Legislation

The control of water pollution has become of increasing importance in recent years. The release of dyes into the environment constitutes only a small proportion of water pollution, but dyes are visible in small quantities due to their brilliance. Tightening government legislation is forcing textile industries to treat their waste euent to an increasingly high standard. Currently, removal of dyes from euents is by physio-chemical means. Such methods are often very costly and although the dyes are removed, accumulation of concentrated sludge creates a disposal problem. There is a need to ®nd alternative treatments that are eective in removing dyes from large volumes of euents and are low in cost, such as biological or combination systems. This article reviews the current available technologies and suggests an eective, cheaper alternative for dye removal and decolourisation applicable on large scale. Ó

Medical substances (pharmaceuticals) arc a group of substances that until recently have been exposed to the environment with very little attention. The reason why they may be interesting as environmental micropollutants, is that medical substances are developed with the intention of performing a biological effect. Especially ant~iotics used as growth promoters, as feed additives in fish farms are anticipated to end up in the environment. Very little is known about the exposure routes of the medical substances to the environment. Only few investigations have reported findings of medical substances in other field samples than sediment or treated waste water samples. Several substances seem to be persistent in the environment. This paper outlines the different anticipated exposure routes to the environment, surnmarises the legislation on the subject and gives an outline of present knowledge of occurrence, fate and effect on both the aquatic and terrestrial environments of medical substances. Present knowledge does not reveal if regular therapeutic use may be the source of a substance carried by sewage effluent into the aquatic system, even though clofibrate, a lipid lowering agent, has been identified in ground and tap water samples from Berlin. Further research would be necessary to assess the environmental risk involved in exposing medical substances and metabolites to the environment.

In most countries, sanitary landfilling is nowadays the most common way to eliminate municipal solid wastes (MSW). In spite of many advantages, generation of heavily polluted leachates, presenting significant variations in both volumetric flow and chemical composition, constitutes a major drawback.

Consideration is given to the convergence of supply chains and sustainability. In doing so, the focus on environmental management and operations is moved from local optimization of environmental factors to consideration of the entire supply chain during the production, consumption, customer service and post-disposal disposition of products. This is a critical and timely topic that captures increasing concerns over sustainability, whether driven by current legislation, public interest, or competitive opportunity. As such, sustainable development is a rich area for academic research that is still in its infancy and has the potential to affect future government policy, current production operations, and identify new business models. This paper provides a background to better understand current trends in this multidisciplinary field that intersect with operations management, and the research opportunities and challenges it presents. #

The monitoring role performed by the board of directors is an important corporate governance control mechanism, especially in countries where external mechanisms are less well developed. The gender composition of the board can affect the quality of this monitoring role and thus the financial performance of the firm. This is part of the ''business case'' for female participation on boards, though arguments may also be framed in terms of ethical considerations. While the issue of board gender diversity has attracted growing research interest in recent years, most empirical results are based on U.S. data. This article adds to a growing number of non-U.S. studies by investigating the link between the gender diversity of the board and firm financial performance in Spain, a country which historically has had minimal female participation in the workforce, but which has now introduced legislation to improve equality of opportunities. We investigate the topic using panel data analysis and find that gender diversity -as measured by the percentage of women on the board and by the Blau and Shannon indices -has a positive effect on firm value and that the opposite causal relationship is not significant. Our study suggests that investors in Spain do not penalise firms which increase their female board membership and that greater gender diversity may generate economic gains.

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Electronic waste, or e-waste, is an emerging problem as well as a business opportunity of increasing significance, given the volumes of e-waste being generated and the content of both toxic and valuable materials in them. The fraction including iron, copper, aluminium, gold and other metals in e-waste is over 60%, while pollutants comprise 2.70%. Given the high toxicity of these pollutants especially when burned or recycled in uncontrolled environments, the Basel Convention has identified e-waste as hazardous, and developed a framework for controls on transboundary movement of such waste. The Basel Ban, an amendment to the Basel Convention that has not yet come into force, would go one step further by prohibiting the export of e-waste from developed to industrializing countries. Section 1 of this paper gives readers an overview on the e-waste topic-how e-waste is defined, what it is composed of and which methods can be applied to estimate the quantity of e-waste generated. Considering only PCs in use, by one estimate, at least 100 million PCs became obsolete in 2004. Not surprisingly, waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) today already constitutes 8% of municipal waste and is one of the fastest growing waste fractions.

