Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) with cervical lymph node metastases depict poor prognosis. Ultrasound (US)-guided fine needle aspiration cytology (US-FNAC) showed certain limitations in diagnosis of PTC with cervical lymph node metastases, while no effective molecular marker for diagnosis of this disease has been found. US-FNAC combined with molecular markers are helpful to detecting cervical lymph nodes metastases of PTC. The relative research progresses were reviewed in this article.

Objective To grasp the main environmental factors affecting the growth of Astragalus membranaceus(Fisch.)Bge.var.mongholicus(Bge.)Hsiao;To predict the distribution of suitable areas of Astragalus membranaceus(Fisch.)Bge.var.mongholicus(Bge.)Hsiao in Shanxi Province;To provide references for the rational distribution of the resources in Shanxi Province.Methods This study utilized the sample point longitude and latitude information collected in the"Fourth Survey of Chinese Materia Medica Resources"database in Shanxi Province.The data were supplemented by searching the China Digital Herbarium and retrieving related literature records.347 sample points distribution data and environmental factors were added to the MaxEnt model.The main environmental factors and contribution rates affecting the geographical distribution of Astragalus membranaceus(Fisch.)Bge.var.mongholicus(Bge.)Hsiao were screened out.The ArcGIS software was used to divide the ecological suitable area of Astragalus membranaceus(Fisch.)Bge.var.mongholicus(Bge.)Hsiao in Shanxi Province.Results The area under the ROC curve of the established MaxEnt model was 0.909,indicating that the model prediction results were accurate.The model screened 19 environmental factors.Among them,climate factor was the most important environmental factor,followed by biological factor and topographic factor,and soil factor had the least influence.The potential suitable areas of Astragalus membranaceus(Fisch.)Bge.var.mongholicus(Bge.)Hsiao in Shanxi Province were mainly distributed in the northern mountainous areas,presenting a trend of gradually decreasing suitability levels from north to south.Under the current climate conditions,the most suitable area for Astragalus membranaceus(Fisch.)Bge.var.mongholicus(Bge.)Hsiao in Shanxi Province was 15 424 km2,the suitable area was 19 856 km2,the sub suitable area was 59 436 km2,and the unsuitable area was 61 894 km2.Conclusion Based on MaxEnt model and ArcGIS software,this study predicts the distribution of suitable areas of Astragalus membranaceus(Fisch.)Bge.var.mongholicus(Bge.)Hsiao in Shanxi Province,which has certain reference value for the protection and rational distribution of Astragalus membranaceus(Fisch.)Bge.var.mongholicus(Bge.)Hsiao resources in Shanxi Province.

Objective To establish ecological suitability zone of Forsythia suspensa(Thunb.)Vahl in Shanxi Province;To study the quality regionalization of Forsythia suspensa(Thunb.)Vahl from different producing areas in Shanxi Province;To provide reference for reasonable planting and wild tending of Forsythia suspensa(Thunb.)Vahl.Methods Maximum entropy(MaxEnt)model and ArcGIS software were used to study the ecological suitability of Forsythia suspensa(Thunb.)Vahl in Shanxi Province;By screening the main environmental factors and combining them with the content of forsythoside and forsythoside A in Forsythia suspensa(Thunb.)Vahl of different regions,a quality zoning of Forsythia suspensa Thunb.Vahl medicinal materials in Shanxi Province based on forsythoside,forsythoside A and environmental factors was constructed.Results The ecological suitable areas of Forsythia suspensa Thunb.Vahl in Shanxi Province were mainly distributed in the southern part of Shanxi Province,mainly in Linfen,Yuncheng,Changzhi,and Jincheng.The general contents of forsythoside and forsythoside A in the Forsythia suspensa(Thunb.)Vahl medicinal material were gradually reduced from southern part to northern part of Shanxi Province.The comprehensive quality was high in southern part of Shanxi Province,mainly in Linfen,Changzhi,Yuncheng and Jincheng.Conclusion The results of this study are consistent with the actual survey.The southern part of Shanxi province is a suitable planting area for high quality Forsythia suspensa(Thunb.)Vahl,which provides a reference for the standardized planting and wild tending of Forsythia suspensa(Thunb.)Vahl.

Objective: To explore the correlation of ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration(US-FNA) combined with BRAF V600E mutation detection and ultrasound features and central cervical lymph nodes metastasis of classic papillary thyroid cancer(PTC) for providing a reliable molecular basis for clinical preoperative evaluation of patients. Methods: Ninty-three cases of patients collected from October 2017 to November 2018 in Gansu Province Hospital were enrolled, who underwent general ultrasonic examination TI-RADS ≥4a, the US-FNA highly suspicious of PTC, thyroid surgery including total thyroidectomy and central cervical lymph node dissection, with the postoperative pathologic results of classical PTC and whether the central cervical lymph node metastasis happened in the patients. Part of the specimen applied HE staining for cytological diagnosis, the other part of specimen was used real-time for detection of BRAF V600E gene mutation by fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. Results: Univariate analysis showed that the occurrence of cervical lymph node metastasis for classic PTC were significantly correlated with gender(χ²=10.303, P=0.002), BRAF V600E mutation(χ²=31.204, P=0.000) and extrathyroidal invasion(χ²=12.848, P=0.000). Multi-logistic regression analysis showed that BRAF V600E mutation(OR=13.324, 95%CI=4.058-43.744, P=0.000) and extrathyroidal invasion(OR=5.738, 95%CI=1.766-18.643, P=0.004) were the risk predictors of cervical lymph node metastasis of classic PTC. Gender(OR=0.385, 95%CI=0.112-1.324, P=0.130) was not the risk predictor. Conclusions US-FNA combined with BRAF V600E mutation and extrathyroidal invasion are the risk factors in predicting central cervical lymph node metastasis in classic PTC. Patients with these two risk factors should be elected to undergo prophylactic central cervical lymph node dissection.