Curie: Constraining Solar System Bombardment Using In Situ Radiometric Dating

The Curie mission would constrain the existence of the putative cataclysm by determining the age of samples directly sourced from the impact melt sheet of a major pre-Imbrium lunar basin. The measurements would also enable further understanding of lunar evolution by characterizing new lunar lithologies far from the Apollo and Luna landing sites, including the very low-Ti basalts in Mare Crisium and potential olivine rich lithologies in the margins of both Mare Nectaris and Mars Crisium. Equipped with a mass spectrometer and a LIBS, Curie would also be well-placed to survey volatile components of the lunar regolith, including surface-bound hydrogen

Moons Are Planets: Scientific Usefulness Versus Cultural Teleology in the Taxonomy of Planetary Science

We argue that taxonomical concept development is vital for planetary science as in all branches of science, but its importance has been obscured by unique historical developments. The literature shows that the concept of planet developed by scientists during the Copernican Revolution was theory-laden and pragmatic for science. It included both primaries and satellites as planets due to their common intrinsic, geological characteristics. About two centuries later the non-scientific public had just adopted heliocentrism and was motivated to preserve elements of geocentrism including teleology and the assumptions of astrology. This motivated development of a folk concept of planet that contradicted the scientific view. The folk taxonomy was based on what an object orbits, making satellites out to be non-planets and ignoring most asteroids. Astronomers continued to keep primaries and moons classed together as planets and continued teaching that taxonomy until the 1920s. The astronomical community lost interest in planets ca. 1910 to 1955 and during that period complacently accepted the folk concept. Enough time has now elapsed so that modern astronomers forgot this history and rewrote it to claim that the folk taxonomy is the one that was created by the Copernican scientists. Starting ca. 1960 when spacecraft missions were developed to send back detailed new data, there was an explosion of publishing about planets including the satellites, leading to revival of the Copernican planet concept. We present evidence that taxonomical alignment with geological complexity is the most useful scientific taxonomy for planets. It is this complexity of both primary and secondary planets that is a key part of the chain of origins for life in the cosmos.Comment: 68 pages, 16 figures. For supplemental data files, see https://www.philipmetzger.com/moons_are_planets

Safety and efficacy of an oxycodone vaccine: Addressing some of the unique considerations posed by opioid abuse

Among vaccines aimed at treating substance use disorders, those targeting opioids present several unique medication development challenges. 1) Opioid overdose is a common complication of abuse, so it is desirable for an opioid vaccine to block the toxic as well as the addictive effects of opioids. 2) It is important that an opioid vaccine not interfere with the action of opioid antagonists used to reverse opioid overdose or treat addiction. 3) Some opioids are immunosuppressive and chronic ongoing opioid use could interfere with vaccine immunogenicity. 4) Although antibody-bound oxycodone is unable to enter the brain because of its size, it might still be able to activate peripheral opioid receptors. To assess vaccine impact on opioid toxicity, rats vaccinated with oxycodone conjugated to keyhole limpet hemocyanin subunit dimer (OXY-dKLH) adsorbed to alum or controls vaccinated with dKLH were compared with regard to oxycodone-induced hotplate analgesia and oxycodone-induced respiratory depression and bradycardia. Vaccination shifted the dose-response curves to the right, representing protection, for each of these endpoints. Naloxone was equally effective in both OXY-dKLH and control groups, providing complete and rapid reversal of respiratory depression. The administration of a long-acting naltrexone formulation during vaccination did not impair vaccine immunogenicity in mice. Similarly, serum anti-oxycodone antibody titers were not altered by continuous morphine infusion during vaccination compared to opioid-naïve controls. Competitive ELISA assay showed negligible or low affinity of immune antiserum for endogenous opioids or opioid antagonists. In vitro receptor binding assays showed that antibody-bound oxycodone does not activate mu opioid receptors. These data support further study of OXY-dKLH as a potential treatment for oxycodone abuse and suggest that vaccination might also reduce the severity of oxycodone overdose

