Can Tail and Ear Postures Be Suitable to Capture the Affective State of Growing Pigs?

The present study examined whether tail and ear postures in fattening pigs (n = 228) housed in different environments could be suitable for assessing their affective state. In doing so, it investigated the appearance of curled-up, hanging, raised, tucked-under or wagging tails, respectively, ears directed forward, backward, mixed, and laterally. The environments included a barren and two enriched habitats that offered straw-bedded pens and soil-based rooting areas for the pigs. The tail and ear postures were analyzed using the scan sampling method. At the end of fattening, the pigs in the barren environment showed significantly fewer curled-up tails than those in the enriched environment. The barren-housed pigs showed also more raised, respectively, wagging tails than the enriched-housed pigs. Particularly at the end of fattening, there were no differences concerning the ears directed forward between the two environments and significantly fewer ears directed laterally were observed in the barren than in the enriched environment. Primarily, the curled-up tails could be suitable for indicating the affective state of the fattening pigs whereas the other tail, respectively, ear postures seemed to be less suitable to represent their affective state.

Tail and ear postures of growing pigs in two different housing conditions.

This study analyses tail and ear postures of growing pigs in two different housing systems throughout the growing period. On one farm, 168 undocked pigs (84: barren housing, 84: enriched housing) were observed individually at three time periods: beginning, middle and end of the growing period. By scan sampling, the tail (curled-up, raised, hanging, tucked under, wagging) and ear posture (forwards, sidewards, backwards, mixed) was noted. Scans were performed hourly during the activity periods by direct observation. Moreover, the body posture (standing, feeding, lying (eyes open), lying (eyes closed) and tail lesions were noted. Data were analysed using the GLIMMIX procedure in SAS. Results revealed significant differences between the enriched and barren group especially for curled-up tails, tucked under tails and ears directed forwards. More curled-up tails and ears directed forwards occurred in the enriched and more tucked under tails in the barren habitat. The time period of observation also had significant influences. Tail lesions had significant effects on most tail postures. Most ear postures were influenced by the body posture of the pigs. Overall, this study contributes to the understanding of body language, specifically tail and ear postures in pigs.

Primary gastrointestinal B-cell lymphoma. A clincopathological and immunohistochemical study of 61 cases with an evaluation of prognostic parameters.

We hereby present a retrospective clinicopathological and immunohistochemical study of surgically resected primary gastrointestinal (GI) lymphoma with an analysis of parameters of potential prognostic relevance. From a larger series of 144 cases of primary GI lymphomas, we chose 61 cases with sufficient clinical follow-up (mean 60, range 1-219 months), classified either as extranodal marginal zone B-cell lymphoma of MALT type (MALT lymphoma) or diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), after having excluded other subtypes. In addition to conventional clinical and morphological parameters, the expression levels of Ki-67 (MIB-1), bcl-2 and p53 were evaluated for prognostic significance. Twenty-one (34.4%) cases were classified as pure low grade marginal zone B-cell lymphoma of MALT type, 12 (19.7%) cases as low grade MALT lymphoma with a high grade component (mixed type), and 28 (45.9%) cases as primary extranodal DLBCL. Most of the lymphomas (53/61; 86.9%) were localized in the stomach, 3 (4.9%) in the small bowel, 3 (4.9%) multifocal in both stomach and small intestine and 2 (3.3%) in the large bowel. MIB-1 expression in more than 30% of tumor cells was detected in 42 (68.6%), bcl-2 expression in 20 (32.8%) and p53 accumulation in more than 10% of neoplastic cells in 16 (26.2%) lymphomas. Both high Ki-67 expression and p53 accumulation were more prevalent in the DLBCL. 30 (49%) patients showed lymph node involvement at surgery, 14 (23%) patients suffered tumor recurrence, and 24 (38.5%) died during the follow-up period. Tumor recurrence occurred primarily in patients who had presented lymph node involvement (9/14, 64.3%). The 5-year survival rate was 66.1% for all patients. Important prognostic factors for overall survival were tumor stage (p < .004) and p53 accumulation (p < .05) in univariate analysis, and tumor stage in multivariate analysis (p < .001). Although p53 accumulation did not reach statistical significance in our small study group, it may be both important in the transformation of low grade MALT lymphoma and an indicator for aggressive behavior in high grade tumors.