Research Frontiers Research Articles

P2X7 receptors: a bibliometric review from 2002 to 2023.

For many years, there has been ongoing research on the P2X7 receptor (P2X7R). A comprehensive, systematic, and objective evaluation of the scientific output and status of P2X7R will be instrumental in guiding future research directions. This study aims to present the status and trends of P2X7R research from 2002 to 2023. Publications related to P2X7R were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection database. Quantitative analysis and visualization tools were Microsoft Excel, VOSviewer, and CiteSpace software. The analysis content included publication trends, literature co-citation, and keywords. 3282 records were included in total, with the majority of papers published within the last 10years. Based on literature co-citation and keyword analysis, neuroinflammation, neuropathic pain, gastrointestinal diseases, tumor microenvironment, rheumatoid arthritis, age-related macular degeneration, and P2X7R antagonists were considered to be the hotspots and frontiers of P2X7R research. Researchers will get a more intuitive understanding of the status and trends of P2X7R research from this study.

Islamophobia in higher education environments

AbstractIslamophobia is a reality facing Muslim college students daily on and off campus. In this chapter, I highlight Islamophobia in higher education environments and explore its structural and interactional manifestations. I provide practical recommendations to address institutional and interpersonal Islamophobia and specify how campus educators can work to respond to and prevent Islamophobic incidents. I also make policy recommendations to respond to the hostility toward Muslims in the national discourse. Finally, I outline future frontiers for higher education research, such as the need to account for the complexity of the Muslim identity and its intersections and the need to distinguish Islamophobia from Muslim appreciation through empirical measurement. Future directions in higher education should take on the responsibility of responding to Islamophobia and eradicating its hold on Muslim lives.Practical Takeaways Colleges and universities should critically examine their infrastructures and policies concerning accommodating the religious needs of Muslim students. Each campus should have an academic accommodations policy that specifies how students may go about requesting an accommodation for religious reasons. This policy should be explicitly stated in syllabi, websites, and orientation materials. Institutional leadership should explicitly commit to countering religious‐based hate, including Islamophobia, through policies that condemn such forms of hate and outline specific means of responding to incidents when they occur. A proactive effort to counter hate on campus requires knowledge of the structures in place to utilize these resources when needed and to identify areas for improvement. Educators should create programs and opportunities that promote interactions across religious, spiritual, and secular (RSS) identities and must offer the time, resources, and effort to support formalized campus activities that foreground interfaith engagement. Educators should proactively create spaces for these encounters and incorporate these opportunities into campus architecture and the required programming (e.g., orientation). In the face of a national movement to eliminate, ban, or otherwise weaken diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) resources on college campuses, religious accommodations must be codified in both state and federal laws and guidelines to create consistency across states and a standard of how universities could actively work to create a welcoming environment for all.

Transformational Application of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Financial Technologies and Financial Services: A Bibliometric Review

In this study, I employ a multifaceted comprehensive scientometric approach to explore the intellectual underpinnings of AI and ML in financial research by examining the publication patterns of articles, journals, authors, institutions, and nations by leveraging quantitative techniques, that transcend conventional systematic literature reviews, enabling the effective analysis of vast scientometric and bibliographic data. By applying these approaches, I identify influential works, seminal contributions, thought leaders, topical clusters, research streams, and new research frontiers, ultimately fostering a deeper understanding of the knowledge structure in AI and ML finance research by considering publication records from 2010 to 2022 from several search engines and database sources. The present study finds a marked increase in publications from 2017 to 2022, which highlights a growing interest and expanding research activity in the field, indicating its potential significance and relevance in the contemporary academic landscape.

Exploring the frontiers of iPSC research, clinical application, and standardization

Exploring the frontiers of iPSC research, clinical application, and standardization

Bibliometric Analysis of Research Hotspots and Frontiers in Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), established in 2015, are binding targets for monitoring the sustainable status of all countries in the world. Developing localized SDGs indicator systems, assessing SDGs progress comprehensively, and creating policy tools have gradually become the hotspots of scientific research and practical application of the SDGs. To systematically sort out the research status of the SDGs progress and identify problematic gaps, this paper uses bibliometric methods to analyse the scientific knowledge mapping of SDGs research, sort out the general characteristics, scientific cooperation, cutting-edge hotspots and future research trends of SDGs research. Besides, this paper promotes the integration of academic research into concrete practice by linking it to mainstream SDGs progress reports. The results show that: ① The amount of SDGs research literature in 2015–2022 is on a growing trend, and the existing research is characterised by multidisciplinary crossover. Research institutions such as Utrecht University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have contributed the most to SDGs research. ② The research hotspots include the SDGs practice of different responsible subjects, the comprehensive assessment of the progress of SDGs, the scientific research of SDGs indicators, and the research on the interaction between the goals of SDGs. ③ Environmental issues, indicators, energy transition, education and agriculture are the hot directions of SDGs research. Energy saving and carbon reduction, sustainable practices of supply chain management, and promoting the progress of environmental dimension goals are the focus of subsequent research. According to the results of the bibliometric analysis, future SDGs research should pay attention to strengthening multi-party cooperation, using innovative technologies to support the assessment of SDGs progress, and formulating sustainable development strategies.

