ahmedabdelwahed/Medical_papers_title_and_abstract_NLP_dataset huggingface dataset:
Techno-economic assessment of energy storage systems using annualized life cycle cost of storage (LCCOS) and levelized cost of energy (LCOE) metrics

Energy generation from renewable energy sources (RESs) is rapidly developing across the world to improve the performance of power networks and increase the share of RESs in world energy production. In this regard, energy storage (ES) technologies are the key enablers for reliable use of renewables because they introduce many benefits for modern power systems. However, the choice of a suitable technology depends on several technoeconomic metrics, which require the decision-maker to investigate the applicability of the technology and whether it offers promising benefits or not. Hence, this paper presents an ES cost model that considers long-term, medium-term, and short-term ES applications, technologies and technical characteristics in an integrated framework that consider the ES technical and economic characteristics supported by in-market insight, including capital costs of the technologies; operation and maintenance costs; replacement costs during the lifetime of the system; and disposal and recycling costs, based on the current ES costs. Two key metrics, namely the annualized life cycle cost of storage (LCCOS) and the levelized cost of energy (LCOE), are used to make proper ES operational choices while complying with their technical and operational performance limits. Further, a sensitivity analysis of the governing factors that affect the storage cost is presented to introduce a powerful decision tool to empower techno-economic assessment of ES systems using the proposed cost models.
Isolation and identification of the oral bacteria and their characterization for bacteriocin production in the oral cavity

Oral cavity is a diverse ecosystem which harbors immense diversity of microorganisms like fungi, virus and bacteria. Some of these microorganisms are involved in causing multiple infections. Oral flora is continuously changing due to connection with the external environment and produce bacteriocin against each other to compete for nutrient in this mini ecosystem. Current study was aimed to explore and compare the bacterial fauna of both healthy and non-healthy dental samples, by isolation and identification with biochemical tests to characterize the bacteriocin production. During study 120 swabs were taken from both healthy and unhealthy subjects. Samples were collected from the dental clinics of Makkah City, in sterile eppendorfs containing 1 ml nutrient broth, and were incubated overnight using shaking incubator. Bacteria were isolated following identification through Gram staining, microscopy and biochemical test. Total 15 strains of bacteria were isolated during the study amongst which 8 strains were gram positive and 7 strains were gram negative. The most dominant species of the gram positive strains was Streptococcus pneumoniae (n = 26). On the other hand, Escherichia coli (n = 26) was the prominent specie amongst the gram negative strains. Overall, the dominated family was Enterobacteriaceae (19.36%) followed by Streptococcaceae with 13.83% abundance. One of the most cariogenic strain Klebsiella pneumoniae (n = 14) was also isolated. The bacterial strain diversity between these two type of ecosystem was approximately the same, with slight variation in Shannon (HS:2.627187, NHS:2.653594) and Simpson diversity (HS:0.923461, NHS: 0.92684) index. The current research revealed that bacteriocin production in the Enterobacter species was prominent against Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Apart from this other strains like Klebsiella pneumoniae and Exiguobacterium spp were also able to produce bacteriocin against Enterobacter species and Bacillus cereus respectively.
COVID-19 pandemic and environmental pollution: A blessing in disguise?

In late 2019, a novel infectious disease with human to human transmission (COVID-19) was identified in Wuhan China, which now has turned into a global pandemic. Countries all over the world have implemented some sort of lockdown to slow down its infection and mitigate it. Lockdown due to COVID-19 has drastic effects on social and economic fronts. However, this lockdown also has some positive effect on natural environment. Recent data released by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and ESA (European Space Agency) indicates that pollution in some of the epicenters of COVID-19 such as Wuhan, Italy, Spain and USA etc. has reduced up to 30%. This study compiled the environmental data released by NASA and ESA before and after the coronavirus pandemic and discusses its impact on environmental quality.
Unique and overlapping contributions of sustained attention and working memory to parent and teacher ratings of inattentive behavior

