Essays on ceo compensation: beyond the anglo-saxon public corporation

These four papers address some unsolved issues on CEO compensation: beyond the Anglo-Saxon public corporation, furthering the existing literature to the understudied fields of less developed capital markets, of which Portugal is a typical member; family firms, whose link between generation and agency avoidance is exploited here; the international comparison based on a selected sample of the world´s largest firms and the effect of gender on the remuneration of Portuguese managers and other professionals. The first paper analyses the determinants of compensation for CEO of Portuguese firms, focusing on the preference of variable versus fixed pay. The results confirmed that listed companies, more vulnerable to agency problems, also made a more intensive use of variable pay. Older firms are also more prone to using this type of compensation. Location in Lisbon, the center of economic activity and higher education also increase the propensity to receive a higher share of salary in the form of variable compensation. The second paper, also based on the same data, has the main goal to find whether the use of variable pay within family firms also reflects the intensity of their specific agency problems. The result on the use of variable pay shows that their performance impact tends to be less favorable for foundational, younger firms, where agency problems are still lower, than with family firms that are already on the second or more family generation. The paper three has a broader scope as it covers CEO compensation practices for a large number of countries and industries. The cross-section analysis covers 1002 firms from 21 different countries. Beyond the traditional explanations of CEO compensation, in a broader setting, such as executive age, tenure and gender or firm size the study provides a larger country analysis, while covering variables that are not common in the compensation literature, such as the impact of CEO expatriation.Finally, paper four studies gender income disparity in Portuguese firms. The sample includes 3953 employees for 75 Portuguese firms with one hundred or more employees, classified by gender and function level – top executives, middle-level managers, technicians and staff. The results confirmed that gender pay gap is larger in Portuguese firms, and it increases with employee´s accumulated tenure and decreases with advanced education for women and on labor market entry. Despite the progress in the labor market made by women in recent years, only a small percentage has actually managed to reach top positions, so there can be no doubt that the “glass ceiling” still exists.Os quatro artigos procuram abordar algumas questões sobre a remuneração dos gestores: além das empresas publicas Anglo-Saxónicas, promovendo a literatura existente para os mercados de capitais menos desenvolvidos do qual Portugal é um membro típico; empresas familiares, cuja ligação entre geração e agência; e na ligação entre uma amostra selecionada das maiores empresas do mundo. O primeiro artigo procura saber os determinantes da remuneração dos gestores em empresas Portuguesas, focando na preferência entre remuneração variável vs remuneração fixa. Os resultados mais significativos verificam-se que as empresas de capitais dispersos utilizam mais remuneração variável, consistente com a teoria da agência. As empresas mais velhas também utilizam mais este tipo de remuneração e empresas localizadas em Lisboa que ocupa o centro da atividade económica em Portugal e quanto maior a educação dos gestores, maior a propensão de receber o salário em remuneração variável O segundo artigo também baseado na mesma base de dados tem como objetivo principal descobrir se o uso de remuneração variável nas empresas familiares também reflete a intensidade de seus problemas de agência específica. O resultado no uso da remuneração variável mostra que o impacto na performance tende a ser menos favorável, em empresas mais jovens, onde os problemas de agência são ainda mais baixos do que com empresas familiares que já estão sobre a segunda geração ou mais. O terceiro artigo tem maior abrangência uma vez que tem informação sobre a remuneração dos gestores para um número grande de países e sectores e cobre dados de 1002 empresas com capitalização bolsista superior a mil milhões de euros de 21 países diferentes. Além das explicações tradicionais da remuneração dos gestores em um espaço mais alargado, como a idade do gestor, tempo na empresa e sexo ou tamanho da empresa, o artigo fornece uma análise maior do país, enquanto cobre variáveis que não são comuns na literatura de compensação, como o impacto da expatriação do gestor.Finalmente, o quarto artigo analisa o efeito do género na remuneração dos gestores e outros profissionais portugueses. A amostra inclui 3953 trabalhadores de 75 empresas com cem ou mais empregados, classificados por sexo e o nível da função- executivos de topo, gestores de nível médio, técnicos e empregados. Os resultados confirmaram que a diferença salarial entre homens e mulheres é maior em empresas nacionais e aumenta com o tempo no cargo e diminui com o nível da educação das mulheres e a entrada no mercado de trabalho. Apesar do progresso no mercado de trabalho feito pelas mulheres nos últimos anos, apenas uma pequena percentagem realmente conseguiu chegar a posições de topo, por isso não há dúvidas de que o “glass ceiling” ainda existe

Cooperative Behaviour of specific tasks in multi-agent systems and robot control using dynamic approach

In order to foster research and development in a multi-agent robotic environment three fundamental improvements on the robots need to be carried out: a) a very reliable and robot control which works at high speeds and a dynamic approach is described in this work; b) Cooperative behaviour is very important since without it there is no ball pass, and that is becoming more and more necessary; c) Upwards kick, since traditional horizontal kickers are already very common. Other improvements were carried out in the robots but due to lack of space in this paper are not described. This paper describes how these three issues were tackled by the MINHO team and shows their next directions

