Search

We examine whether pay differentials between the chief executive officer (CEO) and vice presidents (VPs) can be explained by firms' strategic priorities. We find that firms that pursue prospector-type strategies have a larger CEO−VP difference in equity compensation. We argue that such a pay differential relates to the relative authority that CEOs have in strategic decision-making, and we find that authority allocation based on a firm's strategic priorities is consistent with the relative ability of the CEO vis-à-vis the VPs. Our results remain consistent after considering alternative explanations including CEO power, risk-taking incentives, and tournament incentives among VPs. Further analyses reveal that a large CEO−VP equity pay differential enhances firm value for prospector-type firms, and that shareholders and proxy advisors tend to incorporate firm strategy in their say-on-pay votes and proxy recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the flight safety accident of Germanwings Airlines and the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic have happened in recent years, the mental state of civil aviation pilots has paid much attention. The work of civil aviation pilots has to face pressure from families, individuals, companies and other multi-faceted sources. Therefore, it may lead to negative work behaviors and performance, and even further affect flight safety. The study investigates the relationship between role stress, emotional exhaustion, and well-being of among civil aviation pilots. Additionally, this study determines whether leisure participation moderates the relationship between emotional exhaustion and well-being. Participants were 249 Taiwanese pilots, who were administered questionnaires that measured role conflict, role ambiguity, well-being, and leisure participation. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was utilized to analyze data in this study. Role stress had a significant effect on emotional exhaustion which had a significant effect on well-being among the pilots. Leisure participation moderated in reducing negative influence of emotional exhaustion on well-being. These findings regarding the negative impact of pilots' negative emotional state on their work performance can serve as a reference point for informing human resource management strategies that focus on enhancing well-being among pilots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined how their place attachments and virtual reality (VR) experiences affect tourists’ travel destination choices. Prior research has not focused on the relationship between motivation from VR experience and tourists’ destination choices. A research model was developed based on the social identity and signaling perspective. Altogether, 436 tourists were interviewed after purpose sampling was adopted. The research findings show that tourists’ place attachment has no significant effect on the cognitive destination image; VR experience promotes a mental destination image; cognitive destination image significantly affects destination choice; and responsiveness has moderation effects on cognitive destination image and destination choice. VR technology allows travel agencies to combine destination marketing with attractive tourist destinations so that tourists can experience a destination’s beauty in advance. VR has become a powerful marketing tool for travel agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we examine how a CFO's social ties with non-CEO senior managers in the same firm affect the likelihood of financial restatements. We categorise social ties as either professional or personal, and find that the two types of ties have distinct effects. Our findings show that CFOs' professional ties with senior managers are associated with a lower likelihood of financial restatements. Interestingly, the effects of CFO personal ties are related to a firm's operational performance, in that such ties are associated with a higher (lower) likelihood of financial restatements when operational performance is poor (good). Overall, our findings are consistent with the notion that CFO social ties with senior managers may give rise to both information sharing and arm-in-arm behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Big data analytics often refer to the breakdown of huge amounts of data into a more readable and useful format. This study utilises Google Trends big data as a proxy for an analysis of housing demand. We employ a qualitative method (fuzzy set/Qualitative Comparative Analysis, fsQCA), instead of a quantitative method, for our estimate and forecast. The empirical results show that fsQCA successfully forecasts seasonal time series, even though the dataset is small in size. Our findings fill the gap in the qualitative and time series forecasting literature, and the forecasting procedure herein also offers a good standard for industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Massive transfusion in patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) was not investigated. We developed a new scoring system to predict massive transfusion and to enhance care and early resource mobilization. Methods: Massive transfusion was defined as transfusion with ≥10 units of red blood cells within the first 24 h. Data were extracted from a 10-year, six-hospital database. Logistic regression was applied to derive a risk score for massive transfusion using data from 