ahmedabdelwahed/Medical_papers_title_and_abstract_NLP_dataset huggingface dataset:
Pharmacophore screening to identify natural origin compounds to target RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) of SARS-CoV2

Several existing drugs have gained initial consideration due to their therapeutic characteristics against COVID-19 (Corona Virus Disease 2019). Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) was proposed as possible therapy for shortening the duration of COVID-19, but soon after this, it was discarded. Similarly, known antiviral compounds were also proposed and investigated to treat COVID-19. We report a pharmacophore screening using essential chemical groups derived from HCQ and known antivirals to search a natural compound chemical space. Molecular docking of HCQ under physiological condition with spike protein, 3C-like protease (3CLpro), and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) of SARS-CoV2 showed - 8.52 kcal/mole binding score with RdRp, while the other two proteins showed relatively weaker binding affinity. Docked complex of RdRp-HCQ is further examined using 100 ns molecular dynamic simulation. Docking and simulation study confirmed active chemical moieties of HCQ, treated as 6-point pharmacophore to screen ZINC natural compound database. Pharmacophore screening resulted in the identification of potent hit molecule [(3S,3aR,6R,6aS)-3-(5-phenylsulfanyltetrazol-1-yl)-2,3,3a,5,6,6a-hexahydrofuro[3,2-b]furan-6-yl]N-naphthalen-ylcarbamate from natural compound library. Additionally, a set of antiviral compounds with similar chemical scaffolds are also used to design a separate ligand-based pharmacophore screening. Antiviral pharmacophore screening produced a potent hit 4-[(1,5-dimethyl-3-oxo-2-phenylpyrazol-4-yl)-(2-hydroxyphenyl)methyl]-1,5-dimethyl-2-phenylpyrazol-3-one containing essential moieties that showed affinity towards RdRp. Further, both these screened compounds are docked (- 8.69 and - 8.86 kcal/mol) and simulated with RdRp protein for 100 ns in explicit solvent medium. They bind at the active site of RdRp and form direct/indirect interaction with ASP618, ASP760, and ASP761 catalytic residues of the protein. Successively, their molecular mechanics Poisson Boltzmann surface area (MMPBSA) binding energies are calculated over the simulation trajectory to determine the dynamic atomistic interaction details. Overall, this study proposes two key natural chemical moieties: (a) tetrazol and (b) phenylpyrazol that can be investigated as a potential chemical group to design inhibitors against SARS-CoV2 RdRp.
GAK and PRKCD kinases regulate basal mitophagy

The removal of mitochondria in a programmed or stress-induced manner is essential for maintaining cellular homeostasis. To date, much research has focused upon stress-induced mitophagy that is largely regulated by the E3 ligase PRKN, with limited insight into the mechanisms regulating basal "housekeeping" mitophagy levels in different model organisms. Using iron chelation as an inducer of PRKN-independent mitophagy, we recently screened an siRNA library of lipid-binding proteins and determined that two kinases, GAK and PRKCD, act as positive regulators of PRKN-independent mitophagy. We demonstrate that PRKCD is localized to mitochondria and regulates recruitment of ULK1-ATG13 upon induction of mitophagy. GAK activity, by contrast, modifies the mitochondrial network and lysosomal morphology that compromise efficient transport of mitochondria for degradation. Impairment of either kinase in vivo blocks basal mitophagy, demonstrating the biological relevance of our findings.Abbreviations: CCCP: carbonyl cyanide-m-chlorophenyl hydrazone; DFP: deferiprone; GAK: cyclin G associated kinase; HIF1A: hypoxia inducible factor 1 subunit alpha; PRKC/PKC: protein kinase C; PRKCD: protein kinase C delta; PRKN: parkin RBR E3 ubiquitin protein ligase.
Death by waste: Fashion and textile circular economy case

In a circular economy model the way we use the textiles needs to change at a fundamental level. A circular economy is an alternative to a traditional economy (fabrication, use and dispose) in which we keep resources in a loop for as much time as possible, try to maintain their value while in use, and repurpose for generation of new products at the end of utilization. The value of the global fashion industry is 3000 Billion dollars that accounts for more than 2% of the world's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (https://fashionunited.corn/global-fash ion-industry-statistics/). In the last two decades not only the textile industry has doubled the production but also an average global annual consumption of textiles has doubled from 7 to 13 kg per person and reached to the threshold of 100 million tonnes of textiles consumption. More than two thirds of the textile goes to landfill at the end of their use and just around 15% is recycled. Various scientific studies confirm that the disposal nature of fast fashion and throwaway culture is resulting in a serious environmental, health, social and economic concern. One of the global environmental challenges arising from micro-plastic and micro-textile waste entering into the oceans that can end up in fish and eventually food chain. Herein, through a systematic literature review, the significance of circular fashion and textile is highlighted and various approaches for reuse, recycle and repurposing of the textiles waste as well as disruptive scientific breakthroughs, innovations and strategies towards a circular textile economy have been discussed. Looking into the future, remarks have been made in regards to tackling the key challenges in recycling of textile materials in different stages of their manufacturing process. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
A causal municipal solid waste management model for sustainable cities in Vietnam under uncertainty: A comparison

