Commission Recommendation Research Articles

The Pathways Commission on Accounting Higher Education: Charting a National Strategy for the Next Generation of Accountants

T he Pathways Commission on Accounting Higher Education was created by the American Accounting Association (AAA) and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) to study the future structure of higher education for the accounting profession and develop recommendations for educational pathways to engage and retain the strongest possible community of students, academics, practitioners, and other knowledgeable leaders in the practice and study of accounting. This charge is, by design, expansive in its scope and open to much interpretation. Accordingly, the Commission began its work by developing a number of fundamental principles on which to focus its study, outreach, and the process used to make its recommendations. This introduction highlights some of those principles as a prelude to the summary of recommendations that follow. Pathways Commission participants, including leading accounting practitioners and educators, sought input from a variety of stakeholders over the last 18 months to investigate ways to enhance the opportunities and relevance of the accounting education experience in its broadest sense. This document serves solely as an executive summary of the much more comprehensive report of the Pathways Commission; we encourage readers to explore the full report. To achieve the Pathways Commission’s charge, it was important to explore a wide range of perspectives on current and future challenges and opportunities for the profession. For instance, the amount and complexity of information accountants are charged with interpreting, processing, reviewing, and reporting is continuously increasing. While technological advances can surely enable a profession to better address change and meet new challenges, technological change offers

Risks associated with next generation access networks investment scenarios

The deployment of next generation access networks (NGAs) is investigated from technical, regulatory and investment perspectives. A brief review of the possible network architectures and deployment scenarios of NGAs is provided. Risk calculations of these NGA scenarios are performed based on a fully detailed techno-economic model. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the European Commission's Recommendation on regulated access to NGAs, aiming to tackle the regulatory trade-off between encouraging investments and promoting competition, is discussed.

Open call issue [Editor's Note

Each year, the IEEE Network July/August issue publishes accepted open call papers, and nine such papers are included in this issue. The challenges of deploying next generation access (NGA) networks come from the network architecture and technical options to provide advanced features. The first article, Architecting a National Optical Fiber Open-Access Network: The Australian Challenge by Vijay Sivaraman et al., inspired by the ongoing construction of the national broadband network in Australia, discusses the potential challenges of building a nation-wide and open-access optical network, with emphasis on fiber layout and interconnection between the network and service providers. The deployment of NGA is not only a technical issue, but also an economic one. Based on a thorough techno-economic model, the second article, Risks Associated with Next Generation Access Networks Investment Scenarios by Dimitris Katsianis et al. evaluates investment risks of NGA for various scenarios. In addition, the authors discuss the effectiveness of the European Commission's Recommendation on regulated access to NGA, targeting to tackle the regulatory trade-off between encouraging investments and promoting competition.

'European Commission Recommendation on access to and preservation of scientific information (2012)', "Raccomandazione della Commissione Europea sull'accesso a e la conservazione dell'informazione scientifica (2012)"

Lo scorso luglio 2012 la Commissione Europea ha rilasciato una raccomandazione sull'accesso aperto per gli stati membri, al fine di promuovere un'economia europea basata sulla conoscenza e sull'innovazione.

Welfare Analysis of Regulating Mobile Termination Rates in the UK with an Application to the Orange/T-Mobile Merger

We present a calibrated model of the UK mobile telephony market with four mobile networks; calls to and from the fixed network; network-based price discrimination; and call externalities. Our results show that reducing mobile termination rates broadly in line with the recent European Commission Recommendation to either pure long-run incremental cost; reciprocal termination charges with fixed networks; or & (i.e. zero termination rates), increases social welfare, consumer surplus and networks' profits. Depending on the strength of call externalities, social welfare may increase by as much as £ 990 million to £ 4.5 billion per year, with Bill & Keep leading to the highest increase in welfare. We also apply the model to estimate the welfare effects of the 2010 merger between Orange and T-Mobile under different scenarios concerning MTRs, and predict that consumer surplus decreases strongly.

