The taming of the duel: masculinity, honour and ritual violence in London, 1660–1800

Over the course of the ‘long’ eighteenth century the nature and significance of duels fought in the London area changed dramatically. Pistols replaced swords, seconds took on a new role as mediators, and new conventions reduced the violence. Consequently, injuries and fatalities decreased significantly. The purpose of fighting duels also shifted from the defeat of one's antagonist to a demonstration of courage. Although duels continued to occur, growing opposition meant that the audience of people who supported duelling became increasingly limited and duels took place in places far from public view. At the same time, both the press and the courts provided alternative strategies for defending reputations. These changes cannot be attributed to technological developments, official attempts to prevent duelling, or the embourgeoisement of the duel. Rather, they resulted from a series of interlinked cultural changes, including an increasing intolerance of violence, new internalized understandings of elite honour, and the adoption of ‘polite’ and sentimental norms governing masculine conduct. These eighteenth-century changes shed new light on the reasons for the final end of duelling in England in 1852

The Dietary Components and Feeding Management as Options to Offset Digestive Disturbances in Horses

Equines are faced with digestive disorders derived from abrupt feed changes from mainly forages to high-starch cereal grains. This diet change aimed at meeting the nutritional requirements to optimize the horse's performance causes microbial imbalances in the gut, which results in unintended but inevitable health problems such as colic, diarrhea, gastric ulcer, and laminitis. Several strategies are recommended to control these problems. This review is meant to offer plausible and adoptable solutions to digestive disturbances in equines. High-forage diets seem to be the primary solution. However, there are other options such as feeding horses with alfalfa hay for gut pH modulation and gastric ulcer management, avoidance of the off-feed for long periods within a day especially between 01:00 AM and 09:00 AM, yeast supplementation, feeding equines about 2–3 times a day without increasing the quantity of the daily ration, and dietary fatty acid supplementation such as eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid to increase insulin sensitivity. Protozoa and faunation seem to be a good modulator of gut pH because they help to control the rate of starch degradation without generating methane in horses because acetogenesis is the main hydrogen sink in equines. An appropriate grain mixture of barley–corn or barley–oat avoids gut pH depression. Furthermore, the use of crop by-products such as soybean hull and pectin are good alternative energy sources for equines. Therefore, the use of some sources of fiber in the diet of equines can replace high-starch cereal grains in equine diets because they are capable of providing the required energy to support the energy demands during work

Bactericidal effect of silver nanoparticles against propagation of Clavibacter michiganensis infection in Lycopersicon esculentum Mill

This study explored the use of silver nanoparticle as a bactericidal against the propagation of Clavibacter michiganensis onto tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill). In Mexico, tomato production covers about 73% of the total vegetable production but it is affected by outbreak of bacteria canker caused by Clavibacter michiganensis subspecies michiganensis (Cmm). Silver ions possess inhibitor properties, bactericides and high specter antimicrobials. In this study, 6 groups of culture were prepared using 6 different petri dishes where silver nanoparticles of varying concentrations (120, 84, 48, 24, 12 and 0 μg) were added. Furthermore, each group was observed for 20 min, 1, 2, 12 and 24 h. The optimum concentration is 84 μg, which shows an average of 2 Cmm colonies after 20 min. Further increase to 120 μg shows no significant change. However, the average colonies was observed for 48 μg after 1, 2, 12, and 24 h. The obtained results indicate that silver nanoparticles are a promising inhibitor, bactericide and high a specter antimicrobial for treatment or prevention of Cmm

Efectos de la suplementación con copra sobre la producción de leche, su composición y la concentración de metabolitos en plasma de ganado bovino doble propósito en pastoreo

