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PRESERVICE TEACHERS’ PERSPECTIVES ON THE ELEMENTARY HOMEROOM TEACHER ROLE IN ISRAEL
Full text linkElementary school homeroom teachers are pivotal in Israel\u27s educational system, serving as intermediaries where academic challenges converge with parental expectations and educational realities. Despite their central role and substantial responsibilities, current systemic discourse fails to recognize homeroom teaching as a distinct professional specialization. This study examines how elementary school homeroom teachers perceive and understand their educational role. The study employed a qualitative approach to explore personal meanings and perspectives that quantitative methods might overlook. The study involved seven pre-service teachers from four elementary schools in southern Israel. Each pre-service teacher interviewed three mentor teachers, resulting in twenty-one participants. All mentor teachers were experienced educators with dual roles as classroom teachers and professional mentors. Analysis of the research findings revealed a complex duality in teachers\u27 perceptions. Participants reported significant satisfaction with their overall role, including empowering professional experiences, fulfilling relationships with children and parents, and a strong sense of educational, national, and pedagogical values. The study concludes that homeroom teachers\u27 unique position requires pedagogical sensitivity and systemic coordination skills. Key recommendations include reducing administrative burdens to allow educators to focus on their core educational responsibilities and increasing homeroom teacher salaries to encourage qualified professionals to assume this critical role. These findings highlight the need for systemic recognition of homeroom teaching as a specialized profession requiring targeted support and compensation
THE VAST AND THE TINY WORLD OF THE MOLE FROM THE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT POINT OF VIEW.
Full text linkA survey is reported about the mole-related conceptions shared by first year undergraduate students majoring in Chemistry. The survey was carried out during the 2023-24 academic year. The purpose is to identify which of the commonly shared definitions and applications of the mole are more predominant among undergraduate students. The topic is not free from misconceptions and by checking the particularities of the Greek educational system an effort is made to understand why the specific conceptions were formulated and retained. Furthermore, it is attempted to relate the preferred definitions of the mole to the mathematical and cognitive skills of the students when they are asked to apply the mole in relatively simple chemical problems
IMPACT OF SERVICE-LEARNING ON CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
Full text linkThe study examines the impact of service-learning (SL) on civic engagement, emphasizing its relevance in higher education and rural community development. This research is part of the Erasmus+ project CIVENHANCE, which aims to enhance higher education teachers\u27 capacity to implement e-servicelearning (e-SL) initiatives that foster civic engagement and strengthen university-community partnerships, particularly in rural settings. The main objective is to analyse existing literature on the effectiveness of SL in promoting civic attitudes, skills, and long-term engagement, providing a foundation for developing e-SL methodologies tailored to rural contexts. The method employed is a systematic literature review, synthesizing findings from diverse research papers. Key topics include the influence of SL on students\u27 civic attitudes and civic engagement. The results shows that Service-learning generally has positive effects on civic engagement, particularly in areas like political participation, social awareness, and critical reflection. Long-term servicelearning programs tend to have more sustainable and impactful outcomes compared to short-term projects, with high-quality programs benefiting from deep reflection, curriculum integration, and direct community engagement. However, challenges such as depoliticization, uneven accessibility, and shortterm effects without reflection need to be addressed for future programs to foster lasting social participation and address structural issues. These findings are significant in the context of CIVENHANCE, providing empirical support for designing effective e-SL frameworks. By embedding SL strategies into training and orientation programs for higher education teachers and students, the project aims to foster sustainable civic engagement and rural community prosperity
FISCAL DECENTRALIZATION AND ITS IMPACT ON THE LOCAL BUDGET: THE CASE OF ALBANIA
