The CNGS neutrino beam

The CNGS (CERN Neutrinos to Gran Sasso) project aims to produce a muon neutrino beam for the investigation of the oscillations of neutrinos. The beam is directed from CERN SPS accelerator to the Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS) of the INFN in Italy, 730 km from CERN, where the OPERA experiment is designed to search for the appearance of tau neutrinos in the beam. Construction of the beam started in September 2000 and commissioning ended in early August 2006. The beam was first sent to Gran Sasso on August 17, 2006. An overview of the CNGS project and of the commissioning is provided

NESSiE: An experimental search for sterile neutrinos with the CERN-SPS beam

Anomalies observed in neutrino oscillation experiments show a tension with the standard three-flavor neutrino framework and seem to require at least an additional sterile neutrino with a mass at the eV scale. NESSiE (Neutrino Experiment with SpectrometerS in Europe) is an experiment at a new CERN Short-Baseline neutrino beam proposed to definitely address the sterile neutrino issue. The experiment is composed by two magnetic spectrometers at different distances from the proton target. Their design allows to measure the charge and momentum of the muons in a wide energy range, from few hundred MeV, using a magnetic field in air, up to several GeV measuring the bending and range of the muon in a large iron dipolar magnet. The spectrometers will complement large LAr detectors used as a target. The time scale foresees to start taking data by 2016

CP violation and mass hierarchy at medium baselines in the large theta(13) era

The large value of theta(13) recently measured by rector and accelerator experiments opens unprecedented opportunities for precision oscillation physics. In this paper, we reconsider the physics reach of medium baseline superbeams. For theta(13) ~ 9 degree we show that facilities at medium baselines -- i.e. L ~ O(1000 km) -- remain optimal for the study of CP violation in the leptonic sector, although their ultimate precision strongly depends on experimental systematics. This is demonstrated in particular for facilities of practical interest in Europe: a CERN to Gran Sasso and CERN to Phyasalmi nu_mu beam based on the present SPS and on new high power 50 GeV proton driver. Due to the large value of theta(13), spectral information can be employed at medium baselines to resolve the sign ambiguity and determine the neutrino mass hierarchy. However, longer baselines, where matter effects dominate the nu_mu->nu_e transition, can achieve much stronger sensitivity to sign(Delta m^2) even at moderate exposures.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures, version to appear in EPJ

Fast automated scanning of OPERA emulsion films

The use of nuclear emulsions to record tracks of charged particles with an accuracy of better than 1 micron is possible in large physics experiments thanks to the recent improvements in the industrial production of emulsions and to the development of fast automated microscopes. The European Scanning System (ESS) is a fast automatic system developed for the mass scanning of the emulsions of the OPERA experiment, which requires microscopes with scanning speeds of about 20 cm$^2$/h. Recent improvements in the technique and measurements with ESS are reported.Comment: 3 pages, 5 figures, presented at the 10th Topical Seminar on Innovative Particle and Radiation Detectors, 1-5 October 2006, Siena, Ital

Foot dermatitis and productive traits in broiler chickens kept with different stocking densities, litter types and light regimen

The purpose of the research was to study the effects of high and low stocking density of broiler chickens, different types of litter and the adoption of short and long lighting regimen on broiler welfare through the evaluation of their productivity and incidence of foot pad dermatitis. 2,400 male Ross 508 were divided into 8 groups of four replicates each and reared in 32 pens according to a 3 factors experimental design of two levels each: low (LD) or high (HD) stocking density (11 and 14 birds/m2 for LD and HD respectively), chopped straw (CS) or wood shaving (WS) litters and short (SL) or long (LL) light regimens (16 h light and 8 h dark or 23 h light and 1 h dark respectively for SL and LL). Broiler growth rate and feed efficiency were positively influenced by a stocking density lower than 30 kg of live weight per m2. The adoption of a short light regimen reduced feed intake and improved feed conversion rate without modifying body live weight. Chickens reared on wood shaving litter showed a lower incidence of foot pad dermatitis

effects of dietary vitamin e on the quality of table eggs enriched with n 3 long chain fatty acids

Abstract Because of the proposed cardioprotective benefits of n-3 fatty acids and vitamin E, a trial was carried out to investigate the possibility of enriching eggs with n-3 fatty acid and vitamin E added to the hen's diet. One hundred ninety-two Hy-Line Brown hens, 39-wk-old, were divided into eight groups: four groups received the basal diet supplemented with 3% lard and four doses of dl-alpha-tocopheryl acetate (0, 50, 100, and 200 ppm), whereas the diets of the other groups were supplemented with 3% of fish oil and the same doses of vitamin E. The performances of the hens and egg weights were not affected either by the type of lipid supplement or by the vitamin level. The treatment with fish oil caused a dramatic increase (

Fragmentation cross sections of Fe^{26+}, Si^{14+} and C^{6+} ions of 0.3-10 A GeV on CR39, polyethylene and aluminum targets

New measurements of the total and partial fragmentation cross sections in the energy range 0.3-10 A GeV of Fe^{26+}, Si^{14+} and C^{6+} beams on polyethylene, CR39 and aluminum targets are presented. The exposures were made at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), USA, and Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba (HIMAC), Japan. The CR39 nuclear track detectors were used to identify the incident and survived beams and their fragments. The total fragmentation cross sections for all targets are almost energy independent while they depend on the target mass. The measured partial fragmentation cross sections are also discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 5 eps figures. Talk given at the 24th International Conference on Nuclear Tracks in Solids, Bologna, Italy, 1-5 September 200

Effect of different levels of dietary zinc, manganese, and copper from organic or inorganic sources on performance, bacterial chondronecrosis, intramuscular collagen characteristics, and occurrence of meat quality defects of broiler chickens

The aim of the experiment was to assess the effects of two dietary levels of trace minerals (TM) zinc, manganese and copper either from organic (OTM) or inorganic (ITM) sources on broiler performance, carcass traits, intramuscular collagen (IMC) properties, occurrence of hock burns (HB), foot pad dermatitis (FPD), femoral and tibia head necrosis and breast muscle abnormalities (white striping, WS; wooden breast, WB; poor cohesion, PC). A total of 3,600 1-d-old male chicks were randomly assigned to one of four dietary treatments in a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement (9 replicates of 100 birds/dietary treatment). Birds were slaughtered at 31 (thinning) and 51 d of age. Body weight, daily weight gain (DWG), feed intake, feed conversion rate (FCR) and mortality were determined. A significant effect of the source of TM supplementation was found only in 51 d old chickens. Birds of OTM groups were heavier (P 0.05) by the different sources and doses of TM administrated

Time variations in the deep underground muon flux measured by MACRO

More than 30 million of high-energy muons collected with the MACRO detector at the underground Gran Sasso Laboratory have been used to search for flux variations of different natures. Two kinds of studies were carried out: search for periodic variations and for the occurrence of clusters of events. Different analysis methods, including Lomb-Scargle spectral analysis and Scan Test statistics have been applied to the data.Comment: 6 pages, 4 EPS figures. Talk given at the 29th ICRC, Pune, India, 3-10 August 200