Search for Spatial Correlations of Neutrinos with Ultra-high-energy Cosmic Rays

For several decades, the origin of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) has been an unsolved question of high-energy astrophysics. One approach for solving this puzzle is to correlate UHECRs with high-energy neutrinos, since neutrinos are a direct probe of hadronic interactions of cosmic rays and are not deflected by magnetic fields. In this paper, we present three different approaches for correlating the arrival directions of neutrinos with the arrival directions of UHECRs. The neutrino data are provided by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and ANTARES, while the UHECR data with energies above ∼50 EeV are provided by the Pierre Auger Observatory and the Telescope Array. All experiments provide increased statistics and improved reconstructions with respect to our previous results reported in 2015. The first analysis uses a high-statistics neutrino sample optimized for point-source searches to search for excesses of neutrino clustering in the vicinity of UHECR directions. The second analysis searches for an excess of UHECRs in the direction of the highest-energy neutrinos. The third analysis searches for an excess of pairs of UHECRs and highest-energy neutrinos on different angular scales. None of the analyses have found a significant excess, and previously reported overfluctuations are reduced in significance. Based on these results, we further constrain the neutrino flux spatially correlated with UHECRs.S

The origins of Biology as a science. The impact of the evolution theories and issues associated with its teaching and learning

Este artículo se propone analizar los acontecimientos más relevantes de la historia de la Biología que le dieron corpus teórico y sustento científico, enfatizando el papel que cumplió la teoría de evolución de Lamarck y de Darwin en este proceso; y recopilar algunas de las problemáticas actuales asociadas con la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de la teoría de la evolución por selección natural. Inicialmente, los estudios sobre la vida recibieron fuertes críticas por una corriente de pensamiento originada en el Círculo de Viena en la segunda década del siglo pasado y que tuvo a la Física como modelo de ciencia. Según ésta, se promulgaba la existencia de un único método y explicación para los fenómenos naturales y sociales, reduciendo todo sistema a sus partes constituyentes. Los puntos de confrontación con la Biología se centraron en la escasez de leyes, la inutilización de la matemática en sus clasificaciones, y en la imposibilidad de falsar muchas de sus hipótesis, fundamentalmente las históricas. Con el tiempo, las nuevas corrientes de pensamiento en la Filosofía de las Ciencias reconocieron a la Biología por sus características distintivas y objetos de estudio propios, de complejidad irreductible y con un irrefutable espacio de acción para el azar y la probabilidad. A tal efecto, tanto Lamarck como Darwin realizaron significativos aportes al ofrecer una visión de la vida en transformación permanente. Sin embargo, fue la teoría de la evolución por selección natural de Darwin la que produjo una revolución científica al dar al mundo una explicación laica al origen de las especies. En el ámbito educativo, existen en la actualidad distintas dificultades para la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de la evolución, entre las que se destaca la presencia de numerosas concepciones alternativas a la postura científica tanto en docentes como en alumnos y manuales escolares. Se discuten las implicancias de la Biología y de la evolución por selección natural tanto en el campo científico como en el de la educación en ciencias.This article aims to analyze the most important events in the history of Biology that gave its theoretical corpus and scientific status, emphasizing the role that Lamarck and Darwin’s theory of evolution fulfilled in this process, and to review some of the current issues associated with the teaching and learning of the theory of evolution by natural selection. Initially, the studies of life received a strong criticism by a school of thought originated in the Vienna Circle in the second decade of the last century and which placed Physics at the top of the scientific activities. According to this, the existence of a single method and explanation of natural and social phenomena was promulgated, reducing any system to its constituent parts. Controversies about Biology focused on the paucity of laws, the lack of mathematics in their classifications and the impossibility to falsify many of their hypotheses, primarily the historical ones. Over time, the new currents of thought in the Philosophy of Science recognized the absence of a unique method and language of science. Then, Biology was recognized for its distinctive features and study objects, with these having an irreducible complexity, and an irrefutable place for action for chance and probability. For this purpose, Lamarck and Darwin made significant contributions, offering a vision of life in permanent transformation. However, it was the theory of evolution by natural selection proposed by Darwin which generated a scientific revolution, giving the world a secular explanation to the origin of the species. Currently, in the field of education there are different challenges for teaching and learning evolution, including the presence of numerous misconceptions, to the scientific view, in teachers, pupils and textbooks. The implications of Biology and evolution by natural selection both in science and in the science education are discussed

Fitting line projections in non-central catadioptric cameras with revolution symmetry

