ahmedabdelwahed/Medical_papers_title_and_abstract_NLP_dataset huggingface dataset:
A favorable path to domain separation in the orange carotenoid protein

The orange carotenoid protein (OCP) is responsible for nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ) in cyanobacteria, a defense mechanism against potentially damaging effects of excess light conditions. This soluble two-domain protein undergoes profound conformational changes upon photoactivation, involving translocation of the ketocarotenoid inside the cavity followed by domain separation. Domain separation is a critical step in the photocycle of OCP because it exposes the N-terminal domain (NTD) to perform quenching of the phycobilisomes. Many details regarding the mechanism and energetics of OCP domain separation remain unknown. In this work, we apply metadynamics to elucidate the protein rearrangements that lead to the active, domain-separated, form of OCP. We find that translocation of the ketocarotenoid canthaxanthin has a profound effect on the energetic landscape and that domain separation only becomes favorable following translocation. We further explore, characterize, and validate the free energy surface (FES) using equilibrium simulations initiated from different states on the FES. Through pathway optimization methods, we characterize the most probable path to domain separation and reveal the barriers along that pathway. We find that the free energy barriers are relatively small (<5 kcal/mol), but the overall estimated kinetic rate is consistent with experimental measurements (>1 ms). Overall, our results provide detailed information on the requirement for canthaxanthin translocation to precede domain separation and an energetically feasible pathway to dissociation.
Genetic parameters estimation for some wild wheat species and their F1 hybrids grown in different regions of Saudi Arabia

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is the most important crop for human nutrition that underpins the food safety of Saudi Arabia. The investigation here was to determine heterosis effects using different genetic methods: heterosis over better, mid parents, the genetic advance, and genotype, phenotypic coefficient of variation for estimation some traits among six wheat landraces and their F1 hybrids. In 2019, these landraces were sown using hand and after 100 days, the emasculation and crossing were made among these six landraces using hand emasculation of anthers. In 2020, seeds for these genotypes (six wheat landraces and their F1) were sown under normal irrigation accordingly done in 2019. The results showed that the most important parent was Mabia resulted with the highest value in number of tiller/ plant, 1,000-grain weight, and fresh shoot weight. The highest value of plant height among six parents was Naqra while highest value at the same trait among F1 hybrids was P3 XP6. The estimations of heterosis showed that out of 15 crosses, one cross (P1XP5) was significantly better yield than all crosses for these four traits. The genotype coefficient of variation (GCV) ranged from 12.5% to 8.7% while phenotypic coefficient of variation ranged from 17.7% to 11.3%. The correlation coefficients was found between fresh shoot weight and number of tiller and plant height and umber of tiller. Wild wheat still serve as a source of useful germplasm with proven adaption and productivity and thus assembles of the wild wheat assortments are the initial step of breeding program.
One-step hydrothermal synthesis of magnetic rice straw for effective lipase immobilization and its application in esterification reaction

Immobilization of industrially important enzymes on supports is important to decrease the cost of the overall enzymatic production procedure. Herein, a novel method for synthesizing a new support, magnetic rice straw (MRS) in one step is reported: rice straw (RS) was soaked with Fe2+ ions and these were further reduced to form embedded Fe2O3 nanoparticles on the RS surface, forming MRS. This material presented a magnetic saturation value of 27.32 emu g(-1). Lipase immobilization on MRS resulted in 94.3% immobilization efficiency and 91.3 mg g(-1) of enzyme loading, which are higher than immobilization on native RS. The lipase stability was increased approximately 8-fold at 70 degrees C. The lipase-MRS composite was tested in the esterification reaction of biodiesel production, where it showed prominent reusability. Therefore, this novel and rapid synthesis method can provide ecological and economic support for enzyme immobilization and industrially important product formation.
Assessment of COVID-19 Waste Flows During the Emergency State in Romania and Related Public Health and Environmental Concerns

This paper provides a rapid assessment method of potentially infectious waste flow related to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Romania focusing on the emergency state (from 16 March to 14 May 2020) where a national lockdown was in force with restrictive and social distancing measures concerning population mobility and economic activities. Medical and municipal waste management systems are critical services in combating the virus spread in the community. This assessment is useful due to poor available data of medical waste flow in environmental reports and it covers COVID-19 patients, quarantined, and self-isolated persons as the main potential infectious waste sources. The proposed model estimates that COVID-19 related waste flow is 4312 t at the national level from 25 February to 15 June of which 2633 t in the emergency state period. This assessment is correlated with deficiencies of medical and municipal waste management systems in Romania before the COVID-19 pandemic as stress factors of public health and environment. This study points out the main challenges of waste operators and reveals some best practices during this pandemic crisis. Based on the results and discussion section, several recommendations are proposed to COVID-19 waste-related issues and points out the crucial role of the reliable medical and municipal waste database in managing such biologic hazards at national and EU levels. Monitoring of COVID-19 waste flow through such models are important for decision-makers, particularly in low and middle-income countries which are facing waste management deficiencies and gaps in waste statistics, to reduce other contamination risks or related environmental threats.
COVID-19 Impacts and Recovery Strategies: The Case of the Hospitality Industry in Spain

