Implementation Of Mission Research Articles

Analysis of inorganic cations and amino acids in high salinity samples by capillary electrophoresis and conductivity detection: Implications for in-situ exploration of ocean worlds.

With growing interest in exploring ocean worlds, such as Europa and Enceladus, there is a fundamental need to develop liquid-based analytical techniques capable of handling high salinity samples while performing both bulk and trace species measurements. In this context, CE with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (CE-C4 D) has tremendous potential. One of its advantages is that this combination allows the detection of a wide number of charged species (both organic and inorganic) without the need of derivatization. Amino acids are an example of organic targets that are powerful biosignatures in the search for life beyond Earth. Simultaneous information on the inorganic cations in a sample helps with assessing the habitability of an extraterrestrial environment, as well as providing sample context for any measurements of trace amino acids. In this work, we present a series of flight-compatible methods capable of simultaneously measuring inorganic cations and amino acids in samples of varying salinity by CE-C4 D. Regardless of the sample total salinity, 5.0 M acetic acid was selected as the optimum BGE. The methods were evaluated by analyzing natural samples of low and high salinity from Hot Creek Gorge, Mono Lake, and Santa Monica beach. Prospects for mission implementation are also discussed.

Maternal Occupational Exposures to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Risk of Neural Tube Defects in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study

Approaches to rover mission operations were investigated in the framework of the CanMars Mars Sample Return (MSR) analogue mission deployments. Improving the efficiency of operations is a necessity for future planetary missions, including Mars 2020, which seek to combine sample targeting with in situ investigations in the fixed amount of time available in primary science operations and with increasingly high public and science community expectations for results. Analogue missions provide an important opportunity to experiment with mission operation strategies and learn lessons that can be incorporated in future missions. Improving the efficiency of operations was a key objective of the 2015 and 2016 CanMars mission deployment. The mission overall operations organisation for CanMars is described with comparison to current implementation of Mars Exploration Rover and Mars Science Laboratory missions. Approaches being tested included 3-sol plan sequences with increased use of waypoints for teach and return as part of a global Walkabout approach, use of Strategic Observation days to focus the Science Team's efforts, and consideration to improvements in how information is exchanged tactically and strategically in operations.

Balance Scorecard Implementation Challenges in Institution of Higher Learning: Overview of Prior Studies

The incessant decline in the performance of Malaysian public institution of higher learning since 2007 to date has brought to fore the question of its performance management process. Studies have shown that performance management is a general phenomenon in the institution of higher learning worldwide. The implementation issues of Balance scorecard (BSC) is more pronounced in the non-profit outfit and governmental organizations (NPGOs) compared to the profit-oriented outfit. Reasons being that the BSC was originally developed and (or) meant for the profit-oriented outfit and not exactly the other way round. The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the issues of performance management in the institution of higher learning and specifically regarding the implementation issues of BSC encountered among Malaysia public institution of higher learning. This study provides a review of previous literature on the BSC implementation issues. Several implementation issues identified from the literatures are strategy misalignment, strategy communication issues, manager’s acceptance/employees buy-in, the issue of clarity of vision, mission, strategy, and outcome, and strategy map implementation issues. Findings revealed that the implementation issues of the BSC among Malaysia public institution actually helps to unravel the pitfalls of BSC project and provides a roadmap show that can improve and sustain effective performance management. The implication of this study is aimed at providing the means by which the Malaysian public institution of higher learning can identify the issues inherent in BSC implementation or strategy implementation and the way forward.