Mobile phone use is banned or illegal under certain circumstances and in some jurisdictions. Nevertheless, some people still use their mobile phones despite recognized safety concerns, legislation, and informal bans. Drawing potential predictors from the addiction literature, this study sought to predict usage and, specifically, problematic mobile phone use from extraversion, self-esteem, neuroticism, gender, and age. To measure problem use, the Mobile Phone Problem Use Scale was devised and validated as a reliable self-report instrument, against the Addiction Potential Scale and overall mobile phone usage levels. Problem use was a function of age, extraversion, and low self-esteem, but not neuroticism. As extraverts are more likely to take risks, and young drivers feature prominently in automobile accidents, this study supports community concerns about mobile phone use, and identifies groups that should be targeted in any intervention campaigns.

Sustainability assessment is being increasingly viewed as an important tool to aid in the shift towards sustainability. However, this is a new and evolving concept and there remain very few examples of effective sustainability assessment processes implemented anywhere in the world.

Lead has been recognized as a poison for millennia and has been the focus of public health regulation in much of the developed world for the better part of the past century. The nature of regulation has evolved in response to increasing information provided by vigorous scienti®c investigation of lead's effects. In recognition of the particular sensitivity of the developing brain to lead's pernicious effects, much of this legislation has been addressed to the prevention of childhood lead poisoning. The present review discusses the current state of knowledge concerning the effects of lead on the cognitive development of children. Addressed are the reasons for the child's exquisite sensitivity, the behavioural effects of lead, how these effects are best measured, and the long-term outlook for the poisoned child. Of particular importance are the accumulating data suggesting that there are toxicological effects with behavioural concomitants at exceedingly low levels of exposure. In addition, there is also evidence that certain genetic and environmental factors can increase the detrimental effects of lead on neural development, thereby rendering certain children more vulnerable to lead neurotoxicity. The public health implications of these ®ndings are discussed.

Many industrial sectors are likely to generate highly saline wastewater: these include the agro-food, petroleum and leather industries. The discharge of such wastewater containing at the same time high salinity and high organic content without prior treatment is known to adversely affect the aquatic life, water potability and agriculture. Thus, legislation is becoming more stringent and the treatment of saline wastewater, both for organic matter and salt removal, is nowadays compulsory in many countries. Saline effluents are conventionally treated through physico-chemical means, as biological treatment is strongly inhibited by salts (mainly NaCl). However, the costs of physico-chemical treatments being particularly high, alternative systems for the treatment of organic matter are nowadays increasingly the focus of research. Most of such systems involve anaerobic or aerobic biological treatment. Even though biological treatment of carbonaceous, nitrogenous and phosphorous pollution has proved to be feasible at high salt concentrations, the performance obtained depends on a proper adaptation of the biomass or the use of halophilic organisms. Another major limit is related to the turbidity problems inherent in saline effluents. For this reason, the major need for research in the future will be the combination of physico-chemical/biological treatment of saline industrial effluents, with regard to the global treatment chain, in order to meet the regulations.

Tin has a larger number of its organometallic derivatives in commercial use than any other element. This has given rise to an increase of the worldwide production of organotin compounds during the last 50 years. Due to the wide industrial applications considerable amounts of the organotins have entered various ecosystems. While Sn in its inorganic form is considered to be non-toxic, the toxicological pattern of the organotin compounds is complex. Depending on the nature and the number of the organic groups bound to the Sn cation, some organotins show specific toxic effects to different organsims even at very low concentrations. Therefore, specific determination of the individual organotin compounds is required. In recent years new sensitve analytical techniques have been developed for the detection of organotin compounds in various environmental samples. High amounts of the toxic tributyltin and some other organotin derivatives can be found not only in water and sediments, but also various aquatic organisms and tissues of mammals and birds are contaminated by these compounds. First investigations of human blood and livers show enhanced concentrations for some organotin derivatives. In spite of legislative regulations of usage for organotins in numerous countries, these pollutants represent a risk for aquatic and terrestric ecosystems.

