AN INVESTIGATION OF ALBANIAN ORPHANS’ ACCOMMODATION AND EDUCATION ISSUES FROM A LEGAL PERSPECTIVE

Among the most vulnerable groups in Albania, orphans are the ones who have been encountering a lot of problems due to the neglect of the government on providing the support they need. This work focuses on the Albanian orphans’ accommodation and education issues while at and after leaving the residential care. There will be an elaboration of two articles (27 and 28) from the convention of the children’s rights, which address their rights on such issues. After a detailed analysis of the situation further recommendations will be suggested based on the national law and the Convention on the Rights of the Child

Youth Civic Engagement in Albania

Civic engagement is beneficial for young people and for democracy, especially for post-Communist countries like Albania which is struggling to establish a stable and fair democracy. To describe citizens’ civic behavior using social capital as a framework, this work hypothesized that there would be significant age, gender, and urbanicity differences related to youth civic engagement. Moreover, both youth optimism and young people’s attitudes to the political system were hypothesized to be positively associated with youth civic engagement when controlling for age, gender, and urbanicity. Finally, this study hypothesized that age, gender, and urbanicity would significantly moderate the associations between youth optimism and young people’s attitudes to the political system with youth civic engagement. Using data from the Child Well-being 2016 dataset, results showed that there are significant age differences related to youth civic engagement where younger adolescents ages 12-14 had significantly higher levels of civic engagement than older adolescents ages 15-19. Next, the results revealed that there were unique associations between youth optimism and young people’s attitudes to the political system with youth civic engagement when controlling for age, gender, and urbanicity. Young people’s attitudes to the political system, youth optimism, and age (12-14 years old) contributed most to the prediction of youth civic engagement. In addition, moderation analysis uncovered that age (12-14 years old) significantly moderated the associations between youth optimism and young people’s attitudes to the political system with youth civic engagement. Finally, the results indicated that urbanicity (urban youth) significantly moderated the association between youth optimism and youth civic engagement. This work was limited by its use of secondary data reported by adolescents. Future research is needed to develop more strategies and programs to increase and improve youth civic engagement, especially among older adolescents living in rural areas in a post-Communist country like Albania. Keywords: youth civic engagement, political system, attitudes, optimism, post-Communis

An integrated targeted and untargeted approach for the analysis of ergot alkaloids in cereals using UHPLC - hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry

An ultra-high performance liquid chromatography hybrid quadrupole time of flight (Q-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) method is described for the simultaneous quantitative determination of common ergot alkaloids and the screening, detection and identification of unexpected (less studied or novel) members of this class of toxic fungal secondary metabolites. The employed analytical strategy involves an untargeted data acquisition (consisting of full scan TOF MS survey and information dependent acquisition MS/MS scans) and the processing of data using both targeted and untargeted approaches. Method performance characteristics for the quantitative analysis of 6 common ergot alkaloids i.e. ergometrine, ergosine, ergotamine, ergocornine, ergocristine, ergokryptine and their corresponding epimers in rye were comparable to those previously reported for triple-quadrupole (QqQ) MS/MS. The method limits of quantification (LOQ) were in the range from 3 to 19 mu g/kg, and good linearity was observed for the different ergot alkaloids in the range from LOQ to 1000 mu g/kg. Furthermore, the method demonstrated good precision (relative standard deviations at 50 mu g/kg not higher than 14.6 and 16.2% for the intra-day and inter-day precision, respectively), and the trueness values at different concentration levels were all between 89 and 115%. The method was applied for the analysis of a set of 17 rye samples and demonstrated the presence of these ergot alkaloids in the range from <LOQ to 2,811 mu g/kg. Further mining of the same data based on a 'non-targeted peak finding' algorithm and the use of full MS and MS/MS accurate mass data allowed the detection and identification of 19 ergot alkaloids that are commonly not included in most analytical methods using QqQ instruments. Some of these alkaloids are reported for the first time in naturally contaminated samples

Motivational Factors on Learning: A Case of Students in Albania

This study examined high school and university Albanian students’ motivational factors on learning while they pursue education. In this paper, the factors that motivate the students on their learning during their education in different schools and universities in Albania are investigated to create a broader understanding of their purpose in improving their academic progress. The data are obtained from a close-ended survey in a Likert type scale with adequate validity and reliability. The sample consists of 145 students (n = 104, 71.7% female and n = 41, 28.3% male) who were high school and university students studying at public and private schools in Albania. The results revealed that there were no signiicant differences between male and female students; 10th grade high school students and 1st year university students; and between private high school students and private university students on motivational factors on learning. However, the indings show that there is a signiicant difference on “My voice is being heard at school or university and this motivates me” (p = .044); “I ind interesting the students club that can entertain me and improve my skills” (p = .015); and on “I ind learning at school a fun activity” (p = .013). At the end conclusions and recommendations are provided for the pre-university and higher education institutions and other policy makers on education

ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN POLYMORPHISMS IN THE SOLUTE CARRIER FAMILY 6 MEMBER 3 AND THE MYELIN BASIC PROTEIN GENE AND POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER

Background: Previous research showed inconsistent results concerning a possible association between solute carrier family 6 member 3 (SLC6A3) gene polymorphisms and dopamine symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Several studies also indicate that the myelin basic protein (MBP) gene is of importance in the etiology of several psychiatric disorders. The aim of this study was to investigate the relation of distinct SLC6A3 and MBP gene polymorphisms with PTSD and whether SLC6A3 and MBP genotypes contribute to PTSD symptom severity. Subjects and methods: The study included 719 individuals who had experienced war trauma in the South Eastern Europe (SEE). Genotypes of variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) polymorphism within the SLC6A3 gene were assessed in 696 participants, and the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs12458282 located within the MBP gene region was genotyped in a total of 703 subjects. The Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview, the Clinical Administrated PTSD Scale (CAPS) and Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), were used for data collection. Results: No significant differences concerning the investigated SLC6A3 and MBP polymorphisms was identifiable between PTSD and non PTSD participants. Also we could not detect significant influence of these distinct SLC6A3 and MBP alleles on the severity of PTSD symptoms (CAPS) or BSI scores. However, the results of MBP rs12458282 within the patients with lifetime PTSD may point to a possible correlation of the major allele (T) with elevated CAPS scores. Conclusions: Our results do not support an association of the analysed SLC6A3 and MBP gene polymorphisms with PTSD in war traumatized individuals. We found that there is a possibility for a correlation of the T allele rs12458282 within the MBP gene with higher CAPS scores in lifetime PTSD patients which would need to be tested in a sample providing more statistical power

THE ROLE OF TAQI DRD2 (RS1800497) AND DRD4 VNTR POLYMORPHISMS IN POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD)

Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a complex stress related disorder, that follows a severe traumatic experience, characterized with an intense sense of terror, fear, and helplessness. The aim of this study is to identify associations of genetic variations within candidate genes DRD2 and DRD4 with various PTSD related phenotypes. PTSD lifetime and PTSD current subjects were analyzed separately, each of them were analyzed in a Case/Control design, as well as regarding BSI and CAPS within cases only. Subjects and methods: 719 (487 male, 232 female) participants who had experienced war-related trauma between 1991 and 1999 in Bosnia and Hercegovina, Kosovo and Croatia were included in the study. Sociodemographic questionnaire, Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) and the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) were used to collect clinical data. Results: The DRD2 rs1800497 variant and a variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) located in exon three of DRD4 were investigated for association with PTSD. In case control analyses we did not identify any significant associations. Within the PTSD current patients, we identified an association of DRD2 rs1800497 with BSI in the genotypic and the recessive model with the T allele as the risk allele. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that rs1800497 of DRD2 gene is involved in pathogenesis of PTSD

ASSOCIATIONS OF GENE VARIATIONS IN NEUROPEPTIDE Y AND BRAIN DERIVED NEUROTROPHIC FACTOR GENES WITH POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER

Background: Individuals who are exposed to traumatic events are at an increased risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a condition during which an individual\u27s ability to function is impaired by emotional responses to memories of those events. The gene coding for neuropeptide Y (NPY) and the gene coding for brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) are among the number of candidate gene variants that have been identified as potential contributors to PTSD. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between NPY and BDNF and PTSD in individuals who experienced war-related trauma in the South Eastern Europe (SEE) conflicts (1991-1999). Subjects and methods: This study included participants with current and remitted PTSD and healthy volunteers (N=719, 232 females, 487 males), who were recruited between 2013 and 2015 within the framework of the South Eastern Europe (SEE) - PTSD Study. Psychometric methods comprised the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.), the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS), and the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). DNA was isolated from whole blood and genotyped for NPY rs5574 via PCR - RFLP and NPY rs16147 and BDNF rs6265 using the KASP assay. Results: Tests for deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium showed no significant results. Analyses at the categorical level yielded no associations between the affected individuals and all three SNPs when compared to controls. Within lifetime PTSD patients, the major alleles of both NPY variants showed a nominally significant association with higher CAPS scores (p=0.007 and p=0.02, respectively). Also, the major allele of rs5574C>T was associated with higher BSI scores with a nominal significance among current PTSD patients (p=0.047). The results did not withstand a Bonferroni adjustment (????=0.002). Conclusion: Nominally significant associations between NPY polymorphisms and PTSD susceptibility were found that did not withstand Bonferroni correction