Do peripartum and postmenopausal women with primary liver cancer have a worse prognosis? A nationwide cohort in Taiwan

BACKGROUND While primary liver cancer(PLC)is one of the most common cancers around the world,few large-scale population-based studies have been reported that evaluated the clinical survival outcomes among peripartum and postmenopausal women with PLC.AIM To investigate whether peripartum and postmenopausal women with PLC have lower overall survival rates compared with women who were not peripartum and postmenopausal.METHODS The Taiwan National Health Insurance claims data from 2000 to 2012 was used for this propensity-score-matched study.A cohort of 40 peripartum women with PLC and a reference cohort of 160 women without peripartum were enrolled.In the women with PLC with/without menopause study,a study cohort of 10752 menopausal females with PLC and a comparison cohort of 2688 women without menopause were enrolled.RESULTS Patients with peripartum PLC had a non-significant risk of death compared with the non-peripartum cohort[adjusted hazard ratios(aHR)=1.40,95%confidence intervals(CI):0.89-2.20,P=0.149].The survival rate at different follow-up durations between peripartum PLC patients and those in the non-peripartum cohort showed a non-significant difference.Patients who were diagnosed with PLC younger than 50 years old(without menopause)had a significant lower risk of death compared with patients diagnosed with PLC at or older than 50 years(postmenopausal)(aHR=0.64,95%CI:0.61-0.68,P<0.001).The survival rate of women<50 years with PLC was significantly higher than older women with PLC when followed for 0.5(72.44%vs 64.16%),1(60.57%vs 51.66%),3(42.92%vs 31.28%),and 5 year(s)(37.02%vs 21.83%),respectively(P<0.001).CONCLUSION Peripartum females with PLC have no difference in survival rates compared with those patients without peripartum.Menopausal females with PLC have worse survival rates compared with those patients without menopause.

One-step preparation of modified photothermal-driven melamine foam with gradient wettability for oil-waterseparation

The absorption of high-viscosity oil by traditional oil absorbing materials has always been a challenge.So there is an urgent need to solve the problem of slow absorption of high-viscosity oil.In this work,an emulsion composed of polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS),carbon black(CB)and waterborne polyurethane(solid content 40%)was sprayed on the melamine foam(MF).After volatilization of organic solvents,the photothermal material CB was fixed on the MF framework,making it photothermal.By raising the temperature of the modified foam to accelerate the internal thermal movement of high-viscosity oil molecules around the foam,intermolecular forces are reduced,thereby accelerating the separation process.The absorption capacity of this modified MF towards organic solvents and oil is up to 79 times its own weight.In addition,the mechanical properties of the modified foam are improved to a certain extent,more conducive to the continuous oil-water separation.This photothermal absorption material provides ideas for the rapid removal of high-viscosity oil,heavy oil,etc.