Funds transfer pricing in banking

Every bank needs to better understand the sources of its profitability. Whatever the size of the bank, funds transfer pricing (FTP) can be used to help managing the bank's profitability by analyzing earnings for the whole institution or for different profit centers. In today’s banking environment, it is essential to look at the earnings both as a whole and broken down into various components. Funds Transfer Pricing is an analysis tool that can be used to help a bank measure its profitability in a variety of different ways. It allows management to compare the profitability of different product lines within the company, and it can be drilled down even further to allow comparison between individual employees. It is also very useful for comparison between branches. This study will reveal the role of Fund Transfer Pricing (FTP) in banks.funds transfer pricing, profit, bank, business units

THE OPPORTUNITY OF USING AUGMENTED REALITY IN E DUCATING DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN

The high degree of absenteeism and the increased risk of school dropout among vulnerable children is one of the main issues of the current society. This study seeks to identify the opportunity to use Augmented Reality in the education of these children, starting with the trend of recent years in which IT technology is capturing the interest of children more and more compared to classical teaching methods. Research results show that, in the opinion of psycho-educators, Augmented Reality is an accessible technology that can be used to increase the attractiveness of the educational process for children belonging to vulnerable groups

Does the Application of Polywave Light-Curing Units Influence Physico-mechanical Properties of Resin-Based Materials? A Meta-Analysis of in-Vitro Studies

The objective of this study was to systematically review the existing literature and to assess the effect of the use of polywave light-curing units on the properties of resin-based materials. A thorough search was conducted across five electronic databases: PubMed (MedLine), ISI Web of Science, SciELO, Scopus, and EMBASE. Inclusion criteria comprised in-vitro studies that compared the effects of polywave light-emitting diode (LED) curing units with monowave LED curing units on resin-based material properties. Two reviewers evaluated the methodological quality of the included studies, considering parameters from previous systematic reviews. Meta-analyses were conducted using Review Manager version 5.3.5 (The Cochrane Collaboration, Copenhagen, Denmark). Overall, when the TPO photoinitiator was employed, the use of a polywave light-curing unit demonstrated statistically significant higher values solely for the degree of conversion (