Public exposure to radon in drinking water in SERBIA

Radon is the main source of natural radiation that is received by population. The results of radon activity measurements in water from public drinking fountain, from bottled drinking water and from tap water in the city of Novi Sad, Serbia, are presented in this paper. The measurements were performed by RAD 7 radon detector manufactured by DURRIDGE COMPANY Inc. The corrected value of radon concentration in one sample exceeded the European Commission recommendation reference level for radon in drinking water of 100 Bql(-1). In order to make the correlation between radon and radium concentrations in the tap water and in the water from public drinking fountain, the gamma-spectrometric measurements were performed. The results of (222)Rn activity concentration measurements from soil in the city of Novi Sad using RAD 7 detector are presented.

Results Regardind the Ochratoxin a Analysis in Feed Formulas

. Ochratoxin A is a toxic metabolite produced by Aspergillus and Penicillium spp. Among the metabolites of type A, Ochraceus is considered as being one of the main producers. Ochratoxin A is the main mycotoxin from the ochratoxines group, and it seems to be the only one with a toxicological significance (Derache R., Paris).
 Ochratoxin A has been proven to be nephrotoxic, hepatotoxic, teratogenic, immunotoxic, mutagenic and carcinogenic in some animal species and possibly carcinogenic for humans. Therefore, this study tried to determine the levels of Ochratoxin A by ELISA- screening test from samples of feed formulas for pigs and poultry.
 The quantities of Ochratoxin A obtained in the study are below the permissible limit provided in the Commission Recommendation no. 576 of 17 Augus 2006.

Multiresidue determination of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in honey by solid-phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography.

An analytical procedure based on solid-phase extraction, using ethyl acetate as the elution solvent, and high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence and diode array detection was developed for the identification and quantification of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in honey. The method has been optimized and validated in accordance with Commission Regulation 333/2007 and Commission Decision 2002/657/EC. This method allows the identification of the 15 PAHs that should be monitored in food matrices, as proposed in 2002 by the Scientific Committee on Food and later by the European Union in the Commission Recommendation 2005/108/EC, because of their genotoxic and carcinogenic properties. The results of the validation study were in agreement with quality criteria described in European legislation in terms of sensitivity, accuracy, and ruggedness, and the method was applied to the analysis of 42 honey samples (21 from Spain and 21 from other regions). The honey samples were not contaminated by PAHs at detectable levels and thus could be marketed without health risk.

The extended gestation and birth of the European Commission's Recommendation on the regulation of fibre networks

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to set out the history and content of the European Commission's Recommendation on the regulation of next generation access networks, published in September 2010. The aim is to assess the Recommendation in terms of its likely impact on harmonisation and certainty of regulation within the European Union and on investment and competition.Design/methodology/approachThe approach adopted is to review the European Commission's Recommendation from the standpoint of regulatory economics.FindingsThe publication in September 2010 of the Recommendation on the regulation of next generation access networks completed a process which had begun two years and two drafts previously. The paper sets out the background to the decision to prepare a Recommendation for national regulators supervising the installation of fibre based networks, where the fibre might go either to the premises (FTTP) or to the street cabinet (FTTC). It also describes the development of the Recommendation from the first draft in September 2008 to the final draft in September 2010. It concludes that the delay in issuing the Recommendation created an interval in which national regulators pursued their own diverse policies, to the detriment of harmonisation. In terms of investment and competition, the successive drafts appear to have diminished pressure on competitors to build their own infrastructures, with consequential effects on the likely form of competition. Finally, a degree of regulatory uncertainty has been created in member states where the regulator has pursued in its market reviews of fibre access products remedies which are at odds with the Recommendation.Originality/valueThis is an early appraisal of a European Commission Recommendation which is likely to have a significant impact on European communications policy and regulation.

