The advancement of new tools in the field of control systems is a contemporary development. This work introduces the utilization of Type-3 fuzzy logic, a relatively recent concept that has been applied across various disciplines. In our case, a Type-3 fuzzy system is designed to enhance the optimization of parameters within the harmony search algorithm, specifically tailored for a control problem. Through a series of experiments, the efficacy of this novel Type-3 fuzzy logic tool is put to the test. Previous studies have primarily explored Type-1 and Type-2 fuzzy logic. To assess the performance of this new Type-3 fuzzy logic tool, a comparative analysis of results is conducted using statistical testing. The introduction of Type-3 fuzzy logic in the control domain represents a novel and innovative approach. This approach extends beyond the conventional Type-1 and Type-2 fuzzy logic, showcasing the dynamic evolution in the field. Results obtained through experimentation are analyzed, and statistical tests are employed to determine whether the Type-3 fuzzy logic tool yields superior outcomes compared to its predecessors. By doing so, this study contributes to the growing body of research that explores the potential benefits of Type-3 fuzzy logic and its application in control systems, offering new perspectives and opportunities for further advancements in the field. We have to mention that the utilization of Type-3 fuzzy logic in enhancing metaheuristics is a relatively new trend, and in this work, this research has extended this to the realm of harmony search. In addition, the application of the optimal design of the ball-and-beam fuzzy controllers has not been previously carried out with the Type-3 fuzzy harmony search algorithm, which is the novelty of this study. Full article

Ultrasonic surface rolling process (USRP) has the potential to improve the surface mechanical properties of metal components with platelike or cylindrical macrostructure, but its effect on spherical surfaces remains to be studied in depth. In order to investigate the effect of USRP on the surface roughness, hardness and wear resistance of a spherical joint bearing made of GCr15 bearing steel, ultrasonic rolling strengthening was carried out on a spherical bearing surface under various conditions. The surface roughness and hardness variations of samples before and after strengthening were investigated. It was found that the USRP strengthening process can effectively enhance the surface properties of GCr15 spherical bearing materials, reduce the surface roughness by more than 45%, and increase the surface hardness by more than 10%. Friction and wear tests were carried out before and after ultrasonic rolling. The results show that the friction coefficient of the bearing surface can be reduced by 28%, and that the wear volume can be reduced by 29%. The variation in the friction coefficient correlated to the variance of wear volume as the reinforcement changes. Full article

Due to advancements in information technology and growing eco-tourism demand, National Park Network Attention (NPNA) has emerged as a novel indicator of tourism appeal and ecological value recognition. Utilizing Baidu search index (accessed in 2023) data from 2013 to 2022, this study employs time series analysis, index analysis, and spatial statistics to measure and differentiate the spatial and temporal aspects of NPNA across 31 provinces, regions, and municipalities in mainland China, while systematically assessing the impact of various factors from both source and destination perspectives. Over the period of 2013 to 2022, NPNA has increased annually, peaking around holidays and during spring and autumn, demonstrating pronounced seasonality and precursor effects, while exhibiting volatility due to external events. Influenced by factors from both source and destination perspectives, the spatial distribution of NPNA displays a trend of being “high in the east and low in the west” and “high in the south and low in the north,” though regional disparities are diminishing. The population size in the source areas remains the dominant factor influencing NPNA, while the concept of national parks is not yet widely recognized. The destination’s tourism resource endowment, media publicity, accessibility, and level of informatization are significant influences. An effective integration of resources and marketing is essential for boosting NPNA. The findings provide valuable insights for optimizing the spatial layout of national parks, enhancing the tourism service system, innovating communication and promotional strategies, and improving national park governance effectiveness. Full article

In this paper, a kind of immersed boundary method, the discretized force with ghost cell method, is introduced to study compressible flow. Meanwhile, an adaptive mesh refinement scheme and a wall treatment for turbulent flow are proposed. With the help of in-house code, the accuracy of the method is verified based on several classic tests. Full article

The procedures used to create modern cars require extensive thought in various relevant scientific domains. Arguably, the most challenging obstacle facing the automobile sector is the management of production facilities by integrating software production lines, continuous integration, and continuous delivery/continuous deployment (CI/CD). All this is determined by market demands, the engine of a vehicle, and the complexity of assembling the entire car and installing its corresponding embedded software. As a result, concerns about various types of global change have grown, as has the lack of the ability to use fossil fuels, creating a substantial impact on the purchase and sale of modern automobiles. The research foundation is reflected in covering strategies for the deployment and administration of software, as well as opportunities for business improvement in particular production processes. This article strives to provide a summary of a scientific investigation of original equipment manufacturers, market segmentation, and the effects of global market changes on automotive manufacturing by examining the correlation between certain changes in the purchase of a specific brand and the powertrain of a vehicle. The research examines numerous datasets from the United States of America and Washington State, based on which we estimate possible future changes in the automotive industry’s sales. Full article

The increasing deployment of industrial robots in manufacturing requires accurate fault diagnosis. Online monitoring data typically consist of a large volume of unlabeled data and a small quantity of labeled data. Conventional intelligent diagnosis methods heavily rely on supervised learning with abundant labeled data. To address this issue, this paper presents a semi-supervised Informer algorithm for fault diagnosis modeling, leveraging the Informer model’s long- and short-term memory capabilities and the benefits of semi-supervised learning to handle the diagnosis of a small amount of labeled data alongside a substantial amount of unlabeled data. An experimental study is conducted using real-world industrial robot monitoring data to assess the proposed algorithm’s effectiveness, demonstrating its ability to deliver accurate fault diagnosis despite limited labeled samples. Full article

