Ex-post Performance Implications of Divergence of Managers’ Perceptions of ‘Distance’ From ‘Reality’ in International Business

Despite much research on “distance”, little attention has been paid to the effect of divergence of managers’ perceptions of distance from reality (i.e. distance divergence) and its implications for firm performance. This knowledge is highly important since managerial perceptions of the firm’s environment do not always coincide with the actual environmental characteristics. Consequently, strategies based on inaccurate data may result in erroneous forecasts, missed opportunities and business failure. Using survey data from senior managers of Swedish exporters and corresponding objective data, this study is a first attempt to explore the ex-post performance implications of “distance divergence” when expanding into foreign markets. Our results demonstrate that the larger the divergence between managers’ perceptions of cultural distance and corresponding “objective” distance, the lower the performance expressed in companies’ sales. However, over/underestimation of cultural distance does not have differential effects on firm performance.“Stiftelsen Olle Hakelius Stipendiefond”, Grant no: 1165001

Tropism and molecular pathogenesis of canine distemper virus.

Canine distemper virus (CDV), currently termed Canine morbillivirus, is an extremely contagious disease that affects dogs. It is identified as a multiple cell tropism pathogen, and its host range includes a vast array of species. As a member of Mononegavirales, CDV has a negative, single-stranded RNA genome, which encodes eight [email protected]

Effect of acidified drinking water on the recovery of Salmonella enteritidis from broiler crops

Crop is a known source of Salmonella contamination during broiler carcass processing. The effect of drinking water acidification by lactic acid or citric acid or a combination of those with cupric sulfate and d-limonene in the reduction of Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) recovered from the crop of broilers was evaluated. Treatments were administered during 8 hours of preslaughter fasting period (Experiments I and II) and during the last 32 hours of preslaughter (Experiment III). It was observed that acidification reduced water intake when treatments began at preslaughter feed withdrawal, and affected the possible reducing effect of these acids on SE recovering (Experiments I and II). Water intake during preslaughter feed withdrawal was not affected when treatment began 32 hours before slaughter (Experiment III). Treatments reduced SE recovering from crop (p<0.05). In Experiment III, 0.470% of lactic acid reduced the number of recovered SE in 99%. This study suggested that the addition of organic acids in the drinking water 24 hours before beginning the preslaughter feed withdrawal might reduce crop SE colonization and might be an important strategy to reduce SE contamination of broiler products during processing

Influence of sulfur amino acid levels in diets of broiler chickens submitted to immune stress

Several changes in amino acid levels occur during an infection. As a rule, glycine, taurine and serine levels diminish considerably, while cysteine levels increase. Such changes may be attributed to the intense consumption of sulfur amino acids (SAA- methionine+cysteine) during infectious challenge. Methionine plays an important role in humoral and cellular immune responses. It has been suggested that such effect is exerted by intracellular glutathione and cysteine levels. Four-hundred thirty-two day-old Ross male broiler chickens were fed (from 1 to 42 days of age) three SAA levels in the diet (0.72, 0.82, and 0.92% from 1 to 21 days of age; 0.65, 0.75, and 0.85% from 22 to 42 days of age) and submitted to two immunological stimulus series. Vaccines against Marek's disease, Fowlpox, Infectious Bronchitis and Infectious Bursal disease, Freund's Complete Adjuvant, and avian tuberculin were used as immunological stimuli. The experiment comprised 6 treatments, with 6 replications using 12 birds per replicate. Performance data were collected weekly. Gumboro antibodies were measured by ELISA, and the cellular immune response by the tuberculin test. SAA levels tested did not influence immune response. Nevertheless, the vaccines applied on the 1st day impaired chick performance up to the 21 days of age. The SAA levels generally adopted in poultry husbandry may not be enough to assure weight gain, especially when birds are raised if a low-challenge infectious environment

The impact of organic and inorganic selenium on the immune system of growing broilers submitted to immune stimulation and heat stress

