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Tattoos as Visual Narratives of Personal and Social Identity
No full textThis paper explores tattoos as visual narratives that embody both personal and social dimensions of identity. Drawing on the studies of Francois and Luzelle Naude (2024) and Mary Kosut (2000), it examines tattoos as a form of narrative communication that combines selfexpression, memory, and cultural belonging. The research applies a qualitative theoretical approach through literature analysis to investigate how body art serves as a medium of meaning-making and self-definition. Findings indicate that tattoos function as symbolic acts of autonomy and visual storytelling that connect individual experience with collective identity in contemporary society
The Impact of Climate Change on Kosovo’s Construction Sector in the Last Decade
No full textThe construction sector in Kosovo has faced growing challenges from climate change over the past decade, with rising temperatures, irregular precipitation, and more frequent extreme weather events directly affecting construction practices, material durability, and infrastructure resilience. This study investigates these impacts through a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative analysis of meteorological and economic data from 2014 to 2024 with qualitative insights from structured interviews with engineers, contractors, and policymakers. The findings show that climate-related risks have led to higher construction costs, especially in concrete curing, energy demand, and maintenance, while weather-induced delays in project implementation have increased by around 15% during the last decade. At the same time, the sector has accelerated the adoption of sustainable practices, including energyefficient building designs, green certifications, and the use of alternative materials, partly influenced by European Union environmental standards. The results underline the urgent need for climate-adaptive planning in Kosovo’s construction sector. Strengthening resilient design standards, promoting renewable and low-carbon materials, and enforcing stricter building codes are identified as essential measures to mitigate risks and support Kosovo’s integration into regional and European sustainability objectives
Modeling and Prediction of Soil Settlements under Load Effects
No full textThis study addresses the modeling and prediction of soil settlements resulting from loads applied to structural foundations. Soil settlements represent a critical issue in geotechnical engineering as they significantly impact the stability and performance of structures. The primary objective of this research is to develop an accurate and efficient model for predicting settlements, utilizing both analytical and numerical geotechnical methods. Key factors influencing soil behavior, including soil properties, load characteristics, and groundwater conditions, are thoroughly examined. The model was validated through a practical case study incorporating laboratory and field data. Results demonstrate that the proposed model provides reliable settlement predictions, enabling optimized foundation design and minimizing structural risks. This study contributes to the advancement of geotechnical design methodologies and offers a valuable tool for engineers and designers in the construction industry
Comprehensive Analysis of Spring in the Central Part of the Republic of Kosovo
No full textThe demand for water is increasing every day, while the preservation and protection of water resources is becoming not only a local but also a global problem. In many countries around the world, however, there are reports of water shortages in both quantity and quality, while water is the supporter of life, sustainable development, and ecosystems in general. Spring are indicators that provide us with data and information about the water availability or otherwise of a place, and they also provide us with information on which we make plans and developments for various purposes. This paper analyzes from a general point of view the springs found in the central part of Kosovo. The spring in this study area emerge in different geological formations, as well as with different hydrogeological characteristics. The amount (capacity) of water they provide was shown to vary, depending mainly on atmospheric precipitation (rain and snow). The spring water generally showed good organoleptic properties and physical and chemical parameters within the hygienic-sanitary norms for use as drinking water
Comparatıve Performance Analysıs of Data Storage Systems (Json, Sqlıte, Postgresql) in a Log Analysıs Applıcatıon
No full textIn this thesis, a comparative performance analysis of different data storage systems, namely: JSON, SQLite, and PostgreSQL, has been conducted within the framework of a log analysis application. For each technology—JSON, SQLite, and PostgreSQL—the analysis will follow an identical structure. Initially, the history and the philosophy behind their creation will be examined. Subsequently, the architecture and key technical characteristics that influence performance will be detailed. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the efficiency, response time, resource utilization, and the degree of scalability of each system in various processes of log data management and analysis. The use of different performance testing and analysis methodologies was essential to obtain accurate insights into the advantages and disadvantages of each system in the context of real-world applications. This approach will build the theoretical foundation for the empirical comparison that will follow in the subsequent chapters. The results of the study have shown significant differences in performance and efficiency, aiding in the determination of the most suitable data storage system choice depending on the specific requirements of the log analysis application. This study contributes to the further understanding of the decision-making parameters related to the selection of the appropriate database architecture for similar projects
Matrix Operations Underlying the Transformer Models