Sustained attention and working memory are two closely intertwined executive functions that may underlie inattentive behavior. However, little research has teased apart their precise contributions in a single study. This study examines the extent to which ratings of children's inattentive behavior are associated with these executive functions. Specifically, we investigated the unique and overlapping statistical contributions of sustained attention capacity and working memory capacity to parent and teacher ratings of inattentive behavior (operationalized as scores on both the Inattentive and Hyperactive/Impulsive scales of the Conners' Rating Scale), while controlling for IQ. Children aged 8-11 years completed measures of sustained attention capacity, working memory capacity and IQ. Parents and teachers completed Conners-3 Parent and Teacher Short Forms, as a measure of inattentive behavior. We found that the unique statistical contribution of sustained attention capacity emerged as the most important factor in both parent and teacher ratings of inattentive behavior, with effects of moderate magnitude. In contrast, working memory capacity accounted for a small amount of variance. The overlap between sustained attention and working memory explained a small but substantive amount of variance in inattentive behavior. These findings support the idea that sustained attention and working memory are distinct executive functions that may contribute to goal-directed behavior both uniquely and through their interactions.
Lower vitamin D levels and VDR FokI variants are associated with susceptibility to sepsis: a hospital-based case-control study

Background: Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with increased sepsis incidence and mortality in various populations. Vitamin D exerts its effect through vitamin receptor (VDR), and various single nucleotide polymorphisms have been reported to affects the expression and structure of the VDR. In the present study, we investigated the possible role of vitamin D deficiency and VDR polymorphisms in susceptibility to sepsis.Methods: 576 sepsis patients and 421 healthy controls were enrolled in the present study. Plasma vitamin D levels in patients and healthy controls were quantified by ELISA. Genetic variants in the VDR (FokI, TaqI, BsmI, and ApaI) were genotyped by TaqMan assay.Results: Reduced serum Vitamin D level was observed in subjects with sepsis compared to healthy controls (p ≤ 0.0001). Further, subjects with septic shock had diminished 25(OH) vitamin D compared to severe sepsis cases (p ≤ 0.0001). FokI variants and minor alleles were more prevalent in sepsis patients compared to healthy controls (Ff: p ≤ 0.0001, χ2 =17.39; ff: p=0.001, χ2 =10.79; f: p ≤ 0.0001, χ2 =23.51). Furthermore, combined plasma levels of 25(OH) vitamin D and FokI polymorphism revealed a significant role in a predisposition to sepsis and septic shock. However, the prevalence of other VDR polymorphisms (TaqI, BsmI and ApaI) were comparable among different clinical categories.Conclusions: Low 25(OH) vitamin D levels and FokI mutants are associated with an increased risk of sepsis and septic shock in a Chinese cohort.Clinical significanceLower levels of 25-OH vitamin D are highly prevalent in Sepsis patients.Subjects harbouring VDR FokI variants are predisposed to susceptibility to sepsis in the studied cohort.
The impact of emricasan on chronic liver diseases: current data

Immoderate caspase-mediated apoptosis in chronic liver injury is a crucial driver of sustained HSC activation and worsening hepatic inflammation as well as fibrosis, with the ultimate outcome of liver cirrhosis and its consequences. Therefore, the inhibition of hepatocyte apoptosis by caspase cascade blockage may be a promising therapeutic strategy to achieve fibrosis regression in chronic liver diseases. Emricasan is a broad-spectrum, liver-targeted caspase inhibitor with a favorable pharmacokinetic profile, characterized by prolonged retention in the liver and low systemic exposure after oral administration. In animal models, emricasan had a clear intrahepatic anti-apoptotic effect with consequent elimination of circulating pro-inflammatory cytokines and favorable impact in liver fibrogenesis and portal pressure. Even though, this intrahepatic drug effect confirmed in human clinical trials, no clear linkage was emerged with portal hypertension, liver function or liver histology in both non-cirrhotic and cirrhotic patients except from a subgroup of patients with high MELD score (> 15) or severe HVPG (> 16 mmHg). As emricasan treatment appeared safe and well-tolerated, irrespective the severity of liver disease, more studies are required to clarify better these subgroups of patients who may benefit most from this drug.
Comparative techno-economic study of solar energy integrated hydrogen supply pathways for hydrogen refueling stations in China

