Performance-Based Long Term Incentive Compensation and Firm Performance

Awarding executives long-term incentive pay based on firm performance is often described as a natural way to improve firm performance. This brief uses an analytical approach to examine that proposed relationship. We first document the prevalence of performance-based long-term incentive (PB LTI) measures and the trends in the relative size of these measures compared to aggregate measures of compensation. We then compare the characteristics and performance of firms that have implemented a PB LTI measure in the past to those that have not. In order to understand the impact of PB LTI awards on firm performance, we separately assess the roles of the existence of the PB LTI measures, the relative size of the measures, and the type of PB LTI measure on firm performance

Super-gauge Field in de Sitter Universe

The Gupta-Bleuler triplet for vector-spinor gauge field is presented in de Sitter ambient space formalism. The invariant space of field equation solutions is obtained with respect to an indecomposable representation of the de Sitter group. By using the general solution of the massless spin-$\frac{3}{2}$ field equation, the vector-spinor quantum field operator and its corresponding Fock space is constructed. The quantum field operator can be written in terms of the vector-spinor polarization states and a quantum conformally coupled massless scalar field, which is constructed on Bunch-Davies vacuum state. The two-point function is also presented, which is de Sitter covariant and analytic.Comment: 21 page

A small non-vanishing cosmological constant from the Krein-Gupta-Bleuler vacuum

We point out a potential relevance between the Krein-Gupta-Bleuler (KGB) vacuum leading to a fully covariant quantum field theory for gravity in de Sitter (dS) spacetime and the observable smallness of the cosmological constant. This may provide a formulation of linear quantum gravity in a framework amenable to developing a more complete theory determining the value of the cosmological constant.Comment: 3 page

The radio frequency and microwave dielectric properties of doped magnesium oxide

A Study of the dielectric properties of pure magnesium oxide and MgO doped with iron or chromium is presented. Measurements were carried out in the frequency range between 5 x 10(^2) Hz and 9.3 x 10(^9) Hz room temperature using a.c. bridge, Q-meter, slotted-line and cavity methods. The basic ideas and principles of each technique have been discussed individually in relation to their suitability for dielectric measurements on materials having particular characteristics. A major attempt has been made to develop the slotted-line technique (500 MHz - 7.5 GH) and the cavity resonator (9,3 GHz) method. Sources of possible error in these techniques have been investigated in detail and some suggestions made to minimize them. A new method for measuring the dielectric properties of low loss solids has been examined theoretically and some suggestions for its practical development pointed out. The dielectric data obtained at room temperature has been analysed and interpreted in terms of the hopping theory involved in the "Universal Law" of dielectric response. The frequency variation of conductivity, followed σ(_ac) (w) (_ɑ) w(^n) law with n = 0.98 ± 0.02 for pure MgO. The dielectric constant, ɛ', loss factor, ɛ'' and loss tangent, Tanδ, decrease slightly over the frequency range. Similar behaviour was also observed for Fe doped MgO and Cr doped MgO samples. The variation of ɛ' and ɛ'' both agree with the "Universal Law" showing that ɛ'(w) (_ɑ) w(^n-1) and ɛ''(w)(^x) w(^n-1); the magnitude of n obtained was also 0.98. The data of ɛ' and ɛ'' approximately fit the Kramers-Kronig relation i.e constant when 0.5 <n < 1. Measurements were extended to higher temperatures (up to 700º C)/using special apparatus which was designed for this purpose. The data obtained fit the Jonscher theory very well ; the exponent n decreases with increasing temperature and falls to a value of n = 0.5 at 700ºC. In the high temperature range the Having a proposal for the temperature dependence of dielectric constant was tested and the change of dielectric constant with temperature was found to agree well with the relation for MgO single crystal. A detailed comparison is made of the effect of doping MgO with the trivalent ions Fe(^3+) and Cr(^3+). The addition of either significantly increases the conductivity by an amount proportional to the concentration and this effect is explained in terms of an increase in the number of hopping sites available

Data-driven methods for analyzing ballistocardiograms in longitudinal cardiovascular monitoring

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the US; about 48% of American adults have one or more types of CVD. The importance of continuous monitoring of the older population, for early detection of changes in health conditions, has been shown in the literature, as the key to a successful clinical intervention. We have been investigating environmentally-embedded in-home networks of non-invasive sensing modalities. This dissertation concentrates on the signal processing techniques required for the robust extraction of morphological features from the ballistocardiographs (BCG), and machine learning approaches to utilize these features in non-invasive monitoring of cardiovascular conditions. At first, enhancements in the time domain detection of the cardiac cycle are addressed due to its importance in the estimation of heart rate variability (HRV) and sleep stages. The proposed enhancements in the energy-based algorithm for BCG beat detection have shown at least 50% improvement in the root mean square error (RMSE) of the beat to beat heart rate estimations compared to the reference estimations from the electrocardiogram (ECG) R to R intervals. These results are still subject to some errors, primarily due to the contamination of noise and motion artifacts caused by floor vibration, unconstrained subject movements, or even the respiratory activities. Aging, diseases, breathing, and sleep disorders can also affect the quality of estimation as they slightly modify the morphology of the BCG waveform.Includes bibliographical reference

Discussing the Impact of Emergency on the Justification and Justification of Suicide

It does not seem unlikely the permissibility of suicide in cases of mutual trouble -that has the more important criteria- and also where one is distressed and is suffering from a terminal disease, since the verses and traditions indicating the illegality of suicide are either unrelated to these cases and/or the subject of the reasons for emergency and the emergency rule includes these cases contrary to the majority opinion and the reason and traditions of the learned do not denounce the suicide.   Keywords Suicide; Emergency; intrude; metho

The Relationship between Money Supply and Economic Activity in Countries Dependent on Natural Resources

The aim of this article was to show the influence of money supply and positive and negative shocks on part of the real economy in countries with natural resources in the form of panel data model with the approach of vector error correction model (VECM). For this purpose, using information from GDP, money supply, bank credits, the general level of prices, capital, trade openness degree, government spending, direct foreign investment, natural resource abundance and institutional quality indices for the period of 1990-2013, the relationship between variables was assessed. The results indicate that in all cases negative monetary shocks had far more effects than positive monetary shocks in the same period. Positive monetary shocks had a negative effect on output growth, as in the case of implementation of monetary policy after a period based on adjustment of the price of manufacturing institutes, the load of monetary policy would be more transferred on prices and its effects on the production would neutralize, also by entering the variable of natural resource abundance and institutional quality index (the average of institutional quality indices) in the economy of these countries almost had significant effects on economic growth, but this effect is weak. The variable of credits assigned to the private sector has a significant positive impact on economic growth in these countries. The results also indicated a negative relationship between inflation rate and economic growth based on the theories outlined in this field. Error correction coefficient related to the speed of adjustment of the variables rather than monetary imbalances reflected this subject that the output growth compared to monetary imbalances (the surplus of the money supply) really reacts significantly. Keywords: monetary policy, bank credits, economic growth, sticky price, New Keynesian, vector error correction model (VECM) Classification JEL: E21, E42, E6