Major Future Directions Research Articles

Robot-assisted homecare for older adults: A user study on needs and challenges

Background As the older adult population increases there is a great need of developing smart healthcare technologies to assist older adults. Robot-based homecare systems are a promising solution to achieving this goal. This study aims to summarize the recent research in homecare robots, understand user needs and identify the future research directions. Methods First, we present an overview of the state-of-the-art in homecare robots, including the design and functions of our previously developed ASCC Companion Robot (ASCCBot). Second, we conducted a user study to understand the stakeholders’ opinions and needs regarding homecare robots. Finally, we proposed the future research directions in this research area in response to the existing problems. Results Our user study shows that most of the interviewees emphasized the importance of medication reminder and fall detection functions. The stakeholders also emphasized the functions to enhance the connection between older adults and their families and friends, as well as the functions to improve the efficiency and productivity of the caregivers. We also identified three major future directions in this research area: human-machine interface, learning and adaptation, and privacy protection. Conclusions The user study discovered some new useful functions that the stakeholders want to have and also validated the developed functions of the ASCCBot. The three major future directions in the homecare robot research area were identified.

Robot-assisted homecare: A user study on needs and challenges

Background: As the older adult population increases there is a great need of developing smart healthcare technologies to assist older adults. Robot-based homecare systems are a promising solution to achieving this goal. This study aims to summarize the recent research in homecare robots, understand user needs and identify the future research directions. Methods: First, we present an overview of the state-of-the-art in homecare robots, including the design and functions of our previously developed ASCC Companion Robot (ASCCBot). Second, we conducted a user study to understand the stake- holders’ opinions and needs regarding homecare robots. Finally, we proposed the future research directions in this exciting research area in response to the existing problems. Results: Our user study shows that most of the interviewees emphasized the importance of medication reminder and fall detection functions. The stakeholders also emphasized the functions to enhance the connection between older adults and their families and friends, as well as the functions to improve the efficiency and productivity of the caregivers. We also identified three major future directions in this exciting research area: human-machine interface, learning and adaptation, and privacy protection. Conclusions: The user study discovered some new useful functions that the stakeholders want to have and also validated the developed functions of the ASCCBot. The three major future directions in the homecare robot research area were identified.

Myths of high-throughput experimentation and automation in chemistry

Myths of high-throughput experimentation and automation in chemistry

Microbial green manufacturing of higher alcohols

Higher alcohols that contain more than two carbon atoms have better fuel properties than ethanol, making them important supplements and alternatives to fossil fuels. Using microbes to produce higher alcohols from renewable biomass can alleviate the current energy and environmental crises, and has become a major future direction for green biomanufacturing. Since natural microbes can only produce a few higher alcohols in small amounts, it is necessary to reconstruct the synthetic pathways for higher alcohols in model industrial strains through metabolic engineering and synthetic biology to overcome the metabolic bottlenecks. A series of milestones have been accomplished in past decades. The authors of this review have witnessed the entire journey of this field from its first success to the leaping development. On the 30th anniversary of the founding of the discipline of metabolic engineering, this review dates back to the great milestones in achieving heterologous production of higher alcohols in non-native strains. The design and optimization of high alcohol biosynthetic pathways, the expansion of feedstock, the engineering of host strains and the industrialization process are summarized. This review aims to draw further attention to microbial synthesis of higher alcohols, inspire the development of novel techniques and strategies of metabolic engineering, and promote the innovation and upgrade of China's biofuel industry.

Pictorial Atlas of Fossil and Extant Horseshoe Crabs, With Focus on Xiphosurida

Horseshoe crabs (Xiphosura sensu lata) are one of the most iconic groups of extant chelicerates, with a stunning fossil record reaching back to at least the Lower Ordovician (~480 million years ago). As such, the group has maintained a significant biological and palaeontological interest. Due to the sporadic nature of descriptive and systematic work on fossil horseshoe crabs over the last century information on this group is spread over tens of publications spanning over 100 years. To rectify this, we present the most comprehensive pictorial atlas of the taxa to date. This review highlights taxa that have not been examined for decades, including ‘Bellinurus’ carterae, Bellinurus lacoei, Kiaeria limuloides, Limulus priscus and Prolimulus woodwardi that have never been documented with photography. Furthermore, key morphological features of the true horseshoe crab (Xiphosurida) families: Austrolimulidae, Belinuridae, Limulidae, Paleolimulidae, and Rolfeiidae are described. The evolutionary history of the group is reviewed and the current issues facing any possible biogeographic work are presented. Five major future directions that can be explored for horseshoe crab researchers are outlined and it is highlighted that this review provides the basis for complete phylogenetic, geographic, and morphometric studies.