Seeded growth of single-crystal black phosphorus nanoribbons.

Two-dimensional materials have emerged as an important research frontier for overcoming the challenges in nanoelectronics and for exploring new physics. Among them, black phosphorus, with a combination of a tunable bandgap and high mobility, is one of the most promising systems. In particular, black phosphorus nanoribbons show excellent electrostatic gate control, which can mitigate short-channel effects in nanoscale transistors. Controlled synthesis of black phosphorus nanoribbons, however, has remained an outstanding problem. Here we report large-area growth of black phosphorus nanoribbons directly on insulating substrates. We seed the chemical vapour transport growth with black phosphorus nanoparticles and obtain uniform, single-crystal nanoribbons oriented exclusively along the [100] crystal direction. With comprehensive structural calculations, we discover that self-passivation at the zigzag edges holds the key to the preferential one-dimensional growth. Field-effect transistors based on individual nanoribbons exhibit on/off ratios up to ~104, confirming the good semiconducting behaviour of the nanoribbons. These results demonstrate the potential of black phosphorus nanoribbons for nanoelectronic devices and also provide a platform for investigating the exotic physics in black phosphorus.

A review of emerging trends in Laves phase research: Bibliometric analysis and visualization

Abstract The rapid development of modern aerospace and energy industries requires increasingly high service performance of metallic materials. Laves phase intermetallic compounds with the chemical formula AB2-type have attracted much attention due to their high melting point, excellent high-temperature strength, and oxidation resistance, and are regarded as one of the promising candidates for a new generation of high-temperature structural applications. Although it can be identified that Laves phase alloy research has been an active research field in the last 20 years in terms of the trend of literature volume growth, there is still a lack of systematic descriptions and comprehensive overviews of the latest frontiers and hotspots in the field. In this article, a quantitative and visual knowledge mapping of the articles published in the field of Laves phase research in the last 20 years has been carried out based on the bibliometric analysis methodology of Cite Space software. Quantitative analysis of high-frequency keywords to understand the basic development of Laves phase and the evolution of the main research hotspots in each period of time identified the hotspots of common concern seven themes: Laves phase, electronic structure, precipitation, Inconel 718 alloy, phase diagram, high-entropy alloys, and TiAl-based alloys. The analysis of the emergent keywords shows that electronic structure, high-entropy alloys, total energy calculations, and laser cladding can represent the research frontiers of Laves phases. This study provides systematic and valuable reference information to gain insight into the current state of Laves phase research and the evolution of the theme, which will be useful for further research.

When Data Are Lacking: Physics-Based Inverse Design of Biopolymers Interacting with Complex, Fluid Phases.

Biomolecular research traditionally revolves around comprehending the mechanisms through which peptides or proteins facilitate specific functions, often driven by their relevance to clinical ailments. This conventional approach assumes that unraveling mechanisms is a prerequisite for wielding control over functionality, which stands as the ultimate research goal. However, an alternative perspective emerges from physics-based inverse design, shifting the focus from mechanisms to the direct acquisition of functional control strategies. By embracing this methodology, we can uncover solutions that might not have direct parallels in natural systems, yet yield crucial insights into the isolated molecular elements dictating functionality. This provides a distinctive comprehension of the underlying mechanisms.In this context, we elucidate how physics-based inverse design, facilitated by evolutionary algorithms and coarse-grained molecular simulations, charts a promising course for innovating the reverse engineering of biopolymers interacting with intricate fluid phases such as lipid membranes and liquid protein phases. We introduce evolutionary molecular dynamics (Evo-MD) simulations, an approach that merges evolutionary algorithms with the Martini coarse-grained force field. This method directs the evolutionary process from random amino acid sequences toward peptides interacting with complex fluid phases such as biological lipid membranes, offering significant promises in the development of peptide-based sensors and drugs. This approach can be tailored to recognize or selectively target specific attributes such as membrane curvature, lipid composition, membrane phase (e.g., lipid rafts), and protein fluid phases. Although the resulting optimal solutions may not perfectly align with biological norms, physics-based inverse design excels at isolating relevant physicochemical principles and thermodynamic driving forces governing optimal biopolymer interaction within complex fluidic environments. In addition, we expound upon how physics-based evolution using the Evo-MD approach can be harnessed to extract the evolutionary optimization fingerprints of protein-lipid interactions from native proteins. Finally, we outline how such an approach is uniquely able to generate strategic training data for predictive neural network models that cover the whole relevant physicochemical domain. Exploring challenges, we address key considerations such as choosing a fitting fitness function to delineate the desired functionality. Additionally, we scrutinize assumptions tied to system setup, the targeted protein structure, and limitations posed by the utilized (coarse-grained) force fields and explore potential strategies for guiding evolution with limited experimental data. This discourse encapsulates the potential and remaining obstacles of physics-based inverse design, paving the way for an exciting frontier in biomolecular research.

