Austrian Institute of Technology

The EU Policy Lab is experimenting with speculative design as a tool to support innovative policy making. The context and process of the experiment are described including some of its preliminary results. The futures artefacts clearly support futures literacy and co-creation processes, both with citizens as well as policymakers. At the same time more opportunities can be explored reaching deliberative democracy and concrete outcomes in the policy creation process.

Enhancing the deformation behavior of a-ß titanium at intermediate temperatures is essential for reducing cost and energy consumption in forming processes for aerospace components. This study demonstrates how a patented pre-heating procedure at temperatures around 800°C significantly improves the formability of a-ß titanium sheets below 500°C. By varying the pre-heating temperature and cooling conditions, substantial modifications in strain hardening behavior were achieved, leading to increased elongation and/or tensile strength. These improvements enabled the successful deep drawing of elongated cups with a 250-ton servo-hydraulic press below 500°C, allowing for the use of cost-effective tooling materials. Further process optimization enhanced drawing depth and speed while simplifying the sheet surface preparation. Our findings underscore the potential for developing cost-effective production methods for thin-walled titanium components through intermediate-temperature deep drawing, offering an attractive alternative to SPF.

Depressive disorders result from complex interactions among genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors. DNA methylation, a key epigenetic mechanism, is crucial in understanding depressive symptoms development. The serotonin transporter gene ( 5-HTT ) and its polymorphisms, like 5-HTTLPR , have been extensively studied in relation to depression, yet conflicting findings regarding the association between 5-HTT promoter methylation and depressive symptoms persist, largely due to methodological differences. Thus, this systematic review and meta-analysis aims to assess (1) 5-HTT promoter methylation levels between depressed and non-depressed conditions and (2) the association between 5-HTT methylation and depressive symptoms severity. We searched PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science from inception to January 15th, 2025 (PROSPERO: CRD42023355414) and performed two independent multi-level meta-analyses to answer our aims. Twenty-four trials were included in the systematic review. All reported effects carried potential for bias. The meta-analysis for depression occurrence (12 studies - 2028 subjects – 127 effects) indicated no significant effect (Hedges’g = 0.06) with moderate within- and low between-study heterogeneity. The depression severity analysis (14 studies - 2296 subjects - 116 effects) revealed a null effect size (Fisher’s Z = 0.05), with no within- and moderate between-study heterogeneity. Asymmetry was detected for both meta-analyses. Moderator analyses demonstrated no significant effects of depression severity, methylation techniques, single-CpG sites, cell types assessed, age, and female percentage. This comprehensive review provides insights into the intricate interplay between 5-HTT promoter methylation and depressive symptoms. Furthermore, it offers well-considered recommendations for future research endeavors and delineates guidelines for reporting methylation research.

Tin (IV) sulfide (SnS2) is a promising anode material for Li‐ion batteries (LIBs) due to its high practical reversible capacity of 623 mAhg⁻¹. However, its cycling stability is relatively poor and its long‐term degradation during cycling is not yet thoroughly investigated. In this work, a post‐mortem analysis of SnS2 electrodes was performed at pristine state, after the 1st cycle and at 80 % state‐of‐health. The analysis compared water‐based (Na‐CMC/SBR) and NMP‐based (PVDF) electrodes revealing insights into their degradation mechanisms and electrochemical performance. During the first cycle, SnS2 converts into Sn and Li2S identified by XRD, causing particle cracking and exfoliation. XPS and Raman spectroscopy identified Sn, SnFx, LiF, Li2S and carbonates species forming the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI), while in‐situ dilatometry revealed up to 60 % irreversible expansion after the first cycle. These species are also found after at 80 % SOH along with an increase in fluorine species, SEI thickness and interfacial resistance. Water‐based electrodes exhibited better cycling stability, with 80 wt.% SnS2 and 10 wt.% binder retaining 80 % capacity after 180+ cycles. These findings underscore the critical role of binder choice and processing in enhancing SnS2 anodes’ durability and capacity retention, paving the way for sustainable, high‐performance LIB anodes.

