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Non-alcoholic beverages often contain various constituents and additives, influencing both their nutritional profiles and functional attributes. Given the ubiquity of these beverages and their potential health implications, rigorous quality checks are indispensable to ascertain compliance with health and safety standards. This research aimed to quantify caffeine and phosphoric acid levels in a diverse array of soft drinks from Kosovo's market. To achieve this, 41 distinct non-alcoholic beverage samples from the local market were scrutinized. Caffeine concentrations were determined via UV-Vis spectrophotometry, while potentiometric titration was employed to assess phosphoric acid levels. As expected, energy drinks in Kosovo contained markedly higher caffeine concentrations compared to carbonated soft drinks and ice-tea variants. On the other hand, based on the results, analysed energy drinks showed somewhat greater caffeine contents than those reported in packaging of the beverage samples. Our study showed that a significant portion of the samples (21.95% for caffeine and 9.76% for phosphoric acid) did not conform to the standards set by EU 1169/2011 regulation or the EU 1333/2008 regulation. These findings underscore the urgency for relevant food safety authorities to implement rigorous oversight and enact appropriate protective measures. It is also imperative for the Kosovo National Food Safety Authority to craft specific regulations stipulating permissible additive concentrations, especially for caffeine and phosphoric acid, in non-alcoholic beverages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local communities play an essential role in developing and organizing their lives for joint betterment. Local self-government, through local democratic mechanisms, involves the community as part of the public policies, showing the sign of the development of the local democracy. This research aims to analyze the communication and collaboration between the local government and local communities in Kosovo, focusing on their role in the development of education and the reduction of deviant behavior, intending to create a better social environment for the community. The research methodology employed for this paper is as follows: library research, qualitative research, and the analysis of the laws in power related to the topic. There will be field research working with two focus groups belonging to the municipality of Prishtina, considering their ethnic component. General results show that communities are still in the development and organization phase, whereas their participation in the process of public policies is still under the average level. Social audits can be mechanisms for development, organizing the community, and involvement in local government policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The overall purpose of the study is to identify the impact of heuristics, prospect theory biases and personality traits on property investment decision-making of rank and file individuals in Kosovo, with a concentration in Prishtina, which is the city with the largest number of investors and property transactions in Kosovo. Design/methodology/approach: The present study used quantitative research with the questionnaire used as a research instrument. The questionnaire survey was conducted with 1,209 rank and file property investors in Prishtina, Kosovo. The sampling method used in this research was stratified random sampling. Findings: The study finds that heuristics, prospect theory biases and personality traits as a whole model affect investment decision-making in Prishtina, Kosovo. Nevertheless, the study finds that not all dimensions of the constructed research model (heuristics, the prospect theory and personality) affect the property investment decision-making in Prishtina at the same level. Whereas prospect theory biases (regret aversion, framing and self-control) seem to very strongly influence property investment decision-making of rank and file investors in Prishtina, personality traits (conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness to new experiences) seem not to affect the real estate investment decision-making. Finally, heuristics biases also strongly influence the real estate investment decision-making with a strong statistically significant explanatory power but not to the same degree as prospect theory biases. Practical implications: The present study contributes toward the understanding of the role that is played by heuristics, prospect theory biases and personality traits in Kosovo's property investment industry. More importantly, the implication of the results of the present study is that it goes some way toward enhancing understanding of heuristic and prospect theory-driven biases and their influence on property investment decision-making in a developing economy. The present study paves the way to further analyze why personality traits do not influence property investment decision-making in Kosovo. Originality/value: The present study is the first quantification of the impact of heuristics, prospect theory biases and personality traits on the investment decision-making of rank and file individuals in Prishtina, Kosovo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The overall purpose of the study is to identify the gender differences in color preferences for different types of interior space in the residential built environment in Prishtina, Kosovo. Additionally, the purpose of the study is also to identify the gender differences in the emotions that various colors trigger in occupants of the mainly residential built environment. Design/methodology/approach: The present study uses a quantitative study and χ2 test to analyze whether the variables formulated by study hypotheses are dependent on gender. The data are gathered by a questionnaire to measure the