In the present work, quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models have been developed for ecotoxicity of pharmaceuticals on four different aquatic species namely Pseudokirchneriella ...subcapitata, Daphnia magna, Oncorhynchus mykiss and Pimephales promelas using genetic algorithm (GA) for feature selection followed by Partial Least Squares regression technique according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) guidelines. Double cross-validation methodology was employed for selecting suitable models. Only 2D descriptors were used for capturing chemical information and model building, whereas validation of the models was performed by considering various stringent internal and external validation metrics. Interestingly, models could be developed even without using any LogP terms in contrary to the usual dependence of toxicity on lipophilicity. However, the current manuscript proposes highly robust and more predictive models employing computed logP descriptors. The applicability domain study was performed in order to set a predefined chemical zone of applicability for the obtained QSAR models, and the test compounds falling outside the domain were not taken for further analysis while making a prioritized list. An additional comparison was made with ECOSAR, an online expert system for toxicity prediction of organic pollutants, in order to prove predictability of the obtained models. The obtained robust consensus models were utilized to predict the toxicity of a large dataset of approximately 9300 drug-like molecules in order to prioritize the existing drug-like substances in accordance to their acute predicted aquatic toxicities following a scaling technique. Finally, prioritized lists of 500 most toxic chemicals obtained by respective consensus models and those predicted from ECOSAR tool have been reported.
•This work proposes robust QSAR models for aquatic toxicity of pharmaceuticals.•Consensus modeling improves predictive performance of models.•Comparison of predictive performance is made with the ECOSAR tool.•Ranking and prioritization of pharmaceuticals from DrugBank database are performed.
This paper examines the economic significance of the South Caucasus' Zangazur Corridor in terms of achieving long-term peace, connectivity and integration in the region, and boosting regional growth. ...It further claims that the Zangazur Corridor will aid future South Caucasus reconciliation and economic cooperation.Upon the signing of the declaration, the establishment of the Zangazur corridor became even more critical. The Zangazur Corridor will connect the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic via the Republic of Armenia's Meghri area. The route was important in regional and international railway and highway transportation between Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iran, Turkey, and Russia during the Soviet era. However, the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan disrupted transportation for thirty years. The transportation links will then be extended from China to Europe. The Zangazur Corridor will play a vital part in the construction of East-West and North-South haulage. Many countries will benefit from the restoration of railways and roadways in the future. Hence, the study discusses the prospect of utilizing the Zangezur corridor - which is specified in the tripartite agreement dated 10 November 2020 - and emphasizes its significance as a vital element of the international transport network.
The main focus of this study is Greek-Balkan economic cooperation during and after the economic crisis (2008), and so a comparative analysis of GDP, foreign trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) ...of the Balkan countries (BCs) is presented. Using relevant literature, GDP quantitative data, foreign trade and FDI are analyzed in relation to economic cooperation during the period 2008-2018. In addition, trade balance data, volume of trade, terms of trade and FDI in BCs and Greece are examined. This paper analyzes the impact of the crisis on GDP, trade balance, post-crisis evolution of FDI and the impact of the crisis on Greek foreign trade with the other BCs. Within the framework of Greek-Balkan economic cooperation, FDI development in Greece and the BCs during and after the crisis is discussed and correlated with GDP, foreign trade and FDI changes. The main findings suggest that during the early crisis years all metrics declined for all BCs, including Greece, but in the following years showed signs of recovery.
This study recommends the use of Theil's second measure to investigate international renewable energy generation disparities. This index permits disparities to be broken down within and between ...groups of countries in a reliable style. An analysis of OECD countries for 1980–2011 shows some basic points: first, drop in renewable energy generation disparities is attributable both to within-group and between-group inequality components; second, between-group inequalities are presently the key contributor to the inequality; and, further investigation on within-group inequalities divulges the significant explanatory role played by North American, European, and Asian and Oceanian countries.
To tackle the issue of climate change and environmental degradation debates regarding carbon neutrality is on the rise. Regional Comprehensive Economic Cooperation (RCEP), the leading trading union, ...covers nearly third of global economy, world population, is responsible for thirty percent of global trade and global gross domestic product. The existent study tests the impact of financial, economic, political, and composite risk on consumption-based carbon dioxide emissions (CCO
2
) in selected RCEP economies during the period of 1990 to 2020. The empirical analysis consists of cross-sectional dependence, slope heterogeneity, cross-sectional augmented panel unit root test, Westerlund cointegration, second-generation cross-section augmented autoregressive distributed lags model (CS-ARDL), and panel causality test. Further, we explore the role of imports, renewable energy supply, exports, and gross domestic product per-capita on CCO
2
. The empirical results suggest that the less political risk help to mitigate while the lower financial, economic, and composite risk increase CCO
2
emissions in selected RCEP economies. Moreover, exports and renewable energy supply show mitigating effect, whereas imports show upsurge in CCO
2
. Additionally, a bidirectional causality exists between exports and CCO
2
, imports and CCO
2
, GDP per-capita and CCO
2
, political risk and CCO
2
, and renewable energy and CCO
2
emissions, while a one-way causality from financial risk, composite risk, and economic risk to CCO
2
. Renewable energy supplies along with the improvement in sub-components of political risk, for instance, corruption, government stability, would help to effectively tackle the issue of CCO
2
emissions.
