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Background The anomalous circumflex coronary artery (ACCA) from the right coronary artery or sinus of Valsalva lies in proximity to the aortic valve annulus. This study sought to determine the prevalence of injury to the ACCA during surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). Methods We queried the databases of the Departments of Cardiovascular Surgery and Cardiovascular Diseases of Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota for all patients who underwent SAVR in the setting of an ACCA. The study investigators identified 31 patients operated on from September 2002 through December 2018. The end point was myocardial ischemia in the distribution of the ACCA. Results The patients’ mean age was 69 ± 11 years, sex was female in 8 patients (26%), and ejection fraction was 62% (interquartile range, 59% to 68%). No patient underwent exploration of the ACCA, but 5 (16%) had a coronary artery bypass graft to the ACCA. No patient demonstrated myocardial infarction or underwent perioperative intervention on the ACCA; however, discharge echocardiography showed new lateral wall motion abnormality in 5 (16%) patients that was associated with a reduction in ejection fraction of −11% from baseline (P = .007). Coronary artery bypass graft to the ACCA was not protective of new lateral wall motion abnormality (P = .968). Mortality was 34% ± 10% at 10 years and was not associated with new lateral wall motion abnormality (log-rank test P = .183). Conclusions Clinically apparent myocardial infarction was not identified after SAVR, but echocardiographic evidence of myocardial ischemia in the distribution of the ACCA was identified in 16% of patients. Protective adjuvant intervention on the ACCA may be indicated. Further study is warranted.

Whilst there is an array of literature written about students’ skills development, there is a gap between skills development and what students can learn through a membership of professional accounting bodies. This study examines how being connected with a professional body, the Association of Chartered and Certified Accountants (ACCA) from the outset of their degree helps awareness of developing their employability skills via belonging to the profession. Using an online questionnaire, focus group meetings, and email reminders about the ACCA services offered, the findings show that ACCA student membership begins to help students identify with the profession and brings awareness to planning and developing both their technical and employability skills, assisting them in entry to the profession and the world of work. The results from this research illuminate the importance of integrating student membership into the curriculum so that students identify early with the career that they have chosen.

Even though corporate scandals and bankruptcy in US and Europe and Asia show some certain evidence on weak corporate governance, weak internal control system and weak audit, Global corporate governance forum noted corporate governance has become an issue of worldwide importance. Therefore, this paper chooses a different analytical approach and among its aims is to give some systematic opinions.First, it classifies Eastern Africa representative corporate governance (CG) standards into two (2) groups: Malawi and Kenya latest CG principles covered in group 1 and, group 2, including corporate governance guidelines from EVCA 2005, so-called relative good CGgroup, while it uses ACCA and CFA principles as reference. Second, it , through analysis, shows differences between above set of standards which are and have been used as reference principles for many relevant organizations. Third, it establishes a selected comparative set of standards for Eastern Africa representative corporate governance system in accordance to international standards.Last but not least, this paper covers some ideas and policy suggestions.

In the article there were considered the problematic aspects of accountants’ certification in Ukraine, as well as the relevance of professional certification as a universal tool for recognition of qualifications in accounting in professional circles and in the labor market. The most popular institutions and organizations which are specializing in the training of accounting professionals in the field of accounting ACCA, CIPA, IFA, CPA, CIMA, ITFA, CAP, CFA are cited. The problematic approaches to organization of education in the country are analyzed in comparison with the international experience, where higher education is not required for the professional activity of accountant, but the emphasis are made on proceeding of professional development. The reasons for the lack of readiness of enterprises and companies to finance training programs for improving the skills of accountants and obtaining certificates are justified. A detailed analysis of the functional differences in work between traditional and certified accountants has been carried out. It has proved that the key indicator that can confirm the qualification and professional training of an employee in all aspects of accounting according to International standards is a relevant certificate, which is not only recognized by international accounting experts, but also the fundamental basis for creating a confidence base for foreign investors and business-partners.

Contextual status quo of The National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) in India as a self-governing controller to audit the auditors has rehabilitated an argument on “peer review” and “independent review”. Whereas the global exercise is that of self-governing misunderstanding above the auditors, the professional body of auditors in India, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is divergent to the move of the government to employ a regulator over auditors. This paper scrutinizes the audit procedures and audit format followed by India, the UK, and the USA. The professional courses that are offered to tune the auditor’s professional skills, qualities, and knowledge, such as, CA, CPA, and ACCA followed by these countries are reviewed. Financial statements reviewed by a self-regulating auditor and following the auditing principles stimulate self-assurance. The study treasures that all participants plus committed public accountants trust that the present state-run of auditing is not acceptable in India as parallel to the UK and USA. For the study, the data is collected from audit professionals, financial experts, academicians, and stakeholders by the aid of a well-structured questionnaire (5-point Likert scale). Factor Analysis (FA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) along with Inferential Analysis is calculated. In conclusion, the path diagram is drawn with the help of Structural Equation Modelling. The discussions highlight that to elevate a country like India, adapting stringent rules and regulations is necessary to ensure that profession of an audit always serves towards a good impact in terms of factors such as auditor’s fees, auditors’ size, and auditors’ reputation. The findings and suggestions may be useful for policymakers, academicians, and stakeholders.

To move Malaysia to a developing nation, 60,000 professionally qualified accountants are needed by 2030. However, as of April 2017, only 33,000 accountants have registered as members of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA). The purpose of this research is to analyse students’ behaviour on the motivational factors to obtain professional accounting qualifications. This study gathered the response of 187 students as samples from the only public university in Malaysia that offers ACCA professional accounting certificate. The results show that most students are motivated by intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, while there is no relationship between third parties’ influence and demographic factors with the decision to pursue a professional accounting qualification. Keywords: Professional qualified; intrinsic motivation; extrinsic motivation; accounting students eISSN: 2398-4287© 2020. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v5i15.2454.