Issues and challenges of space radiation risk assessment in manned deep space exploration missions

The plan and implementation of manned deep space exploration missions should first ensure the health and safety of astronauts. Space radiation, mainly coming from galactic cosmic rays (GCR), solar particle events (SPE) and trapped belt radiation (TBR), has been generally considered to be one of the most important risk factors threatening the health of astronauts in deep spaceflight missions. Health risks from these exposures mainly include four aspects: carcinogenesis, acute radiation syndrome, central nervous system damage and degenerative tissue effects, and the risk of carcinogenesis remains a primary concern for manned deep space explorations. The difference in the radiation environment between the deep space and the ground leads to a high uncertainty on the estimated health risk, which is currently the main hindrance to manned interplanetary exploration. The issues and challenges related to health risk assessment of space radiation for astronauts during manned deep space exploration missions are systematically summarized and analyzed in this paper. Six main issues were raised in space radiation risk assessment, including estimation of space radiation quality, extrapolation of low-dose/dose-rate radiation risk, prediction of dose- and dose-rate reduction effectiveness factor (DDREF), screening of differences in individual radiosensitivity, effects of microgravity and other stressors on space radiation risk, and assessment of acute radiation syndromes caused by SPE. In addition, six corresponding key technologies were also discussed to address these scientific issues and challenges for future studies and practice: (1) The more dose-response data in experimental animals is needed for estimating the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) for different high-energy charged (HZE) particle types in different tissues. (2) The improved radiobiological models including targeted and non-targeted effects models, are required for accurately estimating space radiation quality factors. (3) It is necessary to accurately estimate the DDREF for low dose and dose-rate radiations, and it should be further comfirmed whether the linear-no-threshold (LNT) model is the most appropriate way to extrapolate risk estimates in low dose and dose-rate through more relevant theoretical and experimental researches. (4) The biomarker selection techniques are important to identify the potential biomarkers associated with space radiation, and the integrated risk assessment models based on the space radiation sensitive biomarkers using systems biology approaches can improve the accuracy of predicting individual radiosensitivities and disease risks induced by space radiation. (5) The influence of microgravity and other stressors on space radiation risk need to be further investigated. (6) More accurate SPE prediction models and the corresponding acute radiation risk assessment models are also necessary in further studies. The goal of reducing the uncertainties in space radiation risk assessment can be fulfilled by an international co-operative effort in these critical technologies. The arrangement and analysis of the critical issues and key technologies of space radiation risk assessment in manned deep space exploration missions can provide the strategies of reducing the health risk of astronauts induced by space radiation.

Mädchenerziehung und Mission, Die Töchterpension der Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine in Montmirail im 18. Jahrhundert

Sara Aebi's book, Mädchenerziehung und Mission, Die Töchterpension der Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine in Montmirail im 18. Jahrhundert (2016), is based on her doctoral dissertation in education. The four chapters of the study explore the girls’ boarding school in Montmirail in Switzerland by contextualizing the school and its educational practices from two perspectives: it traces the relationships of the school to the national and global Moravian church, and it compares the educational institution of Montmirail to a host of non-Moravian boarding schools for girls in Switzerland. Aebi asks, “What role did the Moravian boarding school for girls in Montmirail play to the Moravian church in Switzerland?” and “what was the importance of the school as an educational institution [Bildungsinstitution] in Switzerland?”Building on Reinhart Koselleck's argumentation and drawing on Charles Tilly's approach in historical comparison, Aebi's theoretical framework and methodology merge source analysis with a comparative approach (27). She does not provide any critical discussion of her chosen method. The sources, mainly from the Moravian Archives in Herrnhut, consist of printed and manuscript documents about the Moravian Church and its educational operations in relation to schools in Switzerland. Aebi's selection of documents shed light on the mission of the school, its implementation, and individual voices of the pupils, staff, and parents expressed in memoirs and letters. In addition, the study draws on a careful analysis of pupil and staff rosters. Aebi has also made use of published records and the minutes of several public schools.The result is a compelling contribution to the history of the Moravian girls’ education in Switzerland. The author gives a multifaceted description of the girls’ boarding school in Montmirail and shows that by establishing an informal network among girls the school strengthened the role of the Moravian Church in Switzerland. Pedagogically the school in Montmirail was hardly different from other schools of its kind in Switzerland. However, a considerable difference between non-Moravian schools and the boarding school in Montmirail was confessionalism, its missionary educational mission (254). This is also one of the main foci of Aebi's study. In more than 100 pages she investigates three themes of Montmirail's mission. First, Aebi explores the nurturing of the tradition (Bewahrung) by problematizing the continued efforts to nurture the distinction between sacred and secular. The second theme of the mission was religious education that focused on the cultivation of the Christian gospel and Moravian spirituality. In the third theme of her study, Aebi probes the daily lives and practices of the staff. She points out that all staff, not only teachers, were involved in the implementation of the pedagogic mission of the school to support the girls’ religious fostering and learning.Aebi's study draws on the ongoing historical research into the educational practices and schools of the Moravian Church. The study is important in both making possible comparisons between Moravian and non-Moravian school systems and mapping schooling within the Moravian Church. Specifically, to studies of Moravian schools in other countries where the Moravian Church existed under similar administrative conditions as in Switzerland—like in Sweden—the contribution of the present study is important. Finally, besides making comparison to other schools in historical context possible, Aebi's study can be regarded as a contribution to contemporary discussion about the relationship between confessions and schools.

