Visionary Concepts Research Articles

ROBOTONT – Open-source and ROS-supported omnidirectional mobile robot for education and research

In order to achieve visionary concepts such as Society 5.0 and Industry 5.0, there is a growing need for people who are able to create innovative robotic technologies. Training students to become such skilled professionals requires transitioning from often toy-like educational platforms with significant hardware limitations to costly research robots with full ROS (Robot Operating System) support. To aid in this transition, we propose Robotont – an open-source omnidirectional mobile robot platform with both physical hardware and a digital twin. Robotont enables robotics education with professional tools as well as provides researchers with a capable mobility platform for validating and demonstrating scientific results. Robotont has successfully been used for university teaching, professional education, and online courses about ROS and robotics.

Optically pumped wavelength-tunable lasing from a GaN beam cavity with an integrated Joule heater pivoted on Si

Dynamically tunable laser sources are highly promising for realizing visionary concepts of integrated photonic circuits and other applications. In this paper, a GaN-based laser with an integrated PN junction heater on Si is fabricated. The photoluminescence properties of the GaN beam cavity are controlled by temperature, and the Joule heater provides electrically driven regulation of temperature. These two features of the cavity make it possible to realize convenient tuning of the lasing properties. The multi-functional GaN beam cavity achieves optically pumped lasing with a single mode near 362.4 nm with a high Q-factor of 1394. The temperature of this device increases by 0–5 °C under the Joule heating effect. Then, electrical control of the lasing mode is demonstrated. The lasing resonant peak shows a continuous redshift of about 0.5 nm and the device also exhibits dynamic switching of its lasing mode. The lasing modulation can be ascribed to temperature-induced reduction of the bandgap. Our work may be of benefit for external optical modulation in future chip-based optoelectronic devices.

Immediate Needs and Systemic Solutions: Harnessing a Collective Crisis Response by Regional Philanthropy Alongside Systemic Change

On March 13, 2020, the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo invited the John R. Oishei Foundation, the Health Foundation for Western & Central New York, and United Way of Buffalo & Erie County to convene all funders in western New York to respond collectively to the impending COVID-19 crisis. Funding was raised swiftly and, using a racial equity lens, more than $14.2 million was granted in 18 months to more than 400 nonprofits of all sizes serving on the front lines in eight counties. While emergency funding was the first priority for the collective group of more than 60 foundations, the magnitude of the response found the participants answering an important question in May 2020: How do we use this moment and this unprecedented collaboration to innovate and strengthen the region’s ability to face the future? We quickly launched proactive systems-change initiatives to address public policy and develop a robust regional food system. To surface additional collaborative solutions, we issued a “request for ideas” to seek out visionary concepts from nonprofit leaders that were collaborative, included multiple sectors, and addressed persistent challenges by centering race and lived experience. After an overwhelming response, grants were awarded to develop concepts in housing and homelessness, health equity, education, arts and culture, substance use disorders, criminal justice, digital literacy, and refugee services. This transformational work continues with implementation funding for the majority of the plans, which were selected with community input.

On formal ethics versus inclusive moral deliberation

In this article, I will advocate caution against a formalization of ethics by showing that it may produce and perpetuate unjustified power imbalances, disadvantaging those without a proper command of the formalisms, and those not in a position to decide on the formalisms’ use. My focus rests mostly on ethics formalized for the purpose of implementing ethical evaluations in computer science–artificial intelligence, in particular—but partly also extends to the project of applying mathematical rigor to moral argumentation with no direct intention to automate moral deliberation. Formal ethics of the latter kind can, however, also be seen as a facilitator of automated ethical evaluation. I will argue that either form of formal ethics presents an obstacle to inclusive and fair processes for arriving at a society-wide moral consensus. This impediment to inclusive moral deliberation may prevent a significant portion of society from acquiring a deeper understanding of moral issues. However, I will defend the view that such understanding supports genuine and sustained moral progress. From this, it follows that formal ethics is not per se supportive of moral progress. I will illustrate these arguments by practical examples of manifest asymmetric relationships of power primarily from the domain of autonomous vehicles as well as on more visionary concepts, such as artificial moral advisors. As a result, I will show that in these particular proposed use-cases of formal ethics, machine ethics risks to run contrary to their proponents’ proclaimed promises of increasing the rigor of moral deliberation and even improving human morality on the whole. Instead, I will propose that inclusive discourse about automating ethical evaluations, e.g., in autonomous vehicles, should be conducted with unrelenting transparency about the limitations of implementations of ethics. As an outlook, I will briefly discuss uses formal ethics that are more likely to avoid discrepancies between the ideal of inclusion and the challenge from power asymmetries.Please check and confirm that the authors and their respective affiliations have been correctly identified and amend if necessary.I confirm.Author names: Please confirm if the author names are presented accurately and in the correct sequence (given name, middle name/initial, family name). I confirm. Kindly check and confirm the country name for the affiliation [1] is correct.I confirm.