A statement by ACCA in May 2009 that any corporate governance system should consider factors such as transparency, accountability, fairness and responsibility, raises issues in this field over past few years. There are also a few researches which have been done in the field of international corporate governance standards. This paper chooses a different analytical approach and among its aims is to give some certain systematic conclusions. First, it separates international standards into groups: ICGN and OECD latest principles covered in group 1 while it uses ACCA principles as reference. Second, it identified differences between these above set of standards which are and have been used as reference principles for many countries and organizations. Third, it aims to build a selected comparative set of standards for corporate governance system in accordance to international standards. Last but not least, this paper illustrates some ideas and policy suggestions.

Research Question: the study identifies the reasons behind the country choice between different IPSAS adoption approaches. Motivation: Our motivation is guided by the growing interest in financial reporting for the public sector. In this sense, this study is distinguished from the former articles by increasing the extent of adoption into four categories instead of dividing it into two classes (adopters vs. non-adopters). Besides, this paper differs from previous studies by relying jointly on not only the institutional and the contingency but also the economic network factors to explain countries’ decision to adopt IPSAS. Idea: In this paper, we deal with two objectives. Our first aim is to propose a new measure of the extent of the adoption of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). On the other hand, our second aim is to identify the factors influencing the IPSAS adoption decision. Data: Different sources are used: the IFAC’s websites, the ACCA’s website, the big audit firms websites, international banks and countries Ministries of Finance websites. Tools: Fifteen explanatory variables were retained to explain the variation in the extent of IPSAS adoption of 84 countries. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is adopted to summarize the huge quantity of information presented in the explanatory variables. Then, a multinomial logistic regression is used to test our hypotheses. Findings: Our main results show that coercive and mimetic institutional pressures positively affect the adoption of cash-basis IPSAS. Whereas, the good economic governance has a significantly impact on the full accrual-basis IPSAS adoption. The close of economic relationships with international partners pushes countries to adopt modified accrual-basis IPSAS. Contribution: These findings help non-adopting countries that intend to move in the IPSAS direction to predict the form of their future adoption.

Organizations certifying accountants, such as the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), play an important role in strengthening their professional status. Being accredited by them has recently become the goal of many institutions which offer accounting programs. Our paper aims to investigate the impact of ACCA accreditation on the accounting education in Poland, as well as to identify the important aspects of the collaboration between ACCA and accounting educators. The findings are based on a survey conducted among 50 faculty members from seven Polish universities. According to the respondents the accreditation increases the prestige of the offered teaching programs and has an important impact on the organization of exams taken by the students participating in accredited courses. The ACCA engagement in collaboration with universities consists mostly in promotion of the accredited programs. Despite some limitation the study provides new insights into the problem of accounting education in the accreditation processes context

Assessing the effectiveness of the internal control system in the public sector is one of the surest way to identify if public institutions are working effectively to achieve corporate objectives. The objective of the study is to assess the effectiveness of the internal control systems in the MMDA’S. The study made use of convenience and purposive sampling method to sample data. It was observed that there is an existence of internal control system in the Adenta Municipal Assembly and it is very effective in the achievement of the Assembly’s objectives. The Writer recommended that the government should employ more personnel who are members of the professional bodies such as the ICA Ghana, ACCA, and CIMA into the unit, this is because with their knowledge and in-depth study of their profession it will help to reduce the problems of internal control as highlighted in this work.

Assessing the effectiveness of the internal control system in the public sector is one of the surest way to identify if public institutions are working effectively to achieve corporate objectives. The objective of the study is to assess the effectiveness of the internal control systems in the MMDA’S. The study made use of convenience and purposive sampling method to sample data. It was observed that there is an existence of internal control system in the Adenta. Municipal Assembly and it is very effective in the achievement of the Assembly’s objectives. The Writer recommended that the government should employ more personnel who are members of the professional bodies such as the ICA Ghana, ACCA, and CIMA into the unit, this is because with their knowledge and in-depth study of their profession it will help to reduce the problems of internal control as highlighted in this work.

With the development of China's socialist market economy, the number of Management Accountants is increasing. The Ministry of finance has taken a number of measures to promote the reform and development of accounting. In today's era of knowledge economy, organizational change and social change, management accounting must integrate theory with practice, and achieve the close combination of Finance and business, so as to promote the expansion of enterprise scale and the growth of economic benefits. Based on the "big data driven" perspective, the College of accounting of our university and ACCA jointly select professionals to form a team, combined with questionnaire survey and enterprise interview, this paper studies the industry finance integration oriented management accounting talent training mechanism. In order to ensure that the questionnaire design meets the actual situation of the enterprise, the team members interviewed 20 enterprise financial leaders before designing the question naire to basically understand the application of enterprise management accounting tools and the training methods of management accounting personnel. At the same time, the content of the questionnaire was adjusted and determined. The questionnaires of both sides were published online, and 204 questionnaires were collected, and 4 invalid questionnaires were deleted, there were 200 valid questionnaires. Statistical and comparative analysis of data using statistical SPSS software, the difference between groups was statistically significant (P

Background Non-Whites are more likely to suffer from cognitive impairment and complications of atrial fibrillation (AF) than Whites, though Whites are more likely to be diagnosed with AF. We examined whether non-Whites with AF are biologically older than Whites with AF and whether accelerated biological aging is associated with cognitive functioning. Methods We used baseline data from the ongoing Systematic Assessment of Geriatric Elements in Atrial Fibrillation prospective cohort study, collected 2016–2020 across ambulatory care practices in Massachusetts and Georgia. Of 1244 enrolled, 974 participants with full biological data were included in the present analysis. Accelerated aging (AccA) was calculated based on a combination of biomarkers associated with age and physiological “wear and tear.” Findings The main outcome was score on Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Non-Whites had 2.9 years more AccA than Whites and higher AccA was associated with a lower MoCA score among both Whites (-0.06, 95% CI: -0.10, -0.03) and non-Whites (-0.14, 95% CI: -0.27, 0.02). This association was significantly greater among non-whites (-0.11, 95% CI: -0.20, -0.01). Interpretation Non-White AF patients are functionally “older” than their White counterparts and experience a stronger deleterious association between AccA and cognition. These findings underscore the importance of taking functional age into account when treating patients with AF, particularly non-White patients, to enhance treatment and improve AF outcomes. Funding The SAGE-AF study is supported by Grant R01HL126911 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).

