Today a shuttle, tomorrow a cargo van: one vehicle, many functions

Replaceable capsules transform a vehicle into a shuttle, a cargo van, or a mobile service unit

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)

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The U-Shift system combines a mobile platform (“drive board”) with replaceable capsules for different applications. (Photo: Amadeus Bramsiepe, KIT)

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Credit: Amadeus Bramsiepe, KIT

There is a variety of possible applications: on-demand offerings in public transportation, delivery services, and mobile medical services or temporary accommodation. The concept, which features a rigorous separation of the vehicle from its function, was developed at the Institute of Vehicle Concepts of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and has been pursued continuously across multiple projects at DLR for several years.
 

“Innovation is the key driver for tomorrow’s value creation in the automobile sector. This makes the U-Shift II project so important for SMEs. With its focus on technology transfer and the targeted involvement of medium-sized partners, this research and development project systematically strengthens the long-term competitiveness of Baden-Württemberg’s automobile industry when it comes to autonomous and networked driving,” said Dr. Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut, Minister of Economic Affairs, Skilled Trades
 and Tourism. 
 

“We want to make vehicles that suit more than one single purpose,” said Professor Kora Kristof, Vice President for Digitalization and Sustainability at KIT. “A vehicle that adapts flexibly to different tasks saves resources. It’s a building block of sustainable mobility, and creates innovative options for Baden-Württemberg as a mobility hub.” 
 

“The insights we gained in the U-Shift II project will help us to advance automated vehicle concepts and the technologies associated with them. With this research, we’re supporting Baden-Württemberg as an automotive hub, establishing important baselines for taking these innovative mobility ideas to practical application, and preparing their transfer to the road,” said Professor Meike Jipp, Director of the Energy and Transport division at DLR. 
 

A Flat Drive Board at the Heart of the Concept

A key element of the concept is the flat drive board that includes the essential technical components such as the electric drive consisting of four hub motors, batteries, steering system, and central functions for control, monitoring, and energy supply. All of these were developed at the Research Institute for Automotive Engineering and Power Systems Stuttgart (FKFS). The drive board moves autonomously under the capsule intended for each task, lifts it up, and locks it in place. Human intervention is not necessary.
 

“The principle is similar to that of a swap container: Instead of designing dedicated vehicles for each task, the vehicle remains the same, only the superstructure changes,” said Dr. Michael Frey from KIT’s Institute of Vehicle Systems Technology (FAST). FAST was responsible for the design of the chassis with its integrated lifting system. It enables the vehicle to pick up and drop off the capsules without requiring additional infrastructure. “The implementation basically requires nothing more than a free space for the capsule and the vehicle,” explained Frey.
 

Technology that Adapts to Function

To pick up the capsule, the vehicle establishes a digital connection with it. “Thanks to the flexible technical architecture, the vehicle can adopt different functions depending on its task,” said Professor Eric Sax, who heads KIT’s Institute for Information Processing Technology (ITIV) where the electronic and software-based “control center” of the vehicle was developed. This unit interconnects and coordinates the various vehicle functions and capsule technologies. The functions and sensors automatically adapt to the selected capsule, for example, for transporting passengers or delivering goods. New software can be installed using a wireless connection, in much the same way as a smartphone update. 
 

Safe on the Road, Accurate Docking

The vehicle uses sensors such as cameras, radar, and lidar to recognize its surroundings. The sensor concept as well as the systems for data processing and motion planning – which need to be performed with extreme accuracy during the docking process – have been developed at Ulm University. By interacting with the motion systems elaborated at the FKFS, the vehicle can carry out maneuvering and docking movements with centimeter precision. A locking system developed at the DLR keeps the capsule safely in place during travel.
 

Strong Research Team from Baden-Württemberg

The U-Shift II project is a collaboration of KIT, DLR, Ulm University, and FKFS; it is led and coordinated by DLR. The Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Economic Affairs, Skilled Trades  and Tourism  funded the project with EUR 10 million of which KIT received EUR 1.7 million. 
 

