Guatemala\u27s Remote Sensing CubeSat - Tools and Approaches to Increase the Probability of Mission Success

Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (UVG) is undertaking an undergraduate academic project with a mission to design, develop, and operate a CubeSat-class satellite to test a multispectral sensor prototype, opening the field of space science & technology in Guatemala, developing the country’s human capital, and enabling the independent acquisition of remote sensing data for natural resource management. Throughout the four-year span of this project’s design phase, more than 200 requirements, 70 risks, 220 controlled documents, 150 parts, 330 tasks, and 60 engineering drawings were monitored. Increasing the project complexity, it has to date included over 100 students and volunteers working at different points in time. To increase the odds of mission success, multiple tools and approaches were taken to manage the project’s multiple physical and document components, and are here described. These tools include a Requirement Compliance Matrix, Requirement Verification and Validation Matrix, Risk Matrix, Failure Mode and Effects Analyses, Document Control, Capacitor Control, Parts Control, Material Off-Gassing, Engineering Drawings Architecture and Control, N-Squared Diagram, Structural and Thermal Finite Element Analyses, and Assembly Procedure, to name a few. This manuscript describes what each of these tools entail, how they are used, and their results with respect to Quetzal 1, UVG’s student project

Functional biogeography of vertebrate scavengers drives carcass removal across biomes

Resumen del trabajo presentado en el XVI Congreso Nacional de la AEET 2023: la ecología en una biosfera humanizada, celebrado en Almería entre el 16 y el 20 de octubre de 2023.Vertebrate scavengers play a crucial role in food web stability and cycling of organic matter and nutrients. However, the global factors that influence their functional biogeography and impact on ecosystem functioning at regional and local levels remain poorly understood. We aim to address this challenge by analyzing a global dataset covering 49 regions in all inhabited continents, including information on 1,847 locally monitored carcasses and 204 vertebrate scavenger species along with their functional traits. We investigate the importance of biogeographical (spatial), environmental and anthropogenic factors in structuring vertebrate scavengers¿ functional trait composition, diversity and abundance. Additionally, we investigate how these biodiversity attributes affect carcass removal at regional and local scales. Our results show that the functional trait composition of assemblages across studied regions was primarily explained by latitude and lon¬gitude, suggesting a strong biogeographical signature. In addition, while functional richness remained unexplained, scavenger abundance responded to both environmental and spatial factors. Further, we found that carcass removal was mainly driven by functional composition, but with the relative importance of particular functional traits varying from local to regional scales. At the local scale, carcass removal was positively related to large carnivorous species with large home ranges, while at the regional scale, carcass removal was better explained by the presence of vultures, other raptors and diurnal birds. Our study provides a better understanding of the factors controlling the func¬tional biogeography of terrestrial vertebrates and their role in maintaining essential ecological functions and services.Peer reviewe

Medio ambiente, sociedad, ética, auditoría y educación: reflexiones desde la disciplina contable.

Los servicios y desarrollos tecnológicos en todos los sectores económicos, al igual que la actualidad social, educativa, ambiental y agropecuaria en el mundo, constituyen oportunidades para que los contadores públicos se alejen de los procesos netamente manuales, y se acerquen al desarrollo de actividades que agreguen mayor valor a las unidades económicas en las cuales se desempeñan profesionalmente; en consecuencia, la academia recibe en la misma dimensión retos importantes que conllevan revisar y actualizar constantemente los contenidos, medios y escenarios educativos, a través de los cuales se cumple con la misión de formar contadores públicos idóneos para la sociedad. El programa de Contaduría Pública de la Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios – UNIMINUTO, UVD, consiente de la responsabilidad que tiene al ser uno de los programas con mayor número de estudiantes actualmente en Colombia, ha cimentado a lo largo de sus primeros ocho años bases adecuadas y orientadas a constituir una comunidad académica reconocida por sus aportes alternativos a la profesión y a la industria contable en general. El libro Medio ambiente, sociedad, ética, auditoría y educación en su segunda versión es una muestra de cómo el III Encuentro Nacional y II Internacional de Investigación Contable UNIMINUTO UVD, llevado a cabo en Bogotá en Octubre del 2018, se convirtió en un espacio extraordinario en el que se reunieron representantes de los veintiún lugares de oferta del programa de Contaduría Pública UNIMINUTO UVD, para compartir los avances de los proyectos que se tejen diariamente en diferentes lugares del territorio nacional, y que hacen parte integral de las cuatro sublíneas de investigación que se desarrollan al interior del programa y que se visualizan claramente lo largo del presente libro

Medio ambiente, sociedad, ética, auditoría y educación: reflexiones desde la disciplina contable.

