Search

This study explores whether and how the development of green finance can facilitate the social responsibility of highly polluting enterprises. We conducted a quasi-natural experiment in 2017 in five Chinese provinces (districts), based on the establishment of green finance reform and innovation pilot zones. The research samples were China's A-share heavy pollution-industry-listed companies from 2013 to 2020, and the difference in differences model was used to examine the relationship between green finance and social responsibility fulfilment of highly polluting firms. The mediating and moderating effects of financial constraints and media monitoring were also discussed. The findings indicate that the advancement of green finance significantly improves the level of social responsibility fulfilment of highly polluting firms, particularly in the area of environmental responsibility. Furthermore, strengthened financing constraints partially mediate the aforementioned relationship, and media monitoring positively moderates the facilitation effect of green finance development on highly polluting firms' social responsibility fulfilment. Our study demonstrates that a higher degree of financing constraints is an important channel for establishing a green finance reform and innovation pilot zone to force enterprises to fulfilment their social responsibility, and provides theoretical support for governments and enterprises to better understand the policy effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Accumulative evidence shows that follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) is associated with metabolic disorders. We aimed to ascertain the relationship between FSH, blood glucose and lipid metabolism in general perimenopausal women. Methods: This cross‐sectional study analyzed 2121 perimenopausal women aged 40–54 years in Zhejiang Province from January 2016 to December 2018. Regression analysis was performed to assess the relationship between FSH and metabolic parameters. Results: Serum FSH had a significant inverse association with fasting plasma glucose (P < 0.05) and triglycerides (TG) (P < 0.01) in perimenopausal women. However, after adjusting for body mass index, there was no significant association between FSH and fasting plasma glucose. In a model fully adjusted for demographic variables, estradiol, body mass index, high‐density lipoprotein, low‐density lipoprotein, homocysteine, systolic blood pressure and blood viscosity, a significant association still existed between FSH and TG (standardized β = −0.095; R2 = 0.155; P = 0.002). Conclusion: Overall, FSH is negatively associated with metabolic parameters, especially TG, in perimenopausal women. These results indicated that FSH might be a biomarker for the primary prevention of disorders with lipid metabolism during the menopausal period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of this study was to determine whether the use of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) could improve the categorization of suspicious breast lesions based on the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS), thereby reducing the number of benign breast lesions referred for biopsy. This prospective study, conducted between January 2017 and December 2018, enrolled consenting patients from eight teaching hospitals in China, who had been diagnosed with solid breast lesions classified as BI-RADS 4 using conventional ultrasound. CEUS was performed within 1 wk of diagnosis for reclassification of breast lesions. Histopathological results obtained from core needle biopsies or surgical excision samples served as the reference standard. The simulated biopsy rate and cancer-to-biopsy yield were used to compare the accuracy of CEUS and conventional ultrasound (US). Among the 1490 lesions diagnosed as BI-RADS 4 with conventional ultrasound, 486 malignant and 1004 benign lesions were confirmed based on histology. Following CEUS, 2, 395, and 211 lesions were reclassified as CEUS-based BI-RADS 2, 3, and 5, respectively, while 882 (59%) remained as BI-RADS 4. The actual cancer-to-biopsy yield based on US was 32.6%, which increased to 43.4% when CEUS-based BI-RADS 4A was used as the cut-off point to recommend biopsy. The simulated biopsy rate decreased to 73.4%. Overall, in this preselected BI-RADS 4 population, only 2.5% (12/486) of malignant lesions would have been miscategorized as BI-RADS 3 using CEUS-based reclassification. The diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of contrast-enhanced ultrasound reclassification were 57.65%, 97.53%, and 38.35%, respectively. Our collective findings indicate that CEUS is a valuable tool in further triage of BI-RADS category 4 lesions and facilitates a reduction in the number of biopsies while increasing the cancer-to-biopsy yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To identify core and bridge nodes in the network structure of alexithymia and cognitive emotion regulation strategies in community-dwelling older adults, and compare network differences among older adults with different health statuses, we recruited 677 participants and network analysis was performed in R 4.2.0. After including the covariates, the nodes Catastrophizing, Difficulty Identifying feelings, and Refocusing on Planning ranked as the top three. The nodes Externally Oriented Thoughts and Difficulty Identifying Feelings were identified as bridge nodes based on bridge strength values. Significant differences were observed between the healthy and comorbidity groups, and also between the single chronic disease and comorbidity groups (p < 0.05). Catastrophizing, Difficulty Identifying Feelings, and Refocusing on Planning were the core nodes, and Externally Oriented Thoughts and Difficulty Identifying Feelings were the key bridge nodes. The network structure of comorbidity in older adults was characterized by stronger ties to