Neural processes underpinning pain perception : genetic, temporal, and behavioral factors

Pain is an alarm system – warning us of dangers in the environment – yet becomes problematic when it transitions into chronic pain. It is defined, according to the International Association of Pain as “An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage”. In advancing our knowledge of the underlying mechanisms of acute pain, it is relevant to understand sources of variability in pain perception. One such source is the genetic influence on brain function. This can be studied using a classic twin design to infer the proportion of variance in brain activation attributed to genetics. Another source of variation pertains to the temporal fluctuations in brain activity that could track pain processing. This was studied here using time-varying functional connectivity. Furthermore, since pain arises through large-scale interactions in the brain – the purpose here is to study pain and related processes through network neuroscience. Specifically, how functionally specialized – or segregated – neural structures of the brain integrate to shape pain

The Role of Civil Society in the European Integration Process in Kosovo: EU Mechanisms and Instruments for NGO Sector Development

European integration is one of the most demanding processes for Kosovo institutions and society. While citizens of Kosovo overwhelmingly support membership in the European Union, assessment reports specify that Kosovo and its institutions still need serious reform to achieve this goal. The integration process offers mechanisms that civil society namely NGO sector can use in order to monitor and give direct contribution for this process, which could also impact to transform Kosovo institutions and society. The Annual Progress Report of the European Commission requires from governments and institutions of countries aspiring for integration to the EU to pursue sound governance practices that allow civil societies to have an impact on policy and decision-making processes. Relying on this requirement, NGOs can use the process as a way to shape the organization and function in their society and institutions. At this stage the role of Kosovo NGO’s whose focus is political activism that tends to increase demands for democratic participation in the political system is more than needed. These NGO’s apart from monitoring role towards the Government, they can become one of the main partners for EU Integration Process, especially to the European Commission (EC). The aim of this paper is to analyze the role of NGO’s as part of civil society in the whole process of EU integration and current possibilities for improving their capacities and contributions towards the public policy and decision making process

The Impact of the Pandemic on the Growth of Online Purchases

The paper presents information about consumer behavior and is concerned with collecting and analyzing data on consumer behavior versus online shopping. The whole focus is on how much online shopping has increased since the pandemic to understand how businesses are operating with online sales and whether consumers are satisfied with their services. This paper uses the descriptive methodology and concluded that people make online purchases in our market and from selected businesses. In this place, respondents make the most purchases is Giraffe. We also analyzed the questionnaire's data and compared it with the information extracted, where the result is that: people are greatly influenced by word of mouth on the Internet (e-Wom). So read the experiences of others before buying products. Also analyzed the demographic data, where we concluded that the most cooperative age group for online shopping is 18-23 and the highest participation in the research is female

KOSOVO SPECIALIST COURT: SOVEREIGNTY INFRINGEMENT AND THE RISK OF A NEW PRECEDENT

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office, otherwise known as the Kosovo Specialist Court (KSC), was established in 2015, thus presenting the most recent mechanism to adjudicate war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the Kosovo War of 1998-1999. Its formation has led to numerous unresolved questions, particularly in regard to the implications between international courts and national (domestic) courts. Holding the epithet of being a hybrid court in theory, while also showing elements of an international court in reality, has brought doubts that such courts can indeed be established by simply revealing another perception of it. The paper analyzes, step by step, the historical context and its interrelation with the court formation necessity, followed by the basis of establishment in the respective nature and questions on its legitimacy. It goes into deeper detail concerning substantial issues such as the applicable international law in the case of the Kosovo–Serbia war, particularly in regard to conventional and customary rules; and whether it should be considered a conflict at all and what rules apply in each case. A judiciary comparison is needed to understand the risk of a new precedent, and the article ends with a potential alternative to what could have been done better, legally speaking. Concluding remarks follow, recognizing the support of the international community, but with the silent questions and hopes on what the future of KSC will be

Evaluation of the residual nitrite concentrations of locally produced and imported meat products in Kosovo

The use of food additive nitrite as curing agents is common in meat products, but their concentration in these products has raised the interest of researchers, because of the possible toxicity to humans.  The aim of this study is to assess the nitrite concentration in meat products, which are highly used by all population groups in Kosovo. A total of 44 different meat products samples available on sale to the population, were assessed for residual nitrite using the spectrophotometric method that uses absorption in visible part of spectra. The amount of residual nitrites was detected in 19 (43%) of the samples, which included beef and chicken sausages, chicken & beef salami as well as beef prosciutto samples. The nitrite residue ranged between 0.1 and 11.5 mg/kg and was below the limits on the concentration of nitrites in meat products established by EU regulation 601/2014.  Although these findings show that, the nitrite residue in the analyzed meat products is within the permitted limits, the highest presence of residual nitrite in industrial and low-cost meat products indicates a need for further assessments of nitrite exposure among consumers

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY IN KOSOVO: THE ROLES AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS IN THE DEMOCRATIZATION PROCESS

