The importance of the gestation period for welfare of lambs: maternal stressors and lamb vigour and wellbeing

2014 ◽  
Vol 153 (3) ◽  
pp. 497-519 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. ROOKE ◽  
G. ARNOTT ◽  
C. M. DWYER ◽  
K. M. D. RUTHERFORD

SUMMARYThe prenatal period is of critical importance in defining how individuals respond to their environment throughout life. Stress experienced by pregnant females has been shown to have detrimental effects on offspring behaviour, health and productivity. The sheep has been used extensively as a model species to inform human studies. However, in the farmed environment, the consequences for the lamb of the imposition of prenatal stresses upon the ewe have received much less attention. The stressors that pregnant ewes are most frequently exposed to include sub-optimal nutrition and those related to housing, husbandry and environment which may be either acute or chronic. A systematic review of the literature was adopted to identify material which had production-relevant maternal stressors and lamb outcomes. The current review focussed upon the lamb up to weaning around the age of 100 days and the results clearly demonstrate that stressors imposed upon the ewe have implications for offspring welfare and performance. Maternal under-nutrition (UN) in the last third of pregnancy consistently impaired lamb birth-weight and subsequent vigour and performance, while earlier UN had a variable effect on performance. Feeding the ewe above requirements did not have positive effects on lamb performance and welfare. Social and husbandry stressors such as transport, shearing, mixing and physiological treatments designed to mimic acute stress which would be considered disadvantageous for the ewe had positive or neutral effects for the lamb, highlighting a potential conflict between the welfare of the ewe and her lamb. This review also identified considerable gaps in knowledge, particularly in respect of the impact of disease upon the ewe during pregnancy and interactions between different stressors and the responses of ewe and lamb.

Appetite ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 133 ◽  
pp. 393-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca R. Klatzkin ◽  
Allie Baldassaro ◽  
Saniya Rashid

Sports ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadja Walter ◽  
Lucie Nikoleizig ◽  
Dorothee Alfermann

(1) Background: Self-talk (ST) is used to influence athletes’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Samples of squad and competitive athletes are underrepresented, although research has proven the positive effects of ST in the context of sports. Thus, the present study focused on the impact of ST on psychological and performance outcomes of junior sub-elite athletes. (2) Methods: N = 117 athletes (55 females, 62 males; M = 16.0 years) were randomly assigned to either one of two experimental groups or to a control group (n = 30). The experimental groups received an ST intervention for either one week (n = 36) or eight weeks (n = 38), and the control group received no ST training. The dependent variables (competitive anxiety, volitional skills, self-efficacy, and coaches’ performance ratings) were assessed three times before and after the intervention. It was expected that (a) an ST intervention would reduce the competitive anxiety and increase volitional skills, self-efficacy, and performance; and, (b) long-term training would lead to higher effects than short-term training. (3) Results: As expected, ST training led to (less) somatic state anxiety and (higher) state self-confidence, self-optimization, self-efficacy, and performance. Additionally, long-term training was more effective than short-term training. (4) Conclusions: Targeted ST interventions may help to improve junior athletes’ psychological states and performance.


Author(s):  
Elad Harison ◽  
Egon Berghout

The paper applies various qualitative and quantitative methods to measure the influence of information technology on the performance of operating rooms (ORs). It provides a comprehensive set of indicators to evaluate the impact of IT on the quality, efficiency and performance of ORs. This set of indicators was further enriched by conducting interviews with hospital professionals. The result is a new set of performance indicators, divided into five major categories: productivity, efficiency, quality, cost savings and employee satisfaction. This set of indicators serves as a basis for a weighed performance model that can be applied as a useful tool for selecting new OR information systems. Additionally, the model can be used for improving existing applications. The research identifies time registration, integration with the medical and financial systems of the hospital and production of activity queries and reports as the most common functions of ORs systems. However, despite their potential to contribute to productivity, efficiency and quality of ORs, automatic conflict recognition, material and personnel planning are less frequently applied by hospitals. Finally, the paper highlights the links between efficient use of OR systems, larger volumes of operations and higher occupation rates, and assists in identifying positive effects of systems used in ORs on their performance.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (231) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthieu Bellon ◽  
Jillie Chang ◽  
Era Dabla-Norris ◽  
Salma Khalid ◽  
Frederico Lima ◽  
...  

This paper examines the impact of e-invoicing on firm tax compliance and performance using administrative tax data and quasi-experimental variation in the rollout of VAT electronic invoicing in Peru. We find that e-invoicing increases reported firm sales, purchases and value-added by over 5 percent in the first year after adoption. The impact is concentrated among smaller firms and sectors with higher rates of non-compliance, suggesting that e-invoicing enhances compliance by lowering compliance costs and strengthening deterrence. The reform’s positive effects on tax collection are hindered by shortcomings in the VAT refund mechanism in Peru, suggesting that digital tools such as e-invoicing should be complemented by other reforms to improve revenue mobilization.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 321-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geeta Rani Duppati ◽  
Frank Scrimgeour ◽  
Albert Sune