There are existing inadequate and ineffective practices that are not only common in Vietnam but also explicit in each municipal area. This study compares the municipal solid waste management attributes of cities in Vietnam under uncertainty. The uncertainties include the interrelationships among the attributes, linguistic preferences and qualitative information on the attributes. This study applies exploratory factor analysis to test the validity and reliability of the proposed attributes. Fuzzy set theory is used to translate the linguistic references into the qualitative attributes of municipal solid waste management. The decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory is used to address the interrelationships among the attributes. This study identifies the causal interrelationships among attributes using qualitative information, and a set of 14 attributes is defined and found to be valid and reliable for measurement. The results show that technical integration and social acceptability are the aspects that drive municipal solid waste management. Treatment innovations, safety and health, economic benefits, and technology functionality and appropriateness are determined to be the linkage criteria. The distinctions between cities are identified, Hanoi focuses on the institutional and organizational administration framework, whereas resource efficiency is an aspect of specific concern in Danang, and Ho Chi Minh City prioritized financial and operational requirements and facilities and infrastructure requirements. The implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Assessing agricultural eco-efficiency in Italian Regions

Agriculture plays a key role in providing a wide range of ecosystem services, such as food, feed, fiber and biofuel, thus taking part in the economic development of countries. On the other hand, this sector also gives rise to negative externalities. The eco-efficiency has been considered as a meaningful index for assessing how efficient economic activities are in terms of resource-use and environmental pressures: measuring eco-efficiency provides policy makers with important information for developing policies focused on sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources in the agricultural sector. In this context, sustainable development is now one of the most important objectives of the European Union Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) that has a key role in facing the challenges of the new paradigm of sustainability of agriculture. In this direction, the aim of this paper is to evaluate the eco-efficiency of the Italian agricultural sector, as an index useful for emphasizing the differences among some national geographical areas. This paper tries to fill the lack of scientific studies on agricultural eco-efficiency in Italy, despite the strategic role played by Italy in Europe. For this purpose, the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methodology was used, focusing on the integration between agricultural productivity and resource conservation, in order to develop a support tool for policy makers and managers. The analysis had shown a better orientation in saving resources for the Southern Regions and a greater orientation in productivity for the Northern Regions. Overall, Italy seems to have a good capacity for sustainable management of agricultural resources although there is still space for improvement. In this regard, the measurement of eco-efficiency provides a useful index for policy makers to achieve better performances in terms of agricultural sustainability. This means that CAP subsidies should be granted in exchange for specific environmental externalities provided by farmers as a result of more ecologically friendly management with a land use planning avoiding the depleting of Ecosystem Services rich areas, allowing for the achievement of a balance between economic growth and ecosystem protection. Although the paper has expanded the literature on agricultural eco-efficiency, this work has some limitations that could serve as a reference for future studies that can include other ecological variables such as the provision of some ecosystem services that can be enhanced or impacted by agricultural development. Finally, the challenge to realize sustainable agriculture can represent a long-term guarantee of food security as well as societal well-being.
No-till and mulching enhance energy use efficiency and reduce carbon footprint of a direct-seeded upland rice production system

Sustainability of conventional agricultural production systems is threatened by triple challenges of energy and environmental crises, deteriorating natural resources bases, and declining farm profitability. Current agricultural management practices (energy-intensive, inefficient external and natural input use, and crop biomass burning) are negatively impacting the ecosystem services which are the principal drivers for food security and human survival. Hence, there is a need to shift from unsustainable production practices to cleaner production systems. Energy use, carbon footprint (CF), and economic sustainability are important indicators of any clean production systems. Thus, a hypothesis was formulated that no-till (NT) cultivation along with mulching can provide an environmentally clean crop production practice that can enhance energy use efficiency, economic profitability, and reduce the CF. Therefore, the present experiment was conducted for four consecutive years (2012-15) to evaluate the energy budget, CF, and economics of NT along with bio-mulching for a cleaner upland rice production system. The experiment comprised of two tillage practices i.e., conventional tillage (CT) and NT in main plots and four bio- mulches in subplots i.e., rice straw mulch (RSM), Gliricidia sepium mulch (GLM), brown manuring mulch (BMM) of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), and no mulch (NM) as a control. Results revealed that the adoption of NT curtailed energy use by 48.50%, specific energy by 49.63%, CF by 16.48%, and cost of cultivation by 35% in addition to enhancing energy use efficiency and benefit to cost ratio in comparison to CT. It was also observed that mulching, particularly the BMM, boosted the energy use efficiency, economic productivity, net returns, and benefit to cost ratio over NM. The results suggested that NT with BMM is an environmentally clean production technology to enhance the energy use efficiency, besides reducing the CF of direct-seeded upland rice production system in the Eastern Himalayas and similar eco-regions of the world. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
How fairness perceptions, embeddedness, and knowledge sharing drive green innovation in sustainable supply chains: An equity theory and network perspective to achieve sustainable development goals

