More than seventy percent of Americans over the age of sixty are classified as overweight or obese, and the future incidence of these conditions is expected to rise. Although it is unclear why older adults are predisposed to weight gain, decreased total energy expenditure may contribute to positive energy balance. It is also possible that age-related impairments in energy intake regulation result in the inability to appropriately adjust food intake to meet energy requirements with advancing age. The purpose of these investigations was to determine the influence of age and habitual physical activity on acute regulation of energy intake. Secondary objectives were to determine if there are sex differences in energy intake regulation, and to determine if pre-meal water consumption decreases meal energy intake in young and older adults. To achieve these objectives, the ability to spontaneously adjust energy intake at a meal under "preloading" conditions in which a yogurt shake or water was consumed prior to the meal was determined. We hypothesized that older adults would demonstrate less accurate energy intake regulation than younger adults, but that energy intake dysregulation would be attenuated in physically active older adults. We also expected that young men would have higher accuracy of energy intake regulation compared to young women matched for dietary cognitive restraint and cardiorespiratory fitness, and that pre-meal water consumption would decrease meal energy intake in young and older adults. Our main finding was that energy intake regulation is significantly impaired in older compared to younger adults, and that habitual physical activity improves short-term, but not acute, energy intake regulation. We also found that young men demonstrate significantly higher accuracy of energy intake regulation compared to young women. Lastly, we determined that pre-meal water consumption significantly decreases meal energy intake in older, but not young, adults. Overall, these results indicate that acute energy intake regulation is less accurate with advancing age, but that regular physical activity improves short-term energy intake regulation. Additionally, sex appears to influence energy intake regulation, and water consumption is a potential strategy to reduce energy intake in older adults. / Ph. D.

Public criticism of executive pay has increased significantly in recent years. Shareholders express concern that the level of pay to many executives does not match the level of increase in shareholder wealth. The government has even gotten involved in the issue by changing tax laws related to compensation and taking an interest in how compensation is recorded in financial statements. This study investigates the relationship between adoption of compensation components and improved firm performance. Specifically, performance and restricted stock plan adoptions are analyzed for nine industries. Variable change is analyzed pre and post adoption for adopters; these adopters are then compared to non-adopters and to non-adopting peers. Data were gathered from COMPUSTAT and analyzed using four statistical methods; ttests, analysis of variance, multivariate analysis of variance and analysis of means. The study covers 20 years of adoptions and involves 335 adopting firms. Results of the study indicate that, when solely analyzing adopters, adoptions of performance or restricted stock plans improve firm performance for some industries but not for others. The study further indicates for most industry groups, the improvement experienced by adopters is not as significant as the improvement realized by the non-adopting segment of the industry. Lastly, when adopters are compared to non-adopting peers the study finds peers perform as well as or better than adopters. These results imply adoption of restricted stock plans works as intended for some industries by improving firm performance but may not improve performance to the levels reached by the industry as a whole. / Ph. D.

This study investigates the association between CEO severance agreements and corporate tax avoidance. Severance agreements, by providing executives with additional compensation when there is a change in employment status, should serve to encourage additional risk-taking, as reflected by increased tax avoidance activities. Using a large sample of aggregate compensation data, I find some evidence of a relation between the presence of a CEO severance agreement and tax avoidance. Using a smaller sample of hand-collected data, I find a significant negative relation between the magnitude of cash severance pay and tax avoidance and a significant positive relation between the magnitude of equity severance pay and tax avoidance. Overall, this study provides evidence that the structure and magnitude of severance agreements are related to tax avoidance. / Ph. D.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has controlled intercollegiate sports for the past 150 years, but the passing of California Senate Bill 206 on September 30, 2019, placed that power at risk. The bill will allow student-athletes to receive compensation for their name, image and likeness in the state of California, and has influenced other states to bring forth legislation of their own. The NCAA announced on October 29, 2019, that it would change its policies and bylaws to allow student-athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness. This qualitative thematic analysis seeks to discover how the issue of student-athletes in the case of SB 206 was framed by the media before and after the bill was passed, and after the NCAA announced its policy change. From the analysis, three themes emerged to support student-athlete compensation, eight themes emerged in opposition, and 24 sub themes emerged for both sides. Anti-compensation framing strategies prevailed throughout news coverage before and after SB 206 passed, and after the NCAA changed its policy. Local and mainstream news outlets and sports and mainstream news outlets all presented the eight themes. / Master of Arts / The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has controlled college sports for the past 150 years, but the passing of California Senate Bill 206 on September 30, 2019, placed that power at risk. The bill will allow student-athletes to receive compensation for their name, image and likeness in the state of California, and has influenced other states to bring forth legislation of their own. On October 29, 2019 the NCAA announced that it would change its policies and bylaws to allow student-athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness. This thesis uses a qualitative thematic analysis, meaning that news articles are examined by the researcher to understand common themes that emerge about how the issue of student-athlete in the case of SB 206 was portrayed by the media before and after the bill was passed, and after the NCAA changed its policy. From the analysis, three themes were found to support student-athlete compensation, eight themes were found in opposition, and 24 sub themes were found for both sides. Anti-compensation framing strategies dominated news coverage before and after SB 206 passed, and after the NCAA changed its policy even though the public opinion supported student-athlete compensation.

