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Unfavourable demographic trends are exerting more pressure on public pension systems in all European countries, and the need for alternative sources of pension provision is increasing. Personal pension products can be considered as a possible solution to the problem of providing adequate pensions. The pan-European personal pension product (PEPP) is the first standardised pension product subject to a uniform EU regime. Now that the regulatory framework for PEPP has been established at the EU level, it is up to the Member States to create an appropriate legal environment in order to promote the successful development of PEPP. This article examines the role of voluntary pension funds and the readiness to implement PEPP in the selected countries. We focus on the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, where the role of private pension funds is growing. We examine how PEPP can fit into the national pension systems and make some proposals regarding regulatory measures to be taken in order to ensure that PEPP is not at a competitive disadvantage against national pension products. We find that PEPP may fill the pension gap in countries where public pensions are the main source of retirement income and the role of occupational pension schemes is insignificant.

Different areas serve as sources of pension protection for the citizens of the European Union. Along with pensions from public systems, capital pensions are playing an increasing role. Financial institutions-providers of pension savings products operate on a different business model; the diversity cause difficulties in tracking individual’s pension savings, and in promoting pension protection. The pension tracking system is seen as a mechanism for achieving a more efficient market for pension products. This paper examines the development of the pension tracking system (PTS) for European Union member states with multi-pillar pension system. We study the application of the PTS in Bulgaria, to exemplify the structure of the PTS for other EU member states. We conclude that the development of PTS is a necessary set of measures that would be a prerequisite for improving the well-being of the savers.

Savings in the unit-linked products are increasing across the European Union member-states. In environment of low interest rates and increased capital requirements for traditional life insurance products the supply of the unit-linked insurances is rapidly growing. The last year sold unit-linked life insurances in Bulgaria are four times more than five years earlier. Unit-linked life insurance consists of insurance part and asset management part. The investment result from the insurance is usually born by the insured. The investment performance is related to the performance of the financial markets. The growing acceptance of unit-linked products are posing questions of adequate information to consumers, the balance between the price and the benefits of the products, the related risks and the proper rights of the insured. All these specifics raise questions whether the insured are well informed when buying the insurance and whether the client’s needs and preferences are matched with the proposed product. These questions lead to the asking what value is receiving the client for the money spent – value for money effect and risks. In the European Union there is no common framework on the assessment of the effectiveness of the product. The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority is proposing framework to address value for money risk in the European unit-linked market. The study finds out that the design of the product is of great importance for the value for money effect for the insured. The life insurance activity in the European Union follows strict and profound regulations both for the life insurance companies and for the life insurance products. That is why additional framework is not the most necessary step. The European Union needs Savings plan that encourages saving in the member states, increases the insurance coverage, increases the accumulated assets and improves the efficiency of the personal savings and investment products.

Personal pensions increase their role in the retirement savings in the European Union. The design of the personal pensions is of great importance for the success of the saving. In the European Union there is no common legislation on the taxation of pensions. In recent years, the personal responsibility of savers for making decisions to save for retirement has increased. The limited ability of public pension systems to guarantee an adequate and sustainable income after working age necessitates the search for opportunities to fill this "pension gap". That is why the market for long-term savings products is central to achieving adequate income replacement and maintaining the standard of living of the elderly. This is one of the reasons for the greater role of the tax treatment of the savings products. The paper is analyzing the role of tax incentives for the increase of the saving in personal pension products. The study is searching answer which are the most important steps for efficient tax policy of retirement savings products. The new product on the European Union market, the pan-European personal pension product, sheds extra light on the topic of the importance and the efficiency of the tax treatment of saving in personal pension products. The research finds out that favourable tax treatment for saving in personal pension products is a must but it has to be major part of the overall social welfare and tax policy of the member states.

Retirement products are long-term savings products. It is widespread government to encourage the saving via tax incentives. Bulgaria follows favourable taxation of saving in voluntary pension funds. The paper is searching answer whether the applied tax policy of personal retirement products in Bulgaria is efficient. The research is focused on three main areas: the nature of the tax incentives in the country; the development of the taxation of pensions across European Union and the areas for improvements of the tax policy taking into account the characteristics of the Bulgarian socio-economic environment. The efficiency of the tax advantages often is under doubt in the literature. These studies omit the fact that without tax reliefs the coverage and the efficiency of saving in personal pension plans will be low. One of the conclusions of the current research is that the tax incentives for personal retirement products have to be a part of the design of the plans and these reliefs need to be adapted to the changing economic environment. The paper reaches the conclusion that evolution of the taxation of pensions in the country is needed. The positive changes will increase the trust in the personal retirement products and will improve the adequacy and sustainability of the overall pension system in Bulgaria. This evolution can be done through set of measures that will encourage people to save and will be factor for improving the results from the saving in personal pension plans.

