Thermoeconomics as a tool for the design and analysis of energy savings initiatives in buildings connected to district heating networks

District Heating (DH) is a rational way to supply heat to buildings in urban areas. This is expected to play an important role in future energy scenarios, mainly because of the possibility to recover waste heat and to integrate renewable energy sources. Even if DH is a well known technology, there are open problems to face. Some of these problems are related to tendencies to reduce design temperatures, the improvement of control strategies, connection of new users to existing networks, implementation of energy savings initiatives and the access of multiple heat producers to the same network. This paper aims to show that exergy is an appropriate quantity for the analysis of DH systems and thermoeconomics can be profitably used to improve their design and operation. Three possible applications of thermoeconomic theories are presented: variation of supply temperature along the heating season, opportunities to connect new users, effects of energy savings initiatives in buildings connected with the network

TAX SYSTEMS IN WEST BALKANS COUNTRIES – BETWEEN SIMPLICITY AND EFFICIENCY

There are two main features characterized every tax system: simplicity and efficiency. These features converge not necessarily with each other. The simplicity of a tax system is related and implies the simplicity of tax calculation. In other site this characteristic is a very important element regarding tax collection and also affects the transparency among different economics activities. But how much these system are efficient? The efficiency of a fiscal system is related particularly with the characteristic of a tax as an instrument for implementation of different economic policies, incitement of economic development, achievement of particular structural changes, etc. In this framework the paper aims to perform a comparative analyze of fiscal systems for different West Balkans Countries. The main objective of the paper is to analyze how much the tax systems of these countries reflect the simplicity and transparency, and in the other site, how much those serve as a mechanism of economic development. In this approach the paper effort to explain, if the tax systems are considerate only as an instrument of budget revenue collection, or these system have considerate also as an incentives targeted economic development of these countries.Tax System, simplicity, efficiency

Thermoeconomic approach for the analysis of low temperature district heating systems

In this paper a thermoeconomic analysis of district heating systems is performed. The analysis aims at comparing possible options to supply heat to the users, using low temperature networks. Thermoeconomic analysis consists a powerful tool to perform such analysis as it allows one to evaluate the possible options in terms of primary energy cost or economic costs. In the first case, the use of exergy as the quantity that is transported along the network makes it possible to properly consider the various qualities of energy that are used to supply heat to the network and to distribute it to the users. In the case of economic cost, the various cost contributions are considered: investment cost, cost of heat supplied to the network, pumping cost. A different cost can be calculated for the various users depending on their position and characteristics of the heating devices. This is a useful information in order to compare possible options for supply them hea

Sexual orientation, gender identity and non-discrimination - The Albanian labor legislation and its effects on employment and vocational training potentials

Albania is undergoing an important moment in its integration process to European Union. In this context, the Albanian legislation should compare with the best international standards, in guaranteeing the implementation of the rule of law, democratic principals, the citizen’s equity and the observance of fundamental human rights and freedoms. The promotion, protection and the guaranteeing of the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual, including the LGBT person’s rights, must have the same attention and consideration, irrespective of the fact that the individual is being part of a social minor group, or part of the majority of the society. The community of the Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgender (LGBT) in Albania, based on the legislation in force, should enjoy equal rights and freedoms like all other members of the society. The Constitution of the Republic of Albania, the Albanian labour legislation and the legislation generally, are inspired in accordance with the non-discrimination principles, objectives and definitions of international acts, promoting and expressing protection of human rights and freedoms in general, and in particular in the field of employment and vocational training. This paper will analyze, if the sexual orientation, is one of the causes of discrimination for employment and vocational training, in Albanian legislation, especially how it is expressed this issue on the Constitution of the Republic of Albania, the Albanian Labour Code, the Albanian law “On the protection against discrimination” ect

Kosovo's EU candidate status: a goal within reach? EPC Discussion Paper, 28 June 2017

Ever since its declaration of independence in 2008, Kosovo has made European integration one of its key foreign policy objectives. Having made headway over the past years in its efforts to draw nearer to the European Union – most recently by signing a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU – Kosovo is now eager to take the next step in its EU integration process: to apply for EU membership and receive candidate status. However, with five member states still unwilling to recognise its statehood, Kosovo finds itself in a unique and difficult position regarding its eligibility to advance towards the EU and eventually accede to the European Union

The influence of Albanian history, politics and economy on English language teaching

Learning a foreign language in Albania has been determined by many historical, political and economical factors. However, there is little written material about this important feature of foreign language learning in Albania. This paper aims at informing the reader about the main phases Albanian education in general has gone through and that have led to the present state of the Albanian schools. The history of Albanian education has not been an easy one. Albania has suffered many invasions from other countries as well as the worst of dictatorships after independence and these historical features have had a very regressive impact on the development of Albanian education. Being part of the Albanian struggling for improvement of schools and education in general, English language teaching has reflected the consequences of this historical and political background. I argue that, although Albanians worshiped knowledge and education, it was often impossible for them to obtain proper education and sometimes it was unreachable for them, as dictatorship aimed at keeping people in the dark by preventing them from reading, watching, listening to any foreign material that had not been politically controlled before. Nevertheless, Albanian democratic governments have acknowledged the importance of foreign languages, especially English, and have been making continuous efforts to improve the situation of foreign language teaching in Albania in order to modernize and bring it on the same level with other Western foreign language teaching

Post Conflict Peacebuilding in Kosovo. Milestones, Actors and People.

