Objective To evaluate the value and security of the use of medical thoracoscopy in the diagnosis of elderly patients with un‐known pleural effusion and to analyze the finally pathological results .Methods STORZ medical thoracoscopy was used to retrospectively study the 68 patients with unknown pleural effusion .Multiple punch biopsy was taken in the questionable diseased regions under direct vi‐sion .The changes of patients′condition in intraoperative and postoperative ,and the causes of pleural effusion were observed .Results Sixty‐three cases were confirmed in 68 cases of patients with unexplained pleural effusion ,the diagnostic rate was 92 .6% .In all cases ,26 cases (38 .2% ) were tuberculosis ,31 cases (45 .6% ) were malignant tumor ,3 cases (4 .4% ) were chronic pus chest and Aspergillus infection in 1 case(1 .5% ) ,a large number of aspergillus hyphae were found in biopsy tissue .Non‐specific inflammatory changed in 7 cases (10 .3% ) ,in which 2 patients were eventually diagnosed with pleural effusion caused by pulmonary schistosomiasis ,and the rest cases were still un‐known .All cases had no serious complications .Conclusion Medical thoracoscopy have a good effect in diagnosing elderly patients with un‐explained pleural effusion ,which could be easily and safely performed .The primary cause of unexplained pleural effusion in elder patients may be malignant tumor ,followed by tuberculosis .

Objective To investigate the intrauterine growth characteristics of twins and birthweight discordant twins (discordant twins ).MethodsTotal of 1010 twin pregnancies (2020 fetuses) with complete delivery records from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology,the First and Third Affiliated Hospital of SUN Yat-sen University between January 1,2000 and July 31,2010 were studied retrospectively.One handred and ninteen cases (238 fetuses) with intrapair birthweight difference ≥25％ were determined as the discordant twins group,and the other 891 cases (1782 fetuses) with intrapair birthweight difference ＜ 25％ were identified as the concordant twins group.The singleton control group included 4042 singleton pregnancies in the same period.Results ( 1 ) Comparison of clinical data between the twins groups:the birthweight of larger-twin,smaller-twin and intrapair birthweight difference in the discordant twins group and the concordant twins group were ( 2090± 827 ) g,( 1392 ± 592 ) g,( 33.9 ±9.3 ) ％,and ( 2408 ± 543 ) g,( 2191 ± 505 ) g,( 8.9 ± 6.5 ) ％,respectively,with significant differences (P＜0.01).The incidence of discordant twins was 11.78％ (119/1010).Compared with the concordant twins group,the discordant twins group bad higher proportion of monochorionic twins,and higher prevalence of pregnancy complications such as late miscarriage,abnormal umbilical insertion,twin-twin transfusion syndrome and hypertensive disorders in pregnancy ( P ＜ 0.05 ).( 2 ) The characteristics of twin birthweight distribution:① In all the 2020 twins,80.05％ (1617/2020) fetuses had birthweight below the 50th percentile of the singleton control group,while 23.71％ (479/2020) feeuses got birthweight below the 10th percentile of the singleton control group.② After 19th gestational week,the 50th and 90th percentile of all twins' birthweight were lower than those of singletons.After 38th gestational week,the birthweight of singletons kept increasing and reached its peak at 41 th week,while the birthweight of twins reached its peak at 38th week,followed by a decline at 39 weeks,which was even lower than the 10th percentile of the singleton control group.③ The distribution of birthweight of larger- and smaller-twin in the discordant twins group:65 (54.6％,65/119) larger-twins and one (0.8％,1/119) smaller-twin had birthweight above the 50th percentile of all twins,while 5 (4.2％,5/119) larger-twins and 97 ( 81.5％,97/119 ) smaller-twins got birthweight below the 10th percentile of all twins.Conclusions ( 1 ) The patterns of birthweight curves for each gestational week are different between twins and singletons.In order to evaluate the growth of twins, birthweight reference for twins shoull be employed.( 2 ) According to the reference of twins birthweight,the most discordant twins are complicated with fetal growth restriction at least in one twin.

Objective:To investigate the diagnostic performance of Xpert Mycobacterium tuberculosis/rifampin (Xpert MTB/RIF) assay for pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Methods:Clinical data of 226 patients with AIDS and suspected pulmonary TB in Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University from July 2017 to November 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. Fluorescence staining microscopy of sputum smear, BACTEC MGIT 960 liquid culture (or Roche solid culture) and Xpert MTB/RIF assay were implemented respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of Xpert MTB/RIF in the diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infection and rifampin resistance were analyzed. Results:Totally 226 patients of suspected pulmonary TB were enrolled. There were 94(41.6%) patients had positive mycobacterium culture, in which 51 (54.3%) were MTB and 43 (45.7%) were nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). Using the positive MTB culture of sputum and mycobacterial protein from BCG of Rm 0.64 in electrophoresis (MPB64) as reference standard, the sensitivity and specificity of Xpert MTB/RIF assay for MTB diagnosis were 72.6%(95% confidence interval ( CI) 66.7%-78.4%) and 97.1% (95% CI 95.0%-99.3%), respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of Xpert MTB/RIF assay for MTB diagnosis in patients with positive sputum smear were 76.7%(95% CI 67.7%-85.8%) and 90.0(95% CI 83.6%-96.5%), respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of Xpert MTB/RIF assay for MTB diagnosis in patients with negative sputum smear were 50.0%(95% CI 41.8%-58.2%)and 99.3%(95% CI 97.9%-100.0%), respectively. With phenotypic resistance as reference standard, the sensitivity and specificity of Xpert MTB/RIF assay for rifampicin resistance were 75.0% and 100.0%, respectively. Conclusion:Among AIDS patients, the performance of Xpert MTB/RIF assay for pulmonary TB diagnosis is pretty good and could differentiate MTB from NTM rapidly, which has good application value.

