Application of algal bioassays in the determination of eutrophic power of waste water (”Conclusions” only) [Translation from: 1g.Sanita pubbl. 31 257-267, 1975]

The best evidence for establishing the level of eutrophy of a water-body is its algal production which makes it possible to identify the type and the intensity of the eutrophication according to the kind and number of algal species present: when the number of algae exceeds half a million per litre then one speaks o an ”algal bloom”. The scope of the present research aims to verify if the alga Selenastrum capricornutum can be used as a test alga under our culture conditions and to determine the eutrophic level of the secondary effluent of a modern plant for the treatment of domestic discharge and to investigate the eventual ”limiting factors”. Finally this paper aims to study the effect on the secondary effluent of tertiary treatment carried out artificially in the laboratory

A novel integral representation for the Adler function

New integral representations for the Adler D-function and the R-ratio of the electron-positron annihilation into hadrons are derived in the general framework of the analytic approach to QCD. These representations capture the nonperturbative information encoded in the dispersion relation for the D-function, the effects due to the interrelation between spacelike and timelike domains, and the effects due to the nonvanishing pion mass. The latter plays a crucial role in this analysis, forcing the Adler function to vanish in the infrared limit. Within the developed approach the D-function is calculated by employing its perturbative approximation as the only additional input. The obtained result is found to be in reasonable agreement with the experimental prediction for the Adler function in the entire range of momenta $0 \le Q^2 < \infty$.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure

OSWALD v.1.0: Open Source for Weed Assessment in Lowland Paddy Fields

The project envisages the initiation and sustenance of cooperation between the South East Asian and the European agronomist communities. Indeed, it brings together and assimilates into a knowledge base the kind of information, which will be of significant use to the farming community. Such an approach of a decision-making tool made available in rural areas and accessing a centralized database through the Internet can be extended to other agriculture-related needs like pest management, and in a more general sense, to give access to ecological, meteorological, agronomic and economic information (market prices, monsoon forecast, cost of inputs, etc.) that may help farmers to better plan their activities. Moreover, it provides a special impetus to major capacity-building efforts for young agronomists, applied botanists and extension workers. The knowledge base is designed and developed in such way to enable capacity building by taking into account the non-expert background of the intended audience and local language question. (Résumé d'auteur

Radioactive contamination of ZnWO4 crystal scintillators

The radioactive contamination of ZnWO4 crystal scintillators has been measured deep underground at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS) of the INFN in Italy with a total exposure 3197 kg x h. Monte Carlo simulation, time-amplitude and pulse-shape analyses of the data have been applied to estimate the radioactive contamination of the ZnWO4 samples. One of the ZnWO4 crystals has also been tested by ultra-low background gamma spectrometry. The radioactive contaminations of the ZnWO4 samples do not exceed 0.002 -- 0.8 mBq/kg (depending on the radionuclide), the total alpha activity is in the range: 0.2 - 2 mBq/kg. Particular radioactivity, beta active 65Zn and alpha active 180W, has been detected. The effect of the re-crystallization on the radiopurity of the ZnWO4 crystal has been studied. The radioactive contamination of samples of the ceramic details of the set-ups used in the crystals growth has been checked by low background gamma spectrometry. A project scheme on further improvement of the radiopurity level of the ZnWO4 crystal scintillators is briefly addressed.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, 6 tables, submitted for publicatio

A consistent derivation of the quark--antiquark and three quark potentials in a Wilson loop context

In this paper we give a new derivation of the quark-antiquark potential in the Wilson loop context. This makes more explicit the approximations involved and enables an immediate extension to the three-quark case. In the $q\overline{q}$ case we find the same semirelativistic potential obtained in preceding papers but for a question of ordering. In the $3q$ case we find a spin dependent potential identical to that already derived in the literature from the ad hoc and non correct assumption of scalar confinement. Furthermore we obtain the correct form of the spin independent potential up to the $1/m^2$ order.Comment: 30 pages, Revtex (3 figures available as hard copies only), IFUM 452/F