1Pathways describe the processes that result in the introduction of alien species from one location to another. A framework is proposed to facilitate the comparative analysis of invasion pathways by a wide range of taxa in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Comparisons with a range of data helped identify existing gaps in current knowledge of pathways and highlight the limitations of existing legislation to manage introductions of alien species. The scheme aims for universality but uses the European Union as a case study for the regulatory perspectives.2Alien species may arrive and enter a new region through three broad mechanisms: importation of a commodity, arrival of a transport vector, and/or natural spread from a neighbouring region where the species is itself alien. These three mechanisms result in six principal pathways: release, escape, contaminant, stowaway, corridor and unaided.3Alien species transported as commodities may be introduced as a deliberate release or as an escape from captivity. Many species are not intentionally transported but arrive as a contaminant of a commodity, for example pathogens and pests. Stowaways are directly associated with human transport but arrive independently of a specific commodity, for example organisms transported in ballast water, cargo and airfreight. The corridor pathway highlights the role transport infrastructures play in the introduction of alien species. The unaided pathway describes situations where natural spread results in alien species arriving into a new region from a donor region where it is also alien.4Vertebrate pathways tend to be characterized as deliberate releases, invertebrates as contaminants and plants as escapes. Pathogenic micro-organisms and fungi are generally introduced as contaminants of their hosts. The corridor and unaided pathways are often ignored in pathway assessments but warrant further detailed consideration.5Synthesis and applications. Intentional releases and escapes should be straightforward to monitor and regulate but, in practice, developing legislation has proved difficult. New introductions continue to occur through contaminant, stowaway, corridor and unaided pathways. These pathways represent special challenges for management and legislation. The present framework should enable these trends to be monitored more clearly and hopefully lead to the development of appropriate regulations or codes of practice to stem the number of future introductions.Pathways describe the processes that result in the introduction of alien species from one location to another. A framework is proposed to facilitate the comparative analysis of invasion pathways by a wide range of taxa in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Comparisons with a range of data helped identify existing gaps in current knowledge of pathways and highlight the limitations of existing legislation to manage introductions of alien species. The scheme aims for universality but uses the European Union as a case study for the regulatory perspectives.Alien species may arrive and enter a new region through three broad mechanisms: importation of a commodity, arrival of a transport vector, and/or natural spread from a neighbouring region where the species is itself alien. These three mechanisms result in six principal pathways: release, escape, contaminant, stowaway, corridor and unaided.Alien species transported as commodities may be introduced as a deliberate release or as an escape from captivity. Many species are not intentionally transported but arrive as a contaminant of a commodity, for example pathogens and pests. Stowaways are directly associated with human transport but arrive independently of a specific commodity, for example organisms transported in ballast water, cargo and airfreight. The corridor pathway highlights the role transport infrastructures play in the introduction of alien species. The unaided pathway describes situations where natural spread results in alien species arriving into a new region from a donor region where it is also alien.Vertebrate pathways tend to be characterized as deliberate releases, invertebrates as contaminants and plants as escapes. Pathogenic micro-organisms and fungi are generally introduced as contaminants of their hosts. The corridor and unaided pathways are often ignored in pathway assessments but warrant further detailed consideration.Synthesis and applications. Intentional releases and escapes should be straightforward to monitor and regulate but, in practice, developing legislation has proved difficult. New introductions continue to occur through contaminant, stowaway, corridor and unaided pathways. These pathways represent special challenges for management and legislation. The present framework should enable these trends to be monitored more clearly and hopefully lead to the development of appropriate regulations or codes of practice to stem the number of future introductions.

Historically, business process design has been driven by business objectives, specifically process improvement. However this cannot come at the price of control objectives which stem from various legislative, standard and business partnership sources. Ensuring the compliance to regulations and industrial standards is an increasingly important issue in the design of business processes. This warrants a systematic approach to assist in the design of compliant business processes. In this paper, we advocate the importance of compliance in business process management and argue that control objectives should be addressed at an early stage, i.e., design time, so as to minimize the problems of runtime compliance checking and consequent violations and penalties. This paper specifically presents a quantitative measure of compliance for a given process model against a set of control objectives. The associated methods will allow process designers to comparatively assess the compliance degree of their design as well as be better informed on the cost of noncompliance.

