Mass wasting reveals ongoing asymmetric retreat of the martian north polar ice cap.

Ongoing mass wasting through ice block falls is intensive at the north polar ice cap of Mars. We monitored how this activity is currently shaping the marginal steep scarps of the ice cap, which holds a record of the planet's climate history. With AI-driven change detection between multi-temporal high-resolution satellite images, we created a comprehensive map of mass wasting across the entire North Polar Layered Deposits (NPLD).

Geometry and Segmentation of Cerberus Fossae, Mars: Implications for Marsquake Properties.

The NASA InSight mission to Mars successfully landed on 26 November 2018 in Elysium Planitia. It aims to characterize the seismic activity and aid in the understanding of the internal structure of Mars. We focus on the Cerberus Fossae region, a giant fracture network ∼1,200 km long situated east of the InSight landing site where M ∼3 marsquakes were detected during the past 2 years.

[A multifactorial risk index for evaluation of anesthetic risk in dogs: the LeiV-Risk-Index].

Objective: The Leipzig Veterinary Risk-Index - "LeiV-Risk-Index" is a multifactorial risk index developed to enable an improved objective assessment of the anesthetic risk in dogs. The scoring system is based on 10 risk factors affecting perioperative mortality. The aim of this study was to evaluate the applicability of the LeiV-Risk-Index and its risk factors as well as to perform a direct comparison with the ASA-classification.

Planning Implications Related to Sterilization-Sensitive Science Investigations Associated with Mars Sample Return (MSR).

The NASA/ESA Mars Sample Return (MSR) Campaign seeks to establish whether life on Mars existed where and when environmental conditions allowed. Laboratory measurements on the returned samples are useful if what is measured is evidence of phenomena on Mars rather than of the effects of sterilization conditions. This report establishes that there are categories of measurements that can be fruitful despite sample sterilization and other categories that cannot.

Preliminary Planning for Mars Sample Return (MSR) Curation Activities in a Sample Receiving Facility (SRF).

The Mars Sample Return Planning Group 2 (MSPG2) was tasked with identifying the steps that encompass all the curation activities that would happen within the MSR Sample Receiving Facility (SRF) and any anticipated curation-related requirements. An area of specific interest is the necessary analytical instrumentation. The SRF would be a Biosafety Level-4 facility where the returned MSR flight hardware would be opened, the sample tubes accessed, and the martian sample material extracted from the tubes.

Final Report of the Mars Sample Return Science Planning Group 2 (MSPG2).

The Mars Sample Return (MSR) Campaign must meet a series of scientific and technical achievements to be successful. While the respective engineering responsibilities to retrieve the samples have been formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding between ESA and NASA, the roles and responsibilities of the scientific elements have yet to be fully defined. In April 2020, ESA and NASA jointly chartered the MSR Science Planning Group 2 (MSPG2) to build upon previous planning efforts in defining 1) an end-to-end MSR Science Program and 2) needed functionalities and design requirements for an MSR Sample Receiving Facility (SRF).

Science and Curation Considerations for the Design of a Mars Sample Return (MSR) Sample Receiving Facility (SRF).

The most important single element of the "ground system" portion of a Mars Sample Return (MSR) Campaign is a facility referred to as the Sample Receiving Facility (SRF), which would need to be designed and equipped to receive the returned spacecraft, extract and open the sealed sample container, extract the samples from the sample tubes, and implement a set of evaluations and analyses of the samples. One of the main findings of the first MSR Sample Planning Group (MSPG, 2019a) states that "The scientific community, for reasons of scientific quality, cost, and timeliness, strongly prefers that as many sample-related investigations as possible be performed in PI-led laboratories outside containment." There are many scientific and technical reasons for this preference, including the ability to utilize advanced and customized instrumentation that may be difficult to reproduce inside in a biocontained facility, and the ability to allow multiple science investigators in different labs to perform similar or complementary analyses to confirm the reproducibility and accuracy of results.

Rationale and Proposed Design for a Mars Sample Return (MSR) Science Program.