This article presents and analyses the postconflict peacebuilding actions in Kosovo. It aims to bring a picture of external and internal actors involved in such a process from the end of the conflict up to date. The article challenges peace process in Kosovo through the issues emerging in the Society due to the unsettled status enduring as of Security Council Resolution 1244. It is structured into three sections. The first section analyses the postconflict peacebuilding and statebuilding actions undertaken by external and internal actors right after the conflict. The second section deals with the issue of transitional justice as a key element on peacebuilding and how it was addressed. Whereas the third section analyses the current situation of the population with the issues inherited from the conflict and others emerged due to undefined actions of external and internal actors

TRADISI ZIARAH MAKAM SUNAN GUNUNG JATI DAN IMPLIKASINYA TERHADAP PENDIDIKAN ISLAM

Skripsi ini berjudul “Tradisi Ziarah Makam Sunan Gunung Jati dan Implikasinya Terhadap Pendidikan Islam.” Penelitian ini bertempat di komplek makam Sunan Gunung Jati. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui tradisi ziarah makam Sunan Gunung Jati dan implikasinya terhadap pendidikan Islam. Penelitian ini dilakukan dengan alasan banyaknya pengrusakan makam ulama atau wali yang dilakukan oleh kelompok Islam ekstrem, mereka beralasan tempat tersebut merupakan tempat kesyirikan. Melihat fenomena tersebut, maka peneliti merasa perlu untuk melakukan penelitian mengenai tradisi ziarah makam Sunan Gunung Jati apakah termasuk perbuatan syirik atau tidak, yang fenomenanya banyak diziarahi dan beragam kegiatan dan tujuan pezirah dalam melakukan tradisi ziarah makam Sunan Gunung Jati. Kemudian dari banyak penelitian sebelumnya yang berkaitan dengan ziarah makam, belum ada yang mengimplikasikannya terhadap pendidikan Islam, maka peneliti mencoba untuk mengimplikasikannya terhadap pendidikan Islam. Metode yang digunakan adalah metode deskriptif melalui pendekatan kualitatif. Teknik pengumpulan data menggunakan teknik wawancara, observasi, dan studi dokumentasi. Proses analisis data dilakukan melalui reduksi data, penyajian data dan verification. Pada penelitian ini ditemukan bahwa kegiatan ziarah makam Sunan Gunung Jati yaitu berwudhu, mengucapkan salam kepada ahli kubur, bertawasul, membaca beberapa ayat-ayat al-quran, membaca dzikir, membaca doa. Ada juga sebelum melakukan hal di atas melakukan mandi tujuh sumur terlebih dahulu dengan tujuan agar badan menjadi bersih, suci, dan sehat. Kemudian, tujuan peziarah lainnya yang melakukan ziarah makam Sunan Gunung Jati yaitu, mendapatkan karomah Sunan Gunung Jati, menjalankan sunnah, mendoakan Sunan Gunung Jati, silaturrahim dengan Sunan Gunung Jati, mengingat kematian, minta didoakan. Adapun adab peziarah yang melakukan ziarah ke Sunan Gunung Jati adalah memakai pakaian sopan, melepas alas kaki, tidak duduk di atas kuburan, tidak bersandar di kuburan. Nilai-nilai yang terdapat dalam tradisi ziarah makam Sunan Gunung Jati yaitu nilai i’tiqadiyah, nilai khuluqiyah dan nilai amaliyah. Adapun implikasinya terhadap pendidikan yaitu terhadap sumber pendidikan Islam, tujuan pendidikan Islam dan kurikulum pendidikan Islam.; The thesis is titled “The Tradition of Ziyarat of Sunan Gunung Jati’s Grave and its Implications on Islamic Education.” The research was conducted in the cemetery of Sunan Gunung Jati. It aims to find about the tradition of ziyarat of Sunan Gunung Jati’s grave and its implications on Islamic education. The research was prompted by the destruction of the graves of Islamic clerics or revered saints of Islam by Islamic extremists, with an excuse that the sites are a place of shirk. Seeing this phenomenon, the researcher perceives an urgency to conduct research on the tradition of ziyarat of Sunan Gunung Jati’s grave, as a popular site for ziyarat, to find whether it is a form of shirk or not and to find the various activities and intentions of the pilgrims in visiting the grave. In addition, previous research on ziyarat has not focused on its implications on Islamic education; thus, the researcher would liketo find the implications. The research adopted descriptive method with qualitative approach. Data were collected using the techniques of interview, observation, and documentation. Analysis was conducted through data reduction, data display, and verification. The research has found that the activity of ziyarat of the grave of Sunan Gunung Jati consists of taking ablution (wudu), greeting the deceased, tawassul, reciting several verses of the Quran, reciting dhikr, and praying. Some of the pilgrims also take a bath in the seven wells before ziyarat in order to cleanse, purify, and make the body healthy. The intentions of the ziyarat of Sunan Gunung Jati’s grave, among others, are to obtain karomah from Sunan Gunung Jati, to practice sunnah, to pray for Sunan Gunung Jati, to practice silaturrahim with Sunan Gunung Jati, to remember death, and to ask for blessings. The customs of the pilgrims of Sunan Gunung Jati’s grave are wearing modest clothes, taking off footwear, not sitting on top of the grave, and not leaning on the grave. The values contained in the tradition of ziyaratof the grave of SunanGunungJati are i’tiqadiyah, khuluqiyah, andamaliyah.The implications of this tradition on Islamic education are on the resources of Islamic education, objectives of Islamic education, and curriculum of Islamic education