The response to increasingly serious environmental issues is no longer limited to companies but is an important issue among supply chains. Green innovation is an essential segment of gaining a competitive advantage in the sustainable supply chain to achieve sustainable development goals. However, boosting sustainable supply chain development through green innovation is a complex network activity in which a large number of partners are embedded, and the need exists to transfer or share knowledge in an equal and reasonable exchange process. This study proposes a novel framework to explore perceptions of fairness that include procedural and distributive approaches as antecedents. We also examine embeddedness, knowledge sharing, and green innovation in the sustainable supply chain in terms of equity theory and a network scenario. This study contributes to the sustainable development goals (SDG's) such as Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8); Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (SDG 9); Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12) and Climate Action (SDG 13). Useable sets of data were collected and used to test our theoretical hypotheses by surveying 225 firms in China's manufacturing supply chain sectors. The research model is analysed by the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) methodology. The empirical findings reveal that perceived fairness constructs that consist of procedural and distributive fairness have a highly positive linkage with embeddedness, while those that do not present significant effects on knowledge sharing directly. Moreover, both embeddedness and knowledge sharing demonstrate significant partial mediating impact on green innovation in the sustainable supply chain; knowledge sharing especially plays a key role in achieving green innovation. This study finds that firm size as a control variable presents a positive effect on green innovation. Finally, conclusions and practical implications are given. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Political economy of renewable energy: Does institutional quality make a difference in renewable energy consumption?

The increasingly severe environmental crisis has become one of the most important issues of international debate at present. The acceleration of environmental problems places considerable pressure on individuals, governments, and policymakers. Greenhouse gas emissions caused by fossil-based energy sources have made clean energy sources, such as renewable energy, a strategic choice. Although renewable energy is a key factor in mitigating environmental problems, analysis of its determinants has certain limitations. Despite studies that focus on macroeconomic and environmental determinants of renewable energy, political and institutional factors are neglected. Therefore, to fill the existing gap, the present study analyzes the connection between renewable energy and institutional quality in 38 countries during the period 1990-2015. Economic growth and CO2 emissions are included in the model as control variables. The findings of this study lead to the conclusion that the institutional quality positively affects renewable energy consumption in the long run. Furthermore, CO2 emission is a positive and important determinant of renewable energy consumption. However, economic growth negatively affects renewable energy. In this context, institutional quality is a key strategic choice in promoting the use of renewable energy and solving environmental problems. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
A novel approach for developing a green Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) with advanced particles packing meso-structure

This paper presents a new approach for designing a green Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) with advanced particles packing meso-structure. To achieve this goal, two mathematical models based on D -Optimal Mixture Design (DOMD) and Genetic Algorithm based Artificial Neural Network (GA-ANN) are firstly established. After detailed comparison, it is demonstrated that the GA-ANN has higher accuracy and practicability compared to DOMD. To experimentally verify that the GA-ANN approach is suitable to be utilized in producing green UHPC, some UHPC specimens are developed based on this model, and their properties (workability, mechanical properties, pore structures and ecological characteristics) are investigated. The obtained experimental results show that the optimized UHPC has higher wet packing density and lower porosity, leading to excellent mechanical properties. Moreover, based on economic and environmental evaluation, the newly developed UHPC exhibits lower cost and environmental impact, something that makes it a sustainable construction product. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Transcriptome Analysis and Functional Validation Identify a Putative bZIP Transcription Factor, Fpkapc, that Regulates Development, Stress Responses, and Virulence in Fusarium pseudograminearum

