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Asteroids and other Small Solar System Bodies (SSSBs) are of high general and scientific interest inmany aspects. The origin, formation, and evolution of our Solar System (and other planetary systems) can be better understood by a...
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Asteroids and other Small Solar System Bodies (SSSBs) are of high general and scientific interest inmany aspects. The origin, formation, and evolution of our Solar System (and other planetary systems) can be better understood by analysing the constitution and physical properties of small bodies in the Solar System. Currently, two space missions (Hayabusa2, OSIRIS-REx) have recently arrived at their respective targets and will bring a sample of the asteroids back to Earth. Other small body missions have also been selected by, or proposed to, space agencies. The threat posed to our planet by near-Earth objects (NEOs) is also considered at the international level, and this has prompted dedicated research on possible mitigation techniques. The DART mission, for example, will test the kinetic impact technique. Even ideas for industrial exploitation have risen during the last years. Lastly, the origin of water and life on Earth appears to be connected to asteroids. Hence, future space mission projects will undoubtedly target some asteroids or other SSSBs. In all these cases and research topics, specific knowledge of the structure and mechanical behaviour of the surface as well as the bulk of those celestial bodies is crucial. In contrast to large telluric planets and dwarf planets, a large proportion of such small bodies is believed to consist of gravitational aggregates ('rubble piles') with no-or low-internal cohesion, with varying macro-porosity and surface properties (from smooth regolith covered terrain, to very rough collection of boulders), and varying topography (craters, depressions, ridges). Bodies with such structure can sustain some plastic deformationwithout being disrupted in contrast to the classical visco-elastic models that are generally valid for planets, dwarf planets, and large satellites. These SSSBs are hence better described through granular mechanics theories, which have been a subject of intense theoretical, experimental, and numerical research ov
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MARCO POLO is a joint European–Japanese sample return mission to a Near-Earth Object. This Euro-Asian mission will go to a primitive Near-Earth Object (NEO), which we anticipate will contain primitive materials without any known ...
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MARCO POLO is a joint European–Japanese sample return mission to a Near-Earth Object. This Euro-Asian mission will go to a primitive Near-Earth Object (NEO), which we anticipate will contain primitive materials without any known meteorite analogue, scientifically characterize it at multiple scales, and bring samples back to Earth for detailed scientific investigation. Small bodies, as primitive leftover building blocks of the Solar System formation process, offer important clues to the chemical mixture from which the planets formed some 4.6 billion years ago. Current exobiological scenarios for the origin of Life invoke an exogenous delivery of organic matter to the early Earth: it has been proposed that primitive bodies could have brought these complex organic molecules capable of triggering the pre-biotic synthesis of biochemical compounds. Moreover, collisions of NEOs with the Earth pose a finite hazard to life. For all these reasons, the exploration of such objects is particularly interesting and urgent. The scientific objectives of MARCO POLO will therefore contribute to a better understanding of the origin and evolution of the Solar System, the Earth, and possibly Life itself. Moreover, MARCO POLO provides important information on the volatile-rich (e.g. water) nature of primitive NEOs, which may be particularly important for future space resource utilization as well as providing critical information for the security of Earth. MARCO POLO is a proposal offering several options, leading to great flexibility in the actual implementation. The baseline mission scenario is based on a launch with a Soyuz-type launcher and consists of a Mother Spacecraft (MSC) carrying a possible Lander named SIFNOS, small hoppers, sampling devices, a re-entry capsule and scientific payloads. The MSC leaves Earth orbit, cruises toward the target with ion engines, rendezvous with the target, conducts a global characterization of the target to select a sampling site, and delivers small hoppers (MINERVA type, JAXA) and SIFNOS. The latter, if added, will perform a soft landing, anchor to the target surface, and make various in situ measurements of surface/subsurface materials near the sampling site. Two surface samples will be collected by the MSC using “touch and go” manoeuvres. Two complementary sample collection devices will be used in this phase: one developed by ESA and another provided by JAXA, mounted on a retractable extension arm. After the completion of the sampling and ascent of the MSC, the arm will be retracted to transfer the sample containers into the MSC. The MSC will then make its journey back to Earth and release the re-entry capsule into the Earth’s atmosphere.
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Neurodevelopmental disorders increase brain tumor risk, suggesting that normal brain development may have protective properties. Mutations in epigenetic regulators are common in pediatric brain tumors, highlighting a potentially c...
