bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A critical review of state‐of‐the‐art chatbot designs and applications
Authors: Luo Bei , Lau Raymond Y. K. , Li Chunping , Si Yain‐Whar 
Published: October 2021

AbstractChatbots are intelligent conversational agents that can interact with users through natural languages. As chatbots can perform a variety of tasks, many companies have committed numerous resources to develop and deploy chatbots to enhance various business processes. However, we lack an up‐to‐date critical review that thoroughly examines both state‐of‐the‐art technologies and innovative applications of chatbots. In this review, we not only critically analyze the various computational approaches used to develop state‐of‐the‐art chatbots, but also thoroughly review the usability and applications of chatbots for various business sectors. We also identify gaps in chatbot‐related studies and propose new research directions to address the shortcomings of existing studies and applications. Our review advances both academic research and practical business applications of state‐of‐the‐art chatbots. We provide guidance for practitioners to fully realize the business value of chatbots and assist in making sensible decisions related to the development and deployment of chatbots in various business contexts. Researchers interested in the design and development of chatbots can also gain useful insights from our critical review and identify fruitful research topics and future research directions based on the research gaps discussed herein.This article is categorized under:
Technologies > Machine Learning
Application Areas > Business and Industry
Tree-level scattering amplitudes in nonlocal field theories
Authors: Modesto Leonardo , Calcagni Gianluca 
Published: October 2021

Abstract
We prove in two ways that, for a special class of nonlocal field theories consistent with linear and non-linear stability at the classical level, and with unitarity and super-renormalizability or finiteness at the quantum level, the n-point tree-level scattering amplitudes are the same as those of the underlying local theory. In particular, the n-point amplitudes of nonlocal gravity, with or without coupling to matter, are the same as for Einstein’s general relativity.
Probing the muon g − 2 with future beam dump experiments
Authors: Coy Rupert , Xu Xun-Jie 
Published: October 2021

Abstract
We consider the light Z′ explanation of the muon g − 2 anomaly. Even if such a Z′ has no tree-level coupling to electrons, in general one will be induced at loop-level. We show that future beam dump experiments are powerful enough to place stringent constraints on—or discover—a Z′ with loop-suppressed couplings to electrons. Such bounds are avoided only if the Z′ has a large interaction with neutrinos, in which case the scenario will be bounded by ongoing neutrino scattering experiments. The complementarity between beam dump and neutrino scattering experiments therefore indicates that there are good prospects of probing a large part of the Z′ parameter space in the near future.
Design and analysis of compound structures integrated with bio-based phase change materials and lattices obtained through additive manufacturing
Authors: Almonti Daniele , Mingione Emanuele , Tagliaferri Vincenzo , Ucciardello Nadia 
Published: October 2021

AbstractPhase change materials (PCMs) are an interesting category of materials employed in latent heat thermal energy storage, such as ad hoc designed heat exchangers. Nowadays, there are several typologies of PCMs, which derive from the wastes of the agricultural industry, which could be used for this kind of design. Each material made of biological waste has a different melting/solidification point and latent heat of fusion/solidification, which means flexibility of design on the heat exchangers by considering the different thermal proprieties of the chosen material. Also, using recycled material from wastes can lead to an overall improvement of the resources and goes hand in hand with the need of today’s society to aim more and more at a Circular Economy. The industrial development of this kind of material is limited by its thermal properties, such as poor thermal conductivity both in liquid and solid phases, leading to low heat transfer effectiveness. To overcome these limitations, in this paper, the bio-based PCMs were integrated into a metallic reticular structure made of copper and aluminium and realised through Indirect-Additive Manufacturing, to improve the overall thermal conductivity of the system and increase the efficiency of the heat transfer. Four compound structures filled each time with four different PCMs were realised and tested, in order to thermally characterise each combination of materials used and choose which one has an overall better thermal behaviour. The results showed how the thermal storage/release was improved by 10% for the copper reticular structure, even if must be considered the tradeoff between better thermal management and the increase of the costs and the weight of the designed heat exchanger.
Impact of future climate change on malaria in West Africa
Authors: Diouf Ibrahima , Adeola Abiodun M. , Abiodun Gbenga J. , Lennard Christopher , Shirinde Joyce M. , Yaka Pascal , Ndione Jacques-André , Gbobaniyi Emiola O. 
Published: October 2021