In Ukraine, as of 2019, there is no nationally functioning system of training and certification of audit specialists. In such circumstances, it is expedient for regulators (especially the Audit Chamber of Ukraine) to use the experience of internationally recognized professional organizations of accountants and auditors. The systems of certification of such organizations are based on the following principles: 1) introduction of a system of interrelated and interdependent training courses and corresponding examinations organized in levels by complexity and direction (theoretical or practical); 2) the requirement for the necessary practical experience in the profession. In this case, the certification system is built up by public professional organizations which also are either authorized regulators or those whose certification is recognized by the relevant government bodies. In Ukraine it is advisable to develop its own national certification system for professional accountants and auditors, using the experience of such organizations as the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS), Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA), American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), etc. In this case, the certification system should meet the needs of the Ukrainian market for independent auditors and provide the opportunity for professionals to obtain the necessary certificate in a timeframe of 2-3 years. An interim solution may be to organize a system of professional training of specialists in Ukraine according to the programs, syllabuses, and using original materials of international professional organizations with the subsequent recognition of these certificates following the Ukrainian legislation. One of these certifications can be the certification of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) due to its high authority, reputation, and the optimal ratio of duration and quality of training. The ICAS CA qualification consists of 11 technical disciplines and exams as well as a business ethics exam; it requires a training contract and relevant work experience.Article received 25.04.2019

The teaching and learning of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are important for global accounting convergence. In China, many accounting students learn IFRS through education programs of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). Based on a survey of 402 Chinese undergraduates registered as ACCA students, we investigate their study approaches and performance in learning IFRS. Study approaches are identified as the deep and surface ones based on the Revised Two-factor Study Process Questionnaire developed by Biggs, Kember, and Leung (2001). Results show that the deep approach is adopted more by Chinese students at the ACCA’s professional level, with better adaptability and longer preparation time. We also find that the deep approach contributes to better learning performance in ACCA’s global exams at both the fundamentals and professional levels. The findings are meaningful to IFRS education in non-English-speaking countries.

Recent progress in technologies and medical science have given momentum to Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) system in generalizing human-computer communication, specifically for the people struggling with neuro-muscular disabilities. Currently, BCI systems heavily rely upon efficient electroencephalograms (EEG) signal detection from the current available solutions due to their noninvasiveness. However, the existing BCI systems works efficiently for less number of user instructions. Therefore, in this study, Adaptive Correlation based Component Analysis (ACCA) method is proposed to establish a proper Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) system between user and computer. Here, correlation analysis is performed to identify spatial probability for a particular frequency using Adaptive Correlation based Component Analysis (ACCA) method. Maximum correlation between EEG signal phases triggered by both single and multiple flickers are generated using ACCA method to efficiently extract SSVEP component. The performance of proposed ACCA method is analysed against traditional SSVEP extraction methods in terms of classification accuracy, time consumption and Information Transfer Rate (ITR) for different subjects.

Corruption poses an enormous challenge to all domestic and foreign enterprises operating in Russia (Bremmer 2020). The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) estimated the Russian “shadow” economy to be around 40% of nominal GDP. This makes it the fourth largest in the world, behind Azerbaijan, Nigeria, and Ukraine. Transparency International (TI), in its corruption perception index, ranked Russia as low as the 138 least corrupt country in 2018 out of the 180 countries in the world. This is much higher than other major developing economies, the worst amongst BRICS member states (Table 23.1, Fig. 23.1).

Cooperative, connected and automated mobility (CCAM) across Europe requires harmonized solutions to support cross-border seamless operation. The possibility of providing CCAM services across European countries has an enormous innovative business potential. However, the seamless provision of connectivity and the uninterrupted delivery of real-time services pose technical challenges which 5G technologies aim to solve. The situation is particularly challenging given the multi-country, multi-operator, multi-telco-vendor, multi-car-manufacturer and cross-network-generation scenario of any cross-border scenario. Motivated by this, the 5GCroCo project, with a total budget of 17 million Euro and partially funded by the European Commission, aims at validating 5G technologies in the Metz-Merzig-Luxembourg cross-border 5G corridor considering the borders between France, Germany and Luxembourg. The activities of 5GCroCo are organized around three use cases: (1) Tele-operated Driving, (2) high-definition map generation and distribution for automated vehicles and (3) Anticipated Cooperative Collision Avoidance (ACCA). The results of the project help contribute to a true European transnational CCAM. This paper describes the overall objectives of the project, motivated by the discussed challenges of cross-border operation, the use cases along with their requirements, the technical 5G features that will be validated and provides a description of the planned trials within 5GCroCo together with some initial results.

This chapter concerns the question whether graduates from the Faculty of Finance and Accounting at the University of Economics in Prague have professional adequacy in accountancy. The Faculty has been convinced that one possible way of providing a proof of the adequacy of education in accountancy can be ensured by accreditation received from professional accounting institutions respected worldwide by academics and by employers as well. This chapter, therefore, describes accreditation process provided by ACCA and ICAEW and results from accreditation process at the Faculty of Finance and Accounting.

Effective management of cardiogenic shock (CS) is hampered by a lack of evidence-based information. This is a high-mortality condition, without clear, evidence-based guidelines for perioperative management, specifically-a lack of target endpoints for treatment (e.g.: mean arterial pressure or oxygenation), utility of regional care systems or the benefits of palliative care. The Acute Cardiovascular Care Association (ACCA) of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) recently published a position statement that aimed to offer contemporary guidance on the diagnosis and treatment of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) complicated by CS. Herein, we review this complex clinical topic and review the ACCA statement on AMI associated with CS, with a focus on relevance to perioperative management.