Los servicios y desarrollos tecnológicos en todos los sectores económicos, al igual que la actualidad social, educativa, ambiental y agropecuaria en el mundo, constituyen oportunidades para que los contadores públicos se alejen de los procesos netamente manuales, y se acerquen al desarrollo de actividades que agreguen mayor valor a las unidades económicas en las cuales se desempeñan profesionalmente; en consecuencia, la academia recibe en la misma dimensión retos importantes que conllevan revisar y actualizar constantemente los contenidos, medios y escenarios educativos, a través de los cuales se cumple con la misión de formar contadores públicos idóneos para la sociedad. El programa de Contaduría Pública de la Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios – UNIMINUTO, UVD, consiente de la responsabilidad que tiene al ser uno de los programas con mayor número de estudiantes actualmente en Colombia, ha cimentado a lo largo de sus primeros ocho años bases adecuadas y orientadas a constituir una comunidad académica reconocida por sus aportes alternativos a la profesión y a la industria contable en general. El libro Medio ambiente, sociedad, ética, auditoría y educación en su segunda versión es una muestra de cómo el III Encuentro Nacional y II Internacional de Investigación Contable UNIMINUTO UVD, llevado a cabo en Bogotá en Octubre del 2018, se convirtió en un espacio extraordinario en el que se reunieron representantes de los veintiún lugares de oferta del programa de Contaduría Pública UNIMINUTO UVD, para compartir los avances de los proyectos que se tejen diariamente en diferentes lugares del territorio nacional, y que hacen parte integral de las cuatro sublíneas de investigación que se desarrollan al interior del programa y que se visualizan claramente lo largo del presente libro

The Seventeenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys: Complete Release of MaNGA, MaStar and APOGEE-2 Data

This paper documents the seventeenth data release (DR17) from the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys; the fifth and final release from the fourth phase (SDSS-IV). DR17 contains the complete release of the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey, which reached its goal of surveying over 10,000 nearby galaxies. The complete release of the MaNGA Stellar Library (MaStar) accompanies this data, providing observations of almost 30,000 stars through the MaNGA instrument during bright time. DR17 also contains the complete release of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment 2 (APOGEE-2) survey which publicly releases infra-red spectra of over 650,000 stars. The main sample from the Extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS), as well as the sub-survey Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey (TDSS) data were fully released in DR16. New single-fiber optical spectroscopy released in DR17 is from the SPectroscipic IDentification of ERosita Survey (SPIDERS) sub-survey and the eBOSS-RM program. Along with the primary data sets, DR17 includes 25 new or updated Value Added Catalogs (VACs). This paper concludes the release of SDSS-IV survey data. SDSS continues into its fifth phase with observations already underway for the Milky Way Mapper (MWM), Local Volume Mapper (LVM) and Black Hole Mapper (BHM) surveys

Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV: mapping the Milky Way, nearby galaxies, and the distant universe

We describe the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV), a project encompassing three major spectroscopic programs. The Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment 2 (APOGEE-2) is observing hundreds of thousands of Milky Way stars at high resolution and high signal-to-noise ratios in the near-infrared. The Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey is obtaining spatially resolved spectroscopy for thousands of nearby galaxies (median ). The extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) is mapping the galaxy, quasar, and neutral gas distributions between and 3.5 to constrain cosmology using baryon acoustic oscillations, redshift space distortions, and the shape of the power spectrum. Within eBOSS, we are conducting two major subprograms: the SPectroscopic IDentification of eROSITA Sources (SPIDERS), investigating X-ray AGNs and galaxies in X-ray clusters, and the Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey (TDSS), obtaining spectra of variable sources. All programs use the 2.5 m Sloan Foundation Telescope at the Apache Point Observatory; observations there began in Summer 2014. APOGEE-2 also operates a second near-infrared spectrograph at the 2.5 m du Pont Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory, with observations beginning in early 2017. Observations at both facilities are scheduled to continue through 2020. In keeping with previous SDSS policy, SDSS-IV provides regularly scheduled public data releases; the first one, Data Release 13, was made available in 2016 July

Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV : mapping the Milky Way, nearby galaxies, and the distant universe

We describe the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV), a project encompassing three major spectroscopic programs. The Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment 2 (APOGEE-2) is observing hundreds of thousands of Milky Way stars at high resolution and high signal-to-noise ratios in the near-infrared. The Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey is obtaining spatially resolved spectroscopy for thousands of nearby galaxies (median z ~ 0.03). The extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) is mapping the galaxy, quasar, and neutral gas distributions between z ~ 0.6 and 3.5 to constrain cosmology using baryon acoustic oscillations, redshift space distortions, and the shape of the power spectrum. Within eBOSS, we are conducting two major subprograms: the SPectroscopic IDentification of eROSITA Sources (SPIDERS), investigating X-ray AGNs and galaxies in X-ray clusters, and the Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey (TDSS), obtaining spectra of variable sources. All programs use the 2.5 m Sloan Foundation Telescope at the Apache Point Observatory; observations there began in Summer 2014. APOGEE-2 also operates a second near-infrared spectrograph at the 2.5 m du Pont Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory, with observations beginning in early 2017. Observations at both facilities are scheduled to continue through 2020. In keeping with previous SDSS policy, SDSS-IV provides regularly scheduled public data releases; the first one, Data Release 13, was made available in 2016 July

Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV: Mapping the Milky Way, Nearby Galaxies, and the Distant Universe

We describe the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV), a project encompassing three major spectroscopic programs. The Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment 2 (APOGEE-2) is observing hundreds of thousands of Milky Way stars at high resolution and high signal-to-noise ratio in the near-infrared. The Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey is obtaining spatially-resolved spectroscopy for thousands of nearby galaxies (median redshift of z = 0.03). The extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) is mapping the galaxy, quasar, and neutral gas distributions between redshifts z = 0.6 and 3.5 to constrain cosmology using baryon acoustic oscillations, redshift space distortions, and the shape of the power spectrum. Within eBOSS, we are conducting two major subprograms: the SPectroscopic IDentification of eROSITA Sources (SPIDERS), investigating X-ray AGN and galaxies in X-ray clusters, and the Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey (TDSS), obtaining spectra of variable sources. All programs use the 2.5-meter Sloan Foundation Telescope at Apache Point Observatory; observations there began in Summer 2014. APOGEE-2 also operates a second near-infrared spectrograph at the 2.5-meter du Pont Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory, with observations beginning in early 2017. Observations at both facilities are scheduled to continue through 2020. In keeping with previous SDSS policy, SDSS-IV provides regularly scheduled public data releases; the first one, Data Release 13, was made available in July 2016

The Fourteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the Extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey and from the Second Phase of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment

The fourth generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV) has been in operation since 2014 July. This paper describes the second data release from this phase, and the 14th from SDSS overall (making this Data Release Fourteen or DR14). This release makes the data taken by SDSS-IV in its first two years of operation (2014–2016 July) public. Like all previous SDSS releases, DR14 is cumulative, including the most recent reductions and calibrations of all data taken by SDSS since the first phase began operations in 2000. New in DR14 is the first public release of data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey; the first data from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory (APO) Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE-2), including stellar parameter estimates from an innovative data-driven machine-learning algorithm known as "The Cannon"; and almost twice as many data cubes from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO (MaNGA) survey as were in the previous release (N = 2812 in total). This paper describes the location and format of the publicly available data from the SDSS-IV surveys. We provide references to the important technical papers describing how these data have been taken (both targeting and observation details) and processed for scientific use. The SDSS web site (www.sdss.org) has been updated for this release and provides links to data downloads, as well as tutorials and examples of data use. SDSS-IV is planning to continue to collect astronomical data until 2020 and will be followed by SDSS-V