Abstract
The commercial use of the Internet for service provision has deeply changed the environment where human-computer interaction takes place, as Web interfaces are now integrated in multi-platform service provision. This paper presents the results of a study of a multi-channel Portuguese bank, making use of both Marketing and HCI methods and concepts, to understand customer usage of the different service platforms. The study involved in-depth interviews, focus groups, a web survey and a telephone survey with bank customers. The study allowed the identification of the most important interaction experience requirements for this multi-platform service, and how they are influenced by user profiles and service characteristics. The results also show that Customer Experience Requirements (CERs) have a strong impact on customer choice and usage of the different service platforms and can be better captured with Essential Use Cases (EUCs), as they are technology independent. Designing a multi-platform service interaction should therefore start with a higher level of abstraction that allows a multi-platform, customer experience and essential use case perspectives. With this integrated approach, the Internet service can therefore be designed in order to best leverage its capabilities and its complementarity with the other service platforms.

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Abstract
2'-Azido-2'-deoxyribonucleoside 5'-diphosphates are mechanism-based inhibitors of Ribonucleotide Reductase. Considerable effort has been made to elucidate their mechanism of inhibition, which is still controversial and not fully understood. Previous studies have detected the formation of a radical intermediate when the inhibitors interact with the enzyme, and several authors have proposed possible structures for this radical. We have conducted a theoretical study of the possible reactions involved, which allowed us to identify the structure of the new radical among the several proposals. A new reactional path is also proposed that is the most kinetically favored to yield this radical and ultimately inactivate the enzyme. The energetic involved in this mechanism, both for radical formation and radical decay, as well as the calculated Hyperfine Coupling Constants for the radical intermediate, are in agreement with the correspondent experimental values. This mechanistic alternative is fully coherent with remaining experimental data. (C) 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Abstract
In this paper it is presented a methodology to assess the transient stability of an electric power system using trajectory sensitivity analysis. This approach studies the variations of the system variables with respect to the small variations in initial conditions and parameters. Trajectory sensitivity functions of the post fault system with respect to relevant parameters are evaluated. The developed technique is combined with an accurate, flexible and efficient hybrid method that allows detailed modelling of the different devices of the power network, the simulation of distinct contingency scenarios, as well as the suitable identification of the different modes of instability. Moreover, it indicates unequivocally the set of the critical machines and allows to easily evaluate the transient stability margin and the critical clearing time.

Abstract
This paper addresses the problem of interaction design for service provision to customers in a multi-platform environment. It is based on a qualitative and quantitative study of a Portuguese multi-channel retail bank, and shows that, as most of the financial operations are functionally available across the different service platforms, experience requirements become increasingly influential in customers' usage of the different channels. Different financial services generate different interaction needs, and the fit between experience requirements and channel performance in satisfying those needs has a strong impact on customer channel choices. Based on these findings, essential use cases are applied and extended to capture experience requirements for the different financial operations in a technology independent way. With this approach, interaction designers can identify which platforms are best suited to provide the different services available, improving the multi-channel service as a whole. On the other hand, it also enables the identification of areas of interaction experience that need improvement in each platform, if services offered are likely to be effectively used.

Abstract
In the last years the importance of the security analysis has been increasing, due to economical and environment constrains. The operation of an electrical power system is a complex task due to the high degree of uncertainty and the large number of parameters involved. This paper is devoted to the presentation of an efficient steady-state contingency classification using the Rough Set Theory. The developed technique produces a classification of the system operating in four possible states. The powerful methodology developed was applied to a test power network in four different scenarios. The numerical results were compared and analysed in order to obtained important conclusions that provide a valuable contribution to the understanding of the power system security problem.