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This study aims to shed light on female and male students' attitudes in ninth grade towards bullying cases in the school environment. From the methodology point of view, this is quantitative research. For the purposes of the study, it was used a questionnaire to evaluate female and male students 'attitudes toward bullying. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences was implemented for the data analysis. ANOVA analysis showed that there is no statistically significant difference between female and male students 'attitudes in ninth grade towards bullying cases in the school environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Albania's electricity sector lacks energy storage systems (ESS); hence, large quantities of electricity generated during the off-peak time, and excess electricity cannot be stored. On the other hand, the transmission capacity upgrades do not keep pace with the growth in peak electric demand; thus, congestion-related issues occur. Congestion of transmission lines has led to considerable uncertainties. Drin River cascade is located north of Albania. It possesses enormous potential energy that is not used due to a lack of ESS. Security of supply, rational use of renewable energy sources (RES), diversification of the electricity sector, increased competitiveness, sheltering more future RES capacities that can benefit from deferring investment in the existing transmission system, and environmental protection are some of these the main benefits of integrating ESS. Regarding the energy transition, the Albanian government's endeavor aims to maintain and further develop a flexible, sustainable, secure, efficiently supplied, and affordable energy supply system. The results of the simulation executed by using ES-select software to produce multiple benefits from a single device from the chosen application's list (App1–App6) showed that the most adequate ESS for storing excess electricity in the Drin River cascade are: compressed air energy storage (CAES-c), pumped hydro energy storage (PHES), and sodium-sulfur batteries (NaS). Integrating such systems in the central or bulk generation makes the circumvented cost in 10 years profitable; therefore, moving towards 2030, it would be extremely difficult to tackle the energy sector's challenges alone, without integrating the ESS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses recent trends in archaeological and historic preservation practices in Albania that are leading to new and innovative approaches to what is often termed "mitigation." To understand this in an Albanian context, it is necessary to review the historical, political, and social context that has shaped the stand of this postcommunist society toward its past as well as the role that this context plays in heritage practices today. I argue that the nationalistic approach toward heritage as a key component of "nation building" in the twentieth century still resonates strongly in the current discourse. This review leads to the conclusion that standard mitigation based on avoidance, recovery/excavation, and documentation phases is the most dominant practice. Experience has shown that this is not always effective in the harmonization of conflicting interests. Public-private benefits, definition of values and significance associated with historic properties, and costs of requested mitigations have all made it clear in the last decade that alternative solutions must be found, even within the rigid boundaries of the existing legal framework. The concept of "creative mitigation" is emerging as a logical need in the practice of historic preservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present climate, thermal insulation is crucial for reducing energy consumption for heating or cooling in buildings, increasing the lifespan of structures, and building elements, and improving human comfort. The wall's composition layer has advanced regularly since the building regulations and established norms. However, calculation methods have remained quite the same, governed by Fourier's law. Therefore, to address this gap, a linearization process, and a correction factor of the optimized insulation thickness for four different insulation materials (i.e., EPS Graphite, EPS, GW, and RW) and five energy carriers (i.e., electricity, diesel, natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, and biomass) by removing the boundaries of heating degree days by using Mathcad software is proposed. Other financial parameters (i.e., inflation rate, interest rate, lifespan, and present worth factor) and heating system features that lead to the optimized insulation thickness are considered. The RETScreen Expert model was coupled with a Mathcad script to compute a standardized corrected optimized insulation thickness (COIT) value by applying sensitivity analyses at ±35% of the most influencing parameters to calculate the total overhauling cost for different building types in Albania. A correction of the existing window's heat transfer coefficient for a different glass-to-wall ratio is proposed. Our findings suggest that the overall heat transfer value (U) should be equal to or less than 0.30 (W/m2•K), leading to a range of corrected optimized insulation thickness (COIT) from 0.03 m up to 0.11 m. Moreover, results exhibited encouraging economic and environmental values concerning the unrenovated buildings leading to annual net savings of 23.50–84.50 €/m2, CO 2 reduction up to 39.10 kgCO 2 /m2, and a simple payback period (SPP) of 0.30 maximum up to 1.20 years. The outputs of this study can bring benefits in terms of reduced energy consumption and CO 2 footprint, and the proposed COIT value can be applied not only in Albania but in other regions that exhibit similar climate conditions. • The lowest optimum insulation thickness is obtained using biomass as the energy source. • Net savings increase from zero for the uninsulated case to a maximum of 84.5 €/m2. • The CO 2 level emission decreases to 82% at the optimum insulation thickness. • The simple payback period ranges from 0.303 to 1 year for the minimum insulation thickness. • The proposed U value to meet the minimum energy efficiency should be less than 0.3 W/m2.•K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obviously the study of this paper consists on identifying and why not in addressing the important factors underlying the bailiff office in Albania and changes in the form of organization, under the administrative and implementing reforms in law. The paper also introduces some changes in national law, private or state organizational form. The Bailiff Section in Albania serves two key roles as part of the Judiciary. Both roles help to ensure that justice is fairly administered and carry to its proper conclusion. The Bailiffs and their assistants serve summonses and other important legal documents on parties as required by a Court or Tribunal, or as requested by a person who is a party to litigation, as an instance, a court or tribunal sentence which parties are required to attend. Surely it cannot proceed unless there is proof that the parties concerned have had the summonses attending properly served on them in a specified way by law. The judicial power is one of the most important issues on the legal state. As stated in the Albanian constitution, one basic principle is: equality and control between governments. Our paper research will analyze the justice reforms in Albania; will analyze bailiff organizational management (private or state form). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little was known until recently about regional patterns of early prehistoric occupation in Albania, making it difficult to situate the Albanian record within existing, general models of early prehistoric landuse. An intensive regional survey, the Mallakastra Regional Archaeological Project (MRAP), carried out in the Fier region of tralAlbania from 1998-2003, gathered widespread evidence for human occupation during the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods, from the Myzeqe Plain to the Mallakastra hills. The Pleistocene and early Holocene landscape of Fier differed considerably from the present landscape, and at times the Adriatic shoreline was much farther inland than it is now. As a consequence, Palaeolithic and Mesolithic foragers were able to exploit coastal-wetland and estuarine environments that have been buried only recently by alluvial sediment as a result of river avulsion and soil erosion. The landscape studied by MRAP is only a fragment of the total landscape once exploited by early humans in this part of the Balkans, whose home range may have included much ofsouthwest Albania and parts of northwest Greece. Our reconstruction of early prehistoric landuse in central Albania, based on collection and mapping ofthe locations of 1593 lithic artifactsfrom a 35 sq km area, indicates patterns oflogisticalfo raging that span the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic and match those modeled in other Mediterranean countries, such as Greece. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploration of an Early Iron Age burial tumulus at Lofkënd in Albania offered a unique opportunity to examine the formative period immediately preceding the founding of Greek colonies on the coast and how such a prominent burial place functioned in relation to a particular group, or groups, of people in Illyria. We anticipated that the investigation of a major burial site predating both the colonial foundations and the majority of the so-called protourban centers in the region would lead to a better understanding of the processes that contributed to the rise of urbanism in Illyria. This report presents a preliminary account of the 2004 and 2005 excavation seasons, during which time more than 60 burials were cleared. Mortuary customs are discussed and a brief account of a DNA study is presented. Various finds from the fill of the tumulus and a soil analysis provide important new evidence on tumulus formation. We review the chronology of the site and present the preliminary results of a fully textured three-dimensional model of the mound and its tombs. Comparison with sites to the north and south, particularly in Epirus, may have far-reaching implications for Early Iron Age Albania and Greece. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Balkans archaeologists until recently have neglected Pleistocene and early Holocene remains in open-air contexts in favor of excavations in caves. As a consequence, they have reconstructed patterns of settlement and land use that in many areas are misleading. The authors of this paper suggest that a systematic examination of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic open-air sites through intensive surface survey has the potential to transform entirely our understanding of early Balkan prehistory. We demonstrate this by presenting in detail the results of our own fieldwork in central Albania in the region of Mallakas-tra, in particular a description of surface archaeological investigations and test excavations at the site of Kryegjata B that have yielded Middle Palaeolithic, Early Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic finds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A multidisciplinary micro-paleontological study of a sediment core (SK19) drilled in the coastal area of Lake Shkodra, northern Albania, integrated with archaeological data from the Projekti Arkeologjikë i Shkodrës (PASH), provides compelling evidence for a long-term relationship between Shkodra's natural environment and its inhabitants. Charophyte and ostracod data recovered from SK19 combined with those already studied from the distal core SK13 (Mazzini et al., 2015), reveal important information concerning the changing characteristics of the water body through time. In particular, the ostracod fauna display a truly Balkanic character with eight taxa endemic to the area. Palaeoenvironmental analysis of the two cores indicates that a wide marshland extended towards the present eastern coast of the lake, fed discontinuously both by surface- and ground-water, beginning sometime before 12,140 cal yrs BP. For about 7000 years ostracods do not record any significant changes, whereas the Characeae record in the proximal zone displays important variations. Those variations do not match any of the climatic oscillations revealed in previous studies by δ 18 O or pollen data, thereby implicating human activities. Ostracods and charophytes indicate that permanent shallow waters occurred in the Shkodra basin only around 5800 cal yrs BP. Historical sources of the Roman Empire indicate a swamp (the Palus labeatis ), crossed by the River Morača, which flowed into the River Buna. Evidence for local fires, whether natural or anthropogenic, is recorded in SK13, scattered between 4400 and 1200 yrs BP. From 4400 to 2000 yrs BP, during the Bronze and Iron Age, hill forts ringed the marsh and burial mounds marked its edges. But around 2000 cal yrs BP, a dramatic change in the water body occurred: the disappearance of Characeae. Possibly fires were used for the elimination of natural vegetation and the subsequent cultivation of olive and walnut trees, causing an increase on organic matter input into the lake and thus, resulting on the disappearance of the Characeae due to higher turbidity in lake waters. This change occurred shortly after the arrival of the Romans. At 1200 cal yrs BP the marshland evolved into the large shallow lake we know today. This change is marked in the ostracod assemblages of both cores and agrees with trends in aquatic and riparian plants and may have allowed or encouraged exponential population growth beginning in the early-middle Medieval period and peaking in the late Medieval, as indicated in PASH settlement data. The use of different but complementary methods, drawn from palaeontology and archaeology, allowed reconstruction of Shkodra's past landscapes, linking the natural evolution of a Mediterranean lacustrine basin to regional population and settlement dynamics. This is the first research project to explore the relationship between natural and cultural landscapes and environmental change in northern Albania, forming the basis for further, more detailed studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]