Abstract
This paper is inspired by a manual picking retail company where shape and weight constraints affect the order-picking process. We proposed an alternative clustering similarity index that considers the similarity, the weight and the shape of products. This similarity index was further incorporated in a storage allocation heuristic procedure to set the location of the products. We test the procedure in a retail company that supplies over 191 stores, in Northern Portugal. When comparing the strategy currently used in the company with this procedure, we found out that our approach enabled a reduction of up to 40% on the picking distance; a percentage of improvement that is 32% higher than the one achieved by applying the Jaccard index, a similarity index commonly used in the literature. This allows warehouses to save time and work faster.

Abstract
In this study, we used machine learning techniques to reconstruct the wavelength dependence of the absorption coefficient of human normal and pathological colorectal mucosa tissues. Using only diffuse reflectance spectra from the ex vivo mucosa tissues as input to algorithms, several approaches were tried before obtaining good matching between the generated absorption coefficients and the ones previously calculated for the mucosa tissues from invasive experimental spectral measurements. Considering the optimized match for the results generated with the multilayer perceptron regression method, we were able to identify differentiated accumulation of lipofuscin in the absorption coefficient spectra of both mucosa tissues as we have done before with the corresponding results calculated directly from invasive measurements. Considering the random forest regressor algorithm, the estimated absorption coefficient spectra almost matched the ones previously calculated. By subtracting the absorption of lipofuscin from these spectra, we obtained similar hemoglobin ratios at 410/550 nm: 18.9-fold/9.3-fold for the healthy mucosa and 46.6-fold/24.2-fold for the pathological mucosa, while from direct calculations, those ratios were 19.7-fold/10.1-fold for the healthy mucosa and 33.1-fold/17.3-fold for the pathological mucosa. The higher values obtained in this study indicate a higher blood content in the pathological samples used to measure the diffuse reflectance spectra. In light of such accuracy and sensibility to the presence of hidden absorbers, with a different accumulation between healthy and pathological tissues, good perspectives become available to develop minimally invasive spectroscopy methods for in vivo early detection and monitoring of colorectal cancer.

Abstract
The 2020/2021 academic year started full of uncertainties for new students of higher education in Portugal. The restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the fears of a new lockdown, all coupled with the well-known challenges that a university student faces in his first year, made this year a particularly challenging year in terms of the students' integration. In this paper, we present how the mentoring programme of the Integrated Master in Informatics and Computing Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto was adapted to help the integration of first-year students in the university environment under the pandemic.

Abstract
In this paper, an advanced control of a DC Micro Grid (MG)-connected Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cell connected with a DC/DC boost converter is addressed to achieve an overall appropriate control scheme in the power management system. In this context, a nonlinear PEM Fuel Cell stack, which is the main source of the continuous power to the load, is modelled and controlled by an optimal Linear Parameter Varying (LPV) technique in the presence of uncertainties and variation in its operating parameters i.e. output current and temperature. To this end, a polytopic-LPV model is considered for nonlinear PEM Fuel Cell stack and sufficient conditions for designing a stabilizing continuous time LPV controller based on state feedback controlling law is derived in terms of Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI). On the other hand, a feedback linearization controller is developed simultaneously to control the duty cycle of the DC/DC boost converter, which is connected between the PEM Fuel Cell stack and the load, aiming to regulate the DC output voltage of the grid to an arbitrary and predefined reference value. The performance of the proposed approach and controllers are verified through simulation results.

Abstract
The principles and tools made available by the Industry 4.0, smart factories, or the Internet of Things (IoT), along with the adoption of more comprehensive simulation models, can significantly help the industry to face the current, huge external and internal challenges. This paper presents a new simulation-based approach to support decision making in the design and operational management of manufacturing systems. This approach is used to evaluate different layouts and resources allocation, and help managing operations, by integrating a simulation software with real-time data collected from the production assets through an IoT platform. The developed methodology uses a digital representation of the real production system (that may be viewed as a form of a digital twin) to assess different production scenarios. A set of key performance indicators (e.g. productivity) provided by the simulation can be used by the Manufacturing Execution System (MES) to generate production schedules. The developed approach was implemented and assessed in a real case study, showing its robustness and application potential. Its extension to other industrial contexts and sectors seems, therefore, quite promising. Copyright (C) 2021 The Authors.

Abstract
An in-plane resonant cavity-assisted coplanar Housing waveguide (CPW) to rectangular waveguide (WG) transition is Cavity Bo). realized over an Indium Phosphide (InP) substrate with a thickness of 205 gm using a monopole radiating element. The simulated back-to-back (B2B) structure provides a bandwidth 16 GHz (288 - 304 GHz) with a return loss of 10 dB and insertion loss of 0.6 dB.