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Background: Nonsecretory multiple myeloma (NSMM) is a rare type of multiple myeloma (MM). Few studies have described the clinical features and outcomes of NSMM in novel agents. Additionally, the prognostic characteristics have remained controversial in recent years. Purpose: To investigate the clinical and prognostic features of NSMM and explore the prognostic value of involved free light chain (FLC) levels in NSMM patients in the Chinese population. Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 176 newly diagnosed NSMM cases between January 2005 and December 2021 from 19 clinical centers in China. The control group was selected using a 1:4 propensity score matching technique of newly diagnosed secretory MM, with age, sex and diagnosis time as the matching variables. Results: The median age of NSMM patients was 60 years, and 22.6% of patients were classified as ISS stage 3. The ORR of the NSMM patients was 87.4%, and the CR was 65.8%. Compared to the matched secretory MM patients, more NSMM patients achieved CR after first-line treatment (65.8% vs. 36%, p = 0.000). The ORR of first-line treatment was not significantly different between NSMM and secretory MM (89.45% vs. 84.7%, p = 0.196). The first-line PFS was 27.5 m and 23 m (p = 0.063), and the median OS was 81 m and 70 months (p = 0.401). However, for CR-achieved NSMM and CR-not-achieved NSMM patients, the median PFS was 37 m vs. 16 m (p = 0.021), while the median OS showed no difference (107 m vs. 87 m, p = 0.290). In multivariate analysis, the significant factors for PFS were age ≥ 65 and ISS-3. ISS-3 was the only independent prognostic factor of OS. The iFLC ≥ 50 mg/L group had a high ORR of 97.3%, and the median PFS and OS were 48 m and NR, respectively. Compared to the matched secretory MM, the iFLC ≥ 50 mg/L group also showed more CR and longer OS (NR vs. 70 m, p = 0.006) and PFS (48 m vs. 23 m, p = 0.003). Conclusions: Our results revealed that Chinese NSMM patients are younger and have a higher CR but not superior survival. The subgroup of NSMM patients with iFLC ≥ 50 mg/L had better outcomes than secretory MM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We carried out a wind tunnel test to measure cladding loads for a high-rise building of 295 m in height, which would be located in the business center of Chongqing Municipality, P. R. China. The rigid model was used to determine fluctuating local pressures on the exterior surfaces of the building. The wind tunnel test results show the critical zone of wind pressures on building surfaces in both standalone and interference conditions. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was conducted by using the FLUENT Code to compare with the wind tunnel test results, and the steady three-dimensional turbulent flow with Realizable k-ε as a turbulence model was used. The CFD results are agree with the wind tunnel test results in regards to distributions of wind pressures over a high-rise building’s surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Priority areas were influenced by habitat proportion and dispersal ability. • The three structural factors explained approximate 80 % of patch importance indices. • Patch size was the primary factor determining the prioritization of patches. • A prioritizing procedure for habitat conservation and management is put forward. Urbanization has resulted in significant habitat loss and fragmentation worldwide, which threats the provision of ecosystem services for human health and life. Maintaining and improving the connectivity of the remnant habitats in and around cities is essential for landscape planning. Landscape metrics have been widely used for modeling and evaluating how landscape structures affect habitat connectivity for different species in many previous studies. However, the results of some previous studies were not consistent and even contradictory. This might limit the applications in practical habitat conservation. In the present study, four actual landscapes with a series of forest cover ratios in Fuzhou City, China, were selected. By using graph-based connectivity indices, the importance of habitat patches for landscape connectivity was explored. The effects of habitat proportion and three patch-level structural factors (i.e. , patch size, shape, and position) on habitat patch importance indices were examined. Our results suggest that habitat proportion governed the overall landscape connectivity. The three structural factors explained approximately 80 % of the variation in the patch importance of connectivity indices. Patch size was the primary factor determining patch importance, while patch location was related to the partition of the three fractions of patch importance. Considering the different roles of the three structural factors played in landscapes with different habitat proportion, the spatial advice for local habitat conservation was proposed. Moreover, general conservation strategies regarding different habitat proportions were provided at the landscape scale and patch scale. Our findings would provide scientific evidence for local decision makers, and could be combined with other conservation planning tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Birds are considered a good model for indicators of biodiversity response to habitat variations, as they are very sensitive to environmental