Social distance of bystanders affects people's embarrassment via changing fear of negative evaluation and feelings of attachment security.

BACKGROUND: Embarrassment is a self-conscious emotion with important social functions, but it is not well understood. The perception of bystanders is considered a precondition for embarrassment, which makes it unique from other self-conscious emotions. Studies have shown that socially close bystanders can reduce individuals' embarrassment. However, whether and how the embarrassment of individuals varies with the changes in social distance between them and their bystanders remained unclear, which indicates the key characteristics of embarrassment. METHODS: The current research consists of two studies. Study 1 tested whether participants' embarrassment systematically varied with social distance by setting up three levels of social distance: close friends (i.e., short), casual friends (i.e., medium), and strangers (i.e., long), based on 159 participants. With two full mediation models, study 2 investigated whether and how the fear of negative evaluation and state attachment security mediated the influence of social distance on embarrassment based on 155 participants. CONCLUSIONS: The current findings revealed that the social distance between bystanders and protagonists systematically influenced the embarrassment of protagonists and this effect occurred via two parallel pathways, i.e., by increasing the fear of negative evaluation and by reducing state attachment security. The findings not only showed the unique role of bystander characteristics on embarrassment, but also two cognitive processes behind this unique self-conscious emotion: fearing negative evaluation and seeking attachment for security.

Potential role of anti-inflammatory HDL subclasses in metabolic unhealth/obesity.

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) particles comprising heterogeneous subclasses of different functions exert anti-inflammatory effects by interacting with immune-response cells. However, the relationship of HDL subclasses with immune-response cells in metabolic unhealth/obesity has not been defined clearly. The purpose of this study was to delineate the relational changes of HDL subclasses with immune cells and inflammatory markers in metabolic unhealth/obesity to understand the role of anti-inflammatory HDL subclasses. A total of 316 participants were classified by metabolic health. HDL subclasses were detected by microfluidic chip electrophoresis. White blood cell (WBC) counts and lymphocytes were assessed using automatic haematology analyser. Levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) were measured. In our study, not only the distribution of HDL subclasses, but also HDL-related structural proteins changed with the deterioration of metabolic disease. Moreover, lymphocytes and inflammation factors significantly gradually increased. The level of HDL2b was negatively associated with WBC, lymphocytes and hs-CRP in multivariable linear regression analysis. In multinomial logistic regression analysis, high levels of HDL3 and low levels of HDL2b increased the probability of having an unfavourable metabolic unhealth/obesity status. We supposed that HDL2b particles may play anti-inflammation by negatively regulating lymphocytes activation. HDL2b may be a therapeutic target for future metabolic disease due to the anti-inflammatory effects.

Comparison of Novel Metabolic Indices in Estimation of Chronic Kidney Diseases in a Southern Chinese Population.

BACKGROUND: To determine the optimal cut-off values and evaluate the associations of product of triacylglycerol and glucose (TyG), lipid accumulation product (LAPI), visceral adiposity index (VAI) with chronic kidney diseases (CKD) stratified by sex. METHODS: From January to April 2018, our team had conducted a large-scale cross-sectional survey that contained 2720 individuals on the southern coast of China. Logistic regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were used to evaluate the optimal cut-off and value of TyG, LAPI, VAI for predicting CKD. RESULTS: A multivariate logistic regression analysis found that the TyG had the better value of prediction for the presence of CKD for the highest quartile vs the lowest quartile in both males (OR: 3.65; 95% CI, 2.04-6.52; p<0.001) and females (OR: 3.50; 95% CI, 2.20-5.56; p<0.001), followed by LAPI and VAI, when further adjusted for cofounder factors, LAPI and VAI both lost their independence, and only TyG remains its significant association with CKD in both males (OR: 2.81; 95% CI, 1.25-6.30; p<0.001) and females (OR: 3.22; 95% CI, 1.56-6.61; p<0.001). ROC curve showed that TyG had the highest AUC for predicting CKD in males (AUC: 0.618). TyG (AUC: 0.670) and LAPI (AUC: 0.670) both had the highest AUC in females. United predicted models which contain TyG were conducted for predicting CKD in males (AUC: 758) and females (AUC: 0.773) and results indicated that multivariate analysis of TyG and other traditional factors can impressively improve the accuracy of predictive probability for CKD. CONCLUSION: TyG is a priority to the other two novel indices and may become valuable makers and have strong predictive power for predicting CKD, especially in females.

