Z' Decays into Four Fermions

If a new $Z'$ is discovered with a mass $\sim 1 \ TeV$ at LHC/SSC, its (rare) decays into two charged leptons plus missing transverse energy will probe the $Z'$ coupling to the lepton doublet $(\nu,e)_L$ and to $W^+W^-$, allowing further discrimination among extended electroweak models.Comment: 9 pages plus 1 figure (not included but available), UG-FT-22/9

Measurement of the B0-anti-B0-Oscillation Frequency with Inclusive Dilepton Events

The $B^0$-$\bar B^0$ oscillation frequency has been measured with a sample of 23 million \B\bar B pairs collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric B Factory at SLAC. In this sample, we select events in which both B mesons decay semileptonically and use the charge of the leptons to identify the flavor of each B meson. A simultaneous fit to the decay time difference distributions for opposite- and same-sign dilepton events gives $\Delta m_d = 0.493 \pm 0.012{(stat)}\pm 0.009{(syst)}$ ps$^{-1}$.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, submitted to Physical Review Letter

Limits on the production of scalar leptoquarks from Z (0) decays at LEP

A search has been made for pairs and for single production of scalar leptoquarks of the first and second generations using a data sample of 392000 Z0 decays from the DELPHI detector at LEP 1. No signal was found and limits on the leptoquark mass, production cross section and branching ratio were set. A mass limit at 95% confidence level of 45.5 GeV/c2 was obtained for leptoquark pair production. The search for the production of a single leptoquark probed the mass region above this limit and its results exclude first and second generation leptoquarks D0 with masses below 65 GeV/c2 and 73 GeV/c2 respectively, at 95% confidence level, assuming that the D0lq Yukawa coupling alpha(lambda) is equal to the electromagnetic one. An upper limit is also given on the coupling alpha(lambda) as a function of the leptoquark mass m(D0)

Promoting Research Activities and Management Reform in Universities : An Approach from Policy Sciences

Many commentators have insisted without empirical evidence that the heterogeneity of fuculty members promotes the research activities in universities. We have to examine whether or not this assertion would be valid and which element of heterogeneity may contribute to promoting research outputs. This article investigates the relationship between heterogeneity in educational background and research performance, then examines how the Science Research Grant has been allocated to faculties in economics. The result shows that the more heterogeneous faculty members are, the more the research outputs increase. The analysis also indicates that the research performance has been little considered in making decision for adoption while it has made significant effect on the amount of grant for the adopted subject

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Religious itineraries as the driving forces behind sustainable local development in the Veneto? Towards a proposal for promoting an unusual and often “subliminal” form of heritage: sanctuaries and minor churches

Religious sites/assets are reacquiring pre-eminence, partly in the role of mainsprings for local development: they are privileged witnesses to collective memory and depositories for symbolic, historical, cultural and spiritual values that they have contributed towards forging. These are essential keys for interpreting “places” and their evolution, as well as for studying their various facets and nuances in greater detail. In full knowledge of this, we are presenting here a study on the subject of cultural (and religious) itineraries as a determining element in territorial conservation and as an instrument for: a) promoting a type of tourism that is sustainable, alternative and aware, in which the approach towards “exploitation” changes (contributing towards not only the “consumption” of experiences, but also the enrichment of the tourist); b) highlighting the value of authenticity and contact with local culture, as well as promoting contextual elements that are highly distinctive. In line with the need to make better use of local religious heritage, we identified anchor sites (sanctuaries and “minor” churches) around which to develop further forms of (religious) tourism. We devised an itinerary some 300 km long that “expresses” the diverse environmental/cultural/gastronomic realities that have the sanctuaries at their centre. This itinerary and its sub-routes – created via GIS – cover the central and western parts of the Veneto (Italy), as well as the south of the Region. The main route connects the sites in an attempt to link the area under examination, thanks to a ring, to the ancient Via Romea (the subject of research and reclamation as a long-distance route)

Religious-based routes:a methodology for studying through digital cartography their capacity to foster rocher forms of sustainable tourism

Overall, our research aims at, on the one hand, contributing to the specific objectives identified by regional development programmes (i.e. incentivizing sustainable tourist activity through the promotion of various routes) and, on the other, creating a segment to be included in a larger itinerary to be submitted to the Council of Europe. Accordingly, we selected “clusters” of sanctuaries throughout the Veneto Region, away from main roads, to increase their visibility and make them appealing to outsiders, thereby fostering a kind of “slow” tourism. Here, we propose a methodology aimed at assessing if the area can withstand greater usage and sustain the presence of tourists with services and resources that are complementary to those already identified. With this in mind - and convinced of the opportunity given to local development by inserting “holy tourist resources” on a par with other elements of the (rural/urban) environment – we created a buffer zone around the route using ArcGIS10.1. This procedure allows one to provide added information compared to that which is specific to the itinerary, and identify any weaknesses