color preferences of the respondents. The study uses a questionnaire with eight questions that were distributed to 303 respondents using the stratified probability sampling, using gender as the main stratum for probability sampling. Findings: The study finds that there are no gender differences in color preferences for home lighting, living room, bedroom, study room and children's rooms in the residential built environment. The study also finds that there is a gender difference in color preferences that trigger emotions of tranquility, stability and security and warmth and pleasure in both male and female respondents. Practical implications: The implications of this study are that real estate and facility management firms must conduct marketing research to identify the color preferences for both housing interior and exterior depending on the different local cultural backgrounds of clients. Firms must provide training for real estate agents on the color preferences of clients for various types of spaces and the differences that may exist based on gender but also other variables. Originality/value: The present study is the first quantification of gender differences in color preferences of the residential built environment in the capital city of an understudied region such as Kosovo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers embody a remarkable project involving elements of the domestic law of the Republic of Kosovo, the EU's external relations law, and international criminal law. The Chambers' hybrid nature is not only unique, but also atypical in regards to its influence in Kosovo's constitutional order. The Specialist Constitutional Chamber is one of the instances of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers sitting in the Hague. The Specialist Constitutional Chamber resembles Kosovo's Constitutional Court on a specific, though exclusive, area of law—the law surrounding the court in general. The two courts not only exercise the same generic function—on the basis of exclusive material criteria—but also possibly parallel and compete with each other. The relationship between the "two courts" is at best explained with the term "fragmentation of constitutional jurisdiction." While the two courts are forced to endure under the same normative roof—the Constitution—they inherently exercise often conflicting functions and protect irreconcilable ideological perspectives. The article examines the interaction between the two courts primarily in a normative and jurisdictional perspective. It also presents recent tendencies of both courts to divert in divergent pathways. The article concludes that while the two courts present an unobserved case in comparative constitutional law, they also reveal an interesting and unconventional constitutional controversy appearing in the context of a sovereign country's relationship with international law obligations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the main challenges of the modern school is the implementation of comprehensive education. Knowing that students are different among themselves, and have different personalities, traits, and even special needs, it is very important to know how to manage this diversity within the classroom and accept all students without distinction. The factors that affect the academic achievements of students are numerous and it is impossible to control them, therefore through this research, we aimed to ascertain the correlation of one of these factors, in this case, social acceptability with the academic achievements of students. Therefore, the main purpose of this research is to determine the relationship between social acceptability and academic achievements of elementary school students in Kosovo. The sample was random, while according to the nature of the research, it is judgmental or intentional, which was chosen without probability. The sample includes 4 schools in two municipalities of Kosovo, Istog and Mitrovica. The results of the research showed that there are different social relations in terms of social acceptability among the students of a class. Starting from popular students, rejected students, neglected students, and opposed students. These social relations among students affect the students' performance. There is also a reciprocal relationship between social acceptability and academic achievement, i.e. with an increase in social acceptability, the level of academic achievement of students increases and vice versa, with a decrease in the level of social acceptability, the level of academic achievement also decreases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although bee honey is considered an essential and healthy food for humans, honey can be affected by various contaminants, such as antibiotics, that can cause health problems for consumers. The objective of this study was to assess the occurrence of streptomycin residues in locally produced and imported bee honey, which was collected in 2017 from individual apiaries and retail markets in six different regions of Kosovo. In the present study, 155 bee honey samples were qualitatively screened by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method using an I'screen STREPTO test kit (Tecna S. r. L., Trieste, Italy) as a simple and fast method. Descriptive statistics were used to outline the essential characteristics of the sample and mass; 29% of samples were contaminated with streptomycin at concentrations between 2.1-9.3 ug/kg, while 71% of the samples were found to be negative for streptomycin. Most of the samples with streptomycin residues were from the Ferizaj and Prizren regions. Based on these results, competent authorities should establish and maintain programs to continuously monitor honey to ensure that consumers in Kosovo receive risk-free honey. In addition, there is a pressing need for additional research to accurately assess other aspects of this problem and