The Interregional Trade Union Councils (IRTUC) and the cross-border workers: The cases of the Galicia-Norte de Portugal and Alentejo-Extremadura IRTUCs

As some literature states, the border regions tended to be neglected by the European countries and by the social actors for a long time (Magone, 2006). This attitude only changed with the beginning of the European integration process. Since then, the cooperation between cross-border regions and the deepening of their interdependence and integration was seen as a key factor for the success of the integration. The trade union movement does not stay apart from this process. In 1976, the first Interregional Trade Union Council (IRTUC) was born in the borders of Germany, France and Luxemburg. According to Prince and Magone, one of the most important tasks of the IRTUCs is related with the problems that affect the cross-border migrant workers, mainly the issues of equal treatment in terms of wages, social security, recognition of skills, taxation, etc., taking into account the disparities that characterise the cross-border regions. Prince and Hammer (2010) also states that the IRTUCs are focused in ensuring that the legal and administrative frameworks and collective agreements, which are diverse in the different sides of the borders, are applied in order to avoid social dumping. With their activities of information and legal advice they build trust and solidarity among the workers. For Hammer, IRTUCs also contribute to enhance trade union capacities, by facilitating and support cross-border networks at sectoral and company level, and have a role of political representation facing to the regional authorities. For Prince, some of the IRTUCs have evolved gradually for a more broadened range of activities, acting in the fields of employment and social policy, vocational training, regional development and the environment and Noack (2001) refers that they can range from a mere “network node” to an “interregional social partner” with a key function in the regional development. Portugal and Spain share a long border of over 1 000Km subject to a “double periphery” (Covas, 1997) in respect both to their countries and to the other countries of the EU. Along this border, we may identify four cross-border regions, which one having an IRTUC. The purpose of this paper is to address some insights on IRTUC’s institutionalization and activities. Based on a comparison of the IRTUC Galicia-Norte de Portugal and of the Alentejo-Extremadura one, through documental analysis and interviews with trade union officials, we will discuss its constitution, aims, organizational framework and activities focused on the cross-border workers.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Land-use and land-cover dynamics monitored by NDVI multitemporal analysis in a selected southern amazonian area (Brazil) for the last three decades

This study aims to analyse the dynamics of land-use and land-cover (LULC) in a selected southern Amazonian area (Brazil),monitoring and distinguishing trajectories in NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) variations for the last three decades. The area, with a total of 17336 km², has been subject to significant LULC changes associated with deforestation progress and use of fire. Considering available Landsat time series, it was selected an image per year from 1984 to 2013 (path/row -231/66), at a particular period of year, atmospherically corrected using LEDAPS tools. NDVIs values were generated for each selected image. Furthermore, the images of 1984 and 2010 still underwent a classification of LULC differentiate five categories: water, forest, secondary/degraded forest, savannah/pasture and crop/bare soil. The trajectories in NDVI variation values were analysed by R software, considering intersections of classified categories. The pixels identified as forests on the images of 1984 and 2010 displayed stable trajectories of NDVI values, with average value 0.824 and coefficient of variation 3.9%. While the pixels of savannah/pasture, which was periodically affected by fire, had an average NDVI value 0.585 and coefficient of variation 15,1%. The main regressive trajectory was the transition “forest to crop/bare soil", identifying 1999 as the starting point in the drop in NDVI values, associated with an increase of the deforested areas. Therefore, the results show distinct trajectories associated with NDVIs and LULC changes that assist in better understanding the dynamics of ecological processes and the human impacts operating in the area