Satellite image classification is a challenging task if the input labels are not sufficiently accurate. The automatic cloud cover assessment (ACCA), for example, aims to classify the cloud covers of satellite images as alphabetical categories from A to E showing the escalating levels of clouds; however, those labels for training are often obtained by a subjective qualitative assessment, i.e., they may be not accurate. Therefore, this paper studies how to conduct ACCA under this circumstance. We propose a label smoothing approach and improve the accuracy around 3 percentage points (e.g., from 75.9% to 78.4% for ResNet network) without changing other network structures and parameters.

Cooperative, connected and automated mobility(CCAM) services along different countries require cross-bordersolutions to support seamless delivery of services in a multi-operator, multi-telco-vendor, and multi-car-manufacturer sce-nario. The H2020 5GCroCo project will trial 5G technologies inthe European cross-border corridor along France, Germany andLuxembourg, as well as in five small-scale trial sites. 5GCroCoanalyses three cross-border use cases: tele-operated driving, high-definition map generation and distribution for autonomous vehi-cles, and anticipated cooperative collision avoidance (ACCA). Thispaper presents the infrastructure, control architecture, backendsoftware, and end-to-end service orchestration of the cross-borderACCA use case deployed in the Barcelona small-scale trial site., Grant numbers : AURORAS - Autonomic and disaggregated optical networks leveraging edge computing and photonic technologies (RTI2018-099178-B-I00).

Objectives Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACCA) is an uncommon primary malignancy of salivary glands and rarely nonsalivary tissue. This study aims to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of ACCA on fine needle aspiration (FNA) material and the associated challenges. Methods A search on electronic pathology database from 2006 to 2016 at The Johns Hopkins Hospital found 83 cytology specimens diagnosed as ACCA, 49 with histology follow-up. Results Fifty-two females and 31 males were found ranging from 37 to 95 years old (mean 62.5). The tumor size was 1 to 11.5 cm (mean 3.4). FNAs were performed on 46 salivary glands (54.88%), 12 head and neck masses (14.45%), 9 lymph nodes (10.84%), 9 tracheas/lungs (10.84%), 4 vaginal/perineum/gluteal masses (4.82%), and one for each kidney, liver and abdominal/pelvic mass (1.21%). 83 FNA diagnoses revealed 3 nondiagnostics (3.61%), 20 neoplasms with unspecified features (24.10%), 30 basaloid neoplasms (36.14%), 18 ACCA (21.69%), and 12 other malignancies (14.46%). The accuracy of FNA in diagnosis of ACCA comparing to histologic follow-up in 49 cases was 87.5% sensitivity, 66.67% specificity, with 92.11% positive predictive value and 54.55% negative predictive value. The most common mimicker was pleomorphic adenoma. Conclusion ACCA can be diagnosed not only in the salivary gland FNAs, but also respiratory tract, intra-abdominal, kidney, and gynecologic regions. FNA is a preferred technique to assess mass lesions. However, a diagnosis of ACCA on FNA material should be rendered with caution since there are benign and malignant neoplasms with overlapping features. Awareness of prior medical history and ancillary studies can improve the diagnosis.

The ubiquitous Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) connectivity enables successful deployments of emerging vehicular services around the world. However, geographical cross-border scenarios are challenging for vehicular services deployments over heterogeneous infrastructure and at the same time vehicles to maintain seamless service connectivity across borders. In this paper, we present the development and validation of an experimental vehicle On-Board Unit (OBU) for the execution of Anticipated Cooperative Collision Avoidance (ACCA) services in cross-border scenarios. The OBU flexibly supports the integration of different V2X protocols to communicate with heterogeneous cloud-based services offered by different Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) within the ACCA service infrastructure.

Risk assessment and risk prediction have become essential in the prevention of cardiovascular disease. Even though risk prediction tools are recommended in the European guidelines, they are not adequately implemented in clinical practice. Risk prediction tools are meant to estimate prognosis in an unbiased and reliable way and to provide objective information on outcome probabilities. They support informed treatment decisions about the initiation or adjustment of preventive medication. Risk prediction tools facilitate risk communication to the patient and their family, and this may increase commitment and motivation to improve their health. Over the years many risk algorithms have been developed to predict 10-year cardiovascular mortality or lifetime risk in different populations, such as in healthy individuals, patients with established cardiovascular disease and patients with diabetes mellitus. Each risk algorithm has its own limitations, so different algorithms should be used in different patient populations. Risk algorithms are made available for use in clinical practice by means of - usually interactive and online available - tools. To help the clinician to choose the right tool for the right patient, a summary of available tools is provided. When choosing a tool, physicians should consider medical history, geographical region, clinical guidelines and additional risk measures among other things. Currently, the website is the only risk prediction tool providing prediction algorithms for all patient categories, and its implementation in clinical practice is suggested/advised by the European Association of Preventive Cardiology. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: this paper was produced within the framework of the ESC Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease Programme which is led by the European Association of Preventive Cardiology (EAPC) in collaboration with the Acute Cardiovascular Care Association (ACCA) and the Association of Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professions (ACNAP). The ESC Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease Programme is supported by unrestricted educational grants. The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Rossello, X (corresponding author), Ctr Nacl Invest Cardiovasc CNIC Carlos III, Melchor Fernandez Almagro 3, Madrid 28029, Spain. fjrossello@cnic.es

