Abstract
Service-oriented architecture and multi-agent systems are used in the research of novel control systems for industrial automation. This work presents the advance of service-orientation into multi-agent system in industrial automation. An overview of the concept of service-oriented agent is done and also the enhancements that services can bring to multi-agent systems. The documented topics of this work are based on the experiments and projects of the authors in the domain of distributed and component based automation systems. The outcome shows that there are many benefits, namely the aspects of knowledge representation, communication, plug & play, interactions, beside others. These contribute to the vision of future automation systems, where flexibility and customization are strong arguments.

Abstract
The IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) 61131-3 standard defines several programming languages which may be used to develop industrial control applications. These applications typically execute on industrial PLCs (Programmable Logic Controller). PLC vendors have embraced the first version of this standard [3], with each vendor adopting it at its own pace. As the standard is implemented, several deficiencies have been uncovered. In this paper deficiencies identified by the authors during the implementation of a compiler, compliant with the second version of the standard 141, are explained and analysed. Other deficiencies identified by other authors have also been aggregated and explained. For each deficiency, one or more suggestions (including changes to the formal syntax definition) are made as to how the standard could be changed in order to rectify the deficiency.

Abstract
We exhibit the construction of stable arc exchange systems from the stable laminations of hyperbolic diffeomorphisms. We prove a one-to-one correspondence between (i) Lipshitz conjugacy classes of C(1+H) stable arc exchange systems that are C(1+H) fixed points of renormalization and (ii) Lipshitz conjugacy classes of C(1+H) diffeomorphisms f with hyperbolic basic sets Lambda that admit an invariant measure absolutely continuous with respect to the Hausdorff measure on Lambda. Let HD(s)(Lambda) and HD(u)(Lambda) be, respectively, the Hausdorff dimension of the stable and unstable leaves intersected with the hyperbolic basic set L. If HD(u)(Lambda) = 1, then the Lipschitz conjugacy is, in fact, a C(1+H) conjugacy in (i) and (ii). We prove that if the stable arc exchange system is a C(1+HDs+alpha) fixed point of renormalization with bounded geometry, then the stable arc exchange system is smooth conjugate to an affine stable arc exchange system.

Abstract
We describe and compare design choices for meta-predicate semantics, as found in representative Prolog module systems and in Logtalk. We look at the consequences of these design choices from a pragmatic perspective, discussing explicit qualification semantics, com- putational reflection support, expressiveness of meta-predicate declara- tions, safety of meta-predicate definitions, portability of meta-predicate definitions, and meta-predicate performance. Our aim is to provide use- ful insight for debating meta-predicate semantics and portability issues based on actual implementations and common usage patterns.

Abstract
Sensor data is usually represented by streaming time series. Current state-of-the-art systems for visualization include line plots and three-dimensional representations, which most of the time require screen resolutions that are not available in small transient mobile devices. Moreover, when data presents cyclic behaviors, such as in the electricity domain, predictive models may tend to give higher errors in certain recurrent points of time, but the human-eye is not trained to notice this cycles in a long stream. In these contexts, information is usually hard to extract from visualization. New visualization techniques may help to detect recurrent faulty predictions. En this paper we inspect visualization techniques in the scope of a real-world sensor network, quickly dwelling into future trends in visualization in transient mobile devices. We propose a simple dense pixel display visualization system, exploiting the benefits that it may represent on detecting and correcting recurrent faulty predictions. A case study is also presented, where a simple corrective strategy is studied in the context of global electrical load demand, exemplifying the utility of the new visualization method when compared with automatic detection of recurrent errors.

Abstract
Generation expansion planning gained a new dimension with the advent of electricity markets. It is now an activity decoupled from transmission and there are several agents competing to generate electricity and aiming at maximizing their individual profits. In view of this, it becomes more important to develop tools to help generation agents to build their expansion plans, internalizing several uncertainties in the model, an being able to simulate different possible reactions of the other competitors, given their impact in the profits of the agent being modelled. In this paper, we present a long-term decision aid tool that uses System Dynamics to model the long run of electricity markets together with Genetic Algorithms to solve the individual expansion problem of generation agents given their mixed-integer nature. Apart from the detailed description of the developed approach, the paper also includes a Case Study based on a four generation agent system to illustrate its application.