Search

Citrinin (CIT) is a mycotoxin responsible for the contamination of many agricultural products, like wheat, barley, corn, rice and their products, as also other foodstuffs and feedstuffs used in human and animal nutrition. It is essentially produced by Penicillium citrinum, although it can also be biosynthesised from Penicillium expansum and Penicillium verrucosum and some species of Aspergillus and Monascus. However, several studies have shown that CIT is known for its genotoxic, hepatotoxic, fetotoxic and teratogenic properties. The aim of this study is to investigate the occurrence of CIT in wheat grain cultivated in Kosovo and Albania. Given the fact that wheat flour is the most consumed product in Kosovo and Albania, it is necessary to analyse the CIT in wheat in these two countries. In total, 60 wheat samples were tested from Fusha e Kosovës (Kosovo), Myzeqeja (Albania) and Fusha e Maliqit (Albania), as places with the highest wheat production. The enzyme- linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method was used to determine CIT concentrations. To identify moulds representing potential producers of CIT, traditional macroscopic and microscopic methods and the molecular PCR method of identification were implemented. CIT was detected in 96.6% and 86.6% of wheat grain samples collected in Kosovo and Albania, respectively. The maximum amount of CIT detected in wheat grain was 53.12 μg/ kg in Kosovo, and 45.74 μg/kg in Albania. The amount of CIT found in wheat grain is not comparable with the maximal limits (MLs), as the European legislation does not provide limits for this mycotoxin. However, since there is generally a lack of data about CIT in cereals in Kosovo and Albania, the results can serve as an indicator of wheat grain contamination in this part of the Balkan Peninsula., itrinin (CIT) predstavlja mikotoksin za koji je utvrđeno da je odgovoran za kontaminaciju mnogih poljoprivrednih proizvoda poput: pšenice, ječma, kukuruza, riže i njihovih proizvoda, kao i drugih namirnica i hrane za životinje, osim onih na bazi žitarica, koje se koriste za prehranu ljudi i hranidbu životinja. Najviše ga proizvodi Penicillium citrinum, iako se može biosintetizirati i iz Penicillium expansum i Penicillium verrucosum te nekih vrsta Aspergillus i Monascus. Međutim, istraživanja pokazuju da su za CIT utvrđena genotoksična, hepatotoksična, fetotoksična i teratogena svojstva. Cilj ovoga istraživanja je bio utvrditi pojavnost CIT u zrnju pšenice koje se uzgaja na Kosovu i u Albaniji. S obzirom na činjenicu da je pšenično brašno najviše konzumirani proizvod na Kosovu i u Albaniji, analize CIT u zrnju pšenice u ove dvije zemlje od velikog su značenja. Ukupno je uzorkovano 60 uzoraka zrna pšenice na području poznatom kao Fusha e Kosovës (Kosovo), Myzeqeja (Albanija) i Fusha e Maliqit (Albanija), koja predstavljaju lokalitete na kojima se proizvodi najveća količina pšenice. Za određivanje koncentracije CIT korištena je imunoenzimna metoda ELISA. Za identifikaciju plijesni koje predstavljaju potencijalne producente CIT primijenjena je tradicionalna makroskopska i mikroskopska metoda te molekularna PCR metoda identifikacije. CIT je određen u 96,6 % i 86,6 % uzoraka zrnja pšenice prikupljenih na Kosovu i u Albaniji. Najveća količina CIT-a u zrnju pšenice proizvedenom na Kosovu bila je 53,12 μg/kg, a u Albaniji 45,74 μg/kg. Količina CIT utvrđena u pšenici ne može se usporediti s najvećom dopuštenom količinom (NDK), jer njegova razina u europskom zakonodavstvu nije definirana. No budući da podatci o količinama CIT u žitaricama uzgojenim na Kosovu i u Albaniji nisu dostupni, dobiveni rezultati mogu poslužiti kao pokazatelj kontaminacije zrnja pšenice na ovom dijelu Balkanskog poluotoka.