In this work the transformation process of sunflower oil in order to obtain biodiesel by means of transesterification was studied. Taguchi's methodology was chosen for the optimisation of the most important variables (temperature conditions, reactants proportion and methods of purification), with the purpose of obtaining a high quality biodiesel that fulfils the European pre-legislation with the maximum process yield. Finally, sunflower methyl esters were characterised to test their properties as fuels in diesel engines, such as viscosity, flash point, cold filter plugging point and acid value. Results showed that biodiesel obtained under the optimum conditions is an excellent substitute for fossil fuels. Ó

I Abstract Ecological indicators have widespread appeal to scientists, environmental managers, and the general public. Indicators have long been used to detect changes in nature, but the scientific maturation in indicator development primarily has occurred in the past 40 years. Currently, indicators are mainly used to assess the condition of the environment, as early-warning signals of ecological problems, and as barometers for trends in ecological resources. Use of ecological indicators requires clearly stated objectives; the recognition of spatial and temporal scales; assessments of statistical variability, precision, and accuracy; linkages with specific stressors; and coupling with economic and social indicators. Legislatively mandated use of ecological indicators occurs in many countries worldwide and is included in international accords. As scientific advancements and innovation in the development and use of ecological indicators continue through applications of molecular biology, computer technology such as geographic information systems, data management such as bioinformatics, and remote sensing, our ability to apply ecological indicators to detect signals of environmental change will be substantially enhanced.

