Nuclear physics insights for new-physics searches using nuclei: Neutrinoless ββ\beta\beta decay and dark matter direct detection

Experiments using nuclei to probe new physics beyond the Standard Model, such as neutrinoless $\beta\beta$ decay searches testing whether neutrinos are their own antiparticle, and direct detection experiments aiming to identify the nature of dark matter, require accurate nuclear physics input for optimizing their discovery potential and for a correct interpretation of their results. This demands a detailed knowledge of the nuclear structure relevant for these processes. For instance, neutrinoless $\beta\beta$ decay nuclear matrix elements are very sensitive to the nuclear correlations in the initial and final nuclei, and the spin-dependent nuclear structure factors of dark matter scattering depend on the subtle distribution of the nuclear spin among all nucleons. In addition, nucleons are composite and strongly interacting, which implies that many-nucleon processes are necessary for a correct description of nuclei and their interactions. It is thus crucial that theoretical studies and experimental analyses consider $\beta$ decays and dark matter interactions with a coupling to two nucleons, called two-nucleon currents.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, invited parallel talk at the XIIth Quark Confinement & the Hadron Spectrum conference, Thessaloniki, Greece, 201

Una concepción alternativa de la identidad constitucional en el derecho comunitario: de las excepciones idiosincráticas a la resistencia constitucional colectiva

En el discurso jurídico-dogmático comunitario la «identidad constitucional» ha terminado por considerarse un principio «de nuevo cuño» (fruto de una decisión política formalizada en el Tratado de Maastricht), protector de la identidad constitucional individual e idiosincrática de todos y cada uno de los Estados Miembros, y cuyo específico contenido sustantivo está llamado a ser definido por el Tribunal de Justicia (quizá en «diálogo» con los Tribunales Constitucionales nacionales). En este trabajo se propone una concepción alternativa de identidad constitucional, concepción que parte de la relación estructural entre el peculiar constitucionalismo de la Unión y el principio de protección y respeto de la identidad constitucional, y que a la luz de ello defiende una concepción polivalente y transnacional de identidad constitucional. Tal concepción alternativa podría desempeñar una función clave en la «reapertura» política del derecho constitucional supranacional al ofrecer fundamento constitucional a la resistencia constitucional colectiva frente al derecho constitucional supranacional que socave las bases del Estado Social y Democrático de DerechoThe standard conception of «constitutional identity» in the Community legal-dogmatic discourse has come to portray the latter as a creature of the Maastricht Treaty, which shelters the individual and idiosyncratic constitutional identity of each Member State, and which is bound to be fleshed out and shaped in the case law of the European Court of Justice (eventually in «dialogue» with national constitutional courts). In this paper I put forward an alternative conception on the basis of the close and structural relationship between the peculiar constitutionalism of the European Union (synthetic constitutionalism) and consti- tutional identity. On such a basis, I argue for a manifold and transnational understanding of constitutional identity, to be concretised by representative political institutions, not judges. Such an alternative conception is further claimed to be capable of supporting a political «re-opening» of supranational constitutional la

Prensa femenina internacional en la transición española: el fracaso de Cosmopolitan y Marie Claire

El presente artículo es el resultado de una investigación más amplia cuyo objetivo era descubrir qué títulos de prensa femenina se publicaban en España desde la Transición hasta la actualidad y qué temáticas abordaban. Tras la búsqueda hemerográfica y el análisis de contenido de los ejemplares seleccionados, en estas líneas se rescata la historia inédita de dos publicaciones de referencia: la norteamericana Cosmopolitan y la francesa Marie Claire. Su discurso ha resultado ser novedoso respecto a los títulos coetáneos, pero el público español no apoyó la iniciativa en los años setenta y la aventura editorial terminó en fracas

Cultural industries and symbolic violence: practices and discourses that perpetuate inequality

ICWAR 2014Symbolic violence is an analytical category that permits the discovery of practices that contribute to the reproduction of violence against women. However, due to the subtlety of these practices and the disposition of the oppressed group towards complicity as an effect that is incorporated within the same domination, it becomes difficult to perceive them as oppressive. This concealment of the message of cultural industries and its discourse, based on the sublimation of stereotypes, tolerance towards certain types of aggression and the legitimization of certain power relations, finally constructs a discriminatory message that becomes a breeding ground for violence against women.This research was developed within the framework of the “Violencia de género y cultura popular: representación y recepción [Gender violence and popular culture: representation and reception]” project, cofinanced by the Ministerio de Sanidad, Servicios Sociales e Igualdad of the Government of Spain and the European Social Fund (Reference 115/12

