AGRICULTURAL LAND PROTECTION POLICY FOR ALBANIA: LESSONS FROM WESTERN EUROPE, NORTH AMERICA, AND JAPAN

This report has been prepared as one effort to assist the Albanian government in formulating a policy approach appropriate to the conditions and culture of their country. The goal of this report is to examine the approach to agricultural land protection in other parts of the world, for the lessons they can provide to Albania. There is little recent literature on the subject of agricultural land protection policies. Most of the articles found in the English-language literature are six to ten years old, and in turn often rely on other sources that are several years older still. Thus, this survey should be viewed as a somewhat dated catalog of policy approaches which have been used at various times in the respective jurisdictions rather than as a statement of the current policy structure of a particular jurisdiction.Land use, Rural--Government policy--Europe, Land use, Rural--Government policy--Canada, Land use, Rural--Government policy--United States, Land use, Rural--Government policy--Japan, Land use, Rural--Law and legislation, Agriculture and state--Albania, Agricultural planning--Albania, Land Economics/Use,

ALBANIAN LAW ON CITY PLANNING: CRITICAL SUMMARY OF ITS MAJOR PROVISIONS

This paper includes, as an annex, Law No. 7693, "On Urban Planning," from the People's Assembly of the Republic of Albania. Conceptually, this law has five major parts: (1) planning generally, (2) getting construction permission, (3) special provisions for tourist zones, (4) special provisions for military zones and zones with singular (that is, archaeological, historical, or cultural) value, and (5) penalties for violations. These parts are described and discussed.Cities and towns--Planning--Law and legislation--Albania, City planning and redevelopment law--Albania, Land use, Urban--Government policy--Albania, Land administration--Albania, Community/Rural/Urban Development,

INDIGENOUS LAND TENURE AND LAND USE IN ALASKA: COMMUNITY IMPACTS OF THE ALASKA NATIVE CLAIMS SETTLEMENT ACT

Through the utilization of qualitative methods such as archival analysis, semi-structured interviewing, comparative and extended case studies, and observation, this paper closely examines two related Alaska Native communities. Our purpose is to document the impact of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA) on land tenure, land use, and community structure. In all, 41 interviews were conducted, focusing on the following issues: (1) the role of the tribal government in relation to the regional and village corporate structure; (2) the recent changes in traditional land uses; and (3) how group decisions are made regarding land management and distribution of resources. By locating ANCSA within a broader context of economic, political, and cultural globalization that seeks to substitute traditional collective rights in land with individual tenure in a "free market" economy, the findings of this research may carefully and cautiously be applied beyond North America to other indigenous-state struggles regarding control of land and resources.United States. -- [Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act], Indians of North America -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- Alaska, Land tenure -- Law and legislation -- Alaska, Indians of North America -- Alaska -- Claims, Indians of North America -- Land tenure -- Alaska, Indians of North America -- Alaska -- Government relations -- History, Land Economics/Use,

Effect of fibronectin on the binding of antithrombin III to immobilized heparin

An objective of this research is to verify the mechanism of anticoagulant activity of surface-immobilized heparin in the presence of plasma proteins. The competition and binding interaction between immobilized heparin and antithrombin III (ATIII)/thrombin have been described in vitro. However, the strong ionic character of heparin leads to its specific and nonspecific binding with many other plasma proteins. Most notably, fibronectin contains six active binding sites for heparin which may interfere with the subsequent binding of heparin with ATIII or thrombin. \ud Heparin was covalently immobilized through polyethylene oxide (PEO) hydrophilic spacer groups onto a model surface synthesized by random copolymerization of styrene and p-aminostyrene. The binding interaction of immobilized heparin with ATIII was then determined in the presence of different fibronectin concentrations. The binding interaction was studied by first binding immobilized heparin with ATIII, followed by the introduction of fibronectin; heparin binding with fibronectin, followed by incubation with ATIII, and simultaneous incubation of surface immobilized heparin with ATIII and fibronectin. The extent of ATIII binding to heparin in each experiment was assayed using a chromogenic substrate for ATIII, S-2238. \ud The results of this study demonstrate that the displacement of ATIII from immobilized heparin was proportional to the fibronectin concentration, and was reversible. Furthermore, the binding sequence did not play a role in the final concentration of ATIII bound to immobilized heparin