The Mars Sample Return (MSR) Campaign represents one of the most ambitious scientific endeavors ever undertaken. Analyses of the martian samples would offer unique science benefits that cannot be attained through orbital or landed missions that rely only on remote sensing and measurements, respectively. As currently designed, the MSR Campaign comprises a number of scientific, technical, and programmatic bodies and relationships, captured in a series of existing and anticipated documents.

The Scientific Importance of Returning Airfall Dust as a Part of Mars Sample Return (MSR).

Dust transported in the martian atmosphere is of intrinsic scientific interest and has relevance for the planning of human missions in the future. The MSR Campaign, as currently designed, presents an important opportunity to return serendipitous, airfall dust. The tubes containing samples collected by the Perseverance rover would be placed in cache depots on the martian surface perhaps as early as 2023-24 for recovery by a subsequent mission no earlier than 2028-29, and possibly as late as 2030-31.

[Study on preanesthetic risk evaluation in dogs using the ASA-classification system in Germany].

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of anesthetic risk evaluation in dogs by using the ASA-classification system (ASA = American Society of Anesthesiologists). In human medicine, several studies criticize ranking patients prior to anesthesia via the ASA-classification due to its subjectivity and substantial variance. This study intends to detect and analyze possible comparable effects when applying the ASA-classification system to dogs.

Geology of the InSight landing site on Mars.

The Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) spacecraft landed successfully on Mars and imaged the surface to characterize the surficial geology. Here we report on the geology and subsurface structure of the landing site to aid in situ geophysical investigations. InSight landed in a degraded impact crater in Elysium Planitia on a smooth sandy, granule- and pebble-rich surface with few rocks.

[Multiple choristoma and a myelolipoma in a Sheltie].

An 11-year-old female Sheltie was presented with inappetence and a progressive increase in abdominal distention. Abdominal ultrasound revealed a large cystic mass in the midabdomen and cystic lesions in the right liver lobe and in the caudal pole of the left kidney. Histopathologic examination of the resected tissue revealed a myelolipoma of the spleen, dispersed splenic tissue in the liver and dispersed uterine and salpinx tissues in the kidney.

Habitability on Early Mars and the Search for Biosignatures with the ExoMars Rover.

The second ExoMars mission will be launched in 2020 to target an ancient location interpreted to have strong potential for past habitability and for preserving physical and chemical biosignatures (as well as abiotic/prebiotic organics). The mission will deliver a lander with instruments for atmospheric and geophysical investigations and a rover tasked with searching for signs of extinct life. The ExoMars rover will be equipped with a drill to collect material from outcrops and at depth down to 2 m.

Planetary Protection and Mars Special Regions--A Suggestion for Updating the Definition.

We highlight the role of COSPAR and the scientific community in defining and updating the framework of planetary protection. Specifically, we focus on Mars "Special Regions," areas where strict planetary protection measures have to be applied before a spacecraft can explore them, given the existence of environmental conditions that may be conducive to terrestrial microbial growth. We outline the history of the concept of Special Regions and inform on recent developments regarding the COSPAR policy, namely, the MEPAG SR-SAG2 review and the Academies and ESF joint committee report on Mars Special Regions.

Earth-like aqueous debris-flow activity on Mars at high orbital obliquity in the last million years.

Liquid water is currently extremely rare on Mars, but was more abundant during periods of high obliquity in the last few millions of years. This is testified by the widespread occurrence of mid-latitude gullies: small catchment-fan systems. However, there are no direct estimates of the amount and frequency of liquid water generation during these periods.

The Mawrth Vallis region of Mars: A potential landing site for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission.

The primary objective of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, which will launch in 2011, is to characterize the habitability of a site on Mars through detailed analyses of the composition and geological context of surface materials. Within the framework of established mission goals, we have evaluated the value of a possible landing site in the Mawrth Vallis region of Mars that is targeted directly on some of the most geologically and astrobiologically enticing materials in the Solar System. The area around Mawrth Vallis contains a vast (>1 × 10⁶ km²) deposit of phyllosilicate-rich, ancient, layered rocks.