Professor Tullock has raised a central question in the confrontation between abstract models of PMR and majority rule as practiced in real institutions. We believe the decision making stability of real-world legislatures lies in the way these legislatures institutionalize majority rule. Logrolling, vote trading, coalition formation, and bargaining are red herrings in this argument. Rather, it is the restrictions on such legislative exchange that promote structure-induced equilibrium. Put differently, institutional arrangements place constraints on the completeness of the majority rule relation by restricting social comparisons. The framework developed here shows that an assumption implicit in the discussions of many majority rule theorists fails to hold. In part, the implicit rationale for focusing upon PMR was that results proved for this rule were presumed to hold forany institution based on PMR. In one sense this remains true, namely, that the majority rule win sets,W(x), are everywhere non-empty. In another sense, however, it is not true that all properties of institutions based upon majority rule are inherited from PMR. The theory outlined above shows that stability may not be as elusive as theorists of PMR have concluded. The concept of equilibrium developed in the last section incorporates the major features of prominent choice institutions as well as capturing the special cases in the literature cited in Section II. We now turn to a brief discussion of future work. We address the question that remains, in our opinion, the salient one in the study of institutions and their effect on policy choice, namely, understanding the factors governing the choice of one institutional arrangement over another. Throughout this paper, we have distinguished agreements that transform the rules from agreements (or vote-trades) that take place within a given set of rules. In principle, anything attainable under the former could also be attained under the latter if there were some form of mechanism to enforce vote-trades as contracts. Under such a rubric, complex legislative agreements in the form of contingent contracts achieve the desired result without resorting to the institutionalization of a rule. In practice, however, there are several problems with vote-trading agreements as contracts. First, the cost of writing these contracts is often quite high due to the number of potential contingencies for which provision must be made. Second, and more important, PMR lacks an enforcement mechanism. Individual parties to contracts in market settings have recourse to the courts. This provides protection beyond the assurance of good faith and brand names. No comparable institution exists within the legislature to supplement the natural though imperfect brand name phenomenon (i.e., that of ‘keeping one's word’ to preserve and enhance credibility for future trades). While the legislature could create a court or committee to monitor contracts and enforce agreements, alternatively, it could simply impose a rule binding upon everyone which insured the outcome sought. Of the two alternative institutions, the latter probably economizes on transaction costs, particularly for those situations that recur with some frequency. With a rule, a new contract need not be negotiated each time between new sets of players. Moreover, a contingency clause might easily be appended to a rule to cover cases where there is widespread agreement that it is inappropriate. For example, in the Congress a special majority may vote to suspend the rules (note that if only a simple majority were required, then this would be no different from PMR). This is the same rationale that underpins the Uniform Commercial Code and other areas of the law of contracts. To cover situations that occur quite regularly, certain standard procedures are written into the law and are automatically a part of any agreement or exchange. This significantly lowers transaction costs (contracts need not be negotiatedsui generis), and in those circumstances where the standard is inappropriate, the parties may simply contract around it. Similar results occur in most areas of the common law. For further discussion, see Posner (1976). In sum, logrolling solutions to the problem of forging agreements are unworkable because they lack enforcement mechanisms. Logrolling, then, cannot constitute an answer to the question, ‘Why so much stability?’ This reasoning justifies our separation throughout the text of choices within a given institution and choices among institutions. This distinction is a natural one, dating back to Buchanan and Tullock'sThe Calculus of Consent. There they analyze separately the constitutional calculus of choice over voting rules and the behavior under a specific voting rule. If institutional rules are to constitute an answer to Tullock's stability question, then we must confront the manner in which those rules are chosen. There are very few theories about the choice of rules — exceptions include Buchanan and Tullock (1962), Buchanan (1975, 1979), and contributions in the property rights literature. Even in the absence of a theory, we may still worry that constitutional choice processes (the choice of rules) are vulnerable to the same instabilities found in PMR. We term this the ‘Riker Objection’ since this issue was recently posed by Riker (1980). If institutional constraints create equilibrium — that is, if transformations of a PMR institution into a non-PMR institution create a situation of equilibrium from one without an equilibrium — then preferences over outcomes lead naturally to aninduced set of preferences over institutional arrangements. In this sense, an individual prefers one institution over another if he prefers the equilibrium policy state of one over the equilibrium (or unpredictability) of the other. In the case of multiple equilibria, an individual prefers the institution that yields the highest expected utility given a probability distribution over equilibrium states (Plott, 1972). As long as preferences for policy states differ, then preferences over institutions with differing equilibrium states (distribution of equilibria) should also differ. The Riker Objection suggests that a simple extension of McKelvey's Chaos Theorem predicts endless cycles here so long as PMR governs the choice over institutions. In this sense, the existence of institutions and their stability must remain, like policy choices under PMR, tenuous — what Riker calls ‘unstable constants.’ Nevertheless, empirically we observe institutions persisting for long periods; in light of the Riker Objection, Tullock's question applies at this level as well. We may make several observations that imply an attenuation of endless cycling at the institutional-choice level. First, typically, non-PMR rules govern the choice of new rules. Second, it is risky to attempt to change the status quo contrary to the interests of those currently in control. Since failure may lead to the imposition of sanctions, expected gains must be weighed against the certainty of these sanctions. While this does not rule out changes, it will reduce the number of attempts. This is surely the conclusion to be drawn from a reading of the history of the U.S. Congress. The comparison between choice in this setting and the McKelvey world, then, is not parallel since proposals are costless to make in the latter but not in the former. Finally, there often exists a well-defined status quo alternative. In the case of the social contract, the status quo is the Hobbesian state of nature. For the case of the U.S. Constitutional Convention, it was the Articles of Confederation (Riker, 1979). In these and similar settings, even though there may be no formal rule that the status quo must literally be voted last; this restriction nevertheless may hold de facto. Consequently, the constitutional outcome is either the status quo ante or an alteration that cannot be vetoed, i.e., an element in the ‘win set’ of the status quo. With these qualifications in mind, the effect of the Riker Objection is mitigated. Even at the constitutional level, then, restrictions on the ability of individuals to make proposals may induce equilibrium.

The new REACH legislation requires assessment of a large number of chemicals in the European market for several endpoints. Developmental toxicity is one of the most difficult endpoints to assess, on account of the complexity, length and costs of experiments. Following the encouragement of QSAR (in silico) methods provided in the REACH itself, the CAESAR project has developed several models. Results: Two QSAR models for developmental toxicity have been developed, using different statistical/ mathematical methods. Both models performed well. The first makes a classification based on a random forest algorithm, while the second is based on an adaptive fuzzy partition algorithm. The first model has been implemented and inserted into the CAESAR on-line application, which is java-based software that allows everyone to freely use the models. Conclusions: The CAESAR QSAR models have been developed with the aim to minimize false negatives in order to make them more usable for REACH. The CAESAR on-line application ensures that both industry and regulators can easily access and use the developmental toxicity model (as well as the models for the other four endpoints).