THE ROLE OF THE FUTUROLOGICAL CONCEPTS OF THE XX CENTURY IN THE SPATIAL ORGANIZATION OF MODULAR ARCHITECTURAL OBJECTS IN THE AQUATIC ENVIRONMENT

The aim of the research is identifying the role of the futurological theories of the XX century in the mod-ern design of modular structures in the water environment. The leading research approach is based on the analysis of the principles of habitat organization from the point of view of the main visionary concepts of the XX century, which developed the idea of life on the water in the future, such as: architectural "metabolism", "mobile" architecture, arсology, architectural biomimetics and bionics. The approaches outlined in the framework of the futurological concepts of the last century include modularity, interchangeability of struc-tural elements, adaptation to changes in climatic conditions, application of the principles of growth and ag-gregation in natural systems to the architecture. The revealed approaches have been elaborated in the contemporary architectural concepts devoted to the development of the extreme water environment. Based on the analysis of implemented and conceptual pro-jects of the floating structures on the water, the types of spatial organization of modules are identified: line-ar, continuous, multiple, arbitrary, centralized. A graphical diagram illustrating the mechanism of aggrega-tion of modules for each type is made. These typologies can be applied in further design and experimental developments and theoretical studies in the field of biosphere-compatible architecture in the context of the aquatic environment.

Dynamical Tuning of Nanowire Lasing Spectra.

Realizing visionary concepts of integrated photonic circuits, nanospectroscopy, and nanosensing will tremendously benefit from dynamically tunable coherent light sources with lateral dimensions on the subwavelength scale. Therefore, we demonstrate an individual nanowire laser based device which can be gradually tuned by reversible length changes of the nanowire such that uniaxial tensile stress is applied to the respective semiconductor gain material. By straining the device, the spontaneous excitonic emission of the nanowire shifts to lower energies caused by the bandgap reduction of the semiconductor. Moreover, the optical gain spectrum of the nanolaser can be precisely strain-tuned in the high excitation regime. The tuning of the emission does not affect the laser threshold of the device, which is very beneficial for practical applications. The applied length change furthermore adjusts the laser resonances inducing a redshift of the longitudinal modes. Thus, this concept of gradually and dynamically tunable nanolasers enables controlling and modulating the coherent emission on the nanoscale without changing macroscopic ambient conditions. This concept holds therefore huge impact on nanophotonic switches and photonic circuit technology.

Research Notes. Learning from Shabolovka

Urbanism is about research, experimentation, and dialogue. It is the art of posing the right questions about the urban environment, and the science of making the tools to discover relevant answers. The mindset underpinning practical urbanism is no longer dominated by intentions, professional intuition, and visionary concepts alone: Prior to the actual design and planning work, urban designers must now conduct thorough contextual research and intensive quests for analytical insights. These developments in the field of urbanism provide a fundamental basis for the two-year Advanced Urban Design Master’s program, developed by the Higher School of Economics Graduate School of Urbanism and the Strelka Institute. For this reason, Anastasia Smirnova, the academic supervisor of our program, and Theo Doitinger, founder of TD Architects, created the “Learning from Shabolovka” workshop. It focused on contextual analyses of Shabolovka Street in central Moscow, the hub of one of HSE’s busiest campuses.The structure of this four-week workshop had several focuses: conceptualizing and posing inquiry questions, field research, data creation/collection, and finally, the presentation of its findings. Intensive field research of Shabolovka Street was essential for the workshop, as it was the main source of overall research data. Surveys and analyses of doors facing the street, the density of outdoor and indoor lighting, and the ways that coffee-to-go is purchased on the street represent new types of urban data and “urban devices” of a high explanatory power. The collection of this data alone, even without the subsequent research, represents the extraordinary value added by this group of workshop participants. The abstracts below summarize the workshop’s main findings by six groups of bright and talented students, each with its own research story and amazing results. Read and enjoy.