Full text linkDecentralization requires the redistribution of financial resources to enable the exercise of functions and powers transferred to local government. This study analyzes fiscal decentralization in Albania, focusing on local autonomy in the collection and administration of local taxes. This paper analyzes fiscal decentralization over various periods, including both pre- and post-administrative-territorial reform, with a primary focus on developments in recent years. It highlights the commencement of a major reform affecting local budgets, such as the implementation of property tax. This analysis aims to evaluate the impact of fiscal decentralization on local budgets and its varying effects across municipalities with different fiscal capacities. It also reviews the decentralization reforms in Albania, especially post-administrative-territorial reform, and analyzes the evolving dynamics between central and local governments since the 2014 implementation of the reform. The analysis, conducted using statistical and comparative methods, reveals that while the own-source revenues of local governments have increased, there has also been a parallel rise in transfers and grants provided by the central government. The growth in own revenues has been most present in the Municipality of Tirana and other large municipalities located in regional centers, whereas smaller and medium-sized municipalities, which have a typically weaker fiscal capacity, have experienced less increases. Based on these findings, it is recommended that future policy reviews focus on potential adjustments to the local tax system, with specific emphasis on deepening and consolidating the property tax reform, as well as enhancing the efficiency of local tax and fee collection and administration. Moreover, improvements to the intergovernmental transfer system are recommended. Particularly, the fiscal equalization component within the unconditional transfer formula should be increased to provide greater financial support to local government units with limited fiscal capacities. This would help ensure that all municipalities are able to fulfill the functions assigned to them under the Law on Local Self-Government
STRATEGIC ENERGY INVESTMENTS AND CLIMATE POLICY IN A SMALL ECONOMY
Full text linkAddressing climate change and advancing toward the European Union’s climate neutrality goal by 2050 requires innovative energy investments and policies. Addressing the dual challenges of climate change and economic sustainability, this study evaluates the macroeconomic and sectoral impacts of strategic energy investments. The analysis focuses on Slovenia, a small open economy within the European Union, comparing the Energy Transition (ET) scenario to business-as-usual (BAU) scenario. The ET scenario focuses on a diverse mix of renewables, advanced nuclear technologies, and energy efficiency measures. The study applies macroeconomic methodologies with a dataset calibrated to reflect the economy\u27s structure in a base year (2019), capturing detailed interactions between sectors and economic agents. It assumes that all agents optimize their behavior within resource constraints. Results indicate significant reductions in carbon emissions, with a 35% decrease by 2030 and nearly 72% by 2040 compared to 2005 levels. Economic growth under the ET scenario is enhanced, with GDP projected to be 1.36% higher by 2050 and overall investments increasing by 3.9%. The transition drives substantial sectoral growth, notably in transport (13.1%) and construction (8.7%) by 2050, supported by expanded public transit and infrastructure investment. The importance of cross-sectoral strategies, such as workforce development and regulatory incentives, is highlighted to align infrastructure expansion with decarbonization goals. This analysis demonstrates how balanced green growth strategies can drive sustainable economic and environmental benefits, paving the way for a resilient energy future. The contribution of this work lies in demonstrating the critical role of quantitative models in assessing the broader economic impacts of energy and climate policies, offering valuable insights to policymakers, researchers, and stakeholders
TRANSLATING LIGHT VERBS IN LEGAL CONTEXTS: ENGLISH-CROATIAN PERSPECTIVES
Full text linkLight verb constructions (LVCs), such as ‘make a decision’ or ‘give a smile’, are verbo-nominal structures in which the verb has lost its meaning to a certain degree and the predicative noun determines the meaning of the construction. The association between the verb and the noun is quite strong. LVCs usually contain high-frequency verbs, such as make, take, do, give, in their so called ‘light’ meaning. This paper focuses on a cross-linguistic comparison of the verbs make, take and give within LVCs in a corpus of English legal texts and a parallel corpus of their translations into Croatian. The corpus-based analysis of LVCs also considered the translation strategies used in the language pair. Since LVCs are often the result of the process of nominalization in different registers, it is expected that they will be quite frequent in the legal register, which shows a tendency towards nominalization. The study also explores the frequency and valency of the verbs make, take and give in the English legal corpus using word frequency lists and statistical measures of association between words. It then considers the translation equivalents in the Croatian corpus. The study contributes to the understanding of LVCs in this particular register, as well as the issues of translating such constructions
REFINERY AIR EMISSION MANAGEMENT: ENHANCING EMISSIONS MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY AT THE DORA OIL REFINERY IN BAGHDAD
