SUMMIT PLENARY
Editors: F. Kongoli

COVID-19 pandemic showed that besides important medical aspects at play, the bioethics at the interface between state-of-the-art technology and the sick human patient is equally important. Some of the ethical issues related to the pandemic are analysed in this presentation. They are: (1) treatment priorities, (2) neglected subjects such diseases, climate changes etc…(3) vaccination and its related skepticism and disinformation as well as its availability and affordability, (4) infodemic (misinformation and disinformation) and (5) inequality, discrimination and racism. The proper conclusions are drawn for each aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Research on oxidative stress has been in full swing for about 40 years. Professor Toshikazu Yoshikawa, whose name is on the Yoshikawa International Symposium at SIPS2022, has clearly stated for 40 years that many diseases are caused and aggravated by oxidative stress, creating further oxidative stress. Professor Yoshikawa's foresight led him to predict that suppressing oxidative stress would alleviate symptoms and treat many diseases.
The work of Professor Ferido Murad, who discovered that the coronary dilating effect of nitroglycerin, developed more than 100 years ago, was due to the release of Nox from the vascular wall muscle, was one of the proofs of this. This was one of the proofs of Professor Yoshikawa's work. This led to the development of Viagra, a further phosphodiesterase synthesis inhibitor with a similar effect. However, the effect could only be seen in the male function. Although recent meta-analysis of Viagra has pointed to its potential for dementia prevention, but clinical trials for dementia have not been initiated.
Evidence for the efficacy of antioxidant therapy in other diseases was scarce until the development of my Twendee X. Twendee X is a dietary supplement consisting of eight active ingredients, which has already proven effective in clinical trials for dementia prevention and is being proven effective in a number of other diseases, including diabetes and allergic diseases. In recent years, the symptoms caused by COVID-19 infection, Long COVID, and mRNA vaccine drug damage are typical examples of oxidative stress disease symptoms. The large amounts of oxidative stress substances produced by inflammation of spike proteins cause systemic thrombosis and immunodeficiency, often leading to fatal reactions.
This SIPS2022 Oxidative Stress Symposium will include many presentations related to Twendee X and Twendee Mtcontrol products. This will be the SIPS meeting that will signal the dawn of antioxidant therapy for the diseases foreseen by Professor Yoshikawa.

The role of nitric oxide in cellular signaling in the past three decades has become one of the most rapidly growing areas in biology. Nitric oxide is a gas and a free radical with an unshared electron that can regulated an ever-growing list of biological processes. Nitric oxide is formed from L-arginine by a family of enzymes called nitric oxide synthases. These enzymes have a complex environment requirement for a number of cofactors and regulators including NADPH, tetrahydrobiopterin, flavins, calmodulin and heme. The enzymes are present in most cells and tissues. In many instances, nitric oxide mediates its biological effects by activating the soluble isoform of guanylyl cyclase and increasing cyclic GMP synthesis from GTP. Cyclic GMP, in turn, can activate cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG) and can cause smooth muscles and blood vessels to relax, decrease platelet aggregation, alter neuron function, etc. These effects can decrease blood pressure, increase blood flow to tissues, alter memory and behavior, decrease blood clotting, etc. The list of effects of nitric oxide that are independent of cyclic GMP formation is also growing at a rapid rate. For example, nitric oxide can interact with transition metals such as iron, thiol groups, other free radicals, oxygen, superoxide anion, unsaturated fatty acids and other molecules. Some of these reactions result in the oxidation of nitric oxide to nitrite and nitrate to terminate the effect, while other reactions can lead to altered protein structure function and/or catalytic capacity. These effects probably regulate bacterial infections, inflammation of tissues, tumor growth, and other disorders. These diverse effects of nitric oxide that are cyclic GMP dependent or independent can alter and regulate numerous important physiological events in cell regulation and function. Nitric oxide can function as an intracellular messenger, an antacoid, a paracrine substance, a neurotransmitter, or as a hormone that can be carried to distant sites for effects. Thus, it is a unique molecule with an array of signaling functions. However, with any messenger molecule, there can be too little or too much of the substance, resulting in pathological events. Some of the methods to regulate either nitric oxide formation metabolism, or function have been in clinical use for more than a century, as with the use of organic nitrates and nitroglycerin in angina pectoris that was initiated in the 1870s. Inhalation of low concentrations of nitric oxide can be beneficial in premature infants with pulmonary hypertension and increase survival rates. Ongoing clinical trials with nitric oxide synthase inhibitors and nitric oxide scavengers are examining the effects of these agents in septic shock, hypotension with dialysis, inflammatory disorders, cancer therapy, etc. Recognition of additional molecular targets in the areas of nitric oxide and cyclic GMP research will continue to promote drug discovery and development programs in this field. Current and future research will undoubtedly expand the clinician’s therapeutic armamentarium to manage a number of important diseases by perturbing nitric oxide formation and metabolism. Such promise and expectations have obviously fueled the interests in nitric oxide research for a growing list of potential therapeutic applications. There have been and will continue to be many opportunities from nitric oxide and cyclic GMP march to develop novel and important therapeutic agents. There are presently more than 180,000 publications in the area of nitric oxide research. The lecture will discuss our discovery of the first biological effects of nitric oxide and how the field has evolved since our original reports since 1977. The possible utility of this signaling pathway to facilitate novel drug development and the creation of numerous projects in the Pharmaceutical and biotechnology industrials will also be discussed.