Morbidity and Mortality following Traditional Uvulectomy among Children Presenting to the Muhimbili National Hospital Emergency Department in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Background. Traditional uvulectomy is performed as a cultural ritual or purported medical remedy. We describe the associated emergency department (ED) presentations and outcomes. Methods. This was a subgroup analysis of a retrospective review of all pediatric visits to our ED in 2012. Trained abstracters recorded demographics, clinical presentations, and outcomes. Results. Complete data were available for 5540/5774 (96%) visits and 56 (1.0%, 95% CI: 0.7–1.3%) were related to recent uvulectomy, median age 1.3 years (interquartile range: 7 months–2 years) and 30 (54%) were male. Presenting complaints included cough (82%), fever (46%), and hematemesis (38%). Clinical findings included fever (54%), tachypnea (30%), and tachycardia (25%). 35 patients (63%, 95% CI: 49–75%) received intravenous antibiotics, 11 (20%, 95% CI: 10–32%) required blood transfusion, and 3 (5%, 95% CI: 1–15%) had surgical intervention. All were admitted to the hospital and 12 (21%, 95% CI: 12–34%) died. By comparison, 498 (9.1%, 95% CI: 8–10%) of the 5484 children presenting for reasons unrelated to uvulectomy died (p=0.003). Conclusion. In our cohort, traditional uvulectomy was associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Emergency care providers should advocate for legal and public health interventions to eliminate this dangerous practice

Pluto's Far Side

The New Horizons spacecraft provided near-global observations of Pluto that far exceed the resolution of Earth-based datasets. However, most previous Pluto New Horizons analyses focused on the New Horizons encounter hemisphere (i.e., the anti-Charon hemisphere containing Sputnik Planitia). In this work, we summarize and interpret data on Pluto's “far side” (i.e., its non-encounter or alternatively, its sub-Charon hemisphere), providing the first integrated New Horizons overview of Pluto's far side terrains. We find strong evidence for widespread bladed (i.e., aligned CH₄-mountain) deposits, evidence for an impact crater about as large as any on the “near side” hemisphere, evidence for complex lineations approximately antipodal to Sputnik Planitia that may be causally related, evidence that the far side maculae (i.e., equatorial dark regions) are smaller and more structured than Pluto's encounter hemisphere maculae, and more

Cooperation between the United States Department of Energy National Laboratories and Mayak Production Association for enhancements to material protection control and accounting systems

The Agreement Between the Department of Defense of the United States and The Ministry of the Russian Federation for Atomic Energy (MINATOM) Concerning Control, Accounting, and Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, as well as a subsequent amendment to that agreement and a joint statement signed by the Department of Energy (DOE) and MINATOM, resulted in the selection of the Mayak Production Association (MPA) as one of the Russian enterprises that would participate with DOE Laboratories in expanded cooperation aimed at enhancing Material protection, Control and Accounting (MPC&A) systems in both countries. This paper describes the nature and scope of the expanded cooperation involving MPA and six DOE laboratories at an operating civilian, spent-nuclear-fuel reprocessing plant designated RT-1. RT-1 produces, among other materials, reactor-grade plutonium dioxide, a direct-use material that is stored within the boundaries of this plant. Initial efforts at expanded cooperation will focus on enhancements to the existing MPC&A systems at MPA`s RT-1 plant

Mineralogy of the Lunar Crust in Spatial Context: First Results from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3)

India's Chandrayaan-1 successfully launched October 22, 2008 and went into lunar orbit a few weeks later. Commissioning of instruments began in late November and was near complete by the end of the year. Initial data for NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) were acquired across the Orientale Basin and the science results are discussed here. M 3 image-cube data provide mineralogy of the surface in geologic context. A major new result is that the existence and distribution of massive amounts of anorthosite as a continuous stratigraphic crustal layer is now irrefutable

Identification of a New Spinel-Rich Lunar Rock Type by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M (sup 3))

The canonical characterization of the lunar crust is based principally on available Apollo, Luna, and meteorite samples. The crust is described as an anorthosite-rich cumulate produced by the lunar magma ocean that has been infused with a mix of Mgsuite components. These have been mixed and redistributed during the late heavy bombardment and basin forming events. We report a new rock-type detected on the farside of the Moon by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) on Chandrayaan-1 that does not easily fit with current crustal evolution models. The rock-type is dominated by Mg-spinel with no detectible pyroxene or olivine present (<5%). It occurs along the western inner ring of Moscoviense Basin as one of several discrete areas that exhibit unusual compositions relative to their surroundings but without morphological evidence for separate processes leading to exposure