Characteristics of Compost Obtained from Winemaking Byproducts

A model procedure for the sustainable management of plant biomass related to wine production, namely vine branches from agricultural practices in the vineyard and marcs remaining after grapes crushing, was devised. An artificial humification process was set up that could respond to the needs of environmental sustainability and could be a safe way to be reintroduce in the vineyard part of the organic matter previously exported, thus contributing to recover or maintain vineyard soil fertility. Two different strategies for composting were tested, namely a static pile, made by branches and marcs, and a pile that was fed twice a year alternatively with vine branches and grape marcs. The experimentation lasted 710 days, during which environmental parameters, i.e. temperature and rainfalls were monitored. Growth dynamics of the principal functional groups of microorganism were followed. A characterization of the composted material was obtained by measuring several parameters among which, pH, carbon, nitrogen, sulfur and heavy metals content. The characteristics of the produced compost fulfill the requirements prescribed by the Italian legislation regarding the use of compost as soil amendment. Germination tests demonstrated the absence of phytotoxicity and conversely evidenced a stimulating activity towards root development

Manifolds obtained by soldering together points, lines, etc

This text is the extended version of a talk given at the conference Geometry, Topology, QFT and Cosmology hold from May 28 to May 30, 2008 at the Observatoire de Paris. We explore the notion of solder (or soldering form) in differential geometry and propose an alternative interpretation of it, motivated by the search of an accurate mathematical description of the General Relativity. This new interpretation leads naturally to imagine a rich family of new geometries which has not yet a satisfactory definition in general. We try however to communicate to the reader an intuition of such geometries through some examples and review quickly some possible applications in physics. The basic objects in this geometry are not points (i.e. 0-dimensional), but (p-1)-dimensional.Comment: in Geometry, Topology, QFT and Cosmology, Paris : France (2008

Irregularly Obtained Real Evidence: The Scottish Solution?

In determining whether to admit improperly obtained real evidence, the Scottish courts have engaged in a balancing act for over 50 years, weighing the public interest in the conviction of the guilty against the rights of the accused and the civil liberties of the citizenry. The Appeal Court's approach to this issue has not been particularly satisfactory and the result is an incoherent mass of detailed and often almost irreconcilable case law, rather than a principled framework to guide the trial courts in the exercise of this power

Weak values obtained from mass-energy equivalence

Quantum weak measurement, measuring some observable quantities within the selected subensemble of the entire quantum ensemble, can produce many interesting results such as the superluminal phenomena. An outcome of such a measurement is the weak value which has been applied to amplify some weak signals of quantum interactions in lots of previous references. Here, we apply the weak measurement to the system of relativistic cold atoms. According to mass-energy equivalence, the internal energy of an atom will contribute its rest mass and consequently the external momentum of center of mass. This implies a weak coupling between the internal and external degrees of freedom of atoms moving in the free space. After a duration of this coupling, a weak value can be obtained by post-selecting an internal state of atoms. We show that, the weak value can change the momentum uncertainty of atoms and consequently help us to experimentally measure the weak effects arising from mass-energy equivalence.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.