From the database of
Essential
Science IndicatorsSM, this list of Emerging
Research Fronts has been generated by a comparison of the data sets for
the current period of November 2001-October 31, 2007, and the previous
period of September 2001-August 31, 2007 (sliding 6-year period). Of
the 5,589 Research Fronts in the November 2001-October 31, 2007 file, a
total of 881 (16%) were new. The following Research Fronts were
selected for mapping from the list of Emerging Research Fronts from
this period:
Environmental Management Systems have been adapted by
different agricultural industries to suit their needs
and to align with other requirements such as Quality
Assurance.
Recent developments in the analysis of the maturation
of [FeFe]- and [NiFe]- hydrogenases have revealed a
remarkably complex pattern of mostly novel biochemical
reactions.
Alternative polymer systems for proton exchange
membranes.
Clinical
Medicine FEATURED
FRONT: with corresponding map
NOSOCOMIAL METHICILLIN-RESISTANT STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS
(MRSA) INFECTION; VANCOMYCIN-RESISTANT ENTEROCOCCUS
CONTROL MEASURES; INTENSIVE CARE UNITS; HOSPITAL
PATIENTS COLONIZED
Research Front Map for: NOSOCOMIAL
MRSA INFECTION
Active surveillance cultures are essential to identify
the reservoir for spread of Methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus and Vancomycin-Resistant
Enterococcus infections and make control possible using
the CDCs long-recommended contact precautions.
Computer
Science
PROTEIN SUBCELLULAR LOCALIZATION USING
N-TERMINAL TARGETING SEQUENCES; FUZZY K-NN METHOD;
PREDICTING SUBCELLULAR LOCALIZATION; AMINO ACID
COMPOSITION
Emerging Research Comment by:
Minoru Kanehisa
Proteins are the main players involved in various
cellular functions, and subcellular location is the key
information required for the understanding of such
functions.
Economics &
Business
PROCESS MANAGEMENT; AMBIDEXTERITY
HYPOTHESIS; ORGANIZATIONAL
AMBIDEXTERITY
Emerging Research Comment by:
Mary J. Benner
Process management activities must be buffered from
exploratory activities. Ambidextrous organizational
forms provide the complex contexts for these
inconsistent activities to coexist.
Engineering
DETERMINISTIC MINE BURIAL PREDICTION SYSTEM; SEA MINE
BURIAL PREDICTION; SCOUR BURIAL USING OPERATIONAL DATA
SETS; MINE-IMPACT BURIAL MODEL (IMPACT35) VERIFICATION
A simple parameterized model for wave-induced burial of
mine-like cylinders as a function of grain-size,
time-varying, wave orbital velocity and mine diameter
was implemented and assessed against results from inert
instrumented mines.
Experimental results suggest that cadmium(II)
adsorption capacities for three kinds of oxidized
carbon nanotubes increase due to the functional groups
introduced by oxidation compared with the as-grown
carbon nanotubes.
Volcanic rocks occurring in different regions might
represent magma eruption in different time periods. The
zircon Sensitive High Resolution Ion Microprobe dating
indicates that the ages of the basalt varies between
334.0 Ma and 394.9 Ma.
Immunology
LYMPHOCYTE ACTIVATION; CASPASE-8 MUTATIONS LEAD;
NF-KAPPA B ACTIVATION; PLEIOTROPIC DEFECTS; HUMAN
IMMUNODEFICIENCY
Caspase-8 deficiency in humans is compatible with
normal development and shows that caspase-8 has a
postnatal role in immune activation of naive
lymphocytes.
Materials
Science FEATURED
FRONT: with corresponding map
MAGNETIC VORTEX CORE REVERSAL; VORTEX CORE-DRIVEN
MAGNETIZATION DYNAMICS; ULTRAFAST NANOMAGNETIC TOGGLE
SWITCHING Research Front Map for: MAGNETIC
VORTEX CORES
The size and the shape of the vortex core as well as
its magnetic field dependence are governed by only two
material parameters, the exchange stiffness and the
saturation magnetization that determines the stray
field energy.
A precise definition of the basic reproduction number
is presented for a general compartmental disease
transmission model based on a system of ordinary
differential equations.
Results show that histone deacetylase 6 is the tubulin
deacetylase, and provide evidence that reversible
acetylation regulates important biological processes
beyond histone metabolism and gene transcription.
Multidisciplinary
MICRORNA-155 REGULATES GERMINAL CENTER RESPONSE;
MACROPHAGE INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE; NORMAL IMMUNE
FUNCTION
Research suggests that bic/microRNA-155 plays a key
role in the homeostasis and function of the immune
system.
Neuroscience &
Behavior
MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS; PREMYELINATING
OLIGODENDROCYTES; CHRONIC LESIONS;
REMYELINATION
Emerging Research Comment by:
Bruce D. Trapp
Understanding the cellular interactions between
premyelinating oligodendrocytes, axons, and the
microenvironment of lesions of multiple sclerosis may
lead to effective strategies for enhancing
remyelination.
Pharmacology &
Toxicology
SELECTIVE GLUCOCORTICOID RECEPTOR AGONIST; SIDE
EFFECTS; THERAPEUTIC EFFECTS; GLUCOCORTICOIDS
The differential molecular regulation of the major
anti-inflammatory actions of glucocorticoids and their
side effects is the basis for the current drug-finding
programs aimed at the development of dissociated
glucocorticoid receptor ligands.
Physics
ENVIRONMENT-INDUCED SUDDEN DEATH;
ENTANGLEMENT; QUANTUM OPEN SYSTEM THEORY; CLASSICAL
NOISE EFFECTS; TWO JAYNES-CUMMINGS
ATOMS
Emerging Research Comment by:
Ting Yu & Joseph Eberly
Under the influence of pure vacuum noise two entangled
qubits become completely disentangled in a finite-time,
and in a specific example the time is given by
ln((2+root2)/2) times the usual spontaneous lifetime.
Efficient storage of carbon in seeds is crucial to
plant fitness and to agricultural productivity. Oil is
a major reserve material in most seeds, and these oils
provide the largest source of renewable reduced carbon
chains available from nature.
Psychiatry/
Psychology
CHRONIC TIC DISORDERS WITH/WITHOUT
ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER;
CO-EXISTING ATTENTION-DEFICIT/HYPERACTIVITY
DISORDER Emerging Research Comment by:
Mary M. Robertson
Tourette's Syndrome is now recognized to be a common
childhood onset neurodevelopmental disorder. Attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder is also a common
childhood disorder. There are many cases in which the
two disorders are comorbid.
Social Sciences,
general
PRESCRIPTION-DRUG UTILIZATION; MEDICAL UTILIZATION;
THREE-TIER PRESCRIPTION COPAY; INCENTIVE-BASED
FORMULARIES
Many employers have adopted incentive-based formularies
in an attempt to control prescription-drug costs.
Changes in copayments can substantially alter
out-of-pocket spending by enrollees, continuation of
the use of medications and the quality of care.
Space
Science
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE ACS 2 DEG(2) COSMOS FIELD
SPITZER LEGACY SURVEY; LARGE VLT/VIMOS REDSHIFT SURVEY;
COSMIC EVOLUTION SURVEY (COSMOS)
The Cosmic Evolution Survey is designed to probe the
correlated evolution of galaxies, star formation,
active galactic nuclei, and dark matter with
large-scale structure over the redshift range z >
0.5-6.