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The digital transformation of the accounting field is triggering a reconfiguration of the optimized skill set that is required of practitioners worldwide. Emerging technologies have set foot into accounting daily processes, triggering the need that practitioners upskill their digital competences, while also emphasizing the relevance of soft and technical skills. The optimal accounting profile, adapted to the needs of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is being analyzed in the current paper through means of a thematic literature review of the reports of professional accounting bodies. Professional accounting bodies are key change-agents that enable the optimization of financial activities and help organizations improve activities and reach their goals. In this sense, they provide the most updated information in terms of skills and competencies required of accounting practitioners. The results of the literature review present three distinct skill categories. The three groups consist of technical skills, meaning traditional accounting skills, soft skills, meaning cognitive related and behavioral skills, and lastly the study addresses the topic of digital skills which are a direct result of technological innovations in the field. The digital skill group is being validated as an individual group through the recurrence and the interest that literature of accounting bodies has on these skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protein-energy wasting and inflammation are major risk factors for complications in hemodialysis patients. As these risk factors are triggered by a pro-inflammatory state, oxidative stress and hemodynamic dysfunction, which overlap in hemodialyzed subjects, we aimed to assess the efficacy of a cost-effective and straightforward screening tool, the Prognostic Inflammatory and Nutritional Index (PINI), in regularly screening maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients, to detect early signs of inflammation and malnutrition. A 12-month follow-up was carried out on a cohort of 102 adult patients undergoing maintenance dialysis, during which the Prognostic Inflammatory and Nutritional Index (PINI) was calculated using the formula alpha1-Acid Glycoprotein (AGP) × C-reactive protein (CRP)/albumin (ALB) × transthyretin (TTR). A PINI score < 1 was considered normal. The patients were stratified based on their PINI score: 66 patients (64.70%) had a normal score, below 1, while 36 patients (35.30%) had a PINI score ≥ 1. Despite the absence of clinical evidence of inflammation at enrollment, the latter group exhibited higher levels of CRP. During the follow-up period, all patients with a PINI score ≥ 1 experienced at least one acute event, compared to only 6% of patients with a normal PINI score, which presented COVID-19 infection as an acute event. The evaluation of the PINI can effectively identify the silent malnutrition-inflammation syndrome and predict the risk of acute events. This straightforward test appears to be a rapid tool that is independent of the examiner's experience and subjectivity, thereby potentially reducing hospitalization costs.

Background: Protein-energy loss and inflammation are the main risk factors in the occurrence of complications in hemodialysis patients. The Prognostic Inflammatory and Nutritional Index (PINI) is a simple, inexpensive test to identify the early onset of inflammation and malnutrition in hemodialysis patients, critically ill subjects and those with malignancies., Methods: A systemic review of English literature was conducted on the topic published between 1985 and 2022. A focused and sensitive search strategy was applied to the PUBMED database to identify relevant scientific articles in English. Once articles were identified, a detailed quality and bias assessment was performed. Two independent researchers analyzed the detailed data extraction., Results: PINI proved to be a sensitive, powerful, low-cost and simple test. PINI has been useful in assessing evolution and prognostics in clinical care, with values above one being associated with a high risk of mortality and morbidity. It is useful in cases with surgical and postoperative complications, long hospitalization, as well as increased associated expenses., Conclusions: This is the first review of the literature on the above-mentioned topic (PINI) and is a valuable candidate for validating prognosis in patients with different pathologies.