species during both dry and wet seasons. Our results showed that leaf herbivory of D. pentandra and S. chingii var. yunnanensis differed significantly on their respective host species, but H. parasitica did not. The relationships between mistletoe and the paired host herbivory differed between seasons, with a stronger positive relationship observed during the dry season. Furthermore, significant relationships were observed between paired leaf carbon, leaf nitrogen, and condensed tannin in mistletoes and their host plants, indicating that host plants can affect mistletoes' leaf functional traits. A group of mistletoe leaf traits provided significant predictions for leaf herbivory: leaves with higher leaf thickness and leaf total nitrogen showed higher herbivory. Overall, our study reveals that mistletoe leaf herbivory is directly affected by its leaf traits and indirectly affected by host associational effects, primarily through changes in mistletoes' leaf traits.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

This study analyzed the spatial distribution patterns of depression among vulnerable elderly across Republic of Korea. The average level of depression in the basic administrative districts was derived using the individual depression scores from the Health Interview Survey data. Results of the spatial autocorrelation analysis revealed that the Moran's I value was 0.3138, indicating the existence of a neighborhood effect in the depression of the vulnerable older adults at the regional level. Subsequently, cluster analysis and one-way ANOVA were conducted for the hot spots where vulnerable older adult depression was concentrated. Based on the cluster analysis results, hot spots were the areas where the facilities that are necessary for the daily lives of older adults were insufficient and were categorized into three types. The findings indicate that environmental characteristics at the regional level should be considered in addition to the environmental characteristics of the house and neighborhood, which have been primarily addressed in previous studies.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Rice-aquatic animal integrated systems can alleviate food and environmental insecurity. Understanding how this practice is adopted by farmers is significant for promoting the development of the agricultural industry. Given the information inadequacy and information frictions in agricultural society in China, farmers are susceptible to the behaviors of their neighbors through social interaction. This paper defines neighboring groups that are both spatially and socially connected to identify whether neighbors influence farmers' adoption of rice-crayfish integrated systems using a sample in the lower and middle reaches of the Yangtze River in China. The findings reveal that for every one-unit increase in neighbors' adoption behavior, the probability of farmers' adoption increases by 0.367 units. Therefore, our results may have great value for policymakers seeking to take advantage of the neighborhood effect to complement formal extension systems and promote the developments of China's ecological agriculture.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Few studies have used individual-level data to explore the association between COVID-19 risk with multiple environmental exposures and housing conditions. Using individual-level data collected with GPS-tracking smartphones, mobile air-pollutant and noise sensors, an activity-travel diary, and a questionnaire from two typical neighborhoods in a dense and well-developed city (i.e., Hong Kong), this study seeks to examine 1) the associations between multiple environmental exposures (i.e., different types of greenspace, PM2.5, and noise) and housing conditions (i.e., housing types, ownership, and overcrowding) with individuals' COVID-19 risk both in residential neighborhoods and along daily mobility trajectories; 2) which social groups are disadvantaged in COVID-19 risk through the perspective of the neighborhood effect averaging problem (NEAP). Using separate multiple linear regression and logistical regression models, we found a significant negative association between COVID-19 risk with greenspace (i.e., NDVI) both in residential areas and along people's daily mobility trajectories. Meanwhile, we also found that high open space and recreational land exposure and poor housing conditions were positively associated with COVID-19 risk in high-risk neighborhoods, and noise exposure was positively associated with COVID-19 risk in low-risk neighborhoods. Further, people with work places in high-risk areas and poor housing conditions were disadvantaged in COVID-19 risk.

RESUMEN

This study investigates how the associations between residential characteristics and the risk of opioid user disorder (OUD) among older Medicare beneficiaries (age≥65) are altered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Applying matching techniques and multilevel modeling to the Medicare fee-for-service claims data, this study finds that county-level social isolation, concentrated disadvantage, and residential stability are significantly associated with OUD among older adults (N = 1,080,350) and that those living in counties with low levels of social isolation and residential stability experienced a heightened risk of OUD during the pandemic. The results suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated the impacts of residential features on OUD.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Blue spaces is associated with self-rated health (SRH), but little is known about the pathways underlying this association among Chinese urban elderly individuals. Based on neighborhood effect theory, this study examined the relationship between neighborhood blue spaces and SRH among elderly individuals using data from a questionnaire survey conducted in Guangzhou, remote sensing images, street views, and environmental information in the context of a Chinese megacity. In addition, multilevel linear model and mediating effect model empirical analyses were performed. Results showed that first, the SRH of the elderly was associated with individual- and neighborhood-level factors. Second, the multilevel mediation model revealed that multiple biopsychosocial pathways existed between neighborhood blue spaces and the SRH of the elderly, specifically, the blue space characteristics related to the SRH of the elderly via the mediating effect of stress. Third, owing to demographic characteristics and socioeconomic status, the stratified analyses also indicated a strong association between neighborhood blue spaces and SRH outcomes in the older and low-income groups. The mediating effect of stress in the age and income groups was also observed, and the mediation pathways and group differences were confirmed in the context of Chinese cities. This research enriches the empirical literature on blue spaces and elderly health from a multidisciplinary perspective and suggests the need for "healthy neighborhood" and "health-aging" planning in Chinese settings.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

