National Bank of Slovakia

Calcifying nested stromal-epithelial tumor (CNSET) is an extremely rare primary liver tumor of uncertain histogenesis that predominantly occurs in the pediatric age group and young adults. Knowledge regarding the molecular genetic profile of this entity remains limited, with only two molecular studies conducted to date, which identified pathogenic mutations in the CTNNB1 gene and TERT promoter mutations in all analyzable cases. A more aggressive biological potential than previously reported has been only recently unveiled as well. To further advance the understanding of pathogenic mechanisms of CNSET and to investigate the distinctiveness of this rare entity, we analyzed two cases using immunohistochemistry, next-generation sequencing (NGS), and methylation profiling. The latter was employed to compare the epigenetic landscape of CNSET with that of clinicopathologically similar entities, such as hepatoblastoma and solid pseudopapillary neoplasm (SPN) of the pancreas. Both CNSET cases occurred in women (aged 24 and 23years) and measured 24cm and 16cm in diameter, respectively. Both cases showed similar histological features, being composed of organoid nests of bland spindled to epithelioid cells embedded in myofibroblastic stroma. Both cases were immunohistochemically positive for CD56, WT1, and CAM5.2 and negative for hepatocellular and neuroendocrine markers. Case 2 showed aberrant nuclear expression of β-catenin, while in case 1, there was cytoplasmic positivity only. Using Illumina TruSight Oncology 500 NGS panel, case 1 revealed a pathogenic mutation in the WT1 gene and a TERT promoter mutation, and case 2 had a CTNNB1 mutation. DNA methylation analysis showed that CNSET forms a distinct cluster, separate from other reference entities. Follow-up in case 2 revealed a disease-free status 21months after partial hepatectomy. This study showed that the molecular landscape of CNSET of the liver is characterized by CTNNB1, TERT promoter, and WT1 gene mutations, with the latter representing a novel alteration. Similarly to CTNNB1, the WT1 gene plays a significant role in the Wnt signaling pathway. Given the metastatic potential and chemotherapy resistance of CNSET, understanding its molecular background is important for potential alternative targeted treatment. Methylation profiling confirms CNSET as a distinct entity, separate from hepatoblastoma and SPN of the pancreas.

Abstract This paper studies how the Covid-19 pandemic affected firm productivity. The focus is on the reallocation channel measured by the responsiveness of firm employment growth to productivity. The analysis leverages high-quality firm-level data covering 11 euro area countries over 2 decades, from the early 2000s to 2020 in most sample countries. The results show that: (1) Productivity-enhancing reallocation has weakened over time, with its contribution to aggregate productivity declining in the majority of the sample countries. (2) The strength of this reallocation process varies largely across countries, accounting for 0.7–5.2 log points of aggregate yearly productivity growth. (3) Various estimation approaches and productivity proxies suggest that productivity-enhancing reallocation was weaker in more countries during the pandemic than in the Great Recession.

ABSTRACT We estimate the impact of changes in non-performing loan (NPL) ratios on aggregate banking sector variables and the macroeconomy by estimating a panel Bayesian VAR model for twelve euro area countries. The main findings are as follows: i) An impulse response analysis shows that an exogenous increase in the change in NPL ratios tends to depress bank lending volumes, widens bank lending spreads and leads to a fall in real GDP growth and residential real estate prices; ii) A forecast error variance decomposition shows that shocks to the change in NPL ratios explain a relatively large share of the variance of the variables in the VAR, particularly for countries that experienced a large increase in NPL ratios during the recent crises; and iii) A three-year structural out-of-sample scenario analysis suggests that reducing banks’ NPL ratios can produce significant benefits in terms of improved macroeconomic and financial conditions.