Medical molecular farming: production of antibodies, biopharmaceuticals and edible vaccines in plants
H. Daniell, S. Streatfield, K. Wycoff
The use of plants for medicinal purposes dates back thousands of years but genetic engineering of plants to produce desired biopharmaceuticals is much more recent. As the demand for biopharmaceuticals is expected to increase, it would be wise to ensure that they will be available in significantly larger amounts, on a cost-effective basis. Currently, the cost of biopharmaceuticals limits their availability. Plant-derived biopharmaceuticals are cheap to produce and store, easy to scale up for mass production, and safer than those derived from animals. Here, we discuss recent developments in this field and possible environmental concerns.
791 sitasi
en
Medicine, Biology
Advanced carbon aerogels for energy applications
J. Biener, M. Stadermann, M. Suss
et al.
606 sitasi
en
Materials Science
Encyclopedia of bioprocess technology : fermentation, biocatalysis, and bioseparation
M. Flickinger, S. Drew
736 sitasi
en
Engineering
Recent development in graphitic carbon nitride based photocatalysis for hydrogen generation
Muhammad Salman Nasir, Guorui Yang, Iqra Ayub
et al.
Abstract The future energy crisis and environmental degradation can only mitigate by harvesting solar energy into renewable, safe, economical and clean technology like water splitting. The graphitic carbon nitride has an attractive band structure, good chemical stability, earth-abundant and significantly easily fabricated which makes an application for the generation of hydrogen by water splitting. In this paper, we try to critically focus on the current progress and future development of the different strategies of water splitting using graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) for hydrogen generation. In this context, we discuss recent strategies like metal and non-metal doping (electronic structure), morphology tuning (geometric structuring), use of mediators (Z-scheme technology), defects engineering, plasmonic materials, dye-sensitization, perovskite oxides, carbon nitrides, carbon dots, metal organic framework, and a bimetallic cocatalyst. Finally, we summarize the recent advances and future developments of g-C3N4 bases photocatalysis.
277 sitasi
en
Materials Science
Smart polymers: Physical forms and bioengineering applications
Ashok Kumar, A. Srivastava, I. Galaev
et al.
659 sitasi
en
Materials Science
Recent Advances on Challenges and Strategies of Manganese Dioxide Cathodes for Aqueous Zinc‐Ion Batteries
Yuhui Xu, Gaini Zhang, Jingqian Liu
et al.
Aqueous zinc‐ion batteries (AZIBs) are regarded as promising electrochemical energy storage devices owing to its low cost, intrinsic safety, abundant zinc reserves, and ideal specific capacity. Compared with other cathode materials, manganese dioxide with high voltage, environmental protection, and high theoretical specific capacity receives considerable attention. However, the problems of structural instability, manganese dissolution, and poor electrical conductivity make the exploration of high‐performance manganese dioxide still a great challenge and impede its practical applications. Besides, zinc storage mechanisms involved are complex and somewhat controversial. To address these issues, tremendous efforts, such as surface engineering, heteroatoms doping, defect engineering, electrolyte modification, and some advanced characterization technologies, have been devoted to improving its electrochemical performance and illustrating zinc storage mechanism. In this review, we particularly focus on the classification of manganese dioxide based on crystal structures, zinc ions storage mechanisms, the existing challenges, and corresponding optimization strategies as well as structure–performance relationship. In the final section, the application perspectives of manganese oxide cathode materials in AZIBs are prospected.
Physiological and molecular approaches to improve drought resistance in soybean.
L. P. Manavalan, Satish K. Guttikonda, L. Tran
et al.
580 sitasi
en
Medicine, Biology
Spectral Bath Engineering for Quantum-Enhanced Agrivoltaics: Advancing Efficiency and Environmental Sustainability via Non-Markovian Dynamics
Steve Cabrel Teguia Kouam, Theodore Goumai Vedekoi, Jean-Pierre Tchapet Njafa
et al.
