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Cattle farming in West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia (NTB) is essential to support the high demand for beef cattle in Indonesia. Leucaena was introduced to smallholders as a high-quality feed to increase cattle production in NTB. A survey was conducted with both leucaena-using and non-leucaena-using smallholder cattle farmers in Sumbawa and West Sumbawa districts, NTB to understand the role of leucaena in NTB smallholder cattle enterprises (mixed breeding/fattening) and the effect of leucaena toxicity on cattle performance, especially cow-calf production. We found that farmers using leucaena feeding systems were able to keep more cattle than farmers using a traditional feeding system (9.1 vs 6.1 head/household). Many leucaena-using farmers (50.1 %) use leucaena for fattening cattle only. Other cattle classes (growers, breeding cows and bulls) were fed leucaena strategically, such as during the dry season (59 % of leucaena-using farmers) and at specific stages of pregnancy and lactation (41 % of leucaena-using farmers). Leucaenausing farmers in rainfed areas planted more leucaena (4,500 vs 1,984 trees) and fattened more bulls (5.8 vs 3.5 head/ household) than farmers in high-rainfall areas. Transmigrant Balinese farmers planted significantly more leucaena trees (7,500 vs 2,354 trees) and raised more fattening bulls (7.8 vs 3.7 head/household) than the local Sumbawanese farmers. Most Balinese farmers had been practising leucaena feeding systems since they migrated to Sumbawa, for a long as 3 decades. Most leucaena-using farmers (74 %) had observed symptoms of illness associated with leucaena toxicity in their cattle such as hair loss and salivation. Few farmers feeding leucaena to breeding cows (5 %) reported instances of reproductive failure. Almost all non-leucaena-using farmers (93 %) reported symptoms of illnesses associated with plant toxicities (among other potential causes), most commonly skin lesions, diarrhoea, cataract, and listlessness. It was concluded that the priority use of leucaena in Sumbawa was for fattening cattle rather than breeding cattle. Leucaena supports smallholder farmers in Sumbawa to have more intensive, productive and income-earning cattle enterprises, but questions remain over whether it should be used for feeding breeding cows.

Trasfondo:El control ejecutivo de la atención media la resolución de problemas y la acción voluntaria y está implicado en la regulación de las emociones. Se ha reportado que el control atencional está afectado en personas con trastorno obsesivo-compulsivo (TOC). Sin embargo, no se ha considerado la influencia de la carga cognitiva y la distracción en la ejecución de tareas, lo que pudiera tener un impacto en el control atencional. En este estudio evaluamos si la carga cognitiva alta y baja influyen en el control atencional de personas con TOC, en comparación con un grupo control. Método:Quince adultos puertorriqueños con TOC (M=31.60, DE=10.70) y 26 saludables (M=28.42, DE=10.73) participaron en el estudio. Se administró el Attention Network Test y una tarea de carga cognitiva para evaluar el control atencional. Resultados:No se observaron diferencias significativas en las puntuaciones de alerta, orientación y control atencional entre los grupos en ambas condiciones de carga cognitiva (p>0.05). Solo se observó una diferencia significativa en el control atencional de los participantes con TOC (z=1.99, p=0.047) y del grupo control (z=-2.83, p=0.005) durante tareas con carga cognitiva baja y alta. Conclusiones:Ambos grupos experimentaron menor interferencia de distractores bajo alta carga cognitiva, lo que sugiere un mayor control de la atención durante esta condición. Es posible que el aumento de carga cognitiva pueda reducir la distracción en puertorriqueños saludables y aquellos con TOC. Tomar en cuenta la carga cognitiva puede facilitar el entrenamiento cognitivo para el control atencional y aumentar la flexibilidad cognitiva, mejorando la respuesta al tratamiento.

After introducing the singular figure of the femminielloand presenting it as a performative identity, bearing in mind Butler’s theory of performance, I will focus on the rite of figliata,through which the femminielloperforms the bearing of a child, i.e. the natural act par excellence; in order to explore this performance, I will take into account Curzio Malaparte’s literary description of the figliatain La Pelle(1949). I will then retrace the supposed anthropological-religious origins of the femminielliin order to try to throw light on the roots, motives and implications underlying the performative ritual under study. This, along with a set of statements taken from interviews with a number of femminielli, will enable me to conclude my consideration of femminielli,viewing them as performative identities who on the one hand perform and subvert gender and at the same time perform and essentialise it.

Keynote paper presented at the International Leucaena Conference, 1‒3 November 2018, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The integration of leucaena into goat production systems in the tropics and subtropics is reviewed. Goats are well adapted to leucaena, and able to be productive on diets containing up to 100% leucaena as a result of bacterial and hepatic detoxification. Incorporation of leucaena into goat production systems can improve liveweight gains, milk production, worm control and reproduction. Successful feeding systems for goats can be based on both grazed silvopastoral systems and cut-and-carry intensive systems, although there is a lack of farming systems research examining the integration of leucaena into goat production systems, or documentation of the practicalities of these practices.