The Application Value of Ultrasound Imaging in the Differential Diagnosis of Benign and Malignant Breast Nodules of BI-RADS 3 and Above

Objective:To explore the diagnostic value of ultrasound imaging for breast nodules of breast imaging-reporting and data system(BI-RADS)category 3 and above.Methods:From June 2021 to July 2022,163 patients with breast nodules of BI-RADS 3 or above were selected as the research subjects.After pathological diagnosis,24 cases were malignant breast nodules of BI-RADS 3 or above,while 139 cases were benign breast nodules of BI-RADS 3 or above.The diagnosis rate of malignant and benign breast nodules of BI-RADS 3 or above,including 95%CI,was observed and analyzed.Results:The malignant and benign detection rates of conventional ultrasound were 88.63%and 75.00%,respectively,and the malignant and benign detection rates of ultrasound imaging were 93.18%and 87.50%,respectively,with 95%CIs greater than 0.7.Conclusion:Ultrasound imaging can help improve the diagnostic accuracy of benign and malignant breast nodules of BI-RADS 3 and above and reduce the misdiagnosis rate.

Composition and structure of species along altitude gradient in Moghan-Sabalan rangelands,Iran

This study provides a checklist of species distributed at the altitude gradient of MoghanSabalan rangelands in Ardabili province, Northwest Iran. We evaluated the changes in species composition, growth types of species, Raunkiaer's life forms, geographical distribution, threat and endemicity status, and palatability of species along two altitudinal gradients in the sampling plots, which were conducted in eleven sites/habitats with 300 meters above sea level(masl) altitude intervals(from 100 to 3300 masl). We assessed the plant species composition with special reference to the gradient analysis, and identified overall 396 species, which was comprising 44 families and 194 genera. Results showed that Asteraceae family is by far the most species-rich family, followed by Poaceae, Fabaceae, Caryophyllaceae and Brassicaceae. Among the genera, Astragalus is the most diverse genus, followed by Allium, Veronica and Bromus, Galium, Silene and Ranunculus. Results indicated that the number of species increased as the altitude increased to 1200-1500 masl, but then starts to decline to 3300 masl. Family-to-genera ratio was 1:4.4, the family-tospecies ratio was 1:9, and the genera-to-species ratio was 1:2.04. Growth type of species analysis shows that the frequency of perennial plants was higher in the study area followed by annual species while the lower group was biennial species. The number of annuals showed a decreasing trend towards higher altitude. Hemicryptophytes and therophytes were the most frequent life forms constituted each with(41.9%). Hemicryptophytes showed an increasing trend with altitude, while therophytes showed a decreasing trend with altitude increase, followed by geophytes, chamaephytes, and phanerophytes. Results showed more than half of the species of the study area belonged to Iran-Turanian region and these species showed an increasing trend with altitude. In contrast, Sahara-Sindian species comprise a minor component of the spectrum, with decreasing trend with altitude. The rare and endangered species out of the surveyed taxonomic groups comprised 53 species in total which 29 of them are considered lower risk(LR), 13 data deficient(DD), 5 vulnerable(Vu) and with 3 rare(R) and identified endemic plants comprised 24 species. Some 56.6% species were identified as class III, 22.6% were class I and 20.8% were class II as the palatability variation. Moghan-Sabalan rangelands require strong conservation management policies in case of species loss and changing natural communities due to the occurrence of conversion into cropland, over-grazing and other anthropogenic effects.

Biological Databases for Human Research

The completion of the Human Genome Project lays a foundation for systematically studying the human genome from evolutionary history to precision medicine against diseases.With the explosive growth of biological data, there is an increasing number of biological databases that have been developed in aid of human-related research. Here we present a collection of humanrelated biological databases and provide a mini-review by classifying them into different categories according to their data types. As human-related databases continue to grow not only in count but also in volume, challenges are ahead in big data storage, processing, exchange and curation.

Numerical Study of the Impacts of Urban Expansion on Meiyu Precipitation over Eastern China

The Yangtze River Delta（YRD） has experienced significant urban expansion in recent years, while the Meiyu belt of China has demonstrated a decadal northward shifting trend. Thus, it is of interest to assess how urban expansion affects Meiyu precipitation and hopefully to reveal the underlying physical mechanisms involved. In this study, the urban extents over the YRD in 2001 and 2010 are derived based on land use/land cover（LULC） category data and nighttime light image data. Two parallel groups of10-summer（2001-2010） numerical simulations are carried out with the urban extents over the YRD in2001 and 2010, respectively. The results show that the urban expansion in the YRD tends to result in increased（decreased） Meiyu precipitation over the Huaihe River（Yangtze River） basin with intensities of0.2-1.2 mm day-1. Further analysis indicates that the spatiotemporal pattern of the Meiyu precipitation change induced by the urban expansion resembles the third empirical orthogonal function（EOF） mode of the observed Meiyu precipitation. Analyses of the possible underlying physical mechanisms reveal that urban expansion in the YRD leads to changes in the surface energy balance and warming（cooling） of tropospheric（stratospheric） air temperature over eastern China. Anomalous upward（downward） motion and moisture convergence（divergence） over the Huaihe River（Yangtze River） basin occur, corresponding to the increases（decreases） of the Meiyu precipitation over the Huaihe River（Yangtze River） basin.