Full text linkThe Dora Oil Refinery (DOR) located in Baghdad serves as an essential energy provider for Iraq but experiences problems with aging equipment and inadequate environmental protection protocols. The facility emits large amounts of dangerous pollutants including sulfur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen oxides (NOₓ), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and particulate matter (PM). The emissions from this area combine to degrade air quality while posing major health dangers to the local population. The refinery requires extensive modernization to align with worldwide environmental standards. This work presents an actionable approach to decrease emissions while enhancing sustainable operations at the refinery. The study evaluated advanced technologies from around the world by implementing selective catalytic reduction (SCR) for NOₓ reduction and sulfur recovery units (SRUs) and high-efficiency electrostatic precipitators (ESPs). The study analyzed the potential benefits of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. Sophisticated AI-modeling techniques were implemented to forecast emission patterns and analyze energy conservation methods. The study performed an extensive economic evaluation which assessed Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) metrics while analyzing market dynamics. Improvements like adding solar power could reduce SO₂ by up to 99% and NOₓ by about 90%. The SCR unit could pay for itself in about five years under conservative estimates
RESEARCH ON THE PARAMETERS OF A PASSIVE (INTEGRAL) DOSIMETRIC SYSTEM FOR NATURAL RADIATION BACKGROUND MEASUREMENT
Full text linkThe TLD RADOS-2000-A dosimetric system is designed for measuring the ambient dose H*(10) related to environmental and workplace radiation. The system includes environmental thermoluminescent dosimeters and a thermoluminescent reader. Each dosimetric system must be calibrated before commissioning to establish the relationship between irradiation parameters and the measured controlled parameter. The relationship between the ambient dose H*(10) and the luminescence read by the thermoluminescent reader is applied for measurement. This dependency is influenced by the composition of the dosimeter tablets and the production conditions. Thus, batch homogeneity and dosimeter separation must be investigated. This article describes and documents the initial procedures in commissioning a dosimetric system—separation and calibration of the dosimeters. The methods applied are based on international standards and guidelines, as well as on the long-standing experience of NCRRP in using thermoluminescent dosimeters for measuring individual equivalent doses in personal dosimetric control. Various factors influence the readings of dosimetric calibration measurements. One significant factor is the angular dependence of the radiation incident on the dosimeters. At this stage, the effect was studied at incident angles of α = 0°, ±60°, and ±90°. The studies and calibrations were carried out using the G10 Gamma Beam Irradiator System, Hopewell Designs Inc., loaded with a 137Cs source. The system includes a positioning system, a reference measurement system (electrometer and ionization chamber). Using this system ensures high calibration accuracy and traceability of dosimetric measurements
REFORMING ARREARS MANAGEMENT TO ENSURE FINANCIAL STABILITY IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Full text linkStructural reforms post-1990s, in politics and economy, have been accompanied by deep reforms in the management of public finances at the central and local level. In recent years, significant reforms have been implemented across all cycles and procedures of public financial management. A "good" budget document is characterized by its ability to provide sufficient information in a format that enables policymakers to allocate insufficient resources efficiently and effectively, ensuring spending aligns with priorities. Arrears continue to pose a threat to the financial health of local self-government units, although the stock of arrears has decreased year on year. At the end of fiscal year 2016, a stock of 12.9 billion ALL was recorded and currently, at the end of 2023, the stock of arrears is 4.8 billion ALL, marking a reduction of approximately 63% of it. Despite the reduction of this stock, arrears remain a threat to the financial stability of local self-government units. In recent years, it has been observed that local self-government units, even with existing arrears, ended their fiscal years with unspent budget funds. In order to prevent the creation of arrears and improve their management, several legal changes were made in 2023. These changes include calculating the weight of arrears against the actual budget rather than the projected budget and utilizing inherited funds to pay off arrears. This paper analyzes and evaluates the risk of creating arrears using statistical models and the use of time value of money formulas
BENEFICIATION OF SULFIDE ORE FROM A PORPHYRY-COPPER DEPOSIT
Full text linkThe presentation that is summarized in this article focused on the results obtained from laboratory studies carried out for beneficiation of primary sulfide ores from porphyry - copper deposit. To determine the primary sulphide ore physical composition, full chemical analysis and X-ray diffraction analysis, phase analysis, study through polarizing microscope in reflected light of polished ore samples were carried out. The sulfide copper ore particle size composition and grindability were studied. The technological studies result shown that selective-bulk flotation flowsheet developed, with copper and pyrite concentrate production is effective for the sulfide copper ore. Finally, conclusions and summaries are presented