Customers expect certain characteristics from long-term savings products. Providers are not able to supply all of these characteristics in one product at the same time. In addition, there are changing attitudes of the savers and the requirements to the financial institutions are evolving. The paper is analyzing the customers’ expectations from the long-term savings products. The manuscript is searching answer which are the most important characteristics of the savings products from the point of view of the client. The research is focused on three main areas: which are the customers’ expectations; what is the current environment in the market of savings products and what developments can we expect in the coming years. One of the conclusions is that the providers have to adapt their products to the customers’ expectations in order to succeed and to reach further development of the markets. Another conclusion is that customer centric products will gain greater trust among potential savers. We believe that the successful saving product has to be simple, transparent and cost-efficient. This reflects the surrounding environment of low interest rates, ageing population, increased informational flow, digitalization and alternative products development. To support the savers and the providers it is needed public help, targeting good coverage and constant efforts for active role of the stakeholders in the savings process.

Due to sparsity and multiresolution properties, Mutiscale transforms are gaining popularity in the field of medical image denoising. This paper empirically evaluates different Mutiscale transform approaches such as Wavelet, Bandelet, Ridgelet, Contourlet, and Curvelet for image denoising. The image to be denoised first undergoes decomposition and then the thresholding is applied to its coefficients. This paper also deals with basic shrinkage thresholding techniques such Visushrink, Sureshrink, Neighshrink, Bayeshrink, Normalshrink and Neighsureshrink to determine the best one for image denoising. Experimental results on several test images were taken on Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), X-RAY and Computed Tomography (CT). Qualitative performance metrics like Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR), Weighted Signal to Noise Ratio (WSNR), Structural Similarity Index (SSIM), and Correlation Coefficient (CC) were computed. The results shows that Contourlet based Medical image denoising methods are achieving significant improvement in association with Neighsureshrink thresholding technique.

An application of information technologies support for traffic lights control is presented. The control task is formalized as a bi-level hierarchical problem solved in MATLAB environment. The traffic lights control is applied for a network of eight crossroads in the urban area of Sofia. The optimization problem is numerically tested with traffic intensity data and graphical interpretations are given. Comparison with the classical optimization control problem gives benefits for the bi-level optimization model.

Traffic congestion is a problem in large cities. It has many negative consequences for the economy, the environment and human health. Proper adjustment of the traffic light settings in urban environments is the main means of control of this problem. This paper investigates a network of crossroads situated in central Rome in the area of Municipo V. The study presented in this paper offers alternative approaches to the optimization of signal timings of traffic lights in the network. A comparison is made between the current settings, the Buyanov et al. optimization approach, the nonlinear optimization approach and the bi-level optimization approach. Signal timings for the current settings and for the three optimization approaches are imported in the traffic simulation software suit Aimsun and the output results of the four simulations are compared. The analysis and evaluation of the output data shows that the nonlinear approach gives better results than the Buyanov et al. approach. This is also valid for the bi-level optimization approach. The effectiveness of the used optimization methodologies is graphically presented.

A quantitative analysis of the financial state of an animal husbandry is performed. The paper illustrates the usage of different economical parameters in order to present operational state of the husbandry and to search regularities for future actions. The added value of this research is the application of intelligent instruments in the management of the economic behavior of animal husbandry which give recommendations for their more effective functionality.

The rising number of people working and living in big cities around the world, many of which own a personal car, lead to a well-known social problem, namely, traffic congestions. Congestions occur when a large number of road traffic participants aim to use the very same infrastructure, while the latter has limited capacity. This situation entails a number of negative consequences, such as slow motion, economic losses, environmental pollution, safety problems and road accidents. The implementation of appropriate transport infrastructure management can make traffic more efficient, safer and greener.Traffic management in an urban environment is mainly realized through traffic light management. It is an integral part of the intelligent transport system (ITS), which is essential for facilitating traffic congestion. Poor traffic management and inefficient settings at signalized intersections cause many problems such as excessive delays for vehicles, increased fuel consumption and CO2 emissions generated by transport means. The efficiency of signalized intersections can be significantly improved by optimizing phase duration and synchronizing traffic lights using intelligent traffic management methods. For this reason, the paper demonstrates the use of the built-in Excel GRG Nonlinear Multi-start application for improving the level of service (LOS) in intersection by optimizing the phase length and cycle of two isolated traffic lights. The average weighted controlled vehicle delay at the intersection is the indicator for assessing the effectiveness of the objective function. The results of the study show that the calculated values for delays for passing through intersections have decreased.