Diagnostic and classification pitfalls in systemic scleroderma

Generalităţi. Sclerodermia este o boală cronică, multisistemică, de etiologie incertă, caracterizată prin alterarea, indurarea și îngroșarea tegumentului, și prin modificări de tip fibrotic, inflamator și vascular ale unor organe interne (tub digestiv, pulmon, cord, rinichi), însoţită de anomalii imune, celulare și umorale. Prezentare de caz. Prezentăm cazul unei paciente în vârstă de 62 de ani, cunoscută din 2015 cu o importantă patologie cardio-respiratorie (fibroză pulmonară difuză, bronșiectazii bilateral, bronhopneumopatie obstructivă cronică, stadiul III, cord pulmonar cronic compensat, ateroscleroză aortică și mitrală, insuficienţă mitrală forma ușoară), gastroenterologică (reflux gastro-esofagian, steatohepatită cronică, colecistopatie cronică alitiazică), endocrinologică (gușă polimicronodulară, lob tiroidian stâng). Pacienta relatează debutul insidios în urmă cu 1 an a unor fenomene respiratorii – dispnee, tuse iritativă, asociate cu fatigabilitate, astenie fizică, scădere ponderală 17 kg în 6 luni (ianuarie-iunie 2015), pirozis, epigastralgii, disfonie. Se adresează iniţial medicului pneumolog, ulterior fiind direcţionată către diverși specialiști datorită simptomatologiei persistente și rebele la tratament. În ianuarie 2016, ajunge în departamentul de dermatologie, la indicaţia medicului alergolog, acesta găsindu-se în imposibiliatatea realizării testelor cutanate din cauza modificărilor tegumentare. Clinic: se obiectivează tegumente infiltrate și indurate la nivelul mâinilor și feţei, modificări instalate progresiv, însoţite de prurit generalizat. Din anamneza activă reiese că leziunile au fost precedate cu aproximativ 20 de ani de un fenomen Raynaud repetitiv. Pacienta prezintă, de asemenea, macule acromice suborbitar bilateral. Aspectul clinic și patologiile asociate orientează diagnosticul spre sclerodermie sistemică forma acrosclerotică și vitiligo, iar prin corelaţie cu modificările bioumorale se ridică suspiciunea de tiroidită autoimună. S-a instituit corticoterapia sistemică cu Methilprednisolon 16mg/zi, medicaţie vasoactivă, antifibrozantă, bronhodilatator, iar topic se asociază dermatocorticoid și pomadă cu heparină. Evoluţia a fost lent favorabilă, cu diminuarea induraţiei la nivelul membrelor superioare după o lună de tratament. Menţionăm faptul că pacienta s-a adresat serviciului de reumatologie pentru explorări suplimentare în vederea instituirii terapiei cu antagoniști ai receptorilor endotelinei. Astfel, medicul reumatolog decide suprimarea în doze descrescânde a corticoterapiei sistemice, pacienta acuzând, după administrarea ultimei doze, alterarea bruscă a stării generale, cu exacerbarea simptomatologiei pulmonare. S-a indicat reiniţierea corticoterapiei, dar, prin suprapunerea unei viroze respiratorii, evoluţia a fost nefastă, conducând la exitus. Rezultate și concluzii. Particularitatea cazului constă în asocierea, rar raportată în literatura de specialitate, a acestor patologii autoimune, în tipologia/ atipia atingerii pulmonare precoce și amplă, caracteristică pentru sclerodermia sistemica difuză și în nerecunoașterea sclerodermiei sistemice de către serviciile clinice în evidenţa cărora se afl a pacienta. Un alt aspect important ar fi rolul corticoterapiei sistemice în controlul atingerii viscerale și cutanate. Având în vedere heterogenitatea sclerodermiei sistemice, este importantă colaborarea interdisciplinară în vederea diagnosticării corecte și a stabilirii conduitei terapeutice adecvate, pentru îmbunătăţirea calităţii vieţii pacientului.Overview. Scleroderma is a chronic disease, affecting multisystem, of uncertain etiology. It is characterized by alteration, increased hardness and thickness of the skin and by fibrotic, inflammatory and vascular type changes of internal organs (gastrointestinal tract, lungs, heart, kidneys), accompanied by immunological, cellular and humoral abnormalities. Case report. We present a patient aged 62 years, known from 2015 with grave cardio-respiratory (diffuse lung fibrosis, bilateral bronchiectasis, chronic obstructive lung disease stage III, compensated chronic pulmonary heart disease, atherosclerosis, aortic and mitral stenosis, mild form of mitral regurgitation), gastroenterological (gastro-esophageal reflux, chronic steatohepatitis, chronic alithiasic gallbladder), endocrine (multimicronodular left lobe thyroidian goiter) problems. Th e patient relates insidious onset 1 year ago to respiratory phenomenon – dyspnea, irritant cough, associated with fatigue, asthenia, 17 kg weight loss within six months (January-June 2015), gastro-esophageal reflux, epigastric pain, dysphonia. The patient had initially been seen by a pulmonologist doctor, then directed to various medical specialists due to persistent rebelious symptoms refractory to treatment. In January 2016 the patient arrived in the dermatology department, sent by an allergist (allergy skin testing could not be performed because of the hardness of the skin). Clinic: infiltration and induration of the skin of the hands and face, changes progressively installed, accompanied by generalized pruritus. Repetitive Raynaud’s phenomenon has preceded skin lesions for about 20 years. The patient also presents achromic patches suborbital bilaterally. Clinical and biohumoral changes oriented the diagnosis to systemic acrosclerotic form of scleroderma associated with vitiligo and autoimmune thyroiditis. Systemic corticosteroid therapy was instituted (methylprednisolone 16 mg/day), vasoactive, antifibrotic, bronchodilator medication associated with topic dermatocorticoid and heparin ointment was applied as well. Favorable evolution has been slow, with the decrease of upper limb skin induration after one month of treatment. We note that the patient was addressed to the rheumatology service for additional examination and to switch to endothelin receptor antagonist therapy. The rheumatologist decides suppression of systemic corticosteroid therapy, decreasing doses. The patient complained of sudden alteration of general condition, with exacerbation of pulmonary symptoms aft er the last corticosteroid dose. Initiation of corticosteroid therapy was indicated, but by superimposing respiratory viruses, evolution was unfortunate, leading to exitus. Results and conlcusions. The particularity of the case lies: in the rarely reported in the literature combination of these autoimmune diseases, in typology/ atipia of early and wide lung achieving (diffuse systemic scleroderma feature) and in the inability of recognizing this disease (systemic scleroderma) by the other clinical services. Another important aspect is the role of systemic corticosteroid therapy to achieve the control of visceral and cutaneous changes. Considering the heterogeneity of systemic scleroderma, interdisciplinary collaboration is important in establishing the correct diagnosis and appropriate therapeutic management, to improve patient’s quality of life

Correlation between periodontal status and Parkinson's disease; a literature review

This systematic review aims to explore the relationship between chronic inflammation of periodontal disease and neurodegenerative disorders (especially Parkinson's disease), focusing primarily on pathophysiological, clinical and immunological aspects. An exhaustive search on this topic was performed in several databases (including PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science) selecting articles published between 2006 and 2023. After reviewing the titles, abstracts and protocols of each study, 13 articles were extracted for detailed assessment. The main indicators in the study included clinical signs of gingival inflammation, bleeding on probing (BoP), bone loss (BL), periodontal probing depth (PPD), and clinical attachment loss (CAL). Additionally, levels of inflammatory markers such as epidermal growth factor (EGF), interleukin-8 (IL-8), interleukin-17 (IL-17), interferon γ-induced protein 10 (IP-10), and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) were monitored. The investigation also explored the presence of one of the main periodontal pathogens (Porphyromonas gingivalis) in the microbiota of Parkinson's disease patients. In conclusion, the data presented further support the intricated relationship between periodontal health and neurodegenerative processes, including aspects related to changes in clinical periodontal indices, immunological indices, as well as oral hygiene and patient medication