ahmedabdelwahed/Medical_papers_title_and_abstract_NLP_dataset huggingface dataset:
Spatially resolved transcriptomics in immersive environments

Spatially resolved transcriptomics is an emerging class of high-throughput technologies that enable biologists to systematically investigate the expression of genes along with spatial information. Upon data acquisition, one major hurdle is the subsequent interpretation and visualization of the datasets acquired. To address this challenge, VR-Cardiomics is presented, which is a novel data visualization system with interactive functionalities designed to help biologists interpret spatially resolved transcriptomic datasets. By implementing the system in two separate immersive environments, fish tank virtual reality (FTVR) and head-mounted display virtual reality (HMD-VR), biologists can interact with the data in novel ways not previously possible, such as visually exploring the gene expression patterns of an organ, and comparing genes based on their 3D expression profiles. Further, a biologist-driven use-case is presented, in which immersive environments facilitate biologists to explore and compare the heart expression profiles of different genes.
Wind energy utilization for hydrogen production in an underdeveloped country: An economic investigation

Since economic viability is among the main criteria for deciding whether to launch a project, therefore the aim of this study is to scrutinize economic aspects of harnessing wind energy in Afghanistan for producing hydrogen. In this regard, levelized cost of wind-generated electricity was first projected for all 34 capital cities. Then, energy efficiency of the hydrogen production system, Levelized Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH) and payback period of establishing wind farm were investigated for the city with the least Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE). As some unpredictable conditions may occur during lifetime of a wind power plant, causing decline in output energy of the turbines, thus 5 degradation rates were deemed to compute LCOE, LCOH, energy efficiency and payback period under 3 scenarios, which leaded to 15 different cases. The results showed that utilizing one set of "WES 100 GENERAL" wind turbine with rated power of 100 kW in Fayzabad could produce 260,610 kWh/yr of electricity when degradation rate constituted zero. Moreover, Fayzabad had LCOE of 0.063, 0.068 and 0.079 $/kWh and LCOH of 2.118, 2.158 and 2.261 $/kg for the scenarios 1, 2 and 3, respectively, when degradation rate was zero. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Making the circular economy work for human development

This paper aims to re-conceptualise and advance the existing frameworks and practical applications of the circular economy (CE) towards a broader approach to development in general and, more particularly, to combine it with the approach for Human Development (HD). The CE is an alternative to the current "take, make, waste" extractive industrial model and offers a practical solution to address global and local environmental challenges, such as resource depletion, marine plastic pollution, and for staying within planetary system boundaries. Although the CE and related concepts such as cradle to cradle provide a most promising alternative to the traditional linear economy model and its impacts on the planets eco-systems, some of the CE key elements have raised debate both in the academic community and among policy makers. One of the debates concerns the missing social or human dimensions of the CE. Likewise, the HD approach lacks considerations of environmental sustainability. Drawing on both academic and grey literature and the authorso research observations and professional experiences in the fields of promoting the CE and international development cooperation for HD, we attempt to develop an integrative conceptual framework of the CE and HD. This framework includes social-economic elements of the transformation from linear to circular economic models, combined with HD from the social sciences and development studies. We thereby complement the technological-material focused CE model that is primarily based on principles of industrial ecology and engineering. We utilize the existing 'circular humansphereo concept to articulate the incorporation of HD into the discussion of CE. By bringing in explicit links with HD, we pursue a double aim: First, to raise awareness and understanding among the CE research community of the missing human dimension in current CE discourse, and second, to familiarise the international development community with the approaches of CE. This will advance the options for adopting CE practices in international development programmes and for the process of implementing the social SDGs concerning HD such as SDG 1, 3, 4, 5, and 10. Finally, we hope that this CE and HD framework can contribute to the resolution of environmental and developmental issues.
Strategic interaction of environmental regulation and green productivity growth in China: Green innovation or pollution refuge?

