Time-resolved Raman spectroscopy for in situ planetary mineralogy

Planetary mineralogy can be revealed through a variety of remote sensing and in situ investigations that precede any plans for eventual sample return. We briefly review those techniques and focus on the capabilities for on-surface in situ examination of Mars, Venus, the Moon, asteroids, and other bodies. Over the past decade, Raman spectroscopy has continued to develop as a prime candidate for the next generation of in situ planetary instruments, as it provides definitive structural and compositional information of minerals in their natural geological context. Traditional continuous-wave Raman spectroscopy using a green laser suffers from fluorescence interference, which can be large (sometimes saturating the detector), particularly in altered minerals, which are of the greatest geophysical interest. Taking advantage of the fact that fluorescence occurs at a later time than the instantaneous Raman signal, we have developed a time-resolved Raman spectrometer that uses a streak camera and pulsed miniature microchip laser to provide picosecond time resolution. Our ability to observe the complete time evolution of Raman and fluorescence spectra in minerals makes this technique ideal for exploration of diverse planetary environments, some of which are expected to contain strong, if not overwhelming, fluorescence signatures. We discuss performance capability and present time-resolved pulsed Raman spectra collected from several highly fluorescent and Mars-relevant minerals. In particular, we have found that conventional Raman spectra from fine grained clays, sulfates, and phosphates exhibited large fluorescent signatures, but high quality spectra could be obtained using our time-resolved approach

Estudio faunístico del macizo de Quinto Real IV. Género Hypogastrura (Collembola, Hypogastruridae)

En este trabajo se estudian las especies del género Hypogastrura Bourlet 1839, de Quinto Real. De un total de 20.462 ejemplares de colémbolos recolectados durante los años 1976-1977, 1.107 pertenecen al género Hypogastrura lo que supone un 5,41 % del total. De ellos 244 a la especie Hypogastrura socialis del subgénero Hypogastrura y 863 al subgénero Ceratophysella Börner 1932. De estos últimos pertene cen a la H. armata 272 ej. , a H. acuminata 176 ej . , H. acuminata f. hipergranulata n. forma 14 ej., H. tergilobata 7 ej., H. tuberculata 285 ej. y a H. denticulata 109 ej. Se describen las especies, su ecología y los estadios larvarios

Patenting Frankenstein’s Monster: Exploring the Patentability of Artificial Organ Systems and Methodologies

The conception of Frankenstein’s monster bridges the ever-narrowing divide between man and machine. Long before Congress codified Section 33(a) of the America Invents Act (“AIA”), Mary Shelley’s vague description of the monster’s creation has left people wondering: what defines a human organism? Through an analysis of patent law and scientific progress in the development of artificial organ systems, this paper explores the boundaries of patentable subject matter in the United States and attempts to clarify Congress’s determination that “no patent may issue on a claim directed to or encompassing a human organism.” Though patent law should incentivize development of artificial human tissues and organs, Section 33(a) of the AIA stands to limit scientific progress. Either judicial or legislative action must clarify the term “human organism” to balance the need for artificial organ development, while hindering unethical scientific development of artificial humans

Wankeliella medialis, nueva especie para la Fauna Ibérica

Se describe una nueva especie de Wankeliella, W. medialis sp. n. procedente de Navarra, España. Se diferencia de otras especies del género por la presencia simultánea de p0, m4 y m5 en el terguito abdominal IV

Colémbolos de Navarra (Norte de la Península Ibérica). I. Orden Poduromorpha (Collembola)

Se recogen un total de 123 especies y subespecies de Colémbolos poduromorfos de Navarra. Ocho de ellas se citan por primera vez para la Península Ibérica: Hypogastrura (Hypogastrura) sahlbergi (REUTER, 1895), Schaefferia ariegica (CASSAGNAU, 1959), Acherongia mínima MASSOUD y THIBAUD, 1985, Friesea albida atypica CASSAGNAU, 1958, Odontellina nivalis (CASSAGNAU, 1959), Neonaphorura cf. novemspina GISIN, 1963, Onychiurus justi DENIS, 1938 sensu GISIN, 1952, Wankeliella mediochaeta RUSEK, 1975, y seis son nuevas para la ciencia: Friesea villanuevai n.sp., Friesea villanuevai populi n.ssp., Pseudachorutes plurichaetosus n.sp., Stachorutes valdealbarensis n.sp., Superodontella conglobata n.sp. y Mesaphorura longispina n.sp. Se incluyen claves para la determinación de las especies

A new species of Entomobrya from Iraq (Collembola, Entomobryidae)

The systematic study of Entomobrya specimens from different museums in the Palaearctic region and material obtained from other collections allowed some new species of the genus to be revealed. Entomobrya iraqensis n. sp. is described from Mosul, Iraq. For the identification and description of the species, the set of characters proposed by Jordana and Baquero (2005) was used

A proposal of characters for taxonomic identification of Entomobrya species (Collembola, Entomobryomorpha), with description of a new species

The species of the genus Entomobrya have bean traditionally identified using colouration. Only some authors have considered a small number of morphological characters, in badly mounted or old specimens, as well as chaetotaxical characters (but not used for species identification). The study of a large series of slides from extensive collections of Entomobrya species with observation of the complete chaetotaxy has demonstrated that specimens with the same colour pattern can have a very different chaetotaxy, which is related with the geographical origin. On the other hand, specimens with similar chaetotaxy but from distant geographical areas maintain the same colour pattern. The present paper proposes a set of both morphological and chaetotaxical characters as a useful tool for the species identification in the genus Entomobrya in connection with the observation of colour pattern. For the selection of this set of characters more than 500 slides from the top-ranking European museums have been studied. Two species of the genus with similar colour pattern but with a different chaetotaxy are used as models for the methodology: E. nivalis (Linnaeus, 1758) and a new species from León (Spain)."By kind permission of Senckenberg Museum für Naturkunde Görlitz; copyright by Senckenberg Görlitz. See also: www.soil-organisms.org

A new species of Entomobrya (Collembola, Entomobryidae) from La Caldera de Taburiente National Park (La Palma Island, Canary Islands) and its associated collembolan fauna

Entomobrya palmensis n. sp. is described from the Canary Islands (Macaronesian Region). The new species shares the colour pattern with E. multifasciata (Tullberg, 1871), but clearly differs in chaetotaxy. A list of species and locations of the collembolan fauna of the area is given

New species of Pseudosinella Schäffer, 1897 (Collembola, Entomobryidae) from Spain

The revision of the specimens of Pseudosinella at the Bonet Collection (MNCN, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales- CSIC, Madrid) have allow us to describe four new species found among 175 slides with more than 420 specimens. One of them belongs to the petterseni-group (unguiculus with a fully developed tooth and without eyes). The differential characters of Pseudosinella species from Christiansen (2007), and four characters more, have been used for comparison with the related species