Prolonging one’s ability to drive is a significant component of aging in place and personal autonomy. However, highly prevalent neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia among older people undermine the safety associated with driving and inevitably lead to their premature cessation of driving. This scoping review, based on PRISMA guidelines, extracted data from 40 research studies to highlight the on-road risks associated with driving with dementia or cognitive impairment. We identified 22 distinct risks, with speed compliance, navigation, lane adherence, turning, and stopping as the most reported risks in the identified studies. The study linked these risks to key cognitive domains and mapped out the scope of emerging driving technologies (semi-autonomous, autonomous, and aftermarket products) to address or mitigate the risks. The findings underscore the need to apply or create a framework for the design and development of inclusive driving interfaces to accommodate aging-related cognitive deficits.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a major form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) characterised by chronic immune-mediated inflammation. While serological biomarkers for IBD diagnosis and differentiation have been explored, autoantibody-based profiling remains underdeveloped. This study aimed to elucidate antibody signatures in manifested and pre-diagnostic UC patients compared to controls using a high-content protein microarray. Serum and plasma samples from manifested and pre-diagnostic UC cohorts were analysed using AIT’s 16k protein microarray, presenting 6369 human proteins. The pre-diagnostic cohort, consisting of 33 UC cases and 33 controls, included longitudinal samples collected before diagnosis, while the severe UC cohort, comprising 49 severe UC patients and 23 controls, included individuals undergoing treatment. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) autoantibody reactivity was assessed to identify differentially reactive antigens (DIRAGs) linked to UC onset, disease progression, and activity. In manifested UC, 691 DIRAGs showed higher reactivity in cases. In the pre-diagnostic cohort, 966 DIRAGs were identified, with 803 antigens exhibiting increased reactivity in cases. Longitudinal analysis revealed 1371 DIRAGs, with 1185 showing increased reactivity closer to diagnosis when comparing samples collected 4–11 months before UC diagnosis to earlier time points 9–24 months prior, highlighting potential early biomarkers. A significant overlap of 286 antigens, corresponding to 41 percent of identified DIRAGs, was observed between severe and pre-diagnostic UC datasets, with an odds ratio of 3.8 and a p-value below 2.2 × 10⁻¹⁶, confirming reliability and biological relevance. Additionally, 21 antigens correlated with simple clinical colitis activity index (SCCAI) scores. Reactome pathway analysis identified 49 pathways associated with DIRAGs in pre-diagnostic UC, distinct from 24 pathways in manifested UC, with an overlap of five key pathways related to protein folding, immune regulation, and viral infection, reflecting differences in disease onset and manifestation. Autoantibody profiling reveals early immune signatures in UC, offering novel biomarkers for preclinical diagnosis and disease monitoring. The overlap between pre-diagnostic and manifested UC antigenic profiles reinforces their biological relevance, linking them to molecular pathology. These findings highlight antibody profiling as an additional omics layer, paving the way for new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies in UC management.

Technology use is always gendered: ideas about a person’s abilities shape their approach to technologies and thus their digital agency. Yet, approaches towards fostering digital agency often focus only on competencies, falling short of accounting for the relationality and situatedness of agency. Based on a survey with 411 persons, we assessed gendered stereotype threat and agency-related experiences. We designed a workshop concept for providing spaces for agency exploration. We developed roles that address various gender-related stereotypes and embedded the workshop in a playful sci-fi setting. Through participant observations and group interviews, we analysed its potential. Our results show the relevance of understanding gendered notions and the need for a nuanced understanding of digital agency beyond dualistic thinking. Addressing stereotypes in digital agency must acknowledge the sociality and relationality of gender. Moreover, gendered aspects of identity can even serve as a basis for playful agency enactment and exploration, particularly through making.

In the rapidly evolving global landscape of renewable energy sources, there is an increasing demand for high‐energy‐density rechargeable batteries essential for energy storage. Simultaneously, there is a growing emphasis on developing high‐stability electrolytes. The concepts of high concentration electrolytes (HCEs) and localized high concentration electrolytes (LHCEs) have emerged, with notable progress achieved by altering cation‐solvent and cation–anion solvation coordination environments. However, challenges persist, including high costs and low ionic conductivity. A recent development is the introduction of the weakly solvating electrolyte (WSE), which offers a new perspective on the design of stable electrolytes at conventional or low concentrations. This approach enables high‐performance rechargeable batteries by modulating the coordination structure of electrolytes to generate a unique anion‐driven interphase reaction chemistry. This review outlines the design principles of WSEs and their operating mechanisms when applied to rechargeable lithium and post‐lithium batteries. An outlook is also presented on the future research directions of WSE, coupled with an analysis of the technological challenges.

Background: Efficient appointment management is crucial in daycare units for eating disorders, where multidisciplinary teams coordinate various therapeutic sessions. Objectives: Establishing FHIR appointment management enhances scheduling efficiency, ensuring seamless communication between healthcare providers while enabling real-time updates for rescheduling and cancellations. Methods: By integrating FHIR appointment management in a digital health solution, the system supports comprehensive tracking of a client's treatment journey and allows for real-time scheduling an adapting in daycare for both the care team and the clients. Results: A mobile phone app and data management system approach was implemented and piloted in a daycare for eating disorders. Additionally, an information system success model survey was conducted to discover further improvement potential. Conclusion: FHIR appointment management enhances the existing telehealth platform while actively incorporating clients in their therapy and guaranteeing efficient program operation in daycare.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a prevalent cardiac arrhythmia associated with severe complications such as ischemic stroke and heart failure. Early detection is essential for timely intervention; however, traditional diagnostic methods often lack scalability and accessibility. This project explores the use of photoplethysmography (PPG) signals recorded via smartphone applications to develop a predictive neural network model for AF detection. Data collection involved student participants using a smartphone app, supplemented with curated open-source datasets to enhance generalizability. A multilayer perceptron (MLP) was designed and trained using TensorFlow, with model performance evaluated based on accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and F1-score. The initial model achieved an accuracy of approximately 75%, indicating the potential of PPG-based AF detection. Optimization efforts continue, focusing on improving predictive accuracy and minimizing false positives. Future research will refine the model architecture, validate it on larger datasets, and integrate findings into scalable digital health initiatives, such as the Austrian Digital Heart Program, supported by the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT).