JEL classification: L26 M13 O31 O32 O34 a b s t r a c t On the 30th anniversary of enactment of the Bayh-Dole Act in the U.S., we consider the rationale for academic entrepreneurship and describe the evolving role of universities in the commercialization of research. We also discuss and appraise the effects of legislative reform in several OECD countries relating to academic entrepreneurship. The article synthesizes papers from the special section and outlines an agenda for additional research on various aspects of academic entrepreneurship in terms of system, university and individual levels. We also consider measurement and methodological issues that must be addressed in additional research.

A new balanced-force algorithm is presented for modeling interfacial flow with surface tension. The algorithm is characterized by a pressure-correction method with the interfaces represented by volume fractions. Within this flow algorithm, we devise a continuous (e.g., continuum surface tension model) and a sharp (e.g., a ghost fluid method) interface representation of the surface-tension-induced interfacial pressure jump condition. The sharp interface representation is achieved by temporarily reconstructing distance functions from volume fractions. We demonstrate that a flow algorithm designed to legislate force balance retains an exact balance between surface tension forces and the resulting pressure gradients. This balance holds for both continuous and sharp representations of interfacial surface tension. The algorithm design eliminates one of the elusive impediments to more accurate models of surface tension-driven flow, the remaining of which is accurate curvature estimation. To validate our formulation, we present results for an equilibrium (static) drop in two and three dimensions having an arbitrary density jump across the interface. We find that the sharp surface tension method yields an abrupt pressure jump across the interface, whereas the continuous surface tension method results in a smoother transition. Both methods, however, yield spurious velocities of the same order, the origin of which is due solely to errors in curvature. Dynamic results are also presented to illustrate the versatility of the method.

This article deals with the new policy concept of 'flexicurity' in view of the emerging flexibility-security nexus currently faced by the European Union, national governments, sectors of industry, individual companies and workers. On the one hand there is a strong demand to make labour markets, employment and work organisation more flexible. At same time, an equally strong demand exists for providing security to employees -especially vulnerable groups -and for preserving social cohesion in our societies. Policy-makers, legislators, trade unions and employers' organisations have a strong need for new theory-inspired policy models and concepts that promise to reconcile these goals of enhancing both flexibility and security that at first sight seem incompatible. This article discusses the origins, conditions and potential of 'flexicurity' as policy or strategy at various levels of industrial relations. It also outlines a research agenda.

In recent times there has been a renewed interest in relationships between redistribution, growth and welfare. Land reforms have been central to strategies to improve the asset base of the poor in developing countries thought their effectiveness has been hindered by political constraints on implementation. In this paper we use panel data on the sixteen main Indian states from 1958 to 1992 to consider whether the large volume of land reforms as have been legislated have had an appreciable impact on growth and poverty. The evidence presented suggests that land reforms do appear to be associated with poverty reduction.

In this paper we evaluate the global impact of surface ozone on four types of agricultural crop. The study is based on modelled global hourly ozone fields for the year 2000 and 2030, using the global 1 Â1 2-way nested atmospheric chemical transport model (TM5). Projections for the year 2030 are based on the relatively optimistic ''current legislation (CLE) scenario'', i.e. assuming that currently approved air quality legislation will be fully implemented by the year 2030, without a further development of new abatement policies. For both runs, the relative yield loss due to ozone damage is evaluated based on two different indices (accumulated concentration above a 40 ppbV threshold and seasonal mean daytime ozone concentration respectively) on a global, regional and national scale. The cumulative metric appears to be far less robust than the seasonal mean, while the seasonal mean shows satisfactory agreement with measurements in Europe, the US, China and Southern India and South-East Asia. Present day global relative yield losses are estimated to range between 7% and 12% for wheat, between 6% and 16% for soybean, between 3% and 4% for rice, and between 3% and 5% for maize (range resulting from different metrics used). Taking into account possible biases in our assessment, introduced through the global application of ''western'' crop exposure-response functions, and through model performance in reproducing ozone-exposure metrics, our estimates may be considered as being conservative. Under the 2030 CLE scenario, the global situation is expected to deteriorate mainly for wheat (additional 2-6% loss globally) and rice (additional 1-2% loss globally). India, for which no mitigation measures have been assumed by 2030, accounts for 50% of these global increase in crop yield loss. On a regional-scale, significant reductions in crop losses by CLE-2030 are only predicted in Europe (soybean) and China (wheat). Translating these assumed yield losses into total global economic damage for the four crops considered, using world market prices for the year 2000, we estimate an economic loss in the range $14-$26 billion. About 40% of this damage is occurring in China and India. Considering the recent upward trends in food prices, the ozone-induced damage to crops is expected to offset a significant portion of the GDP growth rate, especially in countries with an economy based on agricultural production.

