Basin and Crater Ejecta Contributions to the South Pole-Aitken Basin (SPA) Regolith; Positive Implications for Robotic Surface Samples

The ability of impacts of all sizes to laterally transport ejected material across the lunar surface is well-documented both in lunar samples [1-4] and in remote sensing data [5-7]. The need to quantify the amount of lateral transport has lead to several models to estimate the scale of this effect. Such models have been used to assess the origin of components at the Apollo sites [8-10] or to predict what might be sampled by robotic landers [11-13]. Here we continue to examine the regolith inside the South Pole-Aitken Basin (SPA) and specifically assess the contribution to the SPA regolith by smaller craters within the basin. Specifically we asses the effects of four larger craters within SPA, Bose, Bhabha, Stoney, and Bellinsgauzen all located within the mafic enhancement in the center of SPA (Figure 1). The region around these craters is of interest as it is a possible landing and sample return site for the proposed Moon-Rise mission [14-17]. Additionally, understanding the provenance of components in the SPA regolith is important for interpreting remotely sensed data of the basin interior [18-20]

Documenting of Geologic Field Activities in Real-Time in Four Dimensions: Apollo 17 as a Case Study for Terrestrial Analogues and Future Exploration

During the Apollo exploration of the lunar surface, thousands of still images, 16 mm videos, TV footage, samples, and surface experiments were captured and collected. In addition, observations and descriptions of what was observed was radioed to Mission Control as part of standard communications and subsequently transcribed. The archive of this material represents perhaps the best recorded set of geologic field campaigns and will serve as the example of how to conduct field work on other planetary bodies for decades to come. However, that archive of material exists in disparate locations and formats with varying levels of completeness, making it not easily cross-referenceable. While video and audio exist for the missions, it is not time synchronized, and images taken during the missions are not time or location tagged. Sample data, while robust, is not easily available in a context of where the samples were collected, their descriptions by the astronauts are not connected to them, or the video footage of their collection (if available). A more than five year undertaking to reconstruct and reconcile the Apollo 17 mission archive, from launch through splashdown, has generated an integrated record of the entire mission, resulting in searchable, synchronized image, voice, and video data, with geologic context provided at the time each sample was collected. Through www.apollo17.org the documentation of the field investigation conducted by the Apollo 17 crew is presented in chronologic sequence, with additional context provided by high-resolution Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) images and a corresponding digital terrain model (DTM) of the Taurus-Littrow Valley

What Do Nectaris Basin Impact Melt Rocks Look like and Where Can We Find Them?

The formation of the Nectaris basin is a key event defining the stratigraphy of the Moon. Its absolute age, therefore, is a linchpin for lunar bombardment history. Fernandes et al. gave a thorough account of the history of different samples thought to originate in Nectaris, with the upshot being there is little agreement on what samples represent Nectaris, if any. We are revisiting the effort to identify Nectaris basin impact-melt rocks at the Apollo 16 site, to model their emplacement, and to use these parameters to examine other sites where Nectaris impact melt is more abundant and/or more recognizable for potential further study

Clinical and biological significance of miR-23b and miR-193a in human hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common cancer of the liver with a very poor prognosis. The dysregulation of microRNAs (miRs) is indeed implicated in HCC onset and progression. In this study, we have evaluated the expression of miR-23b and miR-193a in a large cohort of 59 and 67 HCC patients, respectively. miR-23b and miR-193a resulted significantly down-regulated in primary HCCs compared to their matched peritumoral counterparts. Furthermore, patients with higher miR-193a expression exhibited longer OS and DFS, suggesting that miR-193a may be a molecular prognostic factor for HCC patients. Since the regulation of miRs by DNA methylation may occur in human cancers, we verified whether the down-modulation of miR-23b and miR-193a in HCC tissues could be related to DNA methylation. An inverse trend between miR-23b expression and DNA methylation was observed, indicating that miR-23b can be epigenetically regulated. By contrast, the down-regulation of miR-193a was not mediated by DNA methylation. To verify the potential role of miR-23b and miR-193a as responsive molecular targets in vitro, we used the inhibitor of DNA methylation 5-aza-dC to restore miR-23b expression level in combination with miR-193a transfection. The combined treatment led to a significant inhibition of cellular proliferation and migration. Taken together, our findings provide evidence that miR-23b and miR-193a may be molecular diagnostic and prognostic factors for HCC; furthermore, miR-23b and miR-193a are responsive molecular targets for limiting HCC cell aggressiveness in combination with the epigenetic drug 5-aza-dC. Moreover, our results provide new advances in the epigenetic regulation of these miRs in HCC

Unsymmetrical Relaxation Paths of the Excited States in Cyanine Dyes Detected by Time-Resolved Fluorescence:Polymethinic and Polyenic Forms