FLOGEN Sustainability Framework is a unique definition of sustainability that consists of the 3 criteria that must be fulfilled simultaneously to reach sustainability determines and 3 pillars or actors that, depending on their actions, make possible or prohibit the simultaneous achievement of the 3 criteria of sustainability. The 3 pillars are: (1) Science and Technology, (2) Governance and Management and (3) Education and Civil Society, having Science and Technology in priority position. This is because science and technology with their developments disrupt society routine and serve as a basis for good government and management decisions, for reinventing education as well as reorienting civil society activities. Frequently though, the science and technology are paid lip service when decision makers say they make decisions based on science thus recognizing its role. Furthermore, the role of science and technology as a solution provider is almost ignored. In fact, the role of science is equally supporting, disrupting but also a grand solution provider. The paper shows that the FLOGEN Sustainability Framework is the benchmark for every project in life to achieve sustainability.
(Part 1), (Part 2)

FLOGEN Sustainability Framework is a unique definition of sustainability that consists of the 3 criteria that must be fulfilled simultaneously to reach sustainability determines and 3 pillars or actors that, depending on their actions, make possible or prohibit the simultaneous achievement of the 3 criteria of sustainability. The 3 pillars are: (1) Science and Technology, (2) Governance and Management and (3) Education and Civil Society, having Science and Technology in priority position. This is because science and technology with their developments disrupt society routine and serve as a basis for good government and management decisions, for reinventing education as well as reorienting civil society activities. Frequently though, the science and technology are paid lip service when decision makers say they make decisions based on science thus recognizing its role. Furthermore, the role of science and technology as a solution provider is almost ignored. In fact, the role of science is equally supporting, disrupting but also a grand solution provider. The paper shows that the FLOGEN Sustainability Framework is the benchmark for every project in life to achieve sustainability.
(Part 1), (Part 2)

The efficiency of solar cells is a major actual issue that will ultimately decide on the reliable and continuous daily use of this alternative CO2-free electricity production. One way to increase this efficiency is the employ of carbon-based chemical compounds and materials that are relatively inexpensive and very effective as selective Electron Transporting Layers (ETLs) in solar cells. Among these carbon-based components we have studied the so-called regular fullerenes, which are pure-carbon cages that are excellent electron acceptors and 3D transporters. We have functionalized fullerenes with Pyridine in order to modulate and probe their specific interfacial interactions in perovskite solar cells to understand the details and to enhance the cell performance efficiencies. Results clearly showed that the pyridine-functionalized compounds act as efficient electron extractors at the interface but are not good electron transporters as a bulk phase.
Production of hydrogen gas by splitting water is a vert promising potential way of producing hydrogen that is a clean reductant that will probably replace carbon as such in industrial processes. Here again carbon-based chemical compounds are very good candidates especially help es endohedral fullerenes, which are carbon cages which encapsulate ions and/or atoms and clusters inside, stabilized by electronic interactions with the cages. These nano-sized compounds were recently shown to act as reasonably efficient non-precious metal-containing molecular catalysts to effect the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER), or water splitting, to produce hydrogen gas. We initiated this work and are currently exploring the fundamental aspects of the HER with other endohedral fullerene compounds, both to understand the details and to increase their efficiencies.

The past fifty years have witnessed great advances in medicine and health care. Some examples include greatly improved prevention of cardiovascular and other diseases, high-resolution imaging technologies for early detection of disease and effective novel drugs. All these great improvements were due to scientific research and development, both in the academia and in the industry. I shall discuss the contribution of two types of research, basic and applied investigation, to progress in medical treatment. I shall describe some examples leading to the conclusion that important innovations in health-related industries are always based on great discoveries in basic biomedical sciences.

