The emergence of an accounting practice:The fabrication of a government accrual accounting system

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to add to our understanding of the nature of accrual accounting by examining the process involved in its construction, as a dynamic and controversial process. This paper reveals how it is built and constantly modified, reinforced or negated during the process of implementation. Design/methodology/approach This paper’s focus on a government initiative with multiple actors present in the laboratory. Specifically, this study offers a close examination of the day-to-day activities of a laboratory case study; it focuses on participant observation in video conference calls. The discussions held by the project teams are analyzed to extend our inquiry into the most intimate aspects of fact construction (Latour and Woolgar, 1979). These excerpts illustrate the processes of accrual accounting construction and open up the possibility of studying the emergence of accrual accounting through the lens of an action net. Findings The evidence collected reveals the absence of a well-defined template for implementing accrual accounting in government. These results reveal an elaborate process of improvisation and fabrication in the design of this accounting system and a fragile network in action. Originality/value Prior research on accrual accounting in government focuses on the examination of existing accrual accounting systems with somewhat puzzling results on lack of use. In this study, the perspective has been shifted from focusing on accrual accounting as self-evident (Lapsley et al., 2009) to examine its construction. This paper examines this tension between the apparent certainties as espoused by practitioners and the problematic nature of accrual accounting in government. It extends our knowledge of “black box accrual accounting,” and shows that it is a fluid object with significant discretion in the determination of practice. </jats:sec

Avaliação antropométrica de crianças entre os 6 e 14 anos de idade de um colégio em Lisboa

As a global epidemic, obesity is currently a significant public health challenge, especially in children. Childhood obesity is related to short term consequences, but also with an increased risk to develop many comorbidities in adult life, such as cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, strokes, and others. A cross-sectional study to assess the prevalence of normal weight, pre-obesity and obesity in school-aged children was designed. The final sample size analyzed included 81 participants (47 boys and 34 girls) aged between 6 and 14 years old. Pre-obesity and obesity were determined according to the BMI cut-off points adopted by the IOTF. Although no significant differences were found, the prevalence of pre-obesity and obesity for the total population studied was 16.00% and 6.20%, respectively, with 14.60%, and 4.30% for boys and 17.60% and 8.80% for girls. More girls were pre-obese and obese than boys except at ages 9 and 12. The same age that boys presented cardiometabolic risk associated with a WHtR>0.50. These results emphasize the importance of nutritional status assessment to develop appropriate actions to prevent childhood obesity.A obesidade é atualmente um grande desafio para a saúde pública, principalmente em crianças. A obesidade infantil está relacionada a consequências a curto prazo e a um elevado risco de desenvolver diversas comorbidades na vida adulta, como doenças cardiovasculares, diabetes tipo 2, acidentes vasculares, entre outros. Foi desenvolvido um estudo transversal para avaliar a prevalência de peso adequado, pré-obesidade e obesidade em crianças em idade escolar. O tamanho final da amostra analisada incluiu 81 participantes (47 do sexo masculino e 34 do sexo masculino) com idades entre 6 e 14 anos. Para determinar pré-obesidade e obesidade foram utilizados os pontos de corte internacionais para a idade e sexo da IOTF. Embora não tenham sido encontradas diferenças significativas entre sexos, a prevalência de pré-obesidade e obesidade foi de 16,00% e 6,20%, respetivamente para a população total, 14,60% e 4,30%, respetivamente, para indivíduos do sexo masculino e 17,60% e 8,80% respetivamente, para os do sexo feminino. As participantes do sexo feminino apresentavam mais pré-obesidade e obesidade do que os do sexo masculino, exceto aos 9 e 12 anos de idade, e os participantes do sexo masculino de 12 anos apresentaram risco cardiometabólico associado a uma RCE> 0,50. Esses resultados enfatizam a importância da avaliação do estado nutricional, com a finalidade de desenvolver ações apropriadas para prevenir a obesidade infantil.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