Manajer Pendidik Profetik dalam Konstruksi Kesalehan Makrifat

Similar to other graduates of the Faculty of Islamic Education and Teaching, those graduated from the Islamic Education Management study program are also educators, prophetic super-leader based on cognizance intelligence (ma’rifat)- which is an empirical form of the sense of God presence when the God Spot – an analysis by Zohar and Marshall- works. Prophetic super-leaders are professional managers encouraging learning motivation and organizing education in more civilized way within national framework. Whereas, the Islamic Education Management learning process is based on the Islamic Education Management Technique and built upon Islamic Education Management Science, that is derived from the Islamic Education Management Philosophy. Meanwhile, this philosophical aspect is rooted on the philosophy of Tarbiya which in fact is an applied Islamic philosophy. Therefore, the Faculty of Islamic Education and Teaching urgently needs to arrange Tarbiya philosophy as vision accomplishment of being “Excellent and Outstanding in Integrating and Developing Islamic Education and Science for Civilization” since the Tarbiya philosophy and its derivation are foundation of the mission implementation of “Developing Education Based on Islamic, Sciencetific, Tehcnological, Art, and Indonesian context.” Without such an independent theory, the practice of Islamic Education will only be a kind of follower instead of leader or superleader. At least, there shuld be an obvious statement that the adopted theory is not against the concept of Ma’rifah in Islam.

Social Movement at Indonesia - Malaysia Border (A Case Study of Indonesian Migrant Workers’ Education in Sebatik Island, a Land Border of Indonesia - Malaysia)

The condition of the state border area between Indonesia and Malaysia is totally different. Children of Indonesian Workers (TKI) have no (limited) access to learn in formal schools since they do not have citizenship documents. This study aims to analyze the implementation of basic education mission in the border area, particularly in Sebatik island, Nunukan regency, North Kalimantan province. In addition, the research was conducted using qualitative explorative approach. Problems arising at the border area are very diverse and systemic. The Indonesian government conducts the education in border areas still very limitedly. The role of the public, corporate and private companies (Three Net Working) becomes very important in operating the schools in border area. The role of a former lecturer who is famously called Mrs. Midwife Suraidah is very dominant in helping TKI’s children to learn a variety of knowledge in Sekolah Tapal Batas (Tapal Batas School) in Sebatik island, Nunukan Regency, North Kalimantan province. Some help from companies such as Pertamina (national oil mining company), Dompet Dhuafa foundation and volunteers who are willing to be teachers strongly support the continuously of Tapal Batas School. The continuity of basic education in the state border becomes a challenge for the government since the purpose of the country written in the opening of Constitution 1945 is the intellectual life of the nation can be realized by implementing it in Nawacita program.