The health crisis caused by the pandemic COVID-19 has been of such magnitude that the drop-off in economic and tourist activity in most countries is generating an economic crisis with consequences that are still difficult to measure. The present work analyses the origins and evolution of the coronavirus pandemic and reviews the literature related to the impacts and recovery strategies that were implemented in previous crisis situations affecting the hotel industry. In order to focus the study on one country, Spain was selected based on tourism indicators, the importance of tourism for this country and the importance of Spain as a leader in international tourist destinations. The influence of the pandemic on the Spanish tourism sector and, more specifically, on its hospitality industry is explored in depth. In addition, the main initiatives to support the tourism and hospitality sector that have been undertaken at the global, European and national levels are highlighted and, finally, the response and recovery strategies of the five largest Spanish hotel chains to guarantee a COVID-19-free stay in their facilities and to recover the accommodation activity are discussed.
Indoleamine 2,3-Dioxygenase-1 Expression is Changed During Bladder Cancer Cell Invasion

The severity of the bladder carcinoma (BC) is directly linked to cell invasion and metastasis. Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-1 (IDO-1) is an INF-γ-induced immunomodulating enzyme that has been linked to the cancer cell invasiveness. Because IDO1 is variable among the tumors, we analyzed its expression in the BC invasion using BC mice models and cell culture. MB49 cells were orthotopically or ectopically inoculated in C57Bl6 mice to evaluate IDO1 by immunohistochemistry. For in vitro experiments, expression of IDO1 and INF-γ was evaluated in grade-1 (RT4) and in grade-3 (T24) BC cell lines. Invading and non-invading T24 cells were separated using the Matrigel/Transwell system, of which total RNA was extracted immediately or after 2 weeks of subculture. Finally, IDO1 was silenced in T24 cells to verify its role on cell invasiveness. In both animal models, IDO1 was differentially expressed between non-invading and invading cells. In cell culture, T24 cells expressed more IDO1 than RT4 cells, independently of the INF-γ expression. IDO1 was differentially expressed between non-invading and invading T24 cells, a difference that was lost by long-time subculture. IDO1 silencing resulted in diminished cell invasiveness. In conclusion, IDO1 expression is changed during bladder carcinoma invasion, playing an important role in this process.
Simultaneous Ammonium oxidation denitrifying (SAD) in an innovative three-stage process for energy-efficient mature landfill leachate treatment with external sludge reduction

High-loaded ammonia and low-strength organics mature landfill leachate is not effectively treated by conventional biological processes. Herein, an innovative solution was proposed using a three-stage Simultaneous Ammonium oxidation Denitrifying (SAD) process. Firstly, ammonia (1760 +/- 126 mg N/L) in wastewater was oxidized to nitrite in a partial nitrification sequencing batch reactor (PN-SBR). Next, 93% PN-SBR effluent and concentrated external waste activated sludge (WAS; MISS = 23057 +/- 6014 mg/L) were introduced to an anoxic reactor for integrated fermentation and denitrification (IFD-SBR). Finally, ammonia (101.4 +/- 13.8 mg N/L) released by fermentation in the IFD-SBR and residual 7% nitrite in the PNSBR were removed through the anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) process in the SAD up-flow anaerobic sludge bed (SAD-UASB). In addition, NO3--N generation during the anammox process could be reduced to nitrite by partial denitrification (PD) and reused as substrate for anammox. A satisfactory total nitrogen (TN) removal efficiency (98.3%), external sludge reduction rate (2.5 kg/m(3) d) and effluent TN concentration (16.7 mg/L) were achieved after long-term operation (280 days). The IFD-SBR and SADUASB contributed to 81.9% and 123% nitrogen removal, respectively. Microbial analysis showed that anammox bacteria (1.5% Candidatus Brocadia) cooperated well with partial denitrifying bacteria (4.3% Thauera) in SAD-UASB, and average nitrogen removal contribution were 83.1% during significant stability of anammox and 9.2% during the denitrification process, respectively. The three-stage SAD process provides an environmental and economic approach for landfill leachate treatment since it has the advantage of 25.4% less oxygen, 100% organic matter savings and 47.9% less external sludge than traditional biological processes. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Current state and barriers to the circular economy in the building sector: Towards a mitigation framework

