Ruminants
Rough illustration of a ruminant digestive system
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Suborder:	Ruminantia
Families
Antilocapridae Bovidae Cervidae Giraffidae Moschidae Tragulidae

A ruminant is a mammal of the order Artiodactyla that digests plant-based food by initially softening it within the animal's first compartment of the stomach, principally through bacterial actions, then regurgitating the semi-digested mass, now known as cud, and chewing it again. The process of rechewing the cud to further break down plant matter and stimulate digestion is called "ruminating".^[1]

There are about 150 species of ruminants which include both domestic and wild species. Ruminating mammals include cattle, goats, sheep, giraffes, bison, moose, elk, yaks, water buffalo, deer, camels, alpacas, llamas, antelope, pronghorn, and nilgai. Taxonomically, the suborder Ruminantia includes all those species except the camels, llamas, and alpacas, which are Tylopoda. Therefore, the term 'ruminant' is not synonymous with Ruminantia. The word "ruminant" comes from the Latin ruminare, which means "to chew over again".

Explanation[link]

The primary difference between a ruminant and non-ruminant (called monogastrics, such as humans, dogs, and pigs) is that ruminants have a four-compartment stomach. The four parts of the stomach are rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasum. In the first two chambers, the rumen and the reticulum, the food is mixed with saliva and separates into layers of solid and liquid material. Solids clump together to form the cud or bolus.

The cud is then regurgitated, chewed to completely mix it with saliva and to break down the particle size. Fiber, especially cellulose and hemi-cellulose, is primarily broken down into the three volatile fatty acids (VFAs), acetic acid, propanoic acid and beta-hydroxybutyric acid, in these chambers by microbes (mostly bacteria and well as some protozoa, fungi and yeast). Protein and non-structural carbohydrate (pectin, sugars, starches) are also fermented.

Even though the rumen and reticulum have different names they represent the same functional space as digesta can move back and forth between them. Together these chambers are called the reticulorumen. The degraded digesta, which is now in the lower liquid part of the reticulorumen, then passes into the next chamber, the omasum, where water and many of the inorganic mineral elements are absorbed into the blood stream.

After this the digesta is moved to the true stomach, the abomasum. The abomasum is the direct equivalent of the monogastric stomach (for example that of the human or pig), and digesta is digested here in much the same way. Digesta is finally moved into the small intestine, where the digestion and absorption of nutrients occurs. Microbes produced in the reticulorumen are also digested in the small intestine. Fermentation continues in the large intestine in the same way as in the reticulorumen.

Only small amounts of glucose are absorbed from dietary carbohydrates. Most dietary carbohydrates are fermented into VFAs in the rumen. The glucose needed as energy for the brain and for lactose and milk fat in milk production, as well as other uses, comes from non-sugar sources such as the VFA propionate, glycerol, lactate and protein. The VFA propionate is used for around 70% of the glucose and glycogen produced and protein for another 20% (50% under starvation conditions). ^{[3] [4]}

Comparison of stomach glandular regions from several mammalian species. Yellow: esophagus; green: aglandular epithelium; purple: cardiac glands; red: gastric glands; blue: pyloric glands; dark blue: duodenum. Frequency of glands may vary more smoothly between regions than is diagrammed here. Asterisk (ruminant) represents the omasum, which is absent in Tylopoda (Tylopoda also has some cardiac glands opening onto ventral reticulum and rumen^[5]) Many other variations exist among the mammals.^[6][7]

Classification[link]

Hofmann and Stewart divided ruminants into three major categories based on their feed type and feeding habits: concentrate selectors; intermediate types; and grass/roughage eaters, with the assumption that feeding habits in ruminants cause morphological differences in their digestive systems, including salivary glands, rumen size, and rumen papillae.^[8][9]

There are also pseudo-ruminants having three-compartment stomach instead of four like ruminants. Monogastric animals such as Guinea pigs, horses and rabbits are not ruminants as they have a simple single-chambered stomach and digest cellulose via an enlarged cecum allowing the easy digestion of fibrous materials. Such animals are called hindgut fermenters.