Line-images in non-central cameras contain much richer information of the original 3D line than line projections in central cameras. The projection surface of a 3D line in most catadioptric non-central cameras is a ruled surface, encapsulating the complete information of the 3D line. The resulting line-image is a curve which contains the 4 degrees of freedom of the 3D line. That means a qualitative advantage with respect to the central case, although extracting this curve is quite difficult. In this paper, we focus on the analytical description of the line-images in non-central catadioptric systems with symmetry of revolution. As a direct application we present a method for automatic line-image extraction for conical and spherical calibrated catadioptric cameras. For designing this method we have analytically solved the metric distance from point to line-image for non-central catadioptric systems. We also propose a distance we call effective baseline measuring the quality of the reconstruction of a 3D line from the minimum number of rays. This measure is used to evaluate the different random attempts of a robust scheme allowing to reduce the number of trials in the process. The proposal is tested and evaluated in simulations and with both synthetic and real images

How do the Spanish textbooks treat the loss of biodiversity? A qualitative-quantitative study on the level of complexity and the effect of the publisher and year of publication

En el marco de la transposición didáctica, se estudió el tratamiento de la pérdida de la biodiversidad en los libros de texto de la educación secundaria de España, según la editorial, la fecha de publicación, el curso para el cual está destinado y su nivel de complejidad; todo ello, mediante un enfoque de análisis mixto (cualicuantitativo). Se empleó el análisis univariado de la varianza anidando al curso para el que están destinados los libros de texto, determinando así el efecto residual sobre los otros factores. Se encontraron diferencias entre los cursos y las editoriales, pero no para el año o periodo de publicación. También la variable editorial interaccionó con el periodo y el curso. Se discriminaron niveles de complejidad para cada curso y entre cursos, destacándose los libros de texto del cuarto curso de la educación secundaria obligatoria y de segundo de bachillerato, que mostraron un tratamiento holístico y no-utilitario de la problemática.In the framework of the didactic transposition, it was studied how the loss of biodiversity is treated textbooks in Spain, if there are differences between publishers, date of publication, course for which they are intended and their level of complexity, with a mixed (qualitative-quantitative) approach. Univariate analysis of variance was used nesting the course for which textbooks are intended, and thus determining the residual effect on the other factors. Differences were found between courses and editorials, but not for the year or period of publication. Also, the editorial variable interacted with the period and the course. Different complexity levels were discriminated for each course and between courses, highlighting the textbooks of the fourth year of compulsory secondary education and second year of high school, which showed an holistic and non-utilitarian treatment of the analyzed issue

Quando o objetivo do aprendizado é ensinar. Co-ensino em uma comunidade de aprendizagem para a formação inicial de professores em uma didática específica

Teaching professionalism can be considered as one of the central aspects of current trends in the field of science education. This article reviews and puts into practice some central concepts of the sociocultural theory and socioconstructivism, such as the zone of proximal development and learning communities; and puts them in dialogue with the initial teacher training at the university. Based on an interpretive and idiographic approach, we conducted a design research through the planning, implementation and evaluation of teaching and learning sequences on two didactic strategies of natural sciences, implemented with a co-teaching modality and in the context of pandemic. The findings and reflections contribute to recognize the validity of guided participation in teaching (co-teaching) during initial teacher training for a specific didactic, as a transition towards the execution of teaching practices.La profesionalidad docente puede considerarse como uno de los aspectos centrales de las tendencias actuales en la formación del profesorado y la didáctica. Este artículo revisa y pone en práctica conceptos centrales de la teoría sociocultural y el socioconstructivismo, como la zona de desarrollo próximo y comunidad de aprendizaje, y los pone en diálogo con la co-enseñanza como estrategia para la formación docente inicial en un profesorado universitario. Con base en un enfoque interpretativo e idiográfico, realizamos una investigación de diseño mediante la planificación, implementación y evaluación de secuencias de enseñanza y aprendizaje sobre dos estrategias didácticas de las ciencias naturales, desarrolladas con una modalidad de co-enseñanza y en el contexto de pandemia. Los hallazgos y reflexiones apuntan a reconocer la validez de la participación guiada en la docencia (co-enseñanza) durante la formación inicial del profesorado, para una didáctica específica, como transición hacia la realización de prácticas de la enseñanza.O profissionalismo dos professores pode ser considerado como um dos aspectos centrais das tendências atuais na educação científica. Este artigo revisa e coloca em prática conceitos centrais da teoria sociocultural e do socioconstrutivismo, tais como a zona de desenvolvimento proximal e a comunidade de aprendizagem, e os coloca em diálogo com a formação inicial de um professor de didática específica em um curso de formação de professores na universidade. Com base numa abordagem interpretativa e ideográfica, realizámos uma pesquisa baseada na planificação, implementação e avaliação de sequências de ensino e aprendizagem sobre duas estratégias didáticas das ciências naturais, implementadas com uma modalidade de co-ensino e no contexto de pandemia. As conclusões e reflexões contribuem para reconhecer a validade da participação orientada no ensino (co-ensino) durante a formação inicial de professores para uma didática específica, como uma transição para a realização de práticas de ensino