The Mental Health Recovery Movement and Family Therapy, Part I: Consumer‐Led Reform of Services to Persons Diagnosed with Severe Mental Illness

In 2004, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a consensus statement on mental health recovery based on the New Freedom Commission's recommendation that public mental health organizations adopt a "recovery" approach to severe and persistent mental illness, including services to those dually diagnosed with mental health and substance abuse issues. By formally adopting and promoting a recovery orientation to severe mental illness, the United States followed suit with other first-world nations that have also adopted this approach based on two decades of research by the World Health Organization. This movement represents a significant paradigm shift in the treatment of severe mental health, a shift that is more closely aligned with the nonpathologizing and strength-based traditions in marriage and family therapy. Furthermore, the recovery movement is the first consumer-led movement to have a transformational effect on professional practice, thus a watershed moment for the field. Part I of this article introduces family therapists to the concept of mental health recovery, providing an overview of its history, key concepts, and practice implications. Part II of this article outlines a collaborative, appreciative approach for working in recovery-oriented contexts.

Conversations About Responsible Nanoresearch

There is currently a strong focus on responsible research in relation to the development of nanoscience and nanotechnology. This study presents a series of conversations with nanoresearchers, with the ‘European Commission recommendation on a code of conduct for responsible nanosciences and nanotechnologies research’ (EC-CoC) as its point of departure. Six types of reactions to the document are developed, illustrating the diversity existing within the scientific community in responses towards this kind of new approaches to governance. Three broad notions of responsible nanoresearch are presented. The article concludes by arguing that while the suggestion put forward in the EC-CoC brings the concept of responsible nanoresearch a long way, one crucial element is to be wanted, namely responsible nanoresearch as increased awareness of moral choices.

Results of the monitoring of perfluoroalkylated substances in food in the period 2000 ‐ 2009

Perfluoroalkylated substances (PFASs) are a large group of compounds consisting of a fully or partially fluorinated hydrophobic alkyl chain and a hydrophilic end group. Due to their thermal and chemical stability they are used in e.g. cleaning agents, impregnation agents for textiles, carpets, paper, packaging, furniture, paint and varnish, fire-extinguishing liquids, wax, floor polishing agents. Several PFASs are recognised as generally persistent in the environment and are associated with a broad spectrum of health effects. Human exposure may result through e.g. consumption of contaminated food, beverages and inhalation. The European Commission issued the Commission Recommendation 2010/161/EU on the monitoring of PFASs in food in the Member States. Member States were recommended to monitor the presence of PFASs in food during the years 2010 and 2011. Data obtained, as well as data collected in the previous years, was required to be submitted to EFSA for assessment. A total of 4,881 samples collected in previous years (2000 – 2009) in seven Member States was considered for a detailed data analysis. Data were reported on different sets of 17 PFASs resulting in 24,204 single observations. Overall, only 11.8 % of the results were quantifiable results. Perfluorooctane sulfonate was the most frequent compound (31 %). Across food groups, PFASs were mostly found in ‘Fish offal’ (68 %), ‘Edible offal, game animals’ (64%), ‘Meat, game mammals’ (22 %), ‘Water molluscs’ (20 %), ‘Crustaceans’ (17 %) and ‘Fish meat’ (9.7 %). The highest contamination both in terms of frequency and mean level was found in meat and edible offal of game animals, fish and seafood, whereas meat and edible offal of farmed animals resulted less contaminated. To ensure an accurate assessment of the presence of PFASs in food and beverages, further improvement of the analytical methods, sampling and data reporting are recommended.

Fumonisin B1 and B2 in dry dog food: preliminary study on commercial samples

A reliable liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for the identification and quantification of fumonisin B1 (FB1) and fumonisin B2 (FB2) in complete and complementary formulations of dry dog foods has been optimised and validated. The sample preparation consists of an extraction step followed by immunoaffinity clean-up. Method performance characteristics were evaluated spiking blank samples on multiple levels in four replicates. The method showed appropriate performance characteristic: good values of recovery (>95.9%) and precision (RSD <6.8%), as well as satisfying linearity of calibration curves (r2≥0.99). The limit of quantification (LOQ) and detection (LOD) were 0.100 µg/g and 0.005 µg/g, respectively, both in complete and complementary dry dog foods and both for FB1 and FB2. This method was applied to 41 commercial samples in order to test its efficacy and gain some preliminary data about fumonisin contamination in dog food available in the Italian market. FB1 and FB2 were detected in all samples analysed and, in particular, 63.41% and 56.10% of the samples showed concentrations above the LOQ of FB1 and FB2, respectively. The levels of contamination quantified ranged between LOQ and 5.87 µg/g and 2.93 µg/g for FB1 and FB2, respectively. Among the complete dry dog foods, standard formulations generally showed an average fumonisins contamination higher than premium formulations. The guidance value of 5 µg/g set by Commission Recommendation 2006/576/EC for the sum of FB1 and FB2 was exceeded in two samples: one standard complete dry dog food showed a total fumonisin contamination of 5.19 µg/g and one complementary food a contamination of 8.80 µg/g.