Aim: The growing implementation of iron oxide nanoparticles in medicine requires a thorough investigation of their physiological influence. Therefore, effects of Fe3O4 nanoparticles on isometric contractions of healthy human mesenteric artery in vitro were investigated. Materials & methods: The effect of increasing concentrations (0.023, 0.069, 0.23, 0.69 and 2.31 μg/μl) of Fe3O4 nanoparticles (50–100 nm) on the contractility of mesenteric artery ring preparations was studied using wire myography technique. Results & conclusion: A lack of effects of Fe3O4 nanoparticles (50–100 nm) on isometric contractions of human mesenteric artery segments both in conditions of basal tension and precontraction was found. The observed unresponsiveness of human mesenteric arteries in vitro to Fe3O4 nanoparticles could be attributed to their safe mode of use in biomedicine.

Summary Background Considering the important roles of porphyrins in biological systems and their promising use in photodynamic therapy (PDT), the present work investigated the photophysical properties of palladium(II) 5,10,15,20-tetrakis-(4-sulfonatophenyl)-porphyrin (PdTSPP) and the effects of non-activated by light form of this porphyrin on contractile behaviour of isolated healthy endothelium-denuded human mesenteric arteries. Methods The photophysical characterisation of PdTSPP: the formation of the triplet states and the singlet oxygen were studied using laser flash photolysis. The effect of PdTSPP on the isometric contraction of artery segments from human mesentery was assessed utilising the precise method of artery isometric tension recording using Mulvany–Halpern wire myograph. Results We found that PdTSPP had a high lifetime of the triplet states τ T = 270 μs. The calculated Stern Volmer rate constant k q = 1.7 × 10 9 M −1 s −1 showed an efficient quenching by oxygen that indicated formation of singlet oxygen, O 2 ( 1 Δ g ). The photophysical parameters of PdTSPP, in particular its ability to generate O 2 ( 1 Δ g ) has defined it as an exceptionally interesting molecule for PDT. The results of the contraction study showed that PdTSPP applied in increasing concentrations (1–100 μM) had no effect on the basal tone of human mesenteric artery under isometric condition. Furthermore, PdTSPP failed to potentiate or to attenuate the isometric contraction of the artery preparations precontracted with high extracellular potassium (42 mM KCl) or with 1 nM endothelin-1. Conclusions The excellent photophysical properties of PdTSPP as well as the lack of an effect on the contractility of human vasculature in vitro characterise PdTSPP as a suitable compound for potential medical applications.

This work was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, through the scholarship SFRH/BD/35821/2007 Tese de doutoramento. Engenharia Mecânica. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 2012

Обект на изследването в дисертационния труд са небанковите дружества за микрофинансиране, представени чрез заложните къщи, финансовите институции и лизингови дружества в България. Предмет на изследването са вътрешните и външните фактори, които влияят върху стойността на небанковите институциите за микрокредитиране, моделите за числовото им изразяване, цялостната икономическа и правна среда с оглед на влиянието, което тя оказва върху дейността им. Целта на дисертационния труд е да се идентифицират и класифицират както ключовите фактори, които влияят при определяне стойността на небанковите финансови институции за микрокредитиране, така и да се очертае тяхната специфика спрямо търговските предприятия. Те са предпоставка за точния избор и приложение на най-подходящите подходи и методи за оценяването на небанковите дружества. За постигане на зададената цел са поставени за разрешаване следните задачи: Анализ на основните теоретични въпроси, които са свързани с измерването на стойност. Изследване и оценяване на пазара на небанково кредитиране. Анализ на сключени сделки за покупко-продажба на дял или цяло предприятие на пазара на небанкови финансови институции. The object of the dissertation thesis is focus on non-bank financial institution for micro credits in Bulgaria. Represented by pawn shops, pay day loans and leasing companies for loans under 5000 BGN. The research covers the internals and externals factors that have an influence on the valuation’s analysis for those companies, their calculation models, their economical and legal environment. The main point of the dissertation is to identify and specify the factors, that can influence the valuation of non-bank financial institutions for microcredit. Also, the definition of their differences from commercial enterprises. They are the base for the best choice and applications for valuation methods. In order to accomplish the goal, there are several tasks to perform: Analysis of the theoretical questions, related to measuring the value. Exploration and measuring the market of non- bank financial institutions. Analysis of the mergers and acquisitions in the field of non-bank financial institutions.