Northern Albania Research Articles

Role of Local Government and Non-profit Organizations Toward Social Services For Families. Theoretical and Practical Approaches (North Albania Case)

Family is an important human capital. Family support with social services is an obligation for local government structures and non-profit organizations. The process of decentralization increases the responsibility of local government structures to support families with social services. This study aims to analyze the theoretical approaches regarding the role of local government and non-profit organizations with a focus on social services family. The study is focused on the analysis of national and international documents related to the field study. The paper also has the objective to present an overview of the role of local government and NGOs in the regions of Northern Albania regarding the provision of social services for family. The field study was done in the northern region of Albania, including her four Districts, in its main cities: Shkodër, Lezhë, Kukës and Peshkopi. In the study participated 44 subjects in total, 23 of them are representative of local, regional and central institutions and 21 representatives of NGOs that operate in the filed study. A qualitative research method has been used. The findings of this study reflect the fact that, families in Northern Albania profit a small amount of services from public sector and a variety of services from non-profit organizations. The conclusions of this paper represent the theoretical elements in national and international context toward the role of local government and NGOs focused in social services for families.

Alcune osservazioni sulla terminologia relativa ai rapporti fra i sessi nei Kanun delle montagne albanesi

We conducted a short analysis of historical, cultural and linguistics aspects based on a corpus of traditional Albanian law (Kanuni i Leke Dukagjinit, Kanuni i Skanderbegut, Kanuni i Dibres) existing in several areas of northern Albania inhabited by a population of Catholics and Muslims. The survey, aimed at highlighting the features of the vocabulary related to the relations between the sexes, the strong role played by religious institutions and, in particular, by the Catholic Church (as is evident from the events related to the codification of KS), focused on terms related to the most important stages of the existence of the individual in the Kanun society, e.g., legitimate marriages martesa me kunore , illegitimate unions (pa kunore), and other lexemes related to this semantic field, e.g. kopil “bastard” lidhun “damned, blasted, used to refer to members of an unmarried Catholic couple. With regard to the latter lexeme, particularly interesting is the development of specific meanings, recorded in the ancient Albanian literature, which emerged in magic-religious contexts (“lent, carnival, sorcery, magic”). There is also a large number of borrowings in the lexicon related to family relationships, particularly in the area of marital infidelity, e.g. kurvni (from Slavic languages) as well as many Turkisms (varan / Jaran, zinac).

Understanding Life in the Ottoman–Montenegrin Borderlands of Northern Albania during the Tanzimat Era: Catholic Mirdite Tribes, Missionaries and Ottoman Officials

The paper reconsiders the development of decentralization/centralization dynamics during the Ottoman Empire, focusing on the Ottoman–Montenegrin borderlands of Northern Albania with particular reference to the Mirdite territory inhabited by Catholic tribes. First, the paper describes the local socio-political system and balance of power in Mirdite territory before the enactment of the Gulhane decree. Secondly, the paper focuses on the developments and changes occurring in this land during the Tanzimat. Interaction, intertwining and overlapping between different strategies and policies are analysed in regard to the relationship between Catholic tribes, missionaries and Ottoman officials. Because of them, the changes and developments in the local administrative system occurring in both the religious and the political dimensions during the last part of the nineteenth century were expressions of the process of decentralization/centralization triggered by Istanbul from the third decade of the nineteenth century on.

Recharge and sustainability of a coastal aquifer in northern Albania

The River Mati in Albania has formed a coastal plain with Holocene and Pleistocene sediments. The outer portion of the plain is clay, with three underlying aquifers that are connected to an alluvial fan at the entry of the river into the plain. The aquifers supply water for 240,000 people. Close to the sea the aquifers are brackish. The brackish water is often artesian and found to be thousands of years old. Furthermore, the salinity, supported by δ18O results, does not seem to be due to mixing with old seawater but due to diffusion from intercalated clay layers. Heavy metals from mines in the upstream section of River Mati are not an immediate threat, as the pH buffering of the river water is good. Moreover, the heavy metals are predominantly found in suspended and colloidal phases. Two sulphur isotope signatures, one mirroring seawater sulphate in the brackish groundwater (δ34S >21 ‰) and one showing the influence of sulphide in the river and the fresh groundwater (δ34S <10 ‰), indicate that the groundwater in the largest well field is recharged from the river. The most serious threat is gravel extraction in the alluvial fan, decreasing the hydraulic head necessary for recharge and causing clogging of sediments.

