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Objective. The relationship between lipid profiles and serum urate has not been fully investigated. This study aims to investigate the sex- and age-specific association between lipid profiles and serum urate. Methods. This was a cross-sectional study involving 122,351 participants aged 18–99 years from a check-up centre in Southwestern China. Generalized additive models and smooth curve fitting were conducted to explore the association between components of lipid profiles and serum urate. Furthermore, multivariate linear and logistic regression models were also performed. Results. In generalized additive models, the fitted smoothing curves showed that serum urate fluctuated in a small range with total cholesterol, LDL-C, or HDL-C raising. After adjusting for confounders, the differences in serum urate progressively increased with raising serum triglycerides quartiles. The likelihood (odds ratio, OR) for developing serum urate > 420 μmol/L significantly increased in the highest quartile of triglycerides than in the lowest quartile, in hypertriglyceridemia than in normal triglycerides, and with 1 mmol/L increment in triglycerides in all sex- and age-specific groups. Furthermore, the increased OR (95% confidence interval) was higher in females than in males compared with their respective controls. Conclusions. Serum urate and the likelihood for developing serum urate >420 μmol/L increased with triglycerides raising. Females were in a higher likelihood for developing serum urate >420 μmol/L than males with raising triglycerides. With changes in total cholesterol, LDL-C, or HDL-C, serum urate fluctuated in a small range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oculopharyngodistal myopathy (OPDM) is an adult-onset neuromuscular disease characterized by progressive ocular, facial, pharyngeal and distal limb muscle involvement. Trinucleotide repeat expansions in LRP12 or GIPC1 were recently reported to be associated with OPDM. However, a significant portion of OPDM patients have unknown genetic causes. In this study, long-read whole-genome sequencing and repeat-primed PCR were performed and we identified GGC repeat expansions in the NOTCH2NLC gene in 16.7% (4/24) of a cohort of Chinese OPDM patients, designated as OPDM type 3 (OPDM3). Methylation analysis indicated that methylation levels of the NOTCH2NLC gene were unaltered in OPDM3 patients, but increased significantly in asymptomatic carriers. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis indicated that NOTCH2NLC mRNA levels were increased in muscle but not in blood of OPDM3 patients. Immunofluorescence on OPDM muscle samples and expressing mutant NOTCH2NLC with (GGC)69 repeat expansions in HEK293 cells indicated that mutant NOTCH2NLC-polyglycine protein might be a major component of intranuclear inclusions, and contribute to toxicity in cultured cells. In addition, two RNA-binding proteins, hnRNP A/B and MBNL1, were both co-localized with p62 in intranuclear inclusions in OPDM muscle samples. These results indicated that a toxic protein gain-of-function mechanism and RNA gain-of-function mechanism may both play a vital role in the pathogenic processes of OPDM3. This study extended the spectrum of NOTCH2NLC repeat expansion-related diseases to a predominant myopathy phenotype presenting as OPDM, and provided evidence for possible pathogenesis of these diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The authors found a striking similarity between the qi and blood theory and nerve repair of spinal cord injury in terms of improving blood-oxygen microenvironment in tissues. The hypothesis is that electroacupuncture can improve the blood-oxygen microenvironment of the spinal cord and promote nerve regeneration by regulating hypoxia-inducible factor 1 a and vascular endothelial growth factor signal transduction. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of electroacupuncture intervention on the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1a and vascular endothelial growth factor in injured segments of spinal cord injury rats. METHODS: Totally 120 Sprague-Dawley female rats were enrolled to make spinal cord injury models by clamping the spinal cord (20 seconds) using a microvascular clamp. Rat models were then randomly divided into three groups: Ashi point group, Stomach Meridian of Foot-Yangming group and blank control group, 40 rats in each group. Electroacupuncture at two Aishi points or at both sides of Futu and Zusanli points was started on the 3rd day after modeling. Each rat was scored on the Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan locomotor rating scale at 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 weeks after intervention. Injured spinal cord specimens ware then taken and observed histomorphologically. Hypoxia-inducible factor-1a and vascular endothelial growth factor protein and mRNA expressions were detected using immunohistochemistry staining, real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR and western blot assay. The study protocol was approved by the Animal Ethic Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine in China (approval No. 201712001). RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The lower limb function score, hypoxia-inducible factor-1a and vascular endothelial growth factor gene and protein expression in the two electroacupuncture intervention groups were significantly higher than those of the blank control group. The number of neurons in Ashi point and Stomach Meridian of Foot-Yangming groups was significantly higher than that of the blank control group with the lapse of intervention time. Electroacupuncture intervention can effectively improve the lower limb function score of spinal cord injury rats, increase the number of neurons, and up-regulate the mRNA and protein expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1a and vascular endothelial growth factor, thus effectively promoting the neurological recovery of the spinal cord. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The frequent occurrence of extreme drought weather poses serious challenges to the complementary scheduling of renewable energy, including uncertain production processes, ineffective scheduling rules, and complex model solving, which further reduces the reliability of the power grid. To address these issues, a long-term complementary scheduling model of hydro-wind-solar (LCMHWS) considering hedging rules is proposed. First, to fully eliminate the uncertainty in monthly variables, Monte Carlo simulation and K-means clustering are sequentially absorbed into the model to process historical sequences and provide deterministic scenarios in which variable characteristics are conformed as input factors. Second, an improved time-varying hedging rule with strong drought resistance capability is proposed to optimize the complementary process of hydro-wind-solar and maximize the objectives of power generation and final energy storage. Last, NSGAII and membership function are adopted to search for the optimal Pareto solution for the uncertain multi-objective model. LCMHWS is validated for 7 hydropower and nearby wind and solar plants on the Lancang River in China. The results indicate that, while meeting the guaranteed output of the system, LCMHWS can increase the power generation and final energy storage by 14 % and 3 % under extreme drought conditions, respectively, and also smoothed the output process of power grid. • Proposed an improved time-varying hedging rule for extreme drought weather. • Quantifying the uncertainty of renewable energy under extreme drought weather. • The optimal scheme of multi-objective is determined by NSGA2 and membership function. • Under the same available resources, the objectives have been significantly improved. • Smoothed the complementary process of hydro-wind-solar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parabens (PBs), a class of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), are extensively used as additives in personal care products (PCPs); however, distinguishing between endogenous and exogenous contamination from PCPs in hair remains a challenge. We conducted a comprehensive analysis of the levels, distribution patterns, impact factors, and sources of PBs in 119 human hair samples collected from Changchun, northeast China. The detection rates of methylparaben (MeP), propylparaben (PrP), and ethylparaben (EtP) in hair samples were found to be 100%. The concentration of PBs in hair followed the order of MeP (57.48 ng/g) > PrP (46.40 ng/g) > EtP (6.80 ng/g). The concentration of PrP in female hair was significantly higher (65.38 ng/g) than that observed in male hair (7.82 ng/g) (p < 0.05). The levels of excretion rates of MeP (ER MeP ) and excretion rates of PrP (ER PrP ) in the hair-dying samples (ER MeP : 17.89 ng/day; ER PrP : 14.15 ng/day) were found to be 2.52 and 2.40 times higher, respectively, compared to the non-hair-dying samples (ER MeP : 7.09 ng/day; ER PrP : 6.05 ng/day). However, the system exposure dosage (SED) results revealed that although hair dyes exhibited higher PBs, human exposure was found to be lower than certain PCPs. The results of the correlation analysis revealed that toner, face cream, body lotion, and hair conditioner were identified as the primary sources of PBs in male hair. Furthermore, the human exposure resulting from the utilization of female hair dye and serum exhibited a positive correlation with hair ER MeP and ER PrP levels, indicating in the screening of samples, excluding hair samples using hair dye and haircare essential oil can effectively avoid the interference caused by exogenous contamination from PCPs., 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 © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Oculopharyngodistal myopathy (OPDM) is an adult-onset neuromuscular disease characterized by progressive ocular, facial, pharyngeal and distal limb muscle involvement. Trinucleotide repeat expansions in LRP12 or GIPC1 were recently reported to be associated with OPDM. However, a significant portion of OPDM patients have unknown genetic causes. In this study, long-read whole-genome sequencing and repeat-primed PCR were performed and we identified GGC repeat expansions in the NOTCH2NLC gene in 16.7% (4/24) of a cohort of Chinese OPDM patients, designated as OPDM type 3 (OPDM3). Methylation analysis indicated that methylation levels of the NOTCH2NLC gene were unaltered in OPDM3 patients, but increased significantly in asymptomatic carriers. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis indicated that NOTCH2NLC mRNA levels were increased in muscle but not in blood of OPDM3 patients. Immunofluorescence on OPDM muscle samples and expressing mutant NOTCH2NLC with (GGC)69 repeat expansions in HEK293 cells indicated that mutant NOTCH2NLC-polyglycine protein might be a major component of intranuclear inclusions, and contribute to toxicity in cultured cells. In addition, two RNA-binding proteins, hnRNP A/B and MBNL1, were both co-localized with p62 in intranuclear inclusions in OPDM muscle samples. These results indicated that a toxic protein gain-of-function mechanism and RNA gain-of-function mechanism may both play a vital role in the pathogenic processes of OPDM3. This study extended the spectrum of NOTCH2NLC repeat expansion-related diseases to a predominant myopathy phenotype presenting as OPDM, and provided evidence for possible pathogenesis of these diseases., (© The Author(s) (2021). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain.)