Mapping of drinking water research: a bibliometric analysis of research output during 1992-2011

Liquid-liquid phase separation drives immune signaling transduction in cancer: a bibliometric and visualized study from 1992 to 2024

Background

Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) is a novel concept that could explain how living cells precisely modulate internal spatial and temporal functions. However, a comprehensive bibliometric analysis on LLPS and immune signaling processes in cancer is still scarce. This study aims to perform a bibliometric assessment of research to explore the landscape of LLPS research in immune signaling pathways for cancer.

Methods

Utilizing the Web of Science Core Collection database and multiple analysis software, we performed quantitative and qualitative analyses of the study situation between LLPS and immune signaling in cancer from 1992 to 2024.

Results

The corresponding authors were primarily from China and the USA. The most relevant references were the "International Journal of Molecular Sciences", "Proteomics". The annual number of publications exhibited a fast upward tendency from 2020 to 2024. The most frequent key terms included expression, separation, activation, immunotherapy, and mechanisms. Qualitative evaluation emphasized the TCR, BCR, cGAS-STING, RIG-1, NF-κB signaling pathways associated with LLPS processes.

Conclusion

This research is the first to integratively map out the knowledge structure and forward direction in the area of immune transduction linked with LLPS over the past 30 years. In summary, although this research area is still in its infancy, illustrating the coordinated structures and communications between cancer and immune signaling with LLPS within a spatial framework will offer deeper insights into the molecular mechanisms of cancer development and further enhance the effectiveness of existing immunotherapies.

Publication Trends in Osteoporosis Treatment: A 20-Year Bibliometric Analysis

BACKGROUND

Osteoporosis prevalence continues to escalate with the growth of the older adult population. In this study, we aimed to investigate the profile of osteoporosis treatment-related research articles published in the past 20 years using bibliometric analysis.

METHODS

We analyzed all osteoporosis treatment-related articles published between 2001 and 2020 in the Web of Science (WoS) database using bibliometric methods. In the Title search section in WoS, we searched the documents using "osteoporosis treatment"-related keywords. We used the VOSviewer software to construct the bibliometric maps of keyword co-occurrences.

RESULTS

Our search yielded 29,738 publications, 21,556 (72.5%) were original articles and 4,529 (15.2%) were review articles and review articles (4,529). We noticed a steady increase in the publication numbers from 2001 to 2020. The overall scientific publication number in WoS increased 3.5-fold, with the five most productive countries being the USA, China, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Japan. The largest contributor was the University of California system. The most productive journals were Osteoporosis International (1,679, 6.4%), Bone (832, 3.2%), and the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research (727, 2.8%). We observed increasing trends in the appearance of denosumab and teriparatide during the last two decades. In our keyword co-occurrence analysis, we constructed four keyword clusters using VOSviewer.

CONCLUSIONS

In this study, we provided a gross overview of the visibility and productivity of research studies in osteoporosis treatment. Substantial changes have occurred in osteoporosis treatment over the last 20 years. The effector mechanism of anti-osteoporosis medications could be future hot spots in osteoporosis research. We believe that our study is a valuable guide for clinicians related to the global outputs of osteoporosis treatment.

Theoretical study of the adsorption capacity of potentially toxic Cd2+, Pb2+, and Hg2+ ions in hemicellulose matrices

Hemicellulose is widely available in nature, is a sustainable resource and has a wide range of applications. Among them, adsorption stands out for the removal of potentially toxic ions. Thus, in the study, the adsorption of Cd2+, Pb2+ and Hg2+ ions in two hemicellulose matrices were elucidated through computational simulations using density functional theory. Molecular electrostatic potential and frontier molecular orbitals demonstrated whether the interactions could happen. Four interaction complexes were highlighted due to the interaction energy criteria, ΔEBind, ΔH and ΔG < 0.00 kcal mol-1, that is: Hm1… Pb (1); Hm2… Pb (3); Hm2…Cd (4) and Hm2…Hg (4) and the results show that they occur through physisorption. In structural parameter studies, interaction distances smaller than 3000 Å were identified, which ranged from 2.253 Å to 2.972 Å. From the analysis of the topological parameters of QTAIM, it was possible to characterize the intensities of the interactions, as well as their nature, which were partially covalent or electrostatic in nature. Finally, based on the theoretical results, it can be affirmed that the hemicellulose can interact with Cd2+, Pb2+ and Hg2+ ions, evidencing that this study can support further experimental essays to remove contaminants from effluents.

Bibliometric analysis of papers on antibiotic resistance genes in aquatic environments on a global scale from 2012 to 2022: Evidence from universality, development and harmfulness

Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), emerging pollutants, are widely distributed in aquatic environments, and are tightly linked to human health. However, the research progress and trends in recent years on ARGs of aquatic environments are still unclear. This paper made a comprehensive understanding of the research advance, study trends and key topics of 1592 ARGs articles from 2012 to 2022 by bibliometrics. Publications on ARGs increased rapidly from 2012 to 2022, and scholars paid closer attention to the field of Environmental Sciences & Ecology. The most influential country and institution was mainly China and Chinese Academy of Sciences, respectively. The most articles (14.64 %) were published in the journal Science of the total environment. China and USA had the most cooperation, and USA was more inclined to international cooperation. PCR-based methods for water ARG research were the most widely used, followed by metagenomics. The most studied ARG types were sulfonamides, tetracyclines. Moreover, ARGs from wastewater and rivers were popularly concerned. Current topics mainly included pollution investigation, characteristics, transmission, reduction and risk identification of ARGs. Additionally, future research directions were proposed. Generally, by bibliometrics, this paper reviews the research hotspots and future directions of ARGs on a global scale, and summarizes the more important categories of ARGs, the pollution degree of ARGs in the relevant water environment and the research methods, which can provide a more comprehensive information for the future breakthrough of resistance mechanism, prevention and control standard formulation of ARGs.

Worldwide productivity and research trend on fruit quality: a bibliometric study

Introduction

As one of the important sources of food for human beings, fruits have been extensively studied. To better guide basic and applied research, it is urgent to conduct a systematic analysis of these studies based on extensive literature collection.

Methods

Based on the Web of Science Core Collection database, this study uses R language and CiteSpace to conduct bibliometric analysis and data mining on the literatures related to fruit quality from January 2013 to June 2023.

Results

The results indicated that among various fruits, tomatoes have been most frequently studied with special interests in photosynthesis, fruit development, and molecular breeding. The research direction primarily focused on fruit resistance and storage characteristics. Among the indicators related to fruit quality, antioxidant activity has the highest co-occurrence with other indicators of fruit quality, especially with nutrients such as anthocyanins, phenolic substances, sugars, and fruit firmness.