Fusarium pseudograminearum is a soilborne, hemibiotrophic phytopathogenic fungus that causes Fusarium crown rot and Fusarium head blight in wheat. The basic leucine zipper proteins (bZIPs) are evolutionarily conserved transcription factors that play crucial roles in a range of growth and developmental processes and the responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. However, the roles of bZIP transcription factors remains unknown in F. pseudograminearum. In this study, a bZIP transcription factor Fpkapc was identified to localize to the nucleus in F. pseudograminearum. A mutant strain (Δfpkapc) was constructed to determine the role of Fpkapc in growth and pathogenicity of F. pseudograminearum. Transcriptomic analyses revealed that many genes involved in basic metabolism and oxidation-reduction processes were downregulated, whereas many genes involved in metal iron binding were upregulated in the Δfpkapc strain, compared with the wild type (WT). Correspondingly, the mutant had severe growth defects and displayed abnormal hyphal tips. Conidiation in the Fpkapc mutant was reduced, with more conidia in smaller size and fewer septa than in the WT. Also, relative to WT, the Δfpkapc strain showed greater tolerance to ion stress, but decreased tolerance to H2O2. The mutant caused smaller disease lesions on wheat and barley plants, but significantly increased TRI gene expression, compared with the WT. In summary, Fpkapc plays multiple roles in governing growth, development, stress responses, and virulence in F. pseudograminearum.
Decision-making method of heavy-duty machine tool remanufacturing based on AHP-entropy weight and extension theory

Heavy-duty machine tools are mostly used in bottleneck processes of manufacturing companies, which have high value-added, high technical content, and large remanufacturing value. The various alternative solutions directly affect the implementation of heavy-duty machine tool remanufacturing as well as its benefits. However, there is currently no scientific and reasonable quantitative method to compare various options and determine the optimal solution. This paper aims to propose a decision-making method of heavy-duty machine tool remanufacturing based on the AHP-entropy weight and extension theory. Firstly, an evaluation criteria system of heavy-duty machine tool remanufacturing is established, covering economic criteria (including remanufacturing cost and remanufacturing time) and technical performance criteria (including accuracy, reliability, processing efficiency, processing range, and ergonomics). Secondly, the decision-making model is presented to determine the optimal alternative solution for heavy-duty machine tool remanufacturing based on extension theory, in which weight for each evaluation criterion is defined by a method of AHP-entropy weight. Finally, combined with the remanufacturing of a heavy-duty horizontal lathe, the proposed decision-making method is verified and analyzed. The results show that the alternative for heavy-duty machine tool remanufacturing determined by this method can obtain better comprehensive benefits and reduce the potential risk of remanufacturing for various stakeholders. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Renewable and non-renewable energy consumption, economic complexity, CO2 emissions, and ecological footprint in the USA: testing the EKC hypothesis with a structural break

The economic complexity index, which indicates the level of knowledge and skills needed in the production of the exported goods, is a measure of economic development. Some researchers have investigated the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis by considering the effect of economic complexity on environmental pollution. This study, for the first time, examines the impact of economic complexity, globalization, and renewable and non-renewable energy consumption on both CO2 emissions and ecological footprint within the framework of the EKC hypothesis in the USA. To this end, the combined cointegration test and three different estimators are utilized for the period from 1980 to 2016. The main finding of the study indicates that the inverted U-shaped EKC relationship between economic complexity and environmental pollution holds for the USA. In addition to this finding, globalization and renewable energy consumption play a dominant role in reducing environmental pollution, while non-renewable energy consumption contributing factor to environmental pressure. Overall, the outcomes indicate that increasing economic complexity helps to minimize environmental degradation after a threshold, and the US government can provide a better environment by using renewable energy sources and globalization.
The influence of renewable energy use, human capital, and trade on environmental quality in South Africa: multiple structural breaks cointegration approach

Recent economic and environmental literature suggests that the current state of eneby the British Petroleum Statisticalrgy use in South Africa amidst rapid growing population is unsustainable. Researchers in this area mostly focus on the effect of fossil energy use on carbon (CO2) emission, which represents only an aspect of environmental quality. In contrast, the current study evaluates the influence of renewable energy use, human capital, and trade on ecological footprint--a more comprehensive measure of environmental quality. To this end, the study employs multiple structural breaks cointegration tests (Maki cointegration tests), dynamic unrestricted error correction model through Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model, and VECM Granger causality tests. The results of the Maki cointegration tests reveal the existence of a cointegration between the variables in all the models with evidence of multiple structural breaks. Further, the ARDL results divulge that an increase in renewable energy use, human capital, and trade improves environmental quality through a decrease in ecological footprint, while an increase in income stimulates ecological footprint. Moreover, causal relationship is found, running from all the variables to renewable energy and trade flow in the long run, while in the short run, economic growth causes ecological footprint. Trade is found to Granger-cause human capital, while human capital causes renewable energy. Additionally, human capital, renewable energy, and economic growth are predictors of trade. The study therefore recommends South African policymakers to consider the importance of renewable energy, human capital development, and trade as a policy option to reduce ecological footprint and improve environmental quality.