As global demand for food and clean energy intensifies, agrivoltaic systems have emerged as a vital solution for land-use optimization. However, current designs overwhelmingly treat incident light as a classical photon flux, overlooking the quantum mechanical nature of photosynthetic energy transfer. We introduce spectral bath engineering-the strategic spectral filtering of sunlight through semi-transparent organic photovoltaic (OPV) panels to exploit non-Markovian quantum coherence in biological light-harvesting. Using Process Tensor HOPS (PT-HOPS) and Spectrally Bundled Dissipators (SBD) to simulate the Fenna-Matthews-Olson complex, we demonstrate that selective filtering at vibronic resonance wavelengths (750nm and 820nm) enhances the electron transport rate (ETR) by 25% relative to standard Markovian models. This quantum advantage is driven by vibronic resonance-assisted transport, which extends coherence lifetimes by 20% to 50% and nearly doubles pairwise concurrence (89%). Multi-objective Pareto optimization identifies OPV configurations reaching 18.8% power conversion efficiency while sustaining an 80.5% system ETR, potentially generating an additional USD 470 to 3000 $ha^{-1}$$yr^{-1}$ in revenue. Environmental simulations across nine climate zones, including sub-Saharan Africa, confirm persistent ETR enhancements of 18% to 24%. Finally, eco-design analysis using quantum reactivity descriptors ensures that these technological gains are achieved using sustainable, biodegradable materials. By bridging quantum biology and renewable energy engineering, this work provides a quantitative blueprint for next-generation agrivoltaic materials that co-optimize agricultural productivity and energy yield.
Recent advances in biochar technology for textile dyes wastewater remediation: A review.
Shubham Sutar, P. Patil, J. Jadhav
With the continuous rise of industrialization and agriculture, the concentration of organic contaminants such as dyes in the ecosystem has increased in subsequent years, causing major environmental contamination. Adsorption has been revealed to be a reliable and cost-effective way of eliminating organic pollutants. Biochar technology has the potential of converting trash into treasure when utilized for environmental remediation since it has numerous benefits such as the availability of diverse types of raw materials, low cost, and reusability. The potential of biochar as an adsorbent, support for catalysis, and a composite catalyst for dye degradation and mineralization is summarized in this research. It discusses its current research status in the adsorption and degradation of various dyes, incorporates the pertinent adsorption variables, encapsulates its regeneration techniques, investigates its engineering applications, and finally analyses limitations and discusses future development prospects.
High‐Performance Biodegradable/Transient Electronics on Biodegradable Polymers
Suk-Won Hwang, Jun‐Kyul Song, Xian Huang
et al.
395 sitasi
en
Materials Science, Medicine
Self-healing in cementitious materials: Materials, methods and service conditions
Haoliang Huang, G. Ye, C. Qian
et al.
324 sitasi
en
Materials Science
Dislocation Engineering: A New Key to Enhancing Ceramic Performances
Haoxuan Wang, Yifan Wang, Xu Liang
et al.
Dislocations are line defects in crystalline solids and often exert a significant influence on the mechanical properties of metals. Recently, there has been a growing interest in using dislocations in ceramics to enhance materials performance. However, dislocation engineering has frequently been deemed uncommon in ceramics owing to the brittle nature of ceramics. Contradicting this conventional view, various approaches have been used to introduce dislocations into ceramic materials without crack formation, thereby paving the way for controlled ceramics performance. However, the influence of dislocations on functional properties is equally complicated owing to the intricate structure of ceramic materials. Furthermore, despite numerous experiments and simulations investigating dislocation-controlled properties in ceramics, comprehensive reviews summarizing the effects of dislocations on ceramics are still lacking. This review focuses on some representative dislocation-controlled properties of ceramic materials, including mechanical and some key functional properties, such as transport, ferroelectricity, thermal conductivity, and superconducting properties. A brief integration of dislocations in ceramic is anticipated to offer new insights for the advancement of dislocation engineering across various disciplines.
en
cond-mat.mtrl-sci, physics.app-ph
Prompt engineering and its implications on the energy consumption of Large Language Models
Riccardo Rubei, Aicha Moussaid, Claudio di Sipio
et al.
Reducing the environmental impact of AI-based software systems has become critical. The intensive use of large language models (LLMs) in software engineering poses severe challenges regarding computational resources, data centers, and carbon emissions. In this paper, we investigate how prompt engineering techniques (PETs) can impact the carbon emission of the Llama 3 model for the code generation task. We experimented with the CodeXGLUE benchmark to evaluate both energy consumption and the accuracy of the generated code using an isolated testing environment. Our initial results show that the energy consumption of LLMs can be reduced by using specific tags that distinguish different prompt parts. Even though a more in-depth evaluation is needed to confirm our findings, this work suggests that prompt engineering can reduce LLMs' energy consumption during the inference phase without compromising performance, paving the way for further investigations.
Dialogue Systems Engineering: A Survey and Future Directions
Mikio Nakano, Hironori Takeuchi, Sadahiro Yoshikawa
et al.
