The geology and geophysics of Kuiper Belt object (486958) Arrokoth

The Cold Classical Kuiper Belt, a class of small bodies in undisturbed orbits beyond Neptune, is composed of primitive objects preserving information about Solar System formation. In January 2019, the New Horizons spacecraft flew past one of these objects, the 36-kilometer-long contact binary (486958) Arrokoth (provisional designation 2014 MU₆₉). Images from the flyby show that Arrokoth has no detectable rings, and no satellites (larger than 180 meters in diameter) within a radius of 8000 kilometers. Arrokoth has a lightly cratered, smooth surface with complex geological features, unlike those on previously visited Solar System bodies. The density of impact craters indicates the surface dates from the formation of the Solar System. The two lobes of the contact binary have closely aligned poles and equators, constraining their accretion mechanism.

Color, composition, and thermal environment of Kuiper Belt object (486958) Arrokoth

The outer Solar System object (486958) Arrokoth (provisional designation 2014 MU₆₉) has been largely undisturbed since its formation. We studied its surface composition using data collected by the New Horizons spacecraft. Methanol ice is present along with organic material, which may have formed through irradiation of simple molecules. Water ice was not detected. This composition indicates hydrogenation of carbon monoxide-rich ice and/or energetic processing of methane condensed on water ice grains in the cold, outer edge of the early Solar System. There are only small regional variations in color and spectra across the surface, which suggests that Arrokoth formed from a homogeneous or well-mixed reservoir of solids. Microwave thermal emission from the winter night side is consistent with a mean brightness temperature of 29 ± 5 kelvin.

The solar nebula origin of (486958) Arrokoth, a primordial contact binary in the Kuiper Belt

The New Horizons spacecraft's encounter with the cold classical Kuiper Belt object (486958) Arrokoth (provisional designation 2014 MU₆₉) revealed a contact-binary planetesimal. We investigated how Arrokoth formed and found that it is the product of a gentle, low-speed merger in the early Solar System. Its two lenticular lobes suggest low-velocity accumulation of numerous smaller planetesimals within a gravitationally collapsing cloud of solid particles. The geometric alignment of the lobes indicates that they were a co-orbiting binary that experienced angular momentum loss and subsequent merger, possibly because of dynamical friction and collisions within the cloud or later gas drag. Arrokoth's contact-binary shape was preserved by the benign dynamical and collisional environment of the cold classical Kuiper Belt and therefore informs the accretion processes that operated in the early Solar System.

Prebiotic Chemistry of Pluto

We present the case for the presence of complex organic molecules, such as amino acids and nucleobases, formed by abiotic processes on the surface and in near-subsurface regions of Pluto. Pluto's surface is tinted with a range of non-ice substances with colors ranging from light yellow to red to dark brown; the colors match those of laboratory organic residues called tholins. Tholins are broadly characterized as complex, macromolecular organic solids consisting of a network of aromatic structures connected by aliphatic bridging units (e.g., Imanaka et al., 2004; Materese et al., 2014, 2015). The synthesis of tholins in planetary atmospheres and in surface ices has been explored in numerous laboratory experiments, and both gas- and solid-phase varieties are found on Pluto. A third variety of tholins, exposed at a site of tectonic surface fracturing called Virgil Fossae, appears to have come from a reservoir in the subsurface. Eruptions of tholin-laden liquid H₂O from a subsurface aqueous repository appear to have covered portions of Virgil Fossae and its surroundings with a uniquely colored deposit (D.P. Cruikshank, personal communication) that is geographically correlated with an exposure of H₂O ice that includes spectroscopically detected NH₃ (C.M. Dalle Ore, personal communication). The subsurface organic material could have been derived from presolar or solar nebula processes, or might have formed in situ. Photolysis and radiolysis of a mixture of ices relevant to Pluto's surface composition (N₂, CH₄, CO) have produced strongly colored, complex organics with a significant aromatic content having a high degree of nitrogen substitution similar to the aromatic heterocycles pyrimidine and purine (Materese et al., 2014, 2015; Cruikshank et al., 2016). Experiments with pyrimidines and purines frozen in H₂O-NH₃ ice resulted in the formation of numerous nucleobases, including the biologically relevant guanine, cytosine, adenine, uracil, and thymine (Materese et al., 2017). The red material associated with the H₂O ice may contain nucleobases resulting from energetic processing on Pluto's surface or in the interior. Some other Kuiper Belt objects also exhibit red colors similar to those found on Pluto and may therefore carry similar inventories of complex organic materials. The widespread and ubiquitous nature of similarly complex organic materials observed in a variety of astronomical settings drives the need for additional laboratory and modeling efforts to explain the origin and evolution of organic molecules. Pluto observations reveal complex organics on a small body that remains close to its place of origin in the outermost regions of the Solar System.