Bayesian Phylogeography of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus in Europe

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a zoonosis mainly transmitted by ticks that causes severe hemorrhagic fever and has a mortality rate of 5-60%. The first outbreak of CCHF occurred in the Crimean peninsula in 1944-45 and it has recently emerged in the Balkans and eastern Mediterranean. In order to reconstruct the origin and pathway of the worldwide dispersion of the virus at global and regional (eastern European) level, we investigated the phylogeography of the infection by analysing 121 publicly available CCHFV S gene sequences including two recently characterised Albanian isolates. The spatial and temporal phylogeny was reconstructed using a Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo approach, which estimated a mean evolutionary rate of 2.96 x 10-4 (95%HPD=1.6 and 4.7 x 10-4) substitutions/site/year for the analysed fragment. All of the isolates segregated into seven highly significant clades that correspond to the known geographical clades: in particular the two new isolates from northern Albania clustered significantly within the Europe 1 clade. Our phylogeographical reconstruction suggests that the global CCHFV clades originated about one thousand years ago from a common ancestor probably located in Africa. The virus then spread to Asia in the XV century and entered Europe on at least two occasions: the first in the early 1800s, when a still circulating but less or non-pathogenic virus emerged in Greece and Turkey, and the second in the early 1900s, when a pathogenic CCHFV strain began to spread in eastern Europe. The most probable location for the origin of this European clade 1 was Russia, but Turkey played a central role in spreading the virus throughout Europe. Given the close proximity of the infected areas, our data suggest that the movement of wild and domestic ungulates from endemic areas was probably the main cause of the dissemination of the virus in eastern Europe.

Phylogenetic position and taxonomy of the enigmatic Orobanche krylowii (Orobanchaceae), a predominatly Asian species newly found in Albania (SE Europe)

We report on the occurrence of Orobanche krylowii in the Alpet Shqiptare (Prokletije, Albanian Alps) mountain range in northern Albania (Balkan Peninsula). The species was previously known only from eastern-most Europe (Volga-Kama River in Russia), more than 2500 km away, and from adjacent Siberia and Central Asia. We used morphological evidence as well as nuclear ribosomal ITS sequences to show that the Albanian population indeed belongs to O. krylowii and that its closest relative is the European O. lycoctoni, but not O. elatior as assumed in the past. Both Orobanche krylowii and O. lycoctoni parasitize Ranunculaceae (Thalictrum spp. and Aconitum lycoctonum, respectively). We provide an identification key and a taxonomic treatment for O. krylowii, and suggest the IUCN category CE (critically endangered) for the highly disjunct Albanian population.

Technology Preparation of “Xhubleta

Without any doubt, in the Albanian folk heritage, the greatest interest in terms of dresses appeared to be xhubleta. This is a popular costume known as a distinctive element in traditional dressing of woman in the mountain areas of Northern Albania. Several archaic features make this clothing distinct out of many other popular clothing, making this the most interesting object for study for many researchers. The xhubleta is a complex garment, consisting of several elements that make it complete, and give it a final shape. Each of the components of xhubleta has its own shape, its own size, and features, which by joining together create a harmonious and interesting ensemble. But what is the technology preparation of xhubleta? What are the materials and its elaboration process? What are the cutting and sewing processes that give it the undulating bell form? What is the image that creates this dress? In producing this popular costume it is very important the combination of the material with the cutting way, functionality and the final image created. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2013.v2n8p646

From Squatter Settlement to Suburb: The Transformation of Bathore, Albania

This paper recounts the successful upgrading of Bathore, an informal settlement on government land, located in the outskirts of Tirana, the capital of Albania. Bathore was formed in the early 1990s by poor squatters, mostly from rural northern Albania, a region that became impoverished and lost most services after the fall of communism in 1990. The area that the squatters occupied lacked all infrastructure. However, the squatters built houses that were permanent structures of good quality, often multi-storey. These houses were mostly financed through the remittances of immigrants abroad. In mid-2000s, the Albanian government started taking steps to legalize squatter housing, and, subsequently, to equip the area with infrastructure. Now, Bathore is starting to resemble a middle-class-style suburb, if only in terms of physical appearance. This paper explores the roles of the central and local governments, the international financial institutions, a local NGO, and the local community in this achievement.

Additions to the Bryophyte Flora of Albania

Abstract A list of 92 musci and 8 hepatics collected in northern Albania is given; 31 taxa are new for the country.