The building sector is amongst the major resource consuming and waste generating sectors of the economy. The paradigm of the circular economy has the potential to overcome the problems resulted due to adoption of the linear economic model by the building sector. The circular economy offers a new perspective for industrial ecosystems including materials and products being fed back into the supply chain as resources, thereby resulting in reduced consumption of primary resources and waste generation. The research on circular economy increased rapidly during recent years; however, a research gap exists on the assessment of current state and barriers to the circular economy in the building sector of developing countries. This study has developed and used a circular economy assessment scale for the building sector of developing countries. It is found that the current state of circular economy implementation in the building sector is unsatisfactory. Out of the seven circular economy dimensions used for analysis, the energy dimension showed the best performance and the waste dimension showed the worst performance. Serious steps are required by all the stakeholders of the building sector to improve the adoption of the circular economy. Furthermore, interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and matrice d'Impacts croises-multipication applique an classment (MICMAC) techniques are used to identify and classify the key barriers to the circular economy. It is found that a lack of environmental regulations and laws is driving the rest of the barriers to the circular economy. Equally critical is the lack of public awareness and support from public institutions. Finally, a mitigation framework for the building sector of developing countries is proposed, which is an addition to the circular economy existing body of knowledge. The proposed framework could serve as a guideline for decision and policymakers. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Post-conflict development, reviewing the water sector in Somalia

Somali post-conflict development faces many challenges that affect the sustainability of the water sector. This paper reviews and analyses the post-conflict development activities in the water sector through local communications and reviewing published materials and databases from international players in Somalia, funding agencies and financial tracking service. The paper has shown that there has been great attention and support given to the country during its post-conflict development. However, most of these initiatives and projects have focused on emerging issues such as tackling food security and water, sanitation and hygiene services. The paper also shows that the continuous funding of emerging issues in Somalia has reduced its long-term sustainability of the water sector and limited its national and long-term benefits but has increased corruption due to increase the gap between actors and local people. Therefore, new transparent cooperative initiatives are needed based on transparent involvement and coordination among donors, local authorities and implementers to improve and develop the water sector and the livelihood in Somalia through a solid water governance system.
Environmental implications of increased US oil production and liberal growth agenda in post -Paris Agreement era

Contextualising on the internationally low oil prices era and historically high oil production in USA and refusal to honour the commitments under Paris Agreement (COP: 21), this study investigates the role of education, oil prices and natural resources on energy demand and CO2 emissions in the USA for the period of 1976-2016. In so doing, we employed a bounds testing approach to cointegration accounting for structural breaks in the series. Key findings suggest the presence of a long-run association between underlying variables. The abundance of natural resources and economic growth of the US economy seem to weigh on environmental quality by increasing energy consumption and carbon emissions. Oil prices show a negative association with energy consumption as well as carbon emissions suggesting that a low oil prices regime can lead to an increase in carbon emissions and energy consumption. Interestingly, education seems to play an important role by reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions, resultantly improving the US environmental quality. Our findings have profound environmental implications in terms of efforts to tackle climate change and meeting the Paris agreement (COP: 21) ambitions with reality and USA policy stance.
System design and feasibility of trigeneration systems with hybrid photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) collectors for zero energy office buildings in different climates

Zero or plus energy office buildings must have very high building standards and require highly efficient energy supply systems due to space limitations for renewable installations. Conventional solar cooling systems use photovoltaic electricity or thermal energy to run either a compression-cooling machine or an absorption-cooling machine in order to produce cooling energy during daytime, while they use electricity from the grid for the nightly cooling energy demand. With a hybrid photovoltaic-thermal collector, electricity as well as thermal energy can be produced at the same time. These collectors can produce also cooling energy at nighttime by long-wave radiation exchange with the night sky and convection losses to the ambient air. Such a renewable trigeneration system offers new fields of applications. However, the technical, ecological and economical aspects of such systems are still largely unexplored. In this work, the potential of a PVT system to heat and cool office buildings in three different climate zones is investigated. In the investigated system, PVT collectors act as a heat source and heat sink for a reversible heat pump. Due to the reduced electricity consumption (from the grid) for heat rejection, the overall efficiency and economics improve compared to a conventional solar cooling system using a reversible air-to-water heat pump as heat and cold source. A parametric simulation study was carried out to evaluate the system design with different PVT surface areas and storage tank volumes to optimize the system for three different climate zones and for two different building standards. It is shown such a systems are technically feasible today. With a maximum utilization of PV electricity for heating, ventilation, air conditioning and other electricity demand such as lighting and plug loads, high solar fractions and primary energy savings can be achieved. Annual costs for such a system are comparable to conventional solar thermal and solar electrical cooling systems. Nevertheless, the economic feasibility strongly depends on country specific energy prices and energy policy. However, even in countries without compensation schemes for energy produced by renewables, this system can still be economically viable today. It could be shown, that a specific system dimensioning can be found at each of the investigated locations worldwide for a valuable economic and ecological operation of an office building with PVT technologies in different system designs.
Current views in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease pathogenesis and management

