Microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) ensure the fidelity of chromosome segregation by controlling microtubule (MT) dynamics and mitotic spindle stability. However, many aspects of MAP function and regulation are poorly understood in a developmental context. We show that mars, which encodes a Drosophila melanogaster member of the hepatoma up-regulated protein family of MAPs, is essential for M...

Despite radically different environmental conditions, terrestrial and martian dunes bear a strong resemblance, indicating that the basic processes of saltation and grainfall (sand avalanching down the dune slipface) operate on both worlds. Here, we show that martian dunes are subject to an additional modification process not found on Earth: springtime sublimation of Mars' CO(2) seasonal polar c...

This paper focusses on the estimation of exterior orientation parameters of the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) orbiting planet Mars during the European Mars Express mission since January 2004. One of the challenges for the photogrammetric processing of HRSC images is the low number of Ground Control Points (GCPs) on Mars which can be identified and measured in the images in the usual way....

Coupling between the lower and upper atmosphere, combined with loss of gas from the upper atmosphere to space, likely contributed to the thin, cold, dry atmosphere of modern Mars. To help understand ongoing ion loss to space, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft made comprehensive measurements of the Mars upper atmosphere, ionosphere, and interactions with the Sun and s...

Introduction: The topography of Mars remained unknown until the first orbiting spacecraft, since early ground-based observations of Mars displayed only variations due to albedo which correspond to changes in surface composition and texture rather than changes in surface altitude. However a technique was being developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s to determine the Martian topography by mea...

We apply a model for sand dunes to calculate formation of dunes on Mars under the present Martian atmospheric conditions. We find that different dune shapes as those imaged by Mars Global Surveyor could have been formed by the action of sand-moving winds occuring on today’s Mars. Our calculations show, however, that Martian dunes could be only formed due to the higher efficiency of Martian wind...

This study adopts Multivariate Adaptive Regression Spline (MARS) and Least Square Support Vector Machine (LSSVM) for prediction of undrained shear strength (su ) of clay, based Cone Penetration Test (CPT) data. Corrected cone resistance (qt ), vertical total stress (σv ), hydrostatic pore pressure (u0 ), pore water pressure at the cone tip (u1 ), and pore water pressure just above the cone base...

A basic requirement for the planning of future Mars missions are precise and high resolution maps, especially, of the landing site area. We present a new digital orthoimage map of Mars using data obtained from the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) of the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS). The new map covers the Mars surface from 180° E (180° W) to 360° E (0° W) and from 60° South to 60° North with a resolutio...