EL CONOCIMIENTO DIDÁCTICO DEL CONTENIDO 'DIVERSIDAD BIOLÓGICA': SU TRANSPOSICIÓN EDUCATIVA

Con el objetivo de evaluar el conocimiento de especies nativas de plantas y animales, el reconocimiento de componentes y atributos de la diversidad biológica, y la influencia de la gestión escolar y el género de los estudiantes en la mención de especies nativas en la provincia de Córdoba (Argentina), se tomó una cuestionario a una muestra de 338 alumnos/as de entre 15 y 18 años. También se analizó el concepto de biodiversidad desarrollado en 22 manuales escolares de los primeros tres cursos de la escuela secundaria de Argentina. Los resultados indican que los estudiantes poseen un buen conocimiento general de la flora y fauna autóctonas aunque fuera frecuente la mención de especies domésticas, ornamentales y adventicias como nativas. Además, la gestión escolar y el género de los estudiantes influyeron en el conocimiento de algunos vegetales y animales. Tanto los alumnos como los manuales escolares analizados se centraron en considerar el número de especies como componente y atributo principal de la biodiversidad. En base a estos resultados, concluimos que enseñar la diversidad biológica lleva implicados una serie de saberes docentes que se discuten en función del conocimiento didáctico del contenido.

Testing effects of Lorentz invariance violation in the propagation of astroparticles with the Pierre Auger Observatory

Lorentz invariance violation (LIV) is often described by dispersion relations of the form Ei2 = mi2+pi2+δi,n E2+n with delta different based on particle type i, with energy E, momentum p and rest mass m. Kinematics and energy thresholds of interactions are modified once the LIV terms become comparable to the squared masses of the particles involved. Thus, the strongest constraints on the LIV coefficients δi,n tend to come from the highest energies. At sufficiently high energies, photons produced by cosmic ray interactions as they propagate through the Universe could be subluminal and unattenuated over cosmological distances. Cosmic ray interactions can also be modified and lead to detectable fingerprints in the energy spectrum and mass composition observed on Earth. The data collected at the Pierre Auger Observatory are therefore possibly sensitive to both the electromagnetic and hadronic sectors of LIV. In this article, we explore these two sectors by comparing the energy spectrum and the composition of cosmic rays and the upper limits on the photon flux from the Pierre Auger Observatory with simulations including LIV. Constraints on LIV parameters depend strongly on the mass composition of cosmic rays at the highest energies. For the electromagnetic sector, while no constraints can be obtained in the absence of protons beyond 1019 eV, we obtain δγ,0 > -10-21, δγ,1 > -10-40 eV-1 and δγ,2 > -10-58 eV-2 in the case of a subdominant proton component up to 1020 eV. For the hadronic sector, we study the best description of the data as a function of LIV coefficients and we derive constraints in the hadronic sector such as δhad,0 < 10-19, δhad,1 < 10-38 eV-1 and δhad,2 < 10-57 eV-2 at 5σ CL.The successful installation, commissioning, and operation of the Pierre Auger Observatory would not have been possible without the strong commitment and effort from the technical and administrative staff in Malargüe. We are very grateful to the following agencies and organizations for financial support: Argentina — Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (ANPCyT); Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET); Gobierno de la Provincia de Mendoza; Municipalidad de Malargüe; NDM Holdings and Valle Las Leñas; in gratitude for their continuing cooperation over land access; Australia — the Australian Research Council; Belgium — Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS); Research Foundation Flanders (FWO); Brazil — Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq); Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos (FINEP); Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ); São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) Grants No. 2019/10151-2, No. 2010/07359-6 and No. 1999/05404-3; Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações e Comunicações (MCTIC); Czech Republic — Grant No. MSMT CR LTT18004, LM2015038, LM2018102, CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_013/0001402, CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/18_046/0016010 and CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/17_049/0008422; France — Centre de Calcul IN2P3/CNRS; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Conseil Régional Ile-de-France; Département Physique Nucléaire et Corpusculaire (PNC-IN2P3/CNRS); Département Sciences de l’Univers (SDU-INSU/CNRS); Institut Lagrange de Paris (ILP) Grant No. LABEX ANR-10-LABX-63 within the Investissements d’Avenir Programme Grant No. ANR-11-IDEX-0004-02; Germany — Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF); Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG); Finanzministerium Baden-Württemberg; Helmholtz Alliance for Astroparticle Physics (HAP); Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft Deutscher Forschungszentren (HGF); Ministerium für Innovation, Wissenschaft und Forschung des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen; Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst des Landes Baden-Württemberg; Italy — Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN); Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF); Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca (MIUR); CETEMPS Center of Excellence; Ministero degli Affari Esteri (MAE); México — Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT) No. 167733; Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM); PAPIIT DGAPA-UNAM; The Netherlands — Ministry of Education, Culture and Science; Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO); Dutch national e-infrastructure with the support of SURF Cooperative; Poland — Ministry of Education and Science, grant No. DIR/WK/2018/11; National Science Centre, Grants No. 2016/22/M/ST9/00198, 2016/23/B/ST9/01635, and 2020/39/B/ST9/01398; Portugal — Portuguese national funds and FEDER funds within Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade through Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (COMPETE); Romania — Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitization, CNCS/CCCDI — UEFISCDI, projects PN19150201/16N/2019, PN1906010, TE128 and PED289, within PNCDI III; Slovenia — Slovenian Research Agency, grants P1-0031, P1-0385, I0-0033, N1-0111; Spain — Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (FPA2017-85114-P and PID2019-104676GB-C32), Xunta de Galicia (ED431C 2017/07), Junta de Andalucía (SOMM17/6104/UGR, P18-FR-4314) Feder Funds, RENATA Red Nacional Temática de Astropartículas (FPA2015-68783-REDT) and María de Maeztu Unit of Excellence (MDM-2016-0692); U.S.A. — Department of Energy, Contracts No. DE-AC02-07CH11359, No. DE-FR02-04ER41300, No. DE-FG02-99ER41107 and No. DE-SC0011689; National Science Foundation, Grant No. 0450696; The Grainger Foundation; Marie Curie-IRSES/EPLANET; European Particle Physics Latin American Network; and UNESCO.S

