EngineeringPub Date : 2025-10-10DOI: 10.1016/j.eng.2025.07.043
Junye Wu, Yoke Wang Cheng, Guiying Lin, Dequan Xu, Yiying Wang, Clive Chong, Yanjun Dai, Chi-Hwa Wang, Tianshu Ge
{"title":"Toward Sustainable Agriculture: The Design of Environmentally Friendly, Economical, and Modular Vertical Farming Systems","authors":"Junye Wu, Yoke Wang Cheng, Guiying Lin, Dequan Xu, Yiying Wang, Clive Chong, Yanjun Dai, Chi-Hwa Wang, Tianshu Ge","doi":"10.1016/j.eng.2025.07.043","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eng.2025.07.043","url":null,"abstract":"The increasing population and continuous urbanization make food security a key consideration in sustainable development. Efficient farming strategies with low environmental footprints are thus increasingly required to meet food demands. This study presents a design for environmentally friendly, economical, and modular vertical farming systems, in which vegetables are cultivated in a carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>)-enriched atmosphere enabled by direct air capture (DAC) and subjected to artificial light exposure. We established a vertical farming setup and conducted experiments to identify productive cultivation strategies by regulating lighting, CO<sub>2</sub> concentration, biochar application, and plant species. Additionally, a self-developed DAC rotary adsorber was utilized to achieve stable and efficient CO<sub>2</sub> enrichment. Compared with the control group, the fresh weight of the vegetables in the experimental groups increased by up to 57.5%. Furthermore, we performed a comprehensive evaluation of the design and demonstrated that integrating photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) and DAC units increased the system’s net present value (NPV) by 157% compared with a conventional design without these units. Importantly, we found it possible to maintain the low carbon footprint of the system (0.468 kg-CO2 equivalent (CO<sub>2</sub>eq)∙kg<sup>−1</sup>-vegetable) in the production process. Parametric studies and an application analysis on a global scale reveal the wide adaptability of this strategy to diverse conditions. These findings, together with the modular characteristics of vertical farming systems, highlight the promising potential of this design to increase food security and foster sustainable agriculture.","PeriodicalId":11783,"journal":{"name":"Engineering","volume":"31 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145255298","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EngineeringPub Date : 2025-10-09DOI: 10.1016/j.eng.2025.03.040
Yunpeng Zhou, Bernard R. Glick, Hassan Etesami, Hongbang Liang, Felipe Bastida, Xin Wu, Naikun Kuang, Yunkai Li
{"title":"Halotolerant PGPB Delivered by Drip Irrigation Improve Crop Yield and Quality Through Changes in the Soil Bacterial Community","authors":"Yunpeng Zhou, Bernard R. Glick, Hassan Etesami, Hongbang Liang, Felipe Bastida, Xin Wu, Naikun Kuang, Yunkai Li","doi":"10.1016/j.eng.2025.03.040","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eng.2025.03.040","url":null,"abstract":"Halotolerant plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) have great potential for alleviating salinity stress in crops. However, the current methods used with these bacteria are typically based on one-time inoculations, including soil basal application, seed dressing and plant infestation, all of which make it difficult to guarantee the desired plant effects. Here, we investigated the effects of seven halotolerant PGPB individually applied through a drip irrigation system in small quantities and at high frequency during the plant’s growth period on the soil physicochemical properties, plant agronomic performance and bacterial community in saline soil. Our findings revealed that drip irrigation with halotolerant PGPB notably decreased the soil pH and electrical conductivity while increasing the yield and fruit quality of jujube plants. Specifically, the <em>Bacillus licheniformis</em> (BL) and <em>Bacillus mucilaginous</em> (BM) treatments outperformed the control (no PGPB irrigation) by increasing the yield and vitamin C (VC) content by 23% and 22%, respectively. Additionally, the presence of halotolerant PGPB enriched the diversity of the bacterial community in the jujube rhizosphere and increased the relative abundance of beneficial bacterial groups at both the phylum (e.g., Cyanobacteria and Nitrospirota) and genus (e.g., <em>Psychrobacter</em>, <em>Flavobacterium</em>, and <em>Steroidobacter</em>) levels. Bacterial interactions, represented by co-occurrence networks, were more complex in the treatments involving PGPB irrigation, contributing to the transformation of the network keystones involved in soil nutrient cycling. Applications of BL, <em>Bacillus cereus</em> (BC), and BM reduced the soil salinity and increased the soil available nutrient contents and plant antioxidant enzyme activities, alleviating salinity stress and resulting in increases in crop yield and quality. This study highlights the feasibility and efficiency of applying halotolerant PGPB via drip irrigation in saline soil environments, thereby enhancing crop performance under salt