Radiochemical Characterization of Phosphogypsum for Engineering Use

The new phosphogypsum (PG) waste management policy allowed to reduce the negative environmental impact of this residue by finding better alternatives uses with an extremely limited radiological impact. Building material could be one of these alternatives that could lead to the production of final products with good mechanical properties and very limited radionuclides content. The optimization of the radioactive levels in the building materials when PG is used for its production requires the previous knowledge of the content of naturally occurring radionuclides in the PG waste. This article aims the radioactive characterization of two different PG sources (from Spain (Fertiberia S.A., Huelva) and Tunisia (Sfax), before being incorporated in building materials. For this purpose, the natural selected radionuclides content belonging to uranium and thorium decay series and 40K was determined, by means of two different methods: i) gamma spectrometry with high-purity germanium detectors and ii) laser-induced kinetic phosphorimetry (KPA-11 Chemcheck Instruments Inc., Richland, WA). Also, the semiquantitative chemical composition, the mineralogical study and the morphological aspect of the PG samples were analysed. The results obtained from both techniques show that 226Ra and 210Po are the main source of the radioactivity in both studied PG samples. However, PG samples from Tunisia present low natural radionuclide levels (30.7 Bq?kg–1 average value for 238U, 188 Bq?kg–1(226Ra), 163 Bq?kg–1(210Pb), 12.4 Bq?kg–1 (232Th)) compared to the level of natural radionuclides in PG samples from Huelva (102 Bq?kg–1 average value for 238U, 520 Bq?kg–1(226Ra), 881 Bq?kg-1(210Pb) and 8 Bq?kg-1 (232Th). Both PG fulfil European Commission Recommendation (ECR) for the maximum activity concentrations of naturally-occurring radionuclides for industrial by product used in building materials in the European Union.

The New Strategy on Coexistence in the 2010 European Commission Recommendation

The European Union tried to establish a “coexistence” policy for the cultivation and processing of GM and non-GM products after the political agreement that put an end to the 1999-2004 moratorium.

PHASING OUT SECTOR-SPECIFIC REGULATION IN EUROPEAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS

The European Commission Recommendation 2007/879/EC has become known as an important innovation towards phasing out sector-specific regulation of electronic communications. Eleven of the eighteen markets are no longer regarded as needing to be subject to sector-specific ex ante regulation. Although the important role of active and potential competition in telecommunications markets has been mentioned, the economically founded implications of the “three-criteria-test” in the Commission Recommendation 2003/311/EC have not yet been implemented. As a consequence, the relevance of regulation in the remaining seven markets remains vague. To provide a superior alternative, the analytical concept of a disaggregated regulatory approach is applied. Sector-specific regulatory interventions are to be limited to network-specific market power. As a consequence, only two of the seven remaining markets in the European Commission Recommendation 2007/879/EC are possible candidates for regulation.