This thesis is centered upon the published A Novel Method and Exoskeletons for Whole-arm Gravity Compensation (Turner, Hull 2020), and includes a novel concept for supporting the weight of a person's arm or robotic linkage. The design is capable of supporting weights held near the hand, and provides support regardless of position. This support is provided with a pantograph. The upper-arm and forearm bars are mirrored by smaller copies. Force applied to a pull point on the scaled copy of the arm is flipped and applied at a support point on the forearm or to a tool near the hand. Two exoskeletons, using different linkages make use of the pantograph design. These include the Panto-Arm Exo, which uses it's slim, reduced size to comfortably assist users in lifting their arm, and the Panto-Tool Exo which is designed for a support point that coincides with a mass representing a heavy tool. The differing topologies and purposes of these two devices resulted in different qualities regarding their ability to lift weight. The Panto-Arm Exo was specifically used in human subject testing, in which fourteen users wore electromyography electrodes and performed simple arm movements and holding tasks. While the Panto-Arm Exo did not undergo stringent design improvements or user-specific optimization, the device was shown to reduce muscle use in the measured upper-arm muscles for certain arm positions. / Master of Science / This thesis is centered upon the published A Novel Method and Exoskeletons for Whole-arm Gravity Compensation (Turner, Hull 2020), includes a new way to lift a person's arm or robotic linkage. The design can lift weights close to the hand regardless of arm placement. This support is provided with a pantograph. The pantograph design is based on a mirrored, smaller copy of the upper-arm and forearm bars, which is pulled downwards to create an upwards support force at chosen support point. This point is based underneath the forearm or at a heavy tool. The concept is similar to pushing down on a teeter-totter in order to prevent the other end from dropping. Two exoskeletons, using different linkages make use of this pantograph design. The Panto-Arm Exo is slim and light. It is made to help users in lift their arm by supporting its weight. The Panto-Tool Exo has a support point that located where a mass representing a heavy tool sits. The changes between both devices means that they display different lifting qualities. The Panto-Arm Exo was worn by 14 people, also wearing electrodes that measured muscle activation. These users held weights and moved their arms around while muscle activation was recorded. While the Panto-Arm Exo wasn't fine-tuned or adjusted for individual people, it was shown to reduce muscle activation in the measured upper-arm muscles for some of the arm placements.

We present and analyze two arm exoskeletons based on a pantograph linkage that allow for the support of 89~N (20~pounds) at the user's hand. Using a pantograph linkage allows for a constant force to be created at the hand in any orientation when a constant vertical force is supplied to the other side of the pantograph. We present several topologies and analyze them based on feasibility of manufacture and ability to provide a near vertical force to the pantograph linkage. Simulations are created using the best topologies and the resulting forces at the hand are reported. The mechanical design of an unpowered (passive) exoskeleton which uses a gas spring mechanism is presented. Additionally, simulations and block-CAD of a powered (active) exoskeleton which uses a motor for the supply of force are presented. The performance of the passive exoskeleton is qualitatively compared with simulations. / Master of Science / A wearable device or exoskeleton is presented which is designed to help a user support a weight of 20 pounds (89~N) at their hand. A pantograph linkage arm exoskeleton provides forces to the hand which are equal to the force provided to the linkage divided by the linkage's ratio. Providing a force to the linkage that is purely vertical will result in a purely vertical force at the hand. Layouts of the exoskeleton components which produce a near-vertical force for the linkage are explored. The more promising layouts are simulated and the forces are compared based on how vertical the forces are. The design of an unpowered exoskeleton is also presented, which uses a gas spring mechanism to provide force. Additionally, simulation results for the unpowered exoskeleton and the basic design and analysis of a powered exoskeleton are presented.

Increasing compensation disclosures mandated by the Securities Exchange Commission provide transparency that allows more shareholders to question the results produced by highly compensated executives. The popular business press often decries the apparent imbalance between executive pay and firm performance. Published academic research has responded with hundreds of studies attempting to explain executive pay in terms of firm performance. The preponderance of these studies focus on Chief Executive Officers. This study empirically examines executive compensation for team effects on future firm performance.Applying a firm specific fixed-effects model to a sample of 13,021 firm-year observations from ExecuComp, the current study regresses top management team compensation and control variables on firm performance averaged one, three, and five years following the year of compensation. One accounting based measure of performance (return on assets) and one market based measure of firm performance (shareholder return) is examined over the one three and five year horizons.Consistent with increasing concerns raised by investors regarding excess executive pay, this study finds evidence that higher top management team pay is associated with companies experiencing lower rates of return in the future. However, higher management team pay is associated with higher profits and market value measured in dollars. Theses effects are significantly different between the short-term and long term components of compensation. Although compensation of the team is highly correlated with the CEO, the compensation of the executive team has incremental effects on future firm performance of the company.This study contributes to the executive compensation literature by providing evidence that the compensation of the top management team affects future company performance. The observed impact of management team compensation on company performance is: incremental to CEO effects noted in prior studies, differential between short- and long-term components of compensation, sensitive to the proxy used for company performance, and attenuates over time. These findings suggest that further research on executive management team compensation is merited in order to address an interesting gap in the extant literature.