The strategic interaction of inter-regional environmental regulation is a typical feature of local government behavior in China, which can affect the green productivity growth in the local region through the Porter effect and the pollution refuge effect. Based on the panel data of 274 prefecture-level cities from 2005 to 2015 in China, this thesis constructs a comprehensive indicator of environmental regulation, accurately identifies the mode of China's inter-regional strategic interaction of environmental regulation and calculates the green total factor productivity, green technology efficiency and green technology progress in 274 cities. In addition, this thesis also conducts an empirical analysis on the effect of the strategic interaction of environmental regulation on the green productivity in China. The author of this thesis finds that: (1) the mode of strategic interaction of environmental regulation in China is complementary race to the top, that is, the local region will strengthen its environmental regulation, if the environmental regulations in its adjacent regions are strengthened; (2) the environmental regulation in the local region promotes the green productivity in China, while the weighted environmental regulation in the adjacent regions inhibits the green productivity. What's more, environmental regulations in economic-proximity regions have greater negative spatial spillover effects on green productivity in the local region, compared with those in geographic-proximity regions; (3) environmental regulation in the local region and its adjacent regions can affect the green productivity growth in China through the channels of green innovation and pollution transfer, that is, the Porter effect and pollution refuge effect coexist in China. They mean that in the process of China's regional environmental governance, it is necessary to reduce pollution transfer, and promote green innovation so as to achieve sustainable and high-quality economic development.
Dynamic simulation and techno-economic analysis of a concentrated solar power (CSP) plant hybridized with both thermal energy storage and natural gas

The addition of thermal energy storage and natural gas as a complementary energy source improves the flexibility, reliability, and value of concentrated solar power (CSP) plants. Nevertheless, due to the transient nature of solar energy, transitions from solar-only mode and natural-gas mode to hybrid solar-natural gas mode is quite challenging, especially when the plant is equipped with thermal storage. Thus, it is important to develop proper dynamic modeling and control schemes to accurately simulate such transitions. The objective of this study is to address this subject by demonstrating a dynamic model with reliable control schemes for a highly integrated hybrid parabolic trough-natural gas plant equipped with thermal energy storage. The specific goal is to study the dynamics of adding thermal storage to the hybrid plant. It is found that the developed control schemes assist smooth transitions between different operational modes and effective utilization of thermal storage and natural gas to maintain steady power production and steam mass flow rates under different solar conditions. The results demonstrate that the integration of storage regulates power production by solar energy and natural gas during the day time. It also enables an increase in the solar fraction of the hybrid plant while it causes a small decrease in thermodynamic efficiency. The analysis shows that the hybrid plant with the storage has a substantially lower specific CO2 emission (0.320 tonne/MWh) than single natural gas plant (0.413 tonne/MWh) although it has a higher levelized cost of electricity ($86.32/MWh against $74.92/MWh). The hybrid plant with storage demonstrates a promising potential for reliable and clean production of electricity, although research and development should be conducted to lower its cost. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Health care expenditure and environmental pollution: a cross-country comparison across different income groups

This paper investigates the long-run dynamics between health care expenditure and environmental pollution across four global income groups. The analysis uses data from 178 countries, spanning the period 1995-2017. Panel estimations are employed with unobserved heterogeneity, temporal persistence, and cross-sectional dependence using a model with common correlated effects. The findings document that the health care expenditure is a necessity for all sub-groups. We established that a 1% increase in national income increased health expenditure by 7.2% in the full sample, and 9.3%, 8.6%, 6.8% and 2.9% for low, low-middle, upper-middle and high-income groups, respectively, while a 1% increase in CO2 emissions increased health expenditure by 2.5% in the full sample, and 2.9%, 1.2%, 2.3% and 2.6% across these four income groups. We recommend that coordinated approach is needed in setting policy goals both in energy and health sectors in mitigating the negative effects of pollution. Our findings indicate that low-carbon emissions and energy efficient health care services will significantly reduce future health care expenses.
The asymmetric relationship between financial development, trade openness, foreign capital flows, and renewable energy consumption: Fresh evidence from panel NARDL investigation

No substantial evidence available in existing literature regarding the pattern of financial development, trade openness and foreign capital effect on renewable energy consumption. With this study, we tried to fill the gap by figuring out the answer to the question of whether the relationships between financial development, trade openness, capital flows and the renewable energy consumption is symmetric or asymmetric by applying Panel Non-linear Autoregressive Distributed Lagged from 1990 to 2017. Non-linear estimation confirms the long-run asymmetric relationships between financial development, trade openness, capital flows, and renewable energy consumption in the case of all three subsamples namely, low-income countries, middle-income countries, and upper-middle-income panel. Furthermore, in the short-run, the asymmetric relationship also confirms except in Lower-income countries. We, furthermore, investigate the directional causality with System-GMM specification under the error correction model. Findings unveiled the long-run causality in particular when renewable energy consumption treated as a dependent variable in the equation. (c) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
MicroRNAs in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease: an overview

Neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by a progressive loss of neurons of the central nervous system (CNS) and serve as a major cause of morbidity, mortality and functional dependence especially among the elderly. Despite extensive research and development efforts, the success rate of clinical pipelines has been very limited. However, microRNAs (miRs) have been proved to be of crucial importance in regulating intracellular pathways for various pathologic conditions including those of a neurodegenerative nature. There is ample evidence of altered levels of various miRs in clinical samples of Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease patients with potentially major clinical implications. In the current review, we aim to summarize the relevant literature on the role of miRs in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) as the two globally predominant neurodegenerative conditions.
Water-Energy-Carbon Emissions nexus analysis of China: An environmental input-output model-based approach

China has one of the fastest-growing economies worldwide, consuming large amounts of resources but also experiencing significant environmental issues. Water, energy, and carbon play significant roles in regional sustainable development. It is critical to understand the Water-Energy-Carbon Emissions nexus, and this study explores the nexus using the Environmental Input-Output model. The embodied water and energy consumption and embodied carbon emissions are assessed. The water and energy consumption coefficients and CO2 emission coefficients are analysed. The main results are: (1) The Water-Energy-Carbon Emissions nexus characteristics of light industry, heavy industry, and service industry were similar: water-intensive, energy-intensive, and carbon-emission-intensive; (2) Agriculture consumed 64.38% of the national water supply; however, the water utilisation efficiency was only 32%; (3) Agriculture had much higher water consumption and direct water consumption coefficients. Light industry, service industry, and heavy industry were the top three sectors in terms of indirect water consumption coefficients; (4) Heavy industry, light industry, and service industry were the top three sectors with the highest indirect energy consumption coefficients and carbon emission coefficients. The consumption (water and energy) and CO2 emission coefficients can provide significant support for sustainable development strategies. This study provides a better understanding of the Water-Energy-Carbon Emissions nexus in China.
Risk of tendon failure with repeated passage of Kirschner wires or hypodermic needles: an experimental study

During hand surgery, tendons may be at risk of damage. This biomechanical study aims to assess the risk of tendon rupture due to passage of Kirschner wires or hypodermic needles. Porcine extensor tendons were divided into four groups. Group 1: a control group was tested to ensure that repeated stress alone did not cause failure. Group 2a: 1.1-mm Kirschner wires were hand pushed through tendons 50 times and then stressed to 40 N, repeated until tendon failure. In Group 2b, K-wires were passed while rotating using a drill. Group 3: the experiment was repeated using a 20 G hypodermic needle. Group 2a tendons required a median of 2450 passes (1150-3500) to propagate failure, Group 2b a median of 2250 (1200-3850) and Group 3a median of 200 passes (150-450). The risk of tendon rupture from wires or hypodermic needles in procedures appears very low.
Arthroscopic transosseous foveal footprint repair of the triangular fibrocartilage complex

Foveal disruption of the triangular fibrocartilage complex contributes to the instability of distal radioulnar joint. We have developed an arthroscopic transosseous foveal footprint repair technique, which maximizes the contact between the disrupted triangular fibrocartilage complex and its foveal footprint for better healing by using four sutures in a divergent configuration through a 1.6-mm bone tunnel. Twelve patients with triangular fibrocartilage complex foveal injuries who had undergone this repair technique were reviewed with a mean follow-up of 53 months. All patients achieved significant improvement in the modified Mayo wrist score and the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand score. All patients had stable distal radioulnar joints with comparable ranges of motion and grip strengths between the operated and contralateral wrists. There was no significant difference in functional score in those who were treated more than 6 months after injury.Level of evidence: IV.
Multiscale modeling of tumor response to vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitor

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has been known as a key mediator of angiogenesis in cancer. Bevacizumab is anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody that has been approved by the FDA as a first-line treatment in many types of cancer. In this paper, we extend a previously validated multiscale tumor model to comprehensively include the multiple roles of VEGF during the course of angiogenesis and its binding mechanism with bevacizumab. We use the model to simulate tumor system response under various bevacizumab concentrations, both in stand-alone treatment and in combination with chemotherapy. Our simulation indicates that periodic administration of bevacizumab with lower concentration can achieve greater efficacy than a single treatment with higher concentration. The simulation of the combined therapy also shows that the continuous administration of bevacizumab during the maintenance phase can lead to antitumor activity which further suppresses its growth. Agreement with experimental results indicates the potential of the model in predicting the efficacy of anti-VEGF therapies and could therefore contribute to developing prospective clinical trials.
A load-carrier perspective examination on the change of ecological environment carrying capacity during urbanization process in China