Bethe--Salpeter equation in QCD

We extend to regular QCD the derivation of a confining $q \bar{q}$ Bethe--Salpeter equation previously given for the simplest model of scalar QCD in which quarks are treated as spinless particles. We start from the same assumptions on the Wilson loop integral already adopted in the derivation of a semirelativistic heavy quark potential. We show that, by standard approximations, an effective meson squared mass operator can be obtained from our BS kernel and that, from this, by ${1\over m^2}$ expansion the corresponding Wilson loop potential can be reobtained, spin--dependent and velocity--dependent terms included. We also show that, on the contrary, neglecting spin--dependent terms, relativistic flux tube model is reproduced.Comment: 23 pages, revte

Performance reprodutiva de cabras Alpinas e Saanen tratadas com gonadotrofina coriônica humana no quinto e vigésimo dia pós-serviço durante a estação de monta induzida.

Resumo: Objetivou-se com este estudo avaliar o efeito da administração da gonadotrofina coriônica humana (hCG) no quinto e vigésimo dia do ciclo estral sobre a taxa de gestação de cabras da raça Alpina e Saanen, durante a estação de acasalamento induzida por fotoperíodo artificial. Foram utilizados 151 animais, sendo 85 da raça Alpina e 66 da Saanen. Do total, 110 foram submetidas à monta natural e 41 à inseminação artificial. Após a identificação do estro e acasalamento ou inseminação, as fêmeas foram divididas ao acaso, em dois tratamentos:T1 = 1mL de solução salina intramuscular no quinto e vigésimo dia após a cobertura e T2 = 250 UI de hCG no mesmo esquema. A gestação foi verificada por ultra-sonografia trans-retal aos 35 dias após a cobertura. Não houve efeito da administração do hCG sobre a taxa de gestação, taxa de parição e número de fetos nascidos (P>0,05). As diferentes raças empregadas neste estudo também não influenciaram os parâmetros estudados. Independentemente da aplicação do hCG, houve decréscimo significativo na taxa de gestação quando se empregou a inseminação artificial (P0,05) of the hCG administration on gestation rate, parturition rate and number of born foetus. The difference breeds used in this study didn?t influence the studied parameters. Independently of the application of hCG, there was significant decrease in the gestation rate when the artificial insemination was used (P <0,05). Under the conditions of this study, the hCG administration in the fifth and twentieth day of the estrous cycle estral doesn?t present any effect on gestation rate of goats of the Alpine and Saanen breeds

Supernovae 2016bdu and 2005gl, and their link with SN 2009ip-like transients: another piece of the puzzle

Supernova (SN) 2016bdu is an unusual transient resembling SN 2009ip. SN 2009ip-like events are characterized by a long-lasting phase of erratic variability which ends with two luminous outbursts a few weeks apart. The second outburst is significantly more luminous (about 3 mag) than the first. In the case of SN 2016bdu, the first outburst (Event A) reached an absolute magnitude M(r) ~ -15.3 mag, while the second one (Event B) occurred over one month later and reached M(r) ~ -18 mag. By inspecting archival data, a faint source at the position of SN 2016bdu is detectable several times in the past few years. We interpret these detections as signatures of a phase of erratic variability, similar to that experienced by SN 2009ip between 2008 and mid-2012, and resembling the currently observed variability of the luminous blue variable SN 2000ch in NGC 3432. Spectroscopic monitoring of SN 2016bdu during the second peak initially shows features typical of a SN IIn. One month after the Event B maximum, the spectra develop broad Balmer lines with P Cygni profiles and broad metal features. At these late phases, the spectra resemble those of a typical Type II SN. All members of this SN 2009ip-like group are remarkably similar to the Type IIn SN 2005gl. For this object, the claim of a terminal SN explosion is supported by the disappearance of the progenitor star. The similarity with SN 2005gl suggests that all members of this family may finally explode as genuine SNe, although the unequivocal detection of nucleosynthesised elements in their nebular spectra is still missing.Comment: Submitted to MNRAS on April 10, 2017; re-submitted on June 23 including suggestions from the referee. 24 pages, 12 figures, 5 table