Discussion

Currently, adaptation to stress and antioxidant activity are recognized as prominent research focal points in this field. Fruit morphology, particularly fruit size, irrigation methods, application of molecular technology, and infection prevention, represent potential areas of interests in future research on fruit quality.

Occurrences, sources and health hazard estimation of potentially toxic elements in the groundwater of Garhwal Himalaya, India

High concentrations of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in potable water can cause severe human health disorders. Present study examined the fitness of groundwater for drinking purpose based on the occurrence of nine PTEs in a heavy pilgrim and tourist influx region of the Garhwal Himalaya, India. The concentrations of analyzed PTEs in groundwater were observed in the order of Zn > Mn > As > Al > Cu > Cr > Se > Pb > Cd. Apart from Mn and As, other PTEs were within the corresponding guideline values. Spatial maps were produced to visualize the distribution of the PTEs in the area. Estimated water pollution indices and non-carcinogenic risk indicated that the investigated groundwater is safe for drinking purpose, as the hazard index was < 1 for all the water samples. Assessment of the cancer risk of Cr, As, Cd, and Pb also indicated low health risks associated with groundwater use, as the values were within the acceptable range of ≤ 1 × 10-6 to 1 × 10-4. Multivariate statistical analyses were used to describe the various possible geogenic and anthropogenic sources of the PTEs in the groundwater resources although the contamination levels of the PTEs were found to pose no serious health risk. However, the present study recommends to stop the discharge of untreated wastewater and also to establish cost-effective as well as efficient water treatment facility nearby the study area. Present work's findings are vital as they may protect the health of the massive population from contaminated water consumption. Moreover, it can help the researchers, governing authorities and water supplying agencies to take prompt and appropriate decisions for water security.

Heavy metals in influent and effluent from 146 drinking water treatment plants across China: Occurrence, explanatory factors, probabilistic health risk, and removal efficiency

Heavy metals (HMs) in drinking water have drawn worldwide attention due to their risks to public health; however, a systematic assessment of the occurrence of HMs in drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) at a large geographical scale across China and the removal efficiency, human health risks, and the correlation with environmental factors have yet to be established. Therefore, this study characterised the occurrence patterns of nine conventional dissolved HMs in the influent and effluent water samples from 146 typical DWTPs in seven major river basins across China (which consist of the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, the Songhua River, the Pearl River, the Huaihe River, the Liaohe River and the Haihe River) for the first time and removal efficiency, probabilistic health risks, and the correlation with water quality. According to the findings, a total of eight HMs (beryllium (Be), antimony (Sb), barium (Ba), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni), vanadium (V), cobalt (Co) and titanium (Ti)) were detected, with detection frequencies in influent and effluent water ranging from 2.90 (Mo) to 99.30% (Ba) and 1.40 (Ti) to 97.90% (Ba), respectively. The average concentration range was 0.41 (Be)- 77.36 (Sb) μg/L. Among them, Sb (exceeding standard rate 8%), Ba (2.89%), Ni (21.43%), and V (1.33%) were exceeded the national standard (GB5749-2022). By combining Spearman's results and redundancy analysis, our results revealed a close correlation among pH, turbidity (TURB), potassium permanganate index (COD_Mn), and total nitrogen (TN) along with the concentration and composition of HMs. In addition, the concentration of HMs in finished water was strongly affected by the concentration of HMs in raw water, as evidenced by the fact that HMs in surface water poses a risk to the quality of finished water. Metal concentration was the primary factor in assessing the health risk of a single metal, and the carcinogenic risk of Ba, Mo, Ni, and Sb should be paid attention to. In DWTPs, the removal efficiencies of various HMs also vary greatly, with an average removal rate ranging from 16.30% to 95.64%. In summary, our findings provide insights into the water quality and health risks caused by HMs in drinking water.

A bibliometric analysis of global research on drinking water and health in low- and lower-middle-income countries

Heightened interest in drinking water research in recent decades has been aimed at narrowing the knowledge gaps surrounding water and health in a global pursuit to provide safely managed drinking water services to populations who continue to lack access. This study used bibliometrics and network analysis to produce a global overview of publications and groups that have contributed to research on drinking water and health in low- and lower-middle-income countries (LLMICs). The United States and the United Kingdom, which have historically dominated the field based on the production and impact of scientific literature, remain at the center of international collaborative research partnerships with emerging countries. However, in recent years, the volume of publications produced by India has surpassed that of the United States while Bangladesh is ranked third for the strongest international collaborations. Iran and Pakistan are also emerging as major producers of research, yet publications out of these countries and India remain disproportionately restricted behind paywalls. Contamination, diarrheal disease, and water resources are the themes that characterize the majority of research on water and health. These findings may be used to accelerate equitable, inclusive research in the realm of water and health, thereby enabling gaps in global drinking water inequalities to be filled.

Worldwide productivity and research trend of publications concerning electroactive materials and spinal cord injury: A bibliometric study

Purpose: We investigated the current state and trends in the area during the previous 10 years using bibliometric approaches to evaluate the global scientific output of research on electroactive materials and spinal cord injury. Methods: Studies on spinal cord injury in electroactive materials that were published between 2012 and 2022 were located using the Web of science (WOS) datebase. The software programs bibliometrix R-package and CiteSpace were used to do quantitative analyses of annual publications, nation, author, institution, journal source, co-cited references, and keywords. The studies were categorized by the research's main points using a qualitative analysis, and publications having more than 10 citations each year. Results: In the final analysis, 1,330 relevant papers or reviews were included. There is an increased tendency in both the average annual citation rate and the number of publications in the discipline. The United States and the University of Toronto are the countries and institutions that have contributed the most to this discipline, respectively. The majority of authors are from the China and United States. Zhang Y is the author with the most published articles and holds the top position in the cited author h-index species. The journal with the highest number of published articles is "Disability and rehabilitation"; the journal is divided into four main areas including physics, materials, chemistry, molecular, and biology. The keyword analysis revealed a shift in research hotspots from schwann cell, fracture, and urinary disorders to carbon-based materials, functional recovery, and surgery. Analysis of qualitative data revealed that the role and mechanism of injectable conductive hydrogels in spinal cord healing after damage is a hot topic of current study, with the mechanism primarily focusing on the inhibition of oxidative stress (Nrf2) and apoptosis (Casepase 3). Conclusion: Our bibliometric analysis indicates that research on electroactive materials for spinal cord injury remains an active field of study. Moreover, contemporary research is concentrated on carbon-based materials, functional rehabilitation, and surgery.

Evolution of water governance systems in agriculture in developing countries and proposals for improvement. The case of the Hermosillo Coast, Mexico

This paper aims to study the determinants of the governance model of water resources in the agriculture of the Hermosillo-Coast (Mexico). To achieve this objective, a literature review, in-depth interviews and a workshop were carried out. The results show that the main threats to the system come from the model of granting concessions for access to water resources, the lack of supervision by the competent authority and the control of a group of stakeholders over water in relation to the rest of the interested parties. Finally, measures aimed at improving the sustainability of agricultural activity in the area are proposed.