This paper proposes to refer to the field of software engineering related to the life cycle of dialogue systems as Dialogue Systems Engineering, and surveys this field while also discussing its future directions. With the advancement of large language models, the core technologies underlying dialogue systems have significantly progressed. As a result, dialogue system technology is now expected to be applied to solving various societal issues and in business contexts. To achieve this, it is important to build, operate, and continuously improve dialogue systems correctly and efficiently. Accordingly, in addition to applying existing software engineering knowledge, it is becoming increasingly important to evolve software engineering tailored specifically to dialogue systems. In this paper, we enumerate the knowledge areas of dialogue systems engineering based on those of software engineering, as defined in the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK) Version 4.0, and survey each area. Based on this survey, we identify unexplored topics in each area and discuss the future direction of dialogue systems engineering.
Light-Driven Optimization of Exopolysaccharide and Indole-3-Acetic Acid Production in Thermotolerant Cyanobacteria
Antonio Zuorro, Roberto Lavecchia, Karen A. Moncada-Jacome
et al.
Cyanobacteria are a prolific source of bioactive metabolites with expanding applications in sustainable agriculture and biotechnology. This work explores, for the first time in thermotolerant Colombian isolates, the impact of light spectrum, photoperiod, and irradiance on the co-production of exopolysaccharides (EPS) and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Six strains from hot-spring environments were screened under varying blue:red (B:R) LED ratios and full-spectrum illumination. <i>Hapalosiphon</i> sp. UFPS_002 outperformed all others, reaching ~290 mg L<sup>−1</sup> EPS and 28 µg mL<sup>−1</sup> IAA in the initial screen. Response-surface methodology was then used to optimize light intensity and photoperiod. EPS peaked at 281.4 mg L<sup>−1</sup> under a B:R ratio of 1:5 LED, 85 µmol m<sup>−2</sup> s<sup>−1</sup>, and a 14.5 h light cycle, whereas IAA was maximized at 34.4 µg mL<sup>−1</sup> under cool-white LEDs at a similar irradiance. The quadratic models exhibited excellent predictive power (R<sup>2</sup> > 0.98) and a non-significant lack of fit, confirming the light regime as the dominant driver of metabolite yield. These results demonstrate that precise photonic tuning can selectively steer carbon flux toward either EPS or IAA, providing an energy-efficient strategy to upscale thermotolerant cyanobacteria for climate-resilient biofertilizers, bioplastics precursors, and other high-value bioproducts.
Engineering a sustainable world by enhancing the scope of systems of systems engineering and mastering dynamics
Rasmus Adler, Frank Elberzhager, Florian Balduf
Engineering a sustainable world requires to consider various systems that interact with each other. These systems include ecological systems, economical systems, social systems and tech-nical systems. They are loosely coupled, geographically distributed, evolve permanently and generate emergent behavior. As these are characteristics of systems of systems (SoS), we discuss the engi-neering of a sustainable world from a SoS engineering perspective. We studied SoS engineering in context of a research project, which aims at political recommendations and a research roadmap for engineering dynamic SoS. The project included an exhaustive literature review, interviews and work-shops with representatives from industry and academia from different application domains. Based on these results and observations, we will discuss how suitable the current state-of-the-art in SoS engi-neering is in order to engineer sustainability. Sustainability was a major driver for SoS engineering in all domains, but we argue that the current scope of SoS engineering is too limited in order to engineer sustainability. Further, we argue that mastering dynamics in this larger scope is essential to engineer sustainability and that this is accompanied by dynamic adaptation of technological SoS.
Towards Environmentally Equitable AI
Mohammad Hajiesmaili, Shaolei Ren, Ramesh K. Sitaraman
et al.
The skyrocketing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) has created an enormous appetite for globally deployed power-hungry servers. As a result, the environmental footprint of AI systems has come under increasing scrutiny. More crucially, the current way that we exploit AI workloads' flexibility and manage AI systems can lead to wildly different environmental impacts across locations, increasingly raising environmental inequity concerns and creating unintended sociotechnical consequences. In this paper, we advocate environmental equity as a priority for the management of future AI systems, advancing the boundaries of existing resource management for sustainable AI and also adding a unique dimension to AI fairness. Concretely, we uncover the potential of equity-aware geographical load balancing to fairly re-distribute the environmental cost across different regions, followed by algorithmic challenges. We conclude by discussing a few future directions to exploit the full potential of system management approaches to mitigate AI's environmental inequity.
