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In the past decade, one of the major challenges of particle physics has been to gain an in-depth understanding of the role of quark flavor. In this time frame, measurements and the theoretical interpretation of their results have advanced tremendously. A much broader understanding of flavor particles has been achieved; apart from their masses and quantum numbers, there now exist detailed measurements of the characteristics of their interactions allowing stringent tests of Standard Model predictions. Among the most interesting phenomena of flavor physics is the violation of the CP symmetry that has been subtle and difficult to explore. In the past, observations of CP violation were confined to neutral K mesons, but since the early 1990s, a large number of CP-violating processes have been studied in detail in neutral B mesons. In parallel, measurements of the couplings of the heavy quarks and the dynamics for their decays in large samples of K, D, and B mesons have been greatly improved in accuracy and the results are being used as probes in the search for deviations from the Standard Model. In the near future, there will be a transition from the current to a new generation of experiments; thus a review of the status of quark flavor physics is timely. This report is the result of the work of physicists attending the 5th CKM workshop, hosted by the University of Rome "La Sapienza", September 9-13, 2008. It summarizes the results of the current generation of experiments that are about to be completed and it confronts these results with the theoretical understanding of the field which has greatly improved in the past decade. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Improving evaporation rate is extremely important to promote the application of solar steam generation in clean water production through seawater desalination. However, the theoretical evaporation rate limit of a normal two-dimensional (2D) photothermal evaporator is only about 1.46 kg m–2 h–1. While 3D evaporators can break the limit, they require much more raw materials. In this work, an effective approach for achieving high-yield solar steam generation via the synergy of 2D nanostructure-embedded all-in-one hybrid hydrogel evaporator and surface patterning is reported. This improved surface-patterned evaporator is able to simultaneously lower the enthalpy of vaporization and induce the Marangoni effect near the evaporation surface, thus delivering a high evaporation rate of 3.62 kg m–2 h–1, which is more than twice the theoretical limit of the normal 2D photothermal evaporator. This hybrid hydrogel offers a cost-effective and energy-efficient pathway to mitigate clean water shortages.

We report the results of a search for T, CP, CPT, and violation in B0-B0 mixing using an inclusive dilepton sample collected by the BABAR experiment at the PEP-II factory. Using a sample of 232 x 10(6) BB pairs, we measure the T and CP violation parameter |q/p| - 1 = (-0.8 +/- 2.7(stat) +/- 1.9(syst) x 10(-3), and the CPT and CP parameters Imz = (13.9 +/- 7.3(stat) +/- 3.2(syst)) x 10(-3) and Delta Gamma x Rez = (7.1 +/- 3.9(stat) +/- 2.0(stat)) x 10(-3) ps(-1). The statistical correlation between the measurements of Imz and Delta Gamma x Rez is 76%.

Developing advanced luminescent materials and techniques is of significant importance for anti‐counterfeiting applications, and remains a huge challenge. In this work, a new and efficient approach for achieving efficient dual‐mode luminescence with tunable color outputs via Gd3+‐mediated interfacial energy transfer, Ce3+‐assisted cross‐relaxation, and core–shell nanostructuring strategy is reported. The introduction of Ce3+ into the inner core not only serves the regulation of upconversion emission, but also facilitates the ultraviolet photon harvesting and subsequent energy transfer to downshifting (DS) activators in the outer shell layer. Furthermore, the construction of the core@shell nanoarchitecture enables the spatial separation of upconverting activators and DS centers, which greatly suppresses their adverse cross‐relaxation processes. Consequently, efficient and multicolor‐tunable dual‐mode emissions can be simultaneously observed in the pre‐designed NaGdF4:Yb/Ho/Ce@NaYF4:X (X = Eu, Tb, Sm, Dy) core–shell nanostructures under 254 nm ultraviolet light and 980 nm laser excitation. The proof‐of‐concept experiment demonstrates that 2D‐encoded patterns based on dual‐mode emitting nanomaterials are very promising for anti‐counterfeiting applications. It is believed that this preliminary study will advance the development of the fluorescent materials for potential applications in anti‐counterfeiting and optical multiplexing.