(Experimenting with) Living Architecture: a practice perspective

Energy from depleting fossil fuels consumed in the construction and operation of buildings accounts for approximately half of the UK's emissions of carbon dioxide. With global warming increasing, amplifying extreme weather conditions and frequency, buildings can no longer remain static and unresponsive to their surrounding environment. Architecture must become adaptive, reactive to changes in climate, and reducing CO2, not generating it.As a tree responds to and moderates its surrounding environment, nature can become a key inspiration in developing mechanisms to reduce the impact of climate change and resource depletion. At Astudio, our research looks to incorporate fundamental processes in living and natural systems in the architectural design of responsive surfaces and building services. A form of synthetic biology, these ‘bio-responsive’ designs combine both biological and technical systems, which adapt to, and harvest from, the immediate climatic environment. This paper will demonstrate the potential of synthetic biology in improving the resilience of our built environment, documented through our practice research and our collaborations with industry and academic institutions to date.Astudio are world-class architects focused on reducing our buildings’ impact on the environment. Our courage in the pursuit new ways to reduce carbon and change behaviors gained us the coveted title of Architectural Practice of the Year in 2012. This unprecedented achievement led us to establish our research and development group, whose role is to investigate new ways of seeing and thinking about the challenges we face in the industry. With this group, we explore visionary concepts that enable us to consider how we may cross boundaries taking us out of architecture and work with different fields of expertise that can help us solve sustainable construction in new ways. We look to the future to propose buildable solutions today.

Fasano, P.Transforming Health Care: The Financial Impact of Technology, Electronic Tools, and Data Mining, Oxford: John Wiley & Sons. 2013. 209pp. £41.36. ISBN 978–1‐118–35000–3 (hbk)

Fasano, P.Transforming Health Care: The Financial Impact of Technology, Electronic Tools, and Data Mining, Oxford: John Wiley & Sons. 2013. 209pp. £41.36. ISBN 978–1‐118–35000–3 (hbk)

IDEALS OF CITY PLANING IN THE SOVIET PERIOD / SOVIETINIO PERIODO MIESTŲ PLANAVIMO IDEALAI

The text is focused on ideals and values hidden under the Soviet period city planning. Soviet urban planning visions of the first half of the 20th century were balancing between naive fiction and visionary concepts. Of course, the industrial building methods and functionalist city models were present not only in the Soviet Union, but in this country especially they were transformed and adapted to the specific political and social situation. Economic aspects dominated the city planning of the Soviet era, but transformations of cities on such a scale were impossible without utopian thought. Visions by soviet architects and planners have already become a part of the legend of mass housing, still not properly discussed. Article in Lithuanian. Santrauka Tekste žvelgiama į idealus bei vertybes, kadaise slypėjusias už sovietinio periodo miestų planavimo. Drąsios ateities miestų vizijos, balansuojančios ant naivios fikcijos ir vizionieriško mąstymo ribos, darė įtaką socialistinio planavimo praktikai. Nors industriniai statybos metodai ir funkcionalistinis miesto modelis nėra tik Sovietų Sąjungai būdingas reiškinys, tačiau čia jis buvo transformuotas ir pritaikytas konkrečiai politinei ir socialinei situacijai. Nepaisant ekonominių ir praktinių aspektų dominavimo statybos procesuose, stambaus masto miestų transformacijos nebuvo galimos nepasitelkus utopinio mąstymo. Sovietinių architektų ir planuotojų vizijos yra masinės statybos legendos dalis, apie kurią nėra pakankamai kalbama.

The Alternating Evolution of DC Power Transmission [Historical

After more than one century of evolution of alternating current (ac) and thanks to the competitive costs of alternators and transformers, today a great majority of electricity is produced, transmitted, and distributed worldwide by means of ac polyphase systems [1], [2]. Nevertheless, about 200 high-voltage direct current (HVDC) systems are spread over the world to provide services where they are more convenient than ac systems. Moreover, the number of direct current (dc) systems is increasing, primarily due to the expansion of intermitted renewable energy sources and the inherent need to provide them with storage capabilities and, secondly, because of the enhanced competitiveness of solid-state converters. These two aspects can merge to form visionary concepts such as the energy hub, which fosters medium-voltage direct current transmission.