A review of hybrid solar desalination systems: structure and performance
Mohammed A. Alghassab
The purpose of this study is to explore the architecture and functioning of hybrid solar desalination systems and investigate their potential as a sustainable solution for water purification. The study reveals that solar-powered desalination systems offer a remarkable alternative to traditional methods, as they rely on clean solar energy and produce no noise or sound pollution. In addition, they have demonstrated cost-effectiveness in generating drinking water, especially in desert regions and inaccessible areas. Furthermore, the research highlights the significance of incorporating waste heat energy into the desalination process. Also shows that utilizing waste heat energy can significantly reduce expenses and enhance the overall effectiveness of water desalination. Through an in-depth analysis of the fundamental principles and real-world applications, this study underscores the importance and rationale for implementing hybrid solar desalination systems. By effectively utilizing solar energy, these systems provide a sustainable approach to address water scarcity and ensure the efficient management of water and energy resources. This study emphasizes the fundamental importance of the structure of hybrid solar desalination systems fueled by solar energy in the efficient management of water resources. By combining technological innovations with renewable energy sources, these systems pave the way for a sustainable future.
HIGHLIGHTS
Hybrid solar desalination systems, which rely on solar energy as their major power source for purifying water.;
This review paper explores the architecture and functioning of hybrid solar desalination systems.;
This review paper emphasizes the significance and rationale for utilizing hybrid solar desalination systems that rely on solar energy to efficiently handle water and energy resources.;
Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering
Integrated miRNA-mRNA analysis uncovers immediate-early response to salinity stress in gill-derived cell line of Gymnocypris przewalskii
Fulei Wei, Xianzhi Zuo, Faxin Jin
et al.
Abstract Salinity adaptation is an important issue in aquaculture. Understanding the immediate-early response to salinity stress helps in comprehending this process. In vitro experiments using cell lines can explain cell-independent reactions without the involvement of hormones in vivo. In this study, salinity stress experiments were conducted using cell line derived from the gills of Gymnocypris przewalskii (GPG cell line) to isolate immediate-early response-related genes and miRNAs using transcriptomics, followed by bioinformatics analysis. The results showed that intracellular free Ca2+ appeared to be a key factor in cell sensing and initiating downstream cell signaling in response to external salinity. Additionally, cell apoptosis was the most common feature of salinity stress, with multiple signaling pathways involved in salinity-induced cell apoptosis. Furthermore, MiRNAs played a crucial role in the rapid response to salinity stress by selectively inhibiting the expression of specific genes. Additionally, for the first time in the G. przewalskii genome, Tf2 and TY3 families of transposons were found to have responsive roles to the external salinity stress. This study contributes to a better understanding of osmotic sensing in G. przewalskii and provides theoretical assistance for improving salinity adaptation in aquaculture fish species.
Catchment response to climate change under CMIP6 scenarios: a case study of the Krishna River Basin
Suram Anil, Anand Raj P, Vamsi Krishna Vema
This study assessed the impacts of climate change on the water balance of the Krishna River Basin (KRB) in India. A frequency-based metric, known as symmetric uncertainty, was used to select the top 50% of global climate models (GCMs) from a pool of 18 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) GCMs for hydrological modelling. The impact of climate change was projected for three future time frames, namely, near future (NF: 2026–2050), mid-future (MF: 2051–2075) and far future (FF: 2076–2100), using four scenarios from shared socio-economic pathways (SSPs): SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, SSP3-7.0, and SSP5-8.5. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool model was used to simulate climate change impact during historical and future periods in the basin. The results showed a significant increase in the annual average precipitation, surface runoff, water yield and streamflow in the future under all SSP scenarios. The increase in the projected annual average precipitation ranges from 12 to 54% for four SSP scenarios compared to the historical ensemble average. Future periods showed a shift in the monthly peak flows compared to the baseline period. More availability of water in the future in the KRB can be effectively used for various water management works.
HIGHLIGHTS
The impact of climate change on the water balance of the Krishna River Basin was assessed using CMIP6-based climate models.;
The symmetric uncertainty concept was used to screen the 50% suitable GCMs from a pool of CMIP6 climate models.;
High values of NSE and R2 at different gauging locations across the KRB suggested that the SWAT model is spatially performing well.;
The uncertainty bounds of simulated water balance components were estimated to understand the behaviour of selected GCMs.;
Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering, Environmental sciences