AbstractUnderstanding the regional impact of future climate change is one of the major global challenges of this century. This study investigated possible effects of climate change on malaria in West Africa in the near future (2006–2035) and the far future (2036–2065) under two representative concentration pathway (RCP) scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5), compared to an observed evaluation period (1981–2010). Projected rainfall and temperature were obtained from the coordinated regional downscaling experiment (CORDEX) simulations of the Rossby Centre Regional Atmospheric regional climate model (RCA4). The malaria model used is the Liverpool malaria model (LMM), a dynamical malaria model driven by daily time series of rainfall and temperature obtained from the CORDEX data. Our results highlight the unimodal shape of the malaria prevalence distribution, and the seasonal malaria transmission contrast is closely linked to the latitudinal variation of the rainfall. Projections showed that the mean annual malaria prevalence would decrease in both climatological periods under both RCPs but with a larger magnitude of decreasing under the RCP8.5. We found that the mean malaria prevalence for the reference period is greater than the projected prevalence for 6 of the 8 downscaled GCMs. The study enhances understanding of how malaria is impacted under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 emission scenarios. These results indicate that the southern area of West Africa is at most risk of epidemics, and the malaria control programs need extra effort and help to make the best use of available resources by stakeholders.
Evaluating pediatric and adult simulated fluids solubility: Abraham solvation parameters and multivariate analysis
Authors: Guimarães Mariana , Kuentz Martin , Vertzoni Maria , Fotaki Nikoletta 
Published: October 2021

Abstract
Purpose
To understand drug solubilization as a function of age and identify drugs at risk of altered drug solubility in pediatric patients. To assess the discrimination ability of the Abraham solvation parameters and age-related changes in simulated media composition to predict in vitro drug solubility differences between pediatric and adult gastrointestinal conditions by multivariate data analysis.

Methods
Differences between drug solubility in pediatric and adult biorelevant media were expressed as a % pediatric-to-adult ratio [Sp/Sa (%)]. Solubility ratios of fourteen poorly water-soluble drugs (2 amphoteric; 4 weak acids; 4 weak bases; 4 neutral compounds) were used in the analysis. Partial Least Squares Regression was based on Abraham solvation parameters and age-related changes in simulated gastrointestinal fluids, as well as their interactions, to predict the pediatric-to-adult solubility ratio.

Results
The use of Abraham solvation parameters was useful as a theory-informed set of molecular predictors of drug solubility changes between pediatric and adult simulated gastrointestinal fluids. Our findings suggest that the molecular solvation environment in the fasted gastric state was similar in the pediatric age-groups studied, which led to fewer differences in the pediatric-to-adult solubility ratio. In the intestinal fasted and fed state, there was a high relative contribution of the physiologically relevant surfactants to the alteration of drug solubility in the pediatric simulated conditions compared to the adult ones, which confirms the importance of an age-appropriate composition in biorelevant media.

Conclusion
Statistical models based on Abraham solvation parameters were applied mostly to better understand drug solubility differences in adult and pediatric biorelevant media.
Environmental and social life cycle assessment of growing media for urban rooftop farming
Authors: Toboso-Chavero Susana , Madrid-López Cristina , Villalba Gara , Gabarrell Durany Xavier , Hückstädt Arne B. , Finkbeiner Matthias , Lehmann Annekatrin 
Published: October 2021

Abstract
Purpose
New environmental strategies are emerging for cities to become more self-sufficient, such as hydroponic crop production. The implementation of such systems requires materials that usually originate in countries with low labour costs and other legal regulations. To what extent could these strategies be shifting problems across the globe? To answer this question, we performed a comprehensive environmental and social assessment of the various extended soilless systems used to grow vegetables on urban roofs.