U radu je analizirana ekonomska suradnja Socijalističke Republike Crne Gore i Savezne Republike Njemačke, odnosno njezinih saveznih pokrajina. Savezna Republika Njemačka bila je među najvažnijim ...ekonomskim partnerima Jugoslavije, odnosno jugoslavenskih republika krajem 70-ih godina XX. stoljeća. Tada je po vrijednosti trgovinske razmjene bila drugi vanjskotrgovinski partner Crne Gore. Cilj Crne Gore bio je povećanjem izvoza smanjiti trgovinski deficit, zatim privući njemačke investitore i proširiti suradnju na druge oblasti. Taj je cilj zahtijevao uspostavu izravnih političkih i ekonomskih odnosa. Sredinom 70-ih jugoslavenske republike uspostavile su neposredne odnose s njemačkim saveznim pokrajinama. Krajem 70-ih i početkom 80-ih uspostavljeni su odnosi Izvršnoga vijeća (vlade) Crne Gore s vladama pokrajina Hamburg, Baden-Württemberg i Bremen.
This work analyses the economic cooperation between the Socialist Republic of Montenegro and the Federal Republic of Germany, that is to say its federal states. The Federal Republic of Germany was among the most significant economic partners of Yugoslavia, i.e. the Yugoslav Republics in the late 1970s. With regard to the value of trade, it was the second most important foreign trade partner of Montenegro at the time. Montenegro’s objective was to reduce the trade deficit through an increase in exports, to attract German investors and extend the cooperation to other regions. This objective required the establishment of direct political and economic relations. In the mid-70s the Yugoslav republics established direct relations with the German Federal Republics. Relations between the Executive Council (Government) of Montenegro and the governments of the states of Hamburg, Baden-Württemberg and Bremen were established in the late 70s and the early 80s.
The growing focus on regional and international environmental cooperation has helped further discussions about environmental sustainability. This study evaluates agricultural economic productivity ...and how it is affected by natural resource consumption, energy transition, deforestation, global trade integration and environmental degradation in Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries. Our empirical findings from CS-ARDL, AMG and CCEMG help us reveal that environmental degradation, deforestation and natural resource abundance lower agricultural productivity, while energy transition and global trade integration improve agricultural productivity. Additionally, despite being highly integrated within global economic structure, APEC countries have not been able to boost agricultural productivity more than other regional blocks. We propose novel policy recommendations for APEC policymakers to improve environmental sustainability and agricultural productivity.
•Ecological and economic equilibrium has become major issue for APEC policymakers.•Environmental degradation, deforestation and resource consumption lower agricultural productivity.•Energy transition and trade integration improve agricultural productivity.
The study of international collaborations can help in understanding the benefits of such relationships and aid in developing national financing policies. In this paper, the international ...collaboration of Brazilian scientists was studied using SciVal
®
and Incites
®
database, looking at its effect on the universities, financing agencies and different areas of knowledge and research topic clusters. Cluster and principal component analyses of scientometric data were carried out. While the results confirmed known knowledge that international collaboration increases impact, this study shows that Brazilian researchers are contributing to prominent research topics worldwide, in all areas of knowledge. This finding is contrary to several points of view that identify Brazil as a regional and not an international partner in science. Important also to note the impact of Brazilian authors in international collaboration that is well above the world mean. The collaboration of Brazil with foreign partners brings benefits for both sides, creating the opportunity of Brazilian research access to financing from international agencies. Increases in measures of impact are also seen for both sides. Foreign partners likewise benefit from higher impact factors in the same topic cluster, when collaborating with Brazilian partners. Publishing open access in high impact journals is fundamental for maintaining Brazilian science at the forefront.
The cooperation between Russia and China has been developing successfully in recent years. Both countries have agreed on several strategically important investment projects. The realization of ...investment projects determines the future expectation for developing Russian and Chinese economies. The article aims to investigate the trends and perspectives of economic cooperation between China and Russia in the field of mutual investments. The research methodology includes structuring, comparison, generalization, induction, deduction, and synthesis. Based on the research, the author concludes that the main segments of Russian-Chinese economic cooperation between state-owned enterprises are the energy sector, nuclear power engineering, agriculture, science, technology, and infrastructure. Also, there are good prospects for the investment segment of economic cooperation between Russia and China in banking, payment systems, and electricity sectors.
Indonesia-Nigeria cooperation resumed since President Gus Dur made an official visit to Nigeria in 2000. Indonesia relations became increasingly constructive by creating several trade agreements with ...the Nigerian government and formulating Indonesia-Africa Forum (IAF) is a real constructive strategy in focusing on Indonesia’s Foreign Policy toward the Africa region. There are more than 15 Indonesian companies operating in Nigeria and Nigeria was Indonesia's largest trade partner in Africa with a total volume of trade at USD 1.5 billion in 2019. In the oil sector, Indonesia has a trade deficit with Nigeria but not in the non-oil sector, Nigeria became the entry point for Indonesian products to other African regions. This research is qualitative research using a political cooperation concept as an analytical tool by looking at the dynamics of the Indonesia-Nigeria relationship in the framework of strategic cooperation. The data is gained from a focused review of relevant theories, literature, and previous research findings of the discussed topic. Besides, the data were taken from books, journals, reports, and websites.