The Product of Red Blood Cells and Hematocrit Can Be Used as a Novel Indicator of Impaired Fasting Blood Glucose Status.

OBJECTIVE: To explore whether the red blood cell count multiplied by hematocrit index (RBCHct) in blood routine parameters can indicate the risk of impaired fasting blood glucose (IFG), and whether it is related to insulin resistance and inflammation. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, previous history of diabetes was excluded, and people with normal and impaired IFG were included. We use Spearman analysis to evaluate the correlation between RBCHct index and fasting plasma glucose, insulin resistance homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-IR), and hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP). Binary logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the RBCHct index for assessing the potential risk of IFG, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the RBCHct index for diagnosing insulin resistance and chronic low-grade inflammatory efficacy among those with IFG. RESULTS: Correlation analysis showed that the RBCHct index and fasting plasma glucose (r=0.088, P=0.003); HOMA-IR (r=0.199, P<0.001); and hs-CRP (r=0.097, P=0.001) were positively correlated. After adjusting for confounding factors, the risk of IFG in the third and fourth quartiles of the RBCHct index increased to 1.889 and 3.048 times. The area under the ROC curve of the RBCHct index for diagnosis of insulin resistance state (HOMA-IR) was 0.695 (p<0.001), and the area under the ROC curve of the RBCHct index for the diagnosis of chronic low-inflammatory state (hs-CRP) was 0.641 (P=0.010). CONCLUSION: The RBCHct index may be a potential indicator for assessing the risk of prediabetes and is closely related to whether the body is in a state of insulin resistance and inflammation under IFG.

Comparison of the Value of Neutrophil to High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Ratio and Lymphocyte to High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Ratio for Predicting Metabolic Syndrome Among a Population in the Southern Coast of China.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to determine the optimal cutoff values and evaluate the associations of neutrophil to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (NHR) and lymphocyte to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (LHR) with metabolic syndrome (MetS), stratified by sex. METHODS: A large-scale cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1401 adults from January to April 2018 in six communities in Wanzhai Town, Zhuhai City, on the southern coast of China. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analyses and logistic regression analysis were conducted to assess the optimal cutoff and value of NHR and LHR for predicting MetS. RESULTS: Hematological parameters showed the correlation with the occurrence of MetS (red blood cells, hemoglobin, and white blood cells and subtypes). Binomial logistic regression analysis found that LHR (OR: 3.671; 95% CI: 2.385-5.651; p<0.001) and NHR (OR: 1.728; 95% CI: 1.353-2.207; p<0.001) can predict MetS in females, independent of confounding factors. Although LHR (OR: 1.571; 95% CI: 1.001-2.468; p=0.05) and NHR (OR: 1.163; 95% CI: 0.909-1.48; p<0.01) were independent risk factors for MetS in males after adjustment for age, current smoking, current alcohol use, physical activity,  educational attainment, waist circumference, systolic pressure, diastolic pressure and hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), when further adjusted for fasting plasma glucose level, LHR and NHR, both lost their independence. ROC curves showed that LHR had the highest AUC for predicting MetS in females and NHR had the highest AUC in males. The cutoff points of LHR and NHR were 1.36 and 2.31 in females, and 1.96 and 3.38 in males. CONCLUSION: LHR and NHR may become valuable makers and have strong predictive power for predicting MetS, especially in females.

Comparison of Hydrostatic Filtration Dialysis with Ultracentrifugation Methods for the Identification and Proteomic Profiling of Urinary Extracellular Vesicles.

