Measurements of B Rare Decays at the Tevatron

A summary of recent results on B rare decays from the CDF and D0 experiments operating in Run II of the Fermilab Tevatron is given; analyzed decay modes are B_{d,s}--> hh, B_{d,s}--> mu^{+}mu^{-}, and B--> mu^{+} mu^{-}h. Data samples are relative to 1 fb^{-1} or more integrated luminosity of p-pbar collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV. All reported results are in agreement with Standard Model predictions and consistent with B-Factories analyzes.Comment: Proceedings of the Moriond QCD and Hdronic Interactions 2007 Conference, La Thuile, March 17-24, 200

TERRITORI EMPIRICI. COMUNICARE L'IDENTITÀ DEI LUOGHI: UN PROGETTO DI DESIGN DELLA COMUNICAZIONE

Territori empirici è il progetto di un format crossmediale per sistemi di guida al territorio, inserito nel contesto della ricerca del Design della Comunicazione per l'identità territoriale. Orientato a un turismo di tipo esperienziale, indaga soluzioni comunicative atte a rappresentare l'identità profonda dei luoghi e a incentivarne la pratica, per restituire valore conoscitivo all'esperienza in loco. Modello comunicativo applicabile a tutte le realtà territoriali non turistiche, sfrutta elementi percettivi e di linguaggio per far emergere il 'senso' del territorio

Design de Comunicação para o acesso à paisagem cultural

Nowadays the relationship between people, culture and territories is changing. On the one hand, great emphasis is placed on the value of cultural heritage and local identity as means for social cohesion and economic growth. On the other hand, experience-based tourism is growing and, consequently, it increases the need of an experience-based communication strategy. This paper explores the contribution of communication design to tourism promotion and the enhancement of cultural identity. It will deal with the topic of communicative access, which is meant as the result of a visual translation of several tourist information. Therefore, it focuses on the design process of digital communication formats aimed at providing “experiential” representations of the territory and its identity. To explain the process, a research project carried out by the authors will be presented as a case study.Keywords: communication design, local identity, cultural landscape, experience-based tourism.Atualmente, a relação entre pessoas, cultura e territórios está se alterando. Por um lado, grande ênfase tem sido dada ao patrimônio cultural e à identidade local como meios para coesão social e de desenvolvimento econômico. Por outro lado, o Turismo de Experiência está crescendo e, consequentemente, a necessidade de desenvolvimento de estratégias de comunicação para esse modelo de turismo. Este artigo explora a contribuição do Design da Comunicação para a promoção do turismo e para a valorização da identidade cultural. Tratará do tema acesso comunicativo entendido como resultado da tradução visual de diversas informações turísticas. Portanto, concentra-se no processo de design de plataformas digitais de comunicação que buscam proporcionar representações “experienciais” tanto do território quanto da sua respectiva identidade. Para explicar tal processo de design, um projeto de pesquisa realizado pelos autores será apresentado como estudo de caso.Palavras-chave: design da comunicação, identidade local, paisagem cultural, turismo de experiência

Communication design for accessing cultural landscape - Design de Comunicação para o acesso à paisagem cultural

Nowadays the relationship between people, culture and territories is changing. On the one hand, great emphasis is placed on the value of cultural heritage and local identity as means for social cohesion and economic growth. On the other hand, experience-based tourism is growing and, consequently, it increases the need of an experience-based communication strategy. This paper explores the contribution of communication design to tourism promotion and the enhancement of cultural identity. It will deal with the topic of communicative access, which is meant as the result of a visual translation of several tourist information. Therefore, it focuses on the design process of digital communication formats aimed at providing “experiential” representations of the territory and its identity. To explain the process, a research project carried out by the authors will be presented as a case study

