A Pre-Landing Assessment of Regolith Properties at the InSight Landing Site

This article discusses relevant physical properties of the regolith at the Mars InSight landing site as understood prior to landing of the spacecraft. InSight will land in the northern lowland plains of Mars, close to the equator, where the regolith is estimated to be ≥3--5 m thick. These investigations of physical properties have relied on data collected from Mars orbital measurements, previously collected lander and rover data, results of studies of data and samples from Apollo lunar missions, laboratory measurements on regolith simulants, and theoretical studies. The investigations include changes in properties with depth and temperature. Mechanical properties investigated include density, grain-size distribution, cohesion, and angle of internal friction. Thermophysical properties include thermal inertia, surface emissivity and albedo, thermal conductivity and diffusivity, and specific heat. Regolith elastic properties not only include parameters that control seismic wave velocities in the immediate vicinity of the Insight lander but also coupling of the lander and other potential noise sources to the InSight broadband seismometer. The related properties include Poisson’s ratio, P- and S-wave velocities, Young’s modulus, and seismic attenuation. Finally, mass diffusivity was investigated to estimate gas movements in the regolith driven by atmospheric pressure changes. Physical properties presented here are all to some degree speculative. However, they form a basis for interpretation of the early data to be returned from the InSight mission.Additional co-authors: Nick Teanby and Sharon Keda

Mature (Non-Anaplastic, Non-Cutaneous) T-/NK-Cell Lymphomas in Children, Adolescents and Young Adults: State of the Science

Mature (non-anaplastic) T-cell and natural killer (NK)-lymphomas rarely occur in children or adolescents. Due to the low incidence and heterogeneity, information regarding the aetiology, physiopathology and genetics of paediatric mature (non-anaplastic) T/NK-cell lymphoma is lacking. In addition, standard treatments have not yet been established. In the absence of randomised clinical trials, anthracycline-containing regimens are usually considered as the first treatment option, but with discouraging outcomes, especially in patients with advanced disease. The implementation of autologous or allogeneic stem cell transplantation as upfront consolidation therapy or for chemotherapy-sensitive relapsed disease have resulted in improved survival for some patient subsets. The recent use of novel targeted molecular and immunotherapeutic agents has also been shown to be promising in small numbers of patients. In this context, we will review the current state of the scientific knowledge on the most common mature (non-anaplastic, non-cutaneous) T/NK-cell lymphomas occurring in children, adolescent and young adults