Abundance, distribution, and domestication[link]

Wild ruminants number at least 75 million and are native to all continents except Australia and Antarctica. Nearly 90% of all species are found in Eurasia and Africa alone. Species inhabit a wide range of climates (from tropic to arctic) and habitats (from open plains to forests).^[10]

The population of domestic ruminants is greater than 3.5 billion, with cattle, sheep, and goats accounting for about 95% of the total population. Goats were domesticated in the Near East at approximately 8,000 B.C. Most other species were domesticated by 2,500 B.C., either in the Near East or southern Asia.^[11]

Ruminant physiology[link]

Ruminating animals have various physiological features which enable them to survive in nature. One feature of ruminants is their continuously growing teeth. During grazing, the silica content in forage causes abrasion of teeth. Abrasion of the teeth is compensated by continuous tooth growth throughout the ruminant's life, as opposed to humans or other non-ruminants whose teeth stop growing after a particular age. Most ruminants do not have upper incisors; instead they have a thick dental pad to thoroughly bite food.^[12] Camels and llamas are exceptions; their dentition shows traces of vesitigial central incisors in the upper jaw.

Rumen microbiology[link]

Vertebrates lack the ability to hydrolyse beta [1-4] glycosidic bond of plant cellulose due to the lack of an enzyme celulase. Thus ruminants must completely depend upon the microbial flora, present in rumen or hindgut, so as to digest cellulose. Digestion of food in rumen is primarily carried out by the rumen microflora which contain dense populations of several species of bacteria, protozoa, sometimes yeasts and fungi. It is estimated that 1mm of rumen contains 10-50 billion bacteria, 1 million protozoa and several yeasts, fungi.^[13]

As the environment inside a rumen is anaerobic, most of these microbial species are obligate or facultative anaerobes which can decompose complex plant material such as cellulose, hemicellulose, starch, proteins. Hydrolysis of cellulose results in sugars which are further fermentated to acetate, lactate, propionate, butyrate, carbon dioxide and methane.

During grazing, ruminants produce large amount of saliva. Estimates are within 100 to 150 litres of saliva per day for an adult cow.^[14] The role of saliva is to provide ample fluid for rumen fermentation and as a buffering agent.^[15] Rumen fermentation produces large amounts of organic acids and thus maintaining the appropriate pH of rumen fluids is a critical factor in rumen fermentation.

Tannin toxicity in ruminant animals[link]

Tannins are phenolic compounds that are commonly found in plants. These compounds play a role in protection from predation, as well as growth regulation, when they are digested by herbivores. Found in the leaf, bud, seed, root, and stem tissues, tannins are widely distributed in many different species of plants. Tannins are separated into two classes: hydrolysable tannins and condensed tannins. Depending on their concentration and nature either class can have adverse or beneficial effects. When ruminants digest some plants, they acquire a surplus of tannins and rumen microbes do not have the enzymatic ability for degrading condensed tannins. In fact, digestion of tannins by ruminants in large amounts can reduce the activity and the proliferation of ruminal microorganisms reducing ruminal biohydrogenation.^[16]

Tannins can also precipitate proteins and inhibit the absorption of nutrients.^[17] Very high levels of tannin intake can produce toxicity that can even cause death. Animals normally consuming tannin-rich plants can develop defensive mechanisms against tannins, such as the strategic deployment of lipids and extracellular polysaccharides that have a high affinity to binding to tannins.^[18] These mechanisms prevent tannins from causing adverse effects on rumen microbes.

Religious importance[link]

The Law of Moses in the Bible allowed only the eating of animals that had cloven hooves and "that chew the cud",^[19] a stipulation preserved to this day in Jewish dietary laws.

Other uses[link]

The verb to ruminate has been extended metaphorically to mean to ponder thoughtfully or to meditate on some topic. Similarly, ideas may be chewed on or digested. Chew the (one's) cud is to reflect or meditate. In psychology, "rumination" refers to a pattern of thinking, and is unrelated to digestive physiology.

Ruminants and climate change[link]

Methane has 23 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide and its production by ruminants may contribute to a greenhouse effect or climate change. Methane production by animals, principally ruminants, is estimated 15-20% global production of methane.^[20][21] The rumen is the major site of methane production in ruminants.^[22]

See also[link]

• Monogastric

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikisource has the text of the 1905 New International Encyclopedia article Ruminant.

