PROPERTY REGISTRATION IN ALBANIA: AN INFORMATION MANAGEMENT ISSUE

This paper presents the plans being made in Albania to establish an immovable property registration system in the most efficient way. It considers not only technically modern equipment and computer-related problems but also social and economic feasibility. In Albania, the immovable property registration system is necessary in order to face successfully the new conditions of the free market-oriented economy. For about 50 years, property ownership in Albania was restricted to the State. The 1991 land reform in Albania advanced quickly, and at present over 90 percent of agricultural land is distributed to farmers, though in highly fragmented holdings (totaling an average area average of 2 hectares), creating about 1.8 million new parcels registered in the cadastral district offices. In urban areas, housing privatization was also completed quickly, creating about 300,000 new properties in cities, which are being registered in the Hipoteka (deed registry) district offices. Although market transactions in agriculture land are not yet allowed (though enabling legislation is expected to be passed soon), many land transactions have taken place. The housing market is already very active. Conflicts exist, especially in urban areas, between ex-owners of the land and buildings, and the state or present occupants. Therefore, it is highly desirable to establish a property registration system in Albania quickly and yet with careful planning. This paper presents the registration information system model.Land titles--Albania, Land titles--Registration and transfer--Albania, Land use--Information services, Land Economics/Use,

Reversibility of Different Types of Capital Flows to Emerging Markets

Most of the emerging market currency crises are accompanied by sharp reversals or “sudden stops” of capital inflows. We investigated whether some types of capital flows are more likely to reverse than others during these crises. Foreign direct investment is usually considered stable while portfolio investment is frequently depicted as the least reliable type of flow. Recent statistical testing has yielded conflicting results on this issue. We argue that a major problem with recent studies is that the degree of variability of capital flows during normal or inflow periods may give little clue to their behavior during crises and it is the latter that is most important for policy. Using data for 35 emerging economies for 1990 through 2003, we confirm that direct investment is the most stable category, but find that private loans on average are as reversible as portfolio flows.Capital flows; currency crises; volatility of capital flows; reversibility of capital flows; Emerging Markets; private loans; portfolio flows; foreign direct investment

Demand for International Reserves: A Quantile Regression Approach

I estimate the determinants of the demand for international reserves using quantile regressions. Employing a dataset of 96 developing nations over the period of 1980-1996, I find considerable differences at different points of the conditional distribution of reserves. The ordinary least squares estimates of elasticities that were found to be insignificant in previous studies become statistically significant at various quantiles of the reserve holding distribution. In particular, I find that the coefficients of interest rate differential and volatility of export receipts are significant and have the signs predicted by the traditional reserve models, but only for those nations that hold the highest amount of reserves. In contrast, the flexibility of the exchange rate does not seem to be an important factor for the nations that are located at the tails of the distribution.International reserves; Quantile regression; Demand for reserves; Reserve policy

Surges and Sudden Stops of Capital Flows to Emerging Markets

A characteristic of many of the recent emerging market currency crises is a preceding surge in capital inflows and their reversals or ‘sudden stops’ during the crises. The empirical investigation of 38 emerging market economies between 1990 and 2003 reveals that a surge in capital inflows significantly increases the probability of a sudden stop. In addition, a surge accompanied by a high current account deficit or an appreciated real exchange rate is more likely to be associated with a sudden stop. The paper also finds that a surge that is dominated by private loans and portfolio flows rather than direct investment has a higher probability to end with a sudden stop.Capital flows; Sudden stops; Surges in capital flows; Emerging Markets; private loans; portfolio flows; foreign direct investment

Effective Computer Programming Instruction for pre-University Albanian Students

The relationship between pre-university students and technology is frequently overrated.While we receive glowing reports about how young people are knowledgeable aboutcomputers, the truth is that their knowledge is typically about computer content and themanipulation of applications. Young students too often treat the actual programming andunderstanding of computers as a sort of magical mystery.In this paper we look at a new Albanian initiative to identify and nurture the mosttalented of our pre-university students. In particular we look at contributions to the goalof making Albanians the most talented programmers in this area of Europe.The study addresses the issue of how to get young people interested in programmingby focusing on non-syntactic procedures. The authors consider two programmingenvironments that teach through the use of objects and problem solving skills

Crystal structures of the human Dysferlin inner DysF domain

Background: Mutations in dysferlin, the first protein linked with the cell membrane repair mechanism, causes a group of muscular dystrophies called dysferlinopathies. Dysferlin is a type two-anchored membrane protein, with a single C terminal trans-membrane helix, and most of the protein lying in cytoplasm. Dysferlin contains several C2 domains and two DysF domains which are nested one inside the other. Many pathogenic point mutations fall in the DysF domain region. Results: We describe the crystal structure of the human dysferlin inner DysF domain with a resolution of 1.9 Angstroms. Most of the pathogenic mutations are part of aromatic/arginine stacks that hold the domain in a folded conformation. The high resolution of the structure show that these interactions are a mixture of parallel ring/guanadinium stacking, perpendicular H bond stacking and aliphatic chain packing. Conclusions: The high resolution structure of the Dysferlin DysF domain gives a template on which to interpret in detail the pathogenic mutations that lead to disease

