The 2009 European Election in Italy: National or European?

In June 2009, European citizens voted in the European Parliamentary elections. Despite the relevance of the election, turnout across countries was particularly low. In Italy, too, abstention is growing and this paper aims to explain why. Traditionally, low turnout in European Parliamentary elections is explained by the fact that they are considered second-order elections and, thus, less important than national elections. According to this perspective, national factors are the main cause of lower turnout as compared to national elections. Thus, it is generally considered that low turnout is not related to citizens’ support for the European Union or other European attitudes, such as European identity. In this article, this perspective is questioned and other individual factors are considered. In particular, a number of European attitudes are considered as independent variables together with national factors. The findings show that abstention in European Parliamentary elections in Italy is directly linked to citizens’ disaffection with politics, rather than disaffection with government performance. Furthermore, attitudes toward the European Union integration project play a role only when the level of political involvement is high. Thus, European questions matter and turnout in European Parliamentary elections is driven not only by national-level factors, but also by citizens’ satisfaction with the European Union and sense of European identity

Living under the ‘right’ government: does political ideology matter to trust in political institutions? An analysis for OECD countries

This paper asks whether trust in political institutions depends on individual’s political leaning and the political ideology of the national government. We employ information on 140'000 individuals in 30 democratic OECD countries from the World Values Survey, 1981 – 2007, and estimate so-called micro-based pseudo-panel two-way fixed effects models. Distinguishing between extreme and moderate versions of leftist and rightist political leaning, our estimates reveal that political trust increases non-linearly in the degree of individual’s conservatism. We also find that political leaning is not instrumental to improving one's own socio-economic situation, thus rather constituting an expressive behavior. If government ideology matches individual’s political preferences, trust in political institutions is increased. In contrast, the ‘apolitical’ appears to distrust the political system as such. We also find evidence for a symmetric, but incomplete convergence of party ideologies to the median voter position. Implications for vote abstention are discussed.political trust; government ideology; political leaning; World Values Survey

A normalización lingüística no ensino: análise parcial do proceso e dos resultados no EXB

[Resumen] Nesta comunicación pretendemos realizar unha aproximación á situación do proceso de normalización lingüística no ensino, e para elo analizamos brevemente algún dos compoñentes que cremos son básicos para entender o desenvolvemento e logros de dito proceso. En concreto, centrarémo-Ia atención nos seguintes apartados: a) A situación do ensino en galego. b) AIgunhas notas sobre a formación do prqfesorado en galego e sobre o material didáctico para o ensino en galego. c) Logros lingüísticos acadados polo alumnado de oitavo de EXB. En definitiva, trátase dun achegamento global á problemática prescindindo, por motivos de espacio, dunha análise pormenorizada de cada un dos aspectos que se recollen nos apartados a), b) e c)

Influence of urbanization on patterns of variability of Mytilus galloprovincialis populations

Urbanization is currently one of the most widespread disturbances urgently requiring empirical data regarding its effects on coastal ecosystems. The aim of this study was to compare patterns of variability in populations of the Mediterranean mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis, between urban and non-urban intertidal rocky shores, over a temporal scale of 12 months and multiple spatial scales (from cm to 10 s of km). For this, variance components associated with percentage cover, spat and total density, condition index, shell length and clump thickness of mussels were compared. Different patterns emerged depending on the response variable and the spatial and temporal scale. There was in general, a higher variability in urban than in non-urban shores, particularly for shell length, spat and total density that can be interpretated as a first stage of degradation, before noticing changes in mean values of these variables. Moreover, the most relevant scales of variability of total and spat density changed with urbanization (10 s of km in urban; 10 s of cm/m in non-urban). Results highlight the need for adopting proper management plans that should include the relevant spatial and temporal scales of variability; otherwise, they will fail in ameliorating urbanization effects on intertidal ecosystem

