Abstract
Naphthalene-based fluorophores have been widely used in different applications such as fluorescent sensors, biological/medical labels, in the development of lightharvesting systems and materials for light-emitting diodes. Typically, the naphthalene scaffold has low molecular weight and its properties depend strongly on the number, type and position of the substituent groups in the ring. Although the unsubstituted naphthalene is poorly fluorescent, when donor and acceptor groups are attached to positions 2 and 6 of the ring, the fluorescence increases significantly through an Intramolecular Charge Transfer (ICT) mechanism. Substantial changes in the fluorescence spectrum, quantum yield and lifetime are often observed with solvent changes or as a result of binding to a substrate. All aspects related with the design, synthesis and photophysical properties of the naphthalene-based fluorophores will be highlighted in this chapter. Also, naphthalene-based fluorescent chemosensors incorporating a specific binding site for sensing cations and anions will also be focused in this chapter.

Abstract
This article presents an educational tool to be used in signal processing interpolation-related subjects. The aim is to contribute to the better consolidation of acquired theoretical knowledge, allowing students to test signal reconstruction algorithms and visualize the results obtained by the usage of such algorithms, and how several parameters affect their convergence and performance. (c) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 20: 356363, 2012

Abstract

Abstract
With the goal of lessening barriers to the learning of advanced programming techniques, we put into place a trial which required students to get involved with online communities of programmers. Using a course assignment on software architecture styles, students had study a problem, find basis for a tentative approach, and discuss it online with programmers. The expectation was that students would find motivation for their studies from both the contact with communities of programmers, and from having to study and reflect upon their problem well enough to be able to draw the interest of members of those communities. We present the strategy we used, the developments and outcomes, and ideas for further application of this approach. © 2012 IEEE.

Abstract
This work is about return on investment (ROI) estimation based on a set of scenarios related with Cloud services adoption by Portuguese higher education (HE) institutions. The adopted methodology required the development of a survey and its distribution among institutions. The collected data allowed us to evaluate a set of indicators and metrics in order to design ROI models. With such models it was possible to estimate the cost benefit of Cloud Computing paradigm in the context of Portuguese HE infrastructures and services.

Abstract
Conventionally, the containers are stacked in storage yards inside the container terminals. However, in recent years a new storage system called split-platform automated storage/retrieval system (SP-AS/RS) has been introduced in the literature. On the other hand, integrated scheduling of handling equipment has been introduced as an essential concept to improve the performance of the automated container terminals. Improving the performance of container terminals would result in reduction of seaborne trade costs. In this paper a mixed integer programming model is formulated for the integrated scheduling of handling equipment (including the SP-AS/RS) in automated container terminals. In the formulation of the problem, tasks of cranes are scheduled considering the availability of the vehicles. Moreover, the vehicles are scheduled in accordance with the SP-AS/RS operations. The integrated scheduling has been proved as an NP-hard problem. Thus, a simulated annealing algorithm is developed to find near optimal solutions for the problem in relatively low computational time. Using a set of numerical test cases it is justified that the proposed simulated annealing algorithm is suitable to solve the problem. Further analyses on the number of available vehicles are the final notes of this paper. © 2012 CIE & SAIIE.