A Functional and Lagrangian Formulation of Two-Dimensional Topological Gravity

We reconsider two-dimensional topological gravity in a functional and lagrangian framework. We derive its Slavnov-Taylor identities and discuss its (in)dependence on the background gauge. Correlators of reparamerization invariant observables are shown to be globally defined forms on moduli space. The potential obstruction to their gauge-independence is the non-triviality of the line bundle on moduli space ${\cal L}_x$, whose first Chern-class is associated to the topological invariants of Mumford, Morita and Miller. Based on talks given at the Fubini Fest, Torino, 24-26 February 1994, and at the Workshop on String Theory, Trieste, 20-22 April 1994.Comment: 11 pages, harvmac, CERN-TH-7302/94, GEF-Th-6/199

Further comments on the background field method and gauge invariant effective actions

The aim of this paper is to give a firm and clear proof of the existence in the background field framework of a gauge invariant effective action for any gauge theory ({\it background gauge equivalence}). Here by effective action we mean a functional whose Legendre transform restricted to the physical shell generates the matrix elements of the connected $S$-matrix. We resume and clarify a former argument due to Abbott, Grisaru and Schaefer based on the gauge-artifact nature of the background fields and on the identification of the gauge invariant effective action with the generator of the proper, background field, vertices.Comment: 21 pages, Latex 2

Training Designers of the Future: Reflections on a Didactic Case ‘Made in Italy’

Focusing on a specific case, the postgraduate course Product Service System Design taught in English to Italian and international students of the Design Facult y at Milan Pol ytechnic, the author reflects on the present and future of designers as ‘reflexive professionals’ (to quote Donald A. Schön1) called upon to act in uncertain and vaguely defined contexts, tackle problems in highly original ways and come up with wide -ranging, experimental and innovative solutions resorting to complex and hybrid techniques and tools either purposely designed or taken from other fields

Designing Design Education. An articulated programme of collective open design activities

Design Education is changing. Setting out from the awareness that “the profile of design professions need not – and should not – remain what it is today” (Findeli, 2001, p.17) and from insight suggesting that the “experimental approach will become the “normal” approach in our future” (Manzini, 2015, p.54), the authors worked on an articulated programme of collective open design activities reflecting these changes. The activities focus on concrete experimentation on the paradigm of distributed production, which modifies the articulation of known roles and the traditional design education approaches. Therefore, the initiative aims at involving important international design schools in a concrete design exploration of this key issue for society and the design discipline itself. Manzini (2015) urged to “look at the whole of society as a huge laboratory of sociotechnical experimentation”: this practice is a remarkable example which may be used as a model in the future on a larger scale

On the Semi-Relative Condition for Closed (TOPOLOGICAL) Strings

We provide a simple lagrangian interpretation of the meaning of the $b_0^-$ semi-relative condition in closed string theory. Namely, we show how the semi-relative condition is equivalent to the requirement that physical operators be cohomology classes of the BRS operators acting on the space of local fields {\it covariant} under world-sheet reparametrizations. States trivial in the absolute BRS cohomology but not in the semi-relative one are explicitly seen to correspond to BRS variations of operators which are not globally defined world-sheet tensors. We derive the covariant expressions for the observables of topological gravity. We use them to prove a formula that equates the expectation value of the gravitational descendant of ghost number 4 to the integral over the moduli space of the Weil-Peterson K\"ahler form.Comment: 10 pages, harvmac, CERN-TH-7084/93, GEF-TH-21/199

Viability study of automobile shredder residue as fuel

Car Fluff samples collected from a shredding plant in Italy were classified based on particle size, and three different size fractions were obtained in this way. A comparison between these size fractions and the original light fluff was made from two different points of view: (i) the properties of each size fraction as a fuel were evaluated and (ii) the pollutants evolved when each size fraction was subjected to combustion were studied. The aim was to establish which size fraction would be the most suitable for the purposes of energy recovery. The light fluff analyzed contained up to 50 wt.% fines (particle size < 20 mm). However, its low calorific value and high emissions of polychlorinated dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs), generated during combustion, make the fines fraction inappropriate for energy recovery, and therefore, landfilling would be the best option. The 50–100 mm fraction exhibited a high calorific value and low PCDD/F emissions were generated when the sample was combusted, making it the most suitable fraction for use as refuse-derived fuel (RDF). Results obtained suggest that removing fines from the original ASR sample would lead to a material product that is more suitable for use as RDF.Support for this work was provided by the Spanish MEC, research project CTQ2008-05520 and by the Valencian Community Government with the research projects Prometeo/2009/043/FEDER

Large Deviation Approach to the Randomly Forced Navier-Stokes Equation

The random forced Navier-Stokes equation can be obtained as a variational problem of a proper action. By virtue of incompressibility, the integration over transverse components of the fields allows to cast the action in the form of a large deviation functional. Since the hydrodynamic operator is nonlinear, the functional integral yielding the statistics of fluctuations can be practically computed by linearizing around a physical solution of the hydrodynamic equation. We show that this procedure yields the dimensional scaling predicted by K41 theory at the lowest perturbative order, where the perturbation parameter is the inverse Reynolds number. Moreover, an explicit expression of the prefactor of the scaling law is obtained.Comment: 24 page

Nitrogen activation of carbon-encapsulated zero-valent iron nanoparticles and influence of the activation temperature on heavy metals removal

Nanoparticles of zero-valent iron (nZVI) represent a promising agent for environmental remediation. This is due to their core-shell structure which presents the characteristics of both metallic and oxidised iron, leading to sorption and reductive precipitation of metal ions. Nevertheless, nZVI application presents some limitations regarding their rapid oxidation and aggregation in the media which leads to the delivery of the ions after some hours (the "aging effect"). To address these issues, modifications of nZVI structure and synthesis methods have been developed in the last years. The aging problem was solved by using nZVI encapsulated inside carbon spheres (CE-nZVI), synthetized through Hydrothermal Carbonization (HTC). Results showed high heavy metals removal percentage. Furthermore, CE-nZVI were activated with nitrogen in order to increase the metallic iron content. The aim of this study was to test CE-nZVI post-treated with nitrogen at different temperatures in heavy metals removal, demonstrating that the influence of the temperature was negligible in nanoparticles removal efficiency.This work was financially supported by University of Milano-Bicocca fund (2016-ATESP-0597) and University of Alicante (UAFPU2013-5791)

I.S.Mu.L.T. Achilles Tendon Ruptures Guidelines

This work provides easily accessible guidelines for the diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of Achilles tendon ruptures. These guidelines could be considered as recommendations for good clinical practice developed through a process of systematic review of the literature and expert opinion, to improve the quality of care for the individual patient and rationalize the use of resources. This work is divided into two sessions: 1) questions about hot topics; 2) answers to the questions following Evidence Based Medicine principles. Despite the frequency of the pathology andthe high level of satisfaction achieved in treatment of Achilles tendon ruptures, a global consensus is lacking. In fact, there is not a uniform treatment and rehabilitation protocol used for Achilles tendon ruptures