High accuracy navigation in unknown environment using adaptive control

Aiming to reduce cycle time and improving the accuracy on tracking, a modified adaptive control was developed, which adapts autonomously to changing dynamic parameters. The platform used is based on a robot with a vision based sensory system. Goal and obstacles angles are calculated relatively to robot orientation from image processing software. Autonomous robots are programmed to navigate in unknown and unstructured environments where there are multiple obstacles which can readily change their position. This approach underlies in dynamic attractor and repulsive forces. This theory uses differential equations that produce vector fields to control speed and direction of the robot. This new strategy was compared with existing PID method experimentally and it proved to be more effective in terms of behaviour and time-response. Calibration parameters used in PID control are in this case unnecessary. The experiments were carried out in robot Middle Size League football players built for RoboCup. Target pursuit, namely, ball, goal or any absolute position, was tested. Results showed high tracking accuracy and rapid response to moving targets. This dynamic control system enables a good balance between fast movements and smooth behaviour

Auto-Disinfectant Acrylic Paints Functionalised with Triclosan and Isoborneol - Antibacterial Assessment

This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Polymeric FilmsEnvironmental surface contamination with microorganisms is a serious concern worldwide. Triclosan and isoborneol present good antimicrobial activity. Their immobilisation to paint substrates allows for development of a material that stays effective over a longer time. In this work, we disclosed the preliminary studies to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of the active molecule after being functionalised with isocyanates for further immobilisation on the paint substrate. Overall, the newly developed non-release antimicrobial coating provides an effective way of preventing the spread of diseases and has been proven to inhibit bacterial growth and with a considerable antimicrobial activity towards S. aureus, E. coli, and K. variicola at the tested concentrations.This research was funded by Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização–COMPETE2020/FEDER, towards the project B-Safecoat (POCI-01-0247-FEDER-017875), and by FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) through the PhD grant attributed to MMQ (SFRH/BD/130203/2017).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Self-Disinfecting Paints with the Natural Antimicrobial Substances: Colophony and Curcumin

This article belongs to the Special Issue Nature Inspired Antibiotic Adjuvants to Face the Problem of Multidrug Resistance and Biofilm InfectionsThe risk of infection arising from indirect sources-namely, contaminated surfaces-has been proved, particularly in healthcare facilities. In the attempt to minimize this problem, innumerable research projects involving the development of surfaces with self-disinfecting properties are being conducted. In this work, wall-paints with self-disinfecting properties were developed with the scope of being applied in environments prone to contamination, such as those at healthcare settings. Our approach was to develop new paint formulations containing two natural plant-based products with known antimicrobial activity-colophony (CLF) and curcumin (CUR). The natural substances were separately incorporated on a commercial paint and their antibacterial activity was evaluated with several bacterial species following ISO 22196. To assess the paints' safety, cytotoxicity tests were performed on HaCaT and A549 cell lines, using tests on extracts and direct contact tests, as suggested by the standardized protocol ISO 10993. In general, both paints containing CLF and CUR were able to reduce the bacterial growth after 24 h, compared with the control, the commercial unmodified paint. Colophony was even able to reduce the number of culturable bacteria by over 2 log for Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Bacillus cereus. Regarding the cytotoxicity tests performed (WST-1, NRU, and LDH), both formulations revealed promising results regardless of the methodology used.This research was funded by Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionaliza‐ ção-COMPETE2020/FEDER, towards the project B‐Safecoat (POCI‐01‐0247‐FEDER‐017875), and by FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) through the PhD grant awarded to M.M.Q. (SFRH/BD/130203/2017).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Development and In Vitro Validation of Antibacterial Paints Containing Chloroxylenol and Terpineol