stress.","PeriodicalId":11783,"journal":{"name":"Engineering","volume":"39 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145255301","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Revealing the Mechanisms of Compound Kushen Injection on Oxidative Stress Regulation in the Treatment of Radiation-Induced Lung Injury","authors":"Boyang Wang, Defei Kong, Zhiru Yang, Jun Kang, Deyang Sun, Xiumei Duan, Jing Jin, Tingyu Zhang, Qingyuan Liu, Hui Yin, Shao Li","doi":"10.1016/j.eng.2025.09.018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eng.2025.09.018","url":null,"abstract":"Radiation-induced lung injury (RILI) is a common complication of cancer radiotherapy, yet effective treatments remain elusive. Compound Kushen injection (CKI), a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula, is widely used in clinical practice for treating radiation-related diseases and as an adjunct therapy for cancer and has demonstrated some effectiveness. However, the mechanisms underlying CKI intervention in RILI and its role in cancer adjunctive therapy remain unclear. In this study, we refined previous statistical approaches and successfully integrated quantitative data on the compounds in CKI. We constructed a network-based holistic target model and developed modular biological networks to explore the modular regulatory effects of CKI in RILI. Through this network-based analysis, we identified specific alkaloid components of CKI that contribute to its therapeutic effect in alleviating RILI. Furthermore, through transcriptomic analysis, we confirmed that oxidative stress plays a central role in the treatment of RILI by CKI. The modular regulatory effects of CKI have been validated in animal models of irradiation, demonstrating the ability of CKI to alleviate oxidative stress, reduce inflammation, regulate immune responses, and inhibit apoptosis. In addition, we demonstrated that nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2) serves as a key mediator of the antioxidant effects of CKI. Matrine and sophoridine, representative alkaloids in CKI, exhibit binding interactions with NRF2. CKI promotes the nuclear translocation of NRF2, and NRF2 activates its downstream targets, such as heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and NAD(P)H quinone dehydrogenase 1 (NQO1), to suppress oxidative stress in RILI. This, in turn, inhibits the expression of inflammatory molecules, including interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), while promoting the activity of antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase-4 (GPX-4), thereby exerting therapeutic effects on RILI.","PeriodicalId":11783,"journal":{"name":"Engineering","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145216202","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EngineeringPub Date : 2025-10-04DOI: 10.1016/j.eng.2025.09.022
Xuemei Huang, Wen Zhao, Yuwen Wang, Yuxin Wang, Tao Chen, Lili Zhu, Yiran Zhang, Jibo Wang, Hanwen Cao, Yuhang Fan, Yunnan Liu, Xiaobing Jiang, Linlin Bi, Changyong Li, Pu Chen
{"title":"Bioengineering of Heart–Brain Codevelopoid Model Via Trans-Germ-Layer Codevelopment Organoid Chip","authors":"Xuemei Huang, Wen Zhao, Yuwen Wang, Yuxin Wang, Tao Chen, Lili Zhu, Yiran Zhang, Jibo Wang, Hanwen Cao, Yuhang Fan, Yunnan Liu, Xiaobing Jiang, Linlin Bi, Changyong Li, Pu Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.eng.2025.09.022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eng.2025.09.022","url":null,"abstract":"Interorgan interactions are essential for organogenesis and maturation, with their dysregulation leading to developmental disorders. However, the ability of current physiologically relevant human models to recapitulate interorgan crosstalk during early developmental stages remains limited. Here, we develop a trans-germ-layer codevelopment organoid chip (TGCO-Chip) that enables the coemergence of two interconnected distinct organoids from a common upstream-lineage stem cell aggregate under well-controlled biochemical conditions. Specifically, we established a human pluripotent stem cell-derived heart–brain codevelopoid (HBC) model using a TGCO-Chip, and the codevelopoid recapitulated the developmental features of the heart and brain, including cell lineages, tissue architecture, and functionality. Furthermore, codevelopoids emulate neural projections to cardiac tissues and their regulatory effects during the early developmental stage of organogenesis. Compared with the interconnected heart–heart organoids, the neural compartment significantly increased the average cardiac beating rates and contraction amplitudes. Transcriptomic analysis confirmed that neural compartments in HBCs promoted cardiac differentiation and maturation. Overall, the TGCO-Chip platform provides an innovative tool for bioengineering multiorganoid complexes derived from shared progenitor lineages. Codevelopoids hold immense potential for applications in developmental biology, disease modeling, and regenerative medicine and can provide unprecedented insights into the dynamic interactions between different cell lineages and tissues.","PeriodicalId":11783,"journal":{"name":"Engineering","volume":"76 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145216204","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EngineeringPub Date : 2025-10-03DOI: 10.1016/j.eng.2025.09.021