• Digestive Physiology of Herbivores - Colorado State University

This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. Discussion about the problems with the sole source used may be found on the talk page. (November 2009)

Lisa Germano
Lisa Germano performing, December 2007
Background information
Birth name	Lisa Ruth Germano
Born	(1958-06-27) June 27, 1958 (age 53) Mishawaka, Indiana, United States
Genres	Alternative rock, dream pop, folk rock
Occupations	Musician, Songwriter, Graphic artist
Instruments	Violin, guitar, accordion, piano, vocals
Labels	4AD/Warner Bros. Records, Capitol Records, Major Bill Records, Thirsty Ear Recordings, Output Recordings, Young God
Associated acts	OP8, John Mellencamp, Eels, Yann Tiersen, Iggy Pop, David Bowie
Website	lisagermano.com

Lisa Germano (born June 27, 1958) is an American singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has released seven albums featuring her often-hushed vocal style, confessional lyrics, and distinctive violin. Her 1994 album Geek the Girl received widespread critical acclaim, including being featured as a top album of the 1990s by the music magazine Spin. She is also known as a guest performer and/or session musician on over sixty records by a variety of artists, including John Mellencamp, Simple Minds, David Bowie, Yann Tiersen, Neil Finn, Sheryl Crow, Iggy Pop, Jewel and Eels.

Biography[link]

Lisa Ruth Germano was one of six children born into an Italian-American Catholic family in Mishawaka, Indiana. Her parents encouraged their children to learn instruments from an early age. Germano's first attempt at writing music was a 15-minute opera for the piano written at age 7. Later she took up the violin, the instrument that led her to a career in music.

She became a member of John Mellencamp's band during the recording of his 1987 album The Lonesome Jubilee, and continued to work and tour with him for the following seven years. During this time, she also toured and recorded with bands such as Simple Minds and the Indigo Girls, which prompted her to pursue her own music.

Germano issued her first solo album, the lo-fi On the Way Down From the Moon Palace, in 1991 on her own label, Major Bill Records. Without major distribution and promotion, sales were low, but the album helped bring Germano to the attention of Capitol Records, with whom she signed in 1992. Her major-label debut, Happiness, was released in July 1993, but just prior to its release, a personnel shake-up had occurred at Capitol, which resulted in the departure of most of her benefactors at the label. Once it became clear to her that the album was not going to receive the level of promotion that she had expected, Germano lobbied successfully to have the rights to the album returned to her, and later that year, she signed with the influential British independent label 4AD Records, who, at that time, had a manufacturing and distribution deal with Warner Bros. Records in the US.

4AD founder/president Ivo Watts-Russell was a big fan of Germano's work, and took an unusually active role in her first releases for the label, remixing some of the tracks from Happiness with John Fryer, who had produced and/or engineered several other of the label's acts and had been involved in Watts-Russell's This Mortal Coil project. In early 1994, 4AD issued a limited-edition EP, Inconsiderate Bitch, which contained five of the remixed tracks; and in April of that year, Happiness was reissued in a radically different form. The new version had very different artwork, and the songs, some of which were remixed, had been completely resequenced (two tracks, including her cover of "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'", were omitted, and replaced by two others that had been recorded around the same time, including "Destroy the Flower"). Her third album, Geek the Girl, was also released later in 1994. The album earned Germano the most praise she'd yet received from the press, becoming a critical favorite and a noted album from the 1990s. Much attention was given to the track "...A Psychopath," which contains audio taken from an actual 911 emergency phone call placed by a woman who was being terrorized by an intruder in her home. In 1995, Germano contributed the song "The Mirror Is Gone" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Bothered produced by the Red Hot Organization.

Her next album, Excerpts From a Love Circus, arrived in 1996, and received a fair amount of acclaim in publications ranging from music related magazines including Spin and Rolling Stone. Earlier that same year, Watts-Russell approached all of 4AD's artists with the idea that each act would find another artist or band to collaborate with on three songs, and the resulting recordings would be released by the label as a monthly series of EPs. Germano chose to work with the Tucson-based rock band Giant Sand, but after their tracks had been recorded, 4AD decided that the series would be unfeasible, and scrapped the idea. Germano and the members of Giant Sand liked the results and enjoyed collaborating, and despite the labels' lack of interest in the recordings, recorded a studio album of new material together in less than a week. The managers for Germano and Giant Sand worked together and struck a deal with Thirsty Ear Recordings to release the album as a one-off project under the name OP8, and the album, Slush, was released in February 1997. In April 1997, 4AD began servicing "I Love a Snot" (remixed by Tchad Blake) to radio and retail in America, but sales of the album remained static at best. Another Germano collaboration of sorts was released later that year, when another Excerpts From a Love Circus track, "Lovesick", was remixed by drum & bass producer The Underdog (aka Trevor Jackson, later of Playgroup), and released as a single on his Output Recordings label.