FLAGSHIP UNIVERSITY ROLE IN PUBLIC PARTICIPATION PRACTICES

The case presented in the article describes the experience of organizing and functioning of initiative groups from Petrozavodsk State University conducting research in the field of public and administrative communication. This experience was accompanied with expert activities and organizing dialogue involving university representatives and public and administrative institutions of the region in the context of tasks determined by the status of pillar university. The aim of the article is to define possible forms of university community influence on forming public agenda in the region in the context of pillar university development asks based on the description of social involvement parameters of university initiative groups created in 2015-2017. Because of obtaining the status of pillar university in 2017 PetSU focused the main vector of university development on solving the tasks of forming innovation infrastructure and organizational design which suggests implementation of renewed mission and strengthening the social role of the university in the region. Alongside with actualization of university interaction with main stakeholders ensuring stable regional development existing practices of university public participation in intersectoral interaction system also play an important role. Many of them result from implementing strategic development program «University complex of PetSU in academic and educational space of European North: innovation development strategy» (2012-2016 гг.). Since 2015 within this program several initiative projects on studying public and administrative interaction in Republic of Kareliya were conducted. Peculiar features of organizing and implementing these projects are analyzed in this article. The results of project activities were used as the basis for forming overall interaction system for initiative groups’ members and external partners, authorities and republic administration, public consulting structures and public organizations. Practical use of experience in organizing interdisciplinary teams and results of initiative projects are reviewed in the discourse of university third mission. The forms of social involvement presented in this case can be used in constructing interaction between pillar university with main actors participating in the process of regional development management. Project materials are analyzed with the help of such methods as event - analysis, comparison, structural and functional analysis in the framework of «case-study» research strategy. Case review is preceded by literature review on the topic of university social role. Original nature of this article is in the analysis of pillar university participation in the system of communication between public and administration. Use of experience allowing for defining social partnership patterns in the process of forming regional agenda demonstrates opportunities which are initially seen in intersectoral dialogue at the local level in the context of solving individual tasks. Multiplication of interaction cases gives cumulative effect which reveals new opportunities of university influence on the state of regional public sphere. Presented information can have practical implementation in renewing forms of social involvement as an integral part of the third mission. Generalization of existing social partnership practices is important for organizing interaction with regional society on a higher level of pillar university development management.

Progress of health care in rural India: a critical review of National Rural Health Mission

National rural health mission (NRHM) was initiated in the year 2005 in eleventh five year plan, with the objective of providing quality health care services to the rural population. The mission brought out salient strategies by involving various sectors and forging partnerships with various organizations to unify health and family welfare services into a single window. Though the mission strived for a sustainable health care system, it did not envisage certain challenges in implementation. The public health system in India could take off from the foundations laid by the NRHM to overcome these challenges, in order to achieve various goals of health and development and put India on the road map of healthful development. The objective of this review article is to critically evaluate the implementation of national rural health mission and highlight its success and to make recommendations on the future health care planning and implementation in achieving universal health coverage for the rural India. NRHM has been a mammoth effort by the Union Government to build the public health infrastructure of the nation. The mission deserves its credit for empowering the rural India in health care, especially in States with poor health related indicators. NRHM has been a pioneer in reiterating the need for community participation, coupled with intersectoral convergence, to bring about a paradigm shift in the indicators, which has been reasonably achieved in most of the States. Taking forward the foundations laid by the NRHM, it is essential for the forthcoming policies and plans to focus on capacity building, not only on the infrastructure and technical aspects, but also on streamlining the health workforce, which is crucial to sustaining the public health infrastructure. The public health system in India should take off from the foundations laid by the NRHM. There is an imminent need to focus on forging a sustainable public private partnership, which will deliver quality services, and not compromise on the principles and identity of the public health system of the country, in its pursuit to achieve universal health coverage and sustainable development goals.

MULTIAGENT COLLABORATIVE COMPUTATION FOR AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE SYSTEM

Quick-and-accurate decision is a primary requirement for achieving a mission’s successfulness in many organizations whether they are militaries or civilians. The larger and more complex the scope of a mission the longer the time will be needed to perform decision-making. A complex mission such as retaining a sustainable mission of aircrafts deployed in certain remote bases will require a 24-hour of standby on-site or off-site maintenance teams. The most common problem arisen from humans in such situations is the fatigue that can occur anytime to any of them during a continuing mission and of course, it can affect the continuity of the mission and delay or disappoint the mission achievement. In this paper we address the concept of the utilization of Multiagent Collaborative Computation (MCC) paradigm in supporting the decision-making process in aircrafts maintenance during a sustainable mission in remote bases. The ultimate goal of the MCC-based aircraft maintenance system is comprehensive information regarding the maintenance procedures in order to keep the aircrafts serviceable during the mission implementation. In this paper we also present the technique to obtain the comprehensive information as the basis for decision-making called A3S (Arwin-Adang-Aciek-Sembiring) information-inferencing fusion method

Assessment of CryoSat-2 interferometric and non-interferometric SAR altimetry over ice sheets

The launch of CryoSat-2 heralded a new era of interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar altimetry over the Polar Ice Sheets. The mission’s novel SAR interferometric (SARIn) mode of operation has enabled monitoring of rapidly changing coastal regions, which had been challenging for previous low resolution altimeters. Given the growing requirement to continue the 25-year altimeter record, there is now a need to assess the differences between existing SAR and SARIn altimeter datasets, with a view to understanding the impact on ice sheet retrievals of the different radar hardware and processing methodologies. Uniquely, CryoSat-2 data can be processed both with and without interferometric information, offering the opportunity to directly compare the SAR and SARIn products generated by the current ground segment. Here, we provide a first comparison of these Level-2 datasets, and evaluate their capacity to measure ice sheet elevation and elevation change. We find that the current interferometric product has substantially improved precision, accuracy and coverage compared to its non-interferometric counterpart, yielding a ∼35% improvement in the root-mean-square-difference (RMSD) of elevations recorded at orbital cross-overs, and a ∼30% lower RMSD of elevation rates relative to Operation IceBridge airborne altimeter measurements. This analysis demonstrates the value that the interferometer adds to the current CryoSat-2 configuration, and highlights the importance for non-interferometric SAR Level-2 processing of the auxiliary data used to identify the location of the echoing point. These results provide a benchmark of the relative performance of the Level-2 interferometric and non-interferometric products currently produced by the ground segment, which will help to inform the design and implementation of a future polar radar altimeter mission.

Research on the Innovation of College Students Ideological and Political Education in the Big Data Background

With the rapid development of science and technology and the structure of social transformation, the college students’ ideological and political work faces the new challenge and has the opportunities for strengthening and innovation. In this paper, innovation of ideological and political work in Colleges and universities in the era of big data has been proposed, the research point of view have successfully solved innovative working methods. Firstly following the spirit of the times, strengthen the leading role of leading thought. Secondly grasping the ideas and means of innovation spirit, innovation based essence. Finally playing new situation of ideology made the fundamental task and the exact implementation of the historical mission of moral education.

The technical aspects of the system approach to modeling of the process of management by the troops

The article deals with the important scientific research concerning the management of various levels of subordination in the troops, which is relevant and timely, especially in the context of reforming the Ukrainian Army when introducing new standards not only in technical, military, but also in the training of military specialists.Particular attention is paid to the interaction of the performers to achieve the task. It is determined that in the presence of numerous normative documents, the modern system of rating assessment of the quality of knowledge, abilities and skills of military personnel, preparation of units, military structures, there is no prediction of the effectiveness of their task fulfillment. In order to eliminate this disadvantage and to establish the conformity of the training of the executors of the complexity of the mission, a technical interpretation of interrelationships in the structure is proposed: a serviceman, a division, a platoon, a company ..., which has its decision in the form of an elementary structural scheme with an analytical description of its functioning. Conclusions regarding the mistakes made in the task allowed to establish the basic parameters of elements in structures taking into account the ECTS of the assessment scale. The conclusion is made on the need to implement a similar assessment for implementation tasks. It has been established that in this case, it is possible to predict the effectiveness of the implementation of a specific mission. Analytical calculations are scientifically substantiated, brought to the final results in the form of analytical dependencies and graphically defined connection between the complexity of the task and the level of training of performers. The presented results, conclusions, proposals also define the main tasks for conducting the educational process.

Low-Latency Teleoperations, Planetary Protection, and Astrobiology.

Low-latency teleoperations (LLT), or "telepresence" allows for the control of almost any asset in essentially real-time and has significant potential to address potential planetary protection concerns and to enhance astrobiology exploration activities on both robotic and human missions to Mars and elsewhere in the solar system. LLT can assist with the search for extraterrestrial life and help mitigate planetary protection concerns as required by the UN Outer Space Treaty. LLT can help by allowing for real-time exploration of areas that may otherwise not be conducive to direct human contact. Crew members can search for, acquire, and robotically manipulate samples in real-time and engage in precise measurements and experiments without requiring the crew to be present in dangerous or otherwise problematic conditions or environments. LLT operations can be particularly effective in studying "Special Regions" - areas of astrobiological interest that might be adversely affected by forward contamination from humans or spacecraft contaminants during activities on Mars. Similarly, LLT can aid in addressing concerns about backward contamination that could impact mission implementation for returning Martian samples and crew to Earth.

Effect of orbital shadow at an Earth-Moon Lagrange point on relay communication mission

The shadow effect is an important constraint to be considered during the implementation of exploration missions. In this paper, for the Earth-Moon Lagrange point L2 relay communication mission, shadow effect issues on a periodic orbit about L2 are investigated. A systematic analysis based on the time domain and phase space is performed including the distribution, duration, and frequency of shadows. First, the Lindstedt-Poincare and second-order differential correction methods are used in conjunction with the DE421 planetary ephemeris to achieve a mission trajectory family in a high-precision ephemeris model. Next, on the basis of a conical shadow model, the influence of different orbital phases and amplitudes on the shadow is analyzed. The distribution of the shadow is investigated as well. Finally, the configuration of the shadow and its characteristics are studied. This study provides an important reference and basis for mission orbit design and shadow avoidance for relay satellites at an Earth-Moon Lagrange point.

Effect of 45‐Day −6° Head‐Down Bed Rest on Cooperation and Aggression

SummaryHigh levels of cooperation and low aggression seem obviously vital to the successful implementation of space missions. To elucidate the effect of microgravity on these behaviors, we investigated whether cooperative and aggressive behaviors would be affected in 16 male volunteers during 45‐day −6° head‐down bed rest, which is a reliable simulation model for most physiological effects of spaceflight. We used an ultimatum game task to evaluate the cooperative behavior and a revised competitive reaction time test to evaluate the aggressive behavior simultaneously. We found that (1) the participants became less cooperative in the post‐bed rest phase in comparison with the pre‐bed rest phase and (2) the participants became more aggressive in the in‐bed rest phase in comparison with the pre‐bed rest phase. These findings provide evidence that head‐down bed rest may affect both cooperative and aggressive behaviors in males, suggesting an important perspective for future studies in space psychology.Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Three dimensions of effective mission implementation

Mission statements are generally considered an important tool for strategy implementation. However, several authors have shown that there is a ‘hole’ in the mission theory, which in practice explains the inconsistency in mission statements in many companies because of the lack of motivation related to the mission. This article aims to bridge this gap by analysing the relationship between the mission of a company and its members' motivation. It entails an extension of the mission theory, in which three dimensions of mission development are analysed: formal, dynamic and motivational. On the basis of this framework, three forms of mission consistency are considered to explain the effectiveness of mission implementation: authenticity, coherence and integrity.

Autonomous safe landing-area determination for rotorcraft UAVs using multiple IR-UWB radars

In recent years, the important advances that have been made in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are being widely applied for civil purposes. However, several difficulties continue to exist in the implementation of missions, such as delivery and surveillance, in the private sector. Autonomous safe landing-area determination for small rotorcraft UAVs (RUAVs) is one of these unresolved issues, for the successful implementation of which adequate terrain information on the potential landing area is necessary. Previously, vision and light detection and ranging (LIDAR)-based methods were investigated for solving this problem. However, these light-based sensors have the disadvantage of being affected by weather or light conditions. The impulse radio ultra-wide band (IR-UWB) radar is a radar sensor with a wide frequency band that generates short-wavelength pulses. It has advantages such as light weight, small size, low power consumption, robustness to external environmental changes, and high range and distance resolutions. In this paper, we propose a novel safe landing-area determination system based on multiple IR-UWB radars, suitable for small RUAVs. Methods for detecting the ground and obstacles and estimating the ground slope and roughness values, based on the signals acquired by multiple IR-UWB radars are proposed. Through experiments, we demonstrate the feasibility and performance of the proposed method.

Design and implementation of a Cube satellite mission for Antarctic glacier and sea ice observation

The research for global climate changes calls for high quality satellite data and imageries regarding the Polar Regions. In recent years, the emerging Earth-Observation micro/nano satellite technology provides new data sources for polar region observations. The STU-2A, also named TW-1A, is such a nano satellite designed for polar region observation activities. It is a 3U CubeSat of 2.9 kg with a size of 30 × 10 × 10 cm carrying an Earth observation camera, launched into a Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO) at 481 km with an inclination of 97.3°, on September 25, 2015. During the Antarctic summer of 2015/16, it has acquired visible-light true color images with a resolution of 94 m, covering different sea and coastal regions including Amundsen Sea, Ross Sea and Vincennes Bay. These images were used to analyze the change of glacier and sea ice, compared and calibrated with reference to the publically available MODIS images with a resolution of 250 m. As the camera was specially designed for the Polar regions which have an environment of low solar elevation angle and high surface reflectance, it eliminates the oversaturation problem of the MODIS sensors and can provide high quality images. Based on data analysis and assessment, it is confirmed that this satellite data can meet the demand of glacier and sea ice observation. This paper presents the Cubesat system design and configuration, the payload camera design, and its application in Antarctic glacier and sea ice observation.

Ecological study for prioritization of districts of Odisha for swacch bharat mission implementation based on a new modified environmental sanitation index using census 2011 and AHS 2012 data

Background: Open defecation practices and contaminated drinking water are the two major sources of excreta-related infections. Swacch Bharat Mission (SBM) is a cleanliness campaign launched in India in 2014 for duration of five years. Primary Objectives: 1. Determine the effect of open defecation and drinking water sources on the incidence of diarrheal diseases in Odisha. 2. Categorisation of the districts according to a Modified Environmental Sanitation Index (M.E.S.I).Methods: Type of study: Ecological study. Study instrument: Secondary data collected from Census of India-2011 and Annual Health Survey report, 2012. A Modified E.S.I (M.E.S.I.) score was calculated for Odisha using ESI template developed by Balamurugan and Ravichandran. Statistical analyses were done using GNU PSPP Statistical Analysis Software Release 0.9.0. Results: According to the Census of India, 2,129,276 (22.04%) households in Odisha used latrines, including water closet and pit latrines. From the AHS-2012 data it was found that the overall incidence of diarrhea /dysentery in Odisha was 5.92 per 1000 population. Association with diarrheal disease incidence was estimated after classifying districts into 4 categories according to the use of latrines as <10%, 10-20%, 20-30% and >30%. The mean incidence of diarrheal diseases was lower in districts that had higher use of toilets. The variables from each broad category were classified into positive and negative indicators for ESI calculation and MESI score was calculated. Based on the M.E.S.I, the districts were ranked. Dhenkanal, Kandhamal, Nayagarh were ranked worst. Conclusions: Districts should be prioritized based on MESI score for effective SBM implementation.