{"title":"Chinese Biotechnology Ascends to World Stage","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.eng.2025.09.021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eng.2025.09.021","url":null,"abstract":"No Abstract","PeriodicalId":11783,"journal":{"name":"Engineering","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145216119","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EngineeringPub Date : 2025-10-03DOI: 10.1016/j.eng.2025.09.019
{"title":"AI’s Talent for Translation Lowers Language Barriers","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.eng.2025.09.019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eng.2025.09.019","url":null,"abstract":"No Abstract","PeriodicalId":11783,"journal":{"name":"Engineering","volume":"28 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145216233","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EngineeringPub Date : 2025-10-01DOI: 10.1016/j.eng.2025.09.017
Jiangzhou Wang, Jiandong Li, Di Zhou
{"title":"Theory and Key Technologies in Space Internet Networking","authors":"Jiangzhou Wang, Jiandong Li, Di Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.eng.2025.09.017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eng.2025.09.017","url":null,"abstract":"<span><figure><span><img alt=\"\" height=\"175\" src=\"https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S209580992500582X-fx1.jpg\"/><ol><li><span><span>Download: <span>Download high-res image (112KB)</span></span></span></li><li><span><span>Download: <span>Download full-size image</span></span></span></li></ol></span></figure></span>","PeriodicalId":11783,"journal":{"name":"Engineering","volume":"71 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145195076","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EngineeringPub Date : 2025-09-30DOI: 10.1016/j.eng.2025.09.016
Tao Li, Benjamin Böhm, Andreas Dreizler
{"title":"Experimental Insights into Thermodiffusive Instabilities in Lean Hydrogen Combustion","authors":"Tao Li, Benjamin Böhm, Andreas Dreizler","doi":"10.1016/j.eng.2025.09.016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eng.2025.09.016","url":null,"abstract":"As a carbon-free carrier for renewable energies, hydrogen has the potential to contribute to the success of the energy transition. In addition to electrochemical applications, thermochemical applications will continue to play an important role in high-performance energy conversion such as advanced low-emission combustion systems. However, the combustion of hydrogen poses challenges due to its special thermophysical and reaction kinetic properties. Lean combustion is required to minimize primary nitrogen oxide (NO<em><sub>x</sub></em>) formation. This can lead to thermodiffusive instabilities that affect the internal structures of the reaction zone, the fuel consumption rate, the local equivalence ratios, and the local gas temperatures, thereby affecting primary NO<em><sub>x</sub></em> formation. The thermodiffusive instabilities have long been known and have been extensively described, primarily through theoretical studies and numerical simulations for simple combustion systems. However, their interaction with turbulence in practical combustion environments remains relatively unexplored, particularly in the context of complex, real-world technical applications. There are few experimental data quantifying the influence of thermodiffusive instabilities on the internal flame structure with respect to the turbulence level. Therefore, the aim of this review is to summarize recent experiments to quantitatively describe the interaction between thermodiffusive instabilities and turbulence. Combustion systems of increasing complexity are considered using laser-optical measurement techniques for elucidating local flame properties. While Raman/Rayleigh spectroscopy could be used to quantitatively resolve internal flame structures for unconfined combustion systems, this is not easily possible for enclosed systems under pressure. Instead, the extent to which the reaction zone is affected by thermodiffusive instabilities in interaction with the turbulent flow field is quantitatively assessed using information from laser-induced fluorescence measurements. Consistent with all configurations presented here, the ratio of diffusive to convective time scales plays a critical role in the significance of thermodiffusive instabilities.","PeriodicalId":11783,"journal":{"name":"Engineering","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145195077","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EngineeringPub Date : 2025-09-26DOI: 10.1016/j.eng.2025.09.015
{"title":"Funding Cuts Create Chaos in Global Health Programs","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.eng.2025.09.015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eng.2025.09.015","url":null,"abstract":"No Abstract","PeriodicalId":11783,"journal":{"name":"Engineering","volume":"19 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145140638","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}