A global universities’ competition is complemented by the competition between professional associations (ACCA, ICAEW, CFA, CIMA) and educational providers (BBP, Kaplan, ATC, Emily Woolf). The article summarizes the results of a comprehensive reading of the textbooks and exam preparation materials issued by key universities, associations and providers in order to estimate their quality and completeness. Financial risk management topics are being focused because of the critical importance of those for finance professionals. Students and young professionals are to find the research results valuable, as those could contribute to effective education track. The findings are also useful for the university teachers, supporting their better choice of study materials and more competitive programs., peer-reviewed

The purpose of this paper is to identify the suitability, challenges and the way forward for University accounting education in Nigeria in producing graduates fit for the labour market and the profession. The study is motivated by the report of the ACCA on drivers of change and future skills expected of accountants and problems facing higher education in Nigeria. The study adopts a mixed research method. It used a structured questionnaire to elicit information from the accounting students, academics and practitioners. Focused group discussion was undertaken to explore the issues at stake further. Descriptive statistics and T-test statistics were used to analyse the data and compare perceptions across the various stakeholders. The study found a deficient university accounting curricula, poorly motivated Nigerian accounting lecturers and poor cooperation between professional accounting bodies and the academia, among others. Two stakeholder groups had reservations on the ability of the present university education in Nigeria to produce future accountants fit for the labour market and the profession. Recommendations for repositioning include internationalisation of Nigerian university accounting curricula, motivating university accounting lecturers through improved conditions of service and international staff exchanges. This result should be of interest to Nigerian regulators, professional bodies and the universities.

Treatment of patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction has improved over past decades, with reperfusion therapy being the cornerstone in the acute phase. Based on the results of large randomised trials the current ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction guidelines of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) recommend acute treatments and secondary prevention therapies. However, there are large variations between ESC countries in the treatment of patients presenting with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. Therefore the ESC has initiated a prospective registry to evaluate the current treatments and outcomes of these patients with a special focus on adherence to the ESC guidelines and on differences between countries and regions. This paper describes the methodology and design of the ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction registry conducted in collaboration of the Acute Cardiac Care Association and the European Association of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention.

Acca sellowiana is an important crop and ornamental tree worldwide. The current investigation examines the phenological growth stages of A. sellowiana according to the BBCH (Biologische Bundesantalt, Bundessortenamt und Chemische Industrie) scale. We identified six principal growth stages in A. sellowiana, which depict (1) bud development, (2) leaf development, (3) shoot development, (4) flower emergence, (5) flowering and (6) fruit development. Leaf development since bud initiation to mature leaf stage occurs between three to four months. Floral button to full flowering occurs in about eight day period. Anthesis occurs between three to four days since the time of the floral button forms a ball of petals. Two fruit production events occurred yearly and fruits reach maturity by four to five months. The BBCH scale has important applications in the ornamental and crop production industries. The scale can be used in management, production and pest control practices. Environmental factors such as precipitation play an important role in phenological changes. This investigation is sought to expand the current knowledge on the phenology of A. sellowiana which is of interest to the general public, horticulturists, students and researchers.

Purpose This tribute is in memory of Professor David Campbell, who sadly died in June 2017. David was an influential and inspirational global researcher in accounting. This tribute summarises his significant contribution to the discipline as well as providing insights into his career at Northumbria and Newcastle Universities. Design/methodology/approach The tribute provides a review of David’s research and his key publications in accounting. Specifically, his invaluable contribution to social and environmental accounting disclosure and related corporate accountability is highlighted. Findings David was a hugely popular personality in the accounting research discipline and he will be missed by colleagues and friends across the world. His insightful research, thinking and engaging personality led to enduring friendships and significant collaborative research publications. David was a great supporter of international conferences at which he actively encouraged and nurtured research by others around him. Research limitations/implications David leaves a legacy of influential publications in accounting that have shaped the discipline and have helped develop solid foundations for rigorous future research in the area. Practical implications David’s research had significant practical implications with regard to the usefulness of voluntary accounting disclosure narrative to stakeholders. As well as highlighting the policy implications in relation to corporate disclosure, his work contributed to the debate concerning the accountability and ethics of organisations. Beyond research, David was also influential in professional accounting education as ACCA chief examiner for “Governance, Risk and Ethics”, embedding these issues into the curriculum. Social implications The tribute highlights David’s global collaborative research friendships and their fruitful publications. He will be a huge loss to those people and others who knew him closely, as well as to the accounting community in general. Originality/value David enhanced the discipline as we know it and through his work will continue to shape the discipline in years to come. David had a love for research and for others whom he knew through it.

Facility Management is an important part in the commercial buildings and installations lifecycle, which includes permanent checks and monitoring of all systems and installations, helping to achieve the organizational objectives. The execution of activities of Maintenance and Inspection is often redistributed to contracted service providers which raises the issue of managing and supervising the results of work done. The major factor for proper execution of distributed tasks is the formalization of the activities in manner of who-what-when-why-how has to be done to accomplish the work. These rules have to be used as guidelines during the tasks execution and for the purpose of managing and supervising the overall progress of maintenance activities.

Information and analytical support of integrated reporting needs constant improvement, depending on the growing needs of the stakeholders. The main objective of integrated reporting is to explain how the organization creates value over time. The stakeholders play a key role in the process of value creation. Firms accumulate stakeholders’ resources and transform them, thereby meeting the needs of the parties and achieving their own goals. Building relationships with their stakeholders, organization establishes impact leverage to create value. Thus, the created value depends on the successful interaction with stakeholders. Therefore, the article is devoted to problem of information and analytical support of integrated reporting to the evaluation of created value, which is influenced by the stakeholders. The article emphasizes that an integrated quantitative measurement of value change is a complex and unresolved currently task. Integrated evaluation - a systematic analytical study, in the course of which is given summarizing evaluation of the effectiveness company. Such assessment activity is important and has a multi-purpose orientation under market conditions. The annual reports of companies are practically no integrated indicators characterizing created value. The author believes that integrated reporting should become a platform for the realization of the possibility of an integrated assessment of the created value. The results of the study are the development the methods of computation the “integrated index overall impact by the stakeholders on the company’s created value” and its testing on the example of the annual reports of the organization, which discloses information on the level of international best practice. The methodology of the research bases on such methods as analysis, synthesis, abstraction, simulation, comprehensive approach to knowledge, logical methods of research. Private indicators for the computation the integrated index are proposed by key stakeholder groups: shareholders, investors, customers, suppliers, employees, public authorities, the region’s population, the scientific community, educational institutions, media. The selection of these indicators is based on a research of the experience of the integrated reporting formation in Russia, the data international reference documents prepared by such leading organizations as International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), and The Prince’s Accounting for Sustainability Project (A4S). The main outcome of the study is to confirm the competence of the proposed integrated index for the purpose of integrated evaluation of stakeholders’ influence on the change of the created value with reflection of the contribution of each group. Using the planned values of the original data one can predict the direction of change of the integrated index, which will make timely management decisions aimed at increasing the value creation.