  

NontioePresentation of the new U-Shift II generation 

(from left to right) Prof. Andreas Wagner,

FKFS; Prof. Kora Kristof, Vice President for Digitalization and Sustainability, KIT;
Dr. Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut, Minister for Economic Affairs, Skilled Trades and Tourism;
Prof. Meike Jipp, Director of the Energy and Transport division, DLR;
Prof. Michael Buchholz, Head of the Electric Mobility and Connected Driving / Connected
Infrastructure research groups, Ulm University (photo: Magali Hauser, KIT)

Credit

Magali Hauser, KIT

The driving module (“drive board”) of the U Shift system couples automatically with a
replaceable capsule, thereby forming the underlying structure for various applications.
(Photo: Amadeus Bramsiepe, KIT)

A look into the passenger capsule: The modular vehicle concept enables differen

applications – from passenger transport to logistics. (Photo: Amadeus Bramsiepe, KIT)

Credit

Amadeus Bramsiepe, KIT

More information (available only in German)

In close partnership with society, KIT develops solutions for urgent challenges – from climate change, energy transition and sustainable use of natural resources to artificial intelligence, sovereignty and an aging population. As The University in the Helmholtz Association, KIT unites scientific excellence from insight to application-driven research under one roof – and is thus in a unique position to drive this transformation. As a University of Excellence, KIT offers its more than 10,000 employees and 22,800 students outstanding opportunities to shape a sustainable and resilient future. KIT – Science for Impact.

The cost of violence

Violence has a financial dimension. War has devastating effects on a country's economy

University of Konstanz

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The media is full of news of war, terrorism and armed conflict, and this shapes our perceptions of violence. However, if we look at the costs resulting from these forms of violence, the numbers are surprising: About 12 percent of the global cost of comes from war and terrorism. However, a much larger proportion of the costs is caused by interpersonal violence – in particular, domestic violence against women and children. This violence results in immense human suffering – and massive damages to economies and societies worldwide. In concrete numbers: The global cost of violence is estimated at between 23 and 34 trillion US dollars each year. The estimated cost of interpersonal violence (including domestic violence) ranges between 20.3 and just under 30 trillion US dollars.

These are the findings of Anke Hoeffler, a professor of development research and member of the Cluster of Excellence "The Politics of Inequality" at the University of Konstanz, and James D. Fearon, a professor of political science at Stanford University, published in their new book "Worse than War: The Global Costs of Violence". In the book, they calculate the global cost of different forms of violence. The aim is not to trivialize wars and their impacts. Instead, their research makes it clear that other forms of violence are massively underestimated by society – because they take place in private spaces and are thus less visible than armed conflicts.

Measuring violence in economic terms
In the study, Hoeffler and Fearon first calculated the frequency of different forms of violence. They collected global conflict data sets and official statistics on healthcare, policing and criminal justice in addition to using data from surveys of victims of interpersonal violence. In a second step, the authors distinguished between the costs resulting from different forms of violence. In order to compare forms of violence in economic terms, the authors split the costs into different types. Anke Hoeffler explains: "Imagine someone is injured in a knife attack and has to go to the hospital. Either the person or the healthcare system pays the cost of this medical care. These are the concrete and tangible costs of acts of violence. At the same time, there are also indirect costs that can also be measured economically. For example, if an injured person cannot work, then this results in a loss of productivity, including long-term health effects, increased dropout rates, lower employment prospects and a cost to social welfare systems."

Yet there is also a third type of costs that plays a decisive role: intangible costs – costs that cannot be quantified or measured directly. This includes, for example, pain, suffering, traumatization or losses to quality of life. These consequences are not visible as direct government expenses, but they do reduce social welfare – and thus constitute part of the economic cost calculation. These costs are especially massive for domestic violence and violence against children. "We found that the intangible costs of interpersonal violence are larger than the total overall cost of collective violence – that is from war and terrorism", Hoeffler says.

The challenge: Finding a method to measure intangible costs
To measure these intangible costs in economic terms, Hoeffler and Fearon used the concept "value of a statistical life". Important: This concept does not calculate the value of a specific person's life, but rather, it asks how much a society is willing to pay to prevent a single death. This type of calculation is also used in other policy areas, such as traffic safety, environmental or health policy.

As a government decides whether to introduce expensive security measures, the decision is often based on precisely this question: How high are the costs of the measure in relationship to lives saved and prevented injuries? The frequency with which a form of violence occurs is then multiplied with the estimated costs per case. This makes it possible to calculate and compare global totals for the costs resulting from different forms of violence.

The calculations by Hoeffler and Fearon make it clear that, especially in the case of forms of violence that are the greatest social cost factors, too little action is being taken. "Our research unmistakably shows: Investing in measures to prevent domestic violence is well worth the effort – not only for social, ethical and human rights reasons, but also from an economic perspective", Anke Hoeffler concludes.

