Drawing on in-depth interviews with Romanian workers posted in the German construction and meat-pro-cessing industries, with representatives of German unions and with migrant advisers, and on ethno-graphic work, this study examines precarity in posted employment. Firstly, the paper describes the precarious circumstances of Romanians posted in the construction and meat-industry sectors in Ger-many. Secondly, analysing the Romanians’ own perspectives, it shows that low wages in the country of origin, often associated with insecurity and poor working conditions, drive these workers to engage in posted work. Their lack of knowledge of the German language prevents them from finding and carrying out standard jobs in Germany and, thus, determines that they remain in posted employment. Finally, the paper argues that posted workers experience different layers of precarity in the country of destination. It shows that those under contract with various companies for short periods of time are more precarious than de facto posted workers and workers with long-term informal agreements with one single employer.

The aim of the research is the laboratory investigation of steel-aluminium brackets employed to fasten lightweight curtain walls to building facilities. Static pressure, suction forces, and cyclic loads parallel to end plates (horizontal – to simulate wind influence) were applied in the study. The steel-aluminium brackets were tested on a reinforced concrete substrate made of C30/37 concrete class to simulate the real working conditions. Laboratory tests were performed to failure of the brackets or damage of anchoring fastened to the concrete elements. Additionally, the tensile capacity of stainless steel bolt connections screwed in aluminium profile was determined. The uniaxial tensile tests were performed for three length variants of the anchorage: 28 mm, 14 mm, and 7 mm of the stainless steel bars screw-in in threading aluminium profiles. In the course of cyclic tests, a hinge formed in the location of bolt connections made the change of the working character of steel-aluminium brackets. The cyclic tests also showed the danger of the strap aluminium profile displacement due to improper connection with the main aluminium profile. The paper is intended to provide scientists, civil engineers, and designers with an experimental assessment of mechanical properties of steel-aluminium brackets under static and cyclic loads.

The Marhřgda Bed occurring at base of the Adventdalen Group in Sassenfjorden, Spitsbergen contains common ankerite–replaced belemnite skeletons. Petrographic, major element geochemical, and stable carbon and oxygen isotopic data indicate that the ankerite originated in a catagenic environment associated with thermal degradation of kerogenan d hydrocarbongen erationinthe sequence. It formed at maximum temperature of 150°C under burial of approx. 2 000 m, most probably during Paleogene filling and subsidence of the Central Spitsbergen Basin. Dissolution of biogenic calcite and precipitation of ankerite reflect extensive heat flow through the Adventdalen Group sequence related to the Cretaceous and Paleogene magmatic and orogenic activity in Svalbard.

The Consolidated Convention of the ILO on work at sea was accepted on 23 February 2006, during the Ninety-Fourth session o f the International Labor Conference of the ILO in Geneva. The whole session was dominated by the problems of the maritime sector and conditions of work at sea. Work had been begun in 2001 on the consolidation of the Convention and recommendations connected with this sector. The author discusses the Thirty-fifth Convention of the ILO, but the Maritime Labor Convention “absorbs up to 87 ILO acts. ” It is intended that the MLC be a modern legal instrument that will attain the status of a General Maritime Legal Labor Codex, bringing together all conventions and recommendations accepted since 1919. The incorporation o f the MLC o f2006 into the EU legal system and those of its member states will take place in stages. The EU wishes to identify itself with the MLC’s provisions. Swift ratification - in the opinion of the European Commission - would indicate the EU’s leading position in the international arena, and this would encourage other members o f the ILO to ratify the Convention. The principal aim o f the MLC o f2006 is to achieve and maintain homogeneous labor conditions in the maritime sector, and also to ensure the fairest possible conditions for competition.

As it is found in the related published literatures, the transfer function (TF) evaluation method is the most feasible method for detection of winding mechanical faults in transformers. Therefore, investigation of an accurate method for evaluation of the TFs is very important. This paper presents three new indices to compare the transformer TFs and consequently to detect the winding mechanical faults. These indices are based on estimated rational functions. To develop the method, the necessary measurements are carried out on a 1.3 MVA transformer winding, under intact condition, as well as different fault conditions (axial displacement of winding). The obtained results demonstrate the high potential of proposed method in comparison with two other well-known indices. Additionally, two important methods for describing TFs by rational functions are studied and compared in this paper.

The Author undertakes an analysis of role of the Napoleonic legend in the Polish historical studies of the I 9th and 20th centuries.