Evaluating the features of Museum Websites (The Bologna Report)

MiLE (Milano – Lugano Evaluation Method) is an innovative method for evaluating the quality and usability of hypermedia applications. This paper focuses upon the specific “module” of MiLE concerning cultural heritage applications, synthesizing the results of research carried on by a group of seven museum experts of Bologna (Italy), with the joint coordination of IBC (Institute for the Cultural Heritage of the Emilia Romagna Region) and Politecnico di Milano. The “Bologna group” is composed of different professional figures working in the museum domain: museum curators of artistic, archaeological and historical heritage; museum communication experts; Web sites of cultural institutions’ communication experts. After illustrating the general features of MiLE and the specific features for Cultural Heritage, we will briefly show a few of the results which are to be published in the “Bologna Report”

Preferences across the Menstrual Cycle for Masculinity and Symmetry in Photographs of Male Faces and Bodies

Background: Previous studies have shown that women increase their preference for masculinity during the fertile phase of the menstrual cycle. Evidence for a similar preference shift for symmetry is equivocal. These studies have required participants to choose between subtle variations in computer-generated stimuli, and preferences for more natural stimuli have not been investigated. Methodology/Principal Findings: Our study employed photographs of individual males to investigate women’s preferences for face and body masculinity and symmetry across the menstrual cycle. We collected attractiveness ratings from 25 normally cycling women at high- and low-fertility days of the menstrual cycle. Attractiveness ratings made by these women were correlated with independent ratings of masculinity and symmetry provided by different sets of raters. We found no evidence for any cyclic shift in female preferences. Correlations between attractiveness and masculinity, and attractiveness and symmetry did not differ significantly between high- and low-fertility test sessions. Furthermore, there was no significant difference between high- and low-fertility ratings of attractiveness. Conclusions: These results suggest that a menstrual cycle shift in visual preferences for masculinity and symmetry may be too subtle to influence responses to real faces and bodies, and subsequent mate-choice decisions

Nitrate leaching through the unsaturated zone following pig slurry applications

As the increase of nitrate concentration in groundwater has often been ascribed to an inappropriate use of liquid manure, the main purpose of this study was to better understand the factors controlling nitrate dynamics in the unsaturated zone of soils subjected to characteristic agronomic practices, and to contribute to improving Action Programmes, with reference to EU Directive 91/676, for nitrate vulnerable zones (NVZ). Water infiltration and nitrate leaching have been studied in experimental fields located inside nitrate vulnerable zones of the Emilia-Romagna region (Northern Italy), characterized by different pedological and hydrogeological properties and equipped with meteorological station, tensiometers, ceramic-cup samplers and piezometers. This article describes the results obtained from one of these sites, monitored over a 6-year period, which was cereal cropped and treated with pig slurry. MACRO and SOILN field-scale models have been used in order to verify the reliability of simulated water flow and nitrogen transport. The results demonstrate how nitrogen inputs from slurry, substantially higher than crop uptake, cause nitrate accumulation in the surface layer of the soil especially in warm periods (concentrations of up to 300 mg NO3–N lK1 were found in soil water). Even if the soil texture was fine, the shrinking–swelling properties of clay minerals determined fast drainage conditions (related to macroporosity), so that during the early rainy periods nitrates leached through the first meters of the unsaturated zone, at least down to 4 m. This shows that nitrate accumulation should be limited before these periods, i.e. by reducing manure application rates, especially if the soil is to be left uncultivated

CIMAD: {Common Infrastructure, Context Influenced} Mobile Acquisition and Delivery of Cultural Heritage data

Framework: NoE EPOCH - 1st Call for NEWTON projects Project title: CIMAD: {Common Infrastructure, Context Influenced} Mobile Acquisition and Delivery of Cultural Heritage data Partners: University of Bologna, Politecnico di Milano, University of Kent, Istituto per i Beni Artistica, Culturali e Naturali della Regione Emilia Romagna - IBC, Ducati Sistemi S.p.A. Total budget: 90 kEuro Duration: 15 months The goal of the project is the exploratory implementation of a framework for smart Cultural Heritage environments supporting distributed and mobile on-site applications, from data capture to public dissemination. Within CIMAD a Smart Environment is any confined area of cultural interest where there are means enabling IT devices to detect the occupants context, so that contextual information can be used to support and enhance their abilities in executing application specific actions. These means may be sensor systems embedded in the environment itself, sensors integrated in the platform, or both. The smart environment generated by the project will include networked context-aware mobile devices, repositories, context-servers and stationary clients. Existing context-aware mobile devices operating at the data capture end, such as PDAs able to collect contextualized field notes, will be made inter-operable with recording systems and repositories created by other EPOCH sources, and the recommendations of the standards group. These repositories will provide contextualised and conformable digital data to an authoring module specifically devised to develop context-related content tailored to the mobile clients operating at the dissemination end within the smart environment. The mobile clients will access the repositories according to a contextaware navigation and interaction policy implemented by the proposed framework and specified by the curator or by the target institution authority

Reconfigurable RF-MEMS LC-tanks for multi-band radiofrequency oscillators

none10noneR. Gaddi; A. Gnudi; E. Franchi Scarselli; M. Bellei; L. Del Tin; J. Iannacci; P. Tortori; D. Guermandi; B. Margesin; F. GiacomozziR. Gaddi; A. Gnudi; E. Franchi Scarselli; M. Bellei; L. Del Tin; J. Iannacci; P. Tortori; D. Guermandi; B. Margesin; F. Giacomozz