| 1. |
- de Vries, Paul S., et al.
(författare)
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Multiancestry Genome-Wide Association Study of Lipid Levels Incorporating Gene-Alcohol Interactions
- 2019
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Ingår i: American Journal of Epidemiology. - : Oxford University Press. - 0002-9262 .- 1476-6256. ; 188:6, s. 1033-1054
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A person's lipid profile is influenced by genetic variants and alcohol consumption, but the contribution of interactions between these exposures has not been studied. We therefore incorporated gene-alcohol interactions into a multiancestry genome-wide association study of levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides. We included 45 studies in stage 1 (genome-wide discovery) and 66 studies in stage 2 (focused follow-up), for a total of 394,584 individuals from 5 ancestry groups. Analyses covered the period July 2014-November 2017. Genetic main effects and interaction effects were jointly assessed by means of a 2-degrees-of-freedom (df) test, and a 1-df test was used to assess the interaction effects alone. Variants at 495 loci were at least suggestively associated (P < 1 x 10(-6)) with lipid levels in stage 1 and were evaluated in stage 2, followed by combined analyses of stage 1 and stage 2. In the combined analysis of stages 1 and 2, a total of 147 independent loci were associated with lipid levels at P < 5 x 10(-8) using 2-df tests, of which 18 were novel. No genome-wide-significant associations were found testing the interaction effect alone. The novel loci included several genes (proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 5 (PCSK5), vascular endothelial growth factor B (VEGFB), and apolipoprotein B mRNA editing enzyme, catalytic polypeptide 1 (APOBEC1) complementation factor (A1CF)) that have a putative role in lipid metabolism on the basis of existing evidence from cellular and experimental models.
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| 2. |
- Sun, Huiliang, et al.
(författare)
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A monothiophene unit incorporating both fluoro and ester substitution enabling high-performance donor polymers for non-fullerene solar cells with 16.4% efficiency
- 2019
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Ingår i: Energy & Environmental Science. - : ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY. - 1754-5692 .- 1754-5706. ; 12:11, s. 3328-3337
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Thiophene and its derivatives have been extensively used in organic electronics, particularly in the field of polymer solar cells (PSCs). Significant research efforts have been dedicated to modifying thiophene-based units by attaching electron-donating or withdrawing groups to tune the energy levels of conjugated materials. Herein, we report the design and synthesis of a novel thiophene derivative, FE-T, featuring a monothiophene functionalized with both an electron-withdrawing fluorine atom (F) and an ester group (E). The FE-T unit possesses distinctive advantages of both F and E groups, the synergistic effects of which enable significant downshifting of the energy levels and enhanced aggregation/crystallinity of the resulting organic materials. Shown in this work are a series of polymers obtained by incorporating the FE-T unit into a PM6 polymer to fine-tune the energetics and morphology of this high-performance PSC material. The optimal polymer in the series shows a downshifted HOMO and an improved morphology, leading to a high PCE of 16.4% with a small energy loss (0.53 eV) enabled by the reduced non-radiative energy loss (0.23 eV), which are among the best values reported for non-fullerene PSCs to date. This work shows that the FE-T unit is a promising building block to construct donor polymers for high-performance organic photovoltaic cells.
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| 3. |
- Rehman, Hafeez Ur, et al.
(författare)
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High-cycle-life and high-loading copolymer network with potential application as a soft actuator
- 2019
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Ingår i: Materials & design. - : ELSEVIER SCI LTD. - 0264-1275 .- 1873-4197. ; 182
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Thermo-responsive polymer materials ate appealing in emerging fields including soft robotics, artificial muscles, and actuators. However, realising a single smart polymer material that can achieve immense strain, fast actuation, and high loading remains a challenge. We attempted to address these limitations by fabricating a thermo-responsive copolymer network structure of poly(urethane-caprolactone-siloxane). The relative concentrations of these precursors were adjusted to realise a high mechanical strength of >= 17 MPa, 100% shape fixation, and a quick shape recovery time of <= 15 s. Experimental results revealed that the soft segments largely determines the extensibility and crystallinity of the copolymer material. The thermal gradient of the soft part enables the copolymer to self-heal during shape recovery. The copolymer network was applied to a load lifting device as an artificial muscle and was able to lift 200 times its weight with a short response time of <5 s and maximum power density that was half that of mammalian skeletal muscles. With its fast actuation, high loading, and self-healing abilities, the developed therrno-activated smart copolymer material is potentially applicable to a wide range of fields such as soft robotics, biomimetic devices, and prosthetics.
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