Effect of Severe Economic Recession on the Psychological Distress: Evidence of Modifying Effect of Risky Behaviors and Insurance Status

The investigation identified the effect of the 2007-2009 economic recession on the level of psychological distress (PD) as modified by engaging in risky behaviors and insurance status. The objective was to determine if engaging in risky behaviors and insurance status had an impact upon the level of psychological distress experienced during a recession; the timeframe for the study is 2007 representing pre-recession to beginning of recession year, to 2009 representing the recession year, to 2012-2013 representing post-recession years. The study involved the use of a nationwide non- institutionalized adult population, the Mental Health and Stigma optional module found in the BRFSS (Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System) survey available in years 2007, 2009, 2012, and 2013. Because the datasets are cross-sectional, this research used the Integrative Data Analysis (IDA) framework. IDA allows for analysis of multiple independent data sets that are pooled into one. Here, pooling was conducted by matching demographic characteristics of participants (sex, race, age, income, and education level) across waves to provide a view of target variables at the population level. Our research found that income had a small effect on PD, pre-, during, and post-recession with no significant effect on the association between PD over time. Increased level of uninsured (percentage of individuals without insurance) had a significant positive effect on PD. Alcohol consumption had a small negative effect on PD with no disruption in the association between psychological distress over time. Smoking had a larger positive effect on PD with a decrease of percentage of individuals smoking from 2009 to 2012 which could have played a part in the disruption of the relationship of PD between the years. In addition, we found that low psychological distress decreased smoking while moderate and severe psychological distress increased smoking. This is an important finding for smoking cessation researchers, policy makers, and medical personnel to review their policies and programs on smoking cessation. Policymakers along with mental health providers and insurance companies should investigate the possibility of recognizing PD as a mental illness and include moderate to severe psychological distress as a coverage option

SHARES AND THEIR MARKETS

Mentor: Prof. Dr. Jusuf Zeqir

UHPLC Method Development for Studying the Impact of Northern Growth Latitude and Environmental Factors on Tocopherols and Tocotrienols of Sea Buckthorn

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) are both techniques used to separate the components in a mixture. The most significant difference between the methods is the properties of the particle sizes filled into the used columns. When HPLC generally uses a size range from 3 to 5 µm in classical analytics, in UHPLC, the particle size generally stays at ≤ 2 µm. This allows UHPLC to utilize higher pressures, allowing for faster running times, lower solvent consumption, and better analyte separation and detection by the detector. This thesis studied the effect of northern growth latitude and environmental factors on tocopherol and tocotrienol contents in sea buckthorn berries. The work focused on upgrading the current high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method to ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) and optimizing the chromatographic separation of tocopherols. In this work, an HPLC column with a particle size of 3.0 µm was replaced with a UHPLC column with a particle size of 1.9 µm. Also, the flow rate, mobile phase, and injection volumes were optimized. By HPLC, the running time of one sample was 25 minutes, the flow rate was 2.0 ml/min, and the injection volume for the samples was 10 µl. The development of the method made it possible to reduce the running time to eight minutes, reduce the flow rate to 0.4 ml/min, and reduce the samples’ injection volume to only 2 µl. The upgraded UHPLC method was used to study how different environmental conditions affect tocopherol and tocotrienol levels in sea buckthorn berries. As expected, the highest tocopherol concentrations were observed for α- and γ-tocopherols and the lowest for β-tocopherols. Of the tocotrienols, only α-tocotrienol was detected. The tocochromanol content of the sea buckthorn berries grown in Kittilä was higher than those grown in Turku. The average α-tocopherol concentration for berries grown in Turku was 66.6 ± 20.4 mg/100 g, while for those grown in Kittilä, same result was 91.5 ± 32.9 mg/100 g. Average relative humidity had the most effect on the concentration of tocochromanols compounds. The variety of the berries was not crucial regarding tocochromanol content in seabuckthorn berries

