DWELLINGS IN THE VILLAGE OF GURI I BARDHË IN THE REGION OF MAT, ALBANIA

The village of Guri i Bardhë has five neighborhoods which are located on the dominant hills. The houses are typically fenced off. There is only 3-storied dome tower of Dezhgejve. In these houses three of them are cultural monuments. The houses are decorated with symbols and different writings in Ottomans language and Albanian language, too. The symbols are carved mostly on top of the doors and corners like pines, flying snakes, etc. It is given the year when it was built and the name of the owner of the house. The master builders were mostly villagers. They were from Dibra and Macedonia. In the bedrooms they had a bathroom which proves the evidence of civilization. The ground floor was used for cattle and different objects. The Guest room had always a special care

A Study of the Relationship Between Health and Subjective Well-being in Parkinson’s Disease Patients

Objectives: In light of the apparent disconnect between traditional measures of societal well-being such as GDP and reported levels of happiness, governments globally are turning their attention to alternative subjective measures of well-being (SWB) to aid policy decisions. In the context of health, there is therefore growing interest in understanding how measures of health-related quality of life (HRQoL), widely used in health technology appraisal, relates to SWB, and whether SWB could provide a sound basis for resource allocation decisions in health and other sectors in the future. This study investigates the relationship between HRQoL, as measured by EQ-5D, and SWB in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and the extent to which patients’ self-reported health can explain (part of) their SWB. Methods: A paper questionnaire including EQ-5D, four key SWB questions taken from the Office for National Statistics Integrated Household Survey in England and other demographic details was distributed to people with PD in the UK. Responses were used to estimate multiple regression models explaining SWB using each of the EQ-5D Index (UK weights), EQ-5D dimensions and EQ-VAS and patient socio-demographic characteristics. Results: 276 questionnaires were distributed and 183 responses received. The EQ-5D Index was a moderate predictor of SWB (adjusted R2 range 0.19-0.38 in OLS models), but EQ-VAS performed better (adjusted R2 range 0.32-0.49). Combining EQ-VAS and EQ-5D dimensions, especially anxiety/depression and mobility, and household status in some cases, yielded the best-fitting models (adjusted R2 range 0.40-0.52). Conclusions: The findings imply that EQ-VAS and some dimensions of the EQ-5D, together with key demographic data, could potentially be used to predict SWB, e.g. via mapping. However, further empirical research into the relationship between SWB and EQ-5D longitudinally, and in different disease areas, is required to corroborate these findings, and further standardisation of SWB measures is recommended

Adaptation to Health States: A Micro-Econometric Approach

Health care funding decisions in the UK are based on valuations of the general public. However, it has been shown that there is a disparity between a hypothetical valuation of the impact of a specific condition on health and the effect of that health state by someone who experiences it. This paper examines the issue of adaptation to health states, which partially may explain the discrepancy between hypothetical and experienced health state valuations. We use the British Cohort Study (BCS70) which is a longitudinal dataset that tracks a sample of British individuals since their birth in 1970. We use four BCS70 waves containing information on self-assessed health (SAH), morbidity as well as a number of socio-economic characteristics. To estimate the issue of adaptation, we implement a dynamic ordered probit model that controls for (health) state dependence. The empirical specification controls for morbidity and also includes a variable for the duration of the illness. We find that, for most chronic conditions, duration has a positive impact on self-assessed health, while for some conditions-such as diabetes- this does not occur. We interpret our results as evidence in support of the hypothesis that adaptation to chronic diseases exists and may explain at least in part the differences between general public and patients’ health state valuations

Estimating health effects in quality-of-life terms: health losses following road crashes

Currently, measures of disability and health-related quality of life are becoming important, even essential, parameters in the evaluation of treatment and prevention strategies for reducing the burden of injury. The estimation of the 'health effect' induced by these policies should incorporate several important aspects: the proper definition of health effect, at individual and aggregate levels; the correct selection of a health metric; the accurate estimation of the short-term effect (direct health gain/loss) and long-term effect (total of health gain/loss throughout the life of the individual) that injuries may produce; and the suitable selection and management of databases. This review article focuses on the particular topic of road crashes, but the analysis can be extended to any sort of injury

Can Behavioural Economics Be Applied To Life Satisfaction?: Evidence From Annual Panel Data

We use an annual household panel to test whether a number of findings in behavioural economics can be supported by measures of life satisfaction and other variables. We test the following hypotheses: life satisfaction is increasing and concave in income gains; life satisfaction is decreasing and convex in income losses; changes in income, health, and employment are evaluated against a reference point; loss aversion applies to income, health and employment; recalled or expected life satisfaction is anchored at current life satisfaction and adjusted in the direction of the recall or expectation. Using a fixed effects estimator, we find that life satisfaction is increasing and concave in income gains, decreasing and convex in income losses, influenced by both the levels of income, health and employment, as well as their changes compared to the previous year. Moreover, we find that current levels of life satisfaction are better predictors of remembered (expected) life satisfaction than past (future) life satisfaction. The results provide support for prospect theory, anchoring and adjustment, and raise doubts about using the status quo as the correct reference point

Allocating Public Spending Efficiently: Is There a Need for a Better Mechanism to Inform Decisions in the UK and Elsewhere?