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Neurodevelopmental disorders increase brain tumor risk, suggesting that normal brain development may have protective properties. Mutations in epigenetic regulators are common in pediatric brain tumors, highlighting a potentially central role for disrupted epigenetic regulation of normal brain development in tumorigenesis. For example, lysine 27 to methionine mutation (H3K27M) in the H3F3A gene occurs frequently in Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Gliomas (DIPGs), the most aggressive pediatric glioma. As H3K27M mutation is necessary but insufficient to cause DIPGs, it is accompanied by additional mutations in tumors. However, how H3K27M alone increases vulnerability to DIPG tumorigenesis remains unclear. Here, we used human embryonic stem cell models with this mutation, in the absence of other DIPG contributory mutations, to investigate how H3K27M alters cellular proliferation and differentiation. We found that H3K27M increased stem cell proliferation and stem cell properties. It interfered with differentiation, promoting anomalous mesodermal and ectodermal gene expression during both multi-lineage and germ layer-specific cell specification, and blocking normal differentiation into neuroectoderm. H3K27M mutant clones exhibited transcriptomic diversity relative to the more homogeneous wildtype population, suggesting reduced fidelity of gene regulation, with aberrant expression of genes involved in stem cell regulation, differentiation, and tumorigenesis. These phenomena were associated with global loss of H3K27me3 and concordant loss of DNA methylation at specific genes in H3K27M-expressing cells. Together, these data suggest that H3K27M mutation disrupts normal differentiation, maintaining a partially differentiated state with elevated clonogenicity during early development. This disrupted response to early developmental cues could promote tissue properties that enable acquisition of additional mutations that cooperate with H3K27M mutation in genesis of DMG/DIPG. Therefore, this work demonstrates for the first time that H3K27M mutation confers vulnerability to gliomagenesis through persistent clonogenicity and aberrant differentiation and defines associated alterations of histone and DNA methylation.
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Context. Findings by the Helios and STEREO mission have indicated the presence of a resonant circumsolar ring of dust associated with Venus. Attempts to model this phenomenon as an analogue to the resonant ring of Earth – as a re...
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Context. Findings by the Helios and STEREO mission have indicated the presence of a resonant circumsolar ring of dust associated with Venus. Attempts to model this phenomenon as an analogue to the resonant ring of Earth – as a result of migrating dust trapped in external mean-motion resonances (MMRs) – have so far been unable to reproduce the observed dust feature. Other theories of origin have recently been put forward. However, the reason for the low trapping efficiency of Venus’s external MMRs remains unclear. Aims. Here we look into the nature of the dust trapping resonant phenomena that arise from the multi-planet configuration of the inner Solar System, aiming to add to the existent understanding of resonant dust rings in single planet systems. Methods. We numerically modelled resonant dust features associated with the inner planets and specifically looked into the dependency of these structures and the trapping efficiency of particular resonances on the configuration of planets. Results. Besides Mercury showing no resonant interaction with the migrating dust cloud, we find Venus, Earth, and Mars to considerably interfere with each other’s resonances, influencing their ability to form circumsolar rings. We find that the single most important reason for the weakness of Venus’s external MMR ring is the perturbing influence of its outer neighbour – Earth. In addition, we find Mercury and Mars to produce crescent-shaped density features, caused by a directed apsidal precession occurring in particles traversing their orbital region.
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Seismic shaking has been regarded as an essential source of resurfacing on asteroids. The Small Carry-on Impactor (SCI) operation on Hayabusa2 has been expected to be a unique opportunity for testing in situ seismic shaking whose ...
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Seismic shaking has been regarded as an essential source of resurfacing on asteroids. The Small Carry-on Impactor (SCI) operation on Hayabusa2 has been expected to be a unique opportunity for testing in situ seismic shaking whose energy is sufficiently large to excite observable surface modification. However, no obvious regolith hopping was identified even immediately outside of the crater formed by the SCI impact. To understand this discrepancy from the expectation, we simulate seismic wave propagation on Ryugu with a wide range of surface material properties and evaluate maximum acceleration on the surface. Numerical results reveal that low-quality factor or low seismic efficiency is required to explain the lack of geomorphological change after the SCI experiment. Considering that scattering under anhydrous conditions cannot efficiently dissipate energy, such a low-quality factor is not plausible. The weak yield strength in porous materials can efficiently decrease seismic wave energies, making the apparent seismic efficiency extremely low. Based on this hypothesis, we propose a formulation of surface mobility on asteroids that considers the physical properties of regolith. We consistently estimate the occurrence of seismic shaking with the existence of unstable boulders on Ryugu.
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Responding to concerns raised in the scientific community that spaceflight missions to the Moon and other celestial bodies might compromise their future scientific exploration, in 1958 the International Council of Scientific Union...
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Responding to concerns raised in the scientific community that spaceflight missions to the Moon and other celestial bodies might compromise their future scientific exploration, in 1958 the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) established an ad-hoc Committee on Contamination by Extraterrestrial Exploration (CETEX) to provide advice on these issues. In the next year, this mandate was transferred to the newly founded Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), which as an interdisciplinary scientific committee of the ICSU (now the International Council for Science) was considered to be the appropriate place to continue the work of CETEX. Since that time, COSPAR has provided an international forum to discuss such matters under the terms "planetary quarantine" and later "planetary protection", and has formulated a COSPAR Planetary Protection Policy with associated implementation requirements as an international standard to protect against interplanetary biological and organic contamination, and after 1967 as a guide to compliance with Article Ⅸ of the UN Space Treaty in that area (see for reference: UNOOSA 2017, Report of the Committee on the Peaceful Use of Outer Space, 60th Session, A/72/20, United Nations, New York).