Layered double hydroxides-based photocatalysts and visible-light driven photodegradation of organic pollutants: A review

• LDHs are promising candidates for high efficiency photocatalytic removal of organic pollutants. • LDHs are characterized by their morphological, compositional and electronic flexibilities. • Strategies in preparation of LDHs-based materials with maximized catalytic efficiencies are reviewed. • Challenges remain between research and practical application of LDHs-based photocatalysts. • LDHs-based photocatalysts are also applied in other important fields with promising performances. Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) and their derivatives are a family of promising photocatalysts that have been widely used in photodegradation of organic pollutants. We review the most recent advances in visible-light driven photodegradation of organic pollutants using LDHs based materials with emphasis on the manipulation of their morphological, compositional, and electronic properties and the mechanistic understandings of the photocatalytic processes. Based on the characteristic structures of LDHs, i.e., stable layered structure, specific “memory effect”, switchable property of layered composites and high surface area, we overview the performance and mechanism of LDHs based catalysts for the photodegradation of common and persistent organic pollutants. First, LDHs-based photocatalysts were classified into five categories, LDHs-derived mixed metal oxides, supporting LDHs, intercalated LDHs, modified LDHs, and LDHs with unique structures (e.g., core-shell LDHs), and reviewed individually in terms of their synthetic methodologies, and structural, atomistic topological and electronic properties. Second, for mechanistic understandings of the photocatalytic processes, we summarize major factors that govern the performance of LDHs-based photocatalysts, including catalytically-relevant properties at the metal/LDHs heterojunctions, adsorption effect, acid-base pairs and the presence of vacancy sites. Third, depending on the photodegradation reactions, the targeting organic pollutants were classified into four types, azo dyes, phenols, persistent organic pollutants and other types of organic pollutants; LDHs-based photocatalysts with optimized performance for each type of molecule are summarized with mechanistic understandings. In addition, we review recent trend in the application of LDHs-based materials in new-emerging areas including CO 2 reduction, hydrolysis to produce hydrogen, and photo-assisted organic synthesis with promising performances. Mechanistic details of the photocatalytic processes that lead to the different outcomes in terms of the efficiency, reaction routes and practically-relevant applications in energy harvesting and removal of organic pollutants are the primary focus of the present review. Outlook of major future directions in LDHs-based photocatalysis is outlined by the end.

International equity REITs: five major future directions

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze chapters from the recently publishedRoutledge REITs Research Handbookto identify five major future directions for international equity REITs.Design/methodology/approachLiterature review and critical analysis of chapters from the recently publishedRoutledge REITs Research Handbook.FindingsThe five major future directions for international equity REITs are proposed to comprise an increasing focus on people and on cash flow rather than on property (with the cognitive risk attaching thereto), the changing nature of REITs as they respond to changes in society globally, the evolution of the global flagship REIT and the emergence of global regulation of REITs (particularly in the spheres of debt and leverage).Research limitations/implicationsWhile five major future directions for international equity REITs are identified which may have an impact on the risk/return profile, further research is required to determine which directions may be significant and which trivial and which may be independent and which interactive.Practical implicationsIdentification of five major future directions for international equity REITs provides managers and promoters with guidance concerning potential areas of focus for future product development in the REIT sector.Originality/valueWhile quantitative research concerning international equity REITS abounds, qualitative research is limited with little academic research undertaken into possible future directions for the sector.

Motor Endplate-Anatomical, Functional, and Molecular Concepts in the Historical Perspective.

By mediating voluntary muscle movement, vertebrate neuromuscular junctions (NMJ) play an extraordinarily important role in physiology. While the significance of the nerve-muscle connectivity was already conceived almost 2000 years back, the precise cell and molecular biology of the NMJ have been revealed in a series of fascinating research activities that started around 180 years ago and that continues. In all this time, NMJ research has led to fundamentally new concepts of cell biology, and has triggered groundbreaking advancements in technologies. This review tries to sketch major lines of thought and concepts on NMJ in their historical perspective, in particular with respect to anatomy, function, and molecular components. Furthermore, along these lines, it emphasizes the mutual benefit between science and technology, where one drives the other. Finally, we speculate on potential major future directions for studies on NMJ in these fields.