Chlorophyll a and phytoplanktonic DNA relationship at lagoonary system of Northern Albania

Chlorophyll a and phytoplanktonic DNA relationship at lagoonary system of Northern Albania

The influence of Mesozoic Palaeogeography on the variations in structural style along the front of the Albanide thrust-and-fold belt

The front of the W-verging Albanide fold-and-thrust belt and its adjacent foreland have been investigated using a grid of seismic reflection profiles, purposely acquired in the Southern Adriatic Sea.This convergent margin is part of the continental collision that extends from former Yugoslavia to North-Western Greece. At the front of the Albanides, both the structural style of the external part of the fold-and-thrust belt, and the evolution of the related foredeep basin, are strongly controlled by the nature of the Mesozoic units that are progressively accreted to the belt, namely the Apulian Platform and its adjacent deep-water basins. Where a thick carbonate platform is accreted (souther Albania) the frontal mountain range presents a high topography, whereas the foredeep basin is relatively shallow. On the other hand, where the basinal domain is accreted (northern Albania), the topography of the fold-and-thrust belt is subdue, whereas the foredeep basin is very deep.

Justice of Another Kind. Laying Claims to the Past in Post-Dictatorial Albania

More than twenty years after the collapse of the totalitarian regime in Albania, the archives of the state security apparatus (Sigurimi) have yet to be opened. The horror of the Hoxha regime remains under lock and key. Not one word is lost on the network of political prisons and the state security ap- paratus in the history schoolbooks; in today's only history text about Albania written by a university scholar, that addresses some details of the socialist pe- riod, this part of the socialist past is also left out. The lack of initiative from the government or any other state organisation to address this situation has led to setting up a number of alternative civil society organisations that focus on this issue. One of these is a very important movement in northern Albania, having at its core a disparate but vibrant publishing industry that provides space for the local actors to publish their memories and experiences. Two genres of writing can be identified here: local histories and family histories. Common to both are motifs of local patriotism and personal sacrifice, but the local histories - mainly of specific villages and towns - tend to be apologetic of the regime while the fam - ily histories tend more often to be those of victims and opponents of the regime.

Loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) foraging at Drini Bay in Northern Albania: Genetic characterisation reveals new haplotypes

Loggerhead turtles ( Caretta caretta ) was studied over 3 summers in a nearshore habitat, the Patoku area in the southern part of Driniki Bay, Albania. Tissue samples were collected from 40 loggerhead turtles incidentally captured in stavnike fish-traps (a type of pond-net). A fragment of 859 base-pair mt-DNA d-loop region was amplified from these turtles and compared with previously described haplotypes. Haplotype CC-A2.1 (93%) was the dominant haplotype in the region. Two previously unknown haplotypes, CC-A6.1 and CC-A10.4, were decribed with this study. Furthermore, haplotype CC-A.2.8 was also observed which was previously recorded from Italy. Haplotype and nucleotide diversity were 0.14615 and 0.00017, respectively.

Multiple Family Households East of the Hajnal Line: Evidence from Albania and Serbia

This article uses the Albanian population census of 1918 and the published results of four Serbian censuses of the second half of the 19th century to study the proportion of multiple family households in these countries. During the second half of the 19th century household complexity increased in Serbia despite a widespread notion of the dissolution of the multiple family households there. This confirms research that points to the fact that household divisions were a regular phenomenon and did not mean the dissolution of the institution of multiple family households. These two countries east of the Hajnal-line showed strong tendencies of living in multiple family households in this time period. The postulated contrast to Western Europe can therefore be based on evidence from quantitative research. Household complexity was higher in Northern Albania and in Serbia in the west, southwest and southeast of the country and we have to be aware that there were considerable variations within these countries.

Onset of an Aptian carbonate platform overlying a Middle-Late Jurassic radiolaritic-ophiolithic mélange in the Mirdita Zone of Albania

Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous carbonate sediments of different age and facies, form the post-emplacement settings on top of the Mirdita Ophiolite Zone in northern Albania. They seal the early Late Jurassic emplacement of the ophiolite knappes, are the only datable relics overlying the ophiolites in the Late Jurassic - Early Cretaceous, aiding the evaluation of the different tectonic movements associated with uplift and erosion as well as sea-level fluctuations during that time span. These carbonates overlie ophiolite-derived clastics very often as shallowing-upward sequences. One of the largest shallow-water platforms is the Mali I Shenjtit platform, previously assigned to the Barremian-Aptian. A well-preserved section at the base of the platform can be ascribed to the Early-Late Aptian based on orbitolinid foraminifera together with dasycladalean algae. This carbonate platform is the youngest preserved Early Cretaceous platform in Albania, but was largely eroded away. Late Cretaceous shallow-water rudist limestones are widespread and preserved in the Dinaride-Albanide-Hellenide realm directly above an eroded older basement. Therefore, this Aptian platform is very important for the reconstruction of the Early Cretaceous palaeogeography in the northwestern Neotethyan realm. In addition, the stratigraphic ranges of characteristic Aptian orbitolinid foraminifera, Rectodictyoconus giganteus SCHROEDER and Mesorbitolina texana (ROEMER), are discussed on the basis of these results.