DECIPHERING THE DEEP: MACHINE LEARNING APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING OCEANIC ECOSYSTEMS

This paper presents a detailed exploration of the transformative role of Machine Learning (ML) in oceanographic research, encapsulating the paradigm shift towards more efficient and comprehensive analysis of marine ecosystems. It delves into the multifaceted applications of ML, ranging from predictive modeling of ocean currents to in-depth biodiversity analysis and deciphering the complexities of deep-sea ecosystems through advanced computer vision techniques. The discussion extends to the challenges and opportunities that intertwine with the integration of AI and ML in oceanography, emphasizing the need for robust data collection, interdisciplinary collaboration, and ethical considerations. Through a series of case studies and thematic discussions, this paper underscores the profound potential of ML to revolutionize our understanding and preservation of oceanic ecosystems, setting a new frontier for future research and conservation strategies in the realm of oceanography.

Research state of the herbal medicine Huangqi (Radix Astragali): A global and bibliometric study.

Huangqi (Radix Astragali) is a natural medicine with a wide range of uses. The research related to Huangqi is getting hotter and the number of publications is gradually increasing. This study aims to explore the current status and emerging trends of Huangqi-related research. Huangqi-related literature was systemically obtained from the Web of Science database. The CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and, R package "Bibliometrix" tools were used to analyze the number of publications, countries, research institutions, journals, authors, keywords, references, and trends. A total of 2255 papers were retrieved for analysis. These papers were written by 11,247 authors from 1927 institutions in 71 countries, published in 570 journals, and cited 73,534 references from 11,553 journals. From 1999 to 2022, the number of publications gradually increased. China was the country with the highest number of publications. The most prolific institution was Shanghai University of Chinese Medicine. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine was the journal publishing the most Huangqi-related literature. Dr Karl Wah Keung Tsim was the authors with the most output publications. The Review, entitle "Review of the Botanical Characteristics, Phytochemistry, and Pharmacology of Astragalus membranaceous (Huangqi)," was the reference being cited most frequently. The major keywords were apoptosis, oxidative stress, and inflammation. Gut microbiota and epithelial-mesenchymal transitions were new research hotspots in recent years. This study used quantitative and visual analysis of Huangqi to provide insights into the research priorities, frontier research hotspots, and future research trends in this field.

Intelligent mine safety risk based on knowledge graph: hotspots and frontiers.

The safety of mining has always been a concern. The occurrence of safety accidents not only endangers human health, but also causes serious damage to the ecological environment. With the continuous upgrade and improvement of mining technology, most mines are undergoing intelligent construction and transformation. In order to analyze security risks that should be focused on the construction of intelligent mines and the technical challenges that will be faced, we used the Web of Science (WOS) Core Collection to identify 283 publications on the field of security risks in intelligent mines from 2013 to 2022. We combined the Vosviewer, CiteSpace, and Bibliometrix R software packages to conduct an in-depth analysis and exquisite visualization of the literature, including the authors, journals, countries, hot topics, and research frontiers. This paper can help scholars comprehensively and quickly understand the research status and hotspots in the field of intelligent mine safety and risk, and it provides theoretical support for further research and exploration in the future.

