A flexible CubeSat education platform combining software development and hardware engineering

While many secondary schools offer courses or extracurricular activities that focus on satellite engineering, e.g. CanSats or the assembly of ground stations, these projects usually stay close to ground. With SpaceTeamSat1, the TU Wien Space Team wants to enhance this approach and tackle the challenge to perform various experiments in space, enabling students to participate in a space mission that actually orbits our planet. Therefore, our goal is to develop a 1U CubeSat platform, which allows students at secondary schools to access a set of different sensors connected to a Raspberry Pi. Consequently, students can write their own software experiments in Python and exploit the possibilities of sensors in space. In this context, participation happens at different stages: For one, students are getting in contact with Python, which also allows an easy step into software engineering paradigms. Moreover, our team will pose some challenges, such as re-doing an earlier satellite mission and giving impressions about how CubeSats can be used, e.g. to combat climate change. To complete these challenges, the CubeSat is equipped with various sensors such as temperature sensors, gyrometers, magnetometers, as well as two cameras. Moreover, the participating students also have the possibility to design their own experiments independently to leave room for creativity. Further enhancing this educational mission, participating students are also invited to work on hardware topics. This is mainly aimed at engineering schools, which are encouraged to assemble Raspberry Pi HATs which contain the actual mission sensors, as well as a SatNOGS ground station, which also enables students to get an insight on satellite communication. It needs to be considered that the educational mission follows a modular setup since the combination of all individual tasks is not realizable within a single school year. Thus, schools are also able to individually select appropriate tasks. In the past we were already collaborating with the European Space Education Resource Office as we are acting as launch provider of CanSats for ESERO’s Austrian CanSat competition. In this sense, STS1 shall be an extension to the space educational program in Austria. Based on that, we believe that the STS1 mission has a high potential to bring something that is currently out of reach for most people, outer space, closer to a demographic with a lot of talent and enthusiasm for engineering and potential future engineer

Clinical outcome of elderly patients (>= 70 years) with esophageal cancer undergoing definitive or neoadjuvant radio(chemo)therapy: a retrospective single center analysis

Background: To analyse the outcome of elderly patients (>= 70 years) with esophageal cancer treated with curative intent radio(chemo)therapy. Methods: Fifty five patients (median 75 years) receiving curative intent radio(chemo)therapy for esophageal cancel from 1999 to 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. Most patients showed locally advanced disease (T3/4:78%, N+:58%) with squamous cell histology (74%). Charlson comorbidity score was > 1 in 27%. 48 patients (87%) received definitive treatment while 7 patients were treated neoadjuvantly. RT was carried out as 3D-conformal treatment or IMRT. Concurrent chemotherapy was applied in 85%, mainly cisplatin/5-FU or mitomycin/5-FU. (18)FDG-PET/CT staging was used in 65%. Results: Median follow-up was 11 months (1-68) and 21 months in survivors. 1- and 2-year rates of LRC, DC, FFTF and OS were 60%/45, 81%/72, 55%/41 and 46%/26% for the entire cohort. In univariate analysis, addition of surgery was associated with improved LRC and FFTF, nodal involvement with improved DC and lower T stage, lower Charlson score and use of PET-CT with improved OS. In multivariate analysis, lower T stage and lower Charlson score remained significant for OS. Patients treated after 2008 showed a significantly improved FFTF (1-year FFTF 64% vs 35%) and OS (1-year OS 66% vs 24%). Maximum (chemo)radiation related grade3+ toxicity was observed in 80% including 7 deaths (13%). Grade5 toxicity was significantly associated with Charlson score (CS > 1:33% vs CS <<= 1:5%) and treatment period (24% before vs 3% after 2008). The patients treated after 2008 included significantly more SCCs, less T4 stages, had a higher percentage of PET-CT staging and were treated with smaller field lengths. Trends were also observed for lower Charlson scores and increased use of IMRT. Conclusion: Curative intent (chemo)radiation of elderly patients with esophageal cancer may result in considerable toxicity and unfavorable outcome. However, a clear improvement over time was observed in our cohort, probably based on improved patient selection. In patients with less advanced stages and lower comoribidity similar results as in younger cohorts seem achievable with modern staging and treatment approaches. Age per se should not be a decisive factor, but careful attention should be paid regarding patient selection including a structured and tight follow-up strategy

SpaceTeamSat1 - Giving High-School Students a Hands-On Experience in Space Software Development

Educational Mission Enable high-school students to run software experiments on an educational payload (Raspberry Pi platform) Students will code their programs in Python Code will be sent to CubeSat via RF communication Code will run on educational payload Results will be downlinked and handed over to the students Students will be supported during the entire mission and receive a development kit for codin

Exorcising Grice’s ghost : an empirical approach to studying intentional communication in animals

Language’s intentional nature has been highlighted as a crucial feature distinguishing it from other communication systems. Specifically, language is often thought to depend on highly structured intentional action and mutual mindreading by a communicator and recipient. Whilst similar abilities in animals can shed light on the evolution of intentionality, they remain challenging to detect unambiguously. We revisit animal intentional communication and suggest that progress in identifying analogous capacities has been complicated by (i) the assumption that intentional (that is, voluntary) production of communicative acts requires mental-state attribution, and (ii) variation in approaches investigating communication across sensory modalities. To move forward, we argue that a framework fusing research across modalities and species is required. We structure intentional communication into a series of requirements, each of which can be operationalised, investigated empirically, and must be met for purposive, intentionally communicative acts to be demonstrated. Our unified approach helps elucidate the distribution of animal intentional communication and subsequently serves to clarify what is meant by attributions of intentional communication in animals and humans

Nanometer-Scale Ge-Based Adaptable Transistors Providing Programmable Negative Differential Resistance Enabling Multivalued Logic

International audienc