The Feasibility of Conducting Epidemiological Studies in Kosovo

Environmental pollution remains a salient global problem because of the impacts it has on climate change, economic activity and human health. Increases in the level of pollutants such as PM10, PM2.5, CO, NO2, SO2 and O3 have been correlated with increases in the number of people diagnosed with various respiratory, circulatory diseases and cancers as well as death from these diseases. Therefore, for policymakers to be able to address this issue, a plethora of epidemiological studies, using time-series and longitudinal data, have been conducted in different countries to study the linkage between health and environmental pollution. The results from these studies were and can be used as the basis upon which sound public policies are drafted. Kosovo has also experienced a rapid increase in the level of morbidity and mortality from diseases related to environmental pollution. However, there have been no rigorous studies, which illustrate the scope of this problem, i.e., the effect of environmental pollution on morbidity and mortality in Kosovo, due to serious problems with data availability and reliability. Thus, this study provides a comprehensive analysis on the data problems faced by researchers who want to conduct epidemiological studies in Kosovo

Analyzing the Impact of Firm’s Specific Factors and Macroeconomic Factors on Capital Structure: A Case of Small Non-Listed Firms in Albania.

This paper attempts to explore the impact of firm specific factors and macroeconomic factors on capital structure decision for a sample of 69 non- listed firms, which operate in Albania, over the period 2008-2011.In this paper is used total debt to total assets (TDTA) as dependent variable and eight independent variables: tangibility (TANG), liquidity (LIQ), profitability (ROA) , size (SIZE),business risk(RISK) , non-debt tax shields (NDTSH),GDP growth rate (GDP) and prime lending rate (INT). The investigation uses cross-sectional time series data which are collected from the Balance Sheet Annual Reports, the official document delivered to the State Tax Office. This study found that tangibility (fixed assets to total assets), profitability (earnings after taxes to total assets), size (natural logarithm of total assets), risk (standard deviation of EBIT to average value of EBIT) and NDTSH (amortization to total assets), GDP growth rate and interest rate have a significant impact on leverage. Also it is found that liquidity (current assets to current liabilities) has a negative but not a significant relation with leverage. Keywords: Albania, Capital structure, Firm’s specific factors, Macroeconomics factor

“No One Came”–Farcicality of Waiting in M T Vasudevan Nair’s Mist

M T Vasudevan Nair, the renowned writer of Kerala, paints the psychological tussle of the characters through his novel Mist. Even the title of his work contains ambiguous meanings that can be penetrated only by a deep psychological insight. In this novel, he talks about the coveted spaces related to the psyche that cannot be explored. These unnoticed spaces speak more than the noticed ones. The work reminds us of the absurd literature where the term ‘waiting’ meant ‘waiting for nothing’. The absurdity that each character undergoes creates terrific pain in the reader. Logic or reason has no answer to this pain. Readers stray for some sense in the happenings but ultimately prove to be futile. Waiting leads to a growing stress in the meaninglessness and dysfunctions in life. The dominant consequences were strain, deformation and breakdown. The characters understand the futility of their waiting but create a world of make belief just for their own survival

User involvement in medical device development: An empirical study

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Changes in population, medical interventions and new technology opportunities, as well as public and political expectations, are all contributing factors to the pressure facing the healthcare system to change. Healthcare in the UK is beginning to move away from its traditional boundaries, for example hospitals and towards patient empowerment and collaboration. Consequently the target users for medical devices have also changed, with new users and user groups emerging. Further to this user involvement is emphatically becoming a part of healthcare delivery in the UK, recognised for bringing improvement in the quality, acceptance and in turn success of a medical device. The changing target market has given rise to the need to understand the newly created user groups and finding new ways to elicit their requirements has become vital for the success of medical devices. This research intends to draw upon and capture the importance of user requirements research, by investigating the early stages of Medical Device Development (MDD) giving particular attention to the conceptualisation of the user within this process. The research shall assess the possible links between user requirement elements, to benefit the healthcare system and investigate how user requirements methodologies that have been proven in other fields can be successfully deployed in the medical device development lifecycle. User requirements methodologies identified within the disciplines of information technology, ergonomics, psychology and design theories relating to medical device design, will be collectively assessed for their capacity to collaborate. The research methodology began with undertaking a systematic review of the literature, which facilitated the construction of a single theoretical conceptual framework of user involvement in medical device development, representative of a superior model of user requirements capture. To validate this framework empirical research followed. This was divided into exploratory, explanatory and interpretive data collection phases, with a view to extract; what the current process of MDD is in industry, why and how users are currently deployed in MDD, and the users perceived experience of involvement. The exploratory study showed that manufacturers were aware of their users and extracting the user requirements effectively was seen as the main competitive differentiator. However, manufacturers were not always aware of the best methods to capture user needs, especially with business objectives and obligatory requirements repeatedly taking precedence over optional user involvement methods. The explanatory study showed that not every department has an equal role to play in terms of user involvement in terms of methods to elicit requirements. However there was consensus across the departments to acknowledge their customers and their feedback to ensure they feel valued. Further to this communicating information to potential new devices users was carried out well in advance of the product coming to market. The customer focus was something not only addressed in the design of the device, but the service that followed. The interpretive study emphasised the importance of understanding the user’s needs and to understand that these needs do change over time. Educating users on disease and self-management was considered important, but realisation by patient user of their responsibility was vital in the successful use of a medical device. The original contributions of this study include its endeavour in taking a multidisciplinary approach to account for users and user involvement methods, and apply to specifically the early stages of the medical device development process. The research developed naturally to transcend and collaborate between these theories, as well as represent various voices within the research to really emphasise the multidisciplinary and multi-user approach it took. This research made a further innovative contribution by developing a framework to the problem of inadequate user involvement in the medical device development process. This could prove very beneficial for medical device manufacturers considering user involvement may become a regulatory requirement, meaning all medical device manufacturers would need to incorporate and document user involvement by law

