Insights on Chief Executive Officer Pay: Excessive or Earned?

The purpose of this paper is to assess whether or not there should be a limit on CEO compensation in addition to examining the different forms of pay used to compensate the CEO to determine if there is an optimal structure. The paper will begin by looking at how the landscape surrounding executive compensation has changed since 2010 with the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act. Following that, the paper will explore the arguments for and against limiting CEO pay to ultimately conclude if a limit on CEO compensation is appropriate. After this, the paper will look into the structure of current CEO pay packages and evaluate the use of different forms of compensation to determine if an optimal structure for a pay package exists. Finally, the paper will examine the results of a survey taken by 75 accounting, business and financial economics majors at the University of Redlands regarding what and how CEOs feel they should be paid versus what and how shareholders in the same company feel the CEO should be paid

‘If you look the part you’ll get the job’: should career professionals help clients to enhance their career image?

This article presents a critical exploration of the role of career professionals in supporting people to reflect on and enhance their appearance, attractiveness and self-presentation (career image). The article is conceptual and based on a review of the broader literature on career success, appearance and attractiveness. It explores the evidence for a relationship between attractiveness and career, and the authors propose a conceptual framework in which career image is comprised of three elements (interpersonal skills, aesthetic presentation and beauty). The paper examines a possible role for career professionals in relation to this and then critically examines this role and concludes with the proposition of a research agenda in this area

Multiple causes of interannual sea surface temperature variability in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean

The eastern equatorial Atlantic Ocean is subject to interannual fluctuations of sea surface temperatures, with climatic impacts on the surrounding continents. The dynamic mechanism underlying Atlantic temperature variability is thought to be similar to that of the El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the equatorial Pacific, where air-sea coupling leads to a positive feedback between surface winds in the western basin, sea surface temperature in the eastern basin, and equatorial oceanic heat content. Here we use a suite of observational data, climate reanalysis products, and general circulation model simulations to reassess the factors driving the interannual variability. We show that some of the warm events can not be explained by previously identified equatorial wind stress forcing and ENSO-like dynamics. Instead, these events are driven by a mechanism in which surface wind forcing just north of the equator induces warm ocean temperature anomalies that are subsequently advected toward the equator. We find the surface wind patterns are associated with long-lived subtropical sea surface temperature anomalies and suggest they therefore reflect a link between equatorial and subtropical Atlantic variability

Fast Dynamic Color Switching in Temperature-Responsive Plasmonic Films

This research was supported by UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council grants EP/G060649/1 and EP/L027151/1, and ERC grant LINASS 320503. F.B. thanks the supports from the Winton Programme for the Physics of Sustainability.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Wiley via https://doi.org/10.1002/adom.20160009

Impact of Mechanical Unloading on Microvasculature and Associated Central Remodeling Features of the Failing Human Heart

ObjectivesThis study investigates alterations in myocardial microvasculature, fibrosis, and hypertrophy before and after mechanical unloading of the failing human heart.BackgroundRecent studies demonstrated the pathophysiologic importance and significant mechanistic links among microvasculature, fibrosis, and hypertrophy during the cardiac remodeling process. The effect of left ventricular assist device (LVAD) unloading on cardiac endothelium and microvasculature is unknown, and its influence on fibrosis and hypertrophy regression to the point of atrophy is controversial.MethodsHemodynamic data and left ventricular tissue were collected from patients with chronic heart failure at LVAD implant and explant (n = 15) and from normal donors (n = 8). New advances in digital microscopy provided a unique opportunity for comprehensive whole-field, endocardium-to-epicardium evaluation for microvascular density, fibrosis, cardiomyocyte size, and glycogen content. Ultrastructural assessment was done with electron microscopy.ResultsHemodynamic data revealed significant pressure unloading with LVAD. This was accompanied by a 33% increase in microvascular density (p = 0.001) and a 36% decrease in microvascular lumen area (p = 0.028). We also identified, in agreement with these findings, ultrastructural and immunohistochemical evidence of endothelial cell activation. In addition, LVAD unloading significantly increased interstitial and total collagen content without any associated structural, ultrastructural, or metabolic cardiomyocyte changes suggestive of hypertrophy regression to the point of atrophy and degeneration.ConclusionsThe LVAD unloading resulted in increased microvascular density accompanied by increased fibrosis and no evidence of cardiomyocyte atrophy. These new insights into the effects of LVAD unloading on microvasculature and associated key remodeling features might guide future studies of unloading-induced reverse remodeling of the failing human heart

