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Objective To investigate the features of breast cancer with different sizes of tumor examined using conventional ultrasound and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS). Methods A total of 107 cases with breast cancer diagnosed by pathology were retrospectively analyzed. There were one group(group≤2.0 cm) with tumor maximum diameter ≤2.0 cm (50.5%, 54 cases) and other group (group >2.0 cm) with that >2.0 cm (49.5%, 53 cases) based on diameter of breast cancer. The features shown with both conventional ultrasound and CEUS examination were compared between two groups. Results Non-parallel orientation was more present in group ≤2.0 cm than in group >2.0 cm by conventional ultrasound [19 cases(35.2%) vs. 6 cases(11.3%), P=0.004]. More cases with Alder grade of blood flow 0-Ⅰ were found in group ≤2.0 cm than those in group >2.0 cm [41 (75.9%) cases vs. 25 (47.2%) cases, P=0.002]. There were four characteristics with differences between two groups in CEUS examination. First was there were 23(42.6%) cases of breast cancer with hypo-enhancement and iso-enhancement in ≤2.0 cm group and 5 (9.4%) cases in group >2.0 cm with statistically significant differences, P2.0 cm [34 (63.0%) cases vs. 20 (37.7%) cases, P=0.009]. Third, the cases with filling defect of contrast in tumor were more in group ≤2.0 cm than in group >2.0 cm [49(90.7%) cases vs. 30(56.6%) cases, P2.0 cm [48(88.9%) cases vs. 37(69.8%) cases, P=0.038]. The differences between two groups were significant statistically. Conclusions The results in this study showed that the difference in the characteristics of conventional ultrasound and CEUS imaging is clear in different size of breast cancer. The size of focus should be considered in the analysis of CEUS.

Nutrient enrichment impacts grassland plant diversity such as species richness, functional trait composition and diversity, but whether and how these changes affect ecosystem stability in the face of increasing climate extremes remains largely unknown.We quantified the direct and diversity‐mediated effects of nutrient addition (by nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) on the stability of above‐ground biomass production in 10 long‐term grassland experimental sites. We measured five facets of stability as the temporal invariability, resistance during and recovery after extreme dry and wet growing seasons.Leaf traits (leaf carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and specific leaf area) were measured under ambient and nutrient addition conditions in the field and were used to construct the leaf economic spectrum (LES). We calculated functional trait composition and diversity of LES and of single leaf traits. We quantified the contribution of intraspecific trait shifts and species replacement to change in functional trait composition as responses to nutrient addition and its implications for ecosystem stability.Nutrient addition decreased functional trait diversity and drove grassland communities to the faster end of the LES primarily through intraspecific trait shifts, suggesting that intraspecific trait shifts should be included for accurately predicting ecosystem stability. Moreover, the change in functional trait diversity of the LES in turn influenced different facets of stability. That said, these diversity‐mediated effects were overall weak and/or overwhelmed by the direct effects of nutrient addition on stability. As a result, nutrient addition did not strongly impact any of the stability facets. These results were generally consistent using individual leaf traits but the dominant pathways differed. Importantly, major influencing pathways differed using average trait values extracted from global trait databases (e.g. TRY).Synthesis. Investigating changes in multiple facets of plant diversity and their impacts on multidimensional stability under global changes such as nutrient enrichment can improve our understanding of the processes and mechanisms maintaining ecosystem stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small non-coding RNAs (sRNAs) are pivotal post-transcriptional regulatory factors influencing biological activity. Studies on the rice bacterial blight pathogen Xanthomonas oryzae pathovar oryzae strain PXO99A, previously identified a virulence-associated sRNA, trans3287. A mutant strain lacking this sRNA, named SK01, resulted in markedly diminished virulence towards rice. This study aims to further elucidate the underlying bacterial virulent function of trans3287. The expression of trans3287 was quantified in virulence-inducing and standard nutritional conditions to clarify its production mechanism. The detection of virulence-associated genes revealed that trans3287 regulated the synthesis processes of extracellular polysaccharides, lipopolysaccharides, and the type III secretion system. Moreover, bioinformatics prediction and quantitative PCR indicated a potential direct target of trans3287, PXO_03470, encoding cardiolipin synthase. A dual-plasmid system fusing with GFP tag and protein immunoblotting confirmed that sRNA trans3287 negatively regulated PXO_03470. Bacterial biofilms demonstrated trans3287 regulated the disruption of biofilm integrity through cardiolipin synthase. This study provides preliminary insights into the mechanistic underpinnings of the role of sRNA trans3287 in mediating bacterial virulence through cardiolipin synthase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]