Abstract
This paper presents a scholastic model for energy management of smart microgrids with demand response (DR) considering demand and supply uncertainties. In this model, responsive loads are modeled by using price elasticity of demand concept and with the aim of minimizing the consumption cost of customers. In the proposed program, the operator tries to schedule energy resources optimally by considering islanding events of microgrids, that may occur due to upstream network disturbances. Therefore, in addition to uncertainties caused by load forecasting, renewable power generation and electricity prices, uncertainties caused by the prediction error of microgrid islanding events are also considered. The proposed approach is implemented using existing commercial software on a typical microgrid and the effects of DR programs on system operation via sensitive analyses. The results show that, when customers participate in DR programs, the amount of mandatory load shedding at islanding duration of microgrid reduces, and the expected profit of operator increases.

Abstract
Despite the growing popularity of Vocational Education and Training (VET), which is mainly oriented towards labour market inclusion, literature shows that there is still stigmatization and association of those programmes with lower quality training offers when compared to the so-called general secondary education. The main aim of this article is to shed light on the differences in students' sociodemographic profiles between the two education alternatives. It adopts a quantitative approach, exploring secondary data collected by national (e.g., Ministry of Education) and international (e.g., OECD) organizations regarding secondary education students in Portugal. Results confirm that students in VET secondary education have a different sociodemographic profile, namely in terms of income, parents' academic qualifications and professional activities, thus presenting a clear lower social status than students in general secondary education. Indeed, VET is more common in Portuguese secondary schools with a student population originating from more disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds. This study also highlights the limitations of the available secondary data, suggesting a set of variables and hypotheses built on contributions from extant literature that may enable a better understanding of the reasons behind the differences in students' profiles. Implications for schools and decision makers, as well as suggestions for future research, are also presented.

Abstract
Internet-of-Things has reshaped the way people interact with their surroundings. In a smart home, controlling the lights is as simple as speaking to a conversational assistant since everything is now Internet-connected. But despite their pervasiveness, most of the existent IoT systems provide limited out-of-the-box customization capabilities. Several solutions try to attain this issue leveraging end-user programming features that allow users to define rules to their systems, at the cost of discarding the easiness of voice interaction. However, as the number of devices increases, along with the number of household members, the complexity of managing such systems becomes a problem, including finding out why something has happened. In this work we present Jarvis, a conversational interface to manage IoT systems that attempts to address these issues by allowing users to specify time-based rules, use contextual awareness for more natural interactions, provide event management and support causality queries. A proof-of-concept was used to carry out a quasi-experiment with non-technical participants that provides evidence that such approach is intuitive enough to be used by common end-users.

Abstract
Transcript alterations often result from somatic changes in cancer genomes¹. Various forms of RNA alterations have been described in cancer, including overexpression², altered splicing³ and gene fusions⁴; however, it is difficult to attribute these to underlying genomic changes owing to heterogeneity among patients and tumour types, and the relatively small cohorts of patients for whom samples have been analysed by both transcriptome and whole-genome sequencing. Here we present, to our knowledge, the most comprehensive catalogue of cancer-associated gene alterations to date, obtained by characterizing tumour transcriptomes from 1,188 donors of the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)⁵. Using matched whole-genome sequencing data, we associated several categories of RNA alterations with germline and somatic DNA alterations, and identified probable genetic mechanisms. Somatic copy-number alterations were the major drivers of variations in total gene and allele-specific expression. We identified 649 associations of somatic single-nucleotide variants with gene expression in cis, of which 68.4% involved associations with flanking non-coding regions of the gene. We found 1,900 splicing alterations associated with somatic mutations, including the formation of exons within introns in proximity to Alu elements. In addition, 82% of gene fusions were associated with structural variants, including 75 of a new class, termed ‘bridged’ fusions, in which a third genomic location bridges two genes. We observed transcriptomic alteration signatures that differ between cancer types and have associations with variations in DNA mutational signatures. This compendium of RNA alterations in the genomic context provides a rich resource for identifying genes and mechanisms that are functionally implicated in cancer.

Abstract
In view to the decentralised problem of gas network optimisation, we model the problem as differential game where the players are the network controllable elements that communicate through nearest-neighbour network components. The controllable elements are sources and compressors. But since these do not have the same relevance within the network, it will be interesting to use a game hierarchical framework, i.e., to model the network operation as a Stackelberg game. Also, the disturbed version of the same problem suits the problem better because is is assumed that the network works with nominated operational levels. The variations of the real operation can then be viewed as disturbances to these system operational levels.

Abstract
Despite the existence of Vocational Education and Training (VET) programmes allowing dual certification (general school and vocational diplomas), the main aim of vocational courses is arguably the insertion of young people in the labour market. Still, there is a diversification of pathways for upper secondary vocational students, including continuing studies at a tertiary level. In fact, international statistics point to the increased number of vocational students that choose to pursue studies at a higher level, encouraged, among several motivations, by the quest for social mobility. Despite the relevance of this theme, studies that explore students' pathways after the completion of upper secondary vocational education are still scarce. To fill this gap, the paper synthesizes and reviews literature contributions with the purpose of identifying the factors that explain the adoption of each of the pathways (working, continuing to study or neither) by upper secondary education VET students. As a result, the article discusses a list of factors associated with career choices after completion of VET secondary studies and proposes a set of questions for future research. Overall, this paper shows that VET deserves urgent consideration by researchers and offers valuable insights for academics, students, parents and decision makers alike.