Novel applications of organic dyes and vast opportunities for their molecular tailoring keep focus of scientific community on the issues of symmetry breaking in the systems having different location of uncompensated charge, which has tremendous impact on photoluminescent properties of the dyes. In this paper, we provide distinctive experimental evidences of three relaxation paths (one symmetrical and two unsymmetrical) of excited states by analysis of lifetime and spectra of time-resolved fluorescence at low temperature with strong support of quantum-chemical modeling. Importantly, the studied cyanine dye (astraphloxin) in aqueous solution has two different unsymmetrical relaxation paths of excites states in the polymethinic and donor-acceptor polyenic forms, where the last form strongly diminishes in less polar media. The experimental and computational results provide essential fundamental knowledge of molecular electronic relaxations substantially affected by matrix rigidity and polarity for design and photonic applications of elongated π-electronic systems

Is it appropriate to composite fish samples for mercury trend monitoring and consumption advisories?

Monitoring mercury levels in fish can be costly because variation by space, time, and fish type/size needs to be captured. Here, we explored if compositing fish samples to decrease analytical costs would reduce the effectiveness of the monitoring objectives. Six compositing methods were evaluated by applying them to an existing extensive dataset and examining their performance in reproducing the fish consumption advisories and temporal trends. The methods resulted in varying amount (average 34-72%) of reductions in samples, but all (except one) reproduced advisories very well (96-97% of the advisories did not change or were one category more restrictive compared to analysis of individual samples). Similarly, the methods performed reasonably well in recreating temporal trends, especially when longer-term and frequent measurements were considered. The results indicate that compositing samples within 5 cm fish size bins or retaining the largest/smallest individuals and compositing in-between samples in batches of 5 with decreasing fish size would be the best approaches. Based on the literature, the findings from this study are applicable to fillet, muscle plug and whole fish mercury monitoring studies. Overall, compositing fish samples for mercury monitoring could result in a substantial savings (approximately 60% of the analytical cost) and should be considered in fish mercury monitoring, especially in long-term programs or when study cost is a concern

Recent Results from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission and Plans for the Extended Science Phase

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft (LRO), launched on June 18, 2009, began with the goal of seeking safe landing sites for future robotic missions or the return of humans to the Moon as part of NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD). In addition, LRO's objectives included the search for surface resources and to investigate the Lunar radiation environment. After spacecraft commissioning, the ESMD phase of the mission began on September 15, 2009 and completed on September 15, 2010 when operational responsibility for LRO was transferred to NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD). The SMD mission was scheduled for 2 years and completed in September, 2012. The LRO mission has been extended for two years under SMD. The extended mission focuses on a new set of goals related to understanding the geologic history of the Moon, its current state, and what it can tell us about the evolution Of the Solar System. Here we will review the major results from the LRO mission for both exploration and science and discuss plans and objectives going forward including plans for the extended science phase out to 2014. Results from the LRO mission include but are not limited to the development of comprehensive high resolution maps and digital terrain models of the lunar surface; discoveries on the nature of hydrogen distribution, and by extension water, at the lunar poles; measurement of the day and night time temperature of the lunar surface including temperature down below 30 K in permanently shadowed regions (PSRs); direct measurement of Hg, H2, and CO deposits in the PSRs, evidence for recent tectonic activity on the Moon, and high resolution maps of the illumination conditions as the poles. The objectives for the second and extended science phases of the mission under SMD include: 1) understanding the bombardment history of the Moon, 2) interpreting Lunar geologic processes, 3) mapping the global Lunar regolith, 4) identifying volatiles on the Moon, and 5) measuring the Lunar atmosphere and radiation environment

SPACE TELESCOPE SCIENCE

We present the results and measurement of Charge Transfer Efficiency (CTE) of the WFC3 UVIS detector, based on data acquired during the monthly internal Extended Pixel Edge Response (EPER) observations over a 2 year period. We present an algorithm for CTE assessment and fit a power-law to CTE measures versus signal level. We find that at each signal level, CTE declines linearly over time and CTE losses are worst at the lowest signal levels. 1

Lunar International Science Coordination/Calibration Targets

A new era of international lunar exploration has begun and will expand over the next four years with data acquired from at least four sophisticated remote sensing missions: KAGUYA (SELENE) [Japan], Chang'E [China], Chandrayaan-l [India], and LRO [United States]. It is recognized that this combined activity at the Moon with modern sophisticated sensors wi II provide unprecedented new information about the Moon and will dramatically improve our understanding of Earth's nearest neighbor. It is anticipated that the blooming of scientific exploration of the Moon by nations involved in space activities will seed and foster peaceful international coordination and cooperation that will benefit all. Summarized here are eight Lunar International Science Coordination/Calibration Targets (L-ISCT) that are intended to a) allow cross-calibration of diverse multi-national instruments and b) provide a focus for training young scientists about a range of lunar science issues. The targets, discussed at several scientific forums, were selected for coordinated science and instrument calibration of orbital data. All instrument teams are encouraged to participate in a coordinated activity of early-release data that will improve calibration and validation of data across independent and diverse instruments