CONSIDERAÇÕES SOBRE DOENÇAS CRÔNICAS, NECESSIDADES DE CUIDADO EM SAÚDE E A RESPONSABILIZAÇÃO DAS FAMÍLIAS PELAS POLÍTICAS SOCIAIS

Resumo As condições crônicas de saúde correspondem a cerca de 60% das doenças no mundo. Estas doenças estão essencialmente vinculadas à determinação social da saúde e se caracterizam como uma importante questão de saúde pública. As repercussões trazidas por essas enfermidades trazem conseqüências sociais, elevados gastos em saúde pelas políticas sociais, além de trazerem conseqüências para os sujeitos acometidos pela doença, como limitações nas atividades de trabalho e lazer cujo agravamento pode levar à incapacidade e à dependência para as atividades da vida diária. Desta forma, problematizase que as necessidades de cuidados impugnadas pela doença acarretam em processos de responsabilização das famílias desses sujeitos frente à retração dos serviços públicos e das políticas sociais

The construction of an new accrual accounting system evidence from laboratory life: Campania region

2012 - 2013In recent decades the dissemination and the adoption of New Public Management (NPM) ideas has been significant within the new public sector (Hood 1991, 1995). The New Public Management is a model that privileges “quantification”, often by adopting managerial instruments from the business sector. The main points of NPM could be summarized as a replication of private sector practices focus on quantification, especially in accounting (Olson , et al., 1998). One such key innovation is the adoption of accrual accounting from business enterprise. The debates about the adoption of accrual accounting and financial reporting techniques by the public sector have been widespread over the last decade. Accrual-based system are not necessarily consistent with Public entities. Many scholars have discussed the (in)appropriateness of accrual-based accounting systems, as an alternative to cash-based or obligation-based systems (Pollit & Bouckaert, 2004; Broadbent & Guthrie, 2008). Conversely, some note that cash-based accounting does not allow the government to obtain all necessary information regarding liabilities and potential benefits related to investments (Christensen & Parker, 2010). Thus, the study of accrual accounting by governments is challenging for researches. In the literature on accrual accounting in the public sector, it is possible to distinguish at least two big opposite main streams, the first of these reflect questions as “why the adoption is desirable”. The study underlines the benefit and useful of information in terms of managerial effectiveness to move to accrual accounting (Hyndman & Connolly, 2011; Ryan, 1998); proponents of public sector reform depict bundles of techniques as politically neutral mechanisms for enhancing strategic decision making and for improved efficiency in evaluating performance and service costs (Guthrie, 1998). Most accrual accounting studies are ex-post studies; however, recently, the debate about accrual accounting has shifted recently onto implementation issue (Caccia & Steccolini, 2006; Lapsley & Wright, 2004; Broadbent & Guthrie, 2008). Thus, the second one ponders questions pertaining to the “complexity” in the translation of the accrual based methodologies adopted by private sector organizations into public sector agencies. This research is located in this stream. A literature review on NPM reveals that accrual accounting is depicted as self-evident in New Public Management literature (Lapsley, et al., 2009 ). However is problematic its implementations. After several years of this reform the unresolved question is: what is accrual accounting means in practice for government? For the majority of cases, our current knowledge is based on ex post studies, that is why we focus on the emergence of a system to enrich our understanding of what accrual accounting means in practice for government. This research analyzes the initial stage of development of an accrual accounting system. The research site is Italy, a country where a process of reform is underway across the whole government (Legislative Decree n. 118/2011). This research focus on the specific context of regional government also offers distinctive evidence because it has been neglected by the extant national (Caperchione, 2008) and international (Broadbent and Guthrie, 2008; Jagalla et al., 2011) literature. This research is largely informed by the social construction of science studies, whose most eminent scholar is Latour (Latour, 1979, 2013). Indeed, in science and technology studies there is a body of social studies that focuses on the creation of scientific facts and examines how the scientist interact to produce accepted technologies: the “social construction of technology” (SCOT). This research analyzes the initial stage of development of an accrual accounting system as the emergence of new technologies (Latour, 1987). Policy documents are the text by which government reform takes place. Adopting this framework, (policy as a blueprint) the analysis of relevant policy documents facilitates the capture of the meaning of accrual accounting and enhances understanding of how the process of reform takes place. Before analyzing the shaping of accrual accounting in the public sector, it is necessary to understand the meaning of accounting and to focus our attention on the analysis of two key elements behind a government process of reform: the first one is the policy documents by which the reform is disclosed; the second one is the networking of institutional actors behind the text and controversies between key institutional players, the policy makers. In this research the social-constructionism approach is adopted. The study setting for this research is the regional level of government (Campania region) where a trial period is underway. This work aims to participate in the debate on the effects of the decision to adopt accrual accounting in government, particularly in regional bodies. Campania is a region in the South of Italy where accrual accounting has not yet been implemented. Thus, the experimental introduction of accrual accounting in regional government offers an exceptional opportunity to study the manner by which such systems are enacted, constructed, fabricated (Preston, et al., 1992). The data for this study was collected in several ways: compiling and analyzing law and key policy documents, monitoring dedicated institutional websites. The discussions which took place through video- conversations in a region in the trial are analyzed. The main result of this research is: the adoption of accrual accounting is seen as self-evident by NPM advocates (Lapsley, et al., 2009 ). However, the evidence collected to date reveals an absence of a well- defined template for the implementation of accrual accounting in government. In particular problematic aspects in some technical issues: the interpretation and fabrications related to the shaping of the standard; the identification of administrative phenomena on an accrual basis, the introduction of new procedures to carry out the process, adaption of the structure for managing new information flows. This study contributes to understand the complexity of apparently neutral tools involved in a Public Sector reform. This research reveals the emergence of an accrual accounting system that relates to technical, managerial, and political influence. Accrual accounting implementation in central government has been studied in many countries with similar findings of difficulties in detecting effective systems in use. More recent studies of accrual accounting in Australia highlight the significant role of management consultants as interpreters of what accrual accounting is, or should be, the authors talked about a phantom image of accrual accounting” (Christensen and Parker, 2010). A recent study reveals that the reform in UK established accounting practice was reshaped by the adopters of accrual accounting, but the subsequent practices were still very different from private sector practice. The policy outcome is defined as “accounting mutations” (Lapsley, 2012). This work aims to participate in the debate on the effects of the decision to adopt accrual accounting in government, particularly in regional bodies. In the past, this perspective has been deployed in studies of accounting in action (Miller & O’Leary, 1990; Robson, 1992; Preston et al., 1992). [edited by author]XII n.s