Initial results from the New Horizons exploration of 2014 MU69, a small Kuiper Belt object

The Kuiper Belt is a distant region of the outer Solar System. On 1 January 2019, the New Horizons spacecraft flew close to (486958) 2014 MU₆₉, a cold classical Kuiper Belt object approximately 30 kilometers in diameter. Such objects have never been substantially heated by the Sun and are therefore well preserved since their formation. We describe initial results from these encounter observations. MU₆₉ is a bilobed contact binary with a flattened shape, discrete geological units, and noticeable albedo heterogeneity. However, there is little surface color or compositional heterogeneity. No evidence for satellites, rings or other dust structures, a gas coma, or solar wind interactions was detected. MU₆₉'s origin appears consistent with pebble cloud collapse followed by a low-velocity merger of its two lobes.

Nalidixic acid-induced photosensitivity in mice: a model for pseudoporphyria

Porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT)-like photosensitivity eruptions have occurred in patients treated with nalidixic acid, furosemide (Lasix), or tetracycline. An animal model for nalidixic acid photosensitivity was developed in young CF-1 female mice. The hair on the back was plucked from groups of animals that were injected i.p. each day with nalidixic acid or saline. The animals were exposed to black-lamp radiation for 12 h daily for 6 weeks, followed by a 2-week rest period, and then 4 more weeks of UV radiation exposure. The nalidixic acid-treated animals developed far greater gross and chronic inflammatory changes than the saline-treated animals; microscopically and ultrastructurally they showed blister formation beneath the basal lamina at the same level as that found in PCT. This model appears to be suitable for the study of PCT-like and other photosensitivity reactions.

Progressive vaccinia associated with combined variable immunodeficiency

Progressive vaccinia developed in a previously healthy woman following smallpox vaccination and was successfully treated with vaccinia immune human globulin and methisazone. Immunologic evaluation over the next 4 1/2 years revealed evidence for combined variable immunodeficiency with increased numbers of circulating OKT 8 positive (suppressor-cytotoxic T) cells and the virtual absence of OKT 4 positive (helper-inducer T) cells.

Radiobiology of the skin: review of some effects on epidermis and hair

Significant doses of ionizing radiation produce an acute skin reaction characterized by erythema, epilation, and dry or moist desquamation with or without erosions. These early acute changes are dose-dependent and reflect damage to the germinative cells of the epidermis and to the cutaneous vasculature. Studies in the pig, for example, have shown that the degenerative phase of cell loss (2-3 weeks) results from reproductive failure in germinative cells and a sharp reduction in the proliferation rate of basal cell "survivors." D0 values for epidermal cells in different species generally range from 100-140 rads. Cell maturation and ascension rates in the suprabasilar layers are largely unaffected. A regenerative phase of cell replacement, characterized by sharply increased cell replication rates, occurs from the 3rd to 5th postradiation weeks. The postregenerative phase of hyperplasia reflects a temporary overshoot of cell density above control levels; a subsequent decrease in hyperplasia indicates feedback control of cellular proliferation. Postradiation changes in the highly proliferative anagen hair matrix cell populations result in hair dysplasia, slowed growth rates, impaired metabolic processes, and alopecia. Dosages of 700-800 rads or more induce some degree of permanent hair loss. G0 telogen matrix cells are 2-3 times more radioresistant than proliferating anagen matrix cells, but may "store" radiation damage for prolonged periods. Altered matrix cell uptake of amino acids, the incidence of dysplasia, and the degree of alopecia occurring after irradiation have all been used as quantitative biological end-points for the general study of cellular radiation effects, as well as studies on the enhancement of or protection against radiation damage provided by certain pharmacologic or physical agents.

Herpesvirus hominis hepatitis and disseminated intravascular coagulation. Occurrence in an adult with pemphigus vulgaris

Herpesvirus hominis (HVH) hepatitis, a rarely recognized manifestation of HVH infection in adults, occurred in a 36-year-old woman who had received prednisone therapy for pemphigus vulgaris continuously for seven years. After an acute terminal illness that was characterized by fulminant hepatic failure and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), postmortem examination disclosed massive hepatic necrosis. Herpesvirus hominis (type 1) was isolated from the liver. The association of disseminated HVH infection with impaired immunologic defenses, as well as the occurrence of DIC in association with acute hepatic failure, are discussed. Greater awareness of the clinical manifestations of HVH hepatitis should lead to early diagnosis, although sucessful modes of therapy await development.