Purpose This paper aims to examine the relevance of boards in driving firm level performance. For this purpose, it considers firms listed on Ireland and Spain stock exchanges for the period 2005 to 2014, over a period that includes the global financial crisis. Design/methodology/approach This study uses panel data regression analysis to analyse the effects of board characteristics on performance and also uses alternate model specifications to test the significance of robustness of relationships. Findings The impact of board size on performance is negative and significant for Irish and Spanish firms for the study period. In general, the board independence has a positive effect on the performance of Spanish firms for the complete study period and suggests consistency with the resource dependency theory. Research limitations/implications The analysis suggests that in general, the non-executive and the board size do not affect the corporate performance of Irish and Spanish firms during the financial crisis. The fixed effects model suggests positive effects of gender diversity on performance for Spanish firms, while the random effects indicates negative relationship between gender diversity and performance for Irish companies. Practical implications The evidence on the Spanish firms suggests that female representation on the boards may be critical during the financial crisis Social implications The quota legislation on female board representation in Spain is yielding superior results over the soft law approach by Irish firms during the times of financial crisis period. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature on the corporate governance practices and performance of two countries that were strongly affected by the crisis in the European Union. As governments increasingly contemplate board gender diversity policies, this study offers useful empirical insights on Spanish and Irish firms.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 7414
Author(s):  
Elena Cizmaș ◽  
Emőke-Szidónia Feder ◽  
Mădălina-Dumitrița Maticiuc ◽  
Silvia Vlad-Anghel

This paper examines the effects of management functions on the performance of diverse teams working on projects in the Information Technology (IT) industry, as well as the impact of their performance on organizational sustainable performance. Grounded on organizational management and work team management specific empirical studies and literature, we clarified the content of management functions in the framework of teamwork and acknowledged manners to express the performance of teams distinguished through diversity, as well the most relevant positive effects of team results on organizational performance. On the above basis, we built the online questionnaire. The study involved 189 respondents, who work either in Romania or in the Czech Republic on IT field specific projects. Empirical results show that, individually, some management functions are connected with co-workers’ and teams’ performance, while others are not, but considered together, in interdependence with joint effects, they influence the team’s performance and the organization’s performance from the perspective of its sustainable strategic competencies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 189-210
Author(s):  
Nikita A. VAKUTIN ◽  
Elena A. FEDULOVA

Subject. Being a progressive investment mechanism, leaseback is a part of financial management. It is supposed to optimize the financial position of the entity. The article discusses financial and economic indicators (ratios) that help analyze how the financial position of the company changes due to the leaseback scheme. Objectives. We herein determine how leaseback influences the financial position of the entity. For this, we describe key financial and economic indicators (ratios) by evaluating the feasibility of investment in leaseback. The study is also intended to observe how financial flows change due to the leaseback mechanism. We also examine changes in financial and economic ratios of the financial position due to leaseback mechanism. Methods. We resort to general methods of research, such as comparative analysis, synthesis, induction and deduction, thus deriving reliable and reasonable results. Results. We found out that the leaseback feasibility evaluation technique is indispensable without observing changes in financial flows and financial and economic indicators (ratios) that show the financial position and performance of a business. The article indicators key aspects to evaluate the financial feasibility of investment in leaseback, describe how it changes due to the leaseback mechanism. We also produce model assessments, referring to the leaseback deal of a certain company operating in coal mining, thus revealing the positive effect of leaseback on the financial position of the company. Conclusions and Relevance. The construction and use of the leaseback feasibility study technique justifies the choice of leaseback as an investment mechanism, which has positive effects on the financial position. Having assessed financial and economic indicators (ratios), we revealed the efficiency and feasibility of leaseback for a company that needs to replenish its working capital. The findings can be used to make reasonable investment decisions, when pondering on an appropriate corporate financing mechanism.


2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 675-685 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao-Dong Xu ◽  
Jian An Zhong ◽  
Xiao-Yan Wang

We analyzed the effects of leadership substitute factors on job satisfaction and performance of knowledge workers, based on existing studies on substitutes for leadership. The data were collected from 130 knowledge workers in China via survey questionnaires based on a modified version of the 41-item scale revised by Podsakoff and MacKenzie (1994), a performance scale based on the dimensions of task performance and contextual performance as classified by Motowildo, Borman, and Schmit (1997), and also used in research conducted by Sun and Jiao (2002), and the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (Weiss, Dawis, England, & Lofquist, 1967). The findings showed that 7 of the 13 variables of the model of substitutes for leadership proposed by Kerr and Jermier (1978) had positive effects on the job satisfaction and performance of the knowledge workers who took part in this study.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lukas von Ziegler ◽  
Johannes Bohacek ◽  
Pierre-Luc Germain

AbstractThe impact of stress on gene expression in different cell types of the brain remains poorly characterized. Three pioneering studies have recently used translating ribosome affinity purification followed by RNA sequencing (TRAP-seq) to assess the response to stress in CA3 pyramidal neurons of the hippocampus. The results suggest that acute stress alters the translation of thousands of genes in CA3 pyramidal neurons, and that this response is strongly modulated by factors such as sex, genotype and a history of early life stress. However, our reanalysis of these datasets leads to different conclusions. We confirm that acute stress induces robust translational changes in a small set of genes. However, we found no evidence that either early life stress or sex have an effect on gene translation induced by acute stress. Our findings highlight the need for additional studies with adequate sample sizes and proper methods of analysis to assess the impact of stress across cell types in the brain.


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