An Analytic Function of Lunar Surface Temperature for Exospheric Modeling

We present an analytic expression to represent the lunar surface temperature as a function of Sun-state latitude and local time. The approximation represents neither topographical features nor compositional effects and therefore does not change as a function of selenographic latitude and longitude. The function reproduces the surface temperature measured by Diviner to within +/-10 K at 72% of grid points for dayside solar zenith angles of less than 80, and at 98% of grid points for nightside solar zenith angles greater than 100. The analytic function is least accurate at the terminator, where there is a strong gradient in the temperature, and the polar regions. Topographic features have a larger effect on the actual temperature near the terminator than at other solar zenith angles. For exospheric modeling the effects of topography on the thermal model can be approximated by using an effective longitude for determining the temperature. This effective longitude is randomly redistributed with 1 sigma of 4.5deg. The resulting ''roughened'' analytical model well represents the statistical dispersion in the Diviner data and is expected to be generally useful for future models of lunar surface temperature, especially those implemented within exospheric simulations that address questions of volatile transport

Human Space Flight and Future Major Space Astrophysics Missions: Servicing and Assembly

Some concepts for candidate future "flagship" space observatories approach the payload limits of the largest launch vehicles planned for the next few decades, specifically in the available volume in the vehicle fairing. This indicates that an alternative to autonomous self-deployment similar to that of the James Webb Space Telescope will eventually be required. Moreover, even before this size limit is reached, there will be significant motivation to service, repair, and upgrade in-space missions of all sizes, whether to extend the life of expensive facilities or to replace outworn or obsolete onboard systems as was demonstrated so effectively by the Hubble Space Telescope program. In parallel with these challenges to future major space astronomy missions, the capabilities of in-space robotic systems and the goals for human space flight in the 2020s and 2030s offer opportunities for achieving the most exciting science goals of the early 21st Century. In this paper, we summarize the history of concepts for human operations beyond the immediate vicinity of the Earth, the importance of very large apertures for scientific discovery, and current capabilities and future developments in robot- and astronaut-enabled servicing and assembly

Chemical composition of laurencia obtusa extract and isolation of a new C15-acetogenin

A new C15-acetogenin, sagonenyne (20), exhibiting an unusual single tetrahydropyran ring was isolated from an ethyl acetate extract of Laurencia obtusa collected on the Corsican coastline. Its structure was established by detailed NMR spectroscopic analysis, mass spectrometry, and comparison with literature data. Twenty-three known compounds were identified in the same extract by means of column chromatography steps, using a (13)C-NMR computer aided method developed in our laboratory. In addition to sesquiterpenes, which represent the main chemical class of this extract, diterpenes, sterols, and C15-acetogenins were identified. The crude extract was submitted to a cytotoxicity assay and was particularly active against THP-1 cells, a human leukemia monocytic cell line.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Use of integral experiments for the assessment of a new 235

The Working Party on International Nuclear Data Evaluation Co-operation (WPEC) subgroup 29 (SG 29) was established to investigate an issue with the 235U capture cross-section in the energy range from 0.1 to 2.25 keV, due to a possible overestimation of 10% or more. To improve the 235U capture crosssection, a new 235U evaluation has been proposed by the Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN) and the CEA, mainly based on new time-of-flight 235U capture cross-section measurements and recent fission cross-section measurements performed at the n_TOF facility from CERN. IRSN and CEA Cadarache were in charge of the thermal to 2.25 keV energy range, whereas the CEA DIF was responsible of the high energy region. Integral experiments showing a strong 235U sensitivity are used to assess the new evaluation, using Monte-Carlo methods. The keff calculations were performed with the 5.D.1 beta version of the MORET 5 code, using the JEFF-3.2 library and the new 235U evaluation, as well as the JEFF-3.3T1 library in which the new 235U has been included. The benchmark selection allowed highlighting a significant improvement on keff due to the new 235U evaluation. The results of this data testing are presented here

Evidence for Surface Water Ice in the Lunar Polar Regions Using Reflectance Measurements from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter and Temperature Measurements from the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment

We find that the reflectance of the lunar surface within 5 deg of latitude of theSouth Pole increases rapidly with decreasing temperature, near approximately 110K, behavior consistent with the presence of surface water ice. The North polar region does not show this behavior, nor do South polar surfaces at latitudes more than 5 deg from the pole. This South pole reflectance anomaly persists when analysis is limited to surfaces with slopes less than 10 deg to eliminate false detection due to the brightening effect of mass wasting, and also when the very bright south polar crater Shackleton is excluded from the analysis. We also find that south polar regions of permanent shadow that have been reported to be generally brighter at 1064 nm do not show anomalous reflectance when their annual maximum surface temperatures are too high to preserve water ice. This distinction is not observed at the North Pole. The reflectance excursion on surfaces with maximum temperatures below 110K is superimposed on a general trend of increasing reflectance with decreasing maximum temperature that is present throughout the polar regions in the north and south; we attribute this trend to a temperature or illumination-dependent space weathering effect (e.g. Hemingway et al. 2015). We also find a sudden increase in reflectance with decreasing temperature superimposed on the general trend at 200K and possibly at 300K. This may indicate the presence of other volatiles such as sulfur or organics. We identified and mapped surfaces with reflectances so high as to be unlikely to be part of an ice-free population. In this south we find a similar distribution found by Hayne et al. 2015 based on UV properties. In the north a cluster of pixels near that pole may represent a limited frost exposure

Variations on Debris Disks II. Icy Planet Formation as a Function of the Bulk Properties and Initial Sizes of Planetesimals