change. However, continuous observations of habitat alterations from undisturbed landscapes to human-dominated ones, as well as the associated effects on bird biodiversity, are lacking. In this study, New Jiangwan Town in Shanghai, China was selected to illustrate the response of bird species, and thus biodiversity, to habitat loss and fragmentation. Land use/land cover (LULC) data and bird records from 2002 to 2013 were collected and analyzed. The results suggested that, due to urban sprawl, the area of wetland and shrub land had dropped by 82.4% and 87.3% by the end of 2013. Four different urbanization stages were identified in terms of the spatio-temporal variations in the landscape. To measure bird biodiversity, species richness and relative abundance were calculated, and they could account for the overall trend in biodiversity but might mask the process of species replacement. As an indicator of biodiversity accounting, the mean species abundance (MSA) of the original species would not include exotic or invasive species in its calculation, and its value decreased from 100% to 76.8% to 52.2% to 24.5% in the four corresponding stages. Finally, suggested by redundant analysis, the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on bird biodiversity differed in various bird communities, and the area and connectivity of wetlands were the most significant variables. Our findings could provide important information to inform bird biodiversity protection and habitat restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Goose circovirus (GoCV) is a potential immunosuppressive virus that poses a great hazard to the goose industry and has been shown to be widely distributed throughout China. We have established a fast, sensitive and highly specific TaqMan real-time quantitative PCR detection method for this virus. Specific primers and probes were designed against the conserved regions of the genomic GoCV Rep gene. The results showed that the assay was highly specific and sensitive for GoCV and did not cross-react with other non-targeted waterfowl viruses. The established method will be helpful for epidemiological detection and may be effective in the prevention and control of the disease. • A real-time PCR method based on TaqMan was established to detect goose circovirus. • TaqMan qPCR method was established with high sensitivity, specificity and reliability. • Provide tools for epidemiological investigation of GoCV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A goose parvovirus (GPV) Y strain was isolated from Muscovy ducks in Anhui Province of China. By polymerase chain reaction method, its complete genomic sequence was found to be 5,106 bp in length, consisting of 444-bp inverted terminal repeat, 1,844-bp non-structural protein and 2,199-bp capsid protein (VP) regions. Then its sequence was aligned with the sequences of GPV and Muscovy duck parvovirus published in the GenBank using the neighbor-joining method. The phylogenetic analyses based on the VP3 gene sequences revealed that the GPV Y strain along with those from Taiwan belonged to the subgroup IIb, while other GPV strains from Muscovy ducks belonged to the subgroup Ib and most of other GPV strains isolated in China mainland were clustered in the subgroup IIa. The absence of the deduced 703-705NRT glycosylation site in VP region may explain the host specificity of the GPV Y strain. The complete genomic sequence of the GPV Y strain from Muscovy ducks will help to understand the molecular and evolutionary characteristics of GPV.

Background: The I405V polymorphism of the cholesteryl ester transfer protein gene (CETP) has been suggested to be a protective factor conferring longevity in Ashkenazi Jews, although findings in other races are not supportive. This paper describes a case-control study and a meta-analysis conducted to derive a more precise estimation of the association between CETP 405V and longevity., Methods: We enrolled 1,021 ethnic Han Chinese participants (506 in the longevity group and 515 controls), then performed a meta-analysis that integrated the current study and previously published ones. Pooled odds ratios (OR) were calculated for allele contrasts, dominant and recessive inheritance models to assess the association between CETP 405V and longevity according to the ethnic stratification., Results: Our case-control data indicated that CETP 405V is a longevity risk allele in all genetic models (P additive =0.008; P dominant =0.008, OR(dominant)=0.673; P recessive =0.017, OR(recessive)=0.654) after adjustment for the apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 allele, body mass index and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. A synergy was detected between 405V and APOE ε4 (P=0.001, OR=0.530). Eight studies were eligible for meta-analysis, which confirmed 405V is the risky allele against longevity in all genetic models: allele contrasts (OR=0.81, 95%CI=0.74-0.88), dominant model (OR=0.72, 95%CI=0.64-0.82) and recessive model (OR=0.80, 95%CI=0.67-0.96). After ethnic stratification, 405V remained a risk allele in East Asians but no significant association was found in Europeans or white Americans., Conclusion: Our case-control study suggests CETP 405V as a risk allele against longevity in Chinese. The meta-analysis suggests the involvement of CETP 405V is protective in Ashkenazi Jews but is a risk allele against longevity in the East Asian (Chinese) population.