Global warming is causing Atlantification of water masses and concomitant changes in food webs in the Barents Sea region. To determine whether changes that have been documented at lower trophic levels are impacting the diet of ringed seals (Pusa hispida) gastrointestinal tracts (GITs) from 99 coastal-feeding ringed seals, collected in western Spitsbergen, Svalbard, were analysed via identification of hard-parts. The study animals were shot in spring (n = 30; April-July) or autumn (n = 69; August-October) during four consecutive years (2014-2017). Thirty different prey types were identified, but most seals (55.6%) had consumed between 2 and 4 different types of prey. Polar cod (Boreogadus saida) dominated the diet of the ringed seals in terms of relative biomass (B i = 60.0%) and frequency of occurrence (FO i = 86.9%), followed by pricklebacks (Stichaeidae; B i = 23.4%; FO i = 79.8%). Redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed that year was the only significant predictor explaining variance in autumn diet composition (RDA, F 3 = 4.96, AIC = − 76.49, p ≤ 0.0050; blubber content and maturity/sex group were not significant). Blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) occurred in the diet in small quantities; this Atlantic fish species has not previously been documented in the ringed seals' diet. Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) had the highest B i (9.2%) among Atlantic prey types. However, despite major changes in the last decade in the fish and zooplankton community in western Svalbard, and consumption of a few Atlantic prey types, the ringed seals' diet in Svalbard continues to be dominated by Arctic prey, especially polar cod.
<b>Objective </b> <p>The SGLT2 inhibitor dapagliflozin reduced the risk of cardiovascular mortality and worsening heart failure in the <a>Dapagliflozin and Prevention of Adverse-Outcomes in Heart Failure </a>trial (DAPA-HF). This report explores the effect of dapagliflozin on incident type 2 diabetes in the non-diabetic cohort enrolled in the trial.</p> <p><b> </b></p> <p><b>Research Design/Methods</b></p> <p>The subgroup of 2605 patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), no prior history of diabetes, and a HbA1c of <6.5% at baseline was randomized to dapagliflozin 10 mg daily or placebo. In this exploratory analysis, surveillance for new onset diabetes was accomplished through periodic HbA1c testing as part of the study protocol and comparison between the treatment groups assessed through a Cox proportional hazards model.</p> <p><b> </b></p> <p><b>Results</b></p> <p>At baseline, the mean HbA1c was 5.8%. At 8 months, there were minimal changes, with a placebo-adjusted change in the dapagliflozin group of -0.04%. Over a median follow-up of 18 months, diabetes developed in 93/1307 patients (7.1%) in the placebo group and 64/1298 (4.9%) in the dapagliflozin group. Dapagliflozin led to a 32% reduction in diabetes incidence (HR 0.68, 95% CI, 0.50-0.94; p=0.019.) More than 95% of the participants who developed type 2 diabetes had prediabetes at baseline (HbA1c 5.7-6.4%.) Participants who developed diabetes in DAPA-HF had a higher subsequent mortality than those who did not.</p> <p><b>Conclusions</b></p> <p>In this exploratory analysis among patients with HFrEF, treatment with dapagliflozin reduced the incidence of new diabetes. This potential benefit needs confirmation in trials of longer duration and in people without heart failure.</p>
This study uses cetacean sighting data, acquired via a citizen science programme, to update distributions and spatial trends of whales and dolphins in waters around the Svalbard Archipelago during the period 2005–2019. Distributions, based on kernel density estimates, from an early period (2005–2019) and a recent period (2015–19) were compared to identify potential shifts in distribution in this area, which is experiencing rapid warming and concomitant sea-ice losses. Among the three Arctic endemic cetaceans, white whales (Delphinapterus leucas, also known as beluga) had a stable, coastal distribution throughout the study, whereas narwhals (Monodon monoceros) and bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) were observed only north of the archipelago, but with increasing frequency during the recent period. White-beaked dolphins (Lagenorhynchus albirostris) had a stable distribution along the continental shelf break, west and south of Svalbard. Sperm whale observations shifted from west of Bjørnøya during the early period to being concentrated around the north end of Prins Karls Forland, west of Spitsbergen during the recent period. The four summer-resident baleen whales—blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus), fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus), humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) and minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata)—have shifted their distributions from the continental shelf break west of Spitsbergen during the early period into fjords and coastal areas during the recent period. These changes coincide with increased inflows of Atlantic Water into the fjords along the west coast of Spitsbergen and across the north of the archipelago.
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