The Impact of Digitalisation on Human Resources Development

The paper is a summary of the studies conducted by several authors on the impact of digitalisation on human resource management. In the paper the filtering is done by classifying the authors according to the data and results. The first division presents a general summary of the positive and negative aspects of Digitalisation in HRM processes. The second section talks about the impact of digitalisation on the recruitment process, its impact on the recruitment process, the changes which happened in the improvement aspects. The latest part emphasizes the impact of digitalisation on the training and development process, on the importance of digitalisation in training in this case in the hotels’ sector. The literature used in the paper is mainly taken from prestigious journals to increase the quality of the paper, as well as geographical filtering of the works which has been done in this relation, taking works by authors from different countries. Digitalisation is one of the essential processes of technological change, changes that affected every HRM process. The drastic changes made in human resources have created and accelerated many other changes in HR processes. Most authors point out that digitalisation and technological developments have created an ever-changing era, some of them emphasize the importance of digitalisation at work, and some others think that the HRM course has changed completely. Russian authors discuss the impact of the Digitalisation process on employees by discussing the aspect of negative sides. Nevertheless, all the authors agree that digitalisation and technological change are inevitable and that investing in this aspect is indisputable. As the world rotates, everything is in motion

METAPHORS IN POLITICS

The topic that this paper seeks to touch on is: “A look at today’s language of politics (Lexical-grammatical functions in particular)”. We have focused on some of its most essential features, some of its key functions, and a broader look at the real, tangible values, new and latest semantic developments of the political lexicon. Initially, the paper aims to present some theoretical definitions on the concept of political lexicon in foreign and Albanian linguistics, mainly based on German, American and Albanian literature, such as: Orwell, Lucas or Samara, Duro, Kostallari, Lloshi, Thomai, etc. A broad overview is given to the main linguistic figure operating in politics, to the metaphor and also “contradicto in adiecto”, as a linguistic tool with the value of a micro text, i.e. a first formal contradiction in terminis, when expressed simultaneously and for the same two concepts and two judgments that exclude each other, which is extremely used by politicians. The aim of the paper is to discover the real function and that of appearance that permeates speeches and slogans of politics, otherwise known as the element of their indeterminacy. In this paper we have tried to raise as a problem the need for a scientific and fair conception of the political lexicon. The role of the masters of the Albanian word (including politicians, writers, linguists, orators, statesmen, journalists, analysts, etc.) who with their works and writings, have delivered and enriched the political lexicon should be properly appreciated. They have special merits in the semantic elaboration of the content and nuances of the political lexicon of literary Albanian. They have used the words of this lexicon in certain syntagmatic and paradigmatic connections (polysemous, synonymous and antonymous), constructing beautiful figures with expressive-emotional character. Some of the problems of semasiological character are treated in this paper, such as the origin (derivation) of new meanings and nuances in the present time, as well as its types, can be treated in more depth and more special ways in the future. The working methodology is based on the set of contemporary concepts, principles, theories and methods such as methods of approach, method of comparison and analysis on the basis of generative linguistics.Keywords: political lexicon, semantic meaning, metaphors, generative linguistics, etc

Political Metamorphoses and European Identity of Albanians Through Crossing the Borders

The moral transgression and the legal code, that seems to be mixed up in order to keep the rules of society, remind us that the crime has not always been with us but it is institutionalized. Artistic work of Ismail Kadare is an accusation addressed to the governing totalitarian utopia and the society’s primitivism that he obviously considers as a heavy load of his creativity. The society is heavily controlled by the “communist party” and is led by one of the harshest Balkan dictators named “Enver Hoxha and his heavy state machine”. In Ismail Kadare’s work, the state is grabbed by political and psychopathological metamorphosis such as the blood corruption of the feudal face of the state, the ghoulish terror against common people, the clash of classes, and the hunt of intellectuals. The borrowing of identity, the change of thought of the “political elite”, hierarchy amongst the privileged, spying of the police and the corruption of justice, facing the truth and the wild political incest that springs from the absolutism of a dictatorship ruling authority. These are paradoxes and psychopathological absurdities trauma of paranoia and pain that stem from a single term- political utopia.Keywords: metamorphoses, European identity, utopia, cross borders