Framework for Low Carbon Precinct Design from a Zero Waste Approach

The consumption-driven society today produces an enormous amount of waste, which puts pressures on land, pollutes the environment and creates economic burden. ‘Zero waste’ concept, a whole system approach aiming to achieve no waste along the materials flow through society, hasbecome one of the most visionary concepts for tackling growing waste problems. System Dynamics (SD) approach is applied in the proposed framework for designing the waste management in a zero waste residential precinct. A cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is incorporated to supplement the SD framework to evaluate the total cost and benefit of waste and resources throughout the material flow chain. The authors proposed a list of parameters under the categories of process, technology and infrastructure, socio-economic and institutional, social- environment, to be tested in future case study of Bowden village, SA, Australia. The framework provides an inventory of leverage points that helps policy-makers design waste policies and allocate resources effectively, with minimum environmental impact and optimum social benefits. It also helps planning professionals and business stakeholders better understand the costs and benefits of different scenarios for achieving a zero waste residential precinct.

The role of future-oriented technology analysis in the governance of emerging technologies: The example of nanotechnology

This paper analyzes the role that different types of future-oriented technology analysis (FTA) have played in the development of nanotechnology governance. In the US, FTA has been used to create visionary concepts and to promote cooperation between and among agencies, departments of the federal government, academia, and stakeholders. In Germany FTA has mainly been used to shape and define research and innovation agendas of established science–industry networks. The aim of the paper is to show what problems/challenges with regard to the innovation system have been addressed and what main actors have been involved, from the first monitoring and forecasting studies on nanotechnology to the establishment of national nanotechnology programs and continuing on until today. The paper offers a comparative analysis of the use and role of FTA where the focus is not on individual activities, but rather on the longer-term interplay between the organizational settings in both countries and the future-oriented nanotechnology analysis.In countries such as the US and Germany, where FTA on nanotechnology were already underway in the late 1980s, the early stages of FTA relied on expert-based methods such as technology intelligence and technology forecasting to define the field and to explore what could happen in general. Participatory formats such as dialogues on ethical, legal and social aspects (ELSA) became more important only later on. Especially the inter-organizational setting can be considered a crucial condition for maximizing the impact that participatory FTA can have in the future governance of nanotechnology.

Synovitis - an inflammation of joints destroying the bone.

This article is to share some of the key scientific insights made by Dr Barry Bresnihan in rheumatoid arthritis. Dr Bresnihan elaborated new and visionary concepts in arthritis research, which still influence current thinking. He had been particularly dedicated to investigate the inflammatory tissue (synovitis) in RA, which he considered as a clue to understand the pathogenesis of this disease. He thereby pioneered the concept of synovial biopsy as a technique, which allows to directly analyse synovitis and has stimulated many other rheumatologists in joining his efforts. He was also dedicated to understand why synovitis triggers bone destruction in joints and started to work on defining the molecular interactions between inflammation and the bone. This article picks up some of the major insights achieved by Dr Bresnihan's work and how these findings influenced today's understanding of arthritis.

Visions Olympics European Student Competitions on Visionary Concepts for Vessels and Floating Structures for the Future

VISIONS and VISIONS–OLYMPICS are European projects funded by the European Commission that aim to increase the European competitive advantage by tapping into the unspoiled/unbiased creative minds of the young generation. The main objectives are to offer out of the box concepts and ideas for the future of European maritime transport and develop these ideas within an environment where purpose driven innovation is cultivated and performed in a risk free environment. The objectives include building bridges and enhancing coordination between EU research networks and strengthen the partnership between research Universities and industry. The network also enhances the skills of future employees in a highly competitive environment and offers targeted dissemination to industry. The paper offers an overview on the results of the student competition which was an integral part of both projects for the past 5 years and demonstrates how the new generation of Engineers and Naval Architects with the support of the European Commission may have inspired the industry in adopting visionary concepts for future vessels and floating structures.

Photon Management Structures Originated by Interference Lithography

Abstract Since micro- and nanostructures for photon management are of increasing importance in novel high efficiency solar cell concepts, structuring techniques with up-scaling potential play a key role for the realization of these concepts. Interference lithography is reviewed as a technology for the origination of fine-tailored two and three dimensional photonic structures on large areas. With the interference pattern of two or more coherent waves, a wide variety of structures can be generated on areas of up to 1.2 x 1.2 m 2 . In combination with subsequent microreplication steps, the industrially feasible production of elaborate structures is possible. After the review of the basic technology, three novel application examples are presented: (1) honeycomb structures for the front side texturization via nanoimprint lithography, (2) diffractive back side gratings for absorption enhancement in the spectral region near the band gap of silicon, and (3) three dimensional photonic crystals as elements for visionary solar cell concepts including advanced light trapping schemes and luminescent processes.