The night-sky at the Calar Alto Observatory

We present a characterization of the main properties of the night-sky at the Calar Alto observatory for the time period between 2004 and 2007. We use optical spectrophotometric data, photometric calibrated images taken in moonless observing periods, together with the observing conditions regularly monitored at the observatory, such as atmospheric extinction and seeing. We derive, for the first time, the typical moonless night-sky optical spectrum for the observatory. The spectrum shows a strong contamination by different pollution lines, in particular from Mercury lines, which contribution to the sky-brightness in the different bands is of the order of ~0.09 mag, ~0.16 mag and ~0.10 mag in B, V and R respectively. The zenith-corrected values of the moonless night-sky surface brightness are 22.39, 22.86, 22.01, 21.36 and 19.25 mag arcsec^-2 in U, B, V, R and I, which indicates that Calar Alto is a particularly dark site for optical observations up to the I-band. The fraction of astronomical useful nights at the observatory is ~70%, with a ~30% of photometric nights. The typical extinction at the observatory is k_V~0.15 mag in the Winter season, with little dispersion. In summer the extinction has a wider range of values, although it does not reach the extreme peaks observed at other sites. The median seeing for the last two years (2005-6) was ~0.90", being smaller in the Summer (~0.87") than in the Winter (~0.96"). We conclude in general that after 26 years of operations Calar Alto is still a good astronomical site, being a natural candidate for future large aperture optical telescopes.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publishing in the Publications of Astronomical Society of the Pacific (PASP

Land-use and land-cover dynamics monitored by NDVI multitemporal analysis in a selected southern Amazonian area (Brazil) for the last three decades

This study aims to analyse the dynamics of land-use and land-cover (LULC) in a selected southern Amazonian area (Brazil), monitoring and distinguishing trajectories in NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) variations for the last three decades. The area, with a total of 17336 km², has been subject to significant LULC changes associated with deforestation progress and use of fire. Considering available Landsat time series, it was selected an image per year from 1984 to 2013 (path/row -231/66), at a particular period of year, atmospherically corrected using LEDAPS tools. NDVIs values were generated for each selected image. Furthermore, the images of 1984 and 2010 still underwent a classification of LULC differentiate five categories: water, forest, secondary/degraded forest, savannah/pasture and crop/bare soil. The trajectories in NDVI variation values were analysed by R software, considering intersections of classified categories. The pixels identified as forests on the images of 1984 and 2010 displayed stable trajectories of NDVI values, with average value 0.824 and coefficient of variation 3.9%. While the pixels of savannah/pasture, which was periodically affected by fire, had an average NDVI value 0.585 and coefficient of variation 15,1%. The main regressive trajectory was the transition “forest to crop/bare soil", identifying 1999 as the starting point in the drop in NDVI values, associated with an increase of the deforested areas. Therefore, the results show distinct trajectories associated with NDVIs and LULC changes that assist in better understanding the dynamics of ecological processes and the human impacts operating in the area

Metodologia científica: determinação da atividade antioxidante total em frutas pela captura do radical livre ABTSº+.

bitstream/CNPAT/10225/1/Cot_128.pd

Metodologia científica: determinação da atividade antioxidante total em frutas pela captura do radical livre DPPH.

bitstream/CNPAT/10224/1/Cot_127.pd

Metodologia científica: determinação da atividade antioxidante total em frutas pelo método de redução do ferro (FRAP)

bitstream/CNPAT-2010/11964/1/cot-125.pd

Near-IR observations of the young star [BHB2007]-1: A sub-stellar companion opening the gap in the disk

The presence of planets or sub-stellar objects still embedded in their native protoplanetary disks is indirectly suggested by disk sub-structures like gaps, cavities, and spirals. However, these companions are rarely detected. We present VLT/NACO high-contrast images in $J$, $H$, $K_S$, and $L^{\prime}$ band of the young star [BHB2007]-1 probing the inclined disk in scattered light and revealing the probable presence of a companion. The point source is detected in the $L^{\prime}$ band in spatial correspondence with complementary VLA observations. This object is constrained to have a mass in the range of 37-47 M$_{Jup}$ and is located at 50 au from the central star, inside the 70 au-large disk cavity recently imaged by ALMA, that is absent from our NACO data (down to 20 au). This mass range is compatible with the upper end derived from the size of the ALMA cavity. The NIR disk brightness is highly asymmetric around the minor axis, with the southern side 5.5 times brighter than the northern side. The constant amount of asymmetry across all wavelengths suggests that it is due to a shadow cast by a misaligned inner disk. The massive companion that we detect could, in principle, explain the possible disk misalignment, as well as the different cavity sizes inferred by the NACO and ALMA observations. The confirmation and characterization of the companion is entrusted to future observations.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication on Ap