Abstract
An optical fibre intensity sensor referenced by stimulated Brillouin scattering is presented. The sensor uses Fresnel reflection at the sensor fibre end and employs an adequate relationship between Brillouin and Rayleigh scattering and Fresnel reflection. © 2006 OSA/OFS 2006.

Abstract
A simulation model of a full automated warehouse was custom developed for EFACEC, a large Portuguese company in the warehouse design, building and consultancy business. EFACEC was preparing a proposal for a client and they needed the model to evaluate and test their options. They also wanted to use the model as a marketing tool to gain the contract. Two persons with previous experience in simulation formed the development team. The model was developed in four months with full time dedication, but was inflexible to support significant changes after EFACEC won the bid. Furthermore, the increasing demand for warehouse design made the development of specific hard coded simulation models for EFACEC inadequate. The need for a flexible tool, easier to use, lead to the development of a Decision Support System: AWARD (Advanced WARehouse Design).

Abstract
In this study an optic fibre system for health monitoring of fibre reinforced plastics was developed. It is based on the detection of acoustic emission (AE) waves in a loaded material. A low-finesse Fabry-Perot interferometer sensor is used as alternative to the conventional piezoelectric transducers for AE waves sensing. An original procedure for optical fibre sensor interrogation is proposed.

Abstract
EpiGauss is a method that combines single dipole model with dipole clustering to characterize active brain generators in space and time related to EEG events. EpiGauss was applied to study epileptogenic activity in 4 patients suffering of hypothalamic hamartoma related epilepsy, a rare syndrome with a unique epileptogenic source - the hamartoma lesion - and natural propagation hypothesis - from hamartoma to the surface EEG focus. The results are compared to Rap-MUSIC and Single Moving Dipole methods over the same patients.

Abstract
This paper presents a mathematical formulation for the active/reactive dispatch in electricity markets, recognizing that the typical sequential activities organized in terms of pool markets and the dispatch of ancillary services may lead to economic inefficiencies or technical difficulties. The developed model admits that it is known the purely economic pool dispatch and then it aims at dispatching reactive resources considering voltage and branch limit constraints and constraints reflecting the alternator capability curve. We also admitted that some constraints have a soft nature and used a symmetrical fuzzy decision formulation to model this aspect within an SLP based algorithm. Finally, the paper includes a case study based on the IEEE 24 bus/38 branch system to illustrate the results obtained with the developed approach.

Abstract
This paper analyzes the dynamics and the implementation of fractional-order algorithms in the position/force control of two robots holding an object. The experiments reveal that fractional algorithms lead to performances superior to classical integer-order controllers.