To decarbonize transportation sector, one of the most promising solution is using green hydrogen as an alternative transport fuel to gasoline and diesel. For countries with uneven distribution of renewable energy, it is necessary to evaluate both cross-regional and on-site green hydrogen supply pathways. The goal of this paper is to identify the economic, energy and environmental aspects of potential solar energy integrated green hydrogen supply routes including cross-regional and on-site options for hydrogen refueling stations in China. Four green hydrogen supply routes are proposed in our study: 1) northwest solar power integrated methanol production as hydrogen carrier coupled with cross-regional delivery to hydrogen refueling station for onsite hydrogen production pathway (Route I), 2) northwest solar power integrated hydrogen production coupled with gas H-2 crossregional delivery pathway (Route II), 3) northwest solar power integrated hydrogen production coupled with liquid H-2 cross-regional delivery pathway (Route III) and 4) on-site solar energy-powered hydrogen refueling station (Route IV). The results indicate that solar energy integrated hydrogen supply pathways have remarkable CO2 emission reduction effect. Route I, Route II, Route III and Route IV can reduce CO2 emission by 83%, 59%, 96%, and more than 99% respectively, compared with the conventional coal gasification for hydrogen production coupled with gas H-2 delivery to nearby fueling station pathway (coal-H-2 delivery). In term of energy consumption, Route III and Route IV show advantage in energy efficiency, which consumes 27% and 38% less energy compared with coal-H-2 delivery, respectively. In economic aspect, the four routes are not competitive with conventional coal-H-2 delivery, but from the perspective of green hydrogen supply, Route I and Route III are economically competitive compared with on-site solar energy-powered hydrogen refueling station (Route IV). If considering carbon tax in 2030 reported by World Bank, Route I will have potential to be economically competitive with coal-H-2 delivery. Route III is also expected to be economically feasible as the solar energy electricity price and liquefaction cost further decline.
Novel hybrid solar tower-gas turbine combined power cycles using supercritical carbon dioxide bottoming cycles

In this study, two novel hybrid solar power tower-gas turbine combined power cycles are proposed, in which two supercritical CO2 (s-CO2) power cycles connected in series are driven by waste energy from a gas turbine cycle partially driven by a solar power tower. The solar power tower system provides a high-temperature thermal energy up to 1223 K. Each of the two novel schemes consists of a combined cycle with configuration 1 combining an s-CO2 recompression cycle and an s-CO2 recuperative cycle as bottoming cycles. Configuration 2 replaces the recompression cycle with an s-CO2 partial cooling cycle. Another objective is to evaluate the suitability of the two novel configurations against two conventional combined cycles including a bottoming steam Rankine cycle driven by a single-pressure heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) and dual-pressure HRSG. A thermodynamic and economic analysis is conducted for the plants, all sized at 50 MWe, and found that while configuration 1 has the lowest overall cycle efficiency of 0.4608, it exhibits the lowest levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of $83.16/MWh, due to its compact components. The highest overall cycle efficiency of 0.5066 is obtained for the configuration that employs a bottoming steam Rankine cycle with dual-pressure HRSG, which exhibits an LCOE of $85.08/MWh. Transient analysis of the cycle configuration 1 further highlighted a high solar share over 0.652 during the month of June. A sensitivity analysis examined the effect of the maximum and minimum pressures and the compressor inlet temperature of the two bottoming s-CO2 cycles, and design direct normal irradiance (DNI) on power plant performance, required field size, and LCOE. The lowest LCOE of $80.90/MWh for configuration 1 is realized when the compressor inlet temperatures approach 308 K for both s-CO2 cycles. Increasing the design DNI levels corresponds to a significant decrease in LCOE but results in lower solar shares.
Check updates Original Optimization and techno-economic assessment of concentrated solar power (CSP) in South-Western Africa: A case study on Ghana

