Abstract
In this paper we present a software tool to be used in residential/household generic power circuitry analysis and simulation, under non-linear loads. This tool can both be used by electrical engineers and by students of electrical engineering. It has an easy-to-use, friendly interface, and can be used to teach design techniques or as a laboratory tool to study the applicability of known methods to real world practical situations. Also, the users may supply their own data. The simulated results are very close to the measured ones.

Abstract
The main aim of this paper is to analyze the behavior of the three-phase squirrel cage induction motor under different voltage fluctuation levels. To achieve this goal several simulations were performed using the EMTP/ATP tool. Here we present how mechanical torque, speed and efficiency parameters varied with different levels of voltage fluctuation and modeling frequencies. As it was expected, the induction motor is sensitive to voltage fluctuations within certain amplitude levels and frequencies. Also, the speed is more affected by low frequencies and high amplitudes of voltage fluctuations, while the torque and efficiency are more affected by middle and high frequencies and amplitudes. ©2010 IEEE.

Abstract
This article presents the characterization of a shock absorber embedded sensor (SAES) for real-time monitoring of the condition of vehicle shock absorbers in everyday use. A prototype system was built using a custom designed monolithic silicon combined accelerometer, pressure and temperature sensors. The characterization of the SAES was performed and the obtained results meet and even outperform the specification requirements. The SAES was installed in a shock absorber, with adjustable dampling properties, and submitted to road tests. Results show that the condition of a shock absorber can be effectively assessed with the presented SAES. Ensuring that shock absorbers are replaced before reach unacceptable condition, this system will increase onboard comfort and vehicle safety. (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Abstract
Technology has profoundly changed the way we learn and live. Indeed, such relationship appears to be quite complex, within IT contexts, and especially in socially and technologically rich learning environments, where related skills and learning are progressively required and fostered. Thus, if a satisfactory level of intellectual performance and social competence of a primary school pupil is indeed highly dependent on the type of participation that parents offer their children, IT, in general, and Internet, in particular, may well provide a new paradigm, setting forth that education and communication approach is truly more complex than ever before. It is on the basis of such paradigm that we therefore present a case study where a set of multimedia exercises were used in order to possibly improve the mathematical skills of pupils, one with mental retardation and another with cerebral palsy. Being part of a Web-based system to support students' learning, the referred set of multimedia exercises proved to be the children's favorite, rather than exercises in paper form, which also led the children to show a fair more positive attitude towards learning. Also, we observed that through the mentioned multimedia exercises, the children became far more autonomous, interested, persistent, happy, and able to easily absorb the material as well as more willingly to continue on working.

Abstract
Parallel manipulators have attracted the attention of researchers from different areas such as: high-precision robotics, machine-tools, simulators and haptic devices. The choice of a particular structural configuration and its dimensioning is a central issue to the performance of these manipulators. A solution to the dimensioning problem, normally involves the definition of performance criteria as part of an optimization process. In this paper the kinematic design of a 6-dof parallel robotic manipulator for maximum dexterity is analyzed. The condition number of the inverse kinematic jacobian is defined as the measure of dexterity and solutions that minimize this criterion are found through a genetic algorithm formulation. Subsequently a neuro-genetic formulation is developed and tested. It is shown that the neuro-genetic algorithm can find close to optimal solutions for maximum dexterity, significantly reducing the computational load.

Abstract
The middleware is an important software component when designing an application, facilitating the development and deployment of the applications. In the case of Distributed Embedded Systems (DES), the middleware should provide basic functionalities to abstract the complexity that results from network distribution, namely data consistency, events synchronization and resource management. Often DES applications exhibit real-time requirements and have to deal with dynamic environments that present evolving requirements. While some middleware architectures have been proposed to address resource provisioning and QoS management, none of those middle-wares supports dynamic resource reconfiguration while providing real-time guarantees. This paper proposes a middleware layer, based on the services provided by a flexible real-time communication protocol, addressing distribution abstraction, dynamic reconfiguration and dynamic QoS management under real-time constraints.