Urbanization has prompted a dramatic social and economic development during the past decades in China. As a long-term national strategy, urbanization can only be implemented effectively with sufficient and sustainable ecological environment resources. By appreciating that the ecological environment carrying capacity (EECC) is a yardstick for guiding the practice of sustainable urban development, it is therefore pressing to examine the change of EECC adequately, so that the sustainable urbanization can be addressed appropriately. This paper develops a new method from load-carrier perspective to explore the change of EECC performance in the rapid urbanizing China. The EECC performance on water, land, atmosphere and overall perspectives were measured for 30 provinces in China based on the established method. The results show that most provinces in China are experiencing an improving EECC performance during the urbanization process, particularly with an obvious progress in land dimension. In referring to the spatial difference of overall EECC performance, the gap between 30 provinces has been narrowing during surveyed years. However, few provinces including Chongqing, Shandong and Jiangxi have undergone a degradation in overall EECC performance. The EECC performance in atmosphere dimension is still considered as a challenge faced by most provinces, evidenced by high level of PM2.5 concentration. These research findings provide valuable references not only for Chinese governments to formulate effective policy instruments and strategy measures for improving ecological environmental carrying status, but also for researchers to further study in the ecological environment carrying capacity in the context of other countries. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Performance assessment of a biomass-fuelled distributed hybrid energy system integrating molten carbonate fuel cell, externally fired gas turbine and supercritical carbon dioxide cycle

This article proposes an innovative distributed hybrid power system where the biomass gasification technology is integrated with the molten carbonate fuel cell, an externally fired gas turbine, and a supercritical carbon dioxide cycle. The thermodynamic, economic and environmental performances of the proposed system are extensively studied to show the impact of the main operational and design parameters. The proposed small capacity hybrid power system yields the highest energy efficiency of 40.88%, which is close to the efficiency level of the large-scale biomass gasification based combined cycle system. The maximum exergetic efficiency of the proposed power system is estimated to be around 34.07%. The biomass gasifier (31.79%) contributes the highest amount of exergy destruction, followed by the primary heat exchanger (15.97%), combustion chamber (14.01%) and the molten carbonate fuel cell (12.53%) unit. The sensitivity analysis reveals that the cost of electricity can reach up to 0.1057 $/kWh. A comparative performance analysis, among other biomass-fueled power generation systems suggests that the developed power system yields better techno-economic performance than the other previously proposed system configurations. The environmental analysis reveals that the proposed plant can reduce maximum up to 1510 ton of CO2/year, which yields an environmental benefit of 21,901 $/year, in comparison to a fossil fuel-based plant of similar capacity.
Intra-abdominal adipose depot variation in adipogenesis, lipogenesis, angiogenesis, and fibrosis gene expression and relationships with insulin resistance and inflammation in premenopausal women with severe obesity

Although severe obesity is associated with insulin resistance (IR) and inflammation, secretory function of intra-abdominal adipose tissues and their relationships with IR and inflammation markers remain poorly understood. Aims were to measure gene expression of adipogenic (C/EBPα/β, PPARγ-1/2, SREBP-1c, LXRα), lipogenic (SCD1, DGAT-1/2), angiogenic (VEGFα, leptin), and fibrotic (LOX, COL6A3) factors in the round ligament (RL), omental (OM), and mesenteric (ME) fat depots and to evaluate their relationships with IR and inflammation markers in 48 women with severe obesity undergoing bariatric surgery. Gene expression was assessed by RT-qPCR, and plasma glucose and insulin (HOMA-IR calculated), PAI-1, IL-6, TNFα, adiponectin, and leptin levels were determined. C/EBPβ and PPARγ-1/2 mRNA levels were more expressed in the OM (0.001<p<0.05). ME showed the highest expression of C/EBPα, SREBP-1c, DGAT-2, and leptin and the lowest of SCD1, LXRα, VEGFα, and LOX (0.001<p<0.05). COL6A3 expression was higher in the ME and RL (p<0.001). COL6A3 expression was negatively associated with IR indices in the RL (0.01<p<0.05) and with fasting glycemia and HOMA-IR in the OM (0.001<p<0.05). VEGFα expression was positively related to TNFα and PAI-1 in the RL (0.001<p<0.05) and to PAI-1 in the OM (p<0.05) and negatively to PAI-1 in the ME (p<0.001). Fibrosis gene expression correlated negatively with inflammation in RL and OM (0.001<p<0.05) and positively with PAI-1 in the ME (0.001<p<0.05). The varying relationships of gene expression profiles with selected IR indices and inflammation biomarkers further suggest these fat depots have distinct contributions to overall health in premenopausal women with severe obesity.