Crater catalog and analysis of crater distribution on Saturn's moon, Enceladus

This project consists of a catalog of all craters greater than 2.2 km (0.5°) in diameter, and categorizing them in terms of deformations limited to rifting and/or elongation. Publicly available images were obtained from the Cassini Imaging website, and loaded into Adobe Photoshop™ to derive the location and size of the craters. The distribution of craters was then analyzed by latitude and longitude. The enigmatic distribution of craters is explained by the possibilities that Saturn acts as a planetary shield for the sub-Saturn hemisphere and that the E-ring is weathering and eroding craters on the leading hemisphere. Furthermore, the lack of craters in the trailing hemisphere supports a hypothesis that a south-pole-style hot spot once existed in the eastern hemisphere equatorial region

Characterization of basal and di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate altered fatty acid transport across the human immortalized blood brain barrier cell line, hCMEC/D3

Fatty acids (FA) are highly important in both the development of the fetal brain and its functioning in later stages of life. During fetal development, the blood brain barrier (BBB) is thought to play a large role in the regulation of lipid homeostasis within the brain and therefore the development of the CNS. Di-(2-ethylhexyl)-Phthalate (DEHP) is a widely used plasticizer and has been identified as a compound that can alter the lipid content of rat pup brains after maternal exposure apparently by altering fatty acid homeostasis at the placental level. While the effects at the placenta seem to be the primary site of DEHP\u27s impact, the BBB also represents a point of regulation for the availability of FAs to the brain both before and after parturition. To investigate the effects of DEHP on the human BBB cell model hCMEC/D3, we first established the endogenous expression of mRNA levels of key FA transport conferring proteins and transcriptional regulatory factors that control their production via qRT-PCR. Additional qRT-PCR studies determined that the mRNA expression of these targets was altered upon exposure to DEHP, indicating a similar effect at the BBB as at the placenta. Protein expression of these targets was investigated via Western Blotting to confirm these findings and it was determined that while not all targets had corresponding protein expression alteration, upstream regulators of FA homeostasis were observed to undergo modest changes that may potentially signify the capacity of DEHP to alter homeostatic processes at the BBB. As the overall consequence of the changes is not readily apparent, the movement of radiolabeled FAs across the hCMEC/D3 line after DEHP exposure was also examined and it was determined that the directional movement of the essential FAs Linoleic and Linolenic acid, which are important precursors to many bioactive signaling molecules and modified FAs, was modestly reduced in the apical to basolateral direction. Mass balance investigations also indicate that exposure to DEHP results in the intracellular accumulation of these FAs, which along with the reduced transport suggests that the in vivo movement of fatty acids into the brain may potentially face disruption in a similar manner as observed at the placental level though of much lower magnitude

Safety and Efficacy of Influenza Vaccination in Patients Receiving Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors. Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis

The potential increased risk of immune-related adverse events (irAEs) post-influenza vaccine is a concern in patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI). We conducted a systematic review with meta-analysis of studies reporting the effects of influenza vaccination in patients with cancer during ICI treatment. We searched five electronic databases until 01/2022. Two authors independently selected studies, appraised their quality, and collected data. The primary outcome was the determination of pooled irAE rates. Secondary outcomes included determination of immunogenicity and influenza infection rates and cancer-related outcomes. Nineteen studies (26 publications, n = 4705) were included; 89.5% were observational. Vaccinated patients reported slighter lower rates of irAEs compared to unvaccinated patients (32% versus 41%, respectively). Seroprotection for influenza type A was 78%–79%, and for type B was 75%. Influenza and irAE-related death rates were similar between groups. The pooled proportion of participants reporting a laboratory-confirmed infection was 2% (95% CI 0% to 6%), and influenza-like illness was 14% (95% CI 2% to 32%). No differences were reported on the rates of laboratory-confirmed infection between vaccinated and unvaccinated patients. Longer progression-free and overall survival was also observed in vaccinated compared with unvaccinated patients. Current evidence suggests that influenza vaccination is safe in patients receiving ICIs, does not increase the risk of irAEs, and may improve survival