Abstract
The development of information and communication technologies and turbulent market conditions have forced enterprises to adapt their way of undertaking business, from traditional practices to e-business. in this context, achieving seamless interoperability among heterogeneous organizations becomes a critical issue. This article has two main objectives: (1) to present a review of the most relevant approaches aiming at achieving seamless interoperability in a collaborative networked environment. In this sense, major interoperability issues (e.g., interoperability requirements, technologies) are discussed, and the most significant independent (e.g., ebXML) and industry-specific initiatives (e.g., RosettaNet, papiNet, TexWeave) are analyzed; (2) to introduce a recently developed two-layered operational infrastructure aiming at attaining seamless interoperability in the footwear industry (the up-stream segment), based on the requirements identified for this sector in a recent industry survey conducted at European level. Other relevant initiatives targeting this sector are also analyzed, emphasizing the innovative aspects and advantages of this approach.

Abstract
This paper presents an application of probabilistic methodologies to evaluate the reserve requirements of generating systems with large amounts of renewable energy sources. The idea is to investigate the behavior of reliability indices, including those from the well-being analysis, when the major portion of the renewable sources comes from the wind power. Renewable in this work mainly comprises hydroelectric, minihydroelectric and wind power sources. Case studies on configurations of the Portuguese and Spanish generating systems are presented and discussed.

Abstract
MPEG-21 is a multimedia framework well suited for asset management of broadcast content. Especially for television broadcasters, MPEG-21 has been applied as asset management standard within the Digital Broadcast Item Model (DBIM). Within the scope of this paper, the DBIM is adopted to the needs of the IST IP ENTHRONE 2. ENTHRONE 2 devotes to the Quality of Service (QoS) management from content creation to content consumption over heterogeneous networks. This paper integrates the QoS metadata management issues from ENTHRONE 2 into the DBIM. This paper describes an MPEG-21 based metadata management solution for maintaining service quality throughout a heterogeneous network environment. It provides a metadata model based on the DBIM especially focusing on the needs of ENTHRONE 2.

Abstract
This paper presents an approach to teaching design of non-programmable application-specific architectures using VHDL, logic and physical synthesis tools and FPGAs. The approach relies on mini-projects that resemble typical problems that students may face in real-life concerning the design of application-specific architectures. The teaching approach presented in this paper supports the incremental learning of both VHDL and the tools used. as the projects are being developed, i.e., students are motivated to acquire skills at the pace at which those skills are required to advance project development. The results so far are very encouraging. Even students with little knowledge of hardware design and embedded systems have succeeded in their assignments. Feedback obtained front students reveals the suitability of certain aspects of the approach and the major difficulties they have faced.

Abstract
A fibre Bragg grating structure arranged in a twisted configuration is proposed for sensing applications. The characteristics of the sensing head for measuring temperature, longitudinal strain and transverse load are analysed. It is shown that this configuration is particularly applicable for transverse load measurement. In this case a resolution of 0.002 N mm(-1)Hz(-1/2) was achieved.

Abstract
Several collaborative business frameworks have been developed in order to support organizations to attain interoperability in today's networked business arena. However, the diversity of frameworks generates selection problems. The goal of this article is to present an analytical method supporting the comparison of collaborative business frameworks, which may also be used by decision makers in the framework selection process. The results obtained by comparing four collaborative business frameworks are discussed.