El endospermo seco del coco llamado copra (C), es un recurso abundante en los litorales costeros y por su elevado contenido de aceite (65%) constituye un alimento densamente energético. En la zona costera del Estado de Guerrero, México, el cocotero se cultiva bajo un sistema cuya sustentabilidad está amenazada por la caída en el precio de su aceite, existe el riesgo de derribar masivamente las palmeras, lo que ocasionaría un deterioro del paisaje costero y daño al entorno ecológico. Con el propósito de diversificar el uso de la copra en la alimentación animal se desarrolló el experimento para determinar el consumo voluntario y la respuesta en producción y composición de leche y la concentración de metabolitos en plasma de vacas de doble propósito en pastoreo a la suplementación de tres niveles de copra. Dieciocho vacas multíparas de doble propósito (86 días de lactación), fueron asignadas en un diseño completamente al azar a uno de los tres tratamientos que contenían: T1: 0% de C; T2: 15% de C y T3: 22.5% de C. Los suplementos fueron isoproteicos ofreciéndose diariamente 2 kg/cb. al momento de la ordeña (7:00 hr) realizada manualmente, registrándose cada día la producción láctea. El experimento duró 56 días durante los cuales los animales se mantuvieron en praderas de pasto insurgente (Brachiaria brizantha). Se registró el peso de los mismos y se tomaron muestras de leche y sangre inmediatamente después de la ordeña, al inicio, cada 14 días y al final del experimento. No se encontraron diferencias significativas (P>0.05) en el consumo de la materia seca y de proteína cruda (PC) aportada por los suplementos. El consumo de grasa (G) fue mayor, para los suplementos con C (200, 320 y 446 g/d para T1, T2 y T3 respectivamente). La ganancia diaria promedio de peso no se afectó por los tratamientos (P>0.05) (-0.236, 0.170 y -0.139 kg/d para T1, T2 y T3 respectivamente). La cantidad de C en los suplementos no alteró (P>0.05) la producción diaria de leche, producción de G, % de PC y producción de PC (6.04, 6.03 y 6.15 kg/d; 0.239, 0.258 y 0.256 kg/d; 3.35, 3.24 y 3.21 %; 0.202, 0.193 y 0.199 kg/d para T1, T2 y T3 respectivamente); sin embargo, aumentó significativamente (P<0.05) el % de G en leche (3.46, 4.30 y 4.27% para T1, T2 y T3 respectivamente). La concentración de triglicéridos y ácidos grasos libres en plasma no se modificó por el suplemento, pero la concentración de colesterol en plasma tendió a ser mayor en las semanas 7 y 8 del experimento (P=0.10) y (P=0.07), respectivamente

Scorpion venoms and associated toxins as anticancer agents: update on their application and mechanism of action.

Cancer remains one of the deadliest non-infectious diseases of the 21st century, causing millions of mortalities per year worldwide. Analyses of conventional treatments, such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy, have shown not only a lower therapeutic efficiency rate but also plethora of side-effects. Considering the desperate need to identify promising anticancer agents, researchers are in quest to design and develop new tumoricidal drugs from natural sources. Over the past few years, scorpion venoms have shown exemplary roles as pivotal anticancer agents. Scorpion venoms associated metabolites, particularly toxins demonstrated in vitro anticancer attributes against diversified cell lines by inhibiting the growth and progression of the cell cycle, inhibiting metastasis by blocking ion channels such as K+ and Cl−, and/or inducing apoptosis by intrinsic and extrinsic pathways. This review sheds light not only on in vitro anticancer properties of distinct scorpion venoms and their toxins, but also on their mechanism of action for designing and developing new therapeutic drugs in future

Role of dose dependent Escherichia coli as ruminal anti-microflora agent to mitigate biogases production in prickly pear cactus flour based diet

The present investigation was conducted to evaluate the effects of Escherichia coli against the ruminal microflora fermentation activities in the mitigation of CH4 and CO2 production as well as ruminal fermentation kinetics by substituting dietary corn grain with prickly pear cactus (PC) flour. Three total mixed PC rations were prepared (/kg DM): 0 g (Control), 75 g (PC75), and 150 g (PC150). Besides, E. coli was supplemented at four different levels (dose): 0, 10, 20, and 40 mg/g DM of substrates. The in vitro rumen GP, CH4, and CO2 were estimated to be affected due to various doses of E. coli up to 72 h of incubation. Asymptotic GP, fractional rate of GP, and lag time were influenced significantly (P < .05) in the presence of ration. However, E. coli doses showed minor impact on the rate of GP as well as lag time. The asymptotic CH4 production was decreased linearly (P=.005) at the ration PC150. E. coli doses reduced the asymptotic CH4 production at 10 and 20 mg/g DM. The asymptotic CO2 production was linearly (P < .001) decreased by different levels of PC. The cubic (P=.023) effect of E. coli doses as well as significant (P=.002) ration×E. coli doses impact were reported on asymptotic CO2 production. The fractional rate of GP was quadratically (P < .05) influenced by PC and E. coli doses. The rations, dose, and rations×E. coli dose interaction had no influence (P > .05) on lag time. In a nutshell, PC flour inclusion in diet has the potentiality to replace the existing conventional feedstuffs for ruminant. Most importantly, revealing the first report, PC flours along with E. coli supplementation at varied doses mitigated the ruminal biogases production. This was as consequence to the antimicrobial impacts of E. coli against ruminal microflora, and that could certainly be a promising approach in order to improve ruminant's diet constituents