A Questionnaire for Assessing Immersive Websites

Web-immersion – i.e., a deep sense of cognitive and perceptual absorption engendered by the content and interactive features of a website - plays an important role in our modern, digital world. Yet, this topic has received little attention from design and HCI scholars. The lack of tools to assess and measure immersion in the Web may severely limit our ability to understand the nature of such experience, thereby constraining future research in the area. To address this issue, we designed a questionnaire for assessing immersive websites and conducted a preliminary evaluation on it. In this article, we outline the questionnaire design and report on findings from a preliminary study conducted to analyse its reliability and validity. Moreover, we present results from Factor Analysis performed to investigate the dimensionality of the instrument. Finally, we conclude by discussing the implications of our findings, along with limitations of the study and future work

La trastienda de la Historia Regional

La propuesta intenta presentar algunas consideraciones, desde la historia política, para que frente a la diversidad actual, sirvan de punto de encuentro entre los historiadores, sobre nuevos aspectos, abordajes, perspectivas teóricas, que aporten otra dimensión de análisis en el contexto de la discusión actual sobre la Historia Regional.Indice Autores Presentación Capítulo 1. La trastienda de la Historia Regional Capítulo 2. Los estados provinciales. Una conceptualización provisoria Capítulo 3. Poder político y estrategias de reproducción en los territorios de Neuquén y Río Negro, Argentina (1983-2003) Capítulo 4. La dinámica articulación de redes sociales y políticas Capítulo 5. El estado-partido neuquino. Modos de legitimación y Políticas Sociales Capítulo 6. Asistencia Social y políticas alimentarias: tensión entre legitimación y control social Capítulo 7. El proceso de construcción de la ciudadanía. El caso del municipio de Cutral Co, Neuquén Capítulo 8. Neuquén como campo de protesta Capítulo 9. El movimiento estudiantil universitario del Comahue (1969-1976) Capítulo 10. Asociaciones empresarias federativas en Neuquén. Avances y retrocesos Capítulo 11. El modelo productivo de provincia y la política neuquin

Can HCI help increase people’s engagement in sustainable development? A case study on energy literacy

The adoption of energy efficiency practices and increased penetration of renewable energy sources in the power system are estimated to play a key role in the decarbonization of the energy sector, helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ultimately fight climate change. To foster energy transition, energy education initiatives should primarily target the citizens and be designed adopting a User-Centered Design (UCD) approach and HCI methodologies. This paper describes how UCD/HCI can inform the design of citizens’ energy education initiatives by presenting a case study— the development of an information platform targeting Madeiran citizens. The article describes the design process, from ideation to prototype and validation. Methods used in each phase (card sorting, semi-structured interviews, brainstorming sessions, think-aloud protocol and surveys) are described. Results of each phase and how they have informed the following steps are presented, together with a detailed description of the resulting information platform and initial results in terms of acceptance and interaction with the system. Our initial results support the hypothesis that adopting an HCI perspective can nurture the development of energy education initiatives targeting citizens, bringing a user-centered approach to the design of such initiatives.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Diaphragmatic Breathing Reduces Exercise-Induced Oxidative Stress

Diaphragmatic breathing is relaxing and therapeutic, reduces stress, and is a fundamental procedure of Pranayama Yoga, Zen, transcendental meditation and other meditation practices. Analysis of oxidative stress levels in people who meditate indicated that meditation correlates with lower oxidative stress levels, lower cortisol levels and higher melatonin levels. It is known that cortisol inhibits enzymes responsible for the antioxidant activity of cells and that melatonin is a strong antioxidant; therefore, in this study, we investigated the effects of diaphragmatic breathing on exercise-induced oxidative stress and the putative role of cortisol and melatonin hormones in this stress pathway. We monitored 16 athletes during an exhaustive training session. After the exercise, athletes were divided in two equivalent groups of eight subjects. Subjects of the studied group spent 1 h relaxing performing diaphragmatic breathing and concentrating on their breath in a quiet place. The other eight subjects, representing the control group, spent the same time sitting in an equivalent quite place. Results demonstrate that relaxation induced by diaphragmatic breathing increases the antioxidant defense status in athletes after exhaustive exercise. These effects correlate with the concomitant decrease in cortisol and the increase in melatonin. The consequence is a lower level of oxidative stress, which suggests that an appropriate diaphragmatic breathing could protect athletes from long-term adverse effects of free radicals