We describe comprehensive calculations of the formation of icy planets and debris disks at 30-150 AU around 1-3 solar mass stars. Disks composed of large, strong planetesimals produce more massive planets than disks composed of small, weak planetesimals. The maximum radius of icy planets ranges from roughly 1500 km to 11,500 km. The formation rate of 1000 km objects - `Plutos' - is a useful proxy for the efficiency of icy planet formation. Plutos form more efficiently in massive disks, in disks with small planetesimals, and in disks with a range of planetesimal sizes. Although Plutos form throughout massive disks, Pluto production is usually concentrated in the inner disk. Despite the large number of Plutos produced in many calculations, icy planet formation is inefficient. At the end of the main sequence lifetime of the central star, Plutos contain less than 10% of the initial mass in solid material. This conclusion is independent of the initial mass in the disk or the properties of planetesimals. Debris disk formation coincides with the formation of planetary systems containing Plutos. As Plutos form, they stir leftover planetesimals to large velocities. A cascade of collisions then grinds the leftovers to dust, forming an observable debris disk. In disks with small (< 1-10 km) planetesimals, collisional cascades produce luminous debris disks with maximum luminosity roughly 0.01 times the stellar luminosity. Disks with larger planetesimals produce much less luminous debris disks. Observations of debris disks around A-type and G-type stars strongly favor models with small planetesimals. In these models, our predictions for the time evolution and detection frequency of debris disks agree with published observations. We suggest several critical observations that can test key features of our calculations.Comment: 61 pages of text, 24 tables, and 34 figures; submitted to ApJS; comments welcome; revised version accepted to ApJS, changed text, modified tables, added references, no major changes to conclusion

Spectrophotometric Modeling and Mapping of (101955) Bennu

Using hyperspectral data collected by OVIRS, the visible and infrared spectrometer on board the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft, we modeled the global average spectrophotometric properties of the carbonaceous asteroid (101955) Bennu and mapped their variations. We restricted our analysis to 0.4–2.5 μm to avoid the wavelengths where thermal emission from the asteroid dominates (>2.5 μm). Bennu has global photometric properties typical of dark asteroids; we found a geometric albedo of 0.046 ± 0.007 and a linear phase slope of 0.024 ± 0.007 mag deg−1 at 0.55 μm. The average spectral slope of Bennu’s normal albedo is −0.0030 μm−1, and the phase-reddening parameter is 4.3 × 10−4 μm−1 deg−1, both over the spectral range of 0.5–2.0 μm. We produced normal albedo maps and phase slope maps at all spectral channels, from which we derived spectral slope and phase-reddening maps. Correlation analysis suggests that phase slope variations on Bennu are likely due to photometric roughness variation. A correlation between photometric and thermal roughness is evident, implying that the roughness of Bennu is self-similar on scales from tens of microns to meters. Our analysis reveals latitudinal trends in the spectral color slope and phase reddening on Bennu. The equatorial region appears to be redder than the global average, and the spectral slope decreases toward higher latitudes. Phase reddening on Bennu is relatively weak in the equatorial region and shows an asymmetry between the northern and southern hemispheres. We attributed the latitudinal trend to the geophysical conditions on Bennu that result in a global pattern of mass flow toward the equator

Revving up natural killer cells and cytokine-induced killer cells against hematological malignancies

Natural killer (NK) cells belong to innate immunity and exhibit cytolytic activity against infectious pathogens and tumor cells. NK-cell function is finely tuned by receptors that transduce inhibitory or activating signals, such as killer immunoglobulin-like receptors, NK Group 2 member D (NKG2D), NKG2A/CD94, NKp46, and others, and recognize both foreign and self-antigens expressed by NK-susceptible targets. Recent insights into NK-cell developmental intermediates have translated into a more accurate definition of culture conditions for the in vitro generation and propagation of human NK cells. In this respect, interleukin (IL)-15 and IL-21 are instrumental in driving NK-cell differentiation and maturation, and hold great promise for the design of optimal NK-cell culture protocols. Cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells possess phenotypic and functional hallmarks of both T cells and NK cells. Similar to T cells, they express CD3 and are expandable in culture, while not requiring functional priming for in vivo activity, like NK cells. CIK cells may offer some advantages over other cell therapy products, including ease of in vitro propagation and no need for exogenous administration of IL-2 for in vivo priming. NK cells and CIK cells can be expanded using a variety of clinical-grade approaches, before their infusion into patients with cancer. Herein, we discuss GMP-compliant strategies to isolate and expand human NK and CIK cells for immunotherapy purposes, focusing on clinical trials of adoptive transfer to patients with hematological malignancies

Rocks with Extremely Low Thermal Inertia at the OSIRIS-REx Sample Site on Asteroid Bennu

The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security–Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) mission recently returned a sample of rocks and dust collected from asteroid Bennu. We analyzed the highest-resolution thermal data obtained by the OSIRIS-REx Thermal Emission Spectrometer (OTES) to gain insight into the thermal and physical properties of the sampling site, including rocks that may have been sampled, and the immediately surrounding Hokioi Crater. After correcting the pointing of the OTES data sets, we find that OTES fortuitously observed two dark rocks moments before they were contacted by the spacecraft. We derived thermal inertias of 100–150 (±50) J m−2 K−1 s−1/2 for these two rocks—exceptionally low even compared with other previously analyzed dark rocks on Bennu (180–250 J m−2 K−1 s−1/2). Our simulations indicate that monolayer coatings of sand- to pebble-sized particles, as observed on one of these rocks, could significantly reduce the apparent thermal inertia and largely mask the properties of the substrate. However, the other low-thermal-inertia rock that was contacted is not obviously covered in particles. Moreover, this rock appears to have been partially crushed, and thus potentially sampled, by the spacecraft. We conclude that this rock may be highly fractured and that it should be sought in the returned sample to better understand its origin in Bennu’s parent body and the relationship between its thermal and physical properties