2006 to 2010, in 24,736 patients (developmental cohort). The score was then validated using data from 2011 to 2015 in 27,449 patients (validation cohort). Area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve was performed to assess prediction accuracy. Results: Five characteristics were independently associated (p <.001) with massive transfusion: presence of band-form cells among white blood cells (band form >0), international normalized ratio (INR) >1.5, pulse >100 beats per minute or systolic blood pressure <100 mmHg (shock), haemoglobin <8.0 g/dL and endoscopic therapy. The new scoring system successfully discriminated well between UGIB patients requiring massive transfusion and those who did not in both cohorts (AUROC: 0.831, 95%CI: 0.827–0.836; AUROC: 0.822, 95% CI: 0.817–0.826, respectively). Conclusions: The new scoring system predicts massive transfusion requirement in patients with UGIB well. Massive transfusion is a life-saving management in massive upper gastrointestinal bleeding. How to identify patients requiring massive transfusion in upper gastrointestinal bleeding is poorly documented. Approximately 3.9% of upper gastrointestinal bleeding patients require massive transfusion. A new scoring system is developed to identify patients requiring massive transfusion with high accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses whether reducing ‘readability’ is an effective obfuscation strategy for influencing the level of shareholder say-on-pay voting dissent in firms with excessive CEO pay. Based on a sample of UK-listed firms, our results indicate that in cases of excessive CEO pay, a less readable remuneration report is associated with reduced say-on-pay voting dissent. However, the effect of the obfuscation strategy diminishes as institutional ownership increases. Using obscurely written remuneration reports may even backfire (i.e. associated with increased voting dissent) when a firm’s majority shares are held by institutional investors. Our results are robust to controlling for compensation contract complexity as well as other alternative explanations. The results are also robust to various controls for endogeneity including a two-stage instrumental variable approach and propensity-score matching. Our findings offer regulatory implications that regulators could minimize the use of ‘obfuscation’ in pay-related disclosures by prescribing how information is to be presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:Multifunctional magnetic nanoparticles (MNP) have been newly developed for tumor-targeted drug carriers. To address challenges including biocompatibility, stability, nontoxicity, and targeting efficiency, here we report the novel drug deliverer poly(ethylene glycol) carboxyl–poly(ɛ-caprolactone) modified MNP (PEG–PCCL-MNP) suitable for magnetic targeting based on our previous studies. Methods:Theirin vitrocharacterization and cytotoxicity assessments,in vivocytotoxicity assessments, and antitumor efficacy study were elaborately investigated. Results:The size of PEG–PCCL-MNP was 79.6 ± 0.945 nm. PEG–PCCL-MNP showed littlein vitroorin vivocytotoxicity and good biocompatibility, as well as effective tumor-specific cell targeting for drug delivery with the presence of external magnetic field. Discussion:PEG–PCCL-MNP is a potential candidate of biocompatible and tumor-specific targeting drug vehicle for hydrophobic drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) allows the determination of analytes at low concentrations on silver substrates. A novel facile method is reported to reproducibly synthesize large area SERS substrates. A composite of silver nanoparticles was fabricated by drop casting silver nitrate followed by thermal reduction to immobilize the nanoparticles on the surface. The morphology of the nanoparticles was characterized by optical and scanning electron microscopy, and the composition was evaluated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Reproducible substrates were prepared using Rhodamine 6G at concentrations from 1 to 50 µM as the SERS probe with relative standard deviations of 22% for ten locations on one sample. An inverse correlation between probe concentration and precision was obtained. The influence of microstructure morphology on the reproducibility was characterized; the more uniform the morphology of the silver microstructure, the better the precision of the substrates. Some silver patterns provided better precision than others, showing the significance of this work for basic and applied SERS. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We investigate the association between the media coverage of firms’ CEO pay packages and subsequent shareholder voting on say-on-pay resolutions, and find that negative media coverage is able to predict shareholder discontent over say on pay. When we divide media coverage into coverage in the financial and business press versus coverage in the general press, we find that shareholder voting on say-on-pay resolutions is mainly associated with the articles from the financial and business press. This suggests that the media cannot be considered a homogeneous information source that is equally able to predict shareholders’ voting behaviors. As such, our findings have important implications for studies on the role of the media in corporate governance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Immunotactoid deposits are defined by their ultrastructural