Methods
Three different growing media constituents were chosen for this study: perlite, peat and coir; which are produced in three countries, Turkey, Germany and the Philippines, respectively, and are imported to Spain. By using a life cycle assessment, we evaluated the environmental performances of the production and transport of these growing media. Additionally, we performed a social life cycle assessment at different levels. First, we used the Social Hotspots Database to analyse the constituents in aggregated sectors. Second, we performed a social assessment at the country and sector levels, and finally, we evaluated primary company data for the social assessment of the constituents through questionnaires given to businesses.

Results and discussion
The coir-based growing medium exerted the lowest environmental burden in 5 out of 8 impact categories because it is a by-product from coconut trees. In contrast, perlite obtained the highest environmental impacts, with impacts 44 to 99.9% higher than those of peat and coir, except in the land use. Perlite is a material extracted from open-pit mines that requires high energy consumption and a long road trip. Regarding the social assessment, peat demonstrated the best performance on all the social assessment levels. In contrast, coir showed the worst scores in the Social Hotspots Database and for the impact categories of community infrastructure and human rights, whereas perlite displayed the lowest performance in health and safety. Nevertheless, coir and perlite evidenced much better scores than peat in the impact subcategory of the contribution to economic development.

Conclusions
This study contributes to a first comparison of three imported growing media constituents for urban rooftop farming from environmental and social perspectives to choose the most suitable option. Peat appears to be the best alternative from a social perspective. However, from an environmental standpoint, peat represents a growing medium whose availability is aiming to disappear in Germany to preserve peatlands. Therefore, we identify a new market niche for the development of local growing media for future rooftop farming in cities.
Environmental impacts of household goods in Europe: a process-based life cycle assessment model to assess consumption footprint
Authors: Castellani Valentina , Sanyé-Mengual Esther , Sala Serenella 
Published: October 2021

Abstract
Purpose
Current patterns of household goods consumption generate relevant environmental pressures and impacts. Environmental impacts are not only limited to the European territory but also to third countries from where products are imported. Assessing the entire life cycle of products enables considering trade-related transboundary effects along supply chains. The goal of this paper is to illustrate the assessment of the environmental impacts of household goods consumption in Europe, modelled through the consumption footprint indicator.

Methods
The consumption footprint indicator was designed to assess the environmental impact of household consumption by covering five areas of consumption (food, mobility, housing, household goods and appliances), each of them modelled as a basket of products (BoP) representing the most consumed products by EU citizens. This paper focuses on the BoP household goods, entailing a large variety of products from clothes to personal care products. Consumption intensity was obtained from consumption statistical data for years 2010 and 2015. Life cycle inventory data for 30 representative products were obtained from EU Ecolabel background reports, screening reports of the Product Environmental Footprint pilots and literature. The 16 impact categories of the Environmental Footprint 3.0 method were employed for the impact assessment.

Results and discussion
Main impacts generated by household goods in EU (calculated after normalization and weighting) were on climate change, fossil resource use and water use. Components’ manufacture was the most impacting stage for several impact categories. Paper products, detergents, furniture and clothes were the product groups contributing the most due to a combination of consumption intensity and environmental profile of products. Environmental impacts due to household goods consumption were higher in 2015 than in 2010.

Conclusions
The impacts of EU household goods consumption are driven by both consumption intensity and the environmental impact profile of products. Therefore, sustainable actions should focus not only on the environmental profile of products, but also on consumer choices and behaviours.

