Legal Ontologies for the spanish e-Government

The Electronic Government is a new field of applications for the semantic web where ontologies are becoming an important research technology. The e-Government faces considerable challenges to achieve interoperability given the semantic differences of interpretation, complexity and width of scope. In this paper we present the results obtained in an ongoing project commissioned by the Spanish government that seeks strategies for the e-Government to reduce the problems encountered when delivering services to citizens. We also introduce an e-Government ontology model; within this model a set of legal ontologies are devoted to representing the Real-estate transaction domain used to illustrate this paper

Joint occurrence of high tide, surge and storm-waves on the northwest Spanish coast

The probability of joint occurrences of astronomical tides, meteorological residues and wind-generated waves is examined by analysing simultaneous sea-level and wave-height data recorded at A Coruña from 1992 to 1996. Attention is focused on the existence of a possible statistical dependence among these parameters. Furthermore, marginal distributions for each of these parameters are examined.Se examina la probabilidad de ocurrencia conjunta de mareas astronómicas, residuos meteorológicos y oleaje, poniendo énfasis en la posible existencia de algún tipo de dependencia estadística entre estas variables. Para ello se analizan registros simultáneos de niveles del mar y altura de ola medidos en A Coruña desde 1992 hasta 1996. Además, se examinan las distribuciones de probabilidad marginal correspondientes a cada uno de dichos parámetros.Instituto Español de Oceanografí

Biochemical and molecular characterization of olive β-glucosidase in seven olive varieties during the ripening process: the role of β-glucosidase in determining the phenolic content of virgin olive oil.

Virgin olive oil (VOO) is one of the essential components of the Mediterranean diet, which includes a series of cultural habits, especially alimentary, shared to a greater or lesser extent, by all countries lapped by Mediterranean Sea. VOO is enriched with bioactive compounds which are related to its unique organoleptic characteristics, and also to its antioxidant properties, which have been associated to with the reduction of risk to suffer cardiovascular diseases and to a protective effect against cancer. The most important bioactive components in VOO are phenolics compounds [2].The phenolic composition of VOO is closely related to the content of phenolic glycosides initially present in the olive tissue. In parallel, some studies indicate that there is a positive correlation between the activity levels of β-glucosidase in the olive fruit and the final content of phenolic compounds in VOO. This enzyme plays a key role hydrolyzing phenolic profile of VOO. In consequence, its biochemical and molecular characterization is of great interest from a biotechnological point of view [1, 2].In this study, seven olive varieties (Abou-Kanani, Dokkar, Klon-14, Menya, Picual, Piñonera y Shengeh) with different phenolic contents have been selected in the World Olive Germplasm Bank. The phenolic profiles of fruits harvested at different ripening stages and their oils have been analyzed by HPLC and at the same time β-glucosidase activity has been measured in olive fruits at different ripening stages. The methods for β-glucosidase extraction and activity assessment have been optimized. Spectrophotometric activity assays have been carried out with the synthetic substrate p-nitrophenyl galactoside (p-NPG) using a calculated molar extinction coefficient (ε=552,8 M-1cm-1) for the p-nitrophenyl liberated in the reaction medium. The results obtained show that olive varieties with the highest content of phenolic glycosides in the fruit such as Piñonera, Dokkar or Menya, also have the largest β-glucosidase activity levels, which usually decrease ripening process. These results will be completed with the pertinent studies of gene expression [3]

Vector magnetic hysteresis of hard superconductors

Critical state problems which incorporate more than one component for the magnetization vector of hard superconductors are investigated. The theory is based on the minimization of a cost functional ${\cal C}[\vec{H}(\vec{x})]$ which weighs the changes of the magnetic field vector within the sample. We show that Bean's simplest prescription of choosing the correct sign for the critical current density $J_c$ in one dimensional problems is just a particular case of finding the components of the vector $\vec{J}_c$. $\vec{J}_c$ is determined by minimizing ${\cal C}$ under the constraint $\vec{J}\in\Delta (\vec{H},\vec{x})$, with $\Delta$ a bounded set. Upon the selection of different sets $\Delta$ we discuss existing crossed field measurements and predict new observable features. It is shown that a complex behavior in the magnetization curves may be controlled by a single external parameter, i.e.: the maximum value of the applied magnetic field $H_m$.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, accepted in Phys. Rev.

Negative Pressures in QED Vacuum in an External Magnetic Field

Our aim is to study the electron-positron vacuum pressures in presence of a strong magnetic field $B$. To that end, we obtain a general energy-momentum tensor, depending on external parameters, which in the zero temperature and zero density limit leads to vacuum expressions which are approximation-independent. Anisotropic pressures arise, and in the tree approximation of the magnetic field case, the pressure along $B$ is positive, whereas perpendicular to $B$ it is negative. Due to the common axial symmetry, the formal analogy with the Casimir effect is discussed, for which in addition to the usual negative pressure perpendicular to the plates, there is a positive pressure along the plates. The formal correspondence between the Casimir and black body energy-momentum tensors is analyzed. The fermion hot vacuum behavior in a magnetic field is also briefly discussed

Functional analysis of yeast gene families involved in metabolism of vitamins B1 and B6

In order to clarify their physiological functions, we have undertaken a characterization of the three-membered gene families SNZ13 and SNO13. In media lacking vitamin B6, SNZ1 and SNO1 were both required for growth in certain conditions, but neither SNZ2, SNZ3, SNO2 nor SNO3 were required. Copies 2 and 3 of the gene products have, in spite of their extremely close sequence similarity, slightly different functions in the cell. We have also found that copies 2 and 3 are activated by the lack of thiamine and that the Snz proteins physically interact with the thiamine biosynthesis Thi5 protein family. Whereas copy 1 is required for conditions in which B6 is essential for growth, copies 2 and 3 seem more related with B1 biosynthesis during the exponential phase

HF spectrum activity prediction model based on HMM for cognitive radio applications

Although most of the research on Cognitive Radio is focused on communication bands above the HF upper limit (30 MHz), Cognitive Radio principles can also be applied to HF communications to make use of the extremely scarce spectrum more efficiently. In this work we consider legacy users as primary users since these users transmit without resorting to any smart procedure, and our stations using the HFDVL (HF Data+Voice Link) architecture as secondary users. Our goal is to enhance an efficient use of the HF band by detecting the presence of uncoordinated primary users and avoiding collisions with them while transmitting in different HF channels using our broad-band HF transceiver. A model of the primary user activity dynamics in the HF band is developed in this work to make short-term predictions of the sojourn time of a primary user in the band and avoid collisions. It is based on Hidden Markov Models (HMM) which are a powerful tool for modelling stochastic random processes and are trained with real measurements of the 14 MHz band. By using the proposed HMM based model, the prediction model achieves an average 10.3% prediction error rate with one minute-long channel knowledge but it can be reduced when this knowledge is extended: with the previous 8 min knowledge, an average 5.8% prediction error rate is achieved. These results suggest that the resulting activity model for the HF band could actually be used to predict primary users activity and included in a future HF cognitive radio based station