Earth Through the Eyes of NAPA-1: Commissioning Results and the Next Steps in CubeSat Earth Observation

Disruptive CubeSat technology has brought scientific missions within reach that were previously only achievable through larger spacecraft. Satellite Earth Observation is now the new frontier for governments, private industry, and academia. With the recent launch of the Napa-1 satellite the Royal Thai Airforce (RTAF) has joined the ranks by having its first ever Earth Observation CubeSat in space. Its design, launch, early operations (LEOPS), and commissioning have been carried out by ISISpace, supporting the market’s need for imagery from space. Napa-1, meaning firmament in Thai, is a 6U CubeSat with the Gecko Imager from SCS Space as its primary payload, capable of taking RGB snapshot images with a 39-meter ground sampling distance (GSD) from 500 km altitude. In addition, the TriScape camera from Simera Sense flies onboard as an in-orbit technology demonstrator and is capable of delivering high-quality images with a GSD of 5 meter in the RGB bands. With well over 200 images taken by the primary payload this paper will look back on this exciting first period of Napa-1’s operational life and proudly present the very first images taken by the satellite and the lessons learnt throughout this turnkey mission. With that many images taken and that much data generated, the implemented onboard- and on ground data handling systems have been put to the test. ISISpace has made use of KUBOS’ Major Tom for command and control and having integrated a low-level processing tool, also for image data preview and delivery. Insight is provided into the systems and tools in place for image target planning, image acquisition, satellite command and control, and data delivery to the customer. How is it ensured targets are successfully captured? How is the usefulness of the image data efficiently validated? Subsequently, how is knowledge transfer to the customer accomplished to ensure successful routine operations? ISISpace will share the valuable lessons learnt from the mission planning, data handling, operations, and training points of view and show relevant in-orbit data on, for example, attitude behavior and temperature. In parallel, ISISpace has taken the next step in CubeSat Earth observation by using Napa-1 as a baseline while accommodating larger data streams and leveraging a higher level of automation. Together with the companies Simera Sense and Pinkmatter Solutions, multispectral images with automated on ground data processing (L0 up to L3) are to be delivered by the follow-up mission, Napa-2, to be launched in the summer of 2021. Details on this mission, including a further outlook at how CubeSat imagery and on ground processing will be shaped in the next few years will be provided

Meaning and definition:Skepticism and semantics in twelfth-century Arabic Philosophy

The theory of essential definitions is a fundamental anti-sceptic element of the Aristotelian-Avicennian epistemology. In this theory, when we distinguish the genus and the specific differentia of a given essence we thereby acquire a scientific understanding of it. The aim of this article is to analyse systematically the sceptical reasons, arguments and conclusions against real definitions of three major authorities of twelfth-century Arabic philosophy: Fahr al-Din al-Razi, Sihab al-Din al-Suhrawardi and Abu l-Barakat al-Badadi. I focus on showing how their refutation of our capacity to provide essential definitions of things is rooted in their semantic theory: we only know things under certain descriptions which are identical to the meanings of the words that we use to refer to them, yet these descriptions do not capture the essences of things in themselves. The best result one can achieve with Aristotelian-Avicennian scientific definitions is a "nominal definition". With this, Razi, Suhrawardi and Abu l-Barakat will put some serious epistemic limitations on our capacity to attain scientific knowledge of things, at least as Aristotle and Avicenna would have it

Early Infant Morbidity in the City of São Paulo, Brazil

BACKGROUND: Early infant morbidities may produce adverse outcomes in subsequent life. A low Apgar score is a convenient measure of early infant morbidity. We study determinants of early infant morbidity (sex, plurality, mode of delivery, prior losses, gestational age, prenatal care and birth weight, parity and maternal age, race, maternal education and community development) for the 1998-birth cohort, City of São Paulo, Brazil. METHODS: This study identified all deliveries that took place in the City of São Paulo during 1998. Information was extracted from 209,628 birth records. We used multivariate logistic regression to assess the effect of each independent variable on Apgar score less than seven at one minute and Apgar score less than seven at five minutes. RESULTS: Low birth weight, prematurity and community development were found to be strong predictors of morbidity. Maternal education showed strong negative correlation with both Apgar scores. The negative correlations between maternal schooling and Apgar scores were observed after prenatal care, parity and maternal age were included in the model. Unmeasured proximate factors may thus be the true source of disparity between educational groups. Children of very young adolescent mothers had lower Apgar scores at one minute (but not at five minutes) than those born to mothers 15 to 19. Parity one or higher was associated with decreased odds of low Apgar scores. Cesarean section and operative delivery were associated with higher odds of early infant morbidity. CONCLUSION: Education may allow mothers to have better care in the peripartum period. More educated mothers may be more likely to recognize certain morbidities through the pregnancy period and the monitoring of such morbidities yields better infant outcomes. Also, having less than seven prenatal care visits was found to predict early infant morbidity and one way to increase the use of such services is to focus on aspects of care that may lead to easier accessibility and continuity of prenatal care. Physicians should inform mothers about the risks associated with high number of children for a next infant and also about the risks for the infant associated with unnecessary cesarean sections. Special attention should be paid to adolescent mothers, since much of their increased risk is likely to be minimized by counseling

Determinants of vaccination after the Colombian health system reform

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of individual, household and healthcare system factors on poor children's use of vaccination after the reform of the Colombian health system. METHODS: A household survey was carried out in a random sample of insured poor population in Bogota, in 1999. The conceptual and analytical framework was based on the Andersen's Behavioral Model of Health Services Utilization. It considers two units of analysis for studying vaccination use and its determinants: the insured poor population, including the children and their families characteristics; and the health care system. Statistical analysis were carried out by chi-square test with 95% confidence intervals, multivariate regression models and Cronbach's alpha coefficient. RESULTS: The logistic regression analysis showed that vaccination use was related not only to population characteristics such as family size (OR=4.3), living area (OR=1.7), child's age (OR=0.7) and head-of-household's years of schooling (OR=0.5), but also strongly related to health care system features, such as having a regular health provider (OR=6.0) and information on providers' schedules and requirements for obtaining care services (OR=2.1). CONCLUSIONS: The low vaccination use and the relevant relationships to health care delivery systems characteristics show that there are barriers in the healthcare system, which should be assessed and eliminated. Non-availability of regular healthcare and deficient information to the population are factors that can limit service utilization