Abstract
Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) systems provide versatile transport operations and are capable of quickly adjusting to fluctuating passenger demand. Unlike traditional public transport (PT), which operates with fixed routes and schedules, DRTs offer flexibility in vehicle routes, fleet sizes, and schedules. This flexibility is an intrinsic characteristic of DRT systems and a key attribute in their design and associated decision-making processes. However, flexibility also presents significant design challenges, due to the multitude of potential configurations and the unique characteristics of each service area. As practice shows, the effectiveness of DRT configurations is heavily influenced by demand levels. Highly flexible operations are typically suited for low-demand areas, whereas higher demand may require reduced flexibility to maintain system efficiency. Furthermore, demand may grow to a point where the operators may question whether to continue operating as a DRT or shift to traditional regular public transport, with predefined routes and schedules, and more efficient operation. This work studies how demand levels and characteristics can be used in the decision to adopt a DRT system, instead of PT. The problem was addressed through the simulation of various demand scenarios in a virtual environment, thus comparing the performance of the different transport systems. In the scenario analysed, it was possible to identify a demand threshold where the DRT system is more efficient, while higher demand favours the fixed-route system. However, it is important to note that this threshold may be significantly influenced by the specific characteristics of the service area where the system will operate. Copyright © 2025. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Abstract
Ambient intelligence (AmI) refers to environments where smart devices, sensors, and AI-driven systems work seamlessly to enhance human interactions with their surroundings. Through the combination of real-time data, context-awareness, and adaptive learning, AmI enables environments to respond proactively to user needs, improving efficiency, comfort, and decision-making. However, since AmI systems are inherently human-centric and often operate autonomously, they must be designed with robust ethical, privacy, and safety considerations. Ensuring that these systems function reliably, fairly, and without harm is crucial, especially in sensitive domains like healthcare, security, and smart infrastructure. This work introduces a novel tool, conceptualized as an AmI Digital Twin, which allows developers to simulate or monitor AmI data streams, and develop and thoroughly test AmI applications before and during their real use. Built on a modular architecture leveraging technologies like React.js, Node.js, Kafka, Faust, MongoDB, InfluxDB, Grafana, and Docker, the platform ensures adaptability to different application environments, scalability, and ease of deployment. Besides the description of the tool itself, we provide some early validation results in common AmI tasks such as anomaly and concept drift detection. The tool is available in a public repository, and comes pre-packaged with a set of applications for AmI use-cases. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2026.

Abstract
Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep is marked by intense brain activity coupled with muscular atonia. When this mechanism fails, abnormal behaviors may occur, often indicating REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (RBD) and serving as an early marker of neurodegenerative diseases. Reliable confirmation of such events requires both polysomnographic (PSG) signals and video observation, but synchronizing these modalities outside laboratory settings remains a challenge. This work presents a MATLAB application that integrates European Data Format (EDF) signals with MP4 recordings through an intuitive graphical interface. The system enables simultaneous navigation of electrophysiological data and video, supported by signal preprocessing, artifact reduction, and timeline synchronization. Researchers can use the tool to align multimodal recordings and collaboratively review events with clinicians, ensuring more consistent interpretation. By bridging technical and clinical perspectives, the application reduces manual workload, supports longitudinal studies, and promotes reproducibility in multimodal sleep research. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2026.

Abstract
Due to the susceptibility of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to data perturbations and adversarial examples, it is crucial to perform a thorough robustness evaluation before any Machine Learning (ML) model is deployed. However, examining a model's decision boundaries and identifying potential vulnerabilities typically requires access to the training and testing datasets, which may pose risks to data privacy and confidentiality. To improve transparency in organizations that handle confidential data or manage critical infrastructure, it is essential to allow external verification and validation of Al without the disclosure of private datasets. This paper presents Systematic Pattern Analysis (SPATA), a deterministic method that converts any tabular dataset to a domain-independent representation of its statistical patterns, to provide more detailed and transparent data cards. SPATA computes the projection of each data instance into a discrete space where they can be analyzed and compared, without risking data leakage. These projected datasets can be reliably used for the evaluation of how different features affect ML model robustness and for the generation of interpretable explanations of their behavior, contributing to more trustworthy AI.

Abstract
The increasing energy demand in seaport operations, driven by electrification and decarbonisation targets, requires enhanced tools for operational planning and flexibility management. This paper proposes a novel centralised Energy Management System designed for seaports, which, unlike previous approaches that mainly focused on cost minimisation jointly optimises Battery Energy Storage System scheduling, energy and reserve market participation, and carbon-intensity reduction. A key contribution of this work is the integration of CO\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$_2$$\end{document} emission forecasts and day-ahead market data into a multi-objective formulation, allowing the Energy Management System not only to minimise operational costs but also to reduce indirect emissions. Additionally, a Traffic Light system is proposed to support operators' decision-making by providing actionable flexibility guidelines. A case study based on real-world data from the Port of Sines shows that this method achieves at least an 17% reduction on an annual basis compared to baseline operations, while ensuring cost efficiency. Results highlight the Energy Management System's potential as a decision-support tool for port authorities seeking to align operational efficiency with sustainability goals.

Abstract
The robot's energy efficiency can often be optimized during the early stage of robot design. The robot's speed highly influences its energy consumption, in particular, a robot's reference speed strongly influences the trade-off between energy consumption and mission duration, yet it is commonly selected as a fixed parameter, independently on the path geometry. An extensive offline simulation has been conducted at different speeds (0.3 ~m/s-1.1 ~m / s) to collect performance data for a Mecanum-wheeled robot. After a Pareto front analysis, an offline method based on a Random Forest Regressor has been developed to dynamically adjust the optimal reference speed for each path. The H8 controller has been preferred for its robustness and disturbance rejection for a range of speeds. The proposed approach was first evaluated on a held-out test set and subsequently assessed on a multi-goal navigation task comprising 15 sequential objectives. Comparative results against several fixed speed baselines demonstrate that the proposed speed selector achieves a favorable energy-time compromise. In particular it reduced total energy consumption by 7% at the cost of a minor increase in execution time of about 2% compared to a constant speed reference of 0.70 ~m/s, a speed that was identified as optimal for 45% of the studied paths.