Abstract
Recently Shannon’s Entropy has been incorporated in nature inspired metaheuristics with good results. Depending on the problem, the Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO) algorithm may suffer from premature convergence. Here, an Entropy Grey Wolf Optimization (E-GWO) technique is proposed with the overall aim to improve the original GWO performance. The entropy is used to track the GWO swarm diversity, comparing the distance values between the Alpha in relation to the Beta and Delta wolves. The aim of the E-GWO variant is to improve convergence and prevent stagnation in local optima, since ideally restarting the swarm agents will prevent this from happening. Simulation results are presented showing that E-GWO restarting mechanism can achieve better results than the original GWO algorithm for some benchmark functions. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Abstract
This work seeks to design and implement a humanoid robotic kick for situations where the robot is moving for the RoboCup simulation 3D robotic soccer league. It employs Reinforcement Learning (RL) techniques, namely the Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) algorithm to create fast and reliable skills. The kick was divided into 6 cases according to initial conditions and separately trained for each of the cases. A series of kicks, both static and in motion, using two different gaits were developed. The kicks obtained show very high reliability and, when compared to state of the art kicks, displayed a very high time performance improvement. This opens the door to more dynamic games with faster kicks in the RoboCup simulation 3D league.

Abstract
The Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO) model has been a trend in recent decades, becoming the dominant trend in contemporary outsourcing scenario. Millennials will soon, globally, be the majority of the workforce, having a particular way of relating to organizations and to work itself as no previous generation did. Information technologies continue to employ more and more human resources, having an increasing demand and a shortage of competent resources. It is therefore important to rethink current Human Resources Management (HRM) models and design a new strategic and appropriate model to accommodate and anticipate the needs of managers and monitor the development of this generation as Information Technology (IT) professionals. The intersection and analysis of the Information and Communications Technologies (ICT), millennials, Human Resource Management, outsourcing and organizations is the objective of this study, to identify the most relevant articles regarding millennials as outsourced IT professionals.

Abstract
Forecasting heating and cooling energy demand in buildings plays a critical role in supporting building management and operation. Thus, analysing the energy consumption pattern of a building could help in the design of potential energy savings and also in operation fault detection, while contributing to provide proper indoor environmental conditions to the building's occupants.This paper aims at presenting the main results of a study consisting in forecasting the hourly heating and cooling demand of an office building located in Lisbon, Portugal, using machine learning models and analysing the influence of exogenous variables on those predictions. In order to forecast the heating and cooling demand of the considered building, some traditional models, such as linear and polynomial regression, were considered, as well as artificial neural networks and support vector regression, oriented to machine learning. The input parameters considered in the development of those models were the hourly heating and cooling energy historical records, the occupancy, solar gains through glazing and the outside dry-bulb temperature.The models developed were validated using the mean absolute error (MAE) and the root mean squared error (RMSE), used to compare the values obtained from machine learning models with data obtained through a building energy simulation performed on an adequately calibrated model.The proposed exploratory analysis is integrated in a research project focused on applying machine learning methodologies to support energy forecasting in buildings. Hence, the research line proposed in this article corresponds to a preliminary project task associated with feature selection/extraction and evaluation of potential use of machine learning methods. © 2020 IEEE.

Abstract
Backrooms are an important echelon of the retail supply chain. However, research focus has been mostly targeted to optimise both distribution centres and stores' sales area. In this paper, we propose two mathematical programming formulations to solve the grocery backroom sizing problem. This problem consists of determining the dimension of each storage department in the backroom area to optimise its overall efficiency. The first formulation is a bottom-up approach that aims to reduce the backroom life-cycle costs by determining the optimum floor space and storage height for each department. The second is a top-down approach based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), which determines the efficient level of storage floor space for each backroom department, based on a comparison with the benchmarks observed among existing stores. Each approach has distinct characteristics that turn the models suitable for different retail contexts. We also describe the application of the proposed approaches to a case study of a European retailer. The application of this methodology in the design process demonstrated substantial potential for space savings (6% for the bottom-up model and 16% for the top-down model). This space reduction should either allow higher revenues in the sales area and/or lower backroom-related costs.

Abstract
Integrated transmission expansion planning (TEP) and generation expansion planning (GEP) with Wind Farms (WFs) is addressed in this paper. The optimal number of expanded lines, the optimal capacity of WFs installed capacity, and the optimal capacity of wind farms lines (WFLs) are determined through a new TEP optimization model. Furthermore, the optimum capacity additions including conventional generating units is obtained in the proposed model. The Benders decomposition approach is used for solving the optimization problem, including a master problem and two sub-problems with internal scenario analysis. In order to reduce the computational burden of the multi-year and multi-objective expansion planning problem, a multi-stage framework is presented in this paper. The uncertainties of wind speed and system demand along with contingency scenarios lead to a probabilistic optimization problem. Moreover, in the proposed model, the planning time horizon is divided into three predefined stages. This multi-stage approach is used to increase the proposed model accuracy in a power system with a high level of wind power penetration. Hence, in this paper a scenario-based probabilistic multistage model for transmission expansion planning is proposed, incorporating optimal WFs integration. It is recognized that high wind penetration increases the transmission expansion investment cost, but based on the reduction of the investment cost of conventional units, the total system cost will be smaller. This result emphasizes the main advantage of wind generating system over the conventional generating system. This planning methodology is applied to the modified IEEE 24-bus test system and simplified Iran 400-kV real system to show the feasibility of the proposed algorithm.