Naturally occurring metals in unregulated domestic wells in Nevada, USA

The dominant source of drinking water in rural Nevada, United States, is privately-owned domestic wells. Because the water from these wells is unregulated with respect to government guidelines, it is the owner's responsibility to test their groundwater for heavy metals and other contaminants. Arsenic, lead, cadmium, and uranium have been previously measured at concentrations above Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines in Nevada groundwater. This is a public health concern because elevated levels of these metals are known to have negative health effects. We recruited individuals through a population health study, the Healthy Nevada Project, to submit drinking water samples from domestic wells for testing. Water samples were returned from 174 households with private wells. We found 22 % had arsenic concentrations exceeding the EPA maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 10 μg/L. Additionally, federal, state, or health-based guidelines were exceeded for 8 % of the households for uranium and iron, 6 % for lithium and manganese, 4 % for molybdenum, and 1 % for lead. The maximum observed concentrations of arsenic, uranium, and lead were ∼80, ∼5, and ∼1.5 times the EPA guideline values, respectively. 41 % of households had a treatment system and submitted both pre- and post-treatment water samples from their well. The household treatments were shown to reduce metal concentrations, but concentrations above guideline values were still observed. Many treatment systems cannot reduce the concentration below guideline values because of water chemistry, treatment failure, or improper treatment techniques. These results show the pressing need for continued education and outreach on regular testing of domestic well waters, proper treatment types, and health effects of metal contamination. These findings are potentially applicable to other arid areas where groundwater contamination of naturally occurring heavy metals occurs.

Trends in Research on Forest Ecosystem Services in the Most Recent 20 Years: A Bibliometric Analysis

Forest resources and the flow of ecosystem services they provide play a key role in supporting national and regional economies, improving people’s lives, protecting biodiversity, and mitigating the impacts of climate change. Based on the ISI (Institute of Scientific Information) Web of Science (WoS) database, we used a bibliometric approach to analyze the research status, evolution process, and hotspots of forest ecosystem services (FES) from a compilation of 8797 documents published between 1997 and 2019. The results indicated that: (1) research on forest ecosystem services has developed rapidly over the past 23 years. Institutions in the United States and other developed countries have significantly contributed to undertake research on the topic of ecosystem services. (2) The 11 hotpot key focus areas of completed research were payments for ecosystem services, biodiversity conservation, forest governance, ecosystem approaches, climate change, nitrogen, ecosystem management, pollination, cities, ecological restoration, and policy. (3) The trade-off relationships among ecosystem services, ecosystem resilience and stability have become the research frontier in this field. (4) Future research on FES will likely focus on the formation and evolution mechanism of ecosystem services; the interaction, feedback and intrinsic connections of ecosystem services at different scales; analysis of the trade-offs and synergies; unified evaluation standards, evaluation systems, model construction and scenario analyses; in-depth studies of the internal correlation mechanism between forest ecosystem services and human wellbeing; and realization of cross-disciplinary and multi-method integration in sustainable forest management and decision-making.

Examining Knowledge Diffusion in the Circular Economy Domain: a Main Path Analysis

The circular economy (CE) field has recently attracted significant interest from academics and practitioners. CE represents a departure from the linear economy, which is characterised by unsustainable resource production and consumption. The growing number of publications necessitates a comprehensive analysis of this field. This is the first systematic examination of the knowledge base and knowledge diffusion pathways in the CE domain. We analyse a Web of Science dataset containing 5431 articles published between 1970 and 2020. To create a comprehensive review of the CE domain, we conducted a keyword co-occurrence network analysis. We examined four distinct types of main paths using the main path analysis (MPA) technique: forward, backward, global, and key-route. According to the analyses, CE research focuses on six primary research themes: CE and sustainability, bioeconomy, CE practices, lifecycle assessment and industrial symbiosis, construction activities, and waste management. In addition, the MPA demonstrates that the CE literature has recently focused on Industry 4.0 technologies and their contribution to CE. This is the first attempt to depict the genealogy of CE research so that scholars can comprehend the domain's evolutionary structure, identify hot topics, and capture the history, development status, and potential future directions of CE research.

Global pattern and drivers of water scarcity research: a combined bibliometric and geographic detector study

Water scarcity, which refers to a deficit of freshwater resources availability in meeting anthropogenic and environmental water needs, is nowadays a growing concern in many countries around the world. Because water scarcity is often poor management induced, research is critical to advance knowledge and provide technical and policy support for water scarcity adaptation and solutions. Here, we address global water scarcity research pattern and underlying drivers, using the bibliometric analysis combined with geographic detector. The results indicate that water scarcity research exhibits great temporal and spatial variations. Predominant factors that control the numbers of water scarcity publications are gross domestic products (GDP) and population, which altogether explain 30-52% of the variance of the number of publications in different countries. Water scarcity research is biased in a few populated and affluent countries. Other factors, including physical water scarcity, research and development expenditure, and governance indicators can also be linked to water scarcity research. Keywords mining reveals that hotspots of research domains on causes, approaches, types, and effects of water scarcity show continental difference. The results have policy implications for guiding future water scarcity research. Research in developing countries suffering from physical and economic water scarcity should be enhanced to improve adaptive capacity and reduce vulnerability to water scarcity.

Mapping the Research on Health Policy and Services in the Last Decade (2009-2018): A Bibliometric Analysis

Background

Health policy and services is a continuously evolving field of research that can inform prevention and control efforts for a variety of health conditions. The "Healthy China" strategy reflects the demand to formulate health policy that suits China's national needs and goals. Applying bibliometric analysis to grasp the general situation of health policy and services research globally will be conducive to informing China's designated health plans and initiatives.

Method

A bibliometric analysis of 58,065 articles on "Health Policy and Services" topics was conducted. The document type was restricted to journal articles that were published in the Web of Science database between the time parameter of January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2018. Data was collected on indicators such as the annual number of publications in the field of health policy and services, the country where the publication is issued, the publication organization, the source journal, the frequency of citations, research hotspots, and academic areas.

Results

The overall number of articles published in Web of Science on health policy and services research has increased over time. The United States has the largest number of articles in the field. The institution with the highest number of citations in the field is Harvard University and the journal with the most published articles in the field is Health Affairs. Research hotspots in the health policy and services field include topics such as "HIV Infections," "Primary Health Care," "Delivery of Health Care," and "Health Services Accessibility."

Conclusion

Experts in the field of health policy and services globally are dedicated to researching the most effective ways to improve people's health and living standards. There is a certain gap in the depth of health policy and services research between China and developed countries and regions such as Europe or America. China must learn from foreign experience to conduct meaningful and informative research that can aid in the formulation of multi-dimensional health policies in specific areas such as environmental infectious diseases, where attention is needed in areas beyond the medical and health system.

