Abstract
This paper presents a new type of phase-shifted Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG): the sliced-FBG (SFBG). The fabrication process involves cutting a standard FBG inside its grating region. As a result, the last grating pitch is shorter than the others. The optical output signal consists of the overlap between the FBG reflection and the reflection at the fiber-cleaved tip. This new fiber optic device has been studied as a vibration sensor, allowing for the characterization of this sensor in the frequency range of 150 Hz to 70 kHz. How the phase shift in the FBG can be controlled by changing the length of the last pitch is also shown. This device can be used as a filter and a sensing element. As a sensing element, we will demonstrate its application as a vibration sensor that can be utilized in various applications, particularly in monitoring mechanical structures.

Abstract
Distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) is a sensing technique that allows continuous data acquisition of strain rate and temperature with exceptional spatial resolution, up to few meters, for extensive lengths up to 100 km. The ubiquitous nature of optical fiber cables rendered DAS an appealing alternative for geophysical sensing, allowing cost-effective data collection with extensive spatial coverage leveraging existing infrastructure. This study presents findings from the deployment of a DAS system on a dark fiber located on the Madeira Island, Portugal. Through the implementation of 2D filtering, simultaneous analysis of data from road traffic, ocean waves, and seismic activity was achieved.

Abstract
The application of optical fibers in optogenetics is rapidly expanding due to their compactness, cost-effectiveness, sensitivity, and accuracy. This paper introduces a twin-core optical fiber (TCF) sensor employing a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) to monitor the optogenetic response of opsin-expressing human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) based on refractive index (RI) measuring. In order to improve the RI sensitivity of the sensor, an in fiber Mach-Zeander modulator formed using TCF optics segments can detect changes in the RI in the surrounding medium, and in order to improve the RI sensitivity of the sensor, it is proposed to etch one side of the TCF cladding. The RI sensitivity of the sensor was obtained 233.62 nm/RIU in the range of 1.33-1.4 RIU and 870.01 nm/RIU in the range of 1.4-1.43 RIU, R2 = 0.99. simulation results show that in terms of sensor sensitivity and spectral response, there is a good agreement between the theoretical and experimental results, indicating that the TCF-MZI sensor can perform optical neural recording. In vitro experiments monitored wavelength changes in opsin-expressing and non-opsin-expressing in human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) during optogenetic stimulation with 473 nm pulsed illumination. The results revealed that optical stimulation of ChR2 opsin-expressing hDPSCs leads to active the light sensitive ion channel and changing the effective RI of the surrounding medium. The neural activity is driven by changes in intracellular and extracellular ion concentrations, which lead to alterations in the RI of the cell medium RI variations detectable by the sensor. The novel sensor structure demonstrated its ability to detect RI changes in the cell medium during optogenetic stimulation and fiber optic sensors can be a good candidate for optical recording of the neural activity. Beyond these in vivo applications, label free fiber optic biosensors-based IR measurement can be used for all optical multifunctional probe in stimulation, recording, and sensing of neuroscience applications.