Cardiopulmonary discipline science plan

Life sciences research in the cardiopulmonary discipline must identify possible consequences of space flight on the cardiopulmonary system, understand the mechanisms of these effects, and develop effective and operationally practical countermeasures to protect crewmembers inflight and upon return to a gravitational environment. The long-range goal of the NASA Cardiopulmonary Discipline Research Program is to foster research to better understand the acute and long-term cardiovascular and pulmonary adaptation to space and to develop physiological countermeasures to ensure crew health in space and on return to Earth. The purpose of this Discipline Plan is to provide a conceptual strategy for NASA's Life Sciences Division research and development activities in the comprehensive area of cardiopulmonary sciences. It covers the significant research areas critical to NASA's programmatic requirements for the Extended-Duration Orbiter, Space Station Freedom, and exploration mission science activities. These science activities include ground-based and flight; basic, applied, and operational; and animal and human research and development. This document summarizes the current status of the program, outlines available knowledge, establishes goals and objectives, identifies science priorities, and defines critical questions in the subdiscipline areas of both cardiovascular and pulmonary function. It contains a general plan that will be used by both NASA Headquarters Program Offices and the field centers to review and plan basic, applied, and operational (intramural and extramural) research and development activities in this area

The regime of climate-related disturbance and nutrient enrichment modulate macroalgal invasions in rockpools

Patterns of invasion by the seaweeds Grateloupia turuturu Yamada and Sargassum muticum (Yendo) Fensholt under crossed combinations of the regime (mean intensity and temporal variability) of climate-related mechanical disturbance and constant nutrient enrichment were experimentally examined in rockpools in north Portugal. The cover of both species was larger under high compared to low intensity of disturbance, but this effect was enhanced by events more heterogeneously distributed over a period of 19 months. The invasion by G. turuturu was also larger in enriched pools, but only when disturbance was applied at high intensity. The richness of native taxa was increased by high intensity events of disturbance evenly distributed over time and by low intensity events heterogeneously distributed, while no differences were documented for other treatments. Temporal variability of disturbance and nutrients interactively affected the total cover of native taxa and the availability of bare rock in different directions. Enriched conditions increased the space occupancy by natives and reduced substratum availability only when associated to heterogeneous events of disturbance. At the same time, relatively more variable disturbances caused a reduced cover by native taxa and an increased availability of free space, but only under natural nutrient levels. Present findings contribute to understand the conditions that would be more likely to facilitate the spread of G. turuturu and S. muticum under current and predicted scenarios of compounded environmental changes and in relation to traits of recipient systems that are considered relevant for the success of invasions, including the native richness and the degree of usage of resources, i.e. primarily space

Benthic assemblages of rock pools in northern Portugal: seasonal and between-pools variability

We investigated the seasonal (winter vs summer and within season) and spatial (between-pool) variability of benthic assemblages of rock pools at mid-intertidal level along the shore of Viana do Castelo (North Portugal). Physical traits of rock pools, including size, depth and position along the shore, were also compared between pools. While pools did not differ for any of the examined physical traits, results indicated a clear seasonal difference in the structure of assemblages, including a total of 49 macroalgal and 13 animal taxa. This finding was driven by six taxa that are more abundant in winter (the reef-forming polychaete Sabellaria alveolata, the articulated coralline algae Corallina spp., the brown alga Bifurcaria bifurcata, the encrusting coralline alga Lithophyllum incrustans, the red alga Chondracanthus acicularis and the grazing snails Gibbula spp.) and four algal taxa that are more abundant in summer (the invasive brown Sargassum muticum, the green Ulva spp., the kelp Laminaria ochroleuca and the filamentous red Ceramium spp.). These data provide a new contribution to the knowledge of rock pool systems and have potential implications for monitoring programmes aimed at assessing ecological modifications related to natural and anthropogenic disturbances and for identifying processes responsible for the variability of rock pool assemblages

Proyecto de alumbrado: instalaciones eléctricas, cálculos luminotécnicos y de la eficiencia energética en la ciudad de Parla

El proyecto aquí desarrollado tiene como objeto el estudio de mejora del alumbrado público de la población de Parla sobre una instalación base que debido a su antigüedad se ha quedado desfasada en términos de rendimiento y eficiencia energética. Para conseguirlo, se realizará una actualización de las luminarias ya instaladas por otras más eficientes (en nuestro caso, tecnología LED ya que consiguen el máximo de eficiencia actual) siguiendo todos los pasos que se deben dar para realizar este tipo de obras. Desde la recopilación de información, cálculos luminotécnicos hasta los cálculos de los presupuestos y el periodo de amortización.Ingeniería Eléctric