Surveys combined with direct student input are used to explore students’ attitudes and opinions. Together, these yield data can indicate the success of teaching methodologies to increasing student self-confidence. This process can determine the impacts of events and programs upon students. The suitability and acceptability of new educational practices or combinations of those practices can be determined. The implementation of this will be presented. The following will be identified and discussed: (1) activities which have been used, (2) activities which led to their identification and combination, and (3) measurement via mindset surveys of student change.
The use of films and case studies are used to teach students ethical dilemmas, principles, and moral reasoning that have arisen in science. This process can be used to determine suitability and acceptability of new educational practices or combinations of those practices. The implementation of this will be presented.

Graphene and 2D materials, despite being relatively fresh materials, have already taken a firm place in research, development and applications. A number of exciting phenomena have been discovered in these crystals and they continue bringing exciting results on a regular basis. However, probably the most important characteristic about 2D materials is that they offer a possibility to form on-demand van der Waals heterostructures, where individual 2D crystals are stacked together, forming a novel, 3D structure, which composition (and thus, their properties) can be controlled with atomic precision. This have opened a new directions of research: materials on demand. The properties of the resulting heterostructure can be designed with very high precision. The space of parameters is so large that the use of machine learning methods becomes essential. Furthermore, since individual components in such heterostructures interact through a number of channels (elastic, van der Waals, electronic, etc.) – a degenerate energy landscape is formed, leading to a number of competing phases, which opens a way to engineer particular phase transitions between different states and, thus, study also the out-of-equilibrium phenomena in such structures

n 2018, Flogen Star Outreach organized SIPS in Rio de Janeiro. The echoes of the event influenced and inspired a family-agriculture-based rural community named BREJAL, 120 km away. The area is surrounded by native, highly preserved Atlantic Rainforest, one of Brazil's six biomes. The presentation will show the harmonious interaction between the players of Flogen Sustainability Framework (Science & Technology, Education & Civil Society and Governance and Management), fundamental pillars to achieve Environmental Protection, Social Development and Economic Growth.

Over the past several decades we witness a shift toward national policies that encourage innovation and technological entrepreneurship. The call for more investment in entrepreneurship echoes around the globe as it becomes clear that except for a few countries, natural resources like oil and minerals are not enough to sustain economies, while human ingenuity is indeed the most important, sustainable natural resource.
So, is there hope for everybody on the globe to improve their lives? Can technological entrepreneurship be motivated and taught so that generations of determined entrepreneurs will build up thriving economies? The clear answer to both questions is yes and it all starts with education in general and scientific-technical education in particular. This is a long process, but there is a way to expedite it – start with the already educated engineers and scientists. These are the first candidates to open entrepreneurial endeavors. They can make the difference, but need motivation, instruction and encouraging economic environment that fosters creation of successful start-ups. These pioneering entrepreneurs can then serve as role models to others. The name of the game is motivation. If this nucleus of capable people is motivated toward entrepreneurship, a process can start that will make a huge difference in a life of a country. Living examples to countries that underwent this process are China, Israel and Singapore whose societies shifted from agrarian to industrial within several decades thanks to the spirit of entrepreneurship and the motivation to create high-tech industries led and guided by individual engineers and scientists.
In my talk I will explain the need for technological entrepreneurship and describe my involvement in turning Israel into a startup nation.

The ever-accelerating pace of development and global adoption of technology will increasingly have a profound impact on human lives and livelihoods. Advances in technology and the clear demonstration of their rapid adoption during the global pandemic over the past several years have also presented unique new opportunities and challenges for individuals and academic institutions and for life-long learning. At the same time, how humans embrace and deploy technology in their professional and personal lives, and how human behavior intersects with technology will strongly shape the benefits and unintended deleterious consequences of technology for learning and to society. This presentation will focus on a variety of perspectives and viewpoints on the issues surrounding the intersections of technology with learning and human behavior in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the global challenges faced by humanity in the 21st century and beyond.

As the Nobel Committee stated, “They have laid the foundation of a wireless, fossil fuel-free society, and are of the greatest benefit to humankind.” Now we must all take action.
The communications revolution disrupted humanity. Humanity now has instant access to news worldwide, information is at your fingertips, and meetings/classes are held remotely. This was enabled by new technology such as the internet and e.g. the i-phone (June 29, 2007). These were all enabled by the lithium battery. This generally has generally accepted as a positive disruption. However, the covid epidemic has been a very negative disruption, but it did highlight our ability to develop vaccines at record speed and the weaknesses of global supply chains.
The dramatic changes being wrought by climate change are now disrupting all our lives. The world must reduce global warming and this can be accomplished by using clean renewable energy and converting to electric transportation. I will discuss the role that energy storage can play in cleaning the environment, and the research and policy changes that are needed for us to be successful.

Over the past 25 years spectacular, ever growing, discoveries of exoplanet systems have modified our perspective on planet formation as a whole and more specifically our place in the Universe. I will introduce the audience with the exoplanet diversity and describe what we have learnt on their structure and formation mechanisms. Based on recent works about origin of life on Earth, I’ll present new perceptive about minimum conditions required to allow for the formation of life chemical building blocks. I will describe a possible pathway to detect Earth like systems amenable for future work about origins of life.

