Eco-efficiency assessment and food security potential of home gardening: a case study in Padua, Italy

In the expanding urban agriculture phenomenon in Europe, home gardens are a traditional form that have kept agriculture within cities, even becoming crucial in certain historical periods (e.g., war periods). However, horticultural practices in home gardens can also have negative consequences. The goal of this paper is to assess the eco-efficiency of home gardens as a type of urban agriculture. To do so, a case study in Padua (Italy) was evaluated following life cycle assessment and life cycle costing methods. A home garden of 30.6 m(2) and 21 crop cycles were evaluated. The functional unit of the assessment was 1 kg of harvested fresh vegetable at the consumption point, and the ReCiPe method was employed for impact assessment. Environmental assessment indicated that organic fertilization, use of tap water, mineral fertilization and pesticides were the most contributing elements of the entire life cycle. Furthermore, the relevance of garden design and crop selection was a determinant in the eco-efficiency results. The assessed home garden could satisfy the food requirements of between 1 and 2 members of the household. Crop management and design recommendations are provided to improve eco-efficiency and food security potential of home gardens

The movable border between Assyria and Urartu (9th - 7th centuries BC)

The border between Assyria and Urartu was located in the mountain region of eastern Taurus and northern Zagros, whose rugged terrain imposed particular strategies. Due to the nature of the region the confrontation between the two major kingdoms was mediated by some buffer states which became tributary of one or another of the larger polities and derived advantages and high risks from this position. They had an important role also in the circulation of goods and artefacts. If, from a political and military point of view, the mountains were theatre of struggles to control strategical or rich enclaves, and the borders of Assyrian and Urartian hegemony changed over time, from a cultural point of view the boundaries were elusive and wide was the circulation of prestige goods as attested in the archaeological findings

Peering through the Door. A Note on the Functions and Relations of the atû in Neo-Assyrian Society

The article investigates the position of the atû, “gatekeeper”, an official in charge of the surveillance of palaces, temples, and city gates. His function can be chosen as a starting point for some notes on the Neo-Assyrian society and administration, since he took part in legal procedures and had various relations with othe members of Assyrian administrative hierarchy

Influenza della disponibilita idrica sull'accrescimento delle bacche e sulla composizione del mosto dei vitigni Garganega e Chardonnay

Le variazioni quanti-qualitative delle produzioni viticole sono spesso legate a fattori ambientali e agronomici. In particolare, le precipitazioni, agendo sullo stato idrico della pianta, influenzano la crescita delle bacche e la composizione del mosto e del vino. Nel presente lavoro si è voluto verificare l’influenza dell’irrigazione sull’attività produttiva dei vitigni Garganega e Chardonnay in ambiente collinare. È stata monitorata la crescita delle bacche e dall’invaiatura sono stati misurati i parametri della maturazione. Nel vitigno Garganega, uno stress idrico, anche moderato, nel primo periodo di crescita della bacca, ha influenzato in modo irreversibile il volume finale delle bacche. Alla vendemmia nella Garganega non sono state osservate differenze sui parametri produttivi e qualitativi mentre nello Chardonnay le uve delle viti irrigate hanno presentato un grado rifrattometrico superiore.R. De Bei, G. Ponchia and A. Bonaman