Aim COVID-19 has spread rapidly worldwide since it began, greatly affecting peoples' lives, social economies and medical systems. At present, little is known about the disease, and vaccines are still under development. Therefore, in the face of severe outbreaks, previous effective experience can help people better protect themselves and their families. The aim of this article is to discuss the social distancing measures for COVID-19. Subjects and methods Literature and document search. Results Recent research and a novel coronavirus pneumonia prediction model revealed social distancing measures and wearing masks are required to mitigate hospital system overload and prevent pathogen exposure. After a series of social distancing measures, there are 309 cities with zero cases and 34 cities with confirmed cases in China as of April 13, 2020. Conclusion From China's experience with novel coronavirus pneumonia, we know that social distancing is the most effective measure at present. We need to win more time to allow limited medical resources to save lives.

The sex-determining region Y (SRY)-box (SOX) family has a crucial role in carcinogenesis and cancer progression. However, the role of SOX12 and the mechanism by which it is dysregulated in colorectal cancer (CRC) remain unclear. Here we analyzed SOX12 expression patterns in two independent CRC cohorts (cohort I, n = 390; cohort II, n = 363) and found that SOX12 was significantly upregulated in CRC, indicating a poor prognosis in CRC patients. Overexpression of SOX12 promoted CRC cell proliferation and metastasis, whereas downregulation of SOX12 hampered CRC aggressiveness. Mechanistically, SOX12 facilitated asparagine synthesis by transactivating glutaminase (GLS), glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase 2 (GOT2), and asparagine synthetase (ASNS). Downregulation of GLS, GOT2, and ASNS blocked SOX12-mediated CRC cell proliferation and metastasis, whereas ectopic expression of GLS, GOT2, and ASNS attenuated the SOX12 knockdown-induced suppression of CRC progression. In addition, serial deletion, site-directed mutagenesis, luciferase reporter, and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays indicated that hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) directly binds to the SOX12 promoter and induces SOX12 expression. Administration of l-asparaginase decreased SOX12-mediated tumor growth and metastasis. In human CRC samples, SOX12 expression positively correlated with GLS, GOT2, ASNS, and HIF-1α expression. Based on these results, SOX12 may serve as a prognostic biomarker and l-asparaginase represents a potential novel therapeutic agent for CRC.

Epstein-Barr virus-associated gastric cancer (EBVaGC) has been proposed to be a distinct subtype with a specific immune microenvironment. Here, we evaluated tumor-infiltrating T-cell subsets and the expression of programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) in 571 gastric cancers (GCs).Tissue microarrays were stained using EBER in situ hybridization for EBV and using immunohistochemistry for CD4, CD8, Foxp3, PD-1 and PD-L1. GCs were categorized into four types based on CD8+ infiltration and PD-L1 expression. The 5-year overall survival (OS) was evaluated according to EBV infection, T-cell subsets, PD-1 and PD-L1 expression and immune types.Thirty-two (5.3%) EBVaGCs were identified, which were more prevalent for CD8+ (p<0.001) and Foxp3+ (p=0.020) cell infiltration than EBV-negative GCs (EBVnGCs), suggesting a better 5-year OS (p=0.003). CD8+ (p=0.001) and Foxp3+ (p=0.018) cell infiltration was associated with better 5-year OS, whereas PD-L1 expression correlated with a poor 5-year OS (p=0.002). EBVaGC and EBVnGC had heterogeneous immune microenvironment, with CD8+ PD-L1− GC exhibiting the best 5-year OS (p<0.001).GC was an immune ignorant dominant tumor and poor to no T-cell infiltration. An immune type classification algorithm can provide prognostic information and a rational basis for immunotherapy.