A Bibliometric Analysis of Research on Selenium in Drinking Water during the 1990-2021 Period: Treatment Options for Selenium Removal

A bibliometric analysis based on the Scopus database was carried out to summarize the global research related to selenium in drinking water from 1990 to 2021 and identify the quantitative characteristics of the research in this period. The results from the analysis revealed that the number of accumulated publications followed a quadratic growth, which confirmed the relevance this research topic is gaining during the last years. High research efforts have been invested to define safe selenium content in drinking water, since the insufficient or excessive intake of selenium and the corresponding effects on human health are only separated by a narrow margin. Some important research features of the four main technologies most frequently used to remove selenium from drinking water (coagulation, flocculation and precipitation followed by filtration; adsorption and ion exchange; membrane-based processes and biological treatments) were compiled in this work. Although the search of technological options to remove selenium from drinking water is less intensive than the search of solutions to reduce and eliminate the presence of other pollutants, adsorption was the alternative that has received the most attention according to the research trends during the studied period, followed by membrane technologies, while biological methods require further research efforts to promote their implementation.

Global performance and trends of research on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) between 2001 and 2018 using bibliometric analysis

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are widely used in food packaging, non-stick pots, and surfactants. However, their persistence in the environment, hazardous nature, and potential for bioaccumulation and long-range transport have alarmed an increasing number of scholars and research institutions. Although several literature reviews on PFASs research exist, only a few of them have considered bibliometric indices. In this study, 3,373 PFASs-related articles published between 2001 and 2018 were analyzed using a bibliometric analysis method based on the Science Citation Index (SCI) Expanded. The software tools for mapping knowledge domain (MKD) (VOSviewer and Science of Science (Sci2)) were used to analyze the performance of contributors and PFASs research topics, hotspots, and trends. Our results reveal that the number of PFASs-related articles published annually has increased significantly, with most originating from the United States (followed by those from China). The Chinese Academy of Sciences has published the most articles. A comprehensive analysis of title, keywords, and keywords plus showed that PFASs research hotspots include humans, precursors, and detection methods, with the main focuses being environmental science, toxicology, and environmental engineering. The four main research topics of PFASs were identified, and a literature review was carried out for each one. Overall, this study can supply researchers with a deeper understanding of the development of PFASs studies and provide a comprehensive data reference for researchers to further grasp the research direction in this field.

Trends in research on corneal cross linking from 2001 to 2020: a bibliometric analysis

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

The research status and hotspots in the field of corneal cross linking (CXL) can benefit clinicians, researchers and the general public.

BACKGROUND

The purpose of this study was to map the publishing trend on CXL research and explore the research hotspots.

METHODS

A bibliometric analysis was performed using the Web of Science Core Collection to investigate the publishing trend on CXL research. VOSviewer was used to build the knowledge map to visualise the number of annual publications, distribution of countries and institutions, international cooperation, author productivity, source journals and research hotspots in the field of CXL.

RESULTS

A total of 2061 peer-reviewed articles on CXL research were collected from 2001 to 2020, and the annual research production increased over time. The United States was the country with the largest number of published articles, and the University of Zurich was the most active institution. Hafezi F published the largest number of articles on CXL, while Cornea was the journal with the largest number of studies on CXL. The most frequently cited references mainly focus on CXL in the treatment of keratoconus. The keywords were divided in 5 categories: 1) CXL mechanism, 2) ectasia diseases and refractive surgery, 3) corneal biomechanics, 4) efficacy evaluation, 5) treatment of infectious keratitis.

CONCLUSION

The quantity and quality of articles on CXL were evaluated using bibliometric techniques by extracting the data from the Web of Science Core Collection. The research hotspots could provide insights on CXL research, providing valuable information for clinicians to perform research in this field and find potential partners.

Trends of Studies on Controlled Halogenated Gases under International Conventions during 1999–2018 Using Bibliometric Analysis: A Global Perspective

A lot of research on international convention-controlled halogenated gases (CHGs) has been carried out. However, few bibliometric analyses and literature reviews exist in this field. Based on 734 articles extracted from the Science Citation Index (SCI) Expanded database of the Web of Science, we provided the visualisation for the performance of contributors and trends in research content by using VOSviewer and Science of Science (Sci2). The results showed that the United States was the most productive country, followed by the United Kingdom and China. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had the largest number of publications, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Bristol. In terms of disciplines, environmental science and meteorological and atmospheric science have contributed the most. By using cluster analysis of all keywords, four key research topics of CHGs were identified and reviewed: (1) emissions calculation, (2) physicochemical analysis of halocarbons, (3) evaluation of replacements, and (4) environmental impact. The change in research substances is closely related to the phase-out schedule of the Montreal Protocol. In terms of environmental impact, global warming has always been the most important research hotspot, whereas research on ozone-depleting substances and biological toxicity shows a gradually rising trend.

Analysis of international publication trends in artificial intelligence in ophthalmology

PURPOSE

Artificial intelligence (AI) has entered the field of medicine, and ophthalmology is no exception. The objective of this study was to report on scientific production and publication trends, to identify journals, countries, international collaborations, and major MeSH terms involved in AI in ophthalmology research.

METHODS

Scientometric methods were used to evaluate global scientific production and development trends in AI in ophthalmology using PubMed and the Web of Science Core Collection.

RESULTS

A total of 1356 articles were retrieved over the period 1966-2019. The yearly growth of AI in ophthalmology publications has been 18.89% over the last ten years, indicating that AI in ophthalmology is a very attractive topic in science. Analysis of the most productive journals showed that most were specialized in computer and medical systems. No journal was found to specialize in AI in ophthalmology. The USA, China, and the UK were the three most productive countries. The study of international collaboration showed that, besides the USA, researchers tended to collaborate with peers from neighboring countries. Among the twenty most frequent MeSH terms retrieved, there were only four related to clinical topics, revealing the retina and glaucoma as the most frequently encountered subjects of interest in AI in ophthalmology. Analysis of the top ten Journal Citation Reports categories of journals and MeSH terms for articles confirmed that AI in ophthalmology research is mainly focused on engineering and computing and is mainly technical research related to computer methods.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides a broad view of the current status and trends in AI in ophthalmology research and shows that AI in ophthalmology research is an attractive topic focusing on retinal diseases and glaucoma. This study may be useful for researchers in AI in ophthalmology such as clinicians, but also for scientists to better understand this research topic, know the main actors in this field (including journals and countries), and have a general overview of this research theme.