High‐Performance Mesoporous Catalysts of Ultrasmall Hexagonal Thiospinel Nanocrystals for Visible‐Light Hydrogen Evolution

AbstractSemiconductor nanocrystals are at the frontier of energy conversion research owing to their tunable optoelectronic attributes and versatile surface activities. Here high‐surface‐area mesoporous frameworks comprising linked CdIn2S4 nanocrystals as efficient catalysts are presented for visible‐light‐driven hydrogen production. X‐ray total scattering analysis discloses hexagonally‐structured CdIn2S4 thiospinel nanoparticles forming the porous structure. Further analytic results indicate that these newly‐made ensembles possess an open‐up architecture that is highly conductive and susceptible to modification. Through appropriate selection of the synthesis conditions, it is demonstrated that the present synthetic protocol is general, allowing the preparation of porous materials from thiospinel nanoparticles with various sizes and compositions. This study shows that coupling of CdIn2S4 mesostructures and Ni2P nanosheets substantially expedites the kinetics of water photo‐splitting by effectively reinforcing the separation of photogenerated carriers at the interfaces. Thus, mesoporous Ni2P/CdIn2S4 heterojunctions instigate a remarkable improvement in the hydrogen generation rate (≈29.3 mmol h−1 gcat−1), presenting an apparent quantum yield of 61.7% at 420 nm monochromatic light. A combination of electrochemical and spectroscopic studies unveils a pertinent mechanistic link between the charge‐transfer dynamics and intrinsic photochemical activity in these nanostructures.

Lives in Motion: New Frontiers in Research on Immigration and Aging.

Lives in Motion: New Frontiers in Research on Immigration and Aging.

OCT angiography 2023 update: focus on diabetic retinopathy.

Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) has become part of the clinical practice and its growing applications are in continuous development. Coherently with the growing concern about the human and economic cost of diabetes, diabetic retinopathy (DR) was the most popular topic for OCTA studies in the past year. The analysis of the literature reveals that applications of OCTA in DR are in continuous growth. In particular, ultrawide field (UWF) OCTA and artificial intelligence (AI) based on OCTA images are affirming as the new frontiers of scientific research in the field. Diagnostic accuracy of AI methods based on OCTA is equal or superior to the one based on OCT methods and also bears potential to detect systemic associations. UWF OCTA is noninvasive method that is reaching similar accuracy of FA in detection of neovascularization and intraretinal microvascular abnormalities (IRMAs) and has allowed better characterization of microvascular peripherical changes in DR. Lastly, deep capillary plexus (DCP) characteristics seem to play a pivotal role in the development of diabetic macular edema (DME) and refinement of biomarkers for different phenotypes of DME and diabetic macular ischemia (DMI) is currently on its way.

Drug-eluting stents for coronary artery disease in the perspective of bibliometric analysis.

Drug-eluting stents (DES) play a crucial role in treating coronary artery disease (CAD) by preventing restenosis. These stents are coated with drug carriers that release antiproliferative drugs within the vessel. Over the past two decades, DES have been employed in clinical practice using various materials, polymers, and drug types. Despite optimizations in their design and materials to enhance biocompatibility and antithrombotic properties, evaluating their long-term efficacy and safety necessitates improved clinical follow-up and monitoring. To delineate future research directions, this study employs a bibliometric analysis approach. We comprehensively surveyed two decades' worth of literature on DES for CAD using the Web of Science Core Collection (WOSCC). Out of 5,778 articles, we meticulously screened them based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Subsequently, we conducted an in-depth analysis encompassing annual publication trends, authorship affiliations, journal affiliations, keywords, and more. Employing tools such as Excel 2021, CiteSpace 6.2R3, VOSviewer 1.6.19, and Pajek 5.17, we harnessed bibliometric methods to derive insights from this corpus. Analysis of annual publication data indicates a recent stabilisation or even a downward trend in research output in this area. The United States emerged as the leading contributor, with Columbia University and CRF at the forefront in both publication output and citation impact. The most cited document pertained to standardized definitions for clinical endpoints in coronary stent trials. Our author analysis identifies Patrick W. Serruys as the most prolific contributor, underscoring a dynamic exchange of knowledge within the field.Moreover, the dual chart overlay illustrates a close interrelation between journals in the "Medicine," "Medical," and "Clinical" domains and those in "Health," "Nursing," and "Medicine." Frequently recurring keywords in this research landscape include DES coronary artery disease, percutaneous coronary intervention, implantation, and restenosis. This study presents a comprehensive panorama encompassing countries, research institutions, journals, keyword distributions, and contributions within the realm of DES therapy for CAD. By highlighting keywords exhibiting recent surges in frequency, we elucidate current research hotspots and frontiers, thereby furnishing novel insights to guide future researchers in this evolving field.

