Discussing the nature of the EU: from the inter-state model to global constitutionalism

Historically, the European Union has been characterized by different legal formulations. Positions are divided, broadly speaking, between those that understand this entity as an international organization in the classical sense, to those others which claim that its features are actually of a Statenature, and that the obvious model of evolution would be the Federal State. In the end, all this leads us, undoubtedly, to the European constitutional project. In this work we give a brief account of all these proposals, and then we try to adopt a different point of view: for us, the nature of the European Union should not be looked for in the legal configuration of the political project, but also in the silent evolution -and not so silent- of a legal order, the European legal order, that is increasingly systematic, and that must boast a key position on the evolution towards a higher level of legal organization, global constitutionalism. In the building up of this proposal, we will appeal to the concept of global ethics and to the recent example of the CETA case of TJUE, which opens the European Legal system to alien influences.Históricamente, se ha caracterizado la Unión Europea mediante diversas fórmulas jurídicas. Las posiciones se dividen, a grandes rasgos, entre aquellas que conciben esta entidad como una organización internacional en sentido clásico, hasta aquellas que propugnan que sus rasgos son los propios de un Estado, y que su modelo evidente de evolución sería el Estado Federal. En el fondo de la cuestión se encuentra, sin duda, el proyecto constitucional europeo. En el presente trabajo damos breve cuenta de estas propuestas, para después optar por un punto de vista distinto de ellas: para nosotros, la naturaleza de la Unión Europea no debe buscarse sólo en la configuración jurídica del proyecto político, sino también en la propia evolución silenciosa -o no tanto- de un ordenamiento, el de la Unión Europea, que va ganando forma sistemática, y que debe ostentar una posición clave en la evolución hacia un nivel de organización jurídica mayor, el constitucionalismo global. En la construcción de esta propuesta, recurriremos al concepto de ética mundial y al ejemplo reciente del caso CETA del TJUE, que abre el sistema jurídico europeo a influencias externas

Planning and Scheduling of Business Processes in Run-Time: A Repair Planning Example

Over the last decade, the efficient and flexible management of business processes has become one of the most critical success aspects. Furthermore, there exists a growing interest in the application of Artificial Intelligence Planning and Scheduling techniques to automate the production and execution of models of organization. However, from our point of view, several connections between both disciplines remains to be exploited. The current work presents a proposal for modelling and enacting business processes that involve the selection and order of the activities to be executed (planning), besides the resource allocation (scheduling), considering the optimization of several functions and the reach of some objectives. The main novelty is that all decisions (even the activities selection) are taken in run-time considering the actual parameters of the execution, so the business process is managed in an efficient and flexible way. As an example, a complex and representative problem, the repair planning problem, is managed through the proposed approach.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación TIN2009-13714Junta de Andalucía P08-TIC-0409

A CSP model for simple non-reversible and parallel repair plans

Thiswork presents a constraint satisfaction problem (CSP) model for the planning and scheduling of disassembly and assembly tasks when repairing or substituting faulty parts. The problem involves not only the ordering of assembly and disassembly tasks, but also the selection of them from a set of alternatives. The goal of the plan is the minimization of the total repairing time, and the model considers, apart from the durations and resources used for the assembly and disassembly tasks, the necessary delays due to the change of configuration in the machines, and to the transportation of intermediate subassemblies between different machines. The problem considers that sub-assemblies that do not contain the faulty part are nor further disassembled, but allows non-reversible and parallel repair plans. The set of all feasible repair plans are represented by an extended And/Or graph. This extended representation embodies all of the constraints of the problem, such as temporal and resource constraints and those related to the selection of tasks for obtaining a correct plan.Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia DIP2006-15476-C02-0

Public employment and regional redistribution in Spain

We study the determinants, beyond the process of decentralisation, of the regional allocation of public jobs by the Central Government and the increase in the number of public employees at the Regional Governments in Spain during 1990-1999. Using standard panel data econometric procedures we show that the Central Government might have been increasing the number of public jobs in those regions with lower levels of GDP per capita. Also we show that the number of public employees is larger in those regions in which there has been a coincidence between the political orientation of the ruling parties in the Regional and Central Governments. Finally, we find that political variables might explain part of the increase in the number of public employees in the Regional Governments, together with the process of decentralisation and GDPpc.Public Employment; Regional Redistribution; Fiscal Policy Instruments

Supporting the Optimized Execution of Business Processes through Recommendations

In order to be able to flexibly adjust a company’s business processes (BPs) there is an increasing interest in flexible Process-Aware Information Systems (PAISs). This increasing flexibility, however, typically implies decreased user guidance by the PAIS and thus poses additional challenges to its users. This work proposes a recommendation system which assists users during process execution to optimize performance goals of the processes. The recommendation system is based on a constraint-based approach for planning and scheduling the BP activities and considers both the control-flow and the resource perspective.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación TIN2009-1371

A Constraint-based Model for Multi-objective Repair Planning

This work presents a constraint based model for the planning and scheduling of disconnection and connection tasks when repairing faulty components in a system. Since multi-mode operations are considered, the problem involves the ordering and the selection of the tasks and modes from a set of alternatives, using the shared resources efficiently. Additionally, delays due to change of configurations and transportation are considered. The goal is the minimization of two objective functions: makespan and cost. The set of all feasible plans are represented by an extended And/Or graph, that embodies all of the constraints of the problem, allowing non reversible and parallel plans. A simple branch-and-bound algorithm has been used for testing the model with different combinations of the functions to minimize using the weighted-sum approach.Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia DIP2006-15476-C02-0

A model for assembly sequence planning in a multirobot environment

2002 IFAC15th Triennial World Congress, Barcelona, SpainThis paper presents a model for the selection of optimal assembly sequences for a product in multirobot systems. The objective of the plan is the minimization of the total assembly time (makespan). To meet this objective, the model takes into account, in addition to the assembly times and resources for each task, the times needed to change tools in the robots, and the delays due to the transportation of intermediate subassemblies between different machines. An A* algorithm that solves the problem is also presented, which starts from the And/Or graph for the product (compressed representation of all feasible assembly plans)

Minority Student Food Insecurity in Higher Education

The minority student population in higher education has been affected by food insecurity at a disproportionate rate. Several studies have captured some of the issues associated with the material deficit but fail to identify more in-depth contributing factors. Using the theoretical framework of intersectionality, the researcher examines the experience, interpretation, and navigation of food insecurity in a medium-sized university located in a major city on the west coast. The researcher interviewed three students that self-identified as having multiple minority identities and experiencing some level of food insecurity while pursuing a degree. Findings from three rounds of interviews gave further context to participant’s decision-making and their journey toward seeking a degree through the creation of a narrative. Through these interviews, the following themes are explored: the university as a racial structure, identity as a barrier to resource use, and how to best tailor adequate interventions for student use

Group stereotypes: Human and nonhuman

Treves et al.’s target article emphasizes the importance of including nonhuman animals in the scope of conservation frameworks, countering an anthropocentric orientation in conservation biology. In support, I discuss how stereotypes of other animal species may bias our behavior toward them