The Effect of Demonstrator Social Rank on the Attentiveness and Motivation of Pigs to Positively Interact with Their Human Caretakers.

In this study, we addressed the social attentiveness, as well as the phenomenon of social facilitation and inhibition in the context of a positive human-pig relationship. Specifically, we investigated whether the social rank of an experienced pig (termed "demonstrator") has an effect on the attentiveness of the remaining pen mates (N = 40) when they observe the demonstrator being gently handled by a stockperson from behind an acrylic panel. We found that pigs preferentially attended to dominant demonstrators rather than subordinate demonstrators during their gentle handling sessions with the stockperson. Additionally, we also examined whether the presence of a demonstrator pig of different social rank, who previously established a positive relationship with the stockperson in presence of conspecifics, affects the behavior and motivation of their pen mates to positively interact with the stockperson. To test for the effect of the presence and demonstrator's social rank on pen mate interactions with the stockperson, we evaluated the behavior of domestic pigs (N = 65) toward the stockperson using a human-approach test in their home-pen. Pigs showed a decrease in their motivation to positively interact with the stockperson when a socially dominant demonstrator was present, behaving similarly to animals receiving minimal human contact (control group). Overall, they exhibited a greater latency to physical contact, a lower acceptance of stroking, and spent more time looking at the stockperson compared to pigs exposed to subordinate demonstrators. Taken together, these findings expand our current understanding of pigs' cognition and social behavior, and the nature of social attention bias in farm animals. Our findings indicate that positive handling of previously selected subordinate demonstrators seems to be the best strategy to reduce the level of fear in large groups of pigs.

Do Domestic Pigs Acquire a Positive Perception of Humans through Observational Social Learning?

Farm animals can perceive humans positively by observing another animal being positively handled. This study evaluated whether pigs acquire a positive perception of humans after observing either a high or low socially ranked conspecific receiving gentle handling. Seventy-five 21-week-old pigs were housed in 15 nursery pens (five pigs/pen) and randomly assigned to one of three pen treatments: Dominant Demonstrator Group (DDG), Subordinate Demonstrator Group (SDG) and Control Group (CG). Pigs from DDG and SDG observed a high and low socially ranked conspecific ("demonstrator"), respectively, while the demonstrator received gentle stroking and a sucrose solution for 10 min, twice a day for 5 weeks. Control group pigs received minimal human contact. Following treatment, the behavior and heart rate variability of non-demonstrator pigs were evaluated in response to a stockperson in an open-field test. Pigs from the DDG and SDG contacted the stockperson sooner (p < 0.001), spent more time investigating the stockperson (p < 0.05), accepted more stroking (p < 0.001) and exhibited a lower low/high frequency ratio (p = 0.015) compared to the CG. No differences in learning between the pigs from the DDG and SDG were found. These results suggest that pigs can learn to perceive humans positively through observational social learning, regardless of the demonstrator conspecific's social rank.

Fisioterapia aplicada en la extremidad superior a niños de 0 a 10 años con parálisis braquial obstétrica: revisión sistemática / Physiotherapy applied to the upper extremity in 0 to 10-year-old children with obstetric brachial palsy: a systematic review

INTRODUCCIÓN: La parálisis braquial obstétrica cursa con afectación del miembro superior y da lugar a secuelas estructurales y de la función permanentes que limitan el rango articular de movimiento y reducen la independencia en las actividades cotidianas, así como la participación del niño dentro de su entorno natural. OBJETIVO: Describir los tratamientos de fisioterapia empleados en la actualidad para incrementar la funcionalidad de la extremidad superior afectada en niños de 0 a 10 años diagnosticados de parálisis braquial obstétrica. PACIENTES Y MÉTODOS: Se realizó una búsqueda bibliográfica de los trabajos publicados entre 2009 y 2018 en las bases de datos PubMed, PEDro, ScienceDirect y Cochrane Library. RESULTADOS: Tras aplicar los criterios de inclusión/exclusión, se obtuvieron diez estudios con resultados favorables para la funcionalidad de la extremidad superior afectada y la densidad de mineralización ósea, independientemente de la técnica de elección utilizada durante la intervención. Se analizaron los programas de fisioterapia empleados en los diferentes estudios, como la terapia de movimiento inducido por restricción, el kinesiotape, la electroterapia, la realidad virtual y el uso de férulas u ortesis. CONCLUSIÓN: Todas las técnicas descritas sugieren resultados favorables para la funcionalidad del miembro superior en niños de 0 a 10 años con parálisis braquial obstétrica

INTRODUCTION: Obstetric brachial palsy is involved with affected upper limb, resulting in permanent structural and function sequelae that limit the motion articular range and reduce independence in daily activities, as well as the children participation in their natural environment. AIM: To describe the physiotherapy treatments currently used to increase the affected upper limb functionality in children from 0 to 10 years diagnosed with obstetric brachial palsy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A bibliographic search of published studies between 2009 and 2018 was carried out in the PubMed, PEDro, ScienceDirect and The Cochrane Library databases. RESULTS: After applying the inclusion/exclusion criteria, ten studies were obtained with favorable results for the affected upper limb functionality and bone mineralization density, regardless of the technique of choice used during the intervention. The used physiotherapy programs in the different studies such as Constraint Induced movement therapy, kinesiotape, electrotherapy, virtual reality and use of splints or orthotics were analyzed. CONCLUSION: All the described techniques suggest favorable results for the affected upper limb functionality in obstetric brachial palsy from 0 to 10 years

Tabaquismo materno: impacto sobre el neonato, placenta y reactividad de la arteria umbilical / Maternal smoking: its impact on the newborn: the placenta and the reactivity of the human umbilical artery

El fumar tabaco durante el embarazo aumenta los riesgos en la salud materno-infanto juvenil provocando múltiples alteraciones atribuidas a la nicotina y al monóxido de carbono producidos por el cigarrillo.

Tabaquismo Materno: Impacto sobre el neonato, placenta y reactividad de la arteria umbilical / Maternal Smoking: Its impact on the newborn. The placenta and the reactivity of the human umbilical artery

El fumar tabaco durante el embarazo aumenta los riesgos en la salud materno-infanto juvenil provocando múltiples alteraciones atribuidas a la nicotina y al monóxido de carbono producidos por el cigarrillo