Business regulation and economic growth in the Western Balkan countries

Actually economic policies in many countries aimed to stimulate their economic growth, particularly after negative impact of the global economic crisis. In this regards, fiscal regulation are an important aspect of those policies, that can promote or obstacle the economic growth in general. In this point of view this paper aims to analyze the system of administration rules in different Western Balkans Countries, (which includes Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia (FYROM), Montenegro and Serbia). Moreover, a special attention is given investigation of the regulation and administrative facilitation aspects of doing business in the above-mentioned countries, whether this system stimulates, or not, the development of private business and economic growth.The paper is divided into three main sections. The first part provides a retrospective of economic growth in the Western Balkan countries and the dependence of this growth on global economic development. The second part proceeds with the investigations of the impact of administrative regulation on economic growth. The third part, based on an econometric model, will analyze the correlation between economic growth and elaborated indicators which present the level of business administrative regulation system. Furthermore, this last section discusses the results and concludes. In this analysis, the paper is based substantially on the data base of "Doing Business 2013" (World Bank)

Penggunaan Media Pembelajaran Sebagai Upaya Peningkatan Prestasi Belajar Siswa Pada Mata Pelajaran Aqidah Akhlak Siswa Kelas VIII A MTs Muhammadiyah Blimbing Polokarto Sukoharjo Tahun Pelajaran 2014/2015

Masa Sekolah Menengah Pertama (SMP/MTs) adalah masa bagi seorang siswa untuk mencari jati dirinya. Pada masa inilah siswa mudah merasa bosan, malas, dan kurang termotivasi dalam mengikuti proses pembelajaran, menyebabkan menurunnya prestasi belajar siswa. Sebagai seorang guru banyak hal yang dapat dilakukannya untuk menghilangkan rasa bosan, malas, dan memacu motivasi belajar siswa sehingga siswa dapat meraih prestasi belajar yang baik. Selain adanya penerapan metode pembelajaran yang bervariasi, hal lain yang dapat mempengaruhi prsetasi belajar siswa adalah pengoptimalan penggunaan media pembelajaran untuk mempermudah guru dalam menyampaikan materi pembelajaran. Dengan media pembelajaran yang menarik siswa akan mudah mengingat dan menyerap materi pembelajaran yang disampaikan oleh guru. Karena proses pembelajaran Aqidah Akhlak yang selama ini lebih menekan pada metode hafalan terbukti tidak efektif. Karena peserta didik hanya mampu menguasai materi pembelajaran tetapi tidak bisa menerapkannya dalam kehidupan sehari-hari. Disinilah sangat diperlukannya media pembelajaran yang menarik minat siswa untuk belajar. Adapun rumusan masalah pada penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui bagaimana penggunaan media pembelajaran dan bagaimaana upaya meningkatkan prestasi belajar siswa dengan menggunakan media pembelajaran pada mata pelajaran Aqidah Akhlak kelas VIII A di MTs Muhammadiyah Blimbing Polokarto Sukoharjo. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mendeskripsikan penggunaan media pembelajaran dan upaya meningkatkan prestasi belajar siswa dengan menggunakan media pembelajaran pada mata pelajaran Aqidah Akhlak kelas VIII A di MTs Muhammadiyah Blimbing Polokarto Sukoharjo. Adapun manfaat penelitian ini adalah memberikan sumbangan pada proses pembelajaran dalam peningkatan prestasi siswa. Penelitian ini adalah penelitian lapangan dengan subjek penelitian adalah guru Aqidah Akhlak dan objek penelitian media pembelajaran. Pengumpulan data menggunakan metode wawancara, observasi, dan dokumentasi. Sedangkan metode analisis data yaitu induktif. Kesimpulan bahwa Media Pembelajaran yang digunakan oleh guru Aqidah Akhlak di MTs Muhammadiyah Blimbing Polokarto Sukoharjo adalah melalui media Visual, media audio, dan media audio-visual. Penggunaan media pembelajaran di MTs Muhammadiyah Blimbing Polokarto Sukoharjo sudah maksimal, dalam meningkatkan semangat belajar dan prestasi siswa. Adapun upaya yang dilakukan yaitu melalui meningkatkan aspek jasmani, peningkatan aspek rohani, peningkatan kondisi intelektual, dan peningkatan kondisi sosial