THERMAL EFFICIENCY OF INDIVIDUAL SHELTERS FOR GIROLANDO CALVES IN BRAZILIAN SEMI-ARID REGIONS

The objective of this research was to evaluate the thermal efficiency of roofs used on individual shelters during milk-feeding stage of Girolando calves. The research was conducted at a farm located in a dry region of Pernambuco state, Brazil. The experimental design was completely randomized, with 27 Holstein × Gir dairy crossbred calves housed in shelters with three roofing materials (fibre cement tile, recycled tile, and thatched roofs). The recycled tiles and thatched roofs provided reductions of 18.7 and 14.6% in radiant thermal load, respectively. Regardless the roofing material, all animals increased their respiratory rate to maintain thermal equilibrium.

Testing the cleaning effectiveness of new ecological aqueousdispersions applied on old icons

Adherent deposits are very aggressive towards ancient heritage paintings since they affect the varnish and the painting’s layers, sometimes reaching the preparative layers. The biggest problem to the restorer is their removal without affecting the patina, the transparent varnish (well preserved) and fine colour glazes made during painting. Therefore, their removal requires preliminary cleaning tests that allow the optimization of the cleaning system composition that is going to be used. The study was focused on organic natural systems, as colourless supernatants, some of them used during ages, but insufficiently studied. The paper presents an evaluation of the effectiveness of cleaning varnished icons of the nineteenth century, with complex conservation cases using supernatants derived from aqueous dispersions extracted from vegetables and dry indigenous herbal infusions. Best results, after six consecutive cleaning steps, on tempera old icon was obtained for a mixture made of mature white onion juice + extract of Soapwort flowers + corn silk tea + acacia tea. As a best result after just one cleaning step was obtained for a quaternary mixture composed from mature white onion juice + mature carrot juice + corn silk tea + aqueous extract of Soapwort flowers.