Removal of flatulence causing sugars in soymilk

The enzyme, alpha-galactosidase was extracted from peanuts using various buffers and solvents. The specific activity of soluble preparation of peanut ranged from 0.0083 to 0.0606 U/mg. Phosphate buffer extract showed the maximum specific activity of 0.0606 U/mg. The soluble alpha-galactosidase was immobilised in calcium alginate beads and the specific activity of the immobilized enzyme was found to be 0.0808 U/mg. Activity yield was 33%. The immobilised enzyme showed increase in activity compared with the soluble enzyme above 35 C. The thermal stability of the immobilised alpha-galactosidase was significantly improved in comparison to the soluble form. The effect of different pH depicts that at acidic pH the activity of the immobilised alpha-galactosidase was higher than that of the soluble enzyme. The Km and Vmax for immobilised enzyme was higher when compared with the soluble enzyme. Immobilised alpha-galactosidase retained 20% activity after 7 repeated uses. The immobilised enzyme exhibited high storage stability. The immobilised enzyme was used in batch and continuous packed bed reactors for the hydrolysis of stachyose and raffinose in soymilk. Flatulence causing raffinose and stachyose, after hydrolysis, was removed to a remarkable extent. Hydrolysis of flatulence causing oligosaccharides of soymilk in a continuous packed bed reactor has not been attempted previously

A Portfolio of Academic Study, Clinical Practice and Research: Including Cigarette Smoking in Women With Eating Disorders.

Abstract Not Provided

A Phenomenological Study Exploring the Adoption of Social Networking Platforms to Achieve Digital Literacy for All Learners

The purpose of this proposed phenomenological study was to investigate the perceptions and experiences of teachers, administrators, and instructional technology professionals during integrations of social networking platforms for educational purposes to enhance classroom instruction focused on improved academic achievement and digital literacy. Specifically, the study focused on understanding the experiences of teachers, administrators, and instructional technology professionals within K-12 public school districts responsible for having implemented 21st-century technology skills into classroom instruction with the use of online interviews. This study was grounded on Roger’s Diffusion of Innovation Theory as a framework with social networking platforms being the innovation. The study followed a qualitative phenomenological research design. Data were collected using online interviews and analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) methodology. The four female participants were educators in K-12 public schools responsible for implementing social networking platforms with ages ranging 40-60. Data were analyzed to answer the central question supported by four subquestions: (1) How do K-12 educational professionals’ experiences influence personal beliefs on the integration of social media learning platforms in the classroom?, (2) What are K-12 educational professionals’ experiences of professional development received directing the safe and effective application of social media learning platforms?, (3) What are K-12 educational professionals’ experiences in the use of social media learning platforms as a tool for digital literacy instruction?, and (4) What are K-12 educational professionals’ experiences on the development of safe and appropriate educational use of social media learning platforms policies? The study resulted in nine themes: improving learning experiences, safe social media use, professional development advantage, shift in focus, educator role, development of higher-order skills, digital literacy development, level of educator involvement, and legal and ethical considerations. This study is important because it promotes discourse in the K-12 educational system to prepare globally competitive adults with appropriate academic and digital literacy skills. The study can serve as a source of information and motivation for K-12 public education professionals to adopt and implement social learning platforms as an educational tool while ensuring the safety of students through development and implementation of clear policies

“The Artistic” and “The Literary” in Short Types of Dramatic Creations

Even in his most important piece of work ‟Poetics‟, Aristotle the ancient Greekphilosopher, does not simply lines up the classification of the types of literary creations; but he identifies their individual features. So, he considered comedy as different, compared to the three other types: (tragedy, the epic poetry and lyric poetry), because “comedy” searches the ideal form of expression (representation); never in search of forms which imitate life itself. Fiction andinvented realities, characters from the low levels of society, the commoner, the banal and the vulgar, the small things that are taken to be as “great”, are some other features of comedy, which would not be enough anyway, to consider comedy as “beautiful”. In this context, it is indispensable the presence of ‟the artistic‟ and ‟the literary‟, that an art work can own the status of a sublimeexpression; can own the status of a form of artistic communication that radiates indispensably messages that can travel through different generations and time periods. In short forms of dramaturgy creations (sketches, parody, comedy in one act, couplet, etc.) through ‟the artistic‟ and ‟the literary‟, somewhere “the ugly” is presented as “beautiful”, somewhere “the old” faces “the modern”, the coward sells himself like the greatest hero, bad habits are sold like virtues, and out of this we get “the laughter” that brings optimism and deliberation from life frustrations to the viewer or the reader. For as long as “the art” is not a mere copy of the real things in life, but a transformed artistic recognition, the doze of “the artistic” determines the value of the literary creation. In different humorous creations, the drawing of dramatic characters and situations in which they discover themselves, would never attract the spectator (the reader or the viewer) if they would not have within them “alive” elements of “the artistic‟ and ‟the literary‟, which could be recognizable as: 1-in a conflictual form; 2- in a conflict resolution form, 3-from the point of view of the comic writer.Keywords: Literary, Artistic, Dramaturgy, Humor