Abstract
A low-cost monitoring system for measuring the optical power losses of drop fibres in wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) passive optical networks (PON) is reported. The proposed system is based on radio-frequency intensity modulation and fibre Bragg grating self-referencing measurement techniques using amplitude normalisation. The monitoring unit is built with an optical broadband light source illuminating the PON from the central office for testing purposes, and the signal processing of the measurements is provided by the low-frequency analogue filters and by a lock-in amplifier. The system allows measuring the optical power losses of the PON branches independently, with increased sensitivity in a re-configurable and flexible way. The monitoring technique has been studied and experimentally validated in a coarse WDM-PON prototype, as a first approach to dense WDM-PON applications. The merits of the proposed monitoring system with regards to other WDM-PON monitoring techniques and the scalability of the proposed system to dense WDM-PON architectures are also discussed.

Abstract
This paper discusses risk management, contracting, and bidding for a wind power producer. A majority of the wind power in the United States is sold on long-term power purchase agreements, which hedge the wind power producer against future price risks. However, a significant amount is sold as merchant power and therefore is exposed to fluctuations in future electricity prices (day-ahead and real-time) and potential imbalance penalties. Wind power forecasting can serve as a tool to increase the profit and reduce the risk from participating in the wholesale electricity market. We propose a methodology to derive optimal day-ahead bids for a wind power producer under uncertainty in realized wind power and market prices. We also present an initial illustrative case study from a hypothetical wind site in the United States, where we compare the results of different day-ahead bidding strategies. The results show that the optimal day-ahead bid is highly dependent on the expected day-ahead and real-time prices, and also on the risk preferences of the wind power producer. A deviation penalty between day-ahead bid and real-time delivery tends to drive the bids closer to the expected generation for the next day.

Abstract
In this paper. it is studied the dynamics of the robotic bird in terms of time response and robustness. It is analyzed the wing angle of attack and the velocity of the bird, the tail influence, the gliding flight and the flapping flight. The results are positive for the construction of flying robots. The development of computational simulation based on the dynamic of the robotic bird should allow testing strategies and different algorithms of control such as integer and fractional controllers. Crown Copyright

Abstract
Although resynthesis may seem a simple analysis/synthesis process, it is a quite complex task, even more when it comes to recreating a singing voice. This paper presents a system whose goal is to start with an original audio stream of someone singing and recreate the same performance (melody, phonetics, dynam-ics) using an internal vocal sound library (choir or solo voice). By extracting dynamics and pitch information, and looking for phonetic similarities between the original audio frames and the frames of the sound library, a completely new audio stream is created. The obtained audio results, although not perfect (mainly due to the existence of audio artifacts), show that this technologi-cal approach may become an extremely powerful audio tool.

Abstract
In this paper, a new Traffic Separation mechanism (TSm) is proposed for CSMA-based networks. The TSm mechanism is intended to be used as an underlying traffic separation mechanism, able to prioritize traffic in CSMA-based networks. It allows the coexistence of standard CSMA (non-modified) stations with TSm (modified) stations in the same communication domain. When a station implementing the TSm mechanism has a high-priority message to transfer, it will impose its transfer prior to any message from standard CSMA stations. This behavior guarantees the highest transmitting probability to the TSm-enabled station in open communication environments. Therefore, the TSm approach can be used as an underlying mechanism to build real-time communication systems upon CSMA-based networks. The behavior of the TSm mechanism was assessed by simulation in the case of a relevant CSMA-based network (IEEE 802.11). The simulation analysis shows that the TSm mechanism guarantees values for both the throughput and the average access delay that significantly improve the results obtained for standard IEEE 802.11 stations.

Abstract
There is an increasing recognition that the competitive advantage of firms depends on their ability to create, transfer, utilize, develop and protect the Organisational knowledge assets, so it is logical to expect that more effective management of the creation and use of knowledge would accelerate a company's natural rate of learning, allow it to outpace competitors and create value for both customers and shareholders. The organisational learning can be seen as a combination of two phases, extraction and dissemination of management lessons, as we go from one project to another. The managers, executives and researchers in project management have to "learn how to learn", and maintain a consistent rate of improvement in learning processes. In a second phase of the organisational learning, it is necessary to learn how to code and disseminate knowledge for additional improvement of the organisation management. The research here reported is the first phase of a twofold objective it intends to identify the key elements that contribute to a learning environment and methodologies, processes and technologies that enhance the Organisational knowledge; and it intends to develop a corporative IT-tool, based on the conclusions and remarks obtained. It is our belief that the opinions gathered from people sensible to this topic, will allow us, among other things, to conclude some important aspects that will defiantly contribute for increasing the awareness given to knowledge acquisition and learning by the different team members.