Biopower and postfeminism: cosmetic surgery in the mass media

El postfeminismo, según autoras como MacRobbie, Projansky o Ferris y Young, es una nueva forma de reacción (backlash) que se transmite a través de la cultura popular. Se apropia de los logros del feminismo occidental para, en un ejercicio de profundo rechazo sobre el propio feminismo, e imbricado con el sistema capitalista neoliberal, proponer prácticas de feminidad normativa como discurso emancipador. Aplicado a cuestiones corporales y estéticas, las posiciones críticas advierten que dichas prácticas son un ejemplo de biopolítica que persigue la creación de cuerpos dóciles, especialmente los femeninos, mediante nuevas tecnologías como las biomédicas. El artículo ofrece una reflexión teórica sobre ambos paradigmas, postfeminismo y biopoder, aplicados a la representación de la cirugía estética en la prensa de masas dirigida a las mujeres y concluye críticamente: la cirugía estética, ofrecida en la prensa como una nueva forma de “hacerse a una misma” se ha convertido en otro dispositivo de control, incluso entre quienes utilizan esos mecanismos como un elemento de resistencia.Postfeminism, according to authors like MacRobbie, Projansky, or Ferris and Young, is a new form of backlash transmitted through popular culture. It appropriates the achievements of western feminism to propose practices of normative femininity as liberating, in an exercise of profound rejection of feminism that is deeply embedded in the neoliberal capitalist system. Applying this line of thought to bodily and aesthetic issues, critics warn about these practices becoming an instance of biopolitics that pursues the construction of docile bodies –particularly female docile bodies– through new technologies like biomedicine. This article ofers a theoretical refection about the two paradigms –postfeminism and biopower–, applying them to the representation of cosmetic surgery in the female press, and it concludes in a critical note: cosmetic surgery, presented by women’s magazines as a new way of “constructing oneself”, has become yet another mechanism of control, even among those who intend to use it as an element of resistanc

Clustering: finding patterns in the darkness

Machine learning is changing the world and fuelling Industry 4.0. These statistical methods focused on identifying patterns in data to provide an intelligent response to specific requests. Although understanding data tends to require expert knowledge to supervise the decision-making process, some techniques need no supervision. These unsupervised techniques can work blindly but they are based on data similarity. One of the most popular areas in this field is clustering. Clustering groups data to guarantee that the clusters’ elements have a strong similarity while the clusters are distinct among them. This field started with the K-means algorithm, one of the most popular algorithms in machine learning with extensive applications. Currently, there are multiple strategies to deal with the clustering problem. This review introduces some of the classical algorithms, focusing significantly on algorithms based on evolutionary computation, and explains some current applications of clustering to large datasets

Generic Digital Culture: Women?s Consumer Use

La cultura digital es el paradigma de la sociedad contemporánea. Sin embargo, este marco conceptual esconde realidades de exclusión, como la brecha digital de género. Las diferencias de uso y acceso exigen la reflexión sobre una cultura que no ha alcanzado la equidad.Digital culture is the central paradigm in contemporary culture. Nonetheless, beneath this conceptual framework lies a reality of exclusion based on a gender digital divide. The differences between sexes in terms of digital media use and accessibility force us to recognize that culture has not yet reached a level of parity

Software testing or the bugs’ nightmare

Software development is not error-free. For decades, bugs –including physical ones– have become a significant development problem requiring major maintenance efforts. Even in some cases, solving bugs led to increment them. One of the main reasons for bug’s prominence is their ability to hide. Finding them is difficult and costly in terms of time and resources. However, software testing made significant progress identifying them by using different strategies that combine knowledge from every single part of the program. This paper humbly reviews some different approaches from software testing that discover bugs automatically and presents some different state-of-the-art methods and tools currently used in this area. It covers three testing strategies: search-based methods, symbolic execution, and fuzzers. It also provides some income about the application of diversity in these areas, and common and future challenges on automatic test generation that still need to be addressed