Repository for Publications and Research Data
News from the ETH Library
Recently Added
The role of Sro9 in yeast quiescence
Item type: Doctoral Thesis
Seurig, Maximilian (2025)
The Digital Comedy: An Architect's Guide to Latent Space
Item type: Doctoral Thesis
Agostino, Nickl (2025)
Artificial Intelligence (AI) of today – here understood as various forms of machine learning, including large language models (LLMs) – operates in highdimensional latent spaces that lie far beyond the 3D realm in which architecture is commonly thought to operate. Depending on the model architecture and training algorithm, these spaces can host multimodal digital objects, making them newly accessible, but they can also generate new objects at unprecedented speed and quantity. Not only do they seem to hold answers to any question, but they also mimic established formats and destabilise expert and general domains, including architecture. Rather than seeking direct applications of AI in architecture, this dissertation frames AI architectonically, articulates an architectural position toward AI, and develops a didactic approach toward AI and coding literacy. It unfolds as a research quest – borrowing Dante’s Divine Comedy as a language model and a guide to worlds lying beyond sight – following two interleaved parts: CODING contains 100 commentaries outlining computational methods and working metaphors to frame such a quest conceptually and computationally, featuring reproducible ways of encoding and decoding 50’000’000 guideposts into and from latent space – a set of multimodal corpora comprised of scans, sounds, artwork, poems, aerials, materials, books, videos, encyclopedic text, and images. Two models, 64- and 512-dimensional Syntropia and Clipedia, are trained as navigational instruments, leveraging Self-Organising Maps (SOMs) for unsupervised learning. CONVERSING traverses 100 cantons of the latent spaces of LSA, CLIP, and GPT – three scales of AI spanning term frequencies, neural embeddings, and autoregressive generations. Guided by 100 authors, including architects and philosophers, humanists and feminists, this part enacts the research quest on Dante’s terms. The resulting artifact is both a computational guide and a digital epic for architecture and AI, positing architecture as high-dimensional art articulated in low dimensions.
Wildfire@Home: Personalized Immersive Training for Household Situation Awareness
Item type: Conference Proceedings
Tianyi Xiao; Yan Feng; Suvodip Chakraborty; et al. (2026)
As wildfires become increasingly frequent and severe worldwide, at-risk homeowners face greater responsibility in assessing the fire situation and making safety-critical decisions. This requires specific training in situational awareness (SA). However, the effectiveness of conventional wildfire response training (WRT) methods (e.g., videos, brochures) is limited, as they cannot replicate the unpredictability of wildfires nor provide real-world context. This research introduces Personalized Immersive Training (PIT), a novel paradigm designed to embed WRT in real-world contexts. We implemented PIT in Wildfire@Home, intending to increase homeowners' SA capabilities. Learners first use a desktop wildfire simulator to build mental models of how terrain, vegetation, and wind shape fire spread. Then, experience a realistic and immersive 3D rendering of the simulation in a VR wildfire visualizer. Learners can personalize the training scenario by uploading 3D models and geospatial data.
Omega-3 Long-Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Supplementation Did Not Reduce Inflammation to Improve Iron Absorption in South African Women Living with Overweight or Obesity
Item type: Journal Article
Uyoga, Mary A.; Baumgartner, Jeannine; Malan, Linda; et al. (2026)
Background: Young South African women face a double-burden of overweight or obesity and iron deficiency, with the former predicting the latter. Omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LCPUFA) supplementation can reduce inflammation. It is uncertain if this effect extends to adiposity-related inflammation, thereby reducing hepcidin secretion and improving iron absorption.
Objectives: Using stable iron isotopes, we determined the effect of omega-3 LCPUFA supplementation on fractional iron absorption (FIA) from a meal containing iron as ferrous sulfate without and with ascorbic acid (AA).
Methods: In this single-blind, uncontrolled, before–after intervention stable isotope study, 30 South African women aged 18–35 y with body mass index ≥28 kg/m2, systemic inflammation, and a low omega-3 LCPUFA status, consumed a noninhibitory meal containing 6 mg iron, without and with AA, before and after 3 mo of daily supplementation with 2.1 g omega-3 LCPUFA. At baseline and endpoint, we measured FIA 14 d after consumption of the second meal, iron and inflammation markers, hepcidin, and omega-3 index.
Results: At baseline and endpoint, addition of AA significantly improved FIA from the meal. Median (IQR) FIA before compared with after supplementation was not different for the meal without AA [9.7 (4.3–24.6)% compared with 11.8 (2.8–22.3)%; P = 0.962] nor the meal with AA [27.5 (10.6–43.8)% compared with 30.8 (9.6–60.9)%; P = 0.249]. Supplementation increased the omega-3 index from 4.61 (4.10–5.11)% to 5.97 (5.48–8.16)% (P < 0.001), but did not reduce hepcidin or improve the inflammation and iron status markers. In multiple linear regression analyses, hepcidin was a stronger predictor of FIA than AA.
Conclusions: Addition of AA to the test meal, rather than omega-3 LCPUFA supplementation, improved iron absorption in South African women with overweight or obesity. Despite an increase in omega-3 index after omega-3 LCPUFA supplementation, it remained suboptimal, possibly explaining the lack of reduction in inflammation and hepcidin concentrations. This study was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT05220735 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05220735?cond=obesity&term=iron%20absorption&rank=4).
Nano bio-responsive systems avoiding methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonization on an implant surface
Item type: Journal Article
Blanco Massani, Mariana; Grobelny, Anna; Badart, Michael; et al. (2026)
Biomaterial-associated infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus represent a race between bacterial colonization and mammalian cell integration on implant surfaces. If bacteria win, biofilm forms, often causing persistent infection. To favor host cells, we developed a nano bio-responsive system (NanoBioRS) with two synergistic defense lines. The first is a bio-adhesive surface with polymer brushes that recruit mammalian cells. The second is a nano-bioactive coating of polyphosphate-encapsulated chimeric phage endolysin nanoparticles (M23-PP), activated by alkaline phosphatase—an enzyme vital for bone development and biofilm life cycle.
Using metal-free surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization, we synthesized poly(polyethylene glycol methacrylate) (PPEGMA), poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (PGMA), and their block copolymer polymer brushes. These brushes were characterized via ellipsometry, FTIR, contact angle, and XPS. Functionalization with Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) peptide enhanced MC3T3-E1 preosteoblast recruitment, as confirmed by fluorescence microscopy. Further bioactivation with M23-PP nanoparticles provided targeted antibacterial action. NanoBioRS was biocompatible and its efficacy was validated through competitive colonization assays with methicillin sensitive or resistant S. aureus , together with MC3T3-E1 cells. This biocompatible platform shows strong potential to prevent bacterial colonization of implants.