Background: In China, with the urbanization, women migrated from rural to big cities presented much higher maternal mortality rates than local residents. Health knowledge is one of the key factors enabling women to be aware of their rights and health status in order to seek appropriate health services. This study aims to assess the knowledge and attitude on maternal health care and the contributing factors to being knowledgeable among rural-to-urban migrant women in Shanghai.

Previous studies have revealed that marital status influences the prognosis of patients with various types of cancer. We evaluated the influence of marriage on the survival outcomes in differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). The Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database between 2002 and 2012 was used to compare cancer‐specific mortality in different marital status, and in each sex, age, and stage stratification by multivariate Cox regression model. In total, 61,077 eligible patients were identified. The widowed group had the highest proportion of women, elderly patients (≥45 years), and advanced stage III/IV tumor (P = 0.001), but the total thyroidectomy (TT) performed and radioisotopes therapy rates were lower than those in the married group. Married patients had a better cancer‐specific survival (CSS) than the unmarried (P < 0.05). Further analysis showed that widowed patients always presented the lowest CSS compared with other groups. Widowed patients had a significant increased risk for CSS compared with married patients in males [hazard ratio (HR) 2.72, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.59–4.65, P = 0.001], females (HR 2.02, 95% CI: 2.24–4.06, P = 0.001), young patients (<45, HR 28.12, 95% CI: 3.48–227.25, P = 0.002), elderly patients (≥45, HR 28.12, 95% CI: 2.97, 95% CI: 2.30–3.83, P = 0.001), stage I (HR 8.44, 95% CI: 4.05–17.59, P = 0.001), stage II (HR 3.64, 95% CI: 1.30–10.20, P = 0.014), stage III (HR 2.27, 95% CI: 1.08–4.78, P = 0.031), and stage IV (HR 2.63, 95% CI: 1.94–3.57, P = 0.001). These results showed that unmarried status, especially for widowhood, increased the risk of cancer mortality in DTC patients.

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibition has been demonstrated to be an effective strategy in preserving the integrity of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in patients with acute ischemic stroke. Loss of the BBB is the key event associated with morbidity and mortality in these patients. However, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. In the present study, the effects of VEGF inhibition and the possible mechanism that underlies acute cerebral ischemia in rats was investigated. Following the induction of transient middle cerebral artery occlusion for a 90-min period, either an anti-VEGF neutralizing antibody (RB-222; 5 or 10 µg), or IgG (control), was administered by intracerebroventricular injection at 1 h following reperfusion. Functional outcomes, BBB leakage, brain edema, microvessel numbers and the relative protein levels of VEGF, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2, MMP-9, occludin and collagen-IV were then determined using neurological assessments, Evans Blue staining, brain water content, CD31 staining and western blotting. Treatment with RB-222 at a dose of 5 and 10 µg significantly improved neurological functional outcomes and diminished infarct size, BBB leakage and brain edema compared with the MCAO and IgG groups at 24 h following reperfusion; 10 µg RB-222 was more effective than a 5 µg dose of the antibody. In addition, RB-222 reduced the number of immature microvessels, which subsequently attenuated BBB permeability. RB-222 significantly repressed VEGF expression as well as decreased MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression. However, it enhanced occludin and collagen-IV levels in the ischemic rat brain compared with the MCAO and IgG groups. Taken together, the results indicate that early inhibition of VEGF may have significant potential against cerebral ischemia, partly by regulating the expression of MMPs.