Global mineralogical and aqueous mars history derived from OMEGA/Mars Express data.

Global mineralogical mapping of Mars by the Observatoire pour la Mineralogie, l'Eau, les Glaces et l'Activité (OMEGA) instrument on the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft provides new information on Mars' geological and climatic history. Phyllosilicates formed by aqueous alteration very early in the planet's history (the "phyllocian" era) are found in the oldest terrains; sulfates were formed in a second era (the "theiikian" era) in an acidic environment. Beginning about 3.

Phyllosilicates on Mars and implications for early martian climate.

The recent identification of large deposits of sulphates by remote sensing and in situ observations has been considered evidence of the past presence of liquid water on Mars. Here we report the unambiguous detection of diverse phyllosilicates, a family of aqueous alteration products, on the basis of observations by the OMEGA imaging spectrometer on board the Mars Express spacecraft. These minerals are mainly associated with Noachian outcrops, which is consistent with an early active hydrological system, sustaining the long-term contact of igneous minerals with liquid water.

Discovery of a flank caldera and very young glacial activity at Hecates Tholus, Mars.

The majority of volcanic products on Mars are thought to be mafic and effusive. Explosive eruptions of basic to ultrabasic chemistry are expected to be common, but evidence for them is rare and mostly confined to very old surface features. Here we present new image and topographic data from the High Resolution Stereo Camera that reveal previously unknown traces of an explosive eruption at 30 degrees N and 149 degrees E on the northwestern flank of the shield volcano Hecates Tholus.

Evidence from the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera for a frozen sea close to Mars' equator.

It is thought that the Cerberus Fossae fissures on Mars were the source of both lava and water floods two to ten million years ago. Evidence for the resulting lava plains has been identified in eastern Elysium, but seas and lakes from these fissures and previous water flooding events were presumed to have evaporated and sublimed away. Here we present High Resolution Stereo Camera images from the European Space Agency Mars Express spacecraft that indicate that such lakes may still exist.

Tropical to mid-latitude snow and ice accumulation, flow and glaciation on Mars.

Images from the Mars Express HRSC (High-Resolution Stereo Camera) of debris aprons at the base of massifs in eastern Hellas reveal numerous concentrically ridged lobate and pitted features and related evidence of extremely ice-rich glacier-like viscous flow and sublimation. Together with new evidence for recent ice-rich rock glaciers at the base of the Olympus Mons scarp superposed on larger Late Amazonian debris-covered piedmont glaciers, we interpret these deposits as evidence for geologically recent and recurring glacial activity in tropical and mid-latitude regions of Mars during periods of increased spin-axis obliquity when polar ice was mobilized and redeposited in microenvironments at lower latitudes. The data indicate that abundant residual ice probably remains in these deposits and that these records of geologically recent climate changes are accessible to future automated and human surface exploration.

Recent and episodic volcanic and glacial activity on Mars revealed by the High Resolution Stereo Camera.

The large-area coverage at a resolution of 10-20 metres per pixel in colour and three dimensions with the High Resolution Stereo Camera Experiment on the European Space Agency Mars Express Mission has made it possible to study the time-stratigraphic relationships of volcanic and glacial structures in unprecedented detail and give insight into the geological evolution of Mars. Here we show that calderas on five major volcanoes on Mars have undergone repeated activation and resurfacing during the last 20 per cent of martian history, with phases of activity as young as two million years, suggesting that the volcanoes are potentially still active today. Glacial deposits at the base of the Olympus Mons escarpment show evidence for repeated phases of activity as recently as about four million years ago.

Evidence for heterogeneity of ribosomes within the HeLa cell.

The proteins of several subsets of ribosomal subunits isolated from HeLa cells were separated by high resolution electrophoresis in polyacrylamide slab gels containing sodium dodecyl sulfate. Comparisons were made among native subunits, and subunits derived from single ribosomes, free polysomes, and membrane-bound polysomes. At least 10 heterogeneously distributed proteins were identified among the 40 S subunit proteins, compared wtih 17 to 20 proteins that occurred in all 40 S subunit classes.