Gene Expression Data Mining Reveals the Involvement of GPR55 and Its Endogenous Ligands in Immune Response,Cancer, and Differentiation

G protein-coupled receptor 55 (GPR55) is a recently deorphanized lipid- and peptide-sensing receptor. Its lipidic endogenous agonists belong to lysoglycerophospholipids, with lysophosphatidylinositol (LPI) being the most studied. Peptide agonists derive from fragmentation of pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP). Although GPR55 and its ligands were implicated in several physiological and pathological conditions, their biological function remains unclear. Thus, the aim of the study was to conduct a large-scale re-analysis of publicly available gene expression datasets to identify physiological and pathological conditions affecting the expression of GPR55 and the production of its ligands. The study revealed that regulation of GPR55 occurs predominantly in the context of immune activation pointing towards the role of the receptor in response to pathogens and in immune cell lineage determination. Additionally, it was revealed that there is almost no overlap between the experimental conditions affecting the expression of GPR55 and those modulating agonist production. The capacity to synthesize LPI was enhanced in various types of tumors, indicating that cancer cells can hijack the motility-related activity of GPR55 to increase aggressiveness. Conditions favoring accumulation of PACAP-derived peptides were different than those for LPI and were mainly related to differentiation. This indicates a different function of the two agonist classes and possibly the existence of a signaling bias.     

Stochastic finite element method for elasto‐plastic body

This paper proposes a Stochastic Finite Element Method (SFEM) for non‐linear elasto‐plastic bodies, as a generalization of the SFEM for linear elastic bodies developed by Ghanem and Spanos who applied the Karhunen–Loeve expansion and the polynomial chaos expansion for stochastic material properties and field variables, respectively. The key feature of the proposed SFEM is the introduction of two fictitious bodies whose behaviours provide upper and lower bounds for the mean of field variables. The two bounding bodies are rigorously obtained from a given distribution of material properties. The deformation of an ideal elasto‐plastic body of the Huber–von Mises type is computed as an illustrative example. The results are compared with Monte‐Carlo simulation. It is shown that the proposed SFEM can satisfactorily estimate means, variances and other probabilistic characteristics of field variables even when the body has a larger variance of the material properties. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Towards Increased Understanding of Open Data Use for Software Development

Information Systems Frontiers - The way open data resources of varied type and volume are used by software applications remains only partly known. In this study, following CRoss-Industry Standard...     

Electroreduction of laccase covalently bound to organothiol monolayers on gold electrodes

Cerrena unicolor laccase was immobilized on the gold electrode by covalent bonding to self-assembled monolayers of mercaptoundecanoic or mercaptopropionic acids. STM images of immobilized laccase proved high population of the laccase molecules on the monolayer modified electrode. The SERS experiments in concert with resonance Raman effect confirmed that the structure at the “blue” copper site of the immobilized protein remained intact. The accessibility of individual copper sites for electron exchange with the gold electrode surface was investigated by voltammetry. The electrode behavior of laccase is different in the presence and absence of oxygen, showing that the immobilized enzyme is reactive towards oxygen. Addition of two common mediators improved the electrical connectivity of the enzyme with the electrode, increased the catalytic efficiency of immobilized laccase and switched the onset of catalytic current to the potentials of the mediator. Immobilization of laccase on well-organized mercaptoundecanoic acid separates efficiently the enzyme from the electrode and does not allow easy access of mediators to the surface. Attachment of the enzyme at smaller distance from the electrode by means of significantly shorter spacer molecule—mercaptopropionic acid improved the efficiency of catalytic reduction of oxygen on the monolayer modified electrode.     

Ionic liquids as electrolytes

Salts having a low melting point are liquid at room temperature, or even below, and form a new class of liquids usually called room temperature ionic liquids (RTIL). Information about RTILs can be found in the literature with such key words as: room temperature molten salt, low-temperature molten salt, ambient-temperature molten salt, liquid organic salt or simply ionic liquid. Their physicochemical properties are the same as high temperature ionic liquids, but the practical aspects of their maintenance or handling are different enough to merit a distinction. The class of ionic liquids, based on tetraalkylammonium cation and chloroaluminate anion, has been extensively studied since late 1970s of the XX century, following the works of Osteryoung. Systematic research on the application of chloroaluminate ionic liquids as solvents was performed in 1980s. However, ionic liquids based on aluminium halides are moisture sensitive. During the last decade an increasing number of new ionic liquids have been prepared and used as solvents. The general aim of this paper was to review the physical and chemical properties of RTILs from the point of view of their possible application as electrolytes in electrochemical processes and devices. The following points are discussed: melting and freezing, conductivity, viscosity, temperature dependence of conductivity, transport and transference numbers, electrochemical stability, possible application in aluminium electroplating, lithium batteries and in electrochemical capacitors.     

Influence of the lubricant on temperature distribution in the forging dies

Experimental and theoretical analysis of the influence of the lubricant on the temperature distribution in the tool during forging is presented. Finite element solution of the general diffusion equation is used to calculate the heat transfer contact between the die and the hot workpiece and during the interpass times. The results of calculations are compared with the results of measurements carried out using thermocouples inserted in the die. Two ways of modelling heat transfer through the contact surface are considered. The first treats a lubricant as a separate layer with the relevant thermal properties. The second assumes a temperature discontinuity at the interface and introduces the heat transfer coefficient. Insulating properties of various lubricants are compared. White-water lubricant shows the best insulating properties. The values of the heat transfer coefficient obtained from the inverse analysis vary from 2600 (without lubrication) to 1500 W/m²K (white lubricant).     

Optimal predictor for a singular random process

An optimal predictor is developed for a singular random process generated by a known system driven by a white noise sequence. The properties of the predictor are compared with those of the optimal predictor for a nonsingular random process.     

Fields of strains around the inclusion of second phase in a uniform matrix undergoing plastic deformation

This paper focuses on the problem of the evaluation of strains around the inclusions of various shapes and properties located in the uniform matrix undergoing large plastic deformations. The analysis is performed using the rigid-plastic finite-element approach. The uniform plane-strain deformation field is simulated by an introduction of zero friction forces into the program for the compression process. An assumption that the die is wider than the sample allows to simulate ideally uniform flow of metal. Several shapes of the inclusions are investigated, but the results for three most common shapes of the particle's cross-section are presented in the paper. They are: square with the sides parallel to the main directions, square with the sides inclined under an angle of 45° to the main directions and round.