While some scholars see compatibility between Islam with the concept of democracy, many of them disagree by manifesting great concern for the problem of how to assure that democracy could be developed in a way compatible with liberty. Best illustration is a number of Muslim societies possessing the outward forms of democracy but yet operating as authoritarian regimes. Democracy cannot exist without a functioning civil society that lies outside from the political sphere. Historically religion (Islam) for majority of Kosovo Albanians was an important factor in selfidentification, but it never superseded ethnicity. Although history of religion in Kosovo is much different if compared to other Muslim societies in the world, religion remains an influential force both in people’s daily lives and in politics. Due to the global changes that are happening to Islam and the inclusion of Kosovo youngsters in the ISIS front, the role of the Islamic Community and its leadership in this particular situation is of a high importance. However, religious leaders are rarely involved in policies by entering the public sphere as possible resources in civil society. Consequently, religious authorities are not able to supervise activities and networks of radical religious groups that are a potential threat for security. Given that strengthening civil society in Kosovo after the war of 1998-1999 was considered essential by international community and later by national authorities, religious leaders in the capacity of civil societies have the potential to strengthen or obstruct with the efforts to build peace and contribute to the democratization process, depending on the way in which they are engaged. This article tries to answer if it is possible to soften authoritarian tendencies of some of the important religious leaders and actors in Kosovo through a possibility of their convergence among civil society. Article examines to what extent Kosovo religious leaders have been involved in their efforts to foster democracy and support state-building process. The article focuses if there are ways in which to engage Kosovo religious leaders and actors more thoroughly in their work for stability and development within the complex relationship between Islam and the concept of democracy

The Principle of Will Autonomy in the Obligatory Law

The principle of autonomy of will is legislated with the Article 2 of the Law no. 04/L–077 on Obligational Relationships1, thereby providing the legal grounds for the regulation of legal relations between parties in obligational relationship.This study aims to provide a contribution to the theory and practice, and also aims at providing a modest contribution to the obligational law doctrine in Kosovo. The purpose of the paper is to explore the gaps and weaknesses in practical implementation of the principle, which represents the main pillar of obligational law. In this paper, combined methods were used, including research and descriptive methods, analysis and synthesis, comparative and normative methods.The exploration method was used throughout the paper, and entails the collection of hard-copy and electronic materials. The descriptive method implies a description of concepts, important thoughts of legal science, and in this case, on the principle of autonomy of will, thereby using literature of various authors. The analytical and synthetic methodology is aimed at achieving the study objectives, the recognition of the principle of autonomy of will, practical implementation thereof, and conclusions.The comparative method was applied in comparing the implementation of the principle in the Law on Obligational Relationships of Kosovo and the Law on Obligational Relationships of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Kosovo, and the Civil Code of the Republic of Albania. The normative method was necessary, since the topic of the study is about legal norms

Similarities and Differences between NATO and the EU Enlargement

After the end of the Cold War the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU) enlargement were two main political processes in the European continent. Both organizations since their inception, promoted the idea of integrated Europe without borders, which meant creating a Europe without divisions and bringing back all Central Eastern European (CEE) countries into the European family where they belong. However, after half a century of isolation in the totalitarian communist system the CEE countries (CEEC) had to undertake fundamental institutional, political, economic, military and other reforms in order to join NATO and the EU. In order to ease the process of accession, both organizations set certain criteria for membership for the CEECs. While NATO’s requirements for membership were more general and flexible, the EU’s requirements, on the other hand, were non-negotiable and closely enforced.Therefore, this article will explore NATO’s and the EU’s enlargement process eastwards, its similarities and differences. In addition, it will analyse the difficulties and challenges with special focus on Russia’s opposition to this process.The author will identify the similarities and differences between NATO and the EU’s enlargement and will argue that the eastern enlargement marked the final end to the Cold War antagonism and it created conducive preconditions for more secure and prosperous Europe

Albanian trade policy and the process of alignment with EU Common Commercial Policy

Albania is a member of WTO from September 2000 and is currently in a deep and substantial transformation of the trade policy. Albanian trade regime is very liberal, open and transparent fully compliant with WTO law. Accession to EU is the strategic goal of all Governments after ’90s and alignment with EU acquis is at the core of any process. EU integration is an engine for the development in all candidate or potential candidate countries. This process requires the alignment of national policies and harmonization of the legislation. Trade policy is among the most developed policies in European Union and Albania. This is mainly due to the membership in World Trade Organization (WTO) and Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with the most important trading partners. The accession of Albania to EU will significantly affect the Albanian trade policy. This paper analyses the state of play of Albanian trade policy and presents the main developments in the EU Common Commercial Policy after the Lisbon Treaty (2009). Based on this analysis the paper highlights the implications for Albanian trade policy

Stochastic local search: a state-of-the-art review

The main objective of this paper is to provide a state-of-the-art review, analyze and discuss stochastic local search techniques used for solving hard combinatorial problems. It begins with a short introduction, motivation and some basic notation on combinatorial problems, search paradigms and other relevant features of searching techniques as needed for background. In the following a brief overview of the stochastic local search methods along with an analysis of the state-of-the-art stochastic local search algorithms is given. Finally, the last part of the paper present and discuss some of the most latest trends in application of stochastic local search algorithms in machine learning, data mining and some other areas of science and engineering. We conclude with a discussion on capabilities and limitations of stochastic local search algorithms