No full textThis paper explores the mathematical principles underlying the transformer model, an architecture that is driving the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI). While older processing models like Recurrent Neural Networks and Long Short-Term Memory Networks struggled with long range dependencies and parallel computations, transformers overcome these challenges through self attention and parallelism. The core of this architecture lies matrix operations, specifically matrix multiplication and the dot product, which allow transformers to capture relationships across sequences.This paper first walks us through the traditional sequential models, then outlines the encoder, decoder and encoder-decoder variations that define the modern transformer architecture. We then focus on Query, Key and Value matrices within the attention mechanism, and illustrating the computation of attention using embedding vectors and weight matrices through a concrete example.By focusing on the linear algebra underlying transformer models, this paper shows how mathematical operations ensure efficiency and performance in natural language processing (NLP) and beyond. Understanding these fundamental mathematical principles clarifies how transformers work and provides insight into the future of AI
The use of the Limit of a Sequence in Computer Science
No full textMathematics is a very fundamental and key component to understanding how parts of different programmable operations work, therefore by acknowledging the fast pace at which technology is developing, this is the main reason we have chosen this topic. This paper is a deep dive into “What is the limit of a sequence?” and its role in Computer Science. Going into this project without the full picture of what the limit of a sequence contributes in Computer Science might just be a blind lead but if we think about it, limits are a key component. In algorithms limits are very helpful in understanding how the running time grows when the input increases too much forming the basis of The Big O, Omega and Theta. Arrays in the other hand, use limits to explain the average cost of operations when resizing happens, whereas in memory and caching systems limits help describe how performance changes as data grows and how access time can be optimized. While in databases the use of limits can reduce unnecessary load and make queries more efficient. With having known all this now we can see how the limit of a sequence helps Computer Science predict performance, improve optimization, and build systems that can handle large data
Green Data Pipelines: AI-Driven Energy Optimization for Sustainable Cloud Workloads
No full textThe rapid proliferation of cloud computing workloads has intensified concerns about the high energy demand and environmental impact of large-scale data processing. As infrastructures expand, data centers now account for a growing share of global electricity consumption and carbon emissions. This study presents a green data-pipeline architecture that integrates AI-driven scheduling with advanced resource-management techniques to reduce energy use in cloud-native environments. The architecture combines modern data-engineering platforms, including Apache Airflow for workflow orchestration, Databricks (Spark) for computation, PostgreSQL as an analytical warehouse, and dbt for data transformation. It is coordinated by a reinforcement-learning agent that dynamically optimizes workload placement and resource allocation. Using real-time monitoring and predictive modeling, the AI scheduler aligns task execution with renewable-energy availability and workload fluctuations. Simulation results show meaningful reductions in energy consumption and carbon emissions compared with conventional static scheduling, while maintaining performance and operational stability. Although further research is required to validate scalability and generalizability across heterogeneous cloud settings, the proposed framework demonstrates strong potential to enhance the sustainability of data pipelines and promote environmentally responsible computing practices across the industry
Review of SOA Transition to Microservices and Beyond
No full textOriented Architectures ( SOA ) emerged as a paradigm for distributed com-putting, e-business processing and enterprise integration. The benefits of SOA are multifaceted. It provides dynamism, as new in-stances of the same service can be launched to split the load on the system. Although microservices can be seen as an evolution of SOA, they are inherently different regarding sharing and reuse. SOA is built on the idea of fostering reuse: “a share as much as possible” architecture style, whereas microservice architectures seconds the idea of a “share as little as possible” architecture style: the goal became how to build systems that are replaceable while being maintainable
Reforming The Educational System in Post-Conflict Societies: The Case of Kosovo
No full textFor post-conflict cultures, the reform of the educational system is of utmost significance. Young people\u27s views of themselves and of others in their social milieu, as well as their social positions and functions, are greatly shaped by what they learn in schools. Postconflict societies must thus give long-term educational planning aimed at creating a society with a renewed mindset first priority. Such a society would support social cohesion, inclusiveness, critical thinking, empathy through perspective-taking, curricular reform, and the promotion of respect for diversity and human rights and freedoms. Efforts in Kosovo\u27s context have been made to reach this goal by means of a legal system encouraging inclusiveness. But much remains to be done to promote public and institutional understanding of the need of its execution. The paper emphasizes Kosovo, where an advanced model of an inclusive educational system has been created for all communities throughout the state-building process. This model is grounded in the Constitution and relevant legislation that ensures equal treatment and includes affirmative measures for minority groups. Moreover, the paper analyzes Kosovo\u27s institutional readiness to carry out laws guaranteeing the change of the educational system, hence supporting the creation of an inclusive and cohesive society. The methodological approach of this study is based on a thorough examination of current literature, prior studies, focus groups with young people, and qualitative techniques such as semi-structured interviews