Sex-Specific Difference in Health-Related Altitude-Effects and Their Prevention by Acetazolamide. Data from a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Häfliger, Alina, Aline Buergin, Laura C. Mayer, Maamed Mademilov, Mona Lichtblau, Talantbek Sooronbaev, Silvia Ulrich, Konrad E. Bloch, and Michael Furian.

Right ventricular strain impairment due to hypoxia in patients with COPD: a post hoc analysis of two randomised controlled trials.

Background: Hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction leads to an increase in pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) and potentially right heart failure in healthy individuals and patients with respiratory diseases. Previous studies in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exposed to hypobaric hypoxia have shown an increase in PAP, while traditional echocardiographic parameters revealed only minimal changes at high altitude. Speckle-tracking-derived analysis is potentially more sensitive to assess right ventricular (RV) function and we used this method to investigate the impact on RV function of patients with COPD ascending to high altitude and compared the results with the traditional echocardiographic parameters.

MVA-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidates encoding different spike protein conformations induce distinct early transcriptional responses which may impact subsequent adaptive immunity.

Introduction: Vaccine platforms such as viral vectors and mRNA can accelerate vaccine development in response to newly emerging pathogens, as demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the differential effects of platform and antigen insert on vaccine immunogenicity remain incompletely understood. Innate immune responses induced by viral vector vaccines are suggested to have an adjuvant effect for subsequent adaptive immunity.

The International Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean Version 5.0.

Knowledge about seafloor depth, or bathymetry, is crucial for various marine activities, including scientific research, offshore industry, safety of navigation, and ocean exploration. Mapping the central Arctic Ocean is challenging due to the presence of perennial sea ice, which limits data collection to icebreakers, submarines, and drifting ice stations. The International Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean (IBCAO) was initiated in 1997 with the goal of updating the Arctic Ocean bathymetric portrayal.