Weight loss-induced stress in subcutaneous adipose tissue is related to weight regain

Initial successful weight loss is often followed by weight regain after the dietary intervention. Compared with lean people, cellular stress in adipose tissue is increased in obese subjects. However, the relation between cellular stress and the risk for weight regain after weight loss is unclear. Therefore, we determined the expression levels of stress proteins during weight loss and weight maintenance in relation to weight regain. In vivo findings were compared with results from in vitro cultured human Simpson-Golabi-Behmel syndrome (SGBS) adipocytes. In total, eighteen healthy subjects underwent an 8-week diet programme with a 10-month follow-up. Participants were categorised as weight maintainers or weight regainers (WR) depending on their weight changes during the intervention. Abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue biopsies were obtained before and after the diet and after the follow-up. In vitro differentiated SGBS adipocytes were starved for 96 h with low (0.55 mm) glucose. Levels of stress proteins were determined by Western blotting. WR showed increased expressions of beta-actin, calnexin, heat shock protein (HSP) 27, HSP60 and HSP70. Changes of beta-actin, HSP27 and HSP70 are linked to HSP60, a proposed key factor in weight regain after weight loss. SGBS adipocytes showed increased levels of beta-actin and HSP60 after 96 h of glucose restriction. The increased level of cellular stress proteins in the adipose tissue of WR probably resides in the adipocytes as shown by in vitro experiments. Cellular stress accumulated in adipose tissue during weight loss may be a risk factor for weight regain

Black hole uniqueness theorems and new thermodynamic identities in eleven dimensional supergravity

We consider stationary, non-extremal black holes in 11-dimensional supergravity having isometry group $\mathbb{R} \times U(1)^8$. We prove that such a black hole is uniquely specified by its angular momenta, its electric charges associated with the various 7-cycles in the manifold, together with certain moduli and vector valued winding numbers characterizing the topological nature of the spacetime and group action. We furthermore establish interesting, non-trivial, relations between the thermodynamic quantities associated with the black hole. These relations are shown to be a consequence of the hidden $E_{8(+8)}$ symmetry in this sector of the solution space, and are distinct from the usual "Smarr-type" formulas that can be derived from the first law of black hole mechanics. We also derive the "physical process" version of this first law applicable to a general stationary black hole spacetime without any symmetry assumptions other than stationarity, allowing in particular arbitrary horizon topologies. The work terms in the first law exhibit the topology of the horizon via the intersection numbers between cycles of various dimensions.Comment: 50pp, 3 figures, v2: references added, correction in appendix B, conclusions added, v3: reference section edited, typos removed, minor changes in appendix

5G-CLARITY: 5G-Advanced Private Networks Integrating 5GNR, WiFi, and LiFi

The future of the manufacturing industry highly depends on digital systems that transform existing production and monitoring systems into autonomous systems fulfilling stringent requirements in terms of availability, reliability, security, low latency, and positioning with high accuracy. In order to meet such requirements, private 5G networks are considered as a key enabling technology. In this article, we introduce the 5G-CLARITY system that integrates 5GNR, WiFi, and LiFi access networks, and develops novel management enablers to operate 5G-Advanced private networks. We describe three core features of 5G-CLARITY, including a multi-connectivity framework, a high-precision positioning server, and a management system to orchestrate private network slices. These features are evaluated by means of packet-level simulations and an experimental testbed demonstrating the ability of 5G-CLARITY to police access network traffic, to achieve centimeter-level positioning accuracy, and to provision private network slices in less than one minuteThis work is supported by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 871428, 5G-CLARITY project

The impact of tides on the capillary transition zone

The capillary transition zone, also known as the capillary fringe, is a zone where water saturations decrease with height above the water table/oil–water contact as a result of capillary action. In some oil reservoirs, this zone may contain a significant proportion of the oil in place. In groundwater assessments, the capillary fringe can profoundly affect contaminant transport. In this study, we investigated the influence of a tidally induced, semi-diurnal, change in water table depth on the water saturation distribution in the capillary fringe/transition zone. The investigation used a mixture of laboratory experiments, in which the change in saturation with depth was monitored over a period of 90 days, and numerical simulation. We show that tidal changes in water table depth can significantly alter the vertical water saturation profile from what would be predicted using capillary–gravity equilibrium and the drainage or imbibition capillary pressure curves