Objective - The purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between prior academic performances at the secondary school level with passing professional accounting examinations. Methodology/Technique - Data for this research was extracted from the database of the Department of Professional Accounting Studies, Faculty of Accountancy, Universiti Teknologi MARA. University Teknologi MARA or UiTM is the only local university offering professional accounting courses by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and is a Platinum Approved Learning Partner with ACCA. Data was extracted on the students' success in completing ACCA, together with results of the secondary school examination Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM). The population used in this study included students who had either successfully completed or did not complete their professional studies at the university. The sample consisted of 780 students, of which 400 had not successfully graduated and 380 had successfully graduated. Data from 780 students were used for the statistical analysis. Findings - The study found that for successfully completion of professional accounting examinations, receiving distinction in Additional Mathematics during SPM, scoring a maximum number of A's, and starting from the science stream were highly significant. Novelty - This research is significant as it contributes to the literature on professional accounting education. It may be used to review prerequisites for entering professional accounting courses, which would help increase the number of professional accountants in Malaysia. Type of Paper: Empirical Keywords: Professional Accounting Qualifications; Success; Secondary School Performance; Examinations; English; Mathematics; Science; Malaysia JEL Classification: M30, M31, M41.

Aims The Acute Cardiac Care Association (ACCA)–European Association of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (EAPCI) Registry on ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) of the EurObservational programme (EORP) of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) registry aimed to determine the current state of the use of reperfusion therapy in ESC member and ESC affiliated countries and the adherence to ESC STEMI guidelines in patients with STEMI. Methods and results Between 1 January 2015 and 31 March 2018, a total of 11 462 patients admitted with an initial diagnosis of STEMI according to the 2012 ESC STEMI guidelines were enrolled. Individual patient data were collected across 196 centres and 29 countries. Among the centres, there were 136 percutaneous coronary intervention centres and 91 with cardiac surgery on-site. The majority of centres (129/196) were part of a STEMI network. The main objective of this study was to describe the demographic, clinical, and angiographic characteristics of patients with STEMI. Other objectives include to assess management patterns and in particular the current use of reperfusion therapies and to evaluate how recommendations of most recent STEMI European guidelines regarding reperfusion therapies and adjunctive pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments are adopted in clinical practice and how their application can impact on patients’ outcomes. Patients will be followed for 1 year after admission. Conclusion The ESC ACCA-EAPCI EORP ACS STEMI registry is an international registry of care and outcomes of patients hospitalized with STEMI. It will provide insights into the contemporary patient profile, management patterns, and 1-year outcome of patients with STEMI.

We develop a deep neural network for ordinal classification and use this technique for the automatic cloud cover assessment (ACCA) of satellite images. We adopt a VGG+ResNet approach with a novel loss function to solve this problem. Results using Quicklook images from Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing (CRISP) are promising, as approximately 97.3% of all sub-scenes are correctly labelled, potentially even higher when one ordinal error is tolerated.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the trend of integrated reporting (IR) practice following the introduction of an “apply or explain” IR requirement in South Africa. In particular, the authors examine whether the IR practice is ceremonial or substantive in the context of a soft regulatory environment. Design/methodology/approach By way of content analyses, the authors examine the extent and quality of IR practice using an IR checklist developed based on normative understanding of existing IR guidelines. The evidence is drawn from 246 integrated reports of large South African companies over a three-year period (2011-2013), following the introduction of IR requirement in South Africa. Findings The results show a significant increase in the extent and quality of IR practice. The findings also reveal significant improvements in individual IR categories such as connectivity of information, materiality determination process and reliability and completeness of the integrated reports. However, despite the increasing trend and evidence of both symbolic and substantive IR practice, the authors conclude that the current IR practice is largely ceremonial in nature, produced to acquire organisational legitimacy. Practical implications For academics, the authors argue that there is a need to move away from the “what” and “why” aspects of the IR agenda to “how” IR should work inside organisations. In particular, academics should engage with firms through interventionist research to help firms implement integrated thinking and substantive reporting practices. For organisations, the findings draw attention to specific aspects of IR that require improvement. For policymakers, the study provides evidence based on the developmental stage of IR practice and draws attention to certain areas that need clarification. In particular, the International Integrated Reporting Council and Integrated Reporting Committee of South Africa should provide detailed guidelines on connectivity of information, material issues and disclosure of multiple capitals and their trade-offs. Finally, for educators, in line with the ACCA’s embedment of IR in its accounting courses, there is a need to incorporate IR in the curriculum; in particular, the authors argue that the best way to advance IR is in a “ubiquitous” spread in accounting and management courses. Originality/value This study provides empirical account of IR practice over time in the context of a regulatory IR environment. The construction of an IR checklist developed based on normative understanding of local and international IR guidelines is another novel approach of this study.

