Design of an Advanced Platform for Citizen Participation Committed to Ensuring Freedom of Speech

This paper presents a proposal for an advanced system of debate in an environment of digital democracy which overcomes the limitations of existing systems. We have been especially careful in applying security procedures in telematic systems, for they are to offer citizens the guarantees that society demands. New functional tools have been included to ensure user authentication and to permit anonymous participation where the system is unable to disclose or even to know the identity of system users. The platform prevents participation by non-entitled persons who do not belong to the authorized group from giving their opinion. Furthermore, this proposal allows for verifying the proper function of the system, free of tampering or fraud intended to alter the conclusions or outcomes of participation. All these tools guarantee important aspects of both a social and technical nature, most importantly: freedom of expression, equality and auditability.

An Automatic Quantification and Registration Strategy to Create a Gene Expression Atlas of Zebrafish Embryogenesis

In order to properly understand and model the gene regulatory networks in animals development, it is crucial to obtain detailed measurements, both in time and space, about their gene expression domains. In this paper, we propose a complete computational framework to fulfill this task and create a 3D Atlas of the early zebrafish embryogenesis annotated with both the cellular localizations and the level of expression of different genes at different developmental stages. The strategy to construct such an Atlas is described here with the expression pattern of 5 different genes at 6 hours of development post fertilization.

HKT2;2/1, a K+-permeable transporter identified in a salt tolerant rice cultivar through surveys of natural genetic polymorphism

We have investigated OsHKT2;1 natural variation in a collection of 49 cultivars with different levels of salt tolerance and geographical origins. The effect of identified polymorphism on OsHKT2;1 activity was analysed through heterologous expression of variants in Xenopus oocytes. OsHKT2;1 appeared to be a highly conserved protein with only five possible amino acid substitutions that have no substantial effect on functional properties. Our study, however, also identified a new HKT isoform, No-OsHKT2;2/1 in Nona Bokra, a highly salt-tolerant cultivar. No-OsHKT2;2/1 probably originated from a deletion in chromosome 6, producing a chimeric gene. Its 5¢ region corresponds to that of OsHKT2;2, whose full-length sequence is not present in Nipponbare but has been identified in Pokkali, a salt-tolerant rice cultivar. Its 3¢ region corresponds to that of OsHKT2;1. No-OsHKT2;2/1 is essentially expressed in roots and displays a significant level of expression at high Na+ concentrations, in contrast to OsHKT2;1. Expressed in Xenopus oocytes or in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, No-OsHKT2;2/1 exhibited a strong permeability to Na+ and K+, even at high external Na+ concentrations, like OsHKT2;2, and in contrast to OsHKT2;1. Our results suggest that No-OsHKT2;2/1 can contribute to Nona Bokra salt tolerance by enabling root K+ uptake under saline conditions.

New designs of the ceramic bricks of horizontal hexagonal hollow

This article is intended to state that Technical Drawing is a multiple tool of expression and communication essential to develop inquiry processes, the scientifically basis and comprehension of drawings and technological designs that can be manufactured. We demonstrate graphically and analytically that spatial vision and graphic thinking allow us to identify graphically real life problems, develop proposals of solutions to be analysed from different points of view, plan and develop the project, provide information needed to make decisions on objects and technological processes. From the knowledge of Technical Drawing and CAD tools we have developed graphic analyses to improve and optimize our proposed modification of the geometry of the rectangular cells of conventional bricks by hexagonal cells, which is protected by a Spanish patent owned by the Polytechnic University of Madrid. This new internal geometry of the bricks will improve the efficiency and the acoustic damping of walls built with the ceramic bricks of horizontal hollow, maintaining the same size of the conventional bricks, without increasing costs either in the manufacture and the sale. A single brick will achieve the width equivalent to more than FOUR conventional bricks.