appearance and are characterized by microtubular or cylindrical structures typically measuring greater than 30 nm in diameter. Although a rare entity, immunotactoid deposition most often manifests as immunotactoid glomerulopathy and is associated with underlying lymphoplasmacytic disorders. Corneal immunotactoid deposition known as immunotactoid keratopathy has also been reported in patients with paraproteinemia. Here, we describe the first reported case of immunotactoid deposition in the stomach. The deposits were composed solely of kappa immunoglobulin light chains without significant lambda light chain or immunoglobulin heavy chain components. The patient displayed no renal signs or symptoms, and additional thorough clinical examination failed to detect any evidence of a paraproteinemia or plasma cell dyscrasia. Thus, the gastric immunotactoid deposits in this case appear to be an isolated finding of light chain deposition, of which the significance and etiology are unclear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A power-compensated, 3 × 3 reconfigurable, multi-wavelength, and bidirectional optical cross-connect for all-optical networks is proposed using strain-tunable fiber Bragg gratings and optical circulators. This article presents the experimental study for the induced crosstalk due to the optical cross-connect. The reconfigurable, multi-wavelength, and bidirectional cross-connect operation and performance are experimentally demonstrated, and crosstalk is determined to confirm the low penalty incurred. The demonstration shows that the selective reconfigurable, multi-wavelength, and bidirectional optical cross-connect offers high reconfigurable capability, flexibility, and survivability in an optical communication network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developed from traditional Chinese martial arts, Tai Chi exercise includes different forms and interactive Push Hands but biomechanical analyses have focused on the former only. To analyse the techniques of Push Hands, an experienced master was asked to defend pushing by four opponents. Movements were videotaped and digitized using a motion analysis system. Surface electrodes were used to record the electromyographic activity of ten muscle groups. Two force plates were used to measure the ground reaction force on each foot. Inexperienced individuals performed the same procedure to serve as the control group. The results indicate that the master adopted a postural adjustment to maintain balance. A clear shift of body weight from the front to the rear foot and mediolateral displacement of the centre of gravity was observed. Low electromyographic activity was observed in the upper body muscle groups, while high electromyographic activity was observed in the right rectus femoris and very high activity in the left rectus femoris during the defence. All inexperienced participants lost their balance in resisting pushing. It is concluded that the Tai Chi defensive technique includes a subtle postural adjustment that slightly changes the pushing force direction, and allows the rear leg to resist the incoming force. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forecasting has been considered important in a service industry. Many techniques have been applied to improve forecasting results. This study intends to apply a neural network based fuzzy time series model to forecast the international tourist numbers arriving in Taiwan. Neural network is good at handling nonlinear data. On the other hand, the fuzzy time series models have been applied to time series problems in various domains and have been shown to outperform some conventional models. The tourist numbers arriving in Taiwan show a nonlinear characteristic with a structural break. And the application of the neural network based fuzzy time series model is expected to outperform some other models in forecasting these tourist numbers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We proposed and experimentally demonstrated two power-equalized erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) modules using fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) with various reflectivities for individual channels. The transmission type power-equalized EDFA module is low-cost for its simple design, while the reflection type power-equalized EDFA module can suppress most of the amplified spontaneous emission noise. Both consist of a bidirectional EDFA, a set of FBG chains with suitable reflectivities, and an optical isolator/optical circulator. They can find potential applications in wavelength division multiplexing lightwave transmission systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A model of public support for First Amendments rights indicates two distinctive paths: One supporting rights involving postmaterial values, reading of newspaper public affairs, knowledge and reasoning; the other rejecting rights through material values of control, watching of television entertainment and expression of negative affect. Perceptions of normative functions of news media as well as media use have important effects on rights decisions but only indirectly through processes of reasoning and expression of affect. Demographics and ideology also have only indirect effects. This well-fitting structural equation model accounts for 55 percent of the variance in supportive decision-making about rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]