Overall Investigation of Poly (Phenylene Sulfide) from Synthesis and Process to Applications—A Review

Poly (phenylene sulfide) (PPS) is one kind of high‐performance polymer with high thermal stability that can be used widely in different industrial domains. However, according to an investigation of the literature, few reviews have comprehensively focused on the continuous development of PPS applications in the past decade. To meet this demand, this paper provides an overall investigation of PPS polymer and PPS‐based composites from synthesis and process to applications. Briefly, this paper introduces PPS materials according to the following topics. First, the molecular weight distribution and morphology of PPS, as well as their reinforced parts, are introduced. Afterward, the topic is focused on the synthesis, process, and blending of PPS. In the next part, this paper investigates the key points regarding PPS as a high‐performance polymer, focusing on the aspect of thermal behavior and mechanical properties. Finally, PPS composite applications are emphasized and overviewed from a wide range of aspects

A study of patent thickets

Report analysing whether entry of UK enterprises into patenting in a technology area is affected by patent thickets in the technology area

Covariation of depressive symptoms, parkinsonism, and post-dexamethasone plasma cortisol levels in a bipolar patient: simultaneous response to ECT and lithium carbonate

: A patient presented with concurrent mood congruent delusions, parkinsonism, and elevated post-dexamethasone plasma cortisol levels. This triad could result from simultaneous development of cholinergic-monoaminergic dysfunction within critical limbic and extrapyramidal loci. The magnitude of each abnormality decreased in concert during a course of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Remaining abnormalities disappeared during treatment with lithium. Actions of ECT and lithium on muscarinic systems are reviewed, and a strategy for testing the hypothesis that dysfunction of cholinergic-monoaminergic mechanisms develops in parallel in different neural networks is considered.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66202/1/j.1600-0447.1986.tb06229.x.pd

Aerodynamic Shape Optimization of a Blended-Wing-Body Aircraft

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106465/1/AIAA2013-283.pd

Genome-wide Characterization of Shared and Distinct Genetic Components that Influence Blood Lipid Levels in Ethnically Diverse Human Populations

Blood lipid concentrations are heritable risk factors associated with atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases. Lipid traits exhibit considerable variation among populations of distinct ancestral origin as well as between individuals within a population. We performed association analyses to identify genetic loci influencing lipid concentrations in African American and Hispanic American women in the Women’s Health Initiative SNP Health Association Resource. We validated one African-specific high-density lipoprotein cholesterol locus at CD36 as well as 14 known lipid loci that have been previously implicated in studies of European populations. Moreover, we demonstrate striking similarities in genetic architecture (loci influencing the trait, direction and magnitude of genetic effects, and proportions of phenotypic variation explained) of lipid traits across populations. In particular, we found that a disproportionate fraction of lipid variation in African Americans and Hispanic Americans can be attributed to genomic loci exhibiting statistical evidence of association in Europeans, even though the precise genes and variants remain unknown. At the same time, we found substantial allelic heterogeneity within shared loci, characterized both by population-specific rare variants and variants shared among multiple populations that occur at disparate frequencies. The allelic heterogeneity emphasizes the importance of including diverse populations in future genetic association studies of complex traits such as lipids; furthermore, the overlap in lipid loci across populations of diverse ancestral origin argues that additional knowledge can be gleaned from multiple populations

Power to identify a genetic predictor of antihypertensive drug response using different methods to measure blood pressure response

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To determine whether office, home, ambulatory daytime and nighttime blood pressure (BP) responses to antihypertensive drug therapy measure the same signal and which method provides greatest power to identify genetic predictors of BP response.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We analyzed office, home, ambulatory daytime and nighttime BP responses in hypertensive adults randomized to atenolol (N = 242) or hydrochlorothiazide (N = 257) in the Pharmacogenomic Evaluation of Antihypertensive Responses Study. Since different measured BP responses may have different predictors, we tested the "same signal" model by using linear regression methods to determine whether known predictors of BP response depend on the method of BP measurement. We estimated signal-to-noise ratios and compared power to identify a genetic polymorphism predicting BP response measured by each method separately and by weighted averages of multiple methods.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>After adjustment for pretreatment BP level, known predictors of BP response including plasma renin activity, race, and sex were independent of the method of BP measurement. Signal-to-noise ratios were more than 2-fold greater for home and ambulatory daytime BP responses than for office and ambulatory nighttime BP responses and up to 11-fold greater for weighted averages of all four methods. Power to identify a genetic polymorphism predicting BP response was directly related to the signal-to-noise ratio and, therefore, greatest with the weighted averages.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Since different methods of measuring BP response to antihypertensive drug therapy measure the same signal, weighted averages of the BP responses measured by multiple methods minimize measurement error and optimize power to identify genetic predictors of BP response.</p

AWclust: point-and-click software for non-parametric population structure analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Population structure analysis is important to genetic association studies and evolutionary investigations. Parametric approaches, e.g. STRUCTURE and L-POP, usually assume Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) and linkage equilibrium among loci in sample population individuals. However, the assumptions may not hold and allele frequency estimation may not be accurate in some data sets. The improved version of STRUCTURE (version 2.1) can incorporate linkage information among loci but is still sensitive to high background linkage disequilibrium. Nowadays, large-scale single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are becoming popular in genetic studies. Therefore, it is imperative to have software that makes full use of these genetic data to generate inference even when model assumptions do not hold or allele frequency estimation suffers from high variation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We have developed point-and-click software for non-parametric population structure analysis distributed as an R package. The software takes advantage of the large number of SNPs available to categorize individuals into ethnically similar clusters and it does not require assumptions about population models. Nor does it estimate allele frequencies. Moreover, this software can also infer the optimal number of populations.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our software tool employs non-parametric approaches to assign individuals to clusters using SNPs. It provides efficient computation and an intuitive way for researchers to explore ethnic relationships among individuals. It can be complementary to parametric approaches in population structure analysis.</p

The contribution of genetic variants to disease depends on the ruler

Our understanding of the genetic basis of disease has evolved from descriptions of overall heritability or familiality to the identification of large numbers of risk loci. One can quantify the impact of such loci on disease using a plethora of measures, which can guide future research decisions. However, different measures can attribute varying degrees of importance to a variant. In this Analysis, we consider and contrast the most commonly used measures-specifically, the heritability of disease liability, approximate heritability, sibling recurrence risk, overall genetic variance using a logarithmic relative risk scale, the area under the receiver-operating curve for risk prediction and the population attributable fraction-and give guidelines for their use that should be explicitly considered when assessing the contribution of genetic variants to disease

Twin births, sex of children and maternal risk of ovarian cancer: a cohort study in Norway

In a follow-up of 1 208 001 women aged 20–74 years, no significant association was found between twin births (112 cases) and risk, though those with twin girls had a non-significantly higher risk than those with singleton births; among the latter, those with girls only had a higher risk of endometrioid tumours (incidence rate ratio 1.35; 95% confidence interval 1.03–1.76, based on 475 cases) than women with boys only