Corruption is a serious concern all over the world. Due to the limited amount of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) research on specific issues such as bribery, this paper aims to determine the extent of anti-corruption information disclosure in annual reports that demonstrate organizational commitment towards combatting corruption. The index consists of 40 items developed from an analysis of past literature and several organizations' published reports. The input data was based on observation of several organizations' annual reports, CSR and sustainability reports, past literature and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) reporting indicators. The sample consists of 24 companies that participated in the ACCA Malaysia Sustainability Reporting Awards (MaSRA) and 34 Indonesian companies that participated in the Indonesia Sustainability Reporting Award (ISRA). The disclosure of anti-corruption practices (ACP) is still in its infancy in both countries. This study shows that the disclosure of anti-corruption codes of conduct and whistle-blowing practices was the most reported item. Interestingly, Indonesian companies disclosed higher amounts of ACP information compared to Malaysian companies. This is possibly because there is a higher level of coercive pressure to disclose ACP information in Indonesia compared to Malaysia. Further, there are several challenges to curbing corruption in Malaysia which potentially contribute to the low disclosure level of ACP information. This research contributes to CSR studies with a focus on anti-corruption practice, particularly in emerging economies. Some implications to improve the level of anti-corruption disclosure are also presented in the paper.

Escape research has debunked the powder keg theory that all escapes are inherently violent and may explode into violence at any given time. The vast majority of escapes takes place from minimum secure facilities and do not involve force at time of escape or recapture. Nevertheless, federal defendants often receive unduly harsh sentences based on prior escape convictions because courts assume that the majority of escapes are violent for purposes of sentencing enhancement. This study analyzed all 50 U.S. state escape statutes to determine which states classify escapes in a manner consistent with the powder keg theory. Results indicated that the majority of state statutes neither concurred with the powder keg theory nor favored a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between escapes and potential violence. Policy implications of these findings and potential pathways for future escape research are discussed. This article concludes that criminal acts of escape must be reconsidered for sentencing purposes in relation to their potential violence, risks, and intentions.

Introduction Catching-up requires the Indian pharmaceutical industry to catch up in the creation of knowledge for drug discovery and process innovations (Jiasu, Lin and Sha, 2016). During the post-TRIPS (Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights) era, in January 2000, India's policymakers laid down explicitly for the first time a policy for the promotion of drug discovery and development efforts. It was with the announcement of this policy that India's policymakers declared their ambition of not only developing contemporary therapeutics to help reduce the rates of morbidity and mortality for the country, but also of becoming a significant global player on the strength of domestic firms’ investments in drug discovery research and development (R&D). In India, the process of creation and accumulation of firm-specific advantages by domestic firms began under the new patent regime with the passing of FERA regulations and the New Drug Policy 1978 to reduce activities of multinational corporations (MNCs) in the sector. Although the pioneering domestic pharmaceutical firms took some time to export to the highly regulated markets of the US and Europe, but what is really important is that the route taken was one of developing in-house capabilities for generic manufacturing and R&D with the help of the capabilities of the public-sector industry and R&D institutions in place in India. The entry of domestic firms into the US market started when Ranbaxy developed an alternative process for manufacturing Eli Lilly's patented drug Cefaclor. The American company sensed that it would lose its markets to Ranbaxy's low-cost substitute in countries that did not recognize product patents. To make the best of a bad situation, Eli Lilly offered a manufacturing contract to Ranbaxy for producing 7 ACCA, intermediate for Cefaclor. In 1993, Ranbaxy laboratories signed a contract manufacturing agreement with Eli Lilly (Pradhan, 2006). This chapter examines the contribution of domestic pharmaceutical firms to the drug discovery efforts undertaken after the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement in India. It assesses their contribution towards system-building activities. The policy impact is tracked in terms of the progress made in the strengthening of in-house capabilities and the development of system-wide links and relations for the creation of knowledge for drug discovery.

Heart sounds recognition is essential for heart defects diagnosis. Diagnosis of structural heart defects is not always possible using the contemporary stethoscope and need further assessment using high cost devices such as X-ray, electrocardiogram (ECG), echocardiography (ECHO) and computed tomography (CT)). Automatic computer assisted auscultation may be used as a clinical decision support tool. In an attempt to develop an automatic computer aided diagnostic modality for heart conditions that is sensitive, specific, non-invasive we created two automatic computer cardiac auscultation (ACCA) models that provide heart sound analysis and we aimed to improve the sensitivity and correct classification rate (CCR) of recognition of heart sounds, thus we developed model A ACCA recognition system (machine learning (interpreter independent)) and model B ACCA recognition system (machine learning and interpreter dependent visual analysis). We used machine learning based on mel frequency cepestral coefficients as a feature and Hidden Markov Model (HMM) as a classifier. We performed visual analysis based on phonocardiography (PCG) and spectrogram image. Model A ACCA demonstrated 97% CCR, 99.2% sensitivity and specificity 100% and model B ACCA demonstrated 98.2% CCR and 99.2% sensitivity and specificity 100%. ACCA models A and B allow reliable interpretation of recognised sounds to detect underlying structural defects.

Objective To assess the usefulness of two definitions of acute clinical chorioamnionitis (ACCA) in predicting risk of neonatal infectious outcomes (NIO) and mortality, the first definition requiring maternal fever alone (Fever), and the second requiring ≥ 1 Gibbs criterion besides fever (Fever + 1). Study Design PubMed, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were searched from January 1, 1979 to April 9, 2013. Twelve studies were reviewed (of 316 articles identified): three studies with term patients, four with preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) patients, and five mixed studies with mixed gestational ages and/or membrane status (intact and/or ruptured). Results Both definitions demonstrated an increased NIO risk for ACCA versus non-ACCA patients, with an odds ratio increase for the Fever + 1 definition that was about twofold larger than the Fever definition. Conclusion As the Fever definition demonstrated increased NIO risk for ACCA versus non-ACCA patients, the Fever alone ACCA definition should be used to trigger future clinical treatment in many clinical situations.