Adherence to the Mediterranean diet in Portuguese university students

Abstract Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) is one of the most recognized healthy dietary patterns. Despite the beneficial effects of healthy eating habits on academic performance, university students make unhealthy food choices. Cross sectional information regarding MedDiet adherence was collected in 305 students from the Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, from different academic courses, related or not with health sciences. To assess the MedDiet adherence, the participants completed a validated 14-point questionnaire. Approximately 29% of the total population presented poor ( 10 points) MedDiet adherence. Nutrition students presented the highest MedDiet adherence of all the students analyzed. Pharmaceutical students, although being health professionals, showed poor adherence to the MedDiet, similar to students from courses not related to health sciencesA dieta mediterrânica (DM) é um dos padrões alimentares saudáveis mais reconhecidos. Apesar dos efeitos benéficos dos hábitos alimentares saudáveis no desempenho académico, os estudantes universitários apresentam escolhas alimentares pouco saudáveis. Foi feita uma análise observacional transversal sobre a adesão à DM em 305 estudantes da Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, de diferentes cursos académicos, relacionados ou não com as ciências da saúde. Para avaliação da adesão à DM, os participantes responderam a um questionário validado de 14 pontos. Aproximadamente, 29% do total da população apresentou fraca (10 pontos) adesão à DM. Os alunos de ciências farmacêuticas e os outros estudantes não relacionados com as ciências da saúde apresentaram um risco significativamente maior de baixa adesão à DM. Os estudantes de nutrição apresentaram a maior adesão à DM, em comparação com todos os alunos analisados. Estudantes de ciências farmacêuticas, apesar de serem profissionais de saúde, apresentaram baixa adesão à DM, semelhante aos alunos de cursos não relacionados com ciências da saúdeinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Model Predictive Control Allocation of Systems with Different Dynamics

