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The association between low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLc) to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLc) ratio (LDLc/HDLc) and carotid plaques remains controversial. We conducted a cross-sectional study to evaluate whether LDLc/HDLc is associated with carotid plaques in individuals with a high-stroke-risk. The study initially enrolled 5529 residents aged 40 years or older from Yangzhou, China in 2013–2014. All participants received a questionnaire interview, physical examination, and laboratory tests. Risk factors for stroke included hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, atrial fibrillation, smoking, less exercise, overweight/obesity, and family stroke history. Subjects with at least three of the risk factors or a history of stroke/transient ischemic attack (TIA) were defined as a high-stroke-risk population. Carotid ultrasonography was only conducted for this high-stroke-risk population. Logistic regression was used to examine the association of LDLc/HDLc with the presence of carotid plaques. Final analysis included 839 high-stroke-risk subjects and 40.6% were identified to have carotid plaques. Subjects with the highest tertiles group of LDLc/HDLc had a higher proportion of carotid plaques than the other two groups (47.1% vs. 34.6% and 40.4%, P < 0.001). With each unit increase of LDLc/HDLc, the chance of having carotid plaques increased by 65% (OR 1.65, 95%CI 1.31–2.08) after adjusted for potential confounders. Among most subgroups, a higher LDLc/HDLc was significantly correlated with the presence of carotid plaques. Higher LDLc/HDLc was significantly associated with the presence of carotid plaques in the Chinese population with a high risk of stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Previous studies have found that impairment of the circadian clock appears to contribute to the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and the circulating follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) level showed a diurnal cycle. A recent study reported that a lower FSH level was associated with NAFLD. However, the effects of the diurnal rhythm of FSH on NAFLD have not been reported. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the diurnal rhythm of FSH was associated with NAFLD in an elderly population.Study Design: We performed a cross-sectional study among 71 elderly patients between August 2015 and November 2015 at Fujian Provincial Hospital. Anthropometrics and tests for laboratory were performed for each patient. FSH was determined by radioimmunoassay. The FSH receptor (FSHR) expression was identified in liver and ovary tissue by immunohistochemical staining. NAFLD was diagnosed by sonographic features.Results: Of the 71 patients, 33 (42.9%) had NAFLD on their ultrasound. There were no significant differences between subjects with NAFLD and those without NAFLD in terms of age, sex, body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, fasting plasma glucose, postload plasma glucose, liver enzyme, triglycerides, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol. Both the serum FSH levels of 8AM and 0AM showed no differences between the groups. The proportion of the 'normal' diurnal rhythm of FSH was higher among the patients with NAFLD (78.1% vs. 52.6%, P = .027). After adjusting for all potential confounders, the fully adjusted odds ratios (OR) of diurnal rhythm of FSH for NAFLD was 3.86 (95%CI: 1.01, 14.81, P = .049). Immunohistochemical staining showed that the FSHR protein was detected in human ovarian and hepatic tissues.Conclusions: These results suggest that the 'normal' diurnal rhythm of FSH was independently associated with NAFLD in an elderly population. This study provides a novel insight into the diurnal rhythm of FSH in the pathogenesis of NAFLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade, there has been an unprecedented growth in the development of green building projects in China. Using a unique cross-sectional database compiled from multiple sources, this study employs a Negative Binomial regression model to analyze the determinants of local green building development in 282 municipalities, with a focus on local policy and design standards. We present evidence that geographical location, local fiscal revenue, and real estate investment are strong predictors of green building counts. In terms of policy effectiveness, the results indicate that both mandatory regulations and incentive-based policies contribute to increasing the adoption of green buildings; nevertheless, mandatory regulations have a stronger effect on green building development than incentive policies. This paper also suggests that, when controlling for local green building policies, local design standards may negatively affect green building development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Family dysfunction was positively correlated with mobile phone addiction among Chinese adolescents. • Social anxiety acted as a mediator. • The direct and indirect effects were moderated by mindfulness. Mobile phone addiction has gained much research attention. Previous studies have primarily focused on college students, while there have been numerous calls for efforts to better understand mobile phone addiction in adolescents. Moreover, previous research has mainly focused on individual factors of mobile phone addiction; however, less is known about the effect of family factors and the underlying mechanisms. The present study tested the effect of family dysfunction on adolescent mobile phone addiction and explored how and when family dysfunction was associated with adolescent mobile phone addiction. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey regarding family dysfunction, mobile phone addiction, social anxiety, and mindfulness was administered to 1020 Chinese adolescents. Results showed that social anxiety partially mediated the association between family dysfunction and mobile phone addiction. In addition, both the direct association between family dysfunction and mobile phone addiction and the indirect association through social anxiety were moderated by mindfulness. These two links were weaker for adolescents with high mindfulness than for those with low mindfulness. The present study extends previous research by linking family dysfunction to adolescent mobile phone addiction and uncovering how and when family dysfunction is associated with adolescent mobile phone addiction. These results have important implications for the prevention and intervention of adolescent mobile phone addiction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]