Numerous gene mutations and treatments have been shown to extend the lifespan of diverse organisms ranging from the unicellular yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to primates. It is becoming increasingly apparent that most such interventions ultimately interface with cellular stress response mechanisms, suggesting that longevity is intimately related to the ability of the organism to effectively cope with both intrinsic and extrinsic stress. Key determinants of this capacity are the molecular mechanisms that link ageing to main stress response pathways. How each pathway contributes to modulate the ageing process is not fully elucidated. Mitochondrial impairment is a major hallmark of several age-related neurodegenerative pathologies, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Accumulation of damaged mitochondria has been observed in post-mortem brains of Alzheimer’s disease patients. Mitophagy is a selective type of autophagy mediating elimination of damaged mitochondria, and the major degradation pathway, by which cells regulate mitochondrial number in response to their metabolic state. Little is known about the role of mitophagy in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease. We find that neuronal mitophagy is impaired in animal models of Alzheimer’s disease. Indeed, mitophagy stimulation restores learning and memory capacity, in these animals. Moreover, age-dependent decline of mitophagy both inhibits removal of dysfunctional or superfluous mitochondria and impairs mitochondrial biogenesis resulting in progressive mitochondrial accretion and, consequently, deterioration of cell function. Our observations indicate that defective removal of damaged mitochondria is a pivotal event in neurodegeneration. These findings highlight mitophagy as a potential target for the development of innovative, effective therapeutic interventions towards battling human neurodegenerative disorders.

At the time of COVID-19 pandemic everyone was introduced to at least one molecule of life called messenger RNA. Starting from this point, this lecture describes the three molecules of life, namely DNA, RNA and proteins, and outlines the history of the last 80 years on how the knowledge about these molecules was accrued and how the basis for the development of the vaccines that we are now using has been obtained. Important conclusions are drawn of each case.

When Monsanto first tried to introduce GMO seeds into Europe there was a backlash by the Green parties and their political allies, who feared that American agri-business was about to take over their food supply. Thus began a massive campaign not against the true targets, Monsanto and the large agri-businesses, but rather against the surrogate target, GMOs. This has had disastrous consequences for one of the most promising technologies ever developed for improving food supplies. I am spearheading a campaign by the Nobel Laureates to counter the damage that is being done to the poor people in this world – notably in the developing countries – by Greenpeace and their allies who have deliberately ignored the science that underpins GMOs and have been painting horrific pictures of the dangers that might ensue. I will use Golden Rice as a clear example of the costs of these shortsighted policies. Millions of children have died or suffered developmental impairment because of a lack of Vitamin A in their diet. Golden Rice could reverse this, but has become a target of the Green parties because it is a GMO. This is foolish and dangerous. How many more children must die before this is considered a crime against humanity? I will argue that the Pope and the major religious organizations in this world could play a pivotal role in countering the pseudoscience being propagated by the so-called green parties and make a real difference to the lives of the poor in this world.

Sustainable development is a comprehensive and complex system of systems requiring multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary science and technology inputs with economic, environmental, and social objectives. In broad terms, sustainable development is achieved when the present needs and challenges are met without placing in jeopardy the ability of future generations to meet their own needs and challenges. The trade space is very wide, and the multitude of trade-offs generate considerable challenges and make it often difficult to achieve an effective balance, most beneficial to all concerned. During the last sixty years the planet’s population has grown exponentially, from 2 to almost 8 billion people, and the technological progress achieved has been tremendous, especially in the industrialized countries. These trends are expected to continue, even at faster rates. However, all these associated technological activities in the pursuit of better living standards have created a considerable depletion of resources and pollution of land, water, air, and natural resources, including the food supplies for the global population. Considerable achievements have been obtained in the development of new and advanced materials such as light weight metallic alloys, metal matrix composites, intermetallic and carbon fiber composites, and hybrid materials. Nano, nano-structured and nano-hybrid carbon-based materials systems and nanotechnologies have also been deployed with considerable impact on energy, environment, and health. This presentation focuses on global perspectives of the impact of transformative materials with examples from several domains of sustainable development.

SIPS is the flagship event of FLOGEN STARS OUTREACH, a not-for-profit, non-political and all-inclusive science organization. SIPS as well as FLOGEN STARS OUTREACH takes no sides in political, scientific or technological debates. We equally welcome, without reservations, all spectrum of ideas, theories, technologies and related debates. Statements and opinions expressed are those of individuals and/or groups only and do not necessary reflect the opinions of FLOGEN, its sponsors or supporters.

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