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In this paper, we focus on hierarchical multiobjective programming problems where multiple decision makers in a hierarchical organization have their own multiple objective functions, and propose an interactive algorithm based on t...
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In this paper, we focus on hierarchical multiobjective programming problems where multiple decision makers in a hierarchical organization have their own multiple objective functions, and propose an interactive algorithm based on the dual decomposition method to obtain the satisfactory solution which reflects not only the hierarchical relationships between multiple decision makers but also their own preferences for their objective functions. In the proposed algorithm, assuming that each of the decision makers has fuzzy goals for his/her objective functions, corresponding membership functions are elicited from the decision makers in their subjective manner. In order to deal with hierarchical multiobjective programming problems, a new kind of Pareto optimality concept in membership spaces is defined and the concept of decision powers of multiple decision makers in a hierarchical decision structure is introduced. The proposed algorithm is applied to the industrial pollution control problem in Osaka City in Japan in order to show the efficiency of the proposed method.
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We report the turbulent transition in superfluid ~(4)He generated by a vibrating wire as a function of its thickness. The response of a vibrating wire with a 3 (mu)m diameter in superfluid ~(4)He at 1.2 K reveals a hysteresis at t...
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We report the turbulent transition in superfluid ~(4)He generated by a vibrating wire as a function of its thickness. The response of a vibrating wire with a 3 (mu)m diameter in superfluid ~(4)He at 1.2 K reveals a hysteresis at the turbulent transition between an up sweep and a down sweep of driving force, while no hysteresis appears for wires with a thickness larger than 4.7 (mu)m diameter. These results indicate that the 3 (mu)m wire is efficient for reducing the number of vortex lines attached to it. A cover box and slow cooling also prevent vortex lines from attaching to a wire, resulting in a vortex-free vibrating wire. The effective mass of the vortex-free vibrating wire is almost constant in a wide range of velocities up to 400 mm/s; however, the wire density estimated from the resonance frequency is a half of the expected value of wire material, suggesting that a wire mass becomes lighter or a wire diameter becomes larger in the superfluid effectively.
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We report the turbulent transition in superfluid 4He generated by a vibrating wire as a function of its thickness. The response of a vibrating wire with a 3 μm diameter in superfluid 4He at 1.2 K reveals a hysteresis at the turbu...
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We report the turbulent transition in superfluid 4He generated by a vibrating wire as a function of its thickness. The response of a vibrating wire with a 3 μm diameter in superfluid 4He at 1.2 K reveals a hysteresis at the turbulent transition between an up sweep and a down sweep of driving force, while no hysteresis appears for wires with a thickness larger than 4.7 μm diameter. These results indicate that the 3 μm wire is efficient for reducing the number of vortex lines attached to it. A cover box and slow cooling also prevent vortex lines from attaching to a wire, resulting in a vortex-free vibrating wire. The effective mass of the vortex-free vibrating wire is almost constant in a wide range of velocities up to 400 mm/s; however, the wire density estimated from the resonance frequency is a half of the expected value of wire material, suggesting that a wire mass becomes lighter or a wire diameter becomes larger in the superfluid effectively. Keywords Quantum turbulence - Superfluid helium - Oscillatory flow PACS 67.25.dk - 67.25.dg - 47.27.Cn
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Broad-host-range catabolic plasmids play an important role in bacterial degradation of man-made compounds. To gain insight into the role of these plasmids in chloroaniline degradation, we determined the first complete nucleotide s...
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Broad-host-range catabolic plasmids play an important role in bacterial degradation of man-made compounds. To gain insight into the role of these plasmids in chloroaniline degradation, we determined the first complete nucleotide sequences of an IncP-1 chloroaniline degradation plasmid, pWDL7::rfp and its close relative pNB8c, as well as the expression pattern, function, and bioaugmentation potential of the putative 3-chloroaniline (3-CA) oxidation genes. Based on phylogenetic analysis of backbone proteins, both plasmids are members of a distinct clade within the IncP-1β subgroup. The plasmids are almost identical, but whereas pWDL7::rfp carries a duplicate inverted catabolic transposon, Tn6063, containing a putative 3-CA oxidation gene cluster, dcaQTA1A2BR, pNB8c contains only a single copy of the transposon. No genes for an aromatic ring cleavage pathway were detected on either plasmid, suggesting that only the upper 3-CA degradation pathway was present. The dcaA1A2B gene products expressed from a high-copy-number vector were shown to convert 3-CA to 4-chlorocatechol in Escherichia coli. Slight differences in the dca promoter region between the plasmids and lack of induction of transcription of the pNB8c dca genes by 3-CA may explain previous findings that pNB8C does not confer 3-CA transformation. Bioaugmentation of activated sludge with pWDL7::rfp accelerated removal of 3-CA, but only in the presence of an additional carbon source. Successful bioaugmentation requires complementation of the upper pathway genes with chlorocatechol cleavage genes in indigenous bacteria. The genome sequences of these plasmids thus help explain the molecular basis of their catabolic activities.
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