 

About Anke Hoeffler Anke Hoeffler is a professor of development research at the University of Konstanz and a member of the Cluster of Excellence "The Politics of Inequality". Her research focuses on economic development, conflict and violence. Together with James D. Fearon, she published the book "Worse Than War: The Global Costs of Violence" with Princeton University Press. In the In_equality Podcast she talks about the cost of violence, the methods used in the study and potential political measures to prevent violence.   If you have questions you can contact: office.hoeffler@uni-konstanz.de

 

 

 

T2EVOLVE association launches to advance collaboration and innovation in advanced cell therapies across Europe

Launching the T2EVOLVE Association: a new independent, non-profit platform accelerating innovation and patient access in advanced cell therapies across Europe

University of Würzburg

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The T2EVOLVE consortium

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Credit: Benedikt Wagner

Advanced cell therapies, including CAR-T cells and other engineered immune cell therapies, are transforming treatment options for cancer and other severe diseases. However, significant scientific, manufacturing, regulatory, clinical, and access challenges remain. Addressing these challenges requires sustained collaboration that extends beyond individual projects, organizations, and national boundaries.

The T2EVOLVE Association has been established to provide a long-term framework for such collaboration. Through expert working groups, educational initiatives, stakeholder dialogues, technology scanning activities, and collaborative projects, the Association will facilitate knowledge exchange, support harmonization efforts, identify emerging challenges, and help accelerate the translation of innovation into meaningful patient benefit.

From a Successful Consortium to a Sustainable Association

The Association builds on a strong foundation created by the European T2EVOLVE project. Over the past five years, the project has helped shape discussions on regulatory innovation and evidence generation for advanced therapies, supported the development of novel preclinical models and translational approaches, fostered harmonization of immunomonitoring and analytical methodologies across Europe, and contributed to strengthening data interoperability and real-world evidence generation. Equally important, T2EVOLVE has promoted meaningful patient involvement through educational resources, improved informed consent practices, and initiatives designed to ensure that patient perspectives remain central throughout the therapy development pathway.

To address the most pressing challenges in the field, the Association will coordinate activities across five strategic workstreams: Patient Education and Advocacy; Clinical Translation and Correlative Research; Frontiers Innovation and Manufacturing; Regulatory Innovation and Policy Alignment; and Data Reuse and Artificial Intelligence for Advanced Therapies.

The University Hospital Würzburg (UKW) served as the academic coordinator and scientific driving force of the IMI-funded T2EVOLVE consortium, working alongside Bayer as the industrial co-lead. Under the leadership of Prof. Michael Hudecek, UKW brought together 27 partners from academia, industry, regulatory agencies, patient organizations, and healthcare institutions across Europe to accelerate the development and implementation of engineered T-cell therapies

Statements from the consortium

"The achievements of T2EVOLVE have demonstrated what is possible when stakeholders work together across disciplines, sectors, and borders," said Michael Hudecek, Chair of the T2EVOLVE Association and Professor of Cellular Immunotherapy at the University Hospital Würzburg. "To fully realize the potential of advanced cell therapies, Europe needs sustainable structures that transform collaboration into practical solutions. The T2EVOLVE Association has been created to provide exactly this environment."

"Our vision is to create a trusted and inclusive platform where scientific excellence, clinical experience, patient perspectives, industrial innovation, and regulatory expertise can converge," said Carmen Sanges, Executive Director of the T2EVOLVE Association. "By building bridges across sectors, countries, and ongoing initiatives, we aim to accelerate the translation of innovation into better outcomes for patients while ensuring that the momentum created by T2EVOLVE continues to grow into a sustainable European community."

"From a patient perspective, sustained collaboration and transparency are essential to ensure that innovation translates into real-world access and improved outcomes," said Maik Luu, Advisory Board member of the T2EVOLVE Association and Professor for Translational Medicine at the University Hospital Würzburg. "The T2EVOLVE Association represents an important step toward keeping patient needs at the center of advanced therapy development across Europe."

The Association launches with founding members representing leading organizations from across Europe and beyond, reflecting the multidisciplinary nature of the advanced therapy ecosystem. Membership opportunities, workstream activities, events, and collaborative initiatives will be announced throughout the coming months as the Association begins its first operational year.