An Investigation into Art Therapy Aided Health and Well-Being Research: A 75-Year Bibliometric Analysis

Considering the physical, and psychological impacts and challenges brought about the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), art therapy (AT) provides opportunities to promote human health and well-being. There are few systematic analysis studies in the fields of AT, which can provide content and direction for the potential value and impact of AT. Therefore, this paper aims to critically analyze the published work in the field of AT from the perspective of promoting health and well-being, and provides insights into current research status, hotspots, limitations, and future development trends of AT. This paper adopts a mixed method of quantitative and qualitative analysis including bibliometric analysis and keyword co-occurrence analysis. The results indicate that: (1) the current studies on AT are mostly related to research and therapeutic methods, types of AT, research populations and diseases, and evaluation of therapeutic effect of AT. The research method of AT mainly adopts qualitative research, among which creative arts therapy and group AT are common types of AT, and its main research populations are children, veterans, and adolescents. AT-aided diseases are trauma, depression, psychosis, dementia, and cancer. In addition, the therapeutic methods are mainly related to psychotherapy, drama, music, and dance/movement. Further, computer systems are an important evaluation tool in the research of AT; (2) the future development trend of AT-aided health and well-being based on research hotspots, could be focused on children, schizophrenia, well-being, mental health, palliative care, veterans, and the elderly within the context of addressing COVID-19 challenges; and (3) future AT-aided health and well-being could pay more attention to innovate and integrate the therapeutic methods of behavior, movement, and technology, such as virtual reality and remote supervision.

On the Road to Sustainable Water Supply: Reducing Public Health Risks and Preserving Surface Water Resources in the Milluni Micro-Basin, Bolivia

Bolivia is among the countries with the highest availability of freshwater globally. However, many of its natural sources are impacted by anthropogenic activities, such as mining. Water is intimately linked to public health and is essential to achieving sustainable development. It is necessary to preserve water resources by designing and validating monitoring programs that help control the quality of the sources that supply important population centers. The study area in this research is the upper part of the Milluni micro-basin, whose lagoon system supplies water for two large cities. Milluni is close to illegal and abandoned mining areas, making the region highly vulnerable to heavy metal contamination. This study aimed to optimize the resources available for monitoring Milluni. The frequency of monitoring was statistically determined, and the correlation between parameters measured in situ (pH and conductivity) and metal ion concentrations to determine low-cost indicators to monitor the presence of heavy metals. A multivariate analysis of friction of the results of the pilot year of the monitoring program designed for Milluni, considering the characteristics and economic limitations, is presented. An approximation of the quality of the surface water resources of Milluni is presented as a result of the monitoring operations.

Green human resource management and environmental performance: the role of green supply chain management practices

Purpose

This research scrutinizes the connection between green human resources management (GHRM) and environmental performance (EP) through mediating role of green supply chain management (GSCM).

Design/methodology/approach

The conceptual prototype developed in this research was originated from familiarized literature review on the connection between EP, GSCM and GHRM. Moreover, this research employed a quantitative approach through conducting interviews and questionnaires for statistics assortment from the following entities: chief executes, general managers, directors, human resource managers, logistics managers, operation managers and supply chain managers in the manufacturing sector in Pakistan. The partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was considered for statistical exploration by accepting 269 useable responses.

Findings

The research asserts significant encouragement of GHRM and GSCM on EP. Moreover, GSCM arbitrates significantly between GHRM and EP.

Research limitations/implications

This research recommends policies to manufacturing concerns that they should work to stabilize ecological sustainability by developing maximum GHRM and GSCM.

Originality/value

This research comes up with an innovative variables structure which has never been adopted before in the manufacturing area of Punjab in Pakistan.

Publication Performance and Trends in Mangrove Forests: A Bibliometric Analysis

Mangroves are one the most productive ecosystems on Earth, and they are geographically located in the tropics and sub-tropics. Notwithstanding their critical role in providing a large number of environmental services and benefits as well as livelihood provisions, mangrove forests are being lost globally at an alarming rate. At the same time, they are increasingly recognized as a cost-effective nature-based climate solution for their carbon sequestration and storage capacity. Despite their enormous importance to people’s lives and the ecosystem, no bibliometric study on this topic has been published to our knowledge. Here, we provide a bibliometric analysis of the research on mangroves with research trends, most influential research based on citation count, and the origins (country and institution) of major research. Using the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED) database of the Web of Science Core Collection (Clarivate Analytics), we identified 13,918 documents published between 1990 and 2019. Nevertheless, 12,955 articles met our final criteria and were analyzed in detail. Six publications and their citations per publication (CPP2019) were applied to evaluate the publication performance of countries and institutes. When considering the top ten Web of Science subject categories, articles published on the ecology of mangroves had the highest CPP2019 of 28. Environmental sciences have been the major category since 2013. The USA dominated the total articles and single-author articles. The USA was also the most frequent partner of international collaborative publications. China published the most single-country articles, first-author articles, and corresponding-author articles. However, articles by the USA and Australia had a higher CPP2019. Sun Yat Sen University in China was the most active university. The Australian Institute of Marine Science dominated all kinds of publications with the top CPP2019. Together with the USA, Australia, China, India, Brazil, and Japan ranked both the top six on total publications and total publications in 2019. Our bibliometric study provides useful visualization of the past and current landscape of research on mangroves and emerging fields, to facilitate future research collaboration and knowledge exchange.

Four challenges when conducting bibliometric reviews and how to deal with them

The evidence base in environmental sciences is increasing steadily. Environmental researchers have been challenged to handle massive volumes of data to support more comprehensive studies, assess the current status of science, and move research towards future progress. Bibliometrics can provide important insights into the research directions by providing summarized information for several end users. Here, we present an in-depth discussion on the use of bibliometric indicators to evaluate research outputs through four case studies comprising disciplines in environmental sciences. We discuss four big challenges researchers may face when conducting bibliometric reviews and how to deal with them. We also address some primary questions researchers may answer with bibliometric mapping, drawing lessons from the case studies. Lastly, we clarify some misuses of review concepts and suggest methodological principles of systematic reviews and maps to improve the overall quality of bibliometric studies.

Trends in global research on industrial parks: A bibliometric analysis from 1996-2019

Industrial parks have been used to promote the economic development of countries. However, its rapid growth has generated environmental problems related to the depletion of natural resources and pollution. Consequently, the network analysis and the bibliometric analysis applied in this research generated qualitative and quantitative information from a systemic perspective on the thematic and community evolution of research on industrial parks (IP) performed to improve its negative environmental impact and reach sustainability. This study used the Web of Science (WoS) database from 1996 – 2019. The main trends and critical research points were identified in four periods of 6-year each. Social network analysis (SNA) was used to identify the intellectual structure main and the academic collaboration networks established among countries/territories, institutions, and authors. The most productive country in articles is currently China (882), however, when we consider the frequency of articles per million inhabitants, it ranks seventh. The WoS database grouped 63.6 ​% of the articles published in the subjects of “Environmental Sciences & Ecology”, “Engineering”, and “Science & Technology - Other Topics”. Industrial Ecology (IE), Industrial Symbiosis (IS), and Circular Economy (CE) were the author keywords with the highest frequency, indicating that IP research has focused from these perspectives to promote the exchange of byproducts and to evaluate the performance and environmental impact of industrial areas through the use of methodologies such as carbon footprints, emergy analysis, and life cycle analysis (LCA). Finally, some themes were identified and proposed for future research based on analyzing research trends and hot spots from the literature review on industrial parks.