The techno-economic performance of two different CSP technologies i.e. Solar tower (ST) and parabolic trough (PT) were evaluated in this paper, each at two different locations in Ghana (Navrongo and Tamale) using the System Advisor Model (SAM) software. From the simulated results, levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of 13.67 cent/ kWh and 14.73 cent/kWh were recorded for the ST modelled at Navrongo and Tamale, respectively. The PT power plant simulated at Tamale and Navrongo also recorded an LCOE of 28.83 cent/kWh and 25.83 cent/kWh, respectively. It was observed that, the optimum solar multiple (SM) for the ST ranges between 1.4 and 1.9, this is because the least LCOEs for the different thermal energy storage (TES) periods are within that range. In the case of the PT power plants, the SM also depends on the period of the TES and each TES has a distinct SM ranging between 2.4 and 4. Results from the analysis suggests that the ST technology is the optimal system for the Ghanaian weather conditions. The study concludes that the bankability of CSP technology in Ghana depends on the type of financial conditions for the project. Therefore, appropriate policies from government are necessary to help in their development.
A Primary Care Intervention to Increase HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Uptake in Patients with Syphilis

Identifying candidates for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a barrier to improving PrEP uptake in priority populations. Syphilis infection is an indication for PrEP in all individuals and can be easily assessed by primary care providers (PCP) and health systems. This retrospective study evaluated the impact of a multidisciplinary provider outreach intervention on PrEP uptake in patients with a positive syphilis test result in a safety-net hospital-based primary care practice. The PCPs of PrEP-eligible patients with a positive syphilis result were notified via the electronic medical record (EMR) about potential PrEP eligibility and institutional HIV PrEP resources. Rates of PrEP offers and prescriptions were compared in the pre (8/1/2018-12/31/2018, n = 60) and post (1/1/2019-5/31/2019, n = 86) intervention periods. Secondary analyzes evaluated receipt of appropriate syphilis treatment and contemporaneous screening for HIV, gonorrhea, and chlamydia. No significant differences in the overall proportion of patients offered (15% vs 19%) and prescribed (7% vs 5%) PrEP were observed between the pre- and post-periods. Overall, 7% of positive tests represented infectious syphilis. The rate of appropriate syphilis treatment was equivalent (57% vs 56%) and contemporaneous screening for other sexually transmitted infections was suboptimal across the entire study period. Although any positive syphilis test may be an easily abstracted metric from the EMR, this approach was inclusive of many patients without current HIV risk and did not increase PrEP uptake significantly. Future research into population health approaches to increase HIV prevention should focus on patients with infectious syphilis and other current risk factors for incident HIV infection.
The effect of financial development on renewable energy consumption. A panel data approach

One of the strategic objectives of the European Union is to increase the renewable energy consumption level, in a market which brings together technological, financing and customer engagement innovations. However, little is known about the impact of the financial sector on renewable energy consumption. The aim of the paper is to examine the effect of financial development on renewable energy consumption using a panel data of 28 countries in the European Union (EU) over the period 1990-2015. Our research is based on a panel fixed effects model, where renewable energy consumption is given as a function of income, energy prices, financial development, and foreign direct investments. The results of the empirical analysis show that all three different dimensions of financial development (banking sector, bond market, and capital market) have a positive effect on the share of renewable energy consumption. Additionally, our results show that capital market development does not influence renewable energy consumption in the new EU Member States. Our empirical results give valuable insights into how best to deploy capital in the renewable sector, in order to provide cost-competitive options to customers, with the final objective of expanding higher value-added services. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Biorefinery of Dunaliella salina: Sustainable recovery of carotenoids, polar lipids and glycerol