Anthelmintic effects of Salix babylonica L. and Leucaena leucocephala Lam. extracts in growing lambs

In Mexico, small ruminant production has important social and economic functions, especially for small rural farmers who rely on these animals as a source of food and income. Production efficiency of ruminants has been limited by nutritional and sanitary problems with helminth infections being one of the major health conditions affecting humans and livestock. Exposure to nematode parasites depends on the husbandry system under which livestock are raised. In situations where Mexican farmers are almost entirely dependent on grazing, exposure to nematode larvae is continuous throughout the year. Gastrointestinal nematode parasitism is a major cause of sheep and goat mortality in tropical Mexico (Canul-Ku et al. 2012) and other tropical countries (Carvalho et al. 2012). The impacts of gastrointestinal nematode parasitism in practical systems has stimulated research into alternative medications, such as medicinal plants or tree leaf extracts, which are used in ruminants, donkeys, camels, and humans (Wabo-Pone et al. 2009; Carvalho et al. 2012).Twenty Katahdin×Pelibuey crossbreed male lambs, 3 to 4 months of age and 24±0.3 kg of body weight, were used to study the anthelmintic effects of administering extracts of Salix babylonica L. (SB) and Leucaena leucocephala Lam. (LL). Lambs had not been treated with anthelmintics previously and were randomly allocated into four groups of five lambs each in a completely randomized design. Treatments were as follows: control (lambs fed on total mixed ration without extracts), SB (as control plus S. babylonica L. extract at 30 ml/day), LL (as control plus L. leucocephala Lam. extract at 30 ml/day), and SBLL (as control plus 30 ml/day of S. babylonica L. and L. leucocephala Lam. extracts in a 1:1 (v/v) mixture) for 63 days. Extracts were orally administered before the 8:00 a.m. feeding to each lamb. Rectal fecal samples were collected from each lamb at day 22 (P1), day 43 (P2), and day 63 (P3) of the experiment. Adult worm and egg counts were determined in each fecal sample immediately after collection. Plant secondary metabolites of total phenolics, saponins, and the aqueous fraction were 50 % lower in the SB versus LL extracts. Overall, the oral administration of extracts has improved the egg and worm count reductions in lamb feces by 54, 47, and 40 % for LL, SB, and SBLL, respectively, versus the control lambs. Reductions of worm egg counts in lamb feces were higher (P <0.05) in P2 and P3 versus P1. Extracts of SB and LL or possibly isolated bioactive compounds could be a promising alternative to conventional anthelmintics to treat gastrointestinal parasites of small ruminants. Such treatments could be used in control strategies against gastrointestinal nematodes in organic and conventional production systems

Uses of non-leguminous trees in silvopastoral systems in the south of the state of Mexico

Abstract: The objective was to characterize the livestock production units (LPU) and identify the forage importance, uses, and density of non-leguminous trees in silvopastoral systems in the south of the State of Mexico. Sixty-nine surveys were conducted to ascertain the current use of trees; on transects were evaluated their density, abundance and frequency; the diameter at breast height (DBH) and the height (h) of trees were measured metrically. The most important trees with regard to foraging were Guazuma ulmifolia (72.5 %) and Crescentia alata (63.8 %). These trees had the highest number of uses at seven and nine, respectively. The density of scattered trees and trees used for living fences was highest for G. ulmifolia (4.5 trees ha−1 and one tree per 100 linear m) and C. alata (7.2 trees ha−1 and 0.54 trees per 100 linear m). The DBH for scattered trees was highest for C. alata at 44.4 cm, while in the case of living fences it was highest for Ficus glabrata at 114.5 cm. We conclude that the outstanding PU accounting uses, foraging preference, and dasometric characteristics are accounted for by C. alata and G. ulmifolia, which as multiple purpose trees can be integrated in silvopastoral systems in the study area.Resumen: El objetivo fue caracterizar las Unidades de Producción Pecuaria (UPP), e identificar la importancia forrajera, usos y la densidad de los árboles no leguminosos en los sistemas silvopastoriles del sur del Estado de México. Se realizaron sesenta y nueve encuestas para conocer el uso de los árboles; en transectos se evaluaron su densidad, abundancia y frecuencia; el diámetro a la altura del pecho (DAP), con la altura (h) del árbol se midieron métricamente. Los árboles con mayor importancia forrajera fueron Guazuma ulmifolia (72.5 %) y Crescentia alata (63.8 %); estos mismos árboles presentaron el mayor número de usos con siete y nueve, respectivamente. La densidad de árboles dispersos y en las cercas vivas fue mayor para G. ulmifolia (4.5 árboles ha−1 y un árbol en 100 m lineales) y C. alata (7.2 árboles ha−1 y 0.54 árboles en 100 m lineales). El DAP en árboles dispersos fue mayor en C. alata con 44.4 cm y en árboles en la cerca viva fue en Ficus glabrata con 114.5 cm. Se concluye que en las UP los árboles más sobresalientes por sus usos, preferencia forrajeras y características dasométricas fueron C. alata y G. ulmifolia, y por ser árboles con usos múltiples, pueden ser integrados a los sistemas silvopastoriles en el área de estudio

