Study on the accounting regime of limited liability micro companies. CEPS Project Report. Final study. July 2019

This is the study on the accounting regime of limited liability micro companies for the Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (DG FISMA). The study consists of a quantitative and qualitative assessment of the application of the super simplified reporting regime for micro companies as defined in the new Accounting Directive (2013/34/EU). This study finds that the EU had, at the end of 2016, 16.8 million limited liability companies in the scope of the Directive. Among these companies are 14.2 million companies (84.4 %) that would be defined as micro companies according to the maximum criteria in the Directive and 11.7 million companies (69.7 %) according to the national size criteria in the 22 Member States that have implemented the super simplified regime. Based on the available information from a survey among micro companies and other stakeholders in eight EU Member States, we estimate the current one-off costs of familiarising with the new regime at EUR 27 million and the ongoing burden reduction at EUR 106 million per year. If size criteria were fully aligned with the Directive, the costs and benefits would be slightly higher. However, it clearly emerges that the extensive lack of awareness about the super simplified regime appears a far more important factor than the different thresholds adopted in national legislation. Under the assumption of full awareness among micro companies, the estimated costs and benefits would increase by almost a factor of ten to EUR 0.33 billion in one-off costs and EUR 1.29 billion in annual benefits from a reduced administrative burden. This study is prepared by CEPS in collaboration with LSE Enterprise and Bureau van Dijk for the European Commission, Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union. The information and views set out in this study are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Commission. The European Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this study. Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on the European Commission’s behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein. The original paper and the executive summary are also available on the European Commission’s webpage. © European Union, 2019

In vivo migration of labeled autologous natural killer cells to liver metastases in patients with colon carcinoma

BACKGROUND: Besides being the effectors of native anti-tumor cytotoxicity, NK cells participate in T-lymphocyte responses by promoting the maturation of dendritic cells (DC). Adherent NK (A-NK) cells constitute a subset of IL-2-stimulated NK cells which show increased expression of integrins and the ability to adhere to solid surface and to migrate, infiltrate, and destroy cancer. A critical issue in therapy of metastatic disease is the optimization of NK cell migration to tumor tissues and their persistence therein. This study compares localization to liver metastases of autologous A-NK cells administered via the systemic (intravenous, i.v.) versus locoregional (intraarterial, i.a.) routes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A-NK cells expanded ex-vivo with IL-2 and labeled with (111)In-oxine were injected i.a. in the liver of three colon carcinoma patients. After 30 days, each patient had a new preparation of (111)In-A-NK cells injected i.v. Migration of these cells to various organs was evaluated by SPET and their differential localization to normal and neoplastic liver was demonstrated after i.v. injection of (99m)Tc-phytate. RESULTS: A-NK cells expressed a donor-dependent CD56(+)CD16(+)CD3(- )(NK) or CD56(+)CD16(+)CD3(+ )(NKT) phenotype. When injected i.v., these cells localized to the lung before being visible in the spleen and liver. By contrast, localization of i.a. injected A-NK cells was virtually confined to the spleen and liver. Binding of A-NK cells to liver neoplastic tissues was observed only after i.a. injections. CONCLUSION: This unique study design demonstrates that A-NK cells adoptively transferred to the liver via the intraarterial route have preferential access and substantial accumulation to the tumor site

The Value of Imaging in Standing Position in Preoperative Breast Lymphoscintigraphy

Purpose: Breast lymphoscintigraphy is an accurate technique, but in a minority of cases the sentinel node (SN) visualization cannot be achieved or can be very difficult. We evaluated the potential clinical advantages and limitations of performing imaging in the standing position. The aim was to establish if this examination modality is quicker and helpful in the presence of "hidden" SN, checking also for any influence of SN skin landmarking in the upright position on the correct intraoperative SN identification. The overall objective was to verify if the standing position can be routinely used in breast lymphoscintigraphy. Methods: A total of 144 patients underwent lymphoscintigraphy in both standing and supine positions. In both modalities, a skin landmark was set coincident with the SN orthogonal projections. The acquisition times of 2 groups (each consisting of 45 patients) examined with the standing or supine acquisition modality, were compared. Results: In 6 cases with hidden SN and in 34 cases with difficult or partial visualization in one of the supine views, the standing protocol was effective and led to better and quicker visualization of lymph nodes (median examination time: 25.5 minutes standing, 35.5 minutes supine). Significant differences in skin landmark position between the 2 modalities were present only in overweight patients and in large breasts. This, however, did not have a negative impact on successful intraoperative localization of SN with the gamma probe. Conclusions: Standing acquisition resulted to be a faster, easier, and more accurate examination protocol and can be used as the routine method for SN detection in breast lymphoscintigraphy

Study on the accounting regime of limited liability micro companies

status: publishe

What Comes After the Last Chance Commission? CEPS Policy Priorities for 2019-2024

When the current European Commission began its mandate on 1 November 2014 under President Jean-Claude Juncker, it did so in highly inauspicious political circumstances. The EU was still suffering one of the most severe financial and economic crises since World War II; unemployment had hit unprecedentedly high levels; intergovernmental emergency measures burdened the Union’s democratic quality; and the trust in European institutions of a politics-fatigued electorate had hit an all-time low. President-elect Juncker published ‘political guidelines’ to mark ‘a new start for Europe’.1 This ‘agenda for jobs, growth, fairness and democratic change’ served to limit legislative action to ten policy fields (see Box 1) and restructure the internal set-up of the College to enable the so-called ‘last-chance Commission’ to turn the corner.2 The revised structure was supposed to channel the Commission’s attention towards ‘big-ticket’ items – easing off on regulation of eco-friendly light bulbs and water-saving shower heads. But political circumstances deteriorated and blew the Commission off course. There was an unexpectedly high influx of people seeking refuge on the European continent; severe instability in Europe’s direct neighbourhood; terrorist attacks on home soil; and a rise of populist forces across Europe. The ‘poly-crisis’ revealed deep divisions and incompatible preferences for problemsolving strategies among member states, which undermined the unity of the EU and triggered a far-reaching debate on the future direction of the bloc

LIDAL, a Time-of-Flight Radiation Detector for the International Space Station: Description and Ground Calibration

LIDAL (Light Ion Detector for ALTEA, Anomalous Long-Term Effects on Astronauts) is a radiation detector designed to measure the flux, the energy spectra and, for the first time, the time-of-flight of ions in a space habitat. It features a combination of striped silicon sensors for the measurement of deposited energy (using the ALTEA device, which operated from 2006 to 2012 in the International Space Station) and fast scintillators for the time-of-flight measurement. LIDAL was tested and calibrated using the proton beam line at TIFPA (Trento Institute for Fundamental Physics Application) and the carbon beam line at CNAO (National Center for Oncology Hadron-therapy) in 2019. The performance of the time-of-flight system featured a time resolution (sigma) less than 100 ps. Here, we describe the detector and the results of these tests, providing ground calibration curves along with the methodology established for processing the detector’s data. LIDAL was uploaded in the International Space Station in November 2019 and it has been operative in the Columbus module since January 2020