Recommendations
The BoP household goods model can be used as a baseline to assess the effect of consumer choices, by creating and comparing consumers’ profiles that differ in the composition of the BoP and in the apparent consumption (defined as Production—Exports + Imports). The availability of detailed inventories for all the life cycle phases allows for modelling scenarios to assess the potential effect of innovations in the production phase and of the choice of alternative raw materials and ingredients.
Sex-Stratified Single-Cell RNA-Seq Analysis Identifies Sex-Specific and Cell Type-Specific Transcriptional Responses in Alzheimer’s Disease Across Two Brain Regions
Authors: Belonwu Stella A. , Li Yaqiao , Bunis Daniel , Rao Arjun Arkal , Solsberg Caroline Warly , Tang Alice , Fragiadakis Gabriela K. , Dubal Dena B. , Oskotsky Tomiko , Sirota Marina 
Published: October 2021

AbstractAlzheimer’s disease (AD) is a pervasive neurodegenerative disorder that disproportionately affects women. Since neural anatomy and disease pathophysiology differ by sex, investigating sex-specific mechanisms in AD pathophysiology can inform new therapeutic approaches for both sexes. Previous bulk human brain RNA sequencing studies have revealed sex differences in dysregulated molecular pathways related to energy production, neuronal function, and immune response; however, the sex differences in disease mechanisms are yet to be examined comprehensively on a single-cell level. We leveraged nearly 74,000 cells from human prefrontal and entorhinal cortex samples from the first two publicly available single-cell RNA sequencing AD datasets to perform a case versus control sex-stratified differential gene expression analysis and pathway network enrichment in a cell type-specific manner for each brain region. Our examination at the single-cell level revealed sex differences in AD prominently in glial cells of the prefrontal cortex. In the entorhinal cortex, we observed the same genes and networks to be perturbed in opposing directions between sexes in AD relative to healthy state. Our findings contribute to growing evidence of sex differences in AD-related transcriptomic changes, which can fuel the development of therapies that may prove more effective at reversing AD pathophysiology.
The Plasticity of Our Fears: Affective Politics in the European Migration Crisis
Authors: Heins Volker M. 
Published: October 2021

AbstractIn the field of migration politics, a dominant rhetoric argues that liberal immigration and asylum policies must be avoided because they will inevitably lead to anti-immigration backlashes that exacerbate the very conditions they were supposed to remedy. Drawing on the work of German sociologist Heinrich Popitz and empirical data on the aftereffects of the European migration crisis, the article criticizes this “rhetoric of reaction” (Albert Hirschman) for ignoring the many variables shaping the consequences of more open borders. Backlashes to immigration are real and pose a constraint for liberal immigration policies, but these backlashes are not necessarily politically successful. Societies react neither uniformly nor automatically to rising immigration. A critical variable is the fear engendered by the (real, expected, or imagined) arrival of large numbers of migrants, and this fear can be either ramped up to paranoid levels or calmed by a politics of hope aimed at restoring what Popitz called the “human openness to the world.”
Investigation and application of wellbore temperature and pressure field coupling with gas–liquid two-phase flowing
Authors: Zheng Jie , Dou Yihua , Li Zhenzhen , Yan Xin , Zhang Yarong , Bi Cheng 
Published: October 2021

AbstractWith the development of gas well exploitation, the calculation of wellbore with single-phase state affected by single factor cannot meet the actual needs of engineering. We need to consider the simulation calculation of complex wellbore environment under the coupling of multiphase and multiple factors, so as to better serve the petroleum industry. In view of the problem that the commonly used temperature and pressure model can only be used for single-phase state under complex well conditions, and the error is large. Combined with the wellbore heat transfer mechanism and the calculation method of pipe flow pressure drop gradient, this study analyzes the shortcomings of Ramey model and Hassan & Kabir model through transient analysis. Based on the equations of mass conservation, momentum conservation and energy conservation, and considering the interaction between fluid physical parameters and temperature and pressure, the wellbore pressure coupling model of water-bearing gas well is established, and the Newton Raphael iterative method is used for MATLAB programming. On this basis, the relationship between tubing diameter, gas production, gas–water ratio, and wellbore temperature field and pressure field in high water-bearing gas wells is discussed. The results show that the wellbore temperature pressure coupling model of high water-bearing gas well considering the coupling of gas–liquid two-phase flow wellbore temperature pressure field has higher accuracy than Ramey model and Hassan & Kabir model, and the minimum coefficients of variation of each model are 0.022, 0.037 and 0.042, respectively. Therefore, the model in this study is highly consistent with the field measured data. Therefore, the findings of this study are helpful to better calculate the wellbore temperature and pressure parameters under complex well conditions.
Investigation on Laser Beam Weldability of AISI 304L Plates Based on Thermal Field Simulation by Experimentally-Fitted Analytical Modeling
Authors: Giudice Fabio , Sili Andrea 
Published: October 2021

