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Several polymorphisms in the Disrupted-in-Schizophrenia-1 (DISC1) gene are reported to be associated with schizophrenia. However, to date, there has been little effort to evaluate the evidence for association systematically. We carried out an imputation-driven meta-analysis, the most comprehensive to date, using data collected from 10 candidate gene studies and three genome-wide association studies containing a total of 11 626 cases and 15 237 controls. We tested 1241 single-nucleotide polymorphisms in total, and estimated that our power to detect an effect from a variant with minor allele frequency >5% was 99% for an odds ratio of 1.5 and 51% for an odds ratio of 1.1. We find no evidence that common variants at the DISC1 locus are associated with schizophrenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: There is continued interest in the development of novel haemoadsorbents for the removal of middle molecular weight molecules from blood in patients suffering with chronic renal failure. Conventional activated carbons have shown poor biocompatibility whereas polymer coated carbons have been applied with limited success. The external biocompatible coating significantly reduces the adsorption capacity for middle molecules due to size exclusion and slows down the adsorption kinetics due to mass transport limitations. In this work, we show that polymer derived mesoporous activated carbons (pore size in the range 2–50nm) and surface area of between 400 and 800m2/g are efficient adsorbents for middle molecular weight species such as interleukin IL-1beta. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The effects of various chemical pretreatments on the surface chemistry and adhesion performance of an additive-free styrene-butadiene block copolymer and an additive-free ethylene-propylene elastomer have been studied. Most of the powerful oxidising agents that are effective with hydrocarbon plastics were ineffective in enhancing the adhesion to elastomers despite causing major changes to their surface chemistries. The poor adhesion was attributed to the existence of weak boundary layers. Chlorinated agents were also examined and a new pretreatment for elastomers containing carbon-carbon double bonds has been identified. It was found that a mildly acidified dilute aqueous suspension of Chloramine-T was very effective at enhancing the adhesion performance of styrene butadiene copolymers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A variety of solvent-free methods to pretreat shoe-soling materials have been examined. With poly(vinyl chloride) and polyurethane, it was possible to achieve good adhesion without chemically modifying these materials using a polyurethane adhesive. With thermoplastic rubber SBS and vulcanised rubber SBR, it was necessary to chemically modify their surfaces to achieve good adhesion. With these elastomers, a water-soluble organic chlorine donor and a new electrochemical method were found to be very effective. In all cases, following surface treatment a water-borne adhesive was used and it was concluded that the manufacture of shoes without the use of organic solvents is perfectly feasible. The chemical changes caused by the pretreatments were studied using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]