Registration of ‘Rasmusson’ barley

‘Rasmusson’ (Reg. No. CV-345, PI 658495) is a spring, six-rowed, malting barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) released by the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station in January 2008. It was named after Donald Rasmusson, who worked as a barley breeder at the University of Minnesota from 1958 to 2000. Rasmusson has the pedigree M95/‘Lacey’ and is the product of advanced cycle breeding derived from crosses among elite breeding lines within the University of Minnesota breeding program. Rasmusson was released based on its superior yield performance across the Upper Midwest of the United States and surrounding regions in Canada and favorable malting quality, in particular, high malt extract. Rasmusson is resistant to spot blotch [caused by Cochliobolus sativus (Ito and Kuribayashi) Drechs. ex Dastur] and the prevalent races of stem rust (caused by Puccinia graminis Pers.: Pers. f. sp. tritici Erikss. & E. Henn)

Registration of ‘Quest’ spring malting barley with improved resistance to Fusarium head blight

‘Quest’ (Reg No. CV-348, PI 663183) is a spring, six-rowed, malting barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) released by the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station in January 2010 on the basis of its improved resistance to Fusarium head blight [FHB; caused by Fusarium graminearum Schwabe; teleomorph Gibberella zeae (Schwein) Petch]. Quest was developed over three breeding cycles of selection for yield, malting quality, and FHB resistance. Disease resistance traces to the Midwest cultivar MNBrite and the two-rowed accession from China Zhedar1. Quest has about half the level of disease and about 40% less of the associated mycotoxin, deoxynivalenol, compared to the historically important cultivar in the region ‘Robust’. Quest is similar in yield to the current dominant varieties in the region and was approved as a malting variety by the American Malting Barley Association

Nitrogen uptake and internal recycling in Zostera marina exposed to oyster farming: eelgrass potential as a natural biofilter

Oyster farming in estuaries and coastal lagoons frequently overlaps with the distribution of seagrass meadows, yet there are few studies on how this aquaculture practice affects seagrass physiology. We compared in situ nitrogen uptake and the productivity of Zostera marina shoots growing near off-bottom longlines and at a site not affected by oyster farming in San Quintin Bay, a coastal lagoon in Baja California, Mexico. We used benthic chambers to measure leaf NH4 (+) uptake capacities by pulse labeling with (NH4)-N-15 (+) and plant photosynthesis and respiration. The internal N-15 resorption/recycling was measured in shoots 2 weeks after incubations. The natural isotopic composition of eelgrass tissues and vegetative descriptors were also examined. Plants growing at the oyster farming site showed a higher leaf NH4 (+) uptake rate (33.1 mmol NH4 (+) m(-2) day(-1)) relative to those not exposed to oyster cultures (25.6 mmol NH4 (+) m(-2) day(-1)). We calculated that an eelgrass meadow of 15-16 ha (which represents only about 3-4 % of the subtidal eelgrass meadow cover in the western arm of the lagoon) can potentially incorporate the total amount of NH4 (+) excreted by oysters (similar to 5.2 x 10(6) mmol NH4 (+) day(-1)). This highlights the potential of eelgrass to act as a natural biofilter for the NH4 (+) produced by oyster farming. Shoots exposed to oysters were more efficient in re-utilizing the internal N-15 into the growth of new leaf tissues or to translocate it to belowground tissues. Photosynthetic rates were greater in shoots exposed to oysters, which is consistent with higher NH4 (+) uptake and less negative delta C-13 values. Vegetative production (shoot size, leaf growth) was also higher in these shoots. Aboveground/belowground biomass ratio was lower in eelgrass beds not directly influenced by oyster farms, likely related to the higher investment in belowground biomass to incorporate sedimentary nutrients

Depth-specific fluctuations of gene expression and protein abundance modulate the photophysiology in the seagrass <i>Posidonia oceanica</i>

Here we present the results of a multiple organizational level analysis conceived to identify acclimative/adaptive strategies exhibited by the seagrass Posidonia oceanica to the daily fluctuations in the light environment, at contrasting depths. We assessed changes in photophysiological parameters, leaf respiration, pigments, and protein and mRNA expression levels. The results show that the diel oscillations of P. oceanica photophysiological and respiratory responses were related to transcripts and proteins expression of the genes involved in those processes and that there was a response asynchrony between shallow and deep plants probably caused by the strong differences in the light environment. The photochemical pathway of energy use was more effective in shallow plants due to higher light availability, but these plants needed more investment in photoprotection and photorepair, requiring higher translation and protein synthesis than deep plants. The genetic differentiation between deep and shallow stands suggests the existence of locally adapted genotypes to contrasting light environments. The depth-specific diel rhythms of photosynthetic and respiratory processes, from molecular to physiological levels, must be considered in the management and conservation of these key coastal ecosystems