Potentially toxic elements in groundwater: a hotspot research topic in environmental science and pollution research

A scientometric analysis based on the Scopus database was conducted to provide insight into research activities on the occurrence of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Sb, and Zn) in groundwater during 1970-2019. The selection of these PTEs was based on their significance concerning their reference frequency in environmental science and pollution research (ESPR) studies and their toxicity to living organisms. The analysis utilizes data about the quantity, type, journal, geographical, institutional, and funding patterns of publications. The results indicate that the publications' annual output has increased over the years, and especially after 2000, it presents a remarkable growth rate. The most studied PTEs were As and Pb; nevertheless, the research on the rest of PTEs cannot be neglected as it shows continuously increasing trends over time. The evolution of instrumentation and the dissemination of contamination case studies that affect a large part of the world population contributed significantly to the scientific community and relative stakeholders' interest. According to the analysis, the USA and China are the two principal countries with the most considerable contribution, producing the most research regarding the number of publications, research institutions, and funding sponsors. China owns the most influential research institution (i.e., Chinese Academy of Sciences) and largest funding sponsor (i.e., National Natural Science Foundation of China; ≈5% of global funding) on a worldwide scale due to its investment in research and development (R&D) and is expected to become the greatest force in the future.

Rahman M, Jaafar J. Research and Development Journey and Future Trends of Hollow Fiber Membranes for Purification Applications (1970-2020): A Bibliometric Analysis

Hollow fiber membrane (HFM) technology has received significant attention due to its broad range separation and purification applications in the industry. In the current study, we applied bibliometric analysis to evaluate the global research trends on key applications of HFMs by evaluating the global publication outputs. Results obtained from 5626 published articles (1970-2020) from the Scopus database were further manipulated using VOSviewer software through cartography analysis. The study emphasizes the performance of most influential annual publications covering mainstream journals, leading countries, institutions, leading authors and author's keywords, as well as future research trends. The study found that 62% of the global HFM publications were contributed by China, USA, Singapore, Japan and Malaysia, followed by 77 other countries. This study will stimulate the researchers by showing the future-minded research directions when they select new research areas, particularly in those related to water treatment, biomedical and gas separation applications of HFM.

Overview of Research on Sustainable Agriculture in Developing Countries. The Case of Mexico

One of the principal challenges faced by Mexican agriculture is the development of management models that are able to increase production while respecting the environment and generating wealth for society as a whole. In recent years, the number of studies analysing the sustainability of Mexican agriculture has grown significantly. The purpose of this study is to analyse the evolution of the research on the sustainability of agriculture in Mexico. For this purpose, a review and bibliometric analysis of a sample of 867 articles was carried out. The results reveal that the research has focused on the development of sustainable agricultural models in vulnerable rural areas, the sustainable exploitation of agroforestry systems, the development of energy crops for different uses, water resource management and land uses and their changes, conservation farming and climate change. Although research focused on sustainability is still in its early stages, it has become a priority field. A need to promote research from the economic and social disciplines may be observed, together with holistic projects that include the three pillars of sustainability (social, economic and environmental). This study could be useful to researchers in this field as it identifies the recent trends and principal agents that drive knowledge.

Characteristics of Publications on Occupational Stress: Contributions and Trends

This study aimed to analyze the bibliometric characteristics of the publications on occupational stress and highlight key research topics and future trends. The Web of Science Core Collection database was searched to collect publications on occupational stress, from inception to December 9, 2020. Two authors independently screened eligible literature and extracted the data. Bibliometric analyses were performed using VOSviewer 1.6.6 and R 3.6.3 software. Overall, 6,564 publications on occupational stress were included. “Stress,” with a total link strength of 1,252, appeared as the most co-occurrence keyword, followed by “occupational stress,” “job stress,” and “job satisfaction.” All studies were published between 1956 and 2020. Among them, 6,176 (94.35%) papers were written in English, and 4,706 (70.25%) were original articles. The top three Web of Science categories were “public environmental occupational health” (n = 1,711), “psychology, applied” (n = 846), and “psychology, multidisciplinary” (n = 650). The 100 top-cited articles were mentioned a total of 36,145 times, with a median of 361, ranging from 174 to 5,574. The United States was the most productive country, with 1,780 publications. The main partners of the United States were England and China. Three themes of occupational stress research were identified: job satisfaction, burnout, and occupational stress-related health problems. This bibliometric analysis provides a comprehensive understanding of the trends and most influential contributions to the field of occupational stress, thus promoting ideas for future research.

PATs Behavior in Pressurized Irrigation Hydrants towards Sustainability

Sustainability and efficiency in irrigation are essential in the management of the water–energy–food nexus to reach the Sustainable Development Goals in 2030. In irrigation systems, the reduction of energy consumption is required to improve the system efficiency and consequently the sustainability indicators of the water network. The use of pumps working as turbines (PATs) has been a feasible solution to recover the excess of energy where pressure reduction valves are installed. This research demonstrates the use of PATs under steady and unsteady conditions by analyzing the application in a real irrigation networks located in Vallada (Valencia, Spain). The study shows the possibility of recovering 44 MWh/year using PATs installed upstream of the irrigation hydrants. The real behavior of the PAT operation in a stand-alone recovery energy solution allowed analysis of the flow, head and efficiency variation as a function of the rotational speed, as well as the minimum capacitance to self-excite the generator and the resistive load of the electrical circuit. The PAT limit is examined in terms of the overpressure induced by a fast closure manoeuvre of hydrants, and the runaway conditions due to the disconnection from the electrical load.