In the UK few if any regular processes explicitly address comparisons of value for money between spending in different government departments, despite the existence of mechanisms that could in principle achieve that. This leaves a very important gap in evidence and means that decisions about public spending allocations are likely to miss opportunities to improve social welfare from existing budgets. Greater attention to the development of methods and evidence to better inform the allocation of public sector spending between departments is therefore urgently needed. We identify a number of possible approaches to this—some of which are being used in different countries—and highlight their strengths and weaknesses. We propose a new, pragmatic approach that incorporates a generic descriptive system to measure the disparate outcomes produced by public sector activities in a commensurate manner. Discrete-choice experiments could be used to generate evidence of the relative importance placed on different aspects of public sector outcomes by members of the general public. The proposed approach would produce evidence on value for money across departments, and the generation of evidence on public preferences to support that

Which Decision Theory Describes Life Satisfaction Best? Evidence from Annual Panel Data

We use an annual household panel to test which features of prospect theory can be supported by measures of life satisfaction. We also test whether recalled or expected life satisfaction is anchored at current life satisfaction and adjusted in the direction of the recall or expectation. Using a fixed effects estimator we find that life satisfaction contains features of both classic expected utility and prospect theory. Life satisfaction depends positively on levels of income, good health, and on employment. It also depends positively on income and employment improvements, however the reverse is true for health increases. Life satisfaction is concave in income gains and convex in income losses, and it exhibits loss aversion in income and employment status, but not in health. Moreover, we find that current levels of life satisfaction are better predictors of recalled (expected) life satisfaction than past (future) life satisfaction. The results support viewing life satisfaction as representing a mixture of the classic decision utility of expected utility theory, and the value function of prospect theory. Subjects seem to use an anchoring and adjustment heuristic when answering questions about past and expected life satisfaction

Evaluación del desempeño laboral al talento humano del centro de salud Jambi Huasi, cantón Francisco de Orellana

El presente trabajo de titulación tuvo como propósito efectuar una evaluación del desempeño para mejorar el rendimiento de los funcionarios de la salud del centro de salud Jambi Huasi del cantón Francisco de Orellana en cada uno de sus lugares de trabajo. La evaluación del desempeño se realizó por medio de la aplicación de encuestas a todos los funcionarios de la salud de esta institución, ochenta trabajadores, el departamento de Talento Humano y el director de la casa de salud. Esto permitió analizar claramente el sistema de evaluación llevado en el centro de salud el cual no resultaba satisfactorio, ya que no consideraba los procedimientos y normas técnicas en su totalidad. Por esta razón se procedió a la aplicación de método de evaluación mediante el formulario EVAL-01 de la Secretaría Nacional Técnica de Desarrollo de Recursos Humanos y Remuneraciones del Sector Público (SENRES), el cual contiene seis factores de evaluación; 1- Indicador de gestión del puesto (60%), 2.- conocimientos (8%), 3.- Competencias técnicas del puesto (8%), 4.- Competencias Universales(8%), 5.- Trabajo en equipo Iniciativa y liderazgo (16%), 6.- Evaluación del ciudadano (si el funcionario tiene alguna queja laboral se reduce el 4% del total evaluado), esta evaluado al 100%. Como resultado de dicha evaluación de desempeño laboral se obtuvo una ponderación de 87.92% equivalente a muy bueno y con una incidencia del 2.98%. Una vez concluido la evaluación del desempeño del Talento Humano mediante los mecanismos de medición se contribuyó al desarrollo institucional a través de la mejora continua e integral de los funcionarios. Se recomienda realizar un plan de capacitación a todos los funcionarios para fortalecer y su crecimiento profesional sea beneficioso para los colaboradores y la institución.The purpose of this degree work was to carry out a performance evaluation to improve the enforcement of health officials at “Jambi Huasi Health Center” from Francisco de Orellana canton in each of their workplaces. The performance evaluation was carried out through the application of surveys to all the health officials from this institution, eighty workers, Human resources management and the director participated. This made it possible to clearly analyze the evaluation system carried out in the health center, which was not satisfactory, because it was not considered the procedures and technical standard at all. For this reason, the evaluation method was applied using the EVAL-01 form of the National Technical Secretariat for Human Resources Development and Public Sector Remuneration (“SENRES”), which contains six evaluation factors; 1- Position management indicator (60%), 2.- Knowledge (8%), 3.- Technical skills of the position (8%), 4.- Universal Competences (8%), 5.- Initiative teamwork and leadership (16%), 6.- Citizen evaluation (if the official worker has any labor complaint, it is reduced by 4% of the total evaluated), it is evaluated at 100%. According the evaluation of work performance, a weighting of 87.92% was obtained, equivalent as very good and with an incidence of 2.98%. Once the evaluation of the performance of Human resources was concluded the measurement mechanisms, institutional development was contributed through continuous and comprehensive improvement of the crew. It is recommended to carry out a training plan for all employees to strengthen and their professional growth and get the benefit for employees and the institution

Gun powder tools in the village Guri i Bardhë in the province of Mat

Mat is known as gunpowder manufacturer and firearms in Albania and other countries in Europe. In Europe the powder is brought from the Arabs. The form of the gunpowder composition was discovered by the English scholar Roger Bacon in 1214. Gunpowder and firearms were used in Albania towers in XIV. Guri i Bardhë village along with other villages around were the producers and the processors of the black powder. From foreigners it is called Albanian brand powder. The gunpowder tools in these villages were 19 altogether. They continued to produce powder until 1939. Mat's powder was traded in Diber, Prizeren, Gjakova, Shkodra, Durres, Tirana and even up to Janine. Keywords: gunpowder, tools, Roger Bacon,  Potassium nitrate KNO3, etc