Sales began to sag noticeably with the release of Slide (produced by Tchad Blake) in July 1998. 4AD's distribution deal with Warner Bros. had come to an end, returning the label to its independent status; for Germano, that meant that Slide received less promotion, since her label no longer had Warner Bros.' resources to draw upon. That summer, just before the album's release, she was invited to join The Smashing Pumpkins (whose fourth album, Adore, was released just weeks before Slide) on tour as backing vocalist. Initially, she turned them down, but Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan convinced her that her role would be somewhat collaborative in nature, and she agreed to the tour. She joined the band in Chicago for four weeks of rehearsals in preparation for a four-month tour, but then, the night before the tour was to begin, she was dismissed by Corgan (via their tour manager) with no explanation, and the Pumpkins embarked on the tour without her. That fall, intent on resuming the promotion of Slide, she went out on tour, first opening up for Eels, and then later headlining smaller clubs; but while on tour, she was notified by 4AD that they were dropping her from the roster. By the end of 1998, she announced that she was done with the music business, and dispensed with her management.

Germano moved to Hollywood, and began working at an independent bookstore. Songwriting, however, remained an integral part of her life, and she kept connected musically by collaborating with other artists, such as Yann Tiersen, David Bowie, Neil Finn, and Joey Waronker, on various projects. She returned to her solo career in 2002 with a flurry of releases. Independently, she released two compilations of songs from her back catalog: Concentrated is a selection of "greatest hits" with a few oddities (such as the Underdog remix of "Lovesick"); Rare, Unusual or Just Bad Songs, however, is composed entirely of rarities (like "Breathe Acrost Texas", which was omitted from the reissue of Happiness) and tracks that had never been available before, and each copy came with an insert painted by Germano herself. Later that year, she began gathering songs she had been writing and recording (mostly by herself at home) over the previous two years, and sent CDs of these tracks to a few labels and various friends in the music industry; the first to respond was her longtime acquaintance, producer/label executive Tony Berg. After the relative success of the ARTISTdirect family of music-related websites, co-founder and then-CEO Marc Geiger decided to start an actual record label, leading to the creation of the Ineffable imprint with Berg in 2002, with Germano as the label's first signing. Her sixth album, Lullaby for Liquid Pig, released in April 2003, features performances by guitarist Johnny Marr (formerly of The Smiths, currently of Modest Mouse), Neil Finn, and Wendy Melvoin. As before, the album met with critical acclaim, but the label itself was not successful enough for its owners, who shut it down shortly thereafter.

In 2006, Germano was invited by former Swans leader Michael Gira to join the roster of his label, Young God Records. Young God released her sixth solo album, In the Maybe World, in July of that year, and then reissued Lullaby for Liquid Pig in June 2007 with a bonus disc of unreleased live recordings and demos.

Discography[link]

Solo releases[link]

• On the Way Down From the Moon Palace - Major Bill Records, 1991
• Happiness (CD) - Capitol Records, 1993/4AD Records, 1994
• Inconsiderate Bitch (EP) - 4AD, 1994
• Geek the Girl (CD) - 4AD, 1994
• Excerpts From a Love Circus (CD) - 4AD, 1996
• Slush (with OP8) - Thirsty Ear Recordings, 1997
• Slide (CD) - 4AD, 1998
• Concentrated (CD) - self-released, 2002
• Rare, Unusual or Just Bad Songs (CD) - self released, 2002
• Lullaby for Liquid Pig (CD) - Ineffable/ARTISTdirect, 2003
• In the Maybe World (CD) - Young God Records - 2006
• Magic Neighbor (CD) - Young God Records - 2009 ^[1]
• No Elephants (CD) - Young God Records - 2012

Germano released many singles in the 1990s, most all have music videos as well.

1993 - You Make Me Want To Wear Dresses

1994 - Puppet (Radio Promo Only)

1995 - Cry Wolf

1996 - Small Heads

1997 - I Love A Snot

1997 - Lovesick

1997 - Sand (With OP8)

Guest appearances[link]