U ovom članku izložen je ažurirani popis slatkovodnih riba u Albaniji za svaki podsliv. Prikazani podaci o rasprostranjenosti i popisi taksona temelje se na pregledu literature do listopada 2022. i intenzivnom terenskom radu u posljednjih 15 godina. Prikazani su podaci o distribuciji 101 vrste riba (koje potječu iz 25 porodica) iz 11 različitih podslivova. Postoje novi zapisi koji uključuju domaće, strane i translocirane vrste riba. Osobitost albanskih slatkovodnih riba je istaknuta pri definiranju specifične ihtiološke regije za cijelu balkansku regiju. Fauna slatkovodnih riba Albanije predstavlja posebnu vrijednost nacionalne baštine, posebice zbog svoje raznolikosti i visokog stupnja endemičnosti. To je uglavnom zbog složenih geoloških i klimatskih uvjeta i položaja između Jadranskog i Jonskog mora na zapadu i kontinentalnih područja Balkana s druge strane, što je omogućilo različite kolonizacije izvan područja i duga razdoblja specijacije. Jedanaest hidrografskih bazenskih jedinica analizirano je u pogledu sastava vrsta, evolucijskih obrazaca i ekoloških značajki. Ovim pregledom broj albanskih slatkovodnih riba iznosi 101, s 20 vrsta dodanih iz prethodnog popisa iz 1995. godine i nekoliko vrsta izbrisanih zbog taksonomskih promjena., In this article, we provide an updated list of freshwater fishes in Albania for each sub-basin. The distribution data and taxa-lists presented are based on a literature review up to October 2022 and intensive fieldwork conducted in the last 15 years. Distributional records of 101 fish species (deriving from 25 families) in 11 different sub-basins are reported. There are new records that include native, alien and translocated fish species. The distinctiveness of Albanian freshwater fishes is highlighted while defining a specific ichthyological region for the whole Balkan region. The freshwater fish fauna of Albania represents a special value of the national heritage, especially due to its diversity and a high degree of endemicity. This is mainly due to the complex geological and climatic conditions, and the location between the Adriatic and Ionian Seas on the west and the continental areas of the Balkans on the other side, which have allowed different colonization from outside the area and long periods of speciation. Eleven hydrographic basin units are analyzed for species composition, evolutionary patterns, and ecological features. This review brings the number of Albanian freshwater fish taxa to 101, with 20 species added from the previous 1995 inventory and several species deleted due to taxonomic changes.

This master thesis analyses the structural position of Afghan refugees in the Albanian town of Shëngjin through the notions of hospitality and homemaking. It tracks various discourses, ideologies and practices of hospitality as enacted by different actors: The Albanian government, local authorities, international organizations involved in the evacuation of the Afghan refugees, and the refugees themselves. It further uses the notion of homemaking to show the concrete ways in which the position of the refugee as a guest is negotiated by the Afghan refugees themselves. The ethnography starts with the analysis of the political discourse of hospitality and counterposes it to the examples of hospitality practices enacted by the Afghan refugees. It continues by taking a closer look into tangible manifestations of Afghans’ homemaking in Shëngjin, such as the opening of the Afghan restaurants and creation of street art. It concludes by analyzing ways in which the cultural difference as the marker of Otherness is expressed and managed through performances of hospitality, and shows how the Pitt-Rivers’s (2012 [1977]) observation of hospitality on the verge of hostility is manifested in the organization of lives of the Afghan refugees in Shëngjin. The thesis problematizes the notion of home as static and territorialized and the dichotomy between being at home and being displaced. Hospitality, a key concept in understanding the social position of Afghan refugees in Shëngjin, provides a fruitful framework, through which the entanglements of the refugees’ political subordination as well as refugees’ agency can be accounted for and understood, without resorting to simplified and dichotomized representations of refugee lives. Magistrsko delo analizira strukturni položaj afganistanskih beguncev v albanskem mestu Shëngjin. Ukvarja se z različnimi diskurzi, ideologijami in praksami gostoljubja s strani različnih akterjev: albanske oblasti, lokalnih oblasti, organizacij, ki so sodelovale pri evakuaciji afganistanskih beguncev ter beguncev samih. Preko pojma ustvarjanja doma, magistrsko delo osvetli prakse afganistanskih beguncev, ki nasprotujejo oziroma predstavljajo alternativo njihovi pripisani socialni vlogi gosta. Etnografski del magistrskega dela se začne z analizo gostoljubja kot političnega diskurza in ga postavi v nasprotje z gostoljubnimi praksami afganistanskih beguncev. Nato se poglobi v konkretne primere ustvarjanja doma v kraju Shëngjin, kot je odprtje afganistanskih restavracij in ulična umetnost. Zaključi z analizo načinov, na katere gostoljubje postane način obvladovanja kulturne razlike, kot pomembnega elementa Drugosti. Poglavje pokaže tudi, kako organizacija begunske nastanitve v kraju Shëngjin odraža opažanja Pitt-Riversa (2012 [1977]) o gostoljubju, ki se lahko hitro sprevrne v sovražnost. Magistrsko delo problematizira pojem statičnega in teritorialnega doma ter dihotomijo med “biti doma” in “biti stran od doma” oziroma med domom in begunstvom. Gostoljubje se je izkazalo za produktiven teoretični okvir, skozi katerega je mogoče razumeti tako politično podrejenost beguncev, kot tudi njihovo delovanje (“agency”). Preko pojma gostoljubja lahko torej razumemo družbeno pozicijo beguncev, ne da bi se morali zatekati k poenostavljenim in dihotomiziranim reprezentacijam begunskih življenj.