Diagnosis of the palatability of fruits of three fodder trees in ruminants

The chemical composition, in vitro dry matter (IVDMD) and organic matter (IVOMD) digestibility of the fruits of Pithecellobium dulce, Acacia farnesiana and Acacia cochliacantha were determined. A cafeteria test in calves, sheep and goats was developed to determine through consumption of dry matter and coefficient of preference the palatability of these fruits as a feed source. Crude protein and neutral and acid detergent fiber contents were higher in the A. cochliacantha fruit (p < 0.001) with 11.1, 55.0 and 38.3 %, respectively. Total phenols were higher (p < 0.001) in A. farnesiana fruit with 39.7 %. The IVDMD and IVOMD were greater (p < 0.001) in P. dulce fruit with 57.7 and 35.6 %, respectively. The P. dulce fruit was more palatable (p < 0.0001) for calves and those of A. cochliacanta for sheep and goats (p < 0.05). It is concluded that palatability was higher for A. cochliacanta and P. dulce fruits due to their chemical composition.Se determinó la composición química y digestibilidad in vitro de materia seca (DIVMS) y orgánica (DIVMO) de frutos de Pithecellobium dulce, Acacia cochliacantha y Acacia farnesiana. Se realizaron pruebas de cafetería en becerros, ovinos y caprinos, para determinar el consumo de materia seca y coeficiente de preferencia de palatabilidad de frutos como fuente de alimento. El contenido de proteína cruda, fibra detergente neutra y acida fue mayor en el frutos de A. cochliacantha (p < 0.001) con 11.1, 55.0 y 38.3 %, respectivamente. Los fenoles totales fueron mayores (p < 0.001) en frutos de A. farnesiana con 39.7 %. La DIVMS y DIVMO fue mayor (p < 0.001) en frutos del P. dulce con 57.7 y 35.6 %, respectivamente. Los frutos de mayor palatabilidad fueron P. dulce (p < 0.0001) en Becerros y A. cochliacanta en Ovejas y Cabras (p < 0.05). La palatabilidad de los frutos de las arbóreas estuvo determinada por la composición química

Mathematical model to predict the dry matter intake of dairy cows on pasture

In pasture-based dairy systems, there is a close relationship between milk production and dry matter intake (DMI), hence the importance of measuring these variables, although obtaining this information implies high labour and costs. The objective of this study was to design a mathematical model to predict DMI for grazing dairy cows. This model was based on the basic principle of the fill-unit system. In this scheme, cows and feedstuffs were described in terms of feed intake capacity (FIC) and fill (unit/amount of feed), respectively. The FIC was determined by the animal’s ability to regulate feed intake which depends on factors such as body size, age and lactation status. The “fill” was determined by the nutritional properties of the feedstuff such as its dry matter (DM) digestibility and crude protein (CP) content, among others. In the design of the model, ad lib. feed consumption was assumed. Parity, state of lactation and gestation were considered to estimate the cow ingestion capacity. Satiety values (SV) were determined for Festuca arundinacea and Lolium multiflorum and these values were incorporated into the model, including DM, CP, neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and in vitro digestible organic matter (dOM). The fixed parameters of the model were determined by adjusting a polynomial regression to the data from three experiments with lactating Holstein cows from Baja California, Mexico (n=30).The model allows predicting DMI, using as inputs, easily measured data and does not require knowing daily milk yield (MY) or body weight (BW), so the model is practical and consistent. The results obtained from the model were satisfactory because they were similar to those attained experimentally. Average DMI was 21.68 kg/d in one group and 23.44 kg/d in the other; when applying the model, we obtained an estimate of 22.82 kg/d for a cow with characteristics similar to those of the cows under stud