International audienceSeveral systems are integrated in passenger cars. Some of them are just redundant systems due to safety requirements. Others, are completely different and can interact with each other as long as they are operating inside the same vehicle. Control allocation methods have been successfully implemented in advanced aircrafts to avoid conflicts, especially in the context of redundant systems. In this paper, we will rather focus on coordinating non-redundant advanced chassis systems with different dynamics. This difference in dynamics can be especially problematic when systems exhibit different communication delays. Model Predictive Control Allocation (MPCA) methods are therefore investigated in order to activate the right system at the right moment. Results show that particularly when the most effective system is saturated, another system with a different time delay can be activated few steps before saturation to instantly take over the maneuver. With good knowledge of actuator dynamics and higher computation power, MPCA methods are able to solve complex problems in severe situations

Adaptive Robust Vehicle Motion Control for Future Over-Actuated Vehicles

International audienceMany challenges still need to be overcome in the context of autonomous vehicles. These vehicles would be over-actuated and are expected to perform coupled maneuvers. In this paper, we first discuss the development of a global coupled vehicle model, and then we outline the control strategy that we believe should be applied in the context of over-actuated vehicles. A gain-scheduled H ∞ controller and an optimization-based Control Allocation algorithms are proposed. High-fidelity co-simulation results show the efficiency of the proposed control logic and the new possibilities that could offer. We expect that both car manufacturers and equipment suppliers would join forces to develop and standardize the proposed control architecture for future passenger cars

Degree of association between the body mass index (BMI), waist-hip ratio (WHR), waist-height ratio (WHtR), body adiposity index (BAI) and conicity index (CI) in physically active older adults

Background: Aging is the main factor in the eventual development of cardiovascular disease (CVD) the prevalence of which is increasing progressively along with life expectancy. Therefore, it is essential to identify the most effective indicators for predicting the possible development of CVD. Anthropometric indices provide useful information for CVD risk evaluation. These are widely used for the simplicity of their estimates and their high correlation in the positive identification of CVD. The most used in the general population are the body mass index (BMI), the waist to hip ratio (WHR) and waist to height ratio (WHtR), body adiposity index (BAI) and conicity index (CI). However, the behavior and association of such indices in physically active people over 65 years of age is not well established. Purpose: To analyze the behavior and association of the BMI, WHR, WHtR, BAI and CI in a group of active people over 65 years of age. Methods: A group of 608 European participants with a mean age of 68.05 ± 5.43yrs, composed of 74.2% female and 28.5% male, was randomly selected and evaluated for anthropometric parameters and body composition by a bio-impedance measuring device with four electrode sensor systems. A descriptive analysis was completed via measures of central tendency (mean and standard deviation) and percentage analysis. As the distribution of the sample was normal (parametric), an association analysis was carried out through the Pearson correlation coefficient (r), in order to determine the relationship between anthropometric and body composition indices. A P value of <0.05 was considered to indicate statistical significance. Results: The results show that BMI, BAI and WHtR are significantly related to % body fat (Fat %), with BMI reaching the highest correlation (r ¼ 0.612), followed by BAI (r ¼ 0.556) and WHtR (r ¼ 0.521). When the association between indices is considered, the WHtR and BAI and WHtR and BMI are those with the highest significant correlation (r ¼ 0.981 and r ¼ 0,789, respectively). As for the effects of gender, good to strong correlations were found between the BMI and the WHtR (r ¼ 0.731 for female, r ¼ 0.568 for male) and between the WHtR and the BAI (r ¼ 0.989 for female, r ¼ 0.985 for male). Conclusion: The most accurate anthropometric index for indicating the level of body fat present in an active population of 65 years of age or over seems to be the BMI, followed by the BAI and WHtR. However, the degree of association between body fat and anthropometric parameters seems to be conditioned by gender.Universidade de Vigo/CISU