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Background and Objectives: Camrelizumab plus rivoceranib showed significant clinical benefits in progression-free survival and overall survival compared to sorafenib in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study aimed to assess its cost effectiveness from the perspective of Chinese health care system. Methods: A Markov state-transition model was developed based on the Phase 3 randomized CARES-310 clinical trial data. Health state utility values were obtained from the CARES-310 clinical trial, and direct medical costs were derived from the relevant literature and local charges. The measured outcomes included quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). Probabilistic and one-way sensitivity analyses were performed to assess the uncertainty of the model. Results: In the base-case analysis, the incremental effectiveness and cost of camrelizumab plus rivoceranib versus sorafenib were 0.41 QALYs and $13,684.84, respectively, resulting in an ICER of $33,619.98/QALY, lower than the willingness-to-pay threshold of China ($35,864.61/QALY). Subgroup analyses revealed that the ICERs of camrelizumab plus rivoceranib versus sorafenib were $35,920.01 and $29,717.98 in patients with ALBI grade 1 and grade 2, respectively. One-way sensitivity analyses indicated that the cost of camrelizumab, the proportion of patients receiving subsequent treatment in the camrelizumab plus rivoceranib group, and the cost of rivoceranib were the most significant factors in the base-case analysis. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis suggested that the probabilities of cost effectiveness of camrelizumab plus rivoceranib were 61.27%, 51.46%, and 82.78% for any grade, and ALBI grade 1 and grade 2, respectively. Conclusions: Camrelizumab plus rivoceranib was more cost effective than sorafenib as first-line therapy for unresectable HCC in the Chinese setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis), once highly praised worldwide, has been found to be a problematic species due to its unconstrained expansion into adjacent woodlands and negative effects on the function services of forest ecosystems. To determine the major factors affecting bamboo expansion into neighbor woodlands, we investigated the expansion characteristics of moso bamboo and the properties of stand structure and soil for 58 bamboo–woodland interfaces (BWIs) across Jiangxi province in China. Then, we analyzed the relationships between the variables of bamboo expansion and the properties of interfaces through a redundancy analysis. The characteristics (the expansion distance and the number and size of new culms) of moso bamboo expansion into disturbed forests were more significant (p < 0.01) than those into non-disturbed forests. The bamboo expansion into deciduous broad-leaved forest was much faster (1.33 m/yr) than evergreen broad-leaved forest (0.82 m/yr) and needle-leaved forest (1.08 m/yr). The characteristics of stand structure had more direct explanatory power (58.8%) than soil properties (4.3%) and their interaction (10.0%) for the variations in bamboo expansion. The canopy closure of recipient forests was identified as the most significant factor negatively correlated to bamboo expansion. The number of parent culms and the ratio of deciduous to evergreen trees ranked in sequence, and both imposed positive effects on the expansion. Regarding soil properties, only the water content was identified for its explanatory power and negative influence on bamboo expansion. Our findings illustrated that the expansion of moso bamboo showed remarkable variations when facing different woodlands. Stand characteristics (canopy closure, canopy height, etc.) of good explanatory power were the major variables affecting the expansion of moso bamboo. In order to control the expansion of bamboo and protect woodlands, disturbances (extracting timber, girdling trunks) should be prevented in bamboo–woodland interfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rearranged during transfection (RET) fusion is a kind of uncommon mutation (about 1%) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Although selective tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) (selpercatinib and pralsetinib) have been available, there are no real-world data about the difference in the efficacy between RET-TKI and other regimens in China. Methods: We conducted a multicenter retrospective analysis of 49 patients with RET-fusion-positive NSCLC. The characteristics and the clinical outcomes with RET-TKI, multi-kinase inhibitor (MKI), systematic chemotherapy, and