Abstract
Intervention studies have been explored to identify actions to effectively remediate indoor environmental quality (IEQ) problems and to improve people's health, well-being, comfort, and productivity. This study assessed a comprehensive set of IEQ indicators related to ventilation, air pollution, thermal comfort, illuminance, and noise for the first time in Portuguese office buildings. The purpose was to derive evidence-based corrective measures for a further environmental intervention program. The study monitored and surveyed 15 open-space offices from six modern office buildings in Porto (Portugal) during a workday between September and December 2022. Illuminance was of most concern among the assessed IEQ indicators since the measured levels were below the minimum limit required in 27% of the evaluated workplaces. For CO2, although mean concentrations were below 1000 ppm, absolute values exceeding that level were consistently registered in 20% of the offices during the afternoon period. Mean levels of PM2.5, PM10, and ultrafine particles exceeding the WHO guidelines were found in 13%, 7%, and 7% of the offices, respectively. The assessed thermal comfort levels were typically neutral, corresponding to an estimated mean of 6% of dissatisfied people. Based on the findings, an intervention plan was designed to be implemented in the further stages of this work. The priority interventions to test include relocation of printers (PM source removal), optimisation of ventilation rates (using real-time data from CO2 sensors), adjustment of desk positions to improve illuminance, and introduction of indoor plants.

Abstract
Office workers spend a considerable part of their day at the workplace, making it vital to ensure proper indoor environmental quality (IEQ) conditions in office buildings. This work aimed to identify significant factors influencing IEQ and assess the effectiveness of an environmental intervention program, which included the introduction of indoor plants, carbon dioxide (CO2) sensors, ventilation, and printer relocation (source control), in six modern office buildings in improving IEQ. Thirty office spaces in Porto, Portugal, were randomly divided into intervention and control groups. Indoor air quality, thermal comfort, illuminance, and noise were monitored before and after a 14-day intervention implementation. Occupancy, natural ventilation, floor type, and cleaning time significantly influenced IEQ levels. Biophilic interventions appeared to decrease volatile organic compound concentrations by 30%. Installing CO2 sensors and optimizing ventilation strategies in an office that mainly relies on natural ventilation effectively improved air renewal and resulted in a 28% decrease in CO2 levels. The implementation of a source control intervention led to a decrease in ultrafine particle and ozone concentrations by 14% and 85%, respectively. However, an unexpected increase in airborne particle levels was detected. Overall, for a sample of offices that presented acceptable IEQ levels, the intervention program had only minor or inconsistent impacts. Offices with declared IEQ problems are prime candidates for further research to fully understand the potential of environmental interventions.

Abstract
This article presents a solution for a work related to the curricular unit Energy Markets and Regulation within the scope of PDEEC-Doctoral Program in Electrical and Computer Engineering. The task consists of evaluating optimal dispatch and market pool results (symmetric and asymmetric) for different periods. To check the technical feasibility of implementing the dispatch recommended by the pool market, a DC power flow is analyzed, by accounting for a network with six busbars. Results show that in some periods of higher demand, there could be an overload in some transmission lines of the considered network for certain results of market dispatch. © 2024, Universidade do Porto - Faculdade de Engenharia. All rights reserved.

Abstract
This work discusses and analyzes a class of nonconvex homogeneous optimization problems, in which the objective function is a positively homogeneous function with a certain degree, and the constraints set is determined by a single homogeneous function with another degree, and a geometric set which is a (not necessarily convex) closed cone. Once a Lagrangian dual problem is associated, it is provided various characterizations for the validity of strong duality property: one of them is related to the convexity of a certain image of the geometric set involving both homogeneous functions, so revealing a hidden convexity. We also derive a suitable S-lemma. In the case where both functions are of the same degree of homogeneity, a copositive reformulation of the original problem is established. It is also established zero-, first-and second-order optimality conditions; KKT (local or global) optimality, giving rise to the notion of L-eigenvalues with applications to symmetric tensors eigenvalues analysis.

Abstract

Abstract
Methylation is considered one of the proteins' most important post-translational modifications (PTM). Plasticity and cellular dynamics are among the many traits that are regulated by methylation. Currently, methylation sites are identified using experimental approaches. However, these methods are time-consuming and expensive. With the use of computer modelling, methylation sites can be identified quickly and accurately, providing valuable information for further trial and investigation. In this study, we propose a new machine-learning model called MeSEP to predict methylation sites that incorporates both evolutionary and structural-based information. To build this model, we first extract evolutionary and structural features from the PSSM and SPD2 profiles, respectively. We then employ Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) as the classification model to predict methylation sites. To address the issue of imbalanced data and bias towards negative samples, we use the SMOTETomek-based hybrid sampling method. The MeSEP was validated on an independent test set (ITS) and 10-fold cross-validation (TCV) using lysine methylation sites. The method achieved: an accuracy of 82.9% in ITS and 84.6% in TCV; precision of 0.92 in ITS and 0.94 in TCV; area under the curve values of 0.90 in ITS and 0.92 in TCV; F1 score of 0.81 in ITS and 0.83 in TCV; and MCC of 0.67 in ITS and 0.70 in TCV. MeSEP significantly outperformed previous studies found in the literature. MeSEP as a standalone toolkit and all its source codes are publicly available at https://github.com/arafatro/MeSEP.