A Path Planning System for Orchard Mower Based on Improved A* Algorithm

The application of intelligent mobile robots in agriculture has emerged as a new research frontier, with the integration of autonomous navigation technology and intelligent agricultural robots being the key to the widespread adoption of smart agricultural machinery. This paper investigates comprehensive coverage path planning for tracked lawnmowers within orchard environments and addresses challenges related to task allocation and battery life. Firstly, in this study, the motion model of the tracked lawnmower was initially simplified based on assumptions about the orchard environment. Force analyses were conducted on each of its motion mechanisms. For the known orchard environment, a grid-based mapping technique was employed to model the orchard environment. Then, in order to improve the algorithm speed and reduce the number of turns during the lawnmower’s traversal, the A* search algorithm was enhanced by combining the method of robot cluster traversal in the orchard environment. Finally, the improved method was simulated and verified in the MATLAB platform to investigate the influence of the number of lawnmower clusters on the path planning in the connected and non-connected orchards. Furthermore, two sets of on-site field trials were meticulously designed to validate the reliability, practicality, and efficacy of the simulation experiments.

Charting the Research Terrain for Large Old Trees: Findings from a Quantitative Bibliometric Examination in the Twenty-First Century

Despite their relatively small numbers, large old trees play disproportionately important roles in global biodiversity and ecosystem functions. There is a lack of systematic reviews and quantitative analyses of the accumulated literature. Understanding the research context and evolution could pump prime research and conservation endeavors. Using the comprehensive Web of Science, we applied VOSviewer (1.6.19) and CiteSpace (6.1R2) bibliometric software to examine the large old tree research field in 2000–2022. The queries of the bibliographic database generated quantitative–visual depictions in the form of knowledge maps. The nodes denote research intensity, and inter-node linkages denote the pathways and frequencies of collaborative activities. The research outputs differed significantly in terms of regions, countries, institutions, high-citation articles, productive researchers, hot topics, and research frontiers. Conspicuous spatial disparities were displayed, with the U.S.A., China, and Australia leading in publication counts and a cluster of European countries making considerable collective contributions. The research collaboration demonstrated a dichotomy: European countries networked more by geographical propinquity, and the top three countries connected by long-distance leap-frog jumps. The entrenched discrepancies between the endowed developed domains vis-à-vis the deprived developing domains were clearly expressed. The research productivity progressed through three stages: initial, growth, and flourishing. The leading institutions, researchers, and highly cited papers were recognized. The keyword analysis pinpointed diverse research hotspots: growth dynamics, conservation and management, ecological functions, and environmental response. This study informs recommendations for future research directions and cooperation on longevity mechanisms, evolutionary adaptation, dynamic monitoring, and temporal–spatial patterns. The integrated application of GIS, machine learning, and big data technologies could strengthen research capability.

Isolation and characterization of Rhizobium from non-leguminous potato plants: New frontiers in Rhizobium research

Isolation and characterization of Rhizobium from non-leguminous potato plants: New frontiers in Rhizobium research

The research progress and research trends in acute coronary syndrome nursing: A review of visual analysis based on the Web of Science database.

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is one of the most common and severe forms of cardiovascular disease and has attracted worldwide attention with increased morbidity and mortality in recent years. There are few review studies in the field of its care in the form of bibliometric studies. We searched the Web of Science Core Collection database for articles and reviews in the area of ACS nursing for visual mapping analysis. Our objectives are to explore the hot topics and frontiers of research in the field of ACS nursing and to identify collaborative relationships between countries, institutions, and authors. This study will provide researchers with intuitive reference data for future in-depth studies of ACSs.

Recent Advances and Developments in Injectable Conductive Polymer Gels for Bioelectronics.

Soft matter bioelectronics represents an emerging and interdisciplinary research frontier aiming to harness the synergy between biology and electronics for advanced diagnostic and healthcare applications. In this context, a whole family of soft gels have been recently developed with self-healing ability and tunable biological mimetic features to act as a tissue-like space bridging the interface between the electronic device and dynamic biological fluids and body tissues. This review article provides a comprehensive overview of electroactive polymer gels, formed by noncovalent intermolecular interactions and dynamic covalent bonds, as injectable electroactive gels, covering their synthesis, characterization, and applications. First, hydrogels crafted from conducting polymers (poly(3,4-ethylene-dioxythiophene) (PEDOT), polyaniline (PANi), and polypyrrole (PPy))-based networks which are connected through physical interactions (e.g., hydrogen bonding, π-π stacking, hydrophobic interactions) or dynamic covalent bonds (e.g., imine bonds, Schiff-base, borate ester bonds) are addressed. Injectable hydrogels involving hybrid networks of polymers with conductive nanomaterials (i.e., graphene oxide, carbon nanotubes, metallic nanoparticles, etc.) are also discussed. Besides, it also delves into recent advancements in injectable ionic liquid-integrated gels (iongels) and deep eutectic solvent-integrated gels (eutectogels), which present promising avenues for future research. Finally, the current applications and future prospects of injectable electroactive polymer gels in cutting-edge bioelectronic applications ranging from tissue engineering to biosensing are outlined.