Background::Psychological stress has been reported to be a potential risk factor for hypertension among females, but it remains unclear whether spousal chronic stress levels alter the risk of hypertension among women. We examined the associations between stress within the family and hypertension among married women.Methods::Reproductive-aged women who were planning for pregnancy and their husbands were recruited from the National Free Pre-pregnancy Checkup Projects (NFPCP) across 31 provinces in China in 2016 and 2017. Perceived stress of wives or husbands was measured with a 5-point Likert-type scale, and assessed from three domains: work/life-related stress, economic stress, and overall stress. Multivariable-adjusted logistic regression models were used to assess the associations between stress status and the prevalence of hypertension.Results::Of 10,027,644 couples, 261,098 (2.60%) women had hypertension. The results showed that higher stress levels among themselves or their husbands were associated with a higher prevalence of hypertension in women ( Pfor trend <0.001). Compared with non-stressed participants, female participants with the highest stress themselves were at a greater risk of hypertension, with adjusted odds ratio (OR) of 1.31 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.25-1.37); and compared with participants whose husbands had no stress, those whose husbands had the highest stress level were at a higher risk of hypertension with adjusted OR of 1.24 (95% CI: 1.20-1.29). Moreover, compared with non-stressed status for both couples, only-wife-stressed, only-husband-stressed, and both-stressed couples were found to be significantly associated with increased risks of wives’ hypertension, with adjusted ORs of 1.28 (95% CI: 1.25-1.31), 1.19 (95% CI: 1.17-1.21), and 1.28 (95% CI: 1.26-1.31), respectively. Conclusion::Moderate to severe stress in both spouses might be associated with female hypertension prevalence, which highlights the importance of paying attention to the psychological stresses of couples within the family.

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of Danggui Shaoyaosan （DSS） on the morphology and function of mitochondria in rats model of Alzheimer's disease （AD） and its possible mechanism. MethodRats model of AD was established by injection of streptozocin （STZ） into bilateral ventricles of SD rats. The 40 rats were randomly divided into sham group， model group， low， medium and high dosages of Danggui Shaoyaosan （12，24，36 g·kg^-1·d^-1） groups，observed the morphological changes of mitochondria in hippocampus of rats by electron microscopy after 14 days of continuous gavage. In situ end labeling（TUNEL） staining used to detect apoptosis and immunofluorescencereactive used to observe the expression of reactive oxygen species （ROS） and peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor γ coactivator lalpha （PGC-1α），quantitative Real-time polymerase chain reaction（Real-time PCR）detected the mRNA expression of dynamin-related protein 1 （Drp1），mitochondrial fusion protein 2 （MFN2） ，cytochrome C oxidase subunit Ⅳ （COX Ⅳ） and PGC-1α. Western blot detected the protein expression of adenosine 5'-monophosphate （AMP）-activated protein kinase （AMPK），phosphorylation（p）-AMPK，recombinant Sirtuin 1 （SIRT1） and PGC-1α. ResultCompared with the sham group，the results of model group showed that the damage of mitochondria in hippocampus was more obvious，accelerated the ROS production and apoptosis rate （P<0.01），decreased the mRNA level of MFN2，COX Ⅳ，PGC-1α，increased the mRNA level of Drp1，and descended the protein of p-AMPK/AMPK，SIRT1，PGC-1α （P<0.05，P<0.01）.Compared with the model group，the medium and high dose of DSS group notably improved the damage of mitochondria，reduced the production of ROS and apoptosis rate （P<0.01），promoted the mRNA expression of MFN2，COX Ⅳ，PGC-1α，inhibited the mRNA expression of Drp1，and up-regulated the protein of p-AMPK/AMPK，SIRT1，PGC-1α （P<0.01）. ResultDSS can significantly ameliorate the mitochondrial homeostasis imbalance in AD rats.

Adipose tissue is a promising target for treating obesity and metabolic diseases. However, pharmacological agents usually fail to effectively engage adipocytes due to their extraordinarily large size and insufficient vascularization, especially in obese subjects. We have previously shown that during cold exposure, connexin43 (Cx43) gap junctions are induced and activated to connect neighboring adipocytes to share limited sympathetic neuronal input amongst multiple cells. We reason the same mechanism may be leveraged to improve the efficacy of various pharmacological agents that target adipose tissue. Using an adipose tissue-specific Cx43 overexpression mouse model, we demonstrate effectiveness in connecting adipocytes to augment metabolic efficacy of the β ₃-adrenergic receptor agonist Mirabegron and FGF21. Additionally, combing those molecules with the Cx43 gap junction channel activator danegaptide shows a similar enhanced efficacy. In light of these findings, we propose a model in which connecting adipocytes via Cx43 gap junction channels primes adipose tissue to pharmacological agents designed to engage it. Thus, Cx43 gap junction activators hold great potential for combination with additional agents targeting adipose tissue.