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The Corona Virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has changed the lifestyles of billions of people. Face masks, as a daily protective tool, have become a must-have item. The number of masks discarded has soared, making environmental and hygiene problems impossible to ignore. The rapid development of biodegradable materials may be one of the solutions to this issue. In this study, life cycle assessment (LCA) was used as a method to quantitatively analyze the environmental impacts of two disposable medical masks, biodegradable polylactic acid (PLA) and fossil-based polypropylene (PP). The results show that human toxicity (63.93%), acidification (39.93%), global warming potential (36.29%), and abiotic depletion (83.55%) of disposable medical masks mainly made of PLA were significantly lower than those of PP. The photochemical oxidation (4.89%) for PLA masks was slightly higher. The manufacturing cost per unit hour was 0.060 yuan (PP) and 0.0675 yuan (PLA). It was estimated that the replacement could reduce global carbon emissions by 321,392,700 tons and 466,400 tons for China. Furthermore, the process improvements in the raw material acquisition stage could maximize the benefits of carbon reduction. [Display omitted] • Feasibility of PLA as a substitute for PP in the disposable masks production verified by LCA. • The replacement can reduce annual global carbon emissions by about 321 million tons. • The manufacturing cost are 0.06 yuan/h (PP) and 0.0675 yuan/h (PLA). • Raw material acquisition stage has the greatest impact on the carbon emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Ascites is a tumor microenvironment, ascites and massive ascites‐induce compression could promote the progression of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC); however, the impact of ascites volume on clinical outcomes has not been studied extensively. We aimed to investigate the association between ascites volume and clinical outcomes especially platinum resistance in EOC. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated a total of 546 EOC patients with respect to the amount of ascites, clinicopathologic factors, and survival. Using the threshold of 1500 ml to classify patients into small‐ and large‐volume ascites groups, we analyzed the correlation between ascites volume and clinicopathological factors, including platinum‐free interval (PFI), and prognosis. Results: Patients with large volume ascites were more likely to present with later stage disease, primary platinum‐resistant (PPR) cancer, and suboptimal cytoreduction. Prolonged PFI was associated with decreased ascites volume. The large‐volume ascites group showed worse progression‐free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). An increase in ascites volume was associated with an increased risk of disease recurrence (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.115, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.035–1.200) and death (HR = 1.213, 95% CI: 1.090–1.350). Conclusions: Ascites was an independent predictor of PFS and OS in EOC patients. A large volume of ascites predicated a shortened PFI, an increased incidence of PPR and suboptimal cytoreduction. Thus, the volume of ascites is a simply available clinical parameter, which could be used to evaluate the prognosis and platinum resistance of EOC patients early, it contributes to formulate individualized treatment plan and improve the outcome of EOC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]