Vivência emocional familiar em situação de terminalidade de cinqüentenários e sexagenários hospitalizados

This study refers to the emotions that come from the family living with a situation of terminal disease of a loved you aged between 50 and 70 years old. The general objective of this research was to identify the emotional stages showed by patients with terminal disease, as well as the emotional stages showed by their relatives as Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. The empiric reserch follows the Qualitative Methodological Presuppositions and Reference from Bardin’s, from previously defined categories, with data categorized according to the emotional stages identified by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. Content Analitics. The reserch was realized in Porto Alegre (RS), in Hospital São Lucas da PUCRS, with samples composed by 7 pacients, aged between 51 and 66 and 11 relatives aged between 28 and 60 years old. The Expression of Coercion Scale and semi-structured enterview were used. It was found that, on enterwied population, the emotional stages are no directly related with illness duration, sex, religion or marital status. The family and the patient do not share the stages simultaneously, although some moments may coincide. The spouses or companions that dont share the cares of the patient get closer to the stage of acceptance; all sons had some grade of negation at the moment of the enterwiew. Those who share the role of primary caregiver experienced a greater or lesser degree of intensity the stage of denial, as well as all the children of patients. The degree of relatedness showed no significance, but the degree of closeness betweenpeople who followed or even just visiting the patient influenced the emotional experienceof this, as did the influence of the patient with the family. When evaluated the expression of coercion presented by the participants admitted it was found that the majority preserved their autonomy regarding decisions related to health care and possibly expressed themselves about the process of terminal. Some expressed no compulsion to have delegated decisions for their family and feel socomfortable, so easy on the resolutions concerning their treatment. Therefore, the family is closely bound to the first emotional stages lived by the patient. The manner it makes itself present, and not only with quantity of people around the patient, influencing on the way how each patient leads with its terminality. To take good care each patient is to important to take good care of the family.Esse estudo refere-se às emoções advindas da vivência familiar em uma situação de terminalidade de um ente querido com faixa etária entre 50 e 70 anos de idade. O objetivo geral dessa pesquisa foi identificar os estágios emocionais manifestados pelos pacientes com doença terminal, e seus familiares, através de negação da finitude, expressões de raiva, “negociação” por mais tempo de vida, sentimentos depressivos e aceitação da irreversibilidade do quadro clínico, conforme definido por Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. A pesquisa empírica segue por pressupostos metodológicos qualitativos e referência da Análise de Conteúdo de Bardin, a partir de categorias previamente definidas, sendo os dados categorizados conforme os estágios emocionais identificados por Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. O estudo foi realizado na cidade de Porto Alegre (RS), no Hospital São Lucas da PUCRS, com amostra composta por 7 pacientes, com idade entre 51 e 66 anos e 11 familiares entre 28 e 60 anos de idade. Utilizou-se a Escala de Expressão de Coerção e entrevista semi-estruturada. Constatou-se, na população pesquisada, que os estágios emocionais não estão diretamente relacionados com o tempo de doença, sexo, religião ou estado civil. A família e o paciente não passam pelos mesmos estágios simultaneamente, embora em alguns momentos possam coincidir. Os cônjuges e acompanhantes que não dividem os cuidados se aproximam mais do estágio de Aceitação. Em contrapartida, aqueles que dividem o papel de cuidador principal vivenciavam em maior ou menor grau de intensidade o estágio de Negação, assim como também todos os filhos dos pacientes. O grau de parentesco não demonstrou relevância, mas sim o grau de proximidade entre as pessoas que acompanhavam ou mesmo que apenas visitavam o paciente influenciavam na vivência emocional deste, assim como acontecia influência do paciente para com o familiar. Quando avaliada a expressão de coerção apresentada pelos participantes hospitalizados foi possível constatar que a maioria preservava sua autonomia quanto às decisões relacionadas ao seu tratamento de saúde e, possivelmente expressavam-se quanto ao seu processo de terminalidade. Alguns não expressaram coerção por ter delegado as decisões para seus familiares e se sentirem confortáveis por isso, portanto, condescendente com as resoluções acerca de seu tratamento. Portanto, a família está intimamente contida nos estágios emocionais vividos pelo paciente, pois a maneira como a ela se faz presente, e não apenas a quantidade de pessoas que circundam o paciente, influencia na forma como cada doente lida emocionalmente com a sua terminalidade. Para cuidar bem do paciente é significativo acolher e cuidar bem da família