Mucosal Immunity and B Cells in Teleosts : Effect of Vaccination and Stress

Fish are subjected to several insults from the environment, which may endanger animal survival. Mucosal surfaces are the first line of defense against these threats, acting as a physical barrier to protect the animal but also functioning as an active immune tissue. Thus, four mucosal-associated lymphoid tissues (MALTs), which lead the immune responses in gut, skin, gills, and nose, have been described in fish. Humoral and cellular immunity, as well as their regulation and the factors that influence the response in these mucosal lymphoid tissues, are still not well known in most fish species. Mucosal B-lymphocytes and immunoglobulins (Igs) are key players in the immune response that takes place in those MALTs. The existence of IgT as a mucosal specialized Ig gives us the opportunity of measuring specific responses after infection or vaccination, a fact that was not possible until recently in most fish species. The vaccination process is influenced by several factors, being stress one of the main stimuli determining the success of the vaccine. Thus, one of the major goals in a vaccination process is to avoid possible situations of stress, which might interfere with fish immune performance. However, interaction between immune and neuroendocrine systems at mucosal tissues is still unknown. In this review, we will summarize the latest findings about B-lymphocytes and Igs in mucosal immunity and the effect of stress and vaccination on B-cell response at mucosal sites. It is important to point out that a limited number of studies have been published regarding stress in mucosa and very few about the influence of stress over mucosal B-lymphocytes

The Effects of Relative Size, Profitability, and Growth on Corporate Capital Allocations

Resource allocation in firms is often done in relative terms. Allocations to each project or, in the case of multibusiness firms, business segments are not made independently but through comparisons among the options. In that context, it becomes particularly important to identify the organizational factors that might influence those processes, as well as the mechanisms that create that influence. In this article, we investigate one of those potential factors—the size of a business segment relative to the rest of the organization—and two possible accounts. One is a naive tendency to spread out allocations evenly over the firm’s segments that would cause managers to relatively ignore differences in size and favor smaller segments over larger ones, holding other variables constant. The second is a tendency to direct larger allocation to the segments with the most political power and clout within the organization, which would normally favor larger segments, as those generally possess more influence. We investigate these competing hypotheses in a cross-section of firms to conclude that both mechanisms are partially at play. We find that both the smallest and the largest of segments are favored in the capital allocation process. Moreover, we find that the segment’s growth and profitability as well as corporate management ownership of the company moderate those effects

The hand of corporate management in capital allocations: patterns of investment in multi- and single-business firms

One of Chandler’s basic insights was that the new organizational structures adopted after the 1920s reflected a specialization of the roles of business and corporate managers. Business managers coordinated functions and corporate managers allocated resources. This article studies the impact of corporate management on capital allocation decisions by comparing investment behavior in multi- and single-business companies. Using a new taxonomy to control for the quality of each business unit, we analyze a cross-sectional sample of U.S. companies and identify a number of empirical regularities that highlight the allocative decisions of corporate management. In particular, we find that, when dealing with cash-needy businesses, multi-business firms invest more intensively in those that are less profitable. We find no evidence that this subsidy results in a higher success rate in making those businesses profitable over time. We suggest a number of explanations for this empirical pattern

The hand of corporate management in capital allocations: patterns of investment in multi- and single-business firms

One of Chandler's basic insights was that the new organizational structures adopted after the 1920s reflected a specialization of the roles of business and corporate managers. Business managers coordinated functions and corporate managers allocated resources. This article studies the impact of corporate management on capital allocation decisions by comparing investment behavior in multi- and single-business companies. Using a new taxonomy to control for the quality of each business unit, we analyze a cross-sectional sample of U.S. companies and identify a number of empirical regularities that highlight the allocative decisions of corporate management. In particular, we find that, when dealing with cash-needy businesses, multi-business firms invest more intensively in those that are less profitable. We find no evidence that this subsidy results in a higher success rate in making those businesses profitable over time. We suggest a number of explanations for this empirical pattern. Copyright 2010 The Author 2010. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Associazione ICC. All rights reserved., Oxford University Press.

Resource re-allocation capabilities in internal capital markets: The value of overcoming inertia

Research summary We examine the correlations between financial resource allocation flow between business segments and two measures of overall firm financial performance using a sample of Compustat firms. Our analysis finds a consistent inverted U-shape (or alternatively, V-shape) relationship between those measures and firm profitability. Interestingly, nearly all the data lie on the upward sloping part of the curve. Taken together, these results support the notion that flows of financial capital are most often positively correlated with financial performance. Managerial summary A key question for any organization is how reallocating capital across business units is related to overall firm performance. We examine the correlations of firm profitability with a measure of change in year-to-year allocations across business units in a data set of several thousand firms spanning 18 years. Except in cases of the most extreme reallocations, our measure of firm reallocation is positively correlated with firm performance. Because we cannot prove causality, we cautiously conclude that our findings are consistent with a story that, in most cases, firms would benefit from greater internal reallocation of capital. The managerial question then becomes “what dynamic capabilities are necessary to increase the flow of resources across business segments?” Policies aimed at increasing allocation flow are likely to be beneficial

RIE : revista de investigación educativa

Resumen basado en el de la publicaciónTítulo, resumen y palabras clave en español e inglésSe presentan las aportaciones y dificultades percibidas y valoradas por los diferentes agentes educativos involucrados (docentes, alumnado, familias y equipo directivo). A partir de la metodología cualitativa y del método de estudio de caso múltiple, los resultados muestran una aportación en el tipo y naturaleza del aprendizaje, en el aprendizaje cooperativo y el relacional y emocional. Así mismo, se valoran como dificultades el tiempo de dedicación del docente, su formación y acompañamiento, y la necesidad de una mayor colaboración entre los agentes. Estos resultados son acordes con las investigaciones previas desarrolladas, si bien aportan una visión del conjunto de los agentes participantes. Como conclusión general, destaca la necesidad de una mayor implicación de todos los agentes educativos promovida por el equipo directivo y de una mayor publicidad del proceso de innovación para legitimarlo y vincularlo a la realidad social.ES