Albanian students’ motives for preferring certain real-life situations for learning mathematics

This article reports on a qualitative investigation of Albanian students’ motives for preferring certain real-life situations to be used in school mathematics, and possible connections of these motives to characteristics and issues within Albanian society. It is based on realistic interviews with students from Grades 8 and 9 in a school in the district of Shkodra in northern Albania. Interviews were conducted after students experienced five teaching units which dealt with mathematics embedded in real-life situations. Results are expressed in terms of contextmechanism-outcome configurations as proposed by critical realist theory. Most of the resultsare supported by those from a previous quantitative study which found that students prefer real-life situations which deal with computer games, being productive in a job, community development, and recreation, physical exercise and sport. An important mechanism uncovered in this study was the role of the mathematics that the topic introduced; degree of difficulty of the mathematics influenced the choice of preferred contexts by students. Preferences expressed by students are therefore to be considered with care.

An ethnobotanical survey of the Gollak region, Kosovo

An ethnobotanical field study focused on traditional uses of medicinal plants, wild food plants, and mushrooms was conducted in 37 villages in the Gollak region of eastern Kosovo. Interviews with 66 elderly informants were conducted using standard ethnobotanical methods. The uses of 92 vascular plants and 6 mushrooms species belonging to 47 different families were recorded. Mainly infusions and decoctions were quoted as folk medicinal preparations and the most commonly quoted plant medicinal uses referred to diseases of the respiratory system, skin, and gastrointestinal tract. Comparison of the collected data with the ethnobotanical findings of previously conducted studies in the surrounding Western Balkan areas showed that, even if more than the half of Gollak’s wild botanical genera quoted as medicines used are the same in Serbia and in Northern Albania, commonalities between the actual medicinal plant applications recorded in the present study and those reported for the other areas are extremely scarce. This may confirm the richness of the bio-cultural heritage of the Western Balkan region and the urgent need to conduct cross-cultural comparative field ethnobiological studies.

Late Palaeozoic–Cenozoic tectonic development of Greece and Albania in the context of alternative reconstructions of Tethys in the Eastern Mediterranean region

