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ABSTRACT This study aims to develop a safer and more effective treatment for allergic rhinitis using green‐synthesized copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) derived from Laurus nobilis (L. nobilis), addressing the limitations of current therapies. The environmentally friendly CuO NPs were evaluated for their antiallergic, anti‐inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties. Various analytical techniques confirmed the successful synthesis of CuO NPs. Phytoconstituents were identified using GC–MS, and molecular docking studies indicated that eugenol and 1H‐cyclopropazulen‐7‐ol, present in L. nobilis leaf extract, could be potential therapeutics targeting the FGFR2 protein. The antibacterial activity of CuO NPs was significant against Gram‐positive (Bacillus subtilis [B. subtilis] and Staphylococcus aureus [S. aureus]) and Gram‐negative (Escherichia coli [E. coli] and Klebsiella pneumoniae [K. pneumoniae]) bacterial strains. In a mouse model, the antiallergic effects were demonstrated by a significant reduction in symptoms like rubbing and sneezing and a decrease in inflammatory cell counts and mediators, including neutrophils, eosinophils, macrophages, lymphocytes, RORc, IL‐17A, IL‐5, IL‐13, and IL‐6. The preclinical results suggest that CuO NPs possess promising antibacterial, antiallergenic, and anti‐inflammatory properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Little is known about the prognostic advantage of sex for pulmonary adenocarcinoma among Chinese patients. In this study, we aimed to investigate the true sex differences in prognosis by adjusting for confounders and to explore whether the differences were time‐varying. Methods: We identified 4438 lung adenocarcinoma patients who underwent surgery at a regional Cancer Center of China from 2008 to 2016, retrospectively. Sex, age group, smoking history, year of diagnosis and pathological stage were collected. Time‐dependent Cox regression models with inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) based on propensity score were used to assess the effect of sex and account for confounders. Landmark analyses were conducted to assess survival before, and after, five years. Results: Of these patients, 1761 (39.7%) were men and 2677 (60.3%) were women. Median follow‐up time was 52.6 months. After IPTW adjustment, women were found to have significantly better survival than men varying with time in both crude and IPTW models (hazard ratio [HR] [t] = 0.453*1.015t, where t is the length of time from treatment and its unit is month, p < 0.001). Women had significantly better survival than men within 0–5 years after surgery (HR = 0.763, 95% CI: 0.649–0.897, p = 0.001), whereas there was no difference after five years (HR = 1.135, 95% CI: 0.803–1.605, p = 0.472). In subgroup analysis, women in the 61–71+ age group, in the more than 20 year packs group, pathological stage 0–IB group, and 2013–2016 diagnosis period group revealed the same prognostic pattern. Conclusions: Compared with men, women had better survival after surgical resection of lung adenocarcinoma, especially those who were older and nonsmokers or heavy‐smokers and were pathological stage 0–IB in early years, while the advantage for women diminished with time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanoparticles sized tens of nm with not only a highly complex but also a highly regular nanostructure, although ubiquitous in nature, are very difficult to prepare artificially. Herein, we report efficient solution-based preparation of narrow-disperse ABC three-segment hierarchical nanoparticles (HNPs) with a size of tens of nm through a three-level hierarchical self-assembly of A- b-B- b-C triblock copolymers in solution. An ABC HNP is composed of three nanoparticles, A, B, and C that are linearly connected; in the ABC HNP, the B nanoparticle is sandwiched between the A and C nanoparticles. The method for the preparation is highly efficient, because all of the A- b-B- b-C chains in the solution are converted into the ABC HNPs. Furthermore, the ABC HNPs self-assembled into Θ-shaped HNPs tens nm in size. Both the ABC and Θ-shaped HNPs, are highly complex but highly regular, and are novel HNPs, and they should be very promising for addressing various theoretical and practical problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here we report a facile method for the preparation of a PEO113-b-P4VP93 brush on gold surface with a grafting density as high as 1.32 chains/nm2; the P4VP blocks were physically adsorbed on gold surface forming an inner layer while the PEO blocks stretched towards the solution forming PEO brush. PEO113-b-P4VP93 micelles with P4VP core and PEO shell formed in methanol/water mixed solvents were used as the precursor. By adsorbing PEO113-b-P4VP93 micelles from pure water, in which the density of the micelles is the largest, maximum amount of the micelles was adsorbed onto gold surface, and the adsorbed micelles existed as individual domains on the surface. To prepare the polymer brush with a density as high as possible, we annealed the adsorbed micelles by methanol/water mixed solvent at the volume fraction of methanol (VF) of 20%, which was the proper proportion at which the core-forming P4VP chains began to be flexible but the integrity of the micelles was remained. At this volume fraction, almost all the adsorbed micelles originally existing as individual domains were transformed into a dense polymer brush. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]