Seeing Through the "Science Eyes" of the ExoMars Rover

The ExoMars rover, due to launch in mid 2020, will travel to Mars in search of signs of past or present habitability. The rover will carry the Panoramic Camera, PanCam, a scientific camera system designed to provide crucial remote sensing capabilities as mission scientists search for targets of interest. In preparation for the mission operations, the visual output of PanCam has been simulated and modeled with a three-dimensional rendering system, allowing the team to investigate the capabilities of the camera system and providing insight into how it may be calibrated and used for engineering tasks during the surface mission

The Labour Government, the Treasury and the £6 pay policy of July 1975

The 1974-79 Labour Government was elected in a climate of opinion that was fiercely opposed to government intervention in the wage determination process, and was committed to the principles of free collective bargaining in its manifestoes. However, by December 1974 the Treasury was advocating a formal incomes policy, and by July 1975 the government had introduced a £6 flat rate pay norm. With reference to archival sources, the paper demonstrates that TUC and Labour Party opposition to incomes policy was reconciled with the Treasury's advocacy by limiting the Bank of England‟s intervention in the foreign exchange market when sterling came under pressure. This both helped to achieve the Treasury's objective of improving the competitiveness of British industry, and acted as a catalyst for the introduction of incomes policy because the slide could be attributed to a lack of market confidence in British counter-inflation policy

Oral ferroportin inhibitor vamifeport for improving iron homeostasis and erythropoiesis in β-thalassemia: current evidence and future clinical development

Introduction: In β-thalassemia, imbalanced globin synthesis causes reduced red blood cell survival and ineffective erythropoiesis. Suppressed hepcidin levels increase ferroportin-mediated iron transport in enterocytes, causing increased iron absorption and potentially iron overload. Low hepcidin also stimulates ferroportin-mediated iron release from macrophages, increasing transferrin saturation (TSAT), potentially forming non-transferrin-bound iron, which can be toxic. Modulating the hepcidin–ferroportin axis is an attractive strategy to improve ineffective erythropoiesis and limit the potential tissue damage resulting from iron overload. There are no oral β-thalassemia treatments that consistently ameliorate anemia and prevent iron overload. / Areas covered: The preclinical and clinical development of vamifeport (VIT-2763), a novel ferroportin inhibitor, was reviewed. PubMed, EMBASE and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched using the search term ‘VIT-2763ʹ. / Expert opinion: Vamifeport is the first oral ferroportin inhibitor in clinical development. In healthy volunteers, vamifeport had comparable safety to placebo, was well tolerated and rapidly decreased iron levels and reduced TSAT, consistent with observations in preclinical models. Data from ongoing/planned Phase II studies are critical to define its potential in β-thalassemia and other conditions associated with iron overabsorption and/or ineffective erythropoiesis. If vamifeport potentially increases hemoglobin and reduces iron-related parameters, it could be a suitable treatment for non-transfusion-dependent and transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia

Mobility properties of the Hermes transposable element in transgenic lines of Aedes aegypti

The Hermes transposable element has been used to genetically transform a wide range of insect species, including the mosquito, Aedes aegypti, a vector of several important human pathogens. Hermes integrations into the mosquito germline are characterized by the non-canonical integration of the transposon and flanking plasmid and, once integrated, Hermes is stable in the presence of its transposase. In an effort to improve the post-integration mobility of Hermes in the germline of Ae. aegypti, a transgenic helper Mos1 construct expressing Hermes transposase under the control of a testis-specific promoter was crossed to a separate transgenic strain containing a target Hermes transposon. In less than 1% of the approximately 1,500 progeny from jumpstarter lines analyzed, evidence of putative Hermes germline remobilizations were detected. These recovered transposition events occur through an aberrant mechanism and provide insight into the non-canonical cut-and-paste transposition of Hermes in the germ line of Ae. aegypti

Preliminary results on Saturn's inner plasmasphere as observed by Cassini: Comparison with Voyager

We present an analysis of Saturn's inner plasmasphere as observed by the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer ( CAPS) experiment during Cassini's initial entry into Saturn's magnetosphere when the spacecraft was inserted into orbit around Saturn. The ion fluxes are divided into two subgroups: protons and water group ions. We present the relative amounts of these two groups and the first estimates of their fluid parameters: ion density, flow velocity and temperature. We also compare this data with electron plasma measurements. Within the plasmasphere and inside of Enceladus' orbit, water group ions are about a factor of similar to 10 greater than protons in number with number densities exceeding 40 cm(-3). Within this inner region the spacecraft acquires a negative potential so that the electron density is underestimated. The electron and proton temperatures, which could not be measured in this region by Voyager, are T similar to 2 eVat L similar to 3. Also, within this inner region the protons, because of a negative spacecraft potential, appear to be super-corotating. By enforcing the condition that protons and water group ions are co-moving we may be able to acquire an independent estimate of the spacecraft potential relative to that estimated when comparing ion-electron measurements. Using our estimates of plasma properties, we estimate the importance of the rotating plasma on the stress balance equation for the inner magnetosphere and corresponding portion of the ring current

Preliminary results on Saturn's inner plasmasphere as observed by Cassini: Comparison with Voyager