This article belongs to the Section Toxicology.The establishment of self-disinfecting surfaces is an important method to avoid surface contamination. Recently, paints with antimicrobial properties have been developed to be applied on different surfaces, avoiding contamination with pathogens. In this work, self-disinfecting paints containing Chloroxylenol (CLX), Terpineol (TRP), and a mixture of both substances were developed. The goal was to evaluate and validate these paints using international standards for eventual commercialization and application in scenarios where surface contamination represents a problem. The paints were challenged with five different bacteria, Gram-positive and Gram- negative, before and after a scrub resistance test, where the long-term efficacy of the paints was evaluated. The antibacterial activity assessment was performed following ISO 22196 and JIS Z2801. In general, the paints showed very promising results, demonstrating their antibacterial activity, before and after scrub resistance test. The paint incorporating the mixture of CLX and TRP (CLX+TRP) stood out by revealing consistent results of antibacterial activity both before and after the scrub resistance test for most of the tested bacteria. The cytotoxicity of the developed paints was assessed in vitro by performing tests by direct contact with a human skin cell line, HaCaT, and testes on extracts with HaCaT and a pulmonary cell line, A549. The methodologies for cytotoxicity assessment were developed based in ISO 10993. For genotoxicity assessment, alkaline comet assay was conducted on both cell lines. The cytotoxicity assessment revealed promising results with the paints, demonstrating values of cellular viability above 70% and values of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) leakage below 30%. The genotoxic assessment also revealed acceptable values of primary DNA damage for the developed antibacterial paints. In general, the selected methodologies presented good potential to be applied in the validation of both efficacy and safety of the antimicrobial paints, aiming to be applied in real scenarios.This research was funded by Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionaliza ção—COMPETE2020/FEDER, towards the project B-Safecoat (POCI-01-0247-FEDER-017875), and by FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) through the PhD grant awarded to M.M.Q. (SFRH/BD/130203/2017)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A Secreted NlpC/P60 Endopeptidase from Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida Cleaves the Peptidoglycan of Potentially Competing Bacteria

Peptidoglycan (PG) is a major component of the bacterial cell wall, forming a mesh-like structure enwrapping the bacteria that is essential for maintaining structural integrity and providing support for anchoring other components of the cell envelope. PG biogenesis is highly dynamic and requires multiple enzymes, including several hydrolases that cleave glycosidic or amide bonds in the PG. This work describes the structural and functional characterization of an NlpC/P60-contain-ing peptidase from Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida (Phdp), a Gram-negative bacterium that causes high mortality of warm-water marine fish with great impact for the aquaculture industry. PnpA (Photobacterium NlpC-like protein A) has a four-domain structure with a hydrophobic and narrow access to the catalytic center and specificity for the γ-D-glutamyl-meso-diaminopimelic acid bond. However, PnpA does not cleave the PG of Phdp or PG of several Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial species. Interestingly, it is secreted by the Phdp type II secretion system and degrades the PG of Vibrio anguillarum and Vibrio vulnificus. This suggests that PnpA is used by Phdp to gain an advantage over bacteria that compete for the same resources or to obtain nutrients in nutrient-scarce environments. Comparison of the muropeptide composition of PG susceptible and resistant to the catalytic activity of PnpA showed that the global content of muropeptides is similar, suggesting that susceptibility to PnpA is determined by the three-dimensional organization of the muropeptides in the PG. IMPORTANCE Peptidoglycan (PG) is a major component of the bacterial cell wall formed by long chains of two alternating sugars interconnected by short peptides, generating a mesh-like structure that enwraps the bacterial cell. Although PG provides structural integrity and support for anchoring other components of the cell envelope, it is constantly being remodeled through the action of specific enzymes that cleave or join its components. Here, it is shown that Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida, a bacterium that causes high mortality in warm-water marine fish, produces PnpA, an enzyme that is secreted into the environment and is able to cleave the PG of potentially competing bacteria, either to gain a competitive advantage and/or to obtain nutrients. The specificity of PnpA for the PG of some bacteria and its inability to cleave others may be explained by differences in the structure of the PG mesh and not by different muropeptide composition.Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER) funds through the COMPETE 2020 Operacional Program for Competitiveness and Internationalization (POCI), Portugal 2020, and by Portuguese funds through Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia/Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior and Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), I.P., within the scope of the Norma Transitória - DL57/2016/CP1355/CT0010. This work had also support from the State Agency for Research (AEI) of Spain cofunded by the FEDER Program from the European Union (grants AGL2016-79738-R and BIO2016-77639-P

A small TAT-TrkB peptide prevents BDNF receptor cleavage and restores synaptic physiology in Alzheimer's disease

Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.In Alzheimer's disease (AD), amyloid β (Aβ)-triggered cleavage of TrkB-FL impairs brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) signaling, thereby compromising neuronal survival, differentiation, and synaptic transmission and plasticity. Using cerebrospinal fluid and postmortem human brain samples, we show that TrkB-FL cleavage occurs from the early stages of the disease and increases as a function of pathology severity. To explore the therapeutic potential of this disease mechanism, we designed small TAT-fused peptides and screened their ability to prevent TrkB-FL receptor cleavage. Among these, a TAT-TrkB peptide with a lysine-lysine linker prevented TrkB-FL cleavage both in vitro and in vivo and rescued synaptic deficits induced by oligomeric Aβ in hippocampal slices. Furthermore, this TAT-TrkB peptide improved the cognitive performance, ameliorated synaptic plasticity deficits and prevented Tau pathology progression in vivo in the 5XFAD mouse model of AD. No evidence of liver or kidney toxicity was found. We provide proof-of-concept evidence for the efficacy and safety of this therapeutic strategy and anticipate that this TAT-TrkB peptide has the potential to be a disease-modifying drug that can prevent and/or reverse cognitive deficits in patients with AD.publishersversionpublishe