In this study, we use institutional theory to explore how institutional pressures exerted on four state governments (New York, Michigan, Ohio, Delaware) in¯uenced the decision of these governments to adopt or resist the use of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for external ®nancial reporting. We identify resource dependence as a potent form of coercive institutional pressure that was associated with early GAAP adoption. We identify three factors that may lead to initial resistance to institutional pressures for change. First, if accounting bureaucrats are not active in professional associations that promote GAAP adoption, they may miss the educational process that we believe is important to early adoption of GAAP. Second, organizational printing may impede GAAP adoption. Third, powerful interests may impede GAAP if the proposed GAAP legislation is expected to alter the existing power relationships. We found that key accounting bureaucrats in New York and Michigan used``compromise'' as an initial strategic response to institutional pressures to adopt GAAP, Ohio's key accounting bureaucrat adopted a``defy'' strategy, although the political leadership endorsed an``acquiesce'' strategy. While Delaware initially employed a``manipulate''strategy with some success. Delaware did not adopt GAAP for external reporting until a political entrepreneur for GAAP emerged in the early 1990s. Our study suggests that all strategic responses to resist institutional pressures for GAAP adoption will ultimately fail because of the potency of the institutional pressures that result from the well organized professional accounting and governmental institutional ®elds.

In urban and suburban areas, stormwater runoff is a primary stressor on surface waters. Conventional urban stormwater drainage systems often route runoff directly to streams and rivers, thus exacerbating pollutant inputs and hydrologic disturbance, and resulting in the degradation of ecosystem structure and function. Decentralized stormwater management tools, such as low impact development (LID) or water sensitive urban design (WSUD), may offer a more sustainable solution to stormwater management if implemented at a watershed scale. These tools are designed to pond, infiltrate, and harvest water at the source, encouraging evaporation, evapotranspiration, groundwater recharge, and re-use of stormwater. While there are numerous demonstrations of WSUD practices, there are few examples of widespread implementation at a watershed scale with the explicit objective of protecting or restoring a receiving stream. This article identifies seven major impediments to sustainable urban stormwater management: (1) uncertainties in performance and cost, (2) insufficient engineering standards and guidelines, (3) fragmented responsibilities, (4) lack of institutional capacity, (5) lack of legislative mandate, (6) lack of funding and effective market incentives, and (7) resistance to change. By comparing experiences from Australia and the United States, two developed countries with existing conventional stormwater infrastructure and escalating stream ecosystem degradation, we highlight challenges facing sustainable urban stormwater management and offer several examples of successful, regional WSUD implementation. We conclude by identifying solutions to each of the seven impediments that, when employed separately or in combination, should encourage widespread implementation of WSUD with watershed-based goals to protect human health and safety, and stream ecosystems.

A lot of research in the field of food science has focused on new preservation technologies but very few of these methods have been implemented by the food industry until now. This article describes the most intensively investigated new preservation methods with their possibilities and especially their limitations, often hampering their implementation by the food industry. Many alternative 'non-thermal' treatments have been proposed with high hydrostatic pressure and pulsed electrical fields being the most investigated ones. Both techniques allow killing of vegetative microorganisms but fail until now, when applied alone, to destroy spores. New packaging systems are introduced such as modified atmosphere packaging and active packaging systems. The latter systems have until now a limited application in practice due to incompatibility with legislation, limited effectivity and thermolability of active compounds. Natural compounds, such as essential oils, chitosan, nisin or lysozyme, are investigated to replace chemical preservatives and to obtain 'green label' products. Their application is mainly hampered due to interaction of the natural compounds with food ingredients and due to changes in the organoleptical properties when introduced in a food. The application of protective cultures, able or unable to produce antimicrobial compounds such as bacteriocins are proposed to inhibit growth of unwanted microorganisms. The activity of bacteriocins is however often limited due to its narrow activity spectrum, its inactivation due to interaction with food ingredients or proteolytic action of the food, its limited diffusion in solid matrixes and the occurrence of loss of bacteriocinogenicity of the culture and of resistance of the target organisms. This overview nuances the application of the above mentioned preservation techniques and focuses on draw backs on their application by the food industry.