BACKGROUND: Urinary extracellular vesicles (UEVs) carry rich markers of their parent cells, so they can serve as possible biomarkers of kidney diseases. METHODS: In this study, we isolated urinary extracellular vesicles from five individuals using a simple, clinically applicable method called hydrostatic filtration dialysis (HFD) and compared it to the gold-standard ultracentrifuga-tion (UC) with transmission electron microscopy (TEM). We also employed a proteomic approach using pooled human urine samples from the same five individuals to profile the protein composition of UEVs to evaluate the effectiveness of these two methods. RESULTS: Notably, using TEM, we found that all isolations contained 0 - 400 nm vesicles with the traditionally reported morphology, although the TEM results showed that the UEVs isolated from HFD compared to those from UC are larger and more extensive. We obtained a total of 2,564 UEV proteins in the two methods. We showed a large overlap (2,185 > 85%) between the proteins identified by both isolation methods. The result also showed that the obtained proteins in extracellular vesicles, which are isolated with these methods, are consistent with the results in currently available databases. However, in the associated gene ontologies, the enriched proteins found by the two methods showed some differences. CONCLUSIONS: The HFD method is clinically feasible and allows large-scale protein profiling of UEV biomarkers. The results of this study also provide valuable UEV protein data from the methodological comparison, which might be valuable to other researchers.

[Expression and significance of ACE2-Ang-(1-7)-Mas axis in the endometrium of patients with polycystic ovary syndrome].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the expression of renin-angiotensin system component (ACE-AngII-AT1/AT2 & ACE2-Ang-(1-7)-Mas) in endometrium of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) patients and normal controls. METHODS: Thirty cases of normal endometrium in proliferative and secretory phases respectively were selected for the protein levels of AngII, AT1, AT2, ACE2, Ang-(1-7) and Mas through immunohistochemistry. And the specimens of proliferative endometrium from 15 PCOS patients and 15 normal controls respectively were prepared for the expressions of AT1, AT2, ACE2 and Mas mRNA through relative quantitative -polymerase chain reaction (RQ-PCR). The histological phases of endometria were confirmed by hematoxylin & eosin staining under microscope. RESULTS: The expressions of AngII, AT1R, AT2R, ACE2, Ang-(1-7) and Mas showed periodical changes in endometrium throughout normal menstrual cycles and shared a similar trend. The expression was more pronounced in epithelial cells than that in stromal cells while it was also more dramatic in secretory phase than proliferative phase; The mRNA expressions of AT1, AT2, ACE2 and MAS were higher in PCOS endometrium than those in normal controls. Statistically significant differences existed between two groups (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: There is local existence of RAS in endometrium; Increased expressions of AT1 mRNA, AT2 mRNA, ACE2 mRNA and Mas mRNA in endometrium of PCOS may influence endometrial development and play a role in the pathological process of PCOS.

[Evaluations of puberty sexual development in girls by intraluminal ultrasound].

OBJECTIVE: To assess the significance of intraluminal ultrasound in the diagnosis of developmental status and treatment effect in normal and idiopathic precocious puberty (ICPP) girls. METHODS: Endorectal ultrasonography was used to measure the parameters of uterine length, width, thickness, cervix length, ovarian volume and maximum follicular length in normal girls and compare their differences between pre- and post-treatment by gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues (GnRHa) in idiopathic precocious puberty girls. RESULTS: The ultrasonic parameters of uterus and ovary in normal girls significantly increased in average 9-year-old girls (1.87 ± 0.58) ml of uterine volume in 9-year-old group vs (1.03 ± 0.24) ml in 7-year-old group; ovarian volume (3.01 ± 2.73) ml of uterine volume in 9-year-old group vs 0.98 ± 0.36 ml in 7-year-old group. They were much greater in ICPP girls and decreased significantly at post-treatment, (1.16 ± 0.19) ml of uterus volume pre-treatment vs (1.02 ± 0.15) ml post-treatment; (2.11 ± 0.48) ml of ovarian volume pre-treatment, (1.72 ± 0.55) ml post-treatment; (1.36 ± 0.25) cm of the biggest follicular diameter pre-treatment, (1.16 ± 0.36) cm post-treatment. CONCLUSION: Endosonography is an important tool of evaluating the development status and treatment effect in normal and ICPP girls.