identify effective corrective actions that will reduce contaminants in bee honey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freezing technology is one of the most well established long-term preservation techniques for producing high-quality, nutritious foods with prolonged shelf-life. Frozen foods (FFs) are a significant section of the global food market experiencing rapid growth. It also represents an alternative to small producers in developing countries to add value to their products in a competitive market. However, unfairly, FFs are often perceived as less qualitative than fresh produce, although studies have shown that some FFs have higher nutritional values than fresh products. This study's aim is to analyze consumers' perceptions in the two Balkan countries towards FFs. A total of 380 questionnaires were completed in both countries (182 in Kosovo and 198 in Albania). Consumers' perceptions towards FFs were measured through eleven items using a five-point Likert scale. The items addressed issues related to the quality and safety of FFs, information on FFs, and the impact of origin on the perception of FFs. The differences between populations were tested with the t-test and correlation analysis with the bootstrapping method for sociodemographic factors. The results show that Kosovo consumers generally show a higher positive attitude toward FFs than Albanian consumers. Albanian consumers prefer fresh foods over FFs. The lack of trust in food safety institutions was expressed with concern for the conditions of the frozen chain applied both on the imported and domestic frozen products. Similarly, the findings show that Albanian consumers are willing to pay more than the baseline price to obtain fresh products instead of frozen compared with Kosovo consumers. Additional studies are needed to explore whether the lack of trust in food safety institutions inhibits the successful development of FFs in Albania and Kosovo. In both countries, responsible authorities should help consumers to have a more profound knowledge of the quality of FFs and boost these activities to increase farmers' incomes and play an active role in reducing food loss and waste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: New products are vital to the success of firms and represent opportunities for business growth and development. The transition from the idea to the launch of a new product represents a process as complex as it is interesting for a firm. This is especially true for banking products. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how much a bank strategy influences the development of new banking products and whether customer preferences have an impact on the launch of new products by commercial banks. Methodology: Regression model, correlation, KMO and Bartlett's test will be used to analyze the impact of independent variables on the launch of new products on the market. Results: The results of this research show that the strategy of Kosovo commercial banks influences the creation and development of new products. Conclusion: Therefore, it can be said that commercial banks do not lack strategies which have the launch and creation of new products as their element. Banks also take into account customer and society requirements regarding the development of new products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today’s top companies in various businesses are moving towards customer care and their loyalty because most markets are in their advanced stage where competition is increasing and the cost of attracting new customers has increased. As in the world economy in Kosovo in recent years we have seen an awareness of businesses about marketing and its perception. As a result, today in Kosovo we have a genuine marketing development, especially in businesses that are increasingly used in elaborating and presenting the services they offer in Kosovo. Customer care management is related to behavior, ethics and mutual communication in businesses. Marketing finds application in customer care by applying various forms of promotion and nowadays in particular the form of direct line. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the transfer of judicial sovereignty in Kosovo from a comparative perspective. In particular, it addresses the transfer of constitutional jurisdiction to the Special Court of Kosovo. This court was formed as a result of Kosovo's commitment to address allegations made by the Council of Europe in a document known as the Dick Marty report. The report alleges that war crimes and crimes against humanity and international law were committed during and in the aftermath of the Kosovo war (1998–1999). It took several years for the Court to be formed as constitutional amendments, legal infrastructure, and other practical steps were needed to make the Court operational. These preparatory measures have been taken, but practical results are missing, and there is fear that the Court might end up like previous UN- and EU-led justice systems, which did too little and were too late to address the culture of impunity in Kosovo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This scientific paper is based on 20 male handball players, active players from four handball junior teams which they compete in regular competition in Handball Federation, Kosovo. The five players were from four different teams, H.C. "Trepça" from Mitrovica, H.C. "Kastrioti" from Ferizaj, H.C. "Bashkim Idrizi" from Gjakova, H.C. "Prishtina" from Prishtina, all of them was from the back position in the field. In this research are applied nine motor basic and specific motor skills variables which we think is enough for this research paper: Sprint 40 m, Long jump, haut jump, throwing medicine ball 3 kg, hand taping, Sprint 3x9 m, zigzag Sprint 6-9 m, throwing 7 m (penalty), Throwing the ball in goal with 3 speed sprint. The data was analyzed by statistical package, they