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive lung dysfunction caused mainly by inhaling toxic particles and cigarette smoking (CS). The continuous exposure to ruinous molecules can lead to abnormal inflammatory responses, permanent damages to the respiratory system, and irreversible pathological changes. Other factors, such as genetics and aging, influence the development of COPD. In the last decade, accumulating evidence suggested that mitochondrial alteration, including mitochondrial DNA damage, increased mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS), abnormal autophagy, and apoptosis, have been implicated in the pathogenesis of COPD. The alteration can also extend to epigenetics, namely DNA methylation, histone modification, and non-coding RNA. This review will discuss the recent progressions in COPD pathology, pathophysiology, and molecular pathways. More focus will be shed on mitochondrial and epigenetic variations related to COPD development and the role of nanomedicine as a potential tool for the prevention and treatment of this disease.
Leakage detection techniques for oil and gas pipelines: State-of-the-art

The leakage of oil and gas pipelines may cause significant safety accidents and economic losses. In order to reduce the probability of pipeline failure, leak detection of pipelines is an effective measure. This paper introduces the existing detection methods that can be used in oil and gas pipelines, and analyzes their advantages, limitations, applicable occasions, and performance, so as to provide the reference for the selection of oil and gas pipeline detection technology in engineering. Moreover, this paper summarizes and classifies the existing standards for oil and gas pipeline leakage detection and analyzes the future development direction.
Understanding global PM2.5 concentrations and their drivers in recent decades (1998-2016)

The threat of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is increasing globally. Tackling this issue requires an accurate understanding of its trends and drivers. In this study, global risk regions of PM2.5 concentrations during 1998-2016 were spatiotemporally derived. Time series analysis was conducted in the spatial relationship between PM2.5 and three socio-environmental drivers: population, urban ratio, and vegetation greenness that can cause changes in the concentration of PM2.5. "High Risk" areas were widely distributed in India and China. In India and sub-Saharan Africa, the increased overall population was strongly correlated with PM2.5 concentrations. Urban ratio increased in both developed and developing countries. A "decoupling" phenomenon occurred in developed countries, where urban expansion continued while PM2.5 concentrations decreased. Vegetation greenness and PM2.5 were strongly correlated in High Risk zones. Although urban expansion and population growth generally reduce vegetation greenness, developed countries reduced PM2.5 while maintaining greenness, whereas developing countries increased PM2.5 with decreasing greenness significantly in High Risk regions. Ultimately, economic and national growth should occur without increasing PM2.5 concentrations. Recent cases from Europe and the eastern United States demonstrate that this is possible, depending on the development pathway.
Effects of two training programs on health variables in adults with chronic low back pain: a randomized clinical trial

Aim: To analyze the effects of two training programs on health variables in adults with low back pain (LBP). Methods: Thirty-eight adults were randomly divided into three groups: resistance training (RG); resistance training with core training (RCG) and control (CG). Results: There were reductions in body mass index (BMI) in RG and RCG, waist circumference in RG and RCG, pain in RG, RCG and CG, CK in RCG, stress in RG and RCG, functional deficiency in RG and RCG and increases in trunk flexor and extensor strength in the RG and RCG. Conclusion: Resistance training, with or without core training exercises, reduced the levels of LBP, functional disability, stress and CK, and increased the strength of trunk flexors and extensors. Trial registration: Brazilian Clinical Trials Registry: ReBEC (RBR-5khzxz).
Economic and environmental assessment of solar-wind-biomass hybrid renewable energy system supplying rural settlement load

Hybrid renewable energy systems are becoming a popular option for rural electrification due to environmental impacts caused by fossil fuels like coal and oil. Iran is a developing country with many renewable energy sources, but most Iranian power plants use non-renewable resources to generate electricity. This study aims to present a hybrid renewable energy system consisting of photovoltaic panels, wind turbines, and biogas generator for rural electrification in Fars province, Iran. The utilization of this off-grid system prevents the development of fossil fuel power plants and CO2 emissions. The optimization problem is solved using the HOMER Pro software, and sensitivity analyses obtain optimal system configurations on input biomass rate, biomass price, and inflation rate parameters. The inflation rate and biomass price are directly related to the cost of electricity (COE). The results show that the COE in optimal systems ranges from 0.128 to $0.223/kW h. Increasing the biomass price from 20 to $60/ton reduces the biogas generator's power generation by at least 86%. The most optimal economic system involves a biogas generator (150 kW), photovoltaic panels (80.7 kW), batteries, and converter. The environmental assessment indicates that CO2 emissions from proposed hybrid renewable energy systems are negligible compared to a coal-based power plant and the grid. Reducing CO2 in the presented approach can save more than $8000 a year.