A global bibliometric analysis of research productivity on vaccine hesitancy from 1974 to 2019

Vaccine hesitancy is a phenomenon where individuals delay or refuse to take some or all vaccines. The objective of this study was to conduct a global bibliometric analysis of research productivity and identify country level indicators that could be associated with publications on vaccine hesitancy. We searched PubMed and Web of Science for publications from 1974 to 2019, and selected articles focused on behavioral and social aspects of vaccination. Data on country-level indicators were obtained from the World Bank. We used Spearman’s correlation and zero-inflated negative-binomial regression models to ascertain the association between country level indicators and the number of publications. We identified 4314 articles, with 1099 eligible for inclusion. The United States of America (461 publications, 41.9%), Canada (84 publications, 7.6%) and the United Kingdom (68 publications, 6.2%) had the highest number of publications. Although various country indicators had significant correlations with vaccine hesitancy publications, only gross domestic product (GDP) and gross national income (GNI) per capita were independent positive predictors of the number of publications. When the number of publications were standardized by GDP, the Gambia, Somalia and Malawi ranked highest in decreasing order. The United States, Canada and United Kingdom ranked highest (in that order) when standardized by current health expenditure. Overall, high-income countries were more productive in vaccine hesitancy research than low-and-middle-income countries. There is a need for more investment in research on vaccine hesitancy in low-and-middle-income countries.

A comprehensive bibliometrics of 'walkability' research landscape: visualization of the scientific progress and future prospects

This study quantitatively investigated the scientific progress of walkability research landscape and its future prospects using bibliometric indicators to highlight the research hotspots. The results accentuated multifaceted nature of walkability research landscape with a strong association towards public health disciplines. Keyword co-occurrence analysis emphasized that majority of the walkability studies centred on the interactions between walking and other three main factors such as built environment attributes, transportation and obesity. Based on the identified research hotspots, a brief state-of-the-art review of walkability studies was presented. Future prospects based on the unexplored research gaps within the hotspots were also discussed. High correlation (r = 0.99, p < 0.05) between annual publications and citation counts demonstrated the significance of walkability studies to the contemporary scientific community. Being one of the comprehensive studies to evaluate the historic trajectory of walkability research landscape, the findings were expected to accelerate a comprehensive understanding of the walkability research domain that will assist future research direction.

Research trends and performances of breast reconstruction: a bibliometric analysis

BACKGROUND

The need for postmastectomy breast reconstruction surgery has increased dramatically, and significant progress has been made both in implant and autologous based breast reconstruction in recent decades. In this paper, we performed a bibliometric analysis with the aim of providing an overview of the developments in breast reconstruction research and insight into the research trends.

METHODS

We searched the Science Citation Index Expanded database and the Web of Science Core Collection for articles published between 1991 to 2018 in the topic domain, using title, abstract, author keywords, and KeyWords Plus. Four citation indicators TCyear, Cyear, C0 and CPPyear were employed to help analyse the identified articles.

RESULTS

The number of scientific articles in breast reconstruction in this period steadily increased. It took most articles nearly a decade to hit a plateau in terms of citation counts. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Annals of Plastic Surgery, and Journal of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery published the largest number of articles on breast reconstruction. Nine of the top ten most prolific publications were based in the USA. The research highlights related to breast reconstruction were implant-based breast reconstruction, deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap breast reconstruction, and superficial inferior epigastric artery (SIEA) flap breast reconstruction.

CONCLUSIONS

This bibliometric analysis yielded data on citation number, publication outputs, categories, journals, institutions, countries, research highlights and tendencies. It helps to picture the panorama of breast reconstruction research, and guide the future research work.

A glance at one decade of water pollution research in Iranian environmental health journals

Background

Due to the importance of water, the negative effects of water pollution on human health and the lack of proper knowledge of the state of research in this regard, the purpose of this study was to analyse scientific publications on water pollution in Iranian journals of environmental health.

Methods

This cross-sectional study was conducted using a scientometric method over a ten-year period (2008–2017) on articles published in five specialised environmental health journals emphasising the issue of water pollution. Data were collected through a researcher-based checklist using the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) recommendations. Data processing was done using descriptive statistics and VOSviewer software.

Results

A review of 1276 articles in specialised environmental health journals revealed that 33.7% of the articles were in the field of water. Physical and chemical factors in water were the main subjects of 21.4% of studies, and temperature and turbidity were the most important physical factors. Microbial agents in groundwater and surface water were the main subjects of 14.1% of the articles. The findings show that 55 of 430 articles related to water were written with contributions from 20 countries (including Iran), with the most contributions from researchers from Asia.

Conclusions

Good conditions do not exist to investigate the status of articles on water pollution in specialised environmental health journals in Iran over a ten-year period. Health policymakers should therefore provide mechanisms to encourage national researchers, especially environmental health professionals, by setting national research priorities on quality and water pollution to conduct studies in this regard.

A bibliometric study of the Fenton oxidation for soil and water remediation

Fenton based treatments have received tremendous attention in the recent decades as viable strategies for soil and water remediation. There exist different processes associated to the Fenton oxidation. Efficiency, reaction chemistry, and environmental consequences of these processes vary according to the iron (Fe) activation techniques such as soluble Fe(II) (homogeneous Fenton process), soluble Fe(II) and chelating agent (modified-Fenton), Fe minerals or solids (heterogeneous Fenton), iron and UV light (photo-Fenton) and electro-Fenton oxidation. Despite immense amount of research articles and reviews related to the Fenton oxidation, no bibliometric study of this topic has been published to our knowledge. Bibliometric studies provide a useful means to track research output and scholarly trends in a field. Here, we conducted a bibliometric study of the publications on this theme (>4000 documents) published during the past three decades available from the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED) database of the Web of Science Core Collection (Clarivate Analytics). Based on the bibliometric analysis of 4349 documents, various essential research indicators were described such as the type and language of publications, the most prominent authors in this theme, the most impactful articles, research categories, journals, institutions, and the countries, that have made the greatest contribution to this theme along with potential research hotspots. This bibliometric study allowed visualization of the current landscape and future trends in this field to facilitate the future collaborative research and exchange of knowledge.

A Bibliometric Diagnosis and Analysis about Smart Cities

This article aims to present a bibliometric analysis of Smart Cities. The study analyzes the most important journals during the period between 1991 and 2019. It provides helpful insights into the document types, the distribution of countries/territories, the distribution of institutions, the authors’ geographical distribution, the most active authors and their research interests or fields, the relationships between principal authors and more relevant publications, and the most cited articles. This paper also provides important information about the core and historical references and the most cited papers. The analysis used the keywords and thematic noun-phrases in the titles and abstracts of the sample papers to explore the hot research topics in the top journals (e.g., ‘Smart Cities’, ‘Intelligent Cities’, ‘Sustainable Cities’, ‘e-Government’, ‘Digital Transformation’, ‘Knowledge-Based City’, etc.). The main objective is to have a quantitative description of the published literature about Smart Cities; this description will be the basis for the development of a methodology for the diagnosis of the maturity of a Smart City. The results presented here help to define the scientific concept of Smart Cities and to measure the importance that the term has gained through the years. The study has allowed us to know the main indicators of the published literature in depth, from the date of publication of the first articles and the evolution of these indicators to the present day. From the main indicators in the literature, some were selected to be applied: The most influential journals on Smart Cities according to the general citation structure in Smart Cities, Global Impact Factor of Smart Cities, number of publications, publications on Smart Cities around the world, and their correlation.