are processed in the SPPS program, version 20.0 for windows. Scientific research is done in the composition of the motor space. The processing of results is done in these statistics methods. In the motor space parameters are calculated: by T-test for independent entities. The first purpose of the research was to evaluate basic and specific motor skills of handball players who should verify the differences between variables in the motor space, while the purpose of the research, is the evaluation of the differences in basic and specific motor skills of the four groups at the same time, but also to confirm the performance from basic and specific motor skills, the players who compete in the same rank in the Kosovo Handball Championship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The right of all adult citizens to participate in the issues of their country's governance is one of the cornerstones of democracy. Election participation is defined by internal legal acts such as constitution, laws, electoral codes, and through international legal acts. This right throughout history has been limited, by completely banning certain categories of citizens to participate in elections or by placing voters censorship such as the rich, poor, educated, etc. Apart from the active and passive right to participate in the elections, the constitution and the electoral laws have also determined the right of exclusion from the elections. In the contemporary world, with internal norms and international law, special criteria are set for the certification and decertification of voters in the elections. The purpose of this paper is to assess the colliding norms that exist in Kosovo's legislation regarding the participation of citizens in the elections, especially the colliding norms between the constitution and the electoral laws in the certification-de-certification provisions of the elections. With these shortcomings and ambiguities, international standards for democratic elections have been violated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: A collaborative project between Sweden and Kosovo with the aim to develop treatment guidelines for the ambulance services was undertaken. Firstly, relevant guidelines were identified, then translated, and processed to fit with the Kosovan ambulance service system. The next step was to train instructors in becoming proficient in training colleagues to use the guidelines. A train the trainer approach was chosen as it can be seen as grounded in Kolb's experiential learning theory and Crossan et al. organizational learning theory. Those theories describe how individuals learn and how organizations develop. Method: This implementation project supported training of local instructors to become proficient in training colleagues in 13 selected treatment guidelines for the ambulance services using scenario training. Initially, Kosovar instructors received directions from Swedish instructors then they observed the Swedish instructors. After this, they took more responsibility for the training. Seven Swedish instructors instructed eight Kosovar instructors for a week where about 100 Kosovan doctors and nurses were trained in patient assessment and treatment guidelines. The trainees were divided into four parallel groups of 4-5 participants with one Kosovar instructor supported by a Swedish instructor. Results: After the training week, eight instructors from two different ambulance service centers achieved proficiency in training colleagues in using treatment guidelines. Each Kosovar instructor was involved in 30 training occasions. Conclusion: The training resulted in the involved Kosovar ambulance service centers being able to train new colleagues in providing standardized patient assessment and treatment using treatment guidelines. In addition, the trained Kosovar instructors will be able to contribute to the development of new guidelines and revision of established guidelines. Applying a train the trainer approach, theoretically grounded in learning theories, provides a sound basis to achieve systematic change for improving patient safety. Here, the knowledge distribution among practitioners is improved in an inexpensive manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents the characteristics of diabase rocks and rock aggregates measured during the preliminary exploratory survey. Diabases are characterized as 'high hardness', very compact rock having low porosity and water absorption, and rock aggregates show high resistance to fragmentation (LA) making this material suitable for construction. The radiological hazard due to its use as building materials is investigated by measuring the activity concentration of K, Ra and Th, respectively 88 ± 8, <1.8 and <2.4 Bq kg. The calculated activity concentration index shows low radiological risk to humans due to their use as building materials in dwellings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Residue of the pesticides in the fruits we consume on daily basis, in particular in those food items which are not produced in our country and therefore their production is unknown to us, has been and will remain the biggest challenge for our quality control institutions, responsible for protection of health of our consumers. Taking into account constant increase in use of chemical substances - pesticides, then failure to comply with instructions on use, carenza of each pesticide, overdose caused by producers aiming more successful protection - all of these factors are daily increasing the level of risk for our consumers. Having in mind the situation of agricultural production in the territory of Kosovo with its destroyed post-war economy and considering the fact that our local agricultural production hardly covers 30% of our total consume needs; it is natural that such deficit is being covered with imported goods from abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]