In the multilevel modeling literature, contextual effect is defined as or identified by the effect of the target group-level variable while controlling for the corresponding individual-level variable. This paper extends the notion of "contextual effects" (or "neighborhood" or "school" effects) to an interaction setting, such that the effect of one explanatory variable Xij on the outcome Yij is modeled as a function of a group-level 'moderating' or predisposing variable Zj* as well as its counterpart at the individual level Zij. Researchers frequently use regression models that only contain a cross-level interaction between Xij and Zj* to test contextual hypotheses in an interaction setting, but this modeling strategy is unable to discriminate the immediate rival hypothesis that attributes a causal role to the corresponding individual-level variable. This paper points out the prevalence of this type of fallacy through a review of past research on contextual determinants of psychiatric resilience. It is argued that the simple step of adding an appropriate individual-level interaction XijZij could help more robustly test substantive hypotheses about how neighborhood context alters the effect of proximal stressors on health outcomes.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Current research has generally concentrated on the motivations of environmental policies on local green innovation while ignoring the effect they may have on green innovation in neighboring places. To obtain a thorough understanding and explanation of the influencing mechanism of environmental regulation (ER) on green innovation efficiency (GIE), the super-slack based measure-data envelopment analysis (Super-SBM-DEA) method was applied to evaluate Chinese provinces' GIE, a spatial Durbin model was developed to evaluate the effect of ER on GIE from the perspective of the "local neighborhood" effect, and a mediating effect model was built to analyze the transmission mechanism of the neighborhood effect of ER on GIE. The study indicated that China's regional GIE is high in the east and low in the west, with large spatial variability and significant positive spatial clustering characteristics. The effect of ER on local GIE is "U" shaped, while the influence on green innovation efficiency in neighboring areas is an inverted "U" shape. The influence of environmental regulation on GIE in neighboring areas is mainly achieved through the transfer of local polluting industries to neighboring areas. Based on the results, policy recommendations from the perspectives of choosing environmental regulation tools and transferring polluting industries are made to promote and realize the coordinated development of ER and green innovation.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

BACKGROUND: A single anthropometric index such as stunting, wasting, or underweight does not show the holistic picture of under-five children's undernutrition status. To alleviate this problem, we adopted a multifaceted single index known as the composite index for anthropometric failure (CIAF). Using this undernutrition index, we investigated the disparities of Ethiopian under-five children's undernutrition status in space and time. METHODS: Data for analysis were extracted from the Ethiopian Demographic and Health Surveys (EDHSs). The space-time dynamics models were formulated to explore the effects of different covariates on undernutrition among children under five in 72 administrative zones in Ethiopia. RESULTS: The general nested spatial-temporal dynamic model with spatial and temporal lags autoregressive components was found to be the most adequate (AIC = -409.33, R2 = 96.01) model. According to the model results, the increase in the percentage of breastfeeding mothers in the zone decreases the CIAF rates of children in the zone. Similarly, the increase in the percentages of parental education, and mothers' nutritional status in the zones decreases the CIAF rate in the zone. On the hand, increased percentages of households with unimproved water access, unimproved sanitation facilities, deprivation of women's autonomy, unemployment of women, and lower wealth index contributed to the increased CIAF rate in the zone. CONCLUSION: The CIAF risk factors are spatially and temporally correlated across 72 administrative zones in Ethiopia. There exist geographical differences in CIAF among the zones, which are influenced by spatial neighborhoods of the zone and temporal lags within the zone. Hence these findings emphasize the need to take the spatial neighborhood and historical/temporal contexts into account when planning CIAF prevention.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Snow cover plays an important role in maintaining ecosystems. However, knowledge on how snow cover phenology (SP) modulates ecosystem productivity (EP), especially for the lower- and higher-productivity ecosystems, is limited yet. The situation becomes more embarrassed when asking a more in-depth question as to the macroecological pattern of SP modulating EP - does this process act with the neighborhood effect common in ecology or any other? To answer this question, we proposed a new concept of "periconnection", by following the way of defining "teleconnection" but also exploring the potential effect from the surrounding sites. In the case study of two published data of plant dynamics (1999-2013) and SP (2001-2014), we made a series of new findings as follows. Over upper Northern Hemisphere, the lower- and higher-productivity ecosystems presented weaker trends of productivity increasing than the entire ecosystems did. But for the ecosystems of all these three types, their productivity was all more sensitive to the snow-onset than -end SP. Further, the interannual variations of their productivity was all more modulated by the SP around - the neighborhood effect, in principle, was detected but also with other novel traits. Such modulations occurred more to north in North America while more to south in North Eurasia - termed directional effect. The first two inferences added the common knowledge of SP modulating EP, while the in-depth question was solved with the last two coherent effects, which compose a new macroecological beyond-neighborhood effect - periconnection. As a creative theoretical term and its principle framework in macroecology, this basic concept is of referencing implication on extensively advancing various sphere-interaction fields at other scales.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Data on artificial night-time light (NTL), emitted from the areas, and captured by satellites, are available at a global scale in panchromatic format. In the meantime, data on spectral properties of NTL give more information for further analysis. Such data, however, are available locally or on a commercial basis only. In our recent work, we examined several machine learning techniques, such as linear regression, kernel regression, random forest, and elastic map models, to convert the panchromatic NTL images into colored ones. We compared red, green, and blue light levels for eight geographical areas all over the world with panchromatic light intensities and characteristics of built-up extent from spatially corresponding pixels and their nearest neighbors. In the meantime, information from more distant neighboring pixels might improve the predictive power of models. In the present study, we explore this neighborhood effect using convolutional neural networks (CNN). The main outcome of our analysis is that the neighborhood effect goes in line with the geographical extent of metropolitan areas under analysis: For smaller areas, optimal input image size is smaller than for bigger ones. At that, for relatively large cities, the optimal input image size tends to differ for different colors, being on average higher for red and lower for blue lights. Compared to other machine learning techniques, CNN models emerged comparable in terms of Pearson's correlation but showed performed better in terms of WMSE, especially for testing datasets.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