Features of the Energy Spectrum of Cosmic Rays above 2.5 × 10 18 eV Using the Pierre Auger Observatory

We report a measurement of the energy spectrum of cosmic rays above 2.5×1018  eV based on 215 030 events. New results are presented: at about 1.3×1019eV, the spectral index changes from 2.51±0.03(stat)±0.05(syst) to 3.05±0.05 (stat) ±0.10 (syst), evolving to 5.1±0.3 (stat) ±0.1 (syst) beyond 5×1019e, while no significant dependence of spectral features on the declination is seen in the accessible range. These features of the spectrum can be reproduced in models with energy-dependent mass composition. .Xunta de Galicia (ED431C 2017/07), Junta de Andalucía (SOMM17/6104/UGR), Feder Funds, RENATA Red Nacional Temática e María de Maeztu Unit of Excellence (MDM-2016-0692)S

Measurement of the Fluctuations in the Number of Muons in Extensive Air Showers with the Pierre Auger Observatory

We present the first measurement of the fluctuations in the number of muons in extensive air showers produced by ultrahigh energy cosmic rays. We find that the measured fluctuations are in good agreement with predictions from air shower simulations. This observation provides new insights into the origin of the previously reported deficit of muons in air shower simulations and constrains models of hadronic interactions at ultrahigh energies. Our measurement is compatible with the muon deficit originating from small deviations in the predictions from hadronic interaction models of particle production that accumulate as the showers develop.S

El tratamiento de los bienes y servicios que aporta la biodiversidad en manuales de los educación secundaria española: un estudio epistemológico.

Este trabajo estudia el tratamiento del concepto de servicios ecosistémicos en libros de texto de la educación secundaria obligatoria (ESO) y bachillerato de España. Con el objetivo de definir su marco conceptual se recopilaron publicaciones científicas de la 'comunidad de expertos', que actúa de referente epistemológico en el proceso de transposición didáctica. El concepto de servicios ecosistémicos estuvo presente sólo en el 10 % de los manuales analizados (de un total de 50); sin embargo, en la mayoría de ellos se mencionó algún bien o servicio (sobre todo en libros de ciencias de la tierra y medioambientales). Estos resultados se relacionan con la ausencia de la conceptualización en el currículo español. Los servicios 'directos' de los ecosistemas fueron tratados con mayor frecuencia que los 'indirectos'. Aun así, se encontró un centrismo en las selvas tropicales como las únicas proveedoras de bienes, y escasa representación de los servicios sociales y culturales de la biodiversidad