LArGe: Background suppression using liquid argon (LAr) scintillation for 0νββ\nu\beta\beta decay search with enriched germanium (Ge) detectors

Measurements with a bare p-type high purity germanium diode (HPGe) submerged in a 19 kg liquid argon (LAr) scintillation detector at MPIK Heidelberg are reported. The liquid argon--germanium system (LArGe) is operated as a 4$\pi$ anti-Compton spectrometer to suppress backgrounds in the HPGe. This R&D is carried out in the framework of the GERDA experiment which searches for 0$\nu\beta\beta$ decays with HPGe detectors enriched in $^{76}$Ge. The goal of this work is to develop a novel method to discriminate backgrounds in 0$\nu\beta\beta$ search which would ultimately allow to investigate the effective neutrino mass free of background events down to the inverse mass hierarchy scale. Other applications in low-background counting are expected.Comment: 3 pages, 6 figures, conference proceedings of the 10th Topical Seminar on Innovative Particle and Radiation Detectors (IPRD06) 1 - 5 October 2006 Siena, Ital

Technical quality assessment of an optoelectronic system for movement analysis

The Optoelectronic Systems (OS) are largely used in gait analysis to evaluate the motor performances of healthy subjects and patients. The accuracy of marker trajectories reconstruction depends on several aspects: the number of cameras, the dimension and position of the calibration volume, and the chosen calibration procedure. In this paper we propose a methodology to evaluate the eects of the mentioned sources of error on the reconstruction of marker trajectories. The novel contribution of the present work consists in the dimension of the tested calibration volumes, which is comparable with the ones normally used in gait analysis; in addition, to simulate trajectories during clinical gait analysis, we provide non-default paths for markers as inputs. Several calibration procedures are implemented and the same trial is processed with each calibration le, also considering dierent cameras congurations. The RMSEs between the measured trajectories and the optimal ones are calculated for each comparison. To investigate the signicant dierences between the computed indices, an ANOVA analysis is implemented. The RMSE is sensible to the variations of the considered calibration volume and the camera congurations and it is always inferior to 43 mm

Semiclassical limit for Schr\"odinger equations with magnetic field and Hartree-type nonlinearities

The semi-classical regime of standing wave solutions of a Schr\"odinger equation in presence of non-constant electric and magnetic potentials is studied in the case of non-local nonlinearities of Hartree type. It is show that there exists a family of solutions having multiple concentration regions which are located around the minimum points of the electric potential.Comment: 34 page

Applications of Trichoderma to prevent Phaeomoniella chlamydospora infections in organic nurseries

In order to prevent or reduce infection in grapevine nurseries, greenhouse and nursery trials were carried out to evaluate the effects of Trichoderma harzianum (Rootshield\u27) on the morpho-physiological characteristics of grapevine and on Phaeomoniella chlamydospora artificially inoculated on potted cuttings. The long-distance activity of Trichoderma against Botrytis cinerea was also examined. The study was performed in a commercial nursery where plants were grown organically. Results greatly depended on the vine-growth stage at which Richoderma was applied. Treatment at rooting was the most effective, whilst callusing-box application or treatments at both rooting and callusing gave inconsistent but generally negative results. Treatment at rooting further improved the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the root system, and increased the percentage of certifiable vines produced. Moreover, Richoderma application also reduced the necrotic area caused by B. cinerea inoculated on the leaves collected from Richoderma-treated plants and the extent of necrosis of P. chlamydospora-inoculated cuttings. This reduction in necrosis was significantly higher 15 months after inoculation. On the other hand, Richoderma increased vine mortality at the end of the growing season compared with untreated plants. On the whole, only when it was applied at rooting did Richoderma produce positive effects on the morpho-phisiological characteristics of grapevine and increased its tolerance to stress-related diseases, such as forms of esca found in the nursery

Wood discoloration and decay in grapevines with esca proper and their relationship with foliar symptoms

From two Italian vineyards affected with esca proper, vineyard A (Borghi, FC, Emilia-Romagna) and vineyard B (Controguerra, TE, Abruzzo), located in different wine-growing areas and with different cultivars, 165 vines were collected that had shown the leaf symptoms of esca proper in the years before. Each vine was inspected and the cubic volume of the main symptoms in the trunk was measured: discoloration, including the various forms of dark necrosis, and decay. In each vine of both vineyards the extent of wood deterioration was compared with the severity of the leaf symptoms recorded in the years before the vines were cut down. The existence of a correlation between discoloration and decay in the wood colonisation process was explored. No correlation was found between the severity of the wood deterioration and the severity of the leaf symptoms. The typical leaf symptoms were found also on vines that had only wood discoloration without any decay. There was no correlation between wood discoloration and decay in vineyard A in which the vine wood was more degraded, with a greater incidence of decay. In vineyard B, however, in which the incidence of decay was less, a correlation between decay and discoloration was potentially found