The secondary use of healthcare data can play a crucial role in enhancing health care systems, patient care, and clinical research; however, it is challenged by privacy, governance and regulatory challenges. The aim of the Smart FOX project is to address these challenges to facilitate citizen-driven donation of ELGA (Austria Electronic Health Records) - standardized. The project consortium comprises stakeholders across several healthcare-related areas developing concepts and architectures for patient/citizen driven data-donation. This paper specifically introduces two distinct services for recruiting patients and citizens to enable secondary data use within the project. Service A, a researcher-focused service integrated in the hospital information system, within the Smart FOX project focuses on two primary use cases: enabling the study of new trial cohorts for data consumers (e.g., CROs), and contacting data donors (e.g., citizens) for trial recruitment. Service B, a web-based patient/citizen focused service, addresses three key use cases: identifying recruitment potential, facilitating contact with the recruitment pool, and presenting data donation opportunities via digital advertising and on its internet platform. By leveraging innovative digital platforms and federated data approaches, the Smart FOX project aims to overcome barriers in secondary data use, ultimately driving more efficient, inclusive, and secure clinical research that benefits both healthcare systems and patients/citizens.

Efficient secondary use of real-world data (RWD) is a cornerstone for advancing data-driven medical research and personalised healthcare. However, significant challenges persist, including data fragmentation in silos, the lack of record linkage, and legal constraints that often hinder data utilisation. Especially Electronic Health Records (EHRs) represent a valuable data source, yet their potential remains largely untapped due to these barriers. Especially modern data space solutions promise to address these challenges, focusing on standardisation and harmonisation efforts, data governance aspects, as well as federated data-sharing approaches. A significant push in this area represents the European Health Data Space (EHDS) Act, focusing on an opt-out based approach for secondary use of health data. An additional consent-based approach (opt-in) represents data donation, which empowers individuals to contribute their data to research while maintaining trust and privacy under the current legal situation. The flagship project Smart FOX lays the foundations for making citizen-based data donations of EHR-standardised information usable in clinical research in Austria. As part of the architecture of the Austrian Health Data Donation Space (AHDDS), data donation boxes - Federated Open data eXchange Boxes (FOX BOXes) - present the fundamental decentralised building blocks for sharing EHR-standardised data. This paper outlines the architecture, functionality, and governance of FOX BOXes, highlighting its role in overcoming key barriers to health data sharing and its potential to accelerate data-driven research.

In refractory epilepsy and inherited metabolic disorders, Ketogenic Dietary Therapies (KDT) are established non-pharmacological treatments. Telemedicine might contribute to tackle various challenges related to KDT complexity and the respective target diseases. A questionnaire on the current use and future requirements was provided for health care professionals working in neuropediatrics, inherited metabolic diseases and nutrition within the region of German speaking countries. Distribution was facilitated via an established network. Response rate was 83% (24/29). Respondents were physicians (63%) and experts from the field of nutrition (37%). Telemedicine use in any way was reported by 71%. For future telemedicine aids, provision of digital patient information and aspects regarding ketone body, seizure and growth monitoring were ranked highest, while visualization of blood sugar and sensor integration were rated less relevant. Caution regarding legal aspects (liability), reimbursement and technical integration within the current hospital information system was addressed proactively by participants.

This study assesses the integration of mixed reality (MR) technologies in medical first responder (MFR) training, focusing on identifying key factors influencing behavioral intention to use MR systems and practical implications for technology acceptance and enhanced realism through haptic feedback. Through a user-centered design approach, involving co-creation workshops, iterative development, and evaluations in pilot and field trials across six countries, this study evaluated technology acceptance, presence, user experience, and workload among MFRs. Both quantitative measures and qualitative feedback were collected to analyze the determinants of technology acceptance and user engagement. The MED1stMR training system, developed as a result, demonstrates that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social presence are significant predictors of behavioral intention to use MR training systems among MFRs. High technology acceptance and positive user experience were reported, with specific emphasis on the educational value of haptic feedback in skill training. Trainer feedback highlighted the importance of real-time performance metrics and openness to AI-driven training assistance for enhancing training outcomes. The study underscores the critical role of realistic patient interaction and the importance of aligning training challenges with users’ skills to create engaging MR training environments for MFRs. Identifying factors influencing behavioral intention offers valuable insights for the development of MR training systems, suggesting a focus on social presence and interactive capabilities to improve realism and educational value. The findings advocate for the integration of adaptive training features and further exploration of AI support in scenario optimization and performance enhancement.

Lacking Ti-alloy wires tailored for wire-arc directed energy deposition (waDED) restricts AM-component implementation. Ti–Cu alloys show potential but require additional elements to enhance performance. In this work, waDED-processed Ti–6.3Cu–2.2Fe−2.1Al is characterized. Addition of Cu to Ti achieves a columnar-to-equiaxed transition. The microstructure consists of fine Ti 2 Cu precipitates, β matrix, and α plates, with varying morphologies along the deposit’s height due to differing thermal histories. The as-built sample exhibits a σ Y of 1039 MPa but low ductility.