BACKGROUND: Demand for dental services has been known to be linked closely to dental insurance and disposable income. Widespread economic uncertainty and health systems changes due to COVID-19 thus may have a significant impact on dental care use. METHODS: Using deidentified dental practice management data from 2019 and 2020, the authors observed variations in dental care use among insured patients since the COVID-19 outbreak (during the period of practice closure and after the reopening) by patient age, procedure type, insurance type, practice size, geographic area, and reopening status. The authors examined whether the rebound in procedure volumes at dental practices can be explained by county-level characteristics using hierarchical regression models. RESULTS: Although dental care use among privately insured patients fully rebounded by August 2020, use still remained lower than the prepandemic level by 7.54% among the publicly insured population. Demand for teledentistry increased 60-fold during practice closure. Geographic characteristics-such as median household income, percentages of rural or Black populations, and dental care professional shortage designations-were associated significantly with the number of procedures performed at dental practices. CONCLUSIONS: As a result of COVID-19, dental practices experienced substantial decreases in procedure volume, particularly among patients covered by public insurance or residing in underserved areas. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: During economic downturns, state health officials should be encouraged to adopt policies to expand access to oral health care for vulnerable populations via oral health promotion strategies and increasing the supply of dentists or midlevel dental care providers in underserved areas.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

In this article, we propose an original matching procedure for multiple treatment frameworks based on partially ordered set theory (poset). In our proposal, called matching on poset-based average rank for multiple treatments (MARMoT), poset theory is used to summarize individuals' confounders and the relative average rank is used to balance confounders and match individuals in different treatment groups. This approach proves to be particularly useful for balancing confounders when the number of treatments considered is high. We apply our approach to the estimation of neighborhood effect on the fractures among older people in Turin (a city in northern Italy).

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

This study examined the gap between need and provision of community services in China and its association with older adults' life satisfaction over time. Longitudinal data from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey from 2008 to 2014 were used (3 waves, N = 16,199). Respondents reported if they needed nine types of community service and if their community provided such service. Growth curve models analyzed whether individual- and/or province-level characteristics predicted the initial level and/or changes of life satisfaction over time. Results indicated the presence of major unmet service needs in China. Available community services were mismatched with older adults' perceived needs. Unmet service needs were associated with decreased life satisfaction at baseline. However, unmet service needs were not associated with changes in life satisfaction over time. Study findings highlighted the urgent need to optimize service design in accordance with older adults' needs, which ultimately could promote older adults' well-being.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Green credit is one of the most important financial instruments to promote sustainable development. Taking the provincial panel dataset of China as the research sample, this paper investigates the spatial impacts of green credit on the green economy. The super slack-based measure (Sup-SBM) model with undesirable outputs is employed to calculate the level of green economy within China. On this basis, we establish spatial Durbin models to study the impact of green credit on green economy and its transmission mechanisms. The results show that green credit exhibits a local-neighborhood effect on green economy; that is, the green credit can not only improve the local green economy but also generate spatial spillover effect to promote the development of green economy in surrounding areas. The above conclusion still holds after the robustness test by replacing spatial weight matrices and alternative measurement for the explained variable. Furthermore, enhancing innovation efficiency and optimizing energy structure are important ways for green credit to promote green economy. The findings of this study not only provide a new perspective for understanding the economic consequences of green credit policy but also provide empirical evidence for the important role of green finance in achieving the win-win goals of economic growth and environmental protection.

Asunto(s)