non-adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Hypospadias is one of the most common anomalies of the human genitourinary system. The prevalence of hypospadias varies considerably by region, ethnicity, and clinical practice., Objective: This research was designed to investigate the prevalence and related influencing factors of neonatal hypospadias in Hangzhou from 2011 to 2020 in order to provide a scientific basis for the clinical prevention and treatment of hypospadias., Study Design: This study retrospectively analyzed the Hangzhou Maternal Child Information System and Birth Defect Monitoring System and included data from a total of 1,008,754 pregnant women between October 2010 and September 2020. The chi-square test was adopted to compare the prevalence of hypospadias at different maternal ages and different years., Results: The prevalence of neonatal hypospadias in Hangzhou, China, was 2.89 per 10,000, with a total of 292 newborns diagnosed with hypospadias from 2011 to 2020. The prevalence of hypospadias in Hangzhou showed temporal, regional, and age distribution characteristics: from 1.08/10,000 in 2011 to 7.03/10,000 in 2020; the prevalence was higher in suburban areas than that in the urban area and the counties, with statistically significant differences (P < 0.001); the prevalence of hypospadias was lowest in maternal age < 25 years (1.20/10,000) and highest in maternal age ≥ 40 years old (14.59/10,000). The difference was statistically significant (P < 0.001). The risk factor for hypospadias in the offspring of advanced pregnant women was 3.86 times higher than that of younger pregnant women., Conclusions: The overall prevalence of neonatal hypospadias in Hangzhou from 2011 to 2020 was 2.89/10,000 and showed temporal, regional, and age distribution characteristics., (Copyright © 2023 Journal of Pediatric Urology Company. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To observe the clinical characteristics of mild and common COVID-19 patients infected with the Omicron variant, and to analyze related factors affecting the time to negative conversion of viral nucleic acid detection., Methods: Clinical data of 1781 patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) admitted to a cabin hospital in Shanghai from April 12 to May 26, 2022, were retrospectively analyzed, including age, gender, height, weight, clinical symptoms, comorbid diseases, COVID-19 vaccination, treatment, and nucleic acid negative conversion time. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to analyze the influencing factors of nucleic acid negative conversion time., Results: Among the 1781 patients, 995 were male and 786 were female, with a median age of 39 (30, 52) years. There were 727 patients (40.8%) with overweight and obesity [body mass index (BMI) > 24 kg/cm 2 ) and 413 patients (23.2%) had comorbid diseases. 205 cases (11.5%) were not vaccinated while 1576 cases were vaccinated. There were 1233 cases (69.2%) with one or more symptoms. The main clinical symptoms were cough (60.3%), expectoration (50.4%) and fever (36.9%). 1444 cases (81.0%) were treated with Chinese medicine, 78 cases (4.4%) were treated with western medicine, 14 cases (0.8%) were treated with integrated Chinese and western medicine, and 245 cases (13.8%) did not receive any medical treatment. All patients improved and were discharged. The median nucleic acid negative conversion time was 10.3 (7.4, 12.4) d. Univariate and multivariate analysis showed that, age ≥ 60 years ( OR ＝1.537, 95% CI : 1.116 - 2.115, P <0.01), BMI > 24 kg/cm 2 ( OR ＝1.344, 95% CI : 1.106 - 1.634, P <0.01 ) and hypertension ( OR ＝1.518, 95% CI : 1.094 - 2.106, P <0.05) were independent risk factors for prolonged nucleic acid negative conversion. COVID-19 vaccination ( OR =0.548, 95% CI : 0.398 - 0.755, P <0.01) was a protective factor, that is, vaccination shortened the time for the nucleic acid test to become negative., Conclusions: The symptoms of the Omicron variant infection were relatively mild and occult. Age ≥ 60 years old, comorbid hypertension, no vaccination and BMI > 24 kg/cm 2 are independent influencing factors for prolonged nucleic acid negative conversion.

Ditch-buried straw returning with ridge-furrow plastic film mulch (RP+S) is a novel tillage measure in semiarid regions, but it is unclear whether RP+S can increase maize yield while reducing the carbon footprint (CF). Therefore, a six-year continuous experiment was conducted from 2016 to 2021 to quantify the effect of four straw returning and film mulching measures [conventional flat cultivation (CK), conventional flat cultivation with ditch-buried straw returning (CK+S), ridge-furrow plastic film mulch (RP), and RP+S] on soil organic carbon sequestration (SOC S ), greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, CF, and economic benefits. Straw returning and film mulching measures significantly increased total GHG emissions across the six seasons. For all treatments, nitrogen fertilizer was the most important source of GHG emissions (≥73%), followed by diesel (8-11%) and plastic film (8%, RP and RP+S only). RP+S significantly increased yield and partial factor productivity of nitrogen fertilizer by 8.7-59.1%, and net economic benefit by 7.37-57.76%, but decreased CF by 34-61% and CF per net return by 33-61% relative to the other treatments. RP+S had the highest GHG emissions, increasing by 6.11-16.47% relative to the other treatments. However, compared with the initial 0-40 cm SOC S in 2016, RP+S had the highest carbon sequestration rate (678.17 kg·ha -1 ·yr -1 ), increasing by 2.29% after six years, followed by CK+S (1.78%), CK (0.89%), and RP (-0.49%). Thus, RP+S had the lowest CF and CF per net return in four treatments. This comprehensive analysis of agronomic and environmental benefits revealed that RP+S is a high-yielding, economically and environmentally friendly measure in semiarid areas., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)