Quantifying Air-Sea Gas Exchange at High Wind Speeds Using Noble Gas Measurements: Insights from the SUSTAIN Wind-Wave Tank

Gas exchange at high wind speed is not well understood—few studies have been conducted at wind speeds above 15 m s-1, and significant disagreement exists between gas exchange models at high wind speeds. In particular, the flux due to bubbles is not explicitly included in many gas exchange models, despite the fact that bubble-mediated gas exchange becomes increasingly important at higher wind speeds. The goal of my thesis project is to quantify air-sea gas exchange under high wind speeds and to examine the relationship between noble gas measurements, bubble spectra, wave-type, and water temperature. Noble gases serve as excellent tracers for this purpose, as they are biologically and chemically inert, and have a wide range of solubility and diffusivity that responds differently to physical forcing. Over the course of five days, we conducted 35 experiments at the SUrge STructure Atmospheric InteractioN (SUSTAIN) wind-wave tank with wind speeds at 20 - 50 m s-1, water temperatures at 20°C, 26°C, and 32°C, and wave conditions including uniform (regularly breaking) waves and JONSWAP (random, real ocean-like) waves. Continuous Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe ratio measurements were obtained by a Gas Equilibration Mass Spectrometer (GEMS). Additionally, discrete noble gas measurements were collected at the beginning of select experiments and at the end of all experiments for He, Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe. Bubble size and volume spectra were obtained using an underwater shadowgraph imaging device. Other physical measurements such as continuous salinity, water temperature, wind/wave velocities, and atmospheric pressure were also obtained. Our result from the conditions with the highest saturation anomalies suggests that steady state saturation anomalies of gases level off as wind speed increases. Additionally, both the temperature dependence of noble gas saturation anomalies and the coherence between bubble surface area spectra and saturation anomalies suggest that partially dissolving bubbles may have an important flux contribution at higher wind speeds. Since the SUSTAIN wind-wave tank is much shallower than the real ocean, we cannot directly apply our results to the ocean to make predictions. Nonetheless, the relationship between gas flux and bubble size spectra, wind, and wave conditions learned from this work provide us with important insights to improve gas exchange models

PERLINDUNGAN HUKUM TERHADAP KONSUMEN YANG MENGGUNAKAN INTERNET INDIE HOME DI TINJAU DARI UNDANG-UNDANG NOMOR 36 TAHUN 1999 TENTANG TELEKOMUNIKASI

Tujuan penelitian adalah untuk mengetahui tinjauan yuridis terhadap penyedia layanan internet menurut undang-undang perlindungan konsumen serta untuk memahami analisis manfaat perlindungan hukum terhadap konsumen yang menggunakan internet indie home di tinjau dari undang-undang nomor 36 tahun 1999 tentang telekomunikasi. Metode penelitian yang digunakan pendekatan yuridis normatif. Kesimpulan yang dihasilkan adalah : Kewajiban serta tanggung jawab pelaku usaha dalam hal Ini Telkom IndieHome timbul karena adanya hubungan antara Telkom dengan konsumen pengguna IndieHome tetapi terdapat tanggung jawab masing-masing. Pelaku Usaha wajib menjamin perbaikan apabila terjadi gangguan sehingga menggangu pekerjaan pengguna jasa sehingga menimbulkan kerugian. Pelaksanaan perjanjian Kontrak berlangganan yang telah disepakati oleh kedua belah pihak tidak selalu sesuai dengan apa yang diharapkan, sebagai pihak penyedia jasa, PT. Telkom sudah semestinya memperoleh hak untuk menerima harga pembayaran jasa internet dari konsumen dan sebagai pengguna jasa internet, konsumen juga seharusnya mendapatkan haknya. Undang[1]Undang Telekomunikasi, sebagai payung hukum khusus yang mengatur telekomunikasi, juga diatur hal yang tak jauh berbeda. dalam pasal 15 ayat 1, 2 dan 3 mempertegas soal ganti rugi yang disebabkan oleh kelalaian penyedia jasa.  Kata Kunci : Perlindungan Hukum, Interne