Toward integrated management of cerebral aneurysms

In the last few years, some of the visionary concepts behind the virtual physiological human began to be demonstrated on various clinical domains, showing great promise for improving healthcare management. In the current work, we provide an overview of image- and biomechanics-based techniques that, when put together, provide a patient-specific pipeline for the management of intracranial aneurysms. The derivation and subsequent integration of morphological, morphodynamic, haemodynamic and structural analyses allow us to extract patient-specific models and information from which diagnostic and prognostic descriptors can be obtained. Linking such new indices with relevant clinical events should bring new insights into the processes behind aneurysm genesis, growth and rupture. The development of techniques for modelling endovascular devices such as stents and coils allows the evaluation of alternative treatment scenarios before the intervention takes place and could also contribute to the understanding and improved design of more effective devices. A key element to facilitate the clinical take-up of all these developments is their comprehensive validation. Although a number of previously published results have shown the accuracy and robustness of individual components, further efforts should be directed to demonstrate the diagnostic and prognostic efficacy of these advanced tools through large-scale clinical trials.

Delivering fast and capable missions to the outer solar system

Concepts for science missions to the outer solar system and beyond traditionally suffer from the multiple burdens of long trips times, power starved payloads and a severe communications bottleneck for data returns. This paper will consider the use of solar sail propulsion to address some, or even all of these issues in the mid to far-term. By using a short inner-loop about the Sun, solar sails can quickly accelerate payloads to cruise speeds of greater than 10 AU per year from Earth escape, with a sail payload mass fraction of order 50% or more. The technology required for such solar sails is currently under development and there is a clear pathway from current plans for near-term technology demonstration missions to these fast trips to the outer solar system. Looking further ahead, technologies can be envisaged where the solar sail is used as a multi-functional system to provide propulsion, power collection and telecommunications. With sustained development, current ideas for embedding smart actuators and sensors in the sail structure may enable solar sails with variable morphology which can be configured as a solar concentrator for power generation and a large antenna for high-bandwidth data returns. These visionary concepts will be explored and a roadmap drawn up which will deliver fast and capable missions to the outer solar system and beyond.

Baltic Sea regionalism, EU geopolitics and symbolic geographies of co-operation

This paper situates an emerging Baltic Sea regionalism within the larger geopolitical context of European integration and enlargement and focuses on the role of spatial planning and regional development policies. Increasingly, symbolic geographies and visionary planning concepts are being employed to support a notion of Baltic regional community while promoting broader “Europeanization”. Through generating positive visions of what regional co-operation can achieve, symbolic planning could be contributing to effective social, economic and environmental agenda-setting in the Baltic Sea Region. However, questions remain as to the accessibility of planning processes and imbalances between planning goals and resources available to realize them.

Signaling and gene expression in the neuron–glia unit during brain function and dysfunction: Holger Hydén in memoriam

Holger Hydén demonstrated almost 40 years ago that learning changes the base composition of nuclear RNA, i.e. induces an alteration in gene expression. An equally revolutionary observation at that time was that a base change occurred in both neurons and glia. From these findings, Holger Hydén concluded that establishment of memory is correlated with protein synthesis, and he demonstrated de novo synthesis of several high-molecular protein species after learning. Moreover, the protein, S-100, which is mainly found in glial cells, was increased during learning, and antibodies towards this protein inhibited memory consolidation. S-100 belongs to a family of Ca 2+-binding proteins, and Holger Hydén at an early point realized the huge importance of Ca 2+ in brain function. He established that glial cells show more marked and earlier changes in RNA composition in Parkinson's disease than neurons. Holger Hydén also had the vision and courage to suggest that “mental diseases could as well be thought to depend upon a disturbance of processes in glia cells as in the nerve cells”, and he showed that antidepressant drugs cause profound changes in glial RNA. The importance of Holger Hydén's findings and visions can only now be fully appreciated. His visionary concepts of the involvement of glia in neurological and mental illness, of learning being associated with changes in gene expression, and of the functional importance of Ca 2+-binding proteins and Ca 2+ are presently being confirmed and expanded by others. This review briefly summarizes highlights of Holger Hydén's work in these areas, followed by a discussion of recent research, confirming his findings and expanding his visions. This includes strong evidence that glial dysfunction is involved in the development of Parkinson's disease, that drugs effective in mood disorders alter gene expression and exert profound effects on astrocytes, and that neuronal–astrocytic interactions in glutamate signaling, NO synthesis, Ca 2+ signaling, β-adrenergic activity, second messenger production, protein kinase activities, and transcription factor phosphorylation control the highly programmed events that carry the memory trace through the initial, signal-mediated short-term and intermediate memory stages to protein synthesis-dependent long-term memory.