Dunaliella salina is well-known for its high content in carotenoids and glycerol. Nevertheless, Dunaliella salina has also a high content in lipids, including polar lipids, which are suitable for nutraceutical/cosmeceutical applications. This work proposes a sustainable process to maximise the potential of Dunaliella salina for the production of distinct fractions of carotenoids, glycerol, polar lipids and proteins, which may contribute to improve the revenues of the microalgae industry. In this work, extraction with non-hazardous solvents and organic solvent nanofiltration are integrated, in order to obtain added-value products and glycerol. Also, aiming to separate carotenoids from glycerides, a saponification process is proposed. High overall recoveries were obtained for carotenoids (85%), glycerol (86%), polar lipids (94%) and proteins (95%). In order to evaluate the profitability of the proposed biorefinery, an economic assessment was accomplished. Both CAPEX and OPEX (Capital and Operating expenditure) were calculated, likewise the Return of Investment (ROI).
Prognostic value of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography at diagnosis in untreated multiple myeloma patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Multiple myeloma is a clonal B-lymphocyte tumor of terminally differentiated plasma cells. 18F-FDG PET/CT can provide valuable data for the diagnosis, restaging, and evaluate prognosis of multiple myeloma (MM). This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of pre-treatment 18F-FDG PET/CT at diagnosis in MM patients. Related researches came from Embase, PubMed, and Cochrane Library databases through a systematic search, and the last one was updated on April 26, 2021. Cochran Q test and I-squared statistics were used to test for heterogeneity among the studies analyzed. The fixed model and random model were used to combine results when appropriate. Stata 12.0 was used to perform statistical analysis, and p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. A total of 16 articles with 2589 patients were included in this study. Our results indicated PET/CT has an excellent prognostic role in MM, that higher SUVmax, more FL and EMD were associated with poor OS and PFS. SUVmax: OS (HR 1.89, 95% CI 1.47-2.44), PFS (HR 1.34, 95% CI 1.18-1.51); Fl: OS (HR 2.65, 95% CI 1.83-3.79), PFS (HR 1.61, 95% CI 1.40-1.86); EMD: OS (HR 2.11, 95% CI 1.41-3.16), PFS (HR 2.18, 95% CI 1.69-2.81). Furthermore, similar results were observed in most subgroup analyzes. Conclusion Pre-treatment 18F-FDG PET/CT examination has prognostic value for myeloma patients and has guiding significance for clinical treatment.
Assessing the renewable energy investment risk factors for sustainable development in Turkey

In the wake of Paris agreement, global economies have been putting their full efforts in mitigation and adaption to limit the global temperature within 2 degrees C higher than the pre-industrial level. Redirection of investment flows to renewable energy technologies (RETs) is paramount to achieve the goals set in global climate agreement. The Turkish government is determined to attract investment in RETs for cleaner energy production and sustainable socio-economic development in Turkey. However, it is very challenging to substitute environmentally harmful traditional energy systems with renewable energy production and supply. Investing in and developing renewable energy projects (REPs) are posed to various inherent risks. Assessment and analysis of risk factors of renewable energy investments (REIs) are indispensable for a practical and profound policy guideline for mitigation. This study provides a Multi-Criteria Decision Methodology (MCDM) based three-stage decision framework to assess and examine the risk factors of REIs in Turkey. The first stage is the identification of risk factors of REI using the Delphi method. The second stage is the assessment of identified risk factors of REI by using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). The third stage is the evaluation and prioritization of strategies to overcome risk factors of REI projects by using Fuzzy Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment (FWASPAS). The Delphi method unveiled 6 major risk factors with 23 sub-risk factors. Results of AHP analysis unfolded economic & business risk as a major risk factor. The FWASPAS analysis concluded a comprehensive and explicit explanation of the RET choices to be the most suitable of six strategies to deal with the investment risk factors for sustainable development in Turkey. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.