The objective of this article is to use the geology and tectonics of a critical part of the Tethyan orogen, represented by Greece and Albania, to shed light on the tectonic development of Tethys on a regional to global scale. A review of existing Tethyan reconstructions reveals little consensus concerning key aspects, such as the timing and direction of subduction, arc magmatism, ophiolite genesis, and continental collision. The regional to local-scale geology of individual regions, therefore, has to be considered in detail to test existing models and to develop a viable tectonic reconstruction. For Carboniferous time, much evidence suggests that the Korabi–Pelagonian crustal unit as exposed in Albania and Greece formed above a northward-dipping subduction zone along the Eurasian continental margin, with Palaeotethys to the south. However, there is also evidence of southward subduction beneath Gondwana, especially from southern Greece and central-southern Turkey. Palaeotethys is inferred to have closed in Europe as far to the east as the longitude of Libya, although remaining open beyond this region. Uncertainty still exists regarding the Pangaea A-type reconstruction that would restore all the present units in the area within the Eastern Mediterranean region versus the Pangaea B-type reconstruction that would require right-lateral displacement of exotic terranes by up to 3500 km eastwards. In either reconstruction, fragments of the Variscan collisional orogen are likely to have been displaced variable distances eastwards in the Balkan region prior to Late Permian–Early Triassic time. From the ∼Late Permian, the Greece–Albania crustal units were located in their present relative position within Tethys as a whole. From the mid-Permian onwards, the northern margin of Gondwana was affected by crustal extension. A Mesozoic ocean (i.e. the Pindos–Mirdita Ocean) then rifted during Early–Middle Triassic time, culminating in final continental break-up and sea-floor spreading during the Late Triassic (Carnian–Norian). Subduction-influenced volcanics of mainly Early–Middle Triassic age probably reflect the extraction of magma from sub-continental lithosphere that was enriched in subduction-related fluids and volatiles during an earlier Variscan(?) subduction event. The existence of Late Triassic mid-ocean ridge-type igneous rocks, known locally in Albania and Greece, points to rifting of a Red Sea-type oceanic basin rather than a back-arc basin related to contemporaneous subduction. After initial, inferred slow spreading at a Late Triassic, rifted ocean ridge and spreading during the Early Jurassic, the ocean basin underwent regional convergence. Subduction was initiated at, or near, a spreading axis perhaps adjacent to an oceanic fracture zone. The Jurassic supra-subduction zone-type ophiolites of both Greece and Albania largely relate to melting of rising asthenosphere in the presence of aqueous volatiles derived from subducting oceanic lithosphere. High-magnesian boninite-type magmas that are present both in the Albanian and Greece ophiolites and in some underlying melanges reflect remelting of previously depleted oceanic upper mantle. Localized MOR-type ophiolites of Late–Middle Jurassic age, mainly exposed in northeast Albania, were created at a rifted spreading axis. The amphibolite-facies metamorphic sole of the ophiolites was mainly derived from the oceanic crust (including within-plate-type seamounts), whereas the underlying lower-grade, greenschist-facies sole was mainly sourced from the rifted continental margin. The melange, dismembered thrust sheets, and polymict debris flows (olistostromes) beneath the ophiolites formed by accretion and gravity reworking of continental margin units. The in situ radiolarian chert cover of the ophiolites in northern Albania is overlain by polymict debris flows (olistostromes). Pelagic carbonate deposition followed during Tithonian–Berriasian time, and then a regional carbonate platform was restored during the Cretaceous. Exhumation of deeply buried parts of the overridden continental margin probably took place during the Early Cretaceous. Structural evidence, mainly from northern Greece (Vourinos, Pindos, and Othris areas), indicates that the ophiolites, the metamorphic sole, the accretionary melange, and the underlying continental margin units were all deformed by top-to-the-northeast thrusting during late Middle–early Late Jurassic time. However, such kinematic evidence is not obviously replicated in Albania, characterized by reports of ∼southwest-directed (or variable) emplacement. The remaining Pindos–Mirdita oceanic crust subducted ∼northeastwards during Late Cretaceous–Eocene time, whereas oceanic crust continued to form in the south Aegean region at least locally during Late Cretaceous time. During early Cenozoic time, the Pindos–Mirdita Ocean closed progressively southwards, triggering mainly southward progradation of turbidites derived from the overriding Korabi–Pelagonian microcontinent. Smaller volumes of sediment were also derived from the Apulia (Adria) continent. The Mesohellenic Trough of Greece and its counterpart in Albania evolved from an Eocene fore-arc-type basin above subducting oceanic lithosphere to a thrust-top basin as continental crust continued to underthrust during the Oligocene after final closure of the Pindos–Mirdita Ocean. Miocene and Plio-Quaternary successor flexural fore-deeps developed in response to continuing regional plate convergence. The preferred tectonic alternatives are assembled into a new overall tectonic model, which in turn needs to be tested and developed in the light of future studies.

Pistoale balcanice cu cremene din colecţia Muzeului Banatului Timișoara / Flint Balkan Pistols from the Collection of Banat Museum in Timișoara

Pistoale balcanice cu cremene din colecţia Muzeului Banatului Timișoara / Flint Balkan Pistols from the Collection of Banat Museum in Timișoara

PRELIMINARY DATA ON SEROLOGICAL INVESTIGATION TO Q FEVER, LYME DISEASE AND ECHINOCOCCUS IN ALBANIA

The aim of this study is to present the results on serological surveys of Lyme borreliosis, Q fever and echinococcus infection in northern Albania. In total we analyzed 200 sera blood samples collected from cattle, sheep and goats, and X fecal samples from red foxes. We used appropriate ELISA tests, commercially available to evaluate the presence of anti-Borrelia IgG, specific antibody against Coxiella burnetii, and coproantigen for echinococcus. In total 11.66% of sheep, 14.5% of goats and 6% of cattle had antibody against Borrelia sp; 13.3% of sheep, 17.7 % of goats and 4% of cattle had specific IgG against Coxiella burnetii, and 27% of fecal red fox samples were positive to echinococcus. As a conclusion, both two above bacterial zoonotic diseases, and echinococcosis as an important parasitic zoonosis are present in Albania. They are a serious threat to public health, and may be largely underestimated in Albania. This paper includes the full results relating to Q fever and some recent, unpublished data from our group concerning with Borreliozis and echinococcus infections.