Study on the influence of COVID-19 on the growth of China's small and medium-sized construction enterprises.

The outbreak of COVID-19 at the beginning of 2020 had a significant impact on China's economy, society, and citizens; it also had a negative impact on the development of the construction industry. In particular, small and medium-sized construction enterprises with low ability to withstand risk have been strongly impacted, aggravating a crisis of survival among these firms. The focus of this study is to analyze the impact of COVID-19 on the growth of small and medium-sized construction companies. Based on the characteristics of small and medium-sized construction enterprises, this paper establishes a growth evaluation index and builds a growth evaluation model based on factor analysis. Twenty-three construction enterprises listed on small and medium-sized enterprises board are selected as samples, and the quarterly data of 2019 and 2020 are used for empirical analysis. The results show that the epidemic has had a high short-term impact on construction enterprises, and the total output value of the construction industry in the first quarter of 2020 was 16% lower than that in the same period of last year. In the long run, the impact of the epidemic on the growth of small and medium-sized construction enterprises has been limited. In the first quarter of 2020, the growth score of enterprises decreased by only 1.95% year-over-year, and it was essentially flat in the second and third quarters. The epidemic has had little influence on solvency, tangible resources or intangible resources but a high short term influence on profitability, capital expansion and market expectations. The long-term impact is small; It is conducive to the improvement of enterprise operation ability. Finally, to both address the influence of the COVID-19 on small and medium-sized construction enterprises and to realize their transformation and upgrading, targeted suggestions are offered at the policy and enterprise levels. The results will help to understand the impact of the epidemic on the growth of construction enterprises, and provide decision support for the healthy and orderly development of the follow-up construction industry.

[Corrigendum] BMI­1 promotes invasion and metastasis in endometrial adenocarcinoma and is a poor prognostic factor.

Following the publication of the above paper, an interested reader drew to the authors' attention that, in Fig. 5 on p. 1637, the data panel selected to represent the 'Ishikawa/+BMI­1 siRNA/Invasion' experiment in Fig. 5A appeared to overlap with the data shown for the 'JEC/+BMI­1 siRNA/Migration' panel in Fig. 5C, such that they were potentially derived from the same original source. The authors have re­examined their original data, and realize that the data panel selected for the 'Ishikawa/+BMI­1 siRNA/Invasion' experiment in Fig. 5A was inadvertently selected incorrectly. The corrected version of Fig. 5, showing the correct data for the 'Ishikawa/+BMI­1 siRNA/Invasion' experiment in Fig. 5A, is shown below. Note that this error did not affect the overall conclusions reported in the study. The authors are grateful to the Editor of Oncology Reports for granting them the opportunity to publish this Corrigendum; furthermore, they apologize for any inconvenience caused to the readership of the Journal. [Oncology Reports 43: 1630­1640, 2020; DOI: 10.3892/or.2020.7539].

BMI­1 promotes invasion and metastasis in endometrial adenocarcinoma and is a poor prognostic factor.

Endometrial adenocarcinoma is one of the most common types of gynecological malignancies and its incidence and mortality rates are increasing. Due to tumor recurrence and metastasis, the overall five­year survival rate of patients with endometrial adenocarcinoma is shortened. The aim of the present was to investigate the role of the polycomb group protein B­lymphoma Mo­MLV insertion region 1 (BMI­1) in the invasion, metastasis and the epithelial­mesenchymal transition (EMT) of endometrial adenocarcinoma cells, as well its effects on the prognosis of patients with endometrial adenocarcinoma. Immunohistochemistry was used to examine the expression profile of BMI­1 in normal and endometrial adenocarcinoma tissues. Western blotting was used to examine the expression levels of BMI­1 and EMT markers. Kaplan­Meier plots and a Cox proportional hazards model were used to assess the overall survival. MTT cell viability assays were used to detect the proliferation of endometrial cancer cells. Transwell assays were used to examine cell migration and invasion. Small interfering RNA was used to downregulate BMI­1 expression levels, to study its effect on EMT. Immunohistochemical and clinicopathological analyses showed that BMI­1 expression was increased in endometrial adenocarcinoma tissue compared with the normal endometrial tissue (P<0.05). The increased expression levels of BMI­1 were closely associated with stage, myometrial invasion and lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). Kaplan­Meier plots and a Cox proportional hazards model showed that increased BMI­1 expression was associated with a less favorable prognosis [P=0.040, hazards ratio (HR)=1.596] and was associated with late­stage adenocarcinoma (P=0.006, HR=1.670). Myometrial invasion (P=0.006, HR=1.509) and lymph node metastasis (P=0.004, HR=1.703) were determined to predict a less favorable prognosis. Downregulation of BMI­1 reduced migration and invasion in endometrial cancer cells in vivo. It was also found that downregulation of BMI­1 increased the expression levels of the epithelial markers E­cadherin and keratin, and decreased the expression levels of the mesenchymal markers N­cadherin, vimentin and the downstream transcription factor, Slug. In conclusion, BMI­1 expression was correlated with tumor invasion and metastasis, contributing to deep myometrial invasion and lymph node metastasis, and was a poor prognostic factor for endometrial adenocarcinoma.