T2EVOLVE Association

The T2EVOLVE Association is an independent, non-profit, multi-stakeholder organization dedicated to advancing innovation, collaboration, education, and policy alignment in advanced cell therapies. Established as the sustainability legacy of the IMI T2EVOLVE project, the Association provides a long-term platform for European collaboration that transforms dialogue into practical outputs for the advanced therapy ecosystem. For more information, visit www.t2evolve.com.

 

Psychedelics and ADHD

A systematic review by researchers from Wroclaw Medical University found that current evidence is insufficient to support psychedelics as a treatment for ADHD, despite growing public interest in microdosing

Wroclaw Medical University

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Prof. Donata Kurpas, MD, PhD is a physician, family medicine specialist, and Professor at Wroclaw Medical University, Poland. Her research focuses on primary care, public health, mental health, lifestyle medicine, and evidence-based healthcare. She has authored numerous scientific publications and is actively involved in international research collaborations investigating the effectiveness and implementation of healthcare interventions.

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Credit: Wroclaw Medical University

In recent years, there has been growing interest among adults with ADHD in the practice of microdosing classic psychedelics such as psilocybin and LSD. The internet is full of personal accounts describing improved concentration, better impulse control, and enhanced well-being. However, a recent review conducted by researchers from Wroclaw Medical University shows that the currently available scientific evidence does not allow the effectiveness of psychedelics in treating ADHD to be confirmed. This is an area of intensive research, but not a therapy ready for clinical practice. 

Growing interest, few answers 

For several years, psychedelics have been at the center of psychiatric research. Scientists have been investigating their potential use in the treatment of depression, anxiety disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder, among other conditions. This has led to questions about their possible role in ADHD as well. 

The authors of a review published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences analyzed the available literature on the use of classic psychedelics in adults with ADHD and identified five studies that met the inclusion criteria. 

Interest in psychedelics for ADHD reflects a broader trend in research exploring their potential applications in psychiatry. At the same time, more adults are recognizing difficulties related to attention, impulsivity, and emotional regulation. Some patients do not achieve sufficient improvement or experience adverse effects from standard medications, leading them to seek alternative solutions, - says Prof. Donata Kurpas of Wroclaw Medical University, a co-author of the publication. 

What has actually been studied? 

The researchers identified only five studies that met the criteria for scientific evaluation. These included three observational studies on psychedelic microdosing, one randomized clinical trial using low doses of LSD, and one pilot study examining the experiences of participants involved in ritual ayahuasca use, a psychoactive plant-based brew traditionally used by some Amazonian communities. 

In the observational studies, participants often reported short-term improvements in concentration, mood, and emotional regulation. The problem is that such study designs cannot determine whether the improvements were actually caused by the substances themselves. 

These findings are interesting because they show what users experience and why the topic attracts attention. At the same time, naturalistic studies are highly susceptible to expectancy effects, self-suggestion, participant selection bias, and lack of dose standardization. They do not allow conclusions about treatment efficacy, - emphasizes Prof. Kurpas. 

Why are psychedelics being considered at all? 

Classic psychedelics such as psilocybin and LSD primarily act on serotonin receptors, particularly the 5-HT2A receptor. Research suggests that they may influence neural plasticity, emotional processing, and the organization of brain networks involved in attention and self-regulation. These mechanisms are the reason researchers are considering their potential relevance to ADHD. 

These are biologically interesting hypotheses. However, it is important to remember that ADHD is not primarily a serotonergic disorder. Dopaminergic and noradrenergic systems, as well as executive functions related to motivation, impulse control, and emotional regulation, play key roles. Any potential effect of psychedelics on ADHD symptoms, therefore, remains largely a research hypothesis at this stage, - the expert explains. 

Particularly important was the only randomized, double-blind clinical trial, which compared low doses of LSD with a placebo in adults with ADHD. Improvements were observed in both the LSD and placebo groups. However, the differences between the groups were not statistically significant. 

A subjective feeling of improvement does not always indicate a genuine pharmacological effect. In psychiatry, patient expectations can strongly influence outcomes. 

What do we still not know? 

The authors of the review point out that the current state of knowledge does not answer the most important questions regarding the effectiveness and safety of psychedelics in ADHD. Existing studies involved small participant groups, different substances, varying doses, and short follow-up periods. 

We need well-designed randomized clinical trials with placebo controls, clear ADHD diagnoses, standardized protocols, and longer follow-up periods. It is important to assess not only symptoms but also patients’ everyday functioning, including work, relationships, sleep quality, and emotional regulation,-  says Prof. Kurpas. 

