Bagaço de mandioca na ensilagem do capim-elefante: qualidade das silagens e digestibilidade dos nutrientes Cassava bagasse in elephant grass ensilage: quality of the silage and digestibility of the nutrients

Utilizaram-se 16 novilhas ¾ Holandês-Zebu com idade média de 15 meses e peso médio inicial de 144kg, para avaliar o efeito da adição de diferentes níveis (5; 10; 15 e 20%) de bagaço de mandioca na ensilagem do capim-elefante (Pennisetum purpureum, Schum) sobre a qualidade e a digestibilidade dos nutrientes da dieta. Os tratamentos consistiram de quatro dietas contendo, como volumoso, silagem de capim-elefante com quatro diferentes níveis de bagaço de mandioca, mais concentrado balanceado, com quatro repetições por tratamento. Avaliou-se a qualidade das silagens, os consumos de nutrientes das dietas e as digestibilidades dos nutrientes das silagens e das dietas totais. O bagaço de mandioca elevou o teor de matéria seca (MS) da silagem, preservando-a com o pH que variou de 3,85 a 4,07 e a relação N-NH3/NT de 6,2 a 7,85. Os consumos médios diários de MS e proteína bruta (PB) não diferiram entre os tratamentos (P>0,05). Os consumos médios de fibra em detergente neutro (FDN) e fibra em detergente ácido (FDA) apresentaram comportamento linear decrescente (P<0,05) com o aumento dos níveis de bagaço de mandioca. Não foi detectada diferença entre os tratamentos (P>0,05) na digestibilidade da MS (DMS), da FDN (DFDN) e da FDA (DFDA) das silagens. Os nutrientes digestíveis totais (NDT) das silagens foram semelhantes em todos os tratamentos. A digestibilidade da PB (DPB), do extrato etéreo (DEE) e dos carboidratos não-fibrosos (DCNF) das silagens decresceu linearmente (P<0,05) com o aumento do nível do bagaço de mandioca nas silagens. Constatou-se que não houve diferença (P>0,05) na DMS, DPB, DFDN, DFDA, DEE, DCNF e NDT entre as dietas experimentais. O nível de adição de 5% de bagaço de mandioca à silagem de capim-elefante é satisfatório para sua preservação, propiciando boa digestibilidade.<br>Sixteen ¾ Holstein-Zebu heifers aging 15 month-old averaging 144kg were used to evaluate the effect of the additions of different levels of cassava bagasse (5; 10; 15 and 20%) to elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum, Schum) ensilage on the diet quality and nutrients digestibility. The treatments consisted of four diets containing, as roughage, elephant grass silage with four different levels of cassava bagasse plus balanced concentrate, with four repetitions per treatment. Silages quality, diet nutrients intake and nutrients digestibility of the silages and total diets were evaluated. Cassava bagasse increased the dry matter (DM) content, of the silages preserving them with a pH varying from 3.85 to 4.07 and N-NH3/NT ratio from 6.2 to 7.85. Daily dry matter and crude protein (CP) mean intakes did not differ among the treatments (P>0.05). Neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) mean intakes showed a decreasing linear behavior (P<0.05) with the increase of cassava bagasse levels. There was no detected difference among the treatments (P>0.05) for DM (DMD), NDF (NDFD) and ADF digestibility (ADFD). The total digestible nutrients (TDN) of the silages were similar in all the treatments. The CP (CPD), ether extract (EED) and non-fiber carbohydrates digestibility (NFCD) of the silages decreased linearly (P<0.05) with the increase of cassava bagasse levels. There was no difference (P>0.05) in DMD, CPD, NDFD, ADFD, EED, NFCD and TDN among the experimental diets. The 5% cassava bagasse addition to its elephant grass silage was satisfactory to preservation resulting in good digestibility of the elephant grass silage

Cosmic-muon characterization and annual modulation measurement with Double Chooz detectors

A study on cosmic muons has been performed for the two identical near and far neutrino detectors of the Double Chooz experiment, placed at ∼120 and ∼300 m.w.e. underground respectively, including the corresponding simulations using the MUSIC simulation package. This characterization has allowed us to measure the muon flux reaching both detectors to be (3.64 ± 0.04) × 10-4 cm-2s-1 for the near detector and (7.00 ± 0.05) × 10-5 cm-2s-1 for the far one. The seasonal modulation of the signal has also been studied observing a positive correlation with the atmospheric temperature, leading to an effective temperature coefficient of αT = 0.212 ± 0.024 and 0.355 ± 0.019 for the near and far detectors respectively. These measurements, in good agreement with expectations based on theoretical models, represent one of the first measurements of this coefficient in shallow depth installations

The Double Chooz antineutrino detectors

This article describes the setup and performance of the near and far detectors in the Double Chooz experiment. The electron antineutrinos of the Chooz nuclear power plant were measured in two identically designed detectors with different average baselines of about 400 m and 1050 m from the two reactor cores. Over many years of data taking the neutrino signals were extracted from interactions in the detectors with the goal of measuring a fundamental parameter in the context of neutrino oscillation, the mixing angle θ13. The central part of the Double Chooz detectors was a main detector comprising four cylindrical volumes filled with organic liquids. From the inside towards the outside there were volumes containing gadolinium-loaded scintillator, gadolinium-free scintillator, a buffer oil and, optically separated, another liquid scintillator acting as veto system. Above this main detector an additional outer veto system using plastic scintillator strips was installed. The technologies developed in Double Chooz were inspiration for several other antineutrino detectors in the field. The detector design allowed implementation of efficient background rejection techniques including use of pulse shape information provided by the data acquisition system. The Double Chooz detectors featured remarkable stability, in particular for the detected photons, as well as high radiopurity of the detector components

The Double Chooz antineutrino detectors

This article describes the setup and performance of the near and far detectors in the Double Chooz experiment. The electron antineutrinos of the Chooz nuclear power plant were measured in two identically designed detectors with different average baselines of about 400 m and 1050 m from the two reactor cores. Over many years of data taking the neutrino signals were extracted from interactions in the detectors with the goal of measuring a fundamental parameter in the context of neutrino oscillation, the mixing angle θ13. The central part of the Double Chooz detectors was a main detector comprising four cylindrical volumes filled with organic liquids. From the inside towards the outside there were volumes containing gadolinium-loaded scintillator, gadolinium-free scintillator, a buffer oil and, optically separated, another liquid scintillator acting as veto system. Above this main detector an additional outer veto system using plastic scintillator strips was installed. The technologies developed in Double Chooz were inspiration for several other antineutrino detectors in the field. The detector design allowed implementation of efficient background rejection techniques including use of pulse shape information provided by the data acquisition system. The Double Chooz detectors featured remarkable stability, in particular for the detected photons, as well as high radiopurity of the detector components