• The Lonesome Jubilee - John Mellencamp (1987)
• Big Daddy - John Mellencamp (1989)
• Nomads Indians Saints - Indigo Girls (1990)
• 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration - Bob Dylan (1993)
• Beside You - Iggy Pop (1993)
• In Flight - Linda Perry (1996)
• Time and Love: The Music of Laura Nyro - Various Artists (1997)
• The Globe Sessions - Sheryl Crow (1998)
• Electro-Shock Blues - eels (1998)
• Oh, What a Beautiful Morning - eels (2000)
• Shootenanny! - eels (2003)
• 7 Worlds Collide - Neil Finn (2001)
• Small Town City - Michael B. White (2001)
• L'Absente - Yann Tiersen (2001)
• Anna - Anna Waronker (2002)
• Heathen - David Bowie (2002)
• 0304 - Jewel (2003)
• Strong Currents - Hector Zazou (2003)
• "From a Shell" - from Underworld (soundtrack) (2003)
• Impossible Dream - Patty Griffin (2004)
• Want - Michael Brook (2006)
• Columbus Day film soundtrack - Michael A. Levine (2008)
• Magic - from The Bigtop (soundtrack) (2008)
• Familial - Philip Selway (2010)

Covered[link]

• Slide - by Adem "Takes"(2008)
• If I Think of Love - by LD & the New Criticism, AMORAL CERTITUDES (Acuarela, 2007)
• "Reptile" by El Nino, Galaxy Class (Ignition, 1999)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lisa Germano

• LisaGermano.com - official site
• Guillotine Love (archived fan site with guitar tabs)
• Lisa Germano at Young God Records
• Lisa Germano at 4AD
• Lisa Germano at Scaruffi.com
• Russian-language fan site

Styles of Angelo Mai
Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal
See	Roman Curia

Angelo Mai.

Angelo Mai (March 7, 1782 – September 8, 1854) was an Italian Cardinal and philologist.^[1] He won a European reputation for publishing for the first time a series of previously unknown ancient texts. These he was able to discover and publish, first while in charge of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan and then in the same role at the Vatican Library. The texts were often in parchment palimpsests; he was able to read the lower text using chemicals such as Gallic acid. In particular he was able to locate a substantial portion of the long known of and much sought-after De re publica of Cicero.

Biography[link]

He was born of humble parents at Schilpario in what is now the province of Bergamo, Lombardy.

In 1799 he entered the Society of Jesus, and in 1804 he became a teacher of classics in the Jesuit college of Naples. After completing his studies at the Collegium Romanum, he lived for some time at Orvieto, where he was engaged in teaching and palaeographical studies. Though he returned to Rome, the deteriorating papal relations with Napoleon and the city's subsequent occupation by General Miollis in 1808 necessitated Mai's withdrawal to Milan, where in 1813 he was made custodian of the Ambrosian library.

He now threw himself with characteristic energy and zeal into the task of examining the numerous manuscripts committed to his charge, and in the course of the next six years was able to restore to the world a considerable number of long-lost works. Having withdrawn from the Society of Jesus, he was invited to Rome in 1819 as chief keeper of the Vatican Library. In 1833 he was transferred to the office of secretary of the Congregation of the Propaganda Fide; on February 12, 1838 he was raised to the dignity of Cardinal. He died at Castel Gandolfo, near Albano Laziale, on 8 September 1854.

Works[link]

It is on his skill as a reader of palimpsests that Mai's fame chiefly rests. To the period of his residence at Milan belong:

• fragments of Cicero's judicial orations Pro Scauro, Pro Tullio, Pro Flacco, and his In Clodium et Curionem, De aere alieno Milonis, and De rege Alexandrino (1814)
• M. Corn. Frontonis opera inedita, cum epistolis item ineditis, Antonini Pii, Marci Aurelii, Lucii Veri et Appiani (1815; new ed., 1823, with more than 100 additional letters found in the Vatican library)
• portions of eight speeches of Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
• fragments of Plautus
• the oration of Isaeus' De hereditate Cleonymi
• the last nine books of the Antiquities of Dionysius of Halicarnassus, and a number of other works.
• Cicero's De Re Publica, published as M Tullii Ciceronis de republica quae supersunt, Rome, 1822
• Scriptorum veterum nova collectio, e Vaticanis codicibus edita in 1825-1838
• Classici scriptores e Vaticanis codicibus editi in 1828-1838
• Spicilegium Romanum in 1839-1844 (Tomus III, Tomus IX)
• Patrum nova bibliotheca in 1845-1853

His edition of the celebrated Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209, completed in 1838, but not published (ostensibly the ground of inaccuracies) till four years after his death (1858), is the least satisfactory of his labours and was superseded by the edition of Vercellone and Cozza (1868), which itself leaves much to be desired.

Although Mai was not as successful in textual criticism as in the decipherment of manuscripts, he will always be remembered as a laborious and persevering pioneer, by whose efforts many ancient writings have been rescued from oblivion.

References[link]

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.