The researcher also highlights safety concerns. 

It is particularly important to assess risks in individuals with anxiety disorders, depression, bipolar disorder, psychosis risk, or those taking psychotropic medications. From a public health perspective, we cannot move ahead of the scientific evidence, - she emphasizes. 

Experts also remind patients with ADHD that they should not abandon diagnostic evaluation, psychoeducation, psychotherapy, lifestyle modifications, or treatments with established effectiveness. If a patient is considering psychedelic use or already has experience with it, these issues should be discussed with a physician and based on reliable scientific evidence rather than solely on internet testimonials. 

Therefore, the message for patients should be clear: the topic requires further research, but at present, psychedelics should not be presented as an alternative to evidence-based ADHD diagnosis and treatment. 

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Journal

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

DOI

10.3390/ijms27083453 

Method of Research

Literature review

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

The Use of Psychedelics in the Treatment of Adult ADHD: A Systematic and Mechanistic Review

 

Sponges use photosynthesis, boosting productivity of tropical coral reefs

University of Amsterdam

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Sponge

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Credit: Dr Benjamin Mueller

In marine environments, sponges tend to eat other organisms to get their nutrients. But a new study, published by the University of Amsterdam's Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) researchers in Functional Ecology, demonstrates how sponges may also use photosynthesis, just like plants. This phenomenon can help with the productivity – or amount of energy and food produced – in tropical coral reefs, and perhaps in other ecosystems where sponges are common too.

Sponges under the sea

As a benthic ecologist, Michelle Achlatis likes to say she’s studying the sea life that is stuck to the bottom of the ocean, rather than swimming around. And sponges have been a key part of her work over the past years, as she researches their role in the ecosystem.

“We call them a textbook example of filter feeding and suspension feeding, because they are not only filtering, but also absorbing all sorts of edible material from the seawater,” said Achlatis, who conducted this research as part of her postdoctoral research at IBED. Specialized cells pump water through their bodies, trapping whatever is edible in the water and “drinking it” to absorb dissolved nutrients.

But sponges also have symbiotic partners. Some of them are tiny microbes that are photosynthetic. They use the energy in sunlight to produce their own food and release oxygen. And while sponges’ photosynthetic properties had been researched before, they had only been tested on a few species. As part of the new study, researchers wanted to look at more sponge species and also scale up the measurements to the ecosystem level.

Sampling sponges

Achlatis and her colleagues assessed 24 of the most common sponge species from reefs around the island of Curaçao. They conducted extensive measurements for eight of these species.  They scaled up their findings to the ecosystem level to compare the sponges to other photosynthesizing organisms and to see how much oxygen they were producing at the ecosystem level. To assess the abundance of organisms on the reef, they used a more holistic dataset that looks at the reef in all its three dimensions and that accounts for its richness.

“A previous study found that when you look at the three-dimensional reef, there are so many more sponges there than you expect,” Achlatis explains. “By doing more detailed measurements, you can calculate their volumes.”

The researchers found that half of the sponge species tested accounted for 11% of gross primary productivity, meaning they were important producers of organic compounds for the ecosystem. This was a surprise: Achlatis thought that maybe a fourth or a third would be photosynthetic. She also did not expect how much the sponges contributed to productivity.

“It’s a group that in previous food web studies or big coral reef modelling were always put aside as pure consumers and not producers,” she says. “But they are quite flexible feeders and can supplement with photosynthesis.”

Future directions

This study was conducted in one tropical region. However, sponges in similar regions may have the same photosynthetic components. The results may be applicable across other ecosystems.

And this “multitasking” ability of sponges has larger implications. Sponge-rich ecosystems, like coral reefs, should be added to assessments of carbon sequestration, argues Achlatis.

“The case we are trying to make with this paper is really that people should be aware that sponges are not only recycling carbon and nutrients that they find on the reef, they also have their own ways of making them, even if they're small amounts, comparatively,” she says.

Sponges are not plants but are not animals either, adds Jasper de Goeij, associate professor of marine benthic ecology at IBED and one of the co-authors of the study.

“Together with their symbiotic microbes, sponges can photosynthesize, just like a plant,” he says. “We need to look differently at many organisms living in the ocean, as they do not follow the strict plant-animal distinction as most organisms on land.”

 

Sponges

Credit

Dr Benjamin Mueller

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Journal

Functional Ecology

DOI

10.1111/1365-2435.70311