We present an analysis of Saturn's inner plasmasphere as observed by the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer ( CAPS) experiment during Cassini's initial entry into Saturn's magnetosphere when the spacecraft was inserted into orbit around Saturn. The ion fluxes are divided into two subgroups: protons and water group ions. We present the relative amounts of these two groups and the first estimates of their fluid parameters: ion density, flow velocity and temperature. We also compare this data with electron plasma measurements. Within the plasmasphere and inside of Enceladus' orbit, water group ions are about a factor of similar to 10 greater than protons in number with number densities exceeding 40 cm(-3). Within this inner region the spacecraft acquires a negative potential so that the electron density is underestimated. The electron and proton temperatures, which could not be measured in this region by Voyager, are T similar to 2 eVat L similar to 3. Also, within this inner region the protons, because of a negative spacecraft potential, appear to be super-corotating. By enforcing the condition that protons and water group ions are co-moving we may be able to acquire an independent estimate of the spacecraft potential relative to that estimated when comparing ion-electron measurements. Using our estimates of plasma properties, we estimate the importance of the rotating plasma on the stress balance equation for the inner magnetosphere and corresponding portion of the ring current

The TNF-α antagonist etanerceptreverses age-related decreases in colonic SERT expression and faecal output in mice

Treatment for chronic constipation in older people is challenging and the condition has a major impact on quality of life. A lack of understanding about the causes of this condition has hampered the development of effective treatments. 5-HT is an important pro-kinetic agent in the colon. We examined whether alterations in colonic 5-HT signalling underlie age–related changes in faecal output in mice and whether these changes were due to an increase in TNF-α. Components of the 5-HT signalling system (5-HT, 5-HIAA, SERT) and TNF-α expression were examined in the distal colon of 3, 12, 18 and 24- month old mice and faecal output and water content monitored under control conditions and following the administration of etanercept (TNF-α inhibitor; 1 mg Kg-1). Faecal output and water content were reduced in aged animals. Age increased mucosal 5-HT availability and TNF-α expression and decreased mucosal SERT expression and 5-HIAA. Etanercept treatment of old mice reversed these changes, suggesting that age-related changes in TNFα expression are an important regulator of mucosal 5-HT signalling and pellet output and water content in old mice. These data point to “anti-TNFα” drugs as potential treatments for age-related chronic constipation

Anatomical Network Comparison of Human Upper and Lower, Newborn and Adult, and Normal and Abnormal Limbs, with Notes on Development, Pathology and Limb Serial Homology vs. Homoplasy

How do the various anatomical parts (modules) of the animal body evolve into very different integrated forms (integration) yet still function properly without decreasing the individual's survival? This long-standing question remains unanswered for multiple reasons, including lack of consensus about conceptual definitions and approaches, as well as a reasonable bias toward the study of hard tissues over soft tissues. A major difficulty concerns the non-trivial technical hurdles of addressing this problem, specifically the lack of quantitative tools to quantify and compare variation across multiple disparate anatomical parts and tissue types. In this paper we apply for the first time a powerful new quantitative tool, Anatomical Network Analysis (AnNA), to examine and compare in detail the musculoskeletal modularity and integration of normal and abnormal human upper and lower limbs. In contrast to other morphological methods, the strength of AnNA is that it allows efficient and direct empirical comparisons among body parts with even vastly different architectures (e.g. upper and lower limbs) and diverse or complex tissue composition (e.g. bones, cartilages and muscles), by quantifying the spatial organization of these parts-their topological patterns relative to each other-using tools borrowed from network theory. Our results reveal similarities between the skeletal networks of the normal newborn/adult upper limb vs. lower limb, with exception to the shoulder vs. pelvis. However, when muscles are included, the overall musculoskeletal network organization of the upper limb is strikingly different from that of the lower limb, particularly that of the more proximal structures of each limb. Importantly, the obtained data provide further evidence to be added to the vast amount of paleontological, gross anatomical, developmental, molecular and embryological data recently obtained that contradicts the long-standing dogma that the upper and lower limbs are serial homologues. In addition, the AnNA of the limbs of a trisomy 18 human fetus strongly supports Pere Alberch's ill-named "logic of monsters" hypothesis, and contradicts the commonly accepted idea that birth defects often lead to lower integration (i.e. more parcellation) of anatomical structures

Solar wind dynamic pressure and electric field as the main factors controlling Saturn's aurorae

The interaction of the solar wind with Earth's magnetosphere gives rise to the bright polar aurorae and to geomagnetic storms(1), but the relation between the solar wind and the dynamics of the outer planets' magnetospheres is poorly understood. Jupiter's magnetospheric dynamics and aurorae are dominated by processes internal to the jovian system(2), whereas Saturn's magnetosphere has generally been considered to have both internal and solar-wind-driven processes. This hypothesis, however, is tentative because of limited simultaneous solar wind and magnetospheric measurements. Here we report solar wind measurements, immediately upstream of Saturn, over a one-month period. When combined with simultaneous ultraviolet imaging(3) we find that, unlike Jupiter, Saturn's aurorae respond strongly to solar wind conditions. But in contrast to Earth, the main controlling factor appears to be solar wind dynamic pressure and electric field, with the orientation of the interplanetary magnetic field playing a much more limited role. Saturn's magnetosphere is, therefore, strongly driven by the solar wind, but the solar wind conditions that drive it differ from those that drive the Earth's magnetosphere.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/62975/1/nature03333.pd