The purpose of this theses is to analyze whether a contractual limitation of liability for damage resp. compensation for damage is acceptable in the Czech law, what are the limits of limitation and what they should be. The main focus is given on the issue of the prior limitation. The thesis is composed of an introduction, ten chapters and a conclusion. First four chapters cover the background information and terminology needed for the remaining part of the work, such as liability for damage, its division, prerequisites and scope. The many ways of limitation and basic prevailing principals of limitation are given in chapter five. Chapters six, seven and eight deal with the very possibility of compensation for damage limitation in three spheres that are: contemporary civil and commercial law and the united civil law under the law No. 89/2012, so called The New Civil Code. Chapter nine provides a short view into the German regulation before there are given the conclusions on possible practical regulation in Czech law in chapter ten. The chapter six dealing with contemporary commercial law summarizes the development of the issue and deals with the restrictions in this matter. In the chapter seven the importance and meaning of Section 574 of the Civil Code is deeply analyzed and conclusion made that the...

For more than a decade, to reduce the agency problem, various ways have been examined on how to align the interest of manager with shareholders. Evidence and empirical findings are conflicting on the agency problem. Recently, deferred compensation as one incentive compensation draws the attention as a means to incentivize CEOs to make them work for the firm. However, it is still not evident if deferred compensation has effect on aligning CEOs with the firm’s goal possibly due to the issue on data. Therefore, the first essay investigates if deferred compensation has the effect on the agency problem and on the firm performance improvement after dealing with the data issue. This paper mainly aims to investigate if there is the non-linear relationship between the investment choice problem and the deferred compensation as Jensen and Meckling (1976) claim. This paper concludes that deferred compensation from NQDC table has positive and significant effect on the firm performance and the investment choice problem. More importantly, following McConnell and Servaes (1990), this paper finds the curvilinear relationship between Tobin’s Q and the deferred compensation and can confirm Jensen and Meckling (1976) theoretical application. The second essay aims to clarify the understanding on the relationship between the firm’s cash holdings and its causes by introducing the more detailed relationship between cash holdings and macroeconomic uncertainty. While previous literature tries to explain the level of cash holdings mainly by the firm-level variables, this study considers the full impact of the macroeconomic uncertainty on the level of cash holdings by introducing the firm’s heterogeneous exposure to macroeconomic uncertainty to see if the heterogeneity can tell the difference in the change in the level of cash holdings. This paper finds that macroeconomic uncertainties measured by difference macroeconomic condition variables are significant and contribute to the change in cash holdings. Additionally, this paper shows that the firms’ different level of exposure to macroeconomic uncertainty can cause the different degree of cash holdings and that firms with the higher level of exposure have the higher level of cash holdings.

L'introduction de systèmes robotisés dans les salles opératoires a fait évoluer la chirurgie moderne, ouvrant aux chirurgiens de nouvelles possibilités. La présence de tels systèmes en salle opératoire croît chaque année. Les progrès des robots médicaux sont étroitement liés au développement de nouvelles techniques permettant de mieux contrôler les interactions entre la machine et les tissus biologiques. L'objectif principal de cette thèse est de proposer une commande en force basée sur un modèle, conçue pour améliorer la stabilité et la robustesse du contrôle en vue d'applications médicales. Une étude sur la modélisation des tissus mous ainsi que le choix d'un modèle compatible temps-réel sont présentés. Après cette analyse, le modèle de Kelvin Boltzmann a été choisi et implémenté dans le schéma de contrôle en force proposé, basé sur des observateurs actifs. La stabilité et la robustesse de la commande sont analysées en théorie et au travers d'expérimentations. Les performances de la commande en force sont également mesurées, en tenant compte des perturbations dues aux mouvements physiologiques. Finalement, afin d'améliorer la qualité du rejet des perturbations, une boucle de commande supplémentaire est ajoutée au moyen d'une estimation des perturbations basée sur le modèle de Kelvin Boltzmann et des séries de Fourier. / The introduction of robotic systems inside the operating room has changed the modern surgery, opening new possibilities to surgeons. The number of robotic systems inside the operation room is increasing every year. The progress of medical robots are associated to the development of new techniques to better control the interaction between the robot and living soft tissues. This thesis focus on the development of a model based force control designed to improve stability and robustness of force control addressed to medical applications. A study of soft tissue modeling is presented and a suitable model to be used in a real-time control is selected. After the analysis, the Kelvin Boltzmann model was chosen to be inserted in the proposed force control scheme based on Active Observers. Stability and robustness are theoretically and experimentally analyzed. The performance of the proposed force control is also investigated under physiological motion disturbances. At the end, to improve the disturbance rejection capability, an extra control loop is added using a disturbance estimation based on the Kelvin Boltzmann model and a Fourier series.