A Bibliometric Analysis of Cirrhosis Nursing Research on Web of Science

The aims and objectives of this study were to (1) analyze the bibliometric characteristics of articles on Web of Science from 1986 to the present using literature mining and information visualization technologies developed by CiteSpace software, (2) reflect the current situation in this field as far as possible, and (3) provide evidence for improving research on nursing and clinical liver cirrhosis in Mainland China. No bibliometric analysis exists on Web of Science regarding cirrhosis nursing research. The status of current research, including hotspots and trends, has been assessed in this study through a bibliometric analysis. Literature related to cirrhosis and nursing was identified via Web of Science. Data were then analyzed using CiteSpace software. From 1986 to 2018, a total of 179 articles were published in 109 journals by 830 researchers in 36 countries/regions. The terms "cirrhosis," "management," and "quality of life" emerged most frequently and indicated the hotspots in liver cirrhosis nursing literature. Among all countries/regions, the United States contributed the most research overall; Asia also played an important role in the field of liver cirrhosis nursing research. The journal Gastroenterology Nursing published the greatest number of articles. Liver cirrhosis nursing research has attracted increasing amounts of attention around the world, although it remains less robust than other fields. Cirrhosis nursing research is still in its infancy in Mainland China, and there is an urgent need for additional support from government or research institutions to improve this research focus and promote international acceptance of the research outcomes.

Research on the health of and interventions for family caregivers of people with dementia: a bibliometric analysis of research output during 1988-2018

BACKGROUND

Dementia is a serious and growing health problem, and since most people with dementia live at home, caring responsibilities generally fall on family members. Caregivers are often inadequately supported by formal health services and have poorer psychological and physical health. Our study aimed to compare the contributions of publications from different countries, institutions and authors and present a bibliometric analysis to determine the hotspots and trends in research concerning the health of and interventions for family dementia caregivers.

METHODS

Studies published during 1988-2018 were extracted from the Science Citation Index Expanded of the Web of Science. Each abstract of publications was evaluated to obtain the basic information. A bibliometric analysis was used to evaluate the number or cooperation networks of publications, countries, institutions, journals, citations, authors, references, and keywords. The resulting articles were analyzed descriptively, and the publication keywords were visualized using VOSviewer.

RESULTS

Five hundred forty-two articles were identified. The annual number of relevant publications has steadily increased since approximately 2006. The USA has the highest number of publications (36.2%), followed by the UK (12.9%). China entered the field late, but research conducted in China has rapidly developed. The most productive institution, journal, and author in this field are University College London, the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, and Orrell M from the UK, respectively. A co-occurrence analysis of the keywords reveals a mainstream research focus on burden, depression, quality of life, and corresponding interventions for people with dementia caregivers. The keywords "psychosocial intervention", "long-term", "e-learning/online", "communication", and "qualitative research" reflect the latest hotspots, appearing in approximately 2017-2018.

CONCLUSION

Our study details the performance statistics, main topics and trends research on the health of and interventions for dementia caregivers from 1988 to 2018 and provides a comprehensive analysis.

Anammox-based processes: How far have we come and what work remains? A review by bibliometric analysis

Nitrogen contamination remains a severe environmental problem and a major threat to sustainable development worldwide. A systematic analysis of the literature indicates that the partial nitritation-anammox (PN/AMX) process is still actively studied as a viable option for energy-efficient and feasible technology for the sustainable treatment of N- rich wastewaters, since its initial discovery in 1990. Notably, the mainstream PN/AMX process application remains the most challenging bottleneck in AMX technology and fascinates the world's attention in AMX studies. This paper discusses the recent trends and developments of PN/AMX research and analyzes the results of recent years of research on the PN/AMX from lab-to full-scale applications. The findings would deeply improve our understanding of the major challenges under mainstream conditions and next-stage research on the PN/AMX process. A great deal of efforts has been made in the process engineering, PN/AMX bacteria populations, predictive modeling, and the full-scale implementations during the past 22 years. A series of new and excellent experimental findings at lab, pilot and full-scale levels including good nitrogen removal performance even under low temperature (15-10 °C) around the world were achieved. To date, pilot- and full-scale PN/AMX have been successfully used to treat different types of industrial sewage, including black wastewater, sludge digester liquids, landfill leachate, monosodium glutamate wastewater, etc. Supplementing the qualitative analysis, this review also provides a quantitative bibliometrics study and evaluates global perspectives on PN/AMX research published during the past 22 years. Finally, general trends in the development of PN/AMX research are summarized with the aim of conveying potential future trajectories. The current review offers a valuable orientation and global overview for scientists, engineers, readers and decision makers presently focusing on PN/AMX processes.

A Bibliometrics Review of Water Footprint Research in China: 2003–2018

As water security becomes an increasingly important issue, the analysis of the conflict between water supply and demand has gained significance in China. This paper details a bibliometric review of papers published between 2003 and 2018 on the water footprint in China, one of the global hotspots of water resource research. The tendencies and key points of water footprint research were systematically analyzed based on 1564 articles, comprising 1170 original publications in Chinese from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure database and 394 publications in English from the Web of Science database. The results show that the literature associated with water footprint research has expanded significantly. The number of papers published increased from 104 in 2003–2006 to 735 in 2015–2018. Water footprint research has been applied to agricultural, industrial, and regional water resource management to quantify the impact of human activities on water resources and the environment. Water footprint metrics were extracted for regional comparisons. There are obvious regional characteristics of the water footprint in China, but the uncertainty of results makes further investigation necessary. Further water footprint modeling and field experimental research is needed to explore the water–ecological environment under complex systems.

International Publication Trends in Proteasome Inhibitors: From Tools for Cell Biologists to Anticancer Agents

Background:

There has been increased interest in the research of proteasome inhibitors for more than two decades. Hotspots in this field are constantly changing.

Objective:

This study aimed to investigate trends in proteasome inhibitors research from 1992 to 2018 and compare the contributions of such research from different countries and authors.

Methods:

We used Excel 2013 and VoSviewer to analyze bibliometric data on the subject of proteasome inhibitors, including the number of publications, citations frequency, H-index, and country contributions and hotspots (keywords of popular scientific fields).

Results:

A total of 3646 articles were included. The USA contributed the largest percentage of articles (1742), with the most citations (90666) and the highest H-index (139). The journal Blood had the most articles. Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Millennium Pharmaceuticals Incorporation were the most contributive institutions. Keywords could be divided into three clusters: Basic experiment, clinical research, and others.

Conclusion:

The number of proteasome inhibitors articles has been increasing for the past 27 years. The USA made the largest contribution in this field. Recent studies on the topic of “carfilzomib” are relatively new and should be closely followed in proteasome inhibitors research.