[Clinical Efficacy and Prognostic Factors of Decitabine for Treatment of Myelodysplastic Syndrome].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical efficacy of decitabine for treatment of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and factors predicting the prognosis. METHODS: The clinical data of 87 patients with MDS treated with decitabine were analyzed retrospectively. The hENT1 mRNA expression and TP53 gene mutation were detected by Q-PCR and gene target sequencing, respectively. The relationship of clinical characteristics and molecular indicators with the clinical response to decitabine was analyzed. RESULTS: In treatment for median 4 (2-17) courses, a total 51 patients (58.6%) showed therapeutic responses, including CR in 17 cases, PR in 12 cases, mCR in 9 cases, HI in 13 cases; 36 (41.4%) patients showed non-response. Univariate analysis showed that the patients with the complex karyotype, monosomal karyotype, chomosome 7 abnormality and Plt count doubling after 1 course treatment had a high CR rate, while the patients with relative high risk by IPSS (intermediate risk 2+ high risk), complex karyotype and Plt count doubling after 1 course had much more high overall remission rate (ORR). The expression level of hENT1 mRNA in MDS patients with response was significantly higher than that in patients without response ï¼»(1.78±1.45 (2-△△Ct) vs 0.96±0.97 (2-△△Ct)(P= 0.002)ï¼½. Among 51 patients with therapeutic response, the expression level of hENT1 mRNA in CR group was higher than that in non-CR group ï¼»(2.58±1.44 (2-△△Ct) vs 1.39 ±1.3 (2-△△Ct), P= 0.005)ï¼½. Among 52 patients in relative high risk (intermediate risk 2 +high risk), the median OS time of patients with high hENT1 mRNA expression was significantly longer than that of patients with low hENT1 mRNA expression (31 vs 12 months)(P<0.001). Among 87 patients received decitabine treatment, the TP53 gene mutation occured in 11 (12.6%) patients. The ORR in patients with TP53 mutation was high (P=0.04), moreover the patients with TP53 mutation more easily gained CR (P<0.001). Multivariate logistic regression model showed that the complex karyotype, Plt count doubling after 1 course treatment, TP53 mulation and high expression of hENT1 mRNA were the independent prognostic factors for predicting the CR after decitabine treatment. CONCLUSION: IPSS staging, complex karyotype, Plt count doubling after 1 course treatment and hENT1 mRNA expression, TP53 gene mutation can be used to predict the tharapeutic efficacy of dectitabine for treatment of MDS.

[Expression of cyclooxygenase-2 in bone marrow cells of chronic leukemia and its significance].

The study was aimed to investigate the expression of COX-2 in bone marrow cells of chronic leukemia patients and its potential pathogenetic implications. Western blot was applied for detecting COX-2 expression levels in bone marrow cells of 67 chronic leukemia patients and beta-actin expression levels. Bone marrow aspirations from 14 healthy donors were used as negative controls. The results showed that the positive rates of COX-2 in chronic-phase group of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML-CP) and in group of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) were 76.32% (29/38) and 75.86% (22/29) respectively. Both CML-CP and CLL group showed a higher expression than control group (p = 0.0000, p = 0.0000 respectively). The expression of LDH in Cox-2 positive group was higher than that in Cox-2 negative group, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (p < 0.001). It is concluded that the expression of COX-2 protein can be detected in bone marrow cells of CML-CP and CLL and the expression level of LDH were higher in cells of CML-CP and CLL. The expression of COX-2 may be correlated with prognosis of CML-CP and CLL.