Optimisation and validation of an HPLC method for determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in mussels

A method for determination of 11 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in mussels ( Mytilus galloprovincialis), using HPLC coupled to a fluorescence detector, has been optimised and validated, according to European Community rules. Sample preparation involves alkaline digestion of mussel tissue, liquid–liquid extraction of organic compounds and solid phase clean-up. Accuracy and precision of the method were determined by a validation study, carried out to demonstrate that the method is useful for both screening purposes and confirmation. Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2007/333/EC stated the performance criteria for the analysis of the only benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) in food products of animal origin, since BaP is the most studied PAH. We extended the BaP analysis performance criteria to other 10 toxic PAHs (listed in Commission Recommendation (EC) No. 2005/108/EC) and the validation study was performed also in agreement with Commission Decision (EC) No. 2002/657/EC. The method was applied to investigate 27 mussel samples from actively producing shellfish plants located in Campania (Italy) and variable levels of PAHs were detected ranging from <0.2 to 16 μg/kg wet weight.

Welfare Analysis of Regulating Mobile Termination Rates in the UK (with an Application to the Orange/T-Mobile Merger)

This paper presents results from a calibrated welfare model of the UK mobile telephony market which includes many mobile networks; calls to and from the fixed network; networkbased price discrimination; and call externalities. The analysis focuses on the short-run effects of adopting lower mobile termination rates (MTRs) on total welfare, consumer surplus and profits. Our simulations show that reducing MTRs broadly in line with the recent European Commission Recommendation to either “long-run incremental cost”; reciprocal termination charges with fixed networks; or “bill-and-keep” (i.e. zero termination rates), increases social welfare, consumer surplus and networks’ profits. Depending on the strength of call externalities, social welfare may increase by as much as £360 million to £2.5 billion per year. The analysis thus lends support to a move away from fully-allocated cost pricing and towards much lower MTRs, with bill-and-keep frequently leading to the highest increase in welfare when call externalities matter. We also apply the model to estimate the welfare effects of the recently-approved merger between Orange and T-Mobile under two different scenarios concerning MTRs.

Exposure to indoor radon and natural gamma radiation in public workplaces in north-western Greece

Abstract Measurements of indoor radon levels and gamma dose rates were performed in 42 workplaces in Ioannina, north-western Greece. Radon concentrations followed a log-normal distribution with an arithmetic mean of 95 ± 51 Bq m −3 . In all cases, radon levels were below 400 Bq m −3 , which is the action level implemented by the Greek Regulation for Radiation Protection, in accordance with the European Commission recommendation. Comparing summer and winter measurements, no statistically significant seasonal variation was established. However, radon concentrations measured in basement and ground floor workplaces were significantly higher ( p −1 with a mean value of 0.62 mSv y −1 . Indoor exposure to natural gamma radiation entailed an average effective dose rate of 0.13 mSv y −1 , of which approximately 62% was due to terrestrial and the rest due to cosmic sources. The reported data contribute to the assessment of radon distribution and dose estimate at the national level.

Acrylamide content in potato chips on the Italian market determined by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

SummaryAn easy‐to‐use and simplified liquid chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometry (LC‐ESI (+)‐MS/MS) method was adopted to determine the amount of acrylamide in thirty‐two samples of potato chips purchased on the South Italian market in 2009. Extract produced from matrices was directly analysed without derivatisation, the use of isotopically labelled acrylamide or the use of clean up cartridges. Quality analytical data were reported. The limit of detection and limit of quantification were 6 μg kg−1 and 18 μg kg−1, respectively and recovery values ranged from 90.7–96.3%. The relative standard deviation (RSD) ranged between 2.1% and 5.8%. The values ranged between 27 and 1400 μg kg−1 and the arithmetic mean acrylamide content resulted 363 μg kg−1. According to Foot et al. [Food Additives and Contaminants, 24 (2007)(S1), 37] and considering 500 μg kg−1 as the minimum level possible with the actual available mitigation tools, the number of samples showing an acrylamide level higher than 500 μg kg−1 resulted to be 22%. This paper gives a contribution to data collection in response to the monitoring activity of EFSA and following the Commission Recommendation 2007/331/EC: really, the number of Italian samples of potato chips and potato products for which acrylamide values was reported in the ‘results on the monitoring of acrylamide’ of EFSA (http://www.efsa.europa.eu/cs/BlobServer/Report/datex_report_acrylamide_en,0.pdf?ssbinary=true, 2009) issued on 30 April 2009 is very limited.