Abstract
Benzene is a carcinogenic and genotoxic pollutant which mainly affects the people health through the inhalation. Nevertheless, this pollutant is not frequently measured by air-quality networks. To solve this problem, some models have been published to estimate benzene concentrations in the atmosphere. However, the lack of measures makes difficult the application of complex models in order to get a detailed spatio-temporal analysis, namely in urban areas. In this work was developed a simple semi-empirical model to predict benzene concentrations based on the ratio of benzene and carbon monoxide concentrations in order to predict the concentrations of this pollutant in large areas and periods with lack of benzene measurements but with higher impact in the human health. The model was applied to an urban area, the Metropolitan Area of Oporto, for a period of 12 years (1995-2006). Monthly correlations between benzene and carbon monoxide concentrations at Custias air-quality station are significant (p = 0.01) and higher in winter (r (s) > 0.7) than in summer (0.3 > r (s) > 0.7). Estimate of the monthly ratio of the concentration of these two pollutants range between 199 and 305. The methodology validation shows good results (r (s) = 0.81) which allow, assuming the availability of carbon monoxide data, the use of this tool for areas with low benzene recorded data. The application of this methodology in the study area shows an annual average trend decrease of benzene concentrations during the study period, which may be linked to a general trend decrease of benzene emissions in European urban areas, including the study domain.

Abstract
The new (e)commerce/(e)business paradigms forced enterprises to undertake important transformations and reorganizations. It happened with the web and will be repeated in the Cloud and social networks, following Eric Schmidt's (Google CEO) thoughts, "better thinking now on WWC - World Wide Computer, that is, what is behind u-commerce, ubiquity". The tourism is no more only a traditional commercial activity but ever more social- and information-oriented. The tourism services need to be effective to be aligned with tourist requirements. The globalization and easy access allows tourists to change their plans constantly. Dynamic services reconfiguration and resulting impact on their information systems need to be supported. The theme here presented explores new tourism services requirements as the ubiquity and dynamic reconfiguration, new brokering mechanisms, and reliable integration processes, and humanto-human synchronous collaboration allow the natural involvement of the tourist on the co-creation of his activity plan with other agents (humans). © 2012, IGI Global.

Abstract
Purpose: The aim of this paper is to analyze international and national research and development (R&D) programs and roadmaps for the manufacturing sector, presenting how agile and lean manufacturing models are addressed in these programs. Design/methodology/approach: In this review, several manufacturing research and development programs and roadmaps - national programs from the USA and Canada, and international programs from the European Union and from one international organization - are reviewed. Findings: The major finding of this review is that the main concerns in agile manufacturing, as highlighted in these programs, are networks, supply chain and product/service customization, and lean manufacturing's inclination towards achieving better cost efficiency. Although the lean manufacturing approach has been considered in many past and present programs, analysis of the most recent programs shows a greater priority is given to the agile manufacturing approach. The path towards sustainable manufacturing is delineated by pro-active attitude and action towards customers. Research limitations/implications: The study analyzes two national R&D programs from the USA, one international program from the European Union, three international roadmaps from the European Union, one business plan from Canada and one international roadmap from the global organization Intelligent Manufacturing Systems. Practical implications: The findings of this paper are intended to help managers, researchers and practitioners from the manufacturing sector to enhance their understanding and define suitable strategy for their organizations' sustainability and identify suitable manufacturing path with respect to agile and lean philosophies. This study could also help academics in defining course curricula for students more coherent with the R&D policies and/or requirements towards sustainable manufacturing with respect to agile and lean philosophies. Originality/value: There are reviews comparing agile and lean manufacturing paradigms, but there are no reviews about how the two manufacturing concepts are addressed in manufacturing R&D programs and roadmaps. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Abstract
In transition from classical/traditional to modern manufacturing systems, a number of key improvements have occurred, including the ability to control a machine remotely, over Internet. The past approaches on implementing a remote control system have mostly focused on the remote controlling technology and much less on organizational aspects. The proposed work is focused on communication functionality as one of the key organizational aspects. This paper discusses a prototype implementation of communication functionality in remote control of machine tools, considering communication as an intrinsic organizational issue, aiming at improving the effectiveness of manufacturing systems integration.

Abstract
This paper proposes a new integrated architecture for advanced manufacturing management with a Ubiquitous Management System (UMS) and a collection of adequate features to sustain it, where pragmatics on collaboration mechanisms prevails. The Market-of-Resources repository and its advanced brokering process will enable reliable interoperability, services dynamic packages and reconfiguration, as well as the (co-) management of production process, regardless information systems and using real-time collaboration mechanisms. This article contributes for building a logical model for UMS as well as an UML formalization for its supporting architecture

Abstract
In this work, a survey is made of the analysis of the resource selection process. We approach the process also from the point of view of conventional enterprises but with particular emphasis on the existent models in Agile/Virtual Enterprises in order to identify the main limitations and shortcomings of the process. This analysis was focused in the global process of the resource selection, namely in terms of the pre-selection and selection phases, requisites, mathematical models, tools and other relevant areas in the existent models. It is concluded that the resource pre-selection is an area that is not adequately explored in a systematic way. The value concept is not incorporated in the selection process. As a result, a reasoned analysis is not performed of the decision-making process for creating an Agile/Virtual Enterprise. These conclusions were made to envision a future approach that allows the incorporation of new areas that contribute to the improvement of the resource selection process.