immune-checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-based regimens were evaluated. Results: Of the 92 treatments in patients included, RET-TKI was administered 24 times (26.1%), systematic chemotherapy was 35 times (38.0%), ICI-based regimens was 26 times (28.3%), and MKI was 7 times (7.6%). RET-TKI had a higher objective response rate than the chemotherapy and ICI-based regimens (63.6% vs. 14.3% vs. 21.0%, p < 0.001). The median progress-free survival (mPFS) of RET-TKI, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and MKI was 16.9 (95% CI: 1.8–32.0) months, 11.9 (95% CI: 7.7–16.1) months, 6.7 (95% CI: 2.9–10.5) months, and 2.8 (95% CI: 1.1–4.4) months, respectively. The mPFS of RET-TKI was longer than MKI and immunotherapy (p < 0.001), while without difference with chemotherapy (p = 0.096). Moreover, chemotherapy had longer mPFS than MKI (p < 0.001). In subgroup analysis, patients with brain metastases in RET-TKI treatment had worse mPFS than the one of patients without brain metastases (6.1 (95% CI: 0.0–13.9) months and 8.5 (95% CI: 6.3–10.6) months, p = 0.012). For patients having chemotherapy with or without angiogenesis inhibitors, the mPFS was 12.0 (95% CI: 11.05–13.02) months and 9.1 (95% CI: 8.31–9.89) months (p = 0.468). In the group of ICI-based regimens, the expression level of PD-L1 did not affect the mPFS of ICI [PD-L1 (+) vs. PD-L1 (–): 4.7 (95% CI: 1.8–9.0) months vs. 7.6 (95% CI: 1.1–14.0) months, p = 0.910]. For overall patients, ECOG PS score, therapy lines, and therapeutic regimens were the independent factors affecting the prognosis. Conclusions: In RET-fusion-positive NSCLC, RET-TKI is the best choice for a better response rate and PFS. In addition, chemotherapy which may bring a good PFS, is still a good choice for this group of patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Bamboo invasion significantly increased soil pH across the subtropical forests of China. • The magnitude of soil pH increase was related to the invaded forest type. • The change in soil pH increased linearly with invasive bamboo density. Soil pH has cascading effects on terrestrial ecosystem functions by regulating the biogeochemical cycle, which can be altered by plant invasion. Bamboo invasion occurs throughout the world in both native and introduced habitats, especially in Asia. However, the effect of bamboo invasion on soil pH is still poorly understood. Here, we investigated the invasion-induced change in pH (CIP) with pairwise sampling from 215 bamboo-tree transects in subtropical China, including 203 pure bamboo forest (BF) plots, 188 mixed bamboo-tree forest (MBTF) plots and 199 non-bamboo-invaded tree forest (TF) plots. We found a significant increase in soil pH after bamboo invasion from 4.44 (±0.03) in TFs to 4.52 (±0.03) in MBTFs and 4.67 (±0.03) in BFs. The CIP was related to the invaded forest type, with the largest changes in deciduous broadleaf (0.38 ± 0.09) and mixed evergreen and deciduous broadleaf forests (0.38 ± 0.10), followed by mixed needleleaf and broadleaf forests (0.24 ± 0.05), and the smallest changes in evergreen broadleaf (0.19 ± 0.03) and needleleaf forests (0.20 ± 0.03). Further analysis showed that the CIP increased linearly with invasive bamboo density and was independent of climate factors. Overall, we provide the first evidence of a large-scale observation for bamboo invasion-induced forest soil pH increase. Our findings highlight that plant invasion should not be neglected as a driver of global change via its effects on soil pH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The whole-plant biomass equation of moso bamboo is W = 0.0646 D 2 H 0.7752 . • The relationship between below- and aboveground biomass for moso bamboo forest is M B = 1.6547 (M A) 0.6252 . • Moso bamboo forest has a high proportion of belowground biomass, with an average RS ratio of 0.37. • Biomass C storage of moso bamboo forests accounts for 1.7–2.1% of China's total forest biomass. Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) forests are widely distributed in southern China and have expanded rapidly in recent years. Although some studies have explored bamboo biomass, there are great uncertainties regarding regional- and national-scale estimations of the total biomass of bamboo forests due to a lack of systematic surveys and root biomass sampling. We investigated 322 bamboo stand plots at 48 sites across all distributed areas (15 provinces) in China in 2017–2019. We further measured the biomass of 147 individual shoots and 132 whole plants in Jiangxi Province, and determined the above- and belowground biomass in 11 sample plots using the complete harvesting method. At individual-level, the average biomass of whole-bamboo and shoot were estimated as 15.6 ± 8.3 and 12.8 ± 6.9 kg per individual, respectively. The stand mean aboveground and belowground biomass values were 60.3 ± 25.7 and 21.0 ± 5.6 Mg ha−1, with a total stand biomass of 81.4 ± 31.3 Mg ha−1 and an average root-to-shoot ratio of 0.37 ± 0.07. Using these data, combined with the 9th National Forest Inventory (NFI) dataset, we estimated that the total bamboo biomass of China was 283.0 ± 6.0 Teragrams (Tg) by using individual mean biomass and 349.5 ± 8.3 Tg by using stand mean biomass, which accounted for 1.7–2.1% of the national total forest biomass carbon pool (i.e., 8.5 Pg C). Our results provide an accurate estimation of bamboo forest biomass based on direct field measurements, and these estimates are essential to the parameterization of forest carbon models in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - To analyze Chinese consumers in purchasing pirated software; to establish and empirically validate a model for analyzing consumers in software piracy; and to help software companies understand the software piracy issue in China and design anti-piracy strategies. Design/methodology/approach - A research model was established by extending a model used by Ang et al. in studying Singaporeans' purchasing pirated CD. A survey was conducted. Hypotheses were tested through stepwise regressions. An exploratory factor analysis was carried out to analyze Chinese consumers' attitude toward software piracy. Findings - Four personal and social factors were found important in influencing Chinese consumers' attitude toward software piracy, including value consciousness, normality susceptibility, novelty seeking, and collectivism. Five attitude measures, which were important in influencing consumer purchase intention, were identified as reliability of pirated software, recognized social benefits of piracy; functionality of pirated software, risks of purchasing, and perceived legality of purchasing. An exploratory study identified three attitude attributes. Research limitations/implications - As student samples were used, caution needs to be exercised when generalizing findings from this study. Regressions were used to test construct relationships in the model, and the model was not tested as a whole. Practical implications - This research provides an in-depth understanding on Chinese consumers, and the research findings are useful in designing anti-piracy strategies in China. Originality/value - This research is one of the first to examine the Chinese market which is a focus of piracy problems for the software industries. This research contributes to theory development in developing and testing a model and important constructs, and to industrial practice in providing understanding on Chinese consumers to help design anti-piracy strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new cerebroside, asperiamide A (1), and adenosine were produced from a marine fungus, identified as Asperillus sp ., collected in the Mei Zhou Gulf, China. Two-dimensional NMR methods, FAB-MS, were used to established the structure of the new compound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three new triterpenoid saponins, hylonosides III-V (1-3) have been isolated, along with three known oleanolic acid saponins (4-6), from the methanol extract of leaves of Ilex hylonoma. The structures were elucidated using a combination of homo- and hetero-nuclear 2D NMR techniques (COSY, TOCSY, NOESY, HMQC and HMBC) and negative FAB-MS. The new compounds were characterized as 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 --> 4)-beta-D-glucuronopyranosyl siaresinolic acid-28-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl ester (1), 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 --> 4)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 --> 2)-beta-D-glucuronopyranosyl siaresinolic acid-28-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl ester (2), 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 --> 4)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 --> 2)-beta-D-glucuronopyranosyl oleanolic acid-28-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl ester (3).

A novel 18,19-seco-ursane saponin, aculeoside I (1), in addition to four known saponins were isolated from the leaves of Ilex aculeolata Nakai and identified by using spectroscopic and chemical methods. The structure of the new saponin was established as 3,19-dihydroxyl-16,21-epoxy-18,19-seco-13(18)-urs-ene-28-oic-acid-19-O-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 --> 2)-alpha-L-arabinopyranoside.