Heparin release from thermosensitive hydrogels

Thermosensitive hydrogels (TSH) were synthesized and investigated as heparin releasing polymers for the prevention of surface induced thrombosis. TSH were synthesized with N-isopropyl acrylamide (NiPAAm) copolymerized with butyl methacrylate (BMA) (hydrophobic) or acrylic acid (AAc) (hydrophilic) comonomers. The incorporation of hydrophobic and hydrophilic comonomers strongly influences the swelling/shrinking behavior of TSH. Upon deswelling, gels containing the hydrophobic comonomer formed a skin-type layer, which acted as a rate controlling membrane, while the hydrophilic comonomer greatly increased gel swelling, relative to NiPAAm. Equilibrium swelling in isotonic PBS and deswelling kinetics of the synthesized gels were examined at various temperatures. The loading of heparin into the different gels was studied as a function of temperature, solution concentration, and gel composition. The release kinetics of heparin was found to be influenced by gel composition and loading temperature; the release correlated with the gel deswelling kinetics. In the case of Ni-PAAm/BMA gel, the release profile of heparin was affected by temperature dependent properties of the skin-type diffusional barrier formed on the gel surface

The Cadaver in the Machine: The Social Practices of Measurement and Validation in Motion Capture Technology

Motion capture systems, used across various domains, make body representations concrete through technical processes. We argue that the measurement of bodies and the validation of measurements for motion capture systems can be understood as social practices. By analyzing the findings of a systematic literature review (N=278) through the lens of social practice theory, we show how these practices, and their varying attention to errors, become ingrained in motion capture design and innovation over time. Moreover, we show how contemporary motion capture systems perpetuate assumptions about human bodies and their movements. We suggest that social practices of measurement and validation are ubiquitous in the development of data- and sensor-driven systems more broadly, and provide this work as a basis for investigating hidden design assumptions and their potential negative consequences in human-computer interaction.Comment: 34 pages, 9 figures. To appear in the 2024 ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '24

Thermosensitive Interpenetrating Polymer Networks:Synthesis, Characterization, and Macromolecular Release

Thermosensitive semiinterpenetrating polymer networks (semi-IPNs) composed of cross-linked poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (NiPAAm) and linear poly(ether(urethane-urea) (Biomer) were obtained via UV-initiated solution polymerization. The semi-IPNs exhibited negative thermosensitivity, i.e., lower swelling levels with increasing temperature. The incorporation of a relatively small content of Biomer (up to 10 wt %) strongly influenced the mechanical properties, equilibrium swelling, and deswelling kinetics of synthesized networks. The semi-IPNs exhibited greater mechanical strength compared to the cross-linked poly(NiPAAm). Equilibrium swelling levels of the semi-IPNs at low temperatures were markedly decreased due to hydrophobic contribution of Biomer and higher apparent effective cross-linking densities of these networks. The gel collapse point, related to the lower critical solution temperature of poly(NiPAAm), was not affected. The semi-IPNs showed much faster deswelling rates compared to the cross-linked poly(NiPAAm). It was hypothesized that the presence of Biomer prevented the formation of a skin-type layer which normally retards the deswelling process of cross-linked poly(NiPAAm). Loading and release of heparin, a model macromolecule, was studied as a function of temperature and Biomer content in semi-IPNs. The partition coefficients of heparin within the networks decreased with increasing temperature and Biomer content. Similarly, a linear relationship between partition coefficients and equilibrium swelling in loading solutions was found for all synthesized networks. Heparin release profiles correlated with deswelling kinetics of crosslinked poly(NiPAAm) and NiPAAm/Biomer semi-IPNs. Release profiles were in agreement with the proposed mechanism of solute release from swollen thermosensitive gels