Abstract
The objective of the work is to present a new approach to the simulation of the thermal field in laser beam welding, based on an experimentally-fitted analytical model, applied to investigate the weldability of AISI 304L austenitic steel. Reference is made to the welding trial in a single pass of two 10 mm thick butt-positioned plates. Welding was performed under the keyhole full penetration mode, which is characteristic of high-power laser beam, and simulated by an analytical model based on a multipoint-line thermal source system and fitted on the experimental fusion zone profile. The model was applied to simulate the effects of welding speed changes on thermal fields and cooling rates, in order to determine how they can affect the weld composition, the solidification mode and the possible formation of a sensitized zone in the heat affected zone. A limit value of welding speed, which allows the weld formation without lack of fusion, was identified. For all the welding speeds considered, the formation of a sensitized zone can be excluded. The contribution of welding speed on cooling rate, not significant near the welding axis, results to be determinant at the boundary of the fused zone with base metal. The combined choice of the filler material and the welding speed, which in all cases gives rise to primary ferrite solidification modes, affects the content of residual ferrite, which must be balanced to enhance the resistance to solidification cracking, avoiding the adverse effects due to too high contents. As a conclusion, the model proves to be a valid support in investigating the thermal effects, which result from the setup of welding parameters, on the weldability of the base metal-filler system.

Graphic Abstract
The seed laser system of the FERMI free-electron laser: design, performance and near future upgrades
Authors: Cinquegrana P. , Demidovich A. , Kurdi G. , Nikolov I. , Sigalotti P. , Susnjar P. , Danailov M. B. 
Published: October 2021

AbstractAn important trend in extreme ultraviolet and soft X-ray free-electron laser (FEL) development in recent years has been the use of seeding by an external laser, aimed to improve the coherence and stability of the generated pulses. The high-gain harmonic generation seeding technique was first implemented at FERMI and provided FEL radiation with high coherence as well as intensity and wavelength stability comparable to table-top ultrafast lasers. At FERMI, the seed laser has another very important function: it is the source of external laser pulses used in pump–probe experiments allowing one to achieve a record-low timing jitter. This paper describes the design, performance and operational modes of the FERMI seed laser in both single- and double-cascade schemes. In addition, the planned upgrade of the system to meet the challenges of the upgrade to echo-enabled harmonic generation mode is presented.
Traditional Knowledge and the Inclusive Subordination of African Customary Law in Kenya: Lessons from Personal Law
Authors: Mwangi Claude Kamau 
Published: October 2021

AbstractTraditional knowledge forms the fabric of indigenous communities’ social and economic life. Its attempted protection through intellectual property law has been dismal. There is now wide consensus that sui generis regimes should be employed for this purpose, and that customary laws are conceivable as an integral part of such protection. This article finds that the expressed legislative intent to protect traditional knowledge through customary law in Kenya is ill-fated. Sustained inclusive subordination of the latter will obstruct any meaningful efforts to protect the former. This finding is reached by an examination of the historical application of African customary law in personal law regimes that have it as the defining legal regimen. This history is one of subtle subordination, and such subtlety remains embedded even in Kenya's law on traditional knowledge. The unpleasant effects of this phenomenon as observed in personal law regimes are likely to recur for traditional knowledge.