Search

Samples of Crustacea and Annelida (Polychaeta, Sipuncula, and Hirudinea) were collected in the Bering Sea and the northwestern Pacific Ocean during scientific cruise SO-249 BERING in 2016. Biological samples were collected from 32 locations by the team on-board RV Sonne using a chain bag dredge at depths ranging between 330–5,070 m, and preserved in 96% ethanol. Specimens were morphologically identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible using a Leica M60 stereomicroscope. The generated data here comprise taxonomic information as well as annotated bathymetric and biogeographic information from a total of 78 samples (26 Crustacea, 47 Polychaeta, 4 Sipuncula, and 1 Hirudinea). The dataset was prepared following Darwin Core Biodiversity standards for FAIR data sharing based on Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS) and Global Biodiversity Facility (GBIF) guidelines. The standardised digitised data were then mobilised to both OBIS and GBIF under CC BY 4.0 licence to publicly share and adopt the data. As records of these important marine taxa from bathyal and abyssal depths are sparse, especially from the deep Bering Sea, the herein generated and digitised data aid in filling existing knowledge gaps on their diversity and distribution in that region. As part of the “Biogeography of the NW Pacific deep-sea fauna and their possible future invasions into the Arctic Ocean” (BENEFICIAL) project, this dataset thus not only increases our knowledge in re-assessing and uncovering the deep-sea diversity of these taxa, but also serves policy and management sectors by providing first-hand data for global report assessments.

PURPOSE: Inhibition of angiogenesis has shown clinical success in patients with cancer. Thus, imaging approaches that allow for the identification of angiogenic tumors and the detection of response to anti-angiogenic treatment are of high clinical relevance. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: We established an in vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) approach that allows us to simultaneously image tumor microvessel density and tumor vessel size in a NSCLC model in mice. RESULTS: Using microvessel density imaging we demonstrated an increase in microvessel density within 8 days after tumor implantation, while tumor vessel size decreased indicating a switch from macro- to microvessels during tumor growth. Moreover, we could monitor in vivo inhibition of angiogenesis induced by the angiogenesis inhibitor PTK787, resulting in a decrease of microvessel density and a slight increase in tumor vessel size. CONCLUSIONS: We present an in vivo imaging approach that allows us to monitor both tumor microvessel density and tumor vessel size in the tumor. Moreover, this approach enables us to assess, early-on, treatment effects on tumor microvessel density as well as on tumor vessel size. Thus, this imaging-based strategy of validating anti-angiogenic treatment effects has high potential in applications to preclinical and clinical trials.

Abstract A hypertensive response to exercise is a precursor leading to hypertension, which is a major risk factor for the development of heart failure and diastolic dysfunction. Herein, we aimed to assess blood pressure (BP) in patients with a hypertensive response to exercise and different degrees of diastolic dysfunction. Between January 2009 and December 2014, 373 patients with a hypertensive response to exercise (HRE) and echocardiographic data assessing diastolic function were enrolled at the University Hospital of Zurich. ANCOVA was used to assess the changes in BP response during exercise testing in individuals with different degrees of diastolic dysfunction. Normalization of systolic BP was blunted in patients with grade II and III diastolic dysfunction after 3 min of recovery in univariable [β (95%) ‐ 9.2 (‐13.8 to ‐ 4.8) p

Introduction The role of sleep in cardiovascular health, particularly the impact of deep non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, is gaining interest in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases (Grandner et al., 2016). Essentially slow waves, prominent brain oscillations during deep sleep, seem to represent an important cardiovascular recovery process for the human body. However, to date, the specific mechanisms through which sleep affects cardiovascular function and whether slow waves accelerate recovery remain elusive. Methods Here, we explored the role of slow waves in promoting cardiovascular function. In this randomized, cross-over trial involving 18 healthy male participants (Huwiler et al., 2023), we investigated how experimentally enhancing slow waves via auditory stimulation (Huwiler et al., 2022) impacts cardiovascular dynamics during sleep and next-day cardiac function, assessed via an echocardiography. All participants underwent three experimental nights including two conditions for slow wave enhancement and one SHAM control condition while brain oscillatory, blood pressure, and cardiac dynamics were continuously measured during sleep. Results Using a linear mixed-effect model approach, we found auditory stimulation to significantly increase slow wave activity (F(2, 33.095) = 11.397, p < 0.001) during times of stimulation. This slow wave enhancement coincided with a dynamic cardiovascular activation, indicated through short increases in blood pressure and a biphasic heart rate response. After sleep, we found a significant increase in general longitudinal strain (F(2, 34) = 81.17, p < 0.001), an increase in left-ventricular ejection fraction (F(2, 34) = 4.55, p = 0.018), and a decrease in E/e’ ratio (F(2, 34) = 3.38, p = 0.046) for both slow wave stimulation conditions compared to SHAM. Discussion/Conclusion We show that slow wave stimulation induces a cardiovascular activation response possibly related to increasing cardiovascular stability during sleep (De Zambotti et al., 2016). Moreover, we demonstrate that slow wave stimulation enhances left-ventricular systolic and diastolic function, both together indicating improved cardiac function. Altogether, this points towards the functional involvement of slow waves in promoting cardiovascular health. Therefore, sleep slow wave stimulation may be considered a potential supplementary method in treating cardiovascular diseases involving decreased left-ventricular function. Furthermore, our findings hint that enhancing slow waves could potentially optimize post-exercise recovery processes and increase cardiovascular well-being. References De Zambotti, M., Willoughby, A. R., Franzen, P. L., Clark, D. B., Baker, F. C., & Colrain, I. M. (2016). K-complexes: Interaction between the central and autonomic nervous systems during sleep. Sleep, 39(5), 1129–1137. https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.5770 Grandner, M. A., Alfonso-Miller, P., Fernandez-Mendoza, J., Shetty, S., Shenoy, S., & Combs, D. (2016). Sleep: Important considerations for the prevention of cardiovascular disease. Current Opinion in Cardiology, 31(5), 551–565. https://doi.org/10.1097/HCO.0000000000000324 Huwiler, S., Carro-Domínguez, M., Stich, F. M., Sala, R., Aziri, F., Trippel, A., Ryf, T., Markendorf, S., Niederseer, D., Bohm, P., Stoll, G., Laubscher, L., Thevan, J., Spengler, C. M., Gawinecka, J., Osto, E., Huber, R., Wenderoth, N., Schmied, C., & Lustenberger, C. (2023). Auditory stimulation of sleep slow waves enhances left ventricular function in humans. European Heart Journal, 44(40), 4288–4291. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehad630 Huwiler, S., Carro Dominguez, M., Huwyler, S., Kiener, L., Stich, F. M., Sala, R., Aziri, F., Trippel, A., Schmied, C., Huber, R., Wenderoth, N., & Lustenberger, C. (2022). Effects of auditory sleep modulation approaches on brain oscillatory and cardiovascular dynamics. Sleep, 45(9), 1–36. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsac155