Marsis on-board software requirements for upgrade

The Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS) is an instrument for subsurface remote sensing of the Mars planet. Since its debut, many successful observations have been carried out. At this point of this fruitful mission, having acquired a good knowledge of the Mars environment, it is now necessary to improve the instrument science performances, mitigating some limitations of the on-board SW, that were required at the beginning of the mission, but which were proven to be excessive and above all limiting. The main purpose of this document is to define the requirements necessary to update the on-board SW, in order to add two new improved operative modes to the ones already in use. It is worth noting that, the existing operative modes will remain unchanged and can continue to be used after loading the updated SW. The first new operative mode (SSM) is related to the observation of Mars. It will be similar to the existing main dual channel sub surface mode (SS3). The processing for the first operative channel will remain unchanged, while calculations on the second channel will be modified to extract the most significant data from the full raw data set, discarding what is meaningless or providing poor scientific contribution. The new second operative mode (SSP), will be designed to optimize above all the observation of Phobos, which was not originally thought as a target for MARSIS, this means that a very complex on-board SW configuration is required, in order to force the radar to work properly even in this situation. Moreover, actual Phobos observation makes use of valuable SC resources for storing high quantity of useless data, that cannot be eliminated without modifications of MARSIS SW. The new operative mode will take care of removing these unnecessary data. It will also optimize adaptively the Receiver Gain during the flyby, thereby improving the dynamic range of the receiver of the recorded Science Data. At the same time data-rate on the SC OBDH bus will be strongly reduced, allowing the possibility for MARSIS, PFS and SPICAM to operate simultaneously

Mars Express Marsis phobos commanding architectures

Science objectives for the MARSIS experiment was defined more than 15 years ago in the context of the objectives of the Mars Express mission and in the more general frame of the open issues in the study of Mars at that time. The primary objective for MARSIS, was to map the distribution of water, both liquid and solid, in the upper portions of the crust of Mars. Secondary objectives defined for the MARSIS experiment included subsurface geologic probing and surface characterization of Mars. In order to achieve these ambitious scientific goals it was necessary to design an instrument with high computational capabilities, also to cope with some limitation imposed by the mission characteristics, such as the limited data-rate provided by the spacecraft and the limited available data volume. For these reasons, the on-board software is characterized by an high grade of flexibility that allow the possibility to modify the signal processing in order to face unpredictable issues arising during the mission. This capability was very useful when, after several years of Mars observation, Phobos became a scientific objective for MARSIS

Planetary uav geo-radar study

The purpose of this project is to consolidate the Italian scientific competence about the geophysical features and composition of planetary surfaces and sub-surfaces in the solar system bodies and Earth itself, with particular interest in the exploration and characterization of the buried ice deposits, where bacterial primitive live could still exist

Improvement of the Marsis on-board SW, on the Mars Express mission. Preliminary scientific results on Phobos and Mars

The Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS) is a powerful instrument for subsurface remote sensing of the Mars planet. Since the beginning of operations, about fifteen year ago, many successful observations have been carried out. At this point of this fruitful mission, having acquired a good knowledge of the Mars environment, it was decided to improve the instrument science performances, mitigating some technical limitations, that were required at the beginning of the mission, but which were proven to be excessive and, above all, limiting. The new on-board Software is now operative on the instrument and almost fully commissioned. Recently, it allowed to see beneath the surfaces of Mars and its moon Phobos in more detail than ever before

Improvement of the MARSIS On-Board SW, on the Mars Express Mission. Preliminary scientific results on Phobos and Mars

The Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ion-osphere Sounding (MARSIS). Since the beginning of mission, it has performed many successful observations. At this point of this fruitful mission, we decided to improve the instrument science perfor-mances, mitigating some technical limitations

COVID-19 Lockdown Impacts Among Patients with Cystic Fibrosis: An Italian Regional Reference Centre Experience

Coronavirus pandemic has influenced our society with social distancing and management of chronic disease such as cystic fibrosis (CF). During the Italian lockdown from March to May 2020, CF patients reduced the number of outpatient visits, limited social interactions and spent more time at home. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of the lockdown on body mass index (BMI) and lung function tests on CF patients.We retrospectively reviewed clinical data about 111 CF patients followed in our Regional Cystic Fibrosis Reference Centre (Policlinico Umberto I, Rome) according to two periods: pre-lockdown (from October 2019-March 2020) and post-lockdown (from May 2020-October 2020). We collected data on nutritional (BMI and body weight) and lung function status; we chose the best values of the 'pre-lockdown' and 'post-lockdown' period for each patient. Patients were divided into 3 groups according to FEV1 value (Forced Expiratory Volume in the 1st second): group 1 (FEV140%), group 2 (FEV1 40-70%), group 3 (FEV170%). All patients received a telephone interview asking for the number of hours per week devoted to physical activity, number of pulmonary acute exacerbations and subjective evaluation of adherence to medical therapy, respiratory physiotherapy and diet, during the two periods.Comparing weight, BMI and respiratory function between pre and post lockdown periods, we noticed an increase in weight during among overall patients. Male patients improved weight, BMI, FEF 25-75% (Forced Expiratory flow between 25% and 75% of vital capacity) and Tiffenau index more than female patients. The most severely compromised patients (group 1), showed a significant loss of both weight and BMI. Instead, patients with moderate respiratory function (group 2) showed a significant increase of both weight and BMI and a slightly reduced CVF (Forced Vital capacity). We found no differences among patients with good respiratory function (group 3). Comparing each clinical sub-groups, we noticed a significative improvement of weight (Lockdown period had benefit among CF patients in terms of weight in particular in male patient. The greatest benefit on nutritional state was observed in patients with moderate reduction of respiratory function. In addition, we noted a stabilization and sometimes a slight improvement of lung function, instead of a continuous and steady decline that is normally observed in CF patients. These beneficial effects are slight but significative, bearing in mind the general worsening that CF patients experience annually

Marsis The North Polar Cap Campaign

we have designed a special MARSIS on-board configuration, of the main operative parameters of the radar, in order to collect High Resolution Data and to improve the science investigation of the North Polar Deposits of Mars (Planum Boreum). This special configuration provided data of unprecedented quality that contributed to the reconstruction of the three-dimensional structure of the icy North Polar Layered Deposits and of the enigmatic Basal Unit beneath

How future surgery will benefit from SARS-COV-2-related measures: a SPIGC survey conveying the perspective of Italian surgeons

COVID-19 negatively affected surgical activity, but the potential benefits resulting from adopted measures remain unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the change in surgical activity and potential benefit from COVID-19 measures in perspective of Italian surgeons on behalf of SPIGC. A nationwide online survey on surgical practice before, during, and after COVID-19 pandemic was conducted in March-April 2022 (NCT:05323851). Effects of COVID-19 hospital-related measures on surgical patients' management and personal professional development across surgical specialties were explored. Data on demographics, pre-operative/peri-operative/post-operative management, and professional development were collected. Outcomes were matched with the corresponding volume. Four hundred and seventy-three respondents were included in final analysis across 14 surgical specialties. Since SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, application of telematic consultations (4.1% vs. 21.6%; p < 0.0001) and diagnostic evaluations (16.4% vs. 42.2%; p < 0.0001) increased. Elective surgical activities significantly reduced and surgeons opted more frequently for conservative management with a possible indication for elective (26.3% vs. 35.7%; p < 0.0001) or urgent (20.4% vs. 38.5%; p < 0.0001) surgery. All new COVID-related measures are perceived to be maintained in the future. Surgeons' personal education online increased from 12.6% (pre-COVID) to 86.6% (post-COVID; p < 0.0001). Online educational activities are considered a beneficial effect from COVID pandemic (56.4%). COVID-19 had a great impact on surgical specialties, with significant reduction of operation volume. However, some forced changes turned out to be benefits. Isolation measures pushed the use of telemedicine and telemetric devices for outpatient practice and favored communication for educational purposes and surgeon-patient/family communication. From the Italian surgeons' perspective, COVID-related measures will continue to influence future surgical clinical practice