One to 42-d-old (432) female broilers were fed different levels of inorganic selenium (ISe) and organic selenium (OSe), according to the following treatments: (1) 0.3 mg ISe; (2) 0.3 mg ISe + 0.2 mg OSe; (3) 0.5 mg ISe and (4) 0.3 mg OSe/ kg of feed. All birds were vaccinated against infectious bursal disease (IBD) at 19d of age and three birds/replicate (R) were inoculated with sheep red blood cells (SRBC) at 32d. Three other birds/R received Freund's adjuvant at 37d and avian tuberculin (AT) in the wattle at 47d of age. All birds were submitted to heat stress after 21d. Performance parameters, bursa and spleen weights, lymphocyte bursa depletion, antibody (Ab) production against IBD and SRBC, hematocrit, leukocytes, heterophil/lymphocyte ratio (H/L), and cellular reaction to AT were evaluated. The contrast analysis showed that OSe has improved feed intake (FI) between day 1 and 42 (p<0.10). Birds fed ISe presented worse H/L ratio (p<0.10), but higher Ab titers against IBD (p<0.04) and SRBC (p<0.05) than birds fed OSe, but OSe supplemented birds showed lower lymphocyte depletion scores in the bursa. The higher FI promoted by OSe may be beneficial when rearing broilers in hot weather. The use of ISe induced higher humoral immune respons

Effects of methionine and arginine dietary levels on the immunity of broiler chickens submitted to immunological stimuli

The present study aimed at assessing the effects of methionine and arginine on the immune response of broiler chickens submitted to immunological stimuli. Three methionine concentrations (0.31, 0.51, and 0.66% from 1 to 21 days of age; 0.29, 0.49, and 0.64% from 22 to 42 days of age) and 2 arginine concentrations (1.33 and 1.83%; 1.14 and 1.64% for the same life periods) were tested. Birds were divided into two groups for immunological stimuli (3x2x2 arrangement). Vaccines against Marek's disease, fowl pox, infectious bronchitis, Freund's Complete Adjuvant, Sheep red blood cells (SRBC), and avian tuberculin were administered to one group as immunological stimuli; the other group did not receive any stimulus. The experiment was carried out with 432 one-day-old male Ross broilers, distributed into 12 treatments with 6 replicates of 6 birds each. Performance data were weekly collected. Anti-SRBC antibodies were collected by hemagglutination test and cell immune response (CIR) was measured by tubercularization reaction in one wattle 24 hours after administration of the second tuberculin injection at 42 days of age. The weight difference between the two wattles of each bird (one injected with tuberculin and the other not) was the measure of CIR. Arginine levels did not influence either bird performance or immune response. Methionine concentrations higher or lower than usually adopted in broiler production (0.51 and 0.49%) equally failed to influence the birds' immune humoral response, but the best CIR was observed at the intermediate methionine level. Vaccines administered on the first day of age impaired bird performance up to the 21st day of age

Effect of vitamin E levels on the cell-mediated immunity of broilers vaccinated against coccidiosis

Studies on the relationships between animal nutrition and immunity have sought reliable methodologies to measure responses. Cell-mediated immune response is similarly studied in humans. The cutaneous basophil hypersensitivity test (CBH) is one of the methods to measure that response and consists in the infiltration of inflammatory cells, particularly of lymphocytes and basophils, as result of the application of substances capable of inducing cell proliferation in determined sites, such as wings, wattle, and interdigital space in birds. CBH is considered a simple and fast method and can be applied in birds of different ages. In immunocompetence studies with poultry, phytohemagglutinin-P (PHA-P) is a commonly used substance, despite the variability of the response related to the method of application (intradermal injection) and the antigens used. In the present experiment, PHA-P was used to observe the cell-mediated immune response of 216 chicks fed three dietary levels of vitamin E from 1 to 36 days of age. All birds were immunologically challenged by vaccination against coccidiosis at three days of age and against Newcastle Disease (NCD) at 14 and 30 days of age. At 36 days of age, birds were submitted to the CBH test according to the methodology of Corrier & DeLoach (1990). Birds fed 65mg/kg of vitamin E presented lasting cell reaction (p<0.08), which indicates that this vitamin E level improved cell immune response of birds due to its antioxidant and immunomodulating properties. The use of this vitamin E level can be considered by nutritionists under practical conditions, aiming to improve broiler immunity