With the increasing global legal and illegal trade of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) comes an equally increasing concern that poor WEEE recycling techniques, particularly in developing countries, are generating more and more environmental pollution that affects both ecosystems and the people living within or near the main recycling areas. This review presents data found in the scientific and grey literature about concentrations of lead (Pb), polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs), polychlorinated dioxins and furans as well as polybrominated dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs and PBDD/Fs) monitored in various environmental compartments in China and India, two countries where informal WEEE recycling plays an important economic role. The data are compared with known concentration thresholds and other pollution level standards to provide an indication of the seriousness of the pollution levels in the study sites selected and further to indicate the potential negative impact of these pollutants on the ecosystems and humans affected. The review highlights very high levels of Pb, PBDEs, PCDD/Fs and PBDD/Fs in air, bottom ash, dust, soil, water and sediments in WEEE recycling areas of the two countries. The concentration levels found sometimes exceed the reference values for the sites under investigation and pollution observed in other industrial or urban areas by several orders of magnitude. These observations suggest a serious environmental and human health threat, which is backed up by other studies that have examined the impact of concentrations of these compounds in humans and other organisms. The risk to the population treating WEEE and to the surrounding environment increases with the lack of health and safety guidelines and improper recycling techniques such as dumping, dismantling, inappropriate shredding, burning and acid leaching. At a regional scale, the influence of pollutants generated by WEEE recycling sites is important due to the long-distance transport potential of some chemicals. Although the data presented are alarming, the situation could be improved relatively rapidly by the implementation of more benign recycling techniques and the development and enforcement of WEEE-related legislation at the national level, including prevention of unregulated WEEE exports from industrialised countries.

Contamination of cereal commodities by moulds and mycotoxins results in dry matter, quality, and nutritional losses and represents a significant hazard to the food chain. Most grain is harvested, dried and then stored on farm or in silos for medium/long term storage. Cereal quality is influenced by a range of interacting abiotic and biotic factors. In the so-called stored grain ecosystem, factors include grain and contaminant mould respiration, insect pests, rodents and the key environmental factors of temperature, water availability and intergranular gas composition, and preservatives which are added to conserve moist grain for animal feed. Thus knowledge of the key critical control points during harvesting, drying and storage stages in the cereal production chain are essential in developing effective prevention strategies post-harvest. Studies show that very small amounts of dry matter loss due to mould activity can be tolerated. With b0.5% dry matter loss visible moulding, mycotoxin contamination and downgrading of lots can occur. The key mycotoxigenic moulds in partially dried grain are Penicillium verrucosum (ochratoxin) in damp cool climates of Northern Europe, and Aspergillus flavus (aflatoxins), A. ochraceus (ochratoxin) and some Fusarium species (fumonisins, trichothecenes) on temperate and tropical cereals. Studies on the ecology of these species has resulted in modelling of germination, growth and mycotoxin minima and prediction of fungal contamination levels which may lead to mycotoxin contamination above the tolerable legislative limits (e.g. for ochratoxin). The effect of modified atmospheres and fumigation with sulphur dioxide and ammonia have been attempted to try and control mould spoilage in storage. Elevated CO 2 of N75% are required to ensure that growth of mycotoxigenic moulds does not occur in partially dried grain. Sometimes, preservatives based on aliphatic acids have been used to prevent spoilage and mycotoxin contamination of stored commodities, especially feed. These are predominantly fungistats and attempts have been made to use alternatives such as essential oils and anti-oxidants to prevent growth and mycotoxin accumulation in partially dried grain. Interactions between spoilage and mycotoxigenic fungi and insect pests inevitably occurs in stored grain ecosystems and this can further influence contamination with mycotoxins. Effective post-harvest management of stored commodities requires clear monitoring criteria and effective implementation in relation to abiotic and biotic factors, hygiene and monitoring to ensure that mycotoxin contamination is minimised and that stored grain can proceed through the food chain for processing.