Hierarchical architecture is an effective scheme to make wireless sensor networks (WSNs) scalable and energy-efficient. Clustering the sensor nodes is a well-known two-layered architecture suitable for WSNs and has been extensively explored for different purposes and applications. In this paper a novel clustering approach called the adaptive competition-based clustering approach (ACCA) is proposed for WSNs. Selecting the cluster heads in the proposed ACCA is performed based upon a hybrid of local competition and the distances among the cluster heads. First, by the new proposed competition scheme, the nodes which are with the high residual energy and closer to the centre of the density of the nodes are elected and form an initial set of cluster head candidates. Then the candidates with suitable distances to other neighbor candidates are elected as the cluster heads. The proposed algorithm is fast with a low time and message complexity. It offers a longer lifetime for the networks, and at the same time, a proper level of fault tolerance. The proposed ACCA is simple enough to be implemented in real systems. Different simulation experiments are performed on different states and the algorithm is compared with some well-known and related clustering approaches. The experiments suggest that in terms of longevity and fault-tolerance, ACCA outperforms the well-known and relevant clustering protocols LEACH, HEED, and EECABN.

The main priority of the audit industry is to maintain and improve audit quality. While audit quality has been an important topic in both accounting academia and practice, there is still a lack of understanding of what drives audit quality. Given that people are the most valuable asset an audit firm has, we focus on examining the labor inputs as a driver of audit quality. Specifically, we argue that a key threat for audit quality that so far has been largely neglected is the loss of talent across the hierarchy. A well-known problem for audit firms is that they invest enormous resources in new professionals only to have many with talent leave (Patten, 1995; Vera-Muñoz, Ho & Chow, 2006; ACCA & ACRA, 2012). A recent survey by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants finds that only about 38% are satisfied with their career and only 35% plan to stay beyond three years, with no significant differences across Big 4 and midtier firms (ACCA and ACRA, 2012).

Cloud contamination is the most common defect leading to quality degradation in remote sensing images. Numerous cloud-cover assessment (CCA) methods have been developed in the literature. The traditional Landsat 7 CCA algorithm attempted to detect clouds by taking advantages of different spectral properties from five spectral bands. However, it suffers the weakness of omitting thin cirrus clouds and the requirement of thermal bands. In this paper, we derived an automated CCA (ACCA) model that measures statistical deviations in spatial domain between cloud and clear images. Moreover, it only conducts on panchromatic band image, which can successfully address the limitation of unavailable thermal bands for satellite missions without thermal infrared sensors on board. A database with 400 clear/cloud images is then built for performance testing. Experimental results on the database show that our approach is more consistent with ground truths than the latest Landsat 8 ACCA results.

This study investigates the costs and benefits of digital reporting by small companies in the UK. The evidence is taken from an online survey of 343 ACCA members in the UK. As hypothesised, our results concerning the costs show a significant positive association between digital reporting and the company having the technological competence and also having support for this innovation from top management. As predicted, we find a significant negative association between digital reporting and the complexity of the process, and the cost of technology. With regard to the benefits, we find evidence of a significant positive association between digital reporting and benefits to filers and also to those using the digital corporate data provided. The latter association is mediated by the digital search and data services provided by Companies House. This study contributes to the emerging literature on this topic by identifying the actual costs and benefits of digital reporting to small companies in the UK and extending the theoretical model based on the diffusion of innovation theory and technology-organization-environment framework. The results should be of interest to the directors of small companies and their accountants, policy makers seeking to reduce the administrative burdens on smaller entities in the UK and to regulators in other jurisdictions planning for digital reporting initiatives.

The Acute Cardiovascular Care Association of the ESC has published Quality Indicators for Acute MI ![Graphic][1] Evaluation of the quality of care is an integral part of modern health care, and has become an indispensable tool for health authorities, the public, the press and patients. The lack of standard definitions of QIs validated by the ESC for AMI is in stark contrast with the professional societies of cardiology in the USA, who have published numerous documents in this field.1,2 The ESC Acute Cardiovascular Care Association (ACCA) recently published a set of quality indicators (QIS) for the management of AMI, with or without ST segment elevation, with a view to developing programmes to improve quality of care for the management of AMI across Europe.3 Under the supervision of the Board of the ACCA, a ‘Quality of Care Working Group’ was formed and comprised international experts selected for their expertise in the management of patients with ACS, and representative of the different European countries that comprise the ESC. Seven different domains of care were defined, with the aim of extending the quality assessment beyond simply the process of care and its outcomes, by incorporating the full spectrum of the patient pathway, from organization of care, to outcomes and the patient experience. The seven domains selected are relevant to the clinical situation of AMI, namely: (i) centre organization, (ii) reperfusion/invasive strategy, (iii) in-hospital risk assessment, (iv) antithrombotic … [1]: /embed/inline-graphic-1.gif

There is evidence that today’s college and university students are struggling with emotional and behavioral health problems at higher rates than in past generations. This article explores the various ways, utilizing a range of models, that college and university counseling centers have mobilized to respond to these challenges. We examine literature about the characteristics and concerns of the current student generation along with what counseling centers are doing to respond to the challenge of student needs. We describe a survey (N = 408) of members of the Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors (AUCCCD) and American College Counseling Association (ACCA) that elicited the kinds of services, functions, structures, and organizational relationships found in today’s counseling centers. In addition to confirming the core mission of providing counseling and psychotherapy, the survey revealed widespread counseling center collaboration and consultation activities beyond the counseling ...

This paper discusses the state and development of three community-based settlement upgrading projects in Metro Manila that have taken place since 2009. These projects are all part of the ACCA (Asian Coalition for Community Action) programme, which is designed to support community-based settlement upgrading initiatives in 15 Asian countries, and was launched by the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights in 2009. The main aim of this article is to highlight the common features of a community-based approach, as integrated by the ACCA programme, within the context of the Philippines and to review its potential and challenges.