Graphene Nanophotonics

Graphene, which is a single layer of carbon atoms assembled in a honeycomb lattice, has recently attracted significant attention, primarily due to its extraordinary electronic properties. In fact, its photonic properties are not less exciting. Graphene interacts with light strongly from ultraviolet to far infrared, and such interaction is tunable by electric field. Moreover, although graphene itself is gapless, a direct, tunable bandgap can be created by breaking its intrinsic crystallographic symmetry. These unique properties make graphene a promising candidate for various light detection, manipulation, and generation applications in an ultra-wide operational wavelength range. In this paper, we first discuss a few possible photonic applications based on the exceptional photonic properties of graphene, followed by detailed presentation on graphene photodetectors. Finally, two major future directions on graphene nanophotonic research will be covered.

The Extended Family of Neutral Sphingomyelinases

The neutral sphingomyelinases (N-SMases) are considered major candidates for mediating the stress-induced production of ceramide, and N-SMase activity has been identified, characterized, and cloned from bacteria, yeast, and mammalian cells. Although the level of identity between these enzymes is low, a number of key residues thought to be involved in metal binding and catalysis are conserved. This has led to the suggestion of a common catalytic mechanism, and thus, these enzymes are considered to form an extended family of N-SMases. Despite considerable research into N-SMase activity in cell culture and various tissues, the lack, until recently, of molecular identification of specific N-SMase enzymes had precluded specific insights into the regulation, physiological, and pathological roles of these proteins. In this review, we summarize, for the first time, current knowledge of the N-SMase family, focusing on cloned members from bacteria, yeast, and mammalian cells. We also briefly consider the major future directions for N-SMase research which promises highly significant and specific insight into sphingolipid-mediated functions.

Phenotypic integration: studying the ecology and evolution of complex phenotypes

AbstractPhenotypic integration refers to the study of complex patterns of covariation among functionally related traits in a given organism. It has been investigated throughout the 20th century, but has only recently risen to the forefront of evolutionary ecological research. In this essay, I identify the reasons for this late flourishing of studies on integration, and discuss some of the major areas of current endeavour: the interplay of adaptation and constraints, the genetic and molecular bases of integration, the role of phenotypic plasticity, macroevolutionary studies of integration, and statistical and conceptual issues in the study of the evolution of complex phenotypes. I then conclude with a brief discussion of what I see as the major future directions of research on phenotypic integration and how they relate to our more general quest for the understanding of phenotypic evolution within the neo‐Darwinian framework. I suggest that studying integration provides a particularly stimulating and truly interdisciplinary convergence of researchers from fields as disparate as molecular genetics, developmental biology, evolutionary ecology, palaeontology and even philosophy of science.

Arctic Soils and Permafrost: Introduction

This paper introduces a special issue of Arctic and Alpine Research on the topic of arctic soils and permafrost, presented as a memorial to the life-long work of Dr. Kaye Everett. Major themes of the volume, which includes 15 contributions, include spatiotemporal dynamics of permafrost and the active layer, soil genesis and classification, hydrology, soil and vegetation succession, and elemental movement and nutrient cycling. Suggested major future directions are that a regional view of arctic and boreal systems is required and that a circumpolar synthesis and mapping effort for arctic soils is needed for arctic systems research.

Diagnosis, staging, and prognostic factors of small cell lung cancer

The proportion of small cell-large cell or combined small-cell subtypes is very low, and the clinical outcome in patients with these subtypes appears not to be significantly different from that of the majority of patients with small-cell lung cancer. Anatomic staging of small-cell lung cancer remains necessary if the outcome influences treatment decisions and for treatment in many clinical trials. The influence of simple clinical and biochemical variables on prognosis has been confirmed by the analysis of very large numbers of patients. Patients with small-cell lung cancer surviving at 2 years after chemotherapy continue to be at risk for relapse for up to 5 more years independent of the initial stage of disease. Major future directions will include the investigation into possible correlations of biologic properties of tumors with prognosis and the use of simple clinical and biochemical parameters to preselect patients for treatment strategies according to risk groups.