Dairy products, dietary calcium and the risk of inflammatory bowel disease: results from a European prospective cohort investigation

Background: Dairy products may be involved in the etiology of inflammatory bowel disease by modulating gut microbiota and immune responses, but data from epidemiological studies examining this relationship are limited. We investigated the association between prediagnostic intake of these foods and dietary calcium, and the subsequent development of Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Methods: In total, 401,326 participants were enrolled in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort. At recruitment, consumption of total and specific dairy products (milk, yogurt, and cheese) and dietary calcium was measured using validated food frequency questionnaires. Cases developing incident CD (n = 110) or UC (n = 244) during follow-up were matched with 4 controls. Conditional logistic regression analyses were used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), adjusted for total energy intake and smoking. Results: Compared with the lowest quartile, the ORs for the highest quartile of total dairy products and dietary calcium intake were 0.61 (95% CI, 0.32-1.19, p trend = 0.19) and 0.63 (95% CI, 0.28-1.42, p trend = 0.23) for CD, and 0.80 (95% CI, 0.50-1.30, p trend = 0.40) and 0.81 (95% CI, 0.49-1.34, p trend = 0.60) for UC, respectively. Compared with nonconsumers, individuals consuming milk had significantly reduced odds of CD (OR 0.30, 95% CI, 0.13-0.65) and nonsignificantly reduced odds of UC (OR 0.85, 95% CI, 0.49-1.47). Conclusions: Milk consumption may be associated with a decreased risk of developing CD, although a clear dose-response relationship was not established. Further studies are warranted to confirm this possible protective effect

Total energy expenditure is repeatable in adults but not associated with short-term changes in body composition

Low total energy expenditure (TEE, MJ/d) has been a hypothesized risk factor for weight gain, but repeatability of TEE, a critical variable in longitudinal studies of energy balance, is understudied. We examine repeated doubly labeled water (DLW) measurements of TEE in 348 adults and 47 children from the IAEA DLW Database (mean ± SD time interval: 1.9 ± 2.9 y) to assess repeatability of TEE, and to examine if TEE adjusted for age, sex, fat-free mass, and fat mass is associated with changes in weight or body composition. Here, we report that repeatability of TEE is high for adults, but not children. Bivariate Bayesian mixed models show no among or within-individual correlation between body composition (fat mass or percentage) and unadjusted TEE in adults. For adults aged 20-60 y (N = 267; time interval: 7.4 ± 12.2 weeks), increases in adjusted TEE are associated with weight gain but not with changes in body composition; results are similar for subjects with intervals >4 weeks (N = 53; 29.1 ± 12.8 weeks). This suggests low TEE is not a risk factor for, and high TEE is not protective against, weight or body fat gain over the time intervals tested

Real-time visualization of heterotrimeric G protein Gq activation in living cells

Contains fulltext : 97296.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: Gq is a heterotrimeric G protein that plays an important role in numerous physiological processes. To delineate the molecular mechanisms and kinetics of signalling through this protein, its activation should be measurable in single living cells. Recently, fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) sensors have been developed for this purpose. RESULTS: In this paper, we describe the development of an improved FRET-based Gq activity sensor that consists of a yellow fluorescent protein (YFP)-tagged Ggamma2 subunit and a Galphaq subunit with an inserted monomeric Turquoise (mTurquoise), the best cyan fluorescent protein variant currently available. This sensor enabled us to determine, for the first time, the kon (2/s) of Gq activation. In addition, we found that the guanine nucleotide exchange factor p63RhoGEF has a profound effect on the number of Gq proteins that become active upon stimulation of endogenous histamine H1 receptors. The sensor was also used to measure ligand-independent activation of the histamine H1 receptor (H1R) upon addition of a hypotonic stimulus. CONCLUSIONS: Our observations reveal that the application of a truncated mTurquoise as donor and a YFP-tagged Ggamma2 as acceptor in FRET-based Gq activity sensors substantially improves their dynamic range. This optimization enables the real-time single cell quantification of Gq signalling dynamics, the influence of accessory proteins and allows future drug screening applications by virtue of its sensitivity