Abstract
Providing public services through the internet is an effective approach towards an encompassing number of citizens being covered by them and for cost reduction. However, the fast development of this area has fostered discussion and legislation regarding information security and trustworthiness. In addition to security mechanisms for data processed and stored internally, service providers must ensure that data exchanged between their servers and citizens are not intercepted or modified when traversing heterogeneous and uncontrolled networks. Moreover, such institutions should provide means enabling the citizen to verify the authenticity of the services offered. In this way, the present work provides a comprehensive overview regarding the security posture of Portuguese public institutions in their online services. It consists of non-invasive robustness evaluation of the deployed solutions for end-to-end data encryption and the correct use of digital certificates. As a result, we provide some recommendations aiming to enhance the current panorama in the majority of the 111 online services considered in this study.

Abstract
Climate change is a proven fact. In the report of 2007 from IPCC, one can read that global warming is an issue to be dealt with urgently. In many parts of the world, the estimated rise of temperature (in a very near future) is significant. One of the most affected regions is the Iberian Peninsula, where the increasing need for water will very soon be a problem. Therefore, it is necessary that decision makers are able to decide on all issues related to water management. In this paper, we show a couple of mathematical models that can aid the decision making in the management of an agricultural field at a given location. Having a field, in which different crops can be produced, the solution of the first model indicates the area that should be used for each crop so that the profit is as large as possible, while the water spent is the smallest possible guaranteeing the water requirements of each crop. Using known data for these crops in Portugal, including costs of labour, machines, energy and water, as well as the estimated value of the products obtained, the first mathematical model developed, via optimal control theory, obtains the best management solution. It allows creating different scenarios, thus it can be a valuable tool to help the farmer/decision maker decide the crop and its area to be cultivated. A second mathematical model was developed. It improves the first one, in the sense that it allows considering that water from the rainfall can be collected in a reservoir with a given capacity. The contribution of the collected water from the rainfall in the profit obtained for some different scenarios is also shown.

Abstract
In Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN), typically composed of nodes with resource constraints, leveraging efficient processes is crucial to enhance the network lifetime and, consequently, the sustainability in ultra-dense and heterogeneous environments, such as smart cities. Particularly, balancing the energy required to transport data efficiently across such dynamic environments poses significant challenges to routing protocol design and operation, being the trade-off of reducing data redundancy while achieving an acceptable delivery rate a fundamental research topic. In this way, this work proposes a new energy-aware epidemic protocol that uses the current state of the network energy to create a dynamic distribution topology by self-adjusting each node forwarding behavior as eager or lazy according to the local residual battery. Simulated evaluations demonstrate its efficiency in energy consumption, delivery rate, and reduced computational burden when compared with classical gossip protocols as well as with a directional protocol.

Abstract

Abstract
Many of the current approaches used in teaching and learning in engineering education are not the most appropriate to prepare students for the challenges they will face in their professional careers. The active involvement of students in their learning process facilitates the development of the technical and professional competencies they need as professionals. This article describes the organisation and impact of a mini-conference and project work - the creation of a software product and its introduction in the market - aimed at the development of professional competencies in general and writing skills in particular. The course was evaluated by assessing the students' perception of the development of a number of professional competencies through a questionnaire completed by 125 students from two consecutive year groups. The results indicate that the project work and the mini-conference had a positive impact on students' perceptions of the development of professional competencies. © 2012 Copyright SEFI.

Abstract
Version vectors and their variants play a central role in update tracking in optimistic distributed systems. Existing mechanisms for a variable number of participants use a mapping from identities to integers, and rely on some form of global configuration or distributed naming protocol to assign unique identifiers to each participant. These approaches are incompatible with replica creation under arbitrary partitions, a typical mode of operation in mobile or poorly connected environments. We present an update tracking mechanism that overcomes this limitation; it departs from the traditional mapping and avoids the use of integer counters, while providing all the functionality of version vectors in what concerns version tracking.