Olive is considered one of the oldest and the most important cultivated fruit trees in Albania. In the present study, the genetic diversity and structure of Albanian olive germplasm is represented by a set of 194 olive genotypes collected in-situ in their natural ecosystems and in the ex-situ collection. The study was conducted using 26 microsatellite markers (14 genomic SSR and 12 Expressed Sequence Tag microsatellites). The identity analysis revealed 183 unique genotypes. Genetic distance-based and model-based Bayesian analyses were used to investigate the genetic diversity, relatedness, and the partitioning of the genetic variability among the Albanian olive germplasm. The genetic distance-based analysis grouped olives into 12 clusters, with an average similarity of 50.9%. Albanian native olives clustered in one main group separated from introduced foreign cultivars, which was also supported by Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA) and model-based methods. A core collection of 57 genotypes representing all allelic richness found in Albanian germplasm was developed for the first time. Herein, we report the first extended genetic characterization and structure of olive germplasm in Albania. The findings suggest that Albanian olive germplasm is a unique gene pool and provides an interesting genetic basis for breeding programs.

During World War I, the Southern Adriatic, including the Albanian coast, witnessed a series of naval battles between the Allies and the Central Powers. Two pre-war Adriatic powers hastened to occupy two of the most important Albanian ports during the war: Italy occupied Vlorë, placing the Otranto Strait under Italian control, and Austria-Hungary occupied Durrës, from where the Central Powers attacked the Allies’ ships in the Mediterranean. Although the Central Powers held a superior position in the Adriatic at the beginning of the war, from 1916 the balance of forces started to change, and in spring 1918 the Allies were in a superior position. Major developments in the war, which was coming to an end, influenced the situation in the Southern Adriatic as well, and therefore the Great Powers became more attentive towards this part of the Balkans. In addition, they organised offensives and counter-offensives, such as those in April, in summer, and in October, the results of which showed the significance of Albanian ports in the war. They revealed the geostrategic importance of Vlorë, the possession or loss of which would change the naval situation in Adriatic. On the other hand, Durrës was not only an Austro-Hungarian naval base during the war, but also became a key port that the Central Powers relied on for supplies after the fall of Bulgaria. Therefore, the naval operation of Entente Powers in Durrës on 2 October 1918 and their victory was a step closer to the collapse of Austria-Hungary. The immediate reaction of Italy was to occupy two important ports in Albania, Durrës and Shëngjin., Južni Jadran u povijesti je, uključujući i Prvi svjetski rat, imao veliku geostratešku važnost. Prije rata interese u Albaniji imale su Austro-Ugarska i Italija, no tijekom rata, a napose 1918., sve su sile pozorno pratile događanja uz njezinu obalu. U ovom će se članku na temelju novih relevantnih historiografskih i arhivskih izvora istražiti ključne pomorske operacije u južnom Jadranu tijekom 1918., godine koja označava razdoblje ofenziva dviju zaraćenih strana. Napose će se obraditi talijanska ofenziva izvedena uz potporu njezinih saveznika u Albaniji u srpnju 1918., kao i protuofenziva Austro-Ugarske, čiji se rezultati smatraju posljednjim uspjesima Centralnih sila tijekom rata. Iznijet će se i informacije o pomorskoj operaciji saveznika u Draču u listopadu 1918. kao posljednjem pomorskom sukobu na Jadranu u Prvom svjetskom ratu.