Tissue losses and metabolic adaptations both contribute to the reduction in resting metabolic rate following weight loss

OBJECTIVE: To characterize the contributions of the loss of energy-expending tissues and metabolic adaptations to the reduction in resting metabolic rate (RMR) following weight loss. METHODS: A secondary analysis was conducted on data from the Comprehensive Assessment of Long-term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy study. Changes in RMR, body composition, and metabolic hormones were examined over 12 months of calorie restriction in 109 individuals. The contribution of tissue losses to the decline in RMR was determined by weighing changes in the size of energy-expending tissues and organs (skeletal muscle, adipose tissue, bone, brain, inner organs, residual mass) assessed by dualenergy X-ray absorptiometry with their tissue-specific metabolic rates. Metabolic adaptations were quantified as the remaining reduction in RMR. RESULTS: RMR was reduced by 101 ± 12 kcal/d as participants lost 7.3 ± 0.2 kg (both p \u3c 0.001). On average, 60% of the total reduction in RMR were explained by energy-expending tissues losses, while 40% were attributed to metabolic adaptations. The loss of skeletal muscle mass (1.0 ± 0.7 kg) was not significantly related to RMR changes (r = 0.14, p = 0.16), whereas adipose tissue losses (7.2 ± 3.0 kg) were positively associated with the reduction in RMR (r = 0.42, p \u3c 0.001) and metabolic adaptations (r = 0.31, p \u3c 0.001). Metabolic adaptations were correlated with declines in leptin (r = 0.27, p \u3c 0.01), triiodothyronine (r = 0.19, p \u3c 0.05), and insulin (r = 0.25, p \u3c 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: During weight loss, tissue loss and metabolic adaptations both contribute to the reduction in RMR, albeit variably. Contrary to popularly belief, it is not skeletal muscle, but rather adipose tissue losses that seem to drive RMR reductions following weight loss. Future research should target personalized strategies addressing the predominant cause of RMR reduction for weight maintenance

Quantum Maxwell-Bloch equations for spatially inhomogeneous semiconductor lasers

We present quantum Maxwell-Bloch equations (QMBE) for spatially inhomogeneous semiconductor laser devices. The QMBE are derived from fully quantum mechanical operator dynamics describing the interaction of the light field with the quantum states of the electrons and the holes near the band gap. By taking into account field-field correlations and field-dipole correlations, the QMBE include quantum noise effects which cause spontaneous emission and amplified spontaneous emission. In particular, the source of spontaneous emission is obtained by factorizing the dipole-dipole correlations into a product of electron and hole densities. The QMBE are formulated for general devices, for edge emitting lasers and for vertical cavity surface emitting lasers, providing a starting point for the detailed analysis of spatial coherence in the near field and far field patterns of such laser diodes. Analytical expressions are given for the spectra of gain and spontaneous emission described by the QMBE. These results are applied to the case of a broad area laser, for which the frequency and carrier density dependent spontaneous emission factor beta and the evolution of the far field pattern near threshold are derived.Comment: 22 pages RevTex and 7 figures, submitted to Phys.Rev.A, revisions in abstract and in the discussion of temporal coherenc

Antigenic Characterization of Recombinant Hemagglutinin Proteins Derived from Different Avian Influenza Virus Subtypes

Since the advent of highly pathogenic variants of avian influenza virus (HPAIV), the main focus of avian influenza research has been the characterization and detection of HPAIV hemagglutinin (HA) from H5 and H7 subtypes. However, due to the high mutation and reassortation rate of influenza viruses, in theory any influenza strain may acquire increased pathogenicity irrespective of its subtype. A comprehensive antigenic characterization of influenza viruses encompassing all 16 HA and 9 neuraminidase subtypes will provide information useful for the design of differential diagnostic tools, and possibly, vaccines. We have expressed recombinant HA proteins from 3 different influenza virus HA subtypes in the baculovirus system. These proteins were used to generate polyclonal rabbit antisera, which were subsequently employed in epitope scanning analysis using peptide libraries spanning the entire HA. Here, we report the identification and characterization of linear, HA subtype-specific as well as inter subtype-conserved epitopes along the HA proteins. Selected subtype-specific epitopes were shown to be suitable for the differentiation of anti-HA antibodies in an ELISA

Absence of superconductivity in ultra-thin layers of FeSe synthesized on a topological insulator

The structural and electronic properties of FeSe ultra-thin layers on Bi$_{2}$Se$_{3}$ have been investigated with a combination of scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. The FeSe multi-layers, which are predominantly 3-5 monolayers (ML) thick, exhibit a hole pocket-like electron band at \bar{\Gamma} and a dumbbell-like feature at \bar{M}, similar to multi-layers of FeSe on SrTiO$_{3}$. Moreover, the topological state of the Bi2Se3 is preserved beneath the FeSe layer, as indicated by a heavily \it{n}-doped Dirac cone. Low temperature STS does not exhibit a superconducting gap for any investigated thickness down to a temperature of 5 K

TERAHERTZ-INFRARED ELLIPSOMETER SYSTEM, AND METHOD OF USE

The present invention relates to ellipsometer and polarimeter systems, and more particularly is an ellipsometer or polarimeter or the like system which operates in a frequency range between 300 GHz or lower and extending to higher than at least 1 Tera-hertz (THz), and preferably through the Infra-red (IR) range up Sh and his th. 100 THz, including: a Source Such as a backward wave oscillator, a Smith-Purcell cell; a free electron laser, or an FTIR source and a solid state device; and a detector Such as a Golay cell; abolometer or a solid state detector: and preferably including a polarization state generator comprising: an odd bounce image rotating system and a polarizer, or two polarizers; and optionally including least one compensator and/or modulator, in addition to an analyzer

Provenance analysis of the Late Ediacaran basins from SW Iberia (Serie Negra Succession and Beiras Group): Evidence for a common Neoproterozoic evolution

This study makes a comparison of the populations of detrital zircon from Late Ediacaran greywackes of the Ossa-Morena Zone (OMZ) and the southern domains of the Central Iberian Zone (S-CIZ). The results obtained reveal that the main difference between the age spectra of both populations of detrital zircon is the Neoproterozoic, in particularly the Cryogenian grains. Our new data suggest that deposition in both CIZ and OMZ Ediacaran basins was coeval and shows a long lived magmatic event typical of the northern Gondwana margin (Avalonian–Cadomian belt and Pan-African belt). Overall, SW Iberia shows the following sequence of Cryogenian and Ediacaran zircon-forming events: i) ca. 850–700 Ma, Pan-African suture (well represented in the Beiras Group and in the Mares Formation of the Serie Negra Succession); ii) ca. 700-635 Ma, Early Cadomian arc (dominant in the Beiras Group and in the Mares Formation of the Serie Negra Succession); and iii) ca. 635-545 Ma, Late Cadomian arc (the most important in the Mosteiros and Escoural formations of the Serie Negra Succession). The obtained results reinforce that the Late Ediacaran basins of SW Iberia were evolved together in the active margin of North-Gondwana in the same paleogeographic scenario but sufficiently separated to justify the differences mainly identified in their Neoproterozoic detrital zircon contents. This finding shows that there is no apparent reason to believe that the boundary between the OMZ and the S-CIZ marks a Cadomian suture