The main objective of this study was to analyze the relationship between Geriatric Syndromes (GSs) and in-hospital mortality in adults aged 65 and older admitted to the Emergency Department (ED). The study included 202 Older Adults (OAs) who met the inclusion criteria. We conducted a Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment and collected clinical and demographic data. A univariate analysis was carried out for each of the GSs analyzed. Those variables with p < 0.05 were entered into a multiple logistic regression using the backward stepwise entry method to analyze the independent predictor variables. The average number of GSs per individual was 4.65 (±2.76). Frailty syndrome was the most prevalent (70.2% of patients). Our study found an association between mortality and some GSs, such as frailty (p = 0.042), risk of falls (p = 0.010), delirium, cognitive impairment, dependence, and risk of ulcers (p < 0.001). We found that cognitive impairment (adjusted OR, 6.88; 95% CI, 1.41–33.5; p = 0.017) and dependence (adjusted OR, 7.52; 95% CI, 1.95–29.98; p = 0.003) were independent predictors associated with mortality in our population. It is necessary to develop new care strategies in the ED that respond to the needs of aging societies, including the use of new technologies and personnel with experience in gerontology. Full article

This paper describes the selection and validation of supporting measures (SMs) aimed at enhancing biosecurity compliance within Italian poultry farms. A tailored methodology, based on a stakeholders’ survey involving farmers and advisors, included a virtual farm tour, group discussion, and farmer coaching. Virtual farm tours and group discussions were delivered during two meetings targeting meat and egg production stakeholders, separately. Coaching was validated in 26 pilot farms (PFs) by assessing farmers’ attitudes towards change (i.e., ADKAR^®) and farms’ biosecurity score (i.e., Biocheck.Ugent^TM) before and after a minimum six-month period. A total of 20 out of 26 farmers agreed to implement at least one action plan (AP). Full implementation of the agreed APs was observed in ten farms, while others only partially implemented (n = 7) or did not implement (n = 3) the improvement. Most APs focused on enhancing house hygiene locks (n = 7), followed by bacterial auto-control after cleaning and disinfection (n = 4). Scoring tools indicated minimal or no variations in farmers’ attitudes towards change and farm biosecurity. Virtual farm tours and group discussions were found to be effective in fostering interaction and facilitating the exchange of experiences and knowledge among farmers and stakeholders of poultry production. Coaching indicated that farmers might prefer implementing minor changes possibly influenced by time and cost constraints associated with structural interventions. These limitations could have also impacted the scores of the farmer/farm. The findings of this study provide a foundation for further application of SMs to improve biosecurity in Italian poultry farms. Full article

In the biomedical fields of bone regenerative therapy, the immobilization of proteins on the bioceramic particles to maintain their highly ordered structures is significantly important. In this review, we comprehensively discussed the importance of the specific surface layer, which can be called “non-apatitic layer”, affecting the immobilization of proteins on particles such as hydroxyapatite and amorphous silica. It was suggested that the water molecules and ions contained in the non-apatitic layer can determine and control the protein immobilization states. In amorphous silica particles, the direct interactions between proteins and silanol groups make it difficult to immobilize the proteins and maintain their highly ordered structures. Thus, the importance of the formation of a surface layer consisting of water molecules and ions (i.e., a non-apatitic layer) on the particle surfaces for immobilizing proteins and maintaining their highly ordered structures was suggested and described. In particular, chlorine-containing amorphous silica particles were also described, which can effectively form the surface layer of protein immobilization carriers. The design of the bio-interactive and bio-compatible surfaces for protein immobilization while maintaining the highly ordered structures will improve cell adhesion and tissue formation, thereby contributing to the construction of social infrastructures to support super-aged society. Full article

This study focused on the start-up and operating characteristics of the endogenous partial denitrification (EPD) process with different carbon sources. Two sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) with sodium acetate (SBR1^#) and glucose (SBR2^#) as carbon sources were operated under anaerobic/oxic (A/O) and anaerobic/anoxic/oxic (A/A/O) modes successively for 240 d. The results showed that COD removal efficiency reached 85% and effluent COD concentrations were below 35 mg/L in both SBRs. The difference was that faster absorption and transformation of sodium acetate was achieved compared to glucose (COD removal rate (CRR) was 7.54 > 2.22 mgCOD/(L·min) in SBR1^# compared to SBR2^#). EPD could be started up with sodium acetate and glucose as carbon sources, respectively, and desirable high nitrite accumulations were both obtained at influent NO₃⁻−N (NO₃⁻-N_inf) increased from 20 to 40 mg/L with nitrate-to-nitrite transformation ratio (NTR) and specific NO₃⁻-N deduction rate (r_Na) of 88.4~90% and 2.41~2.38 mgN/(gVSS·h), respectively. However, at NO₃⁻-N of 50~60 mg/L, both the NTR and r_Na in SBR1^# were higher compared to SBR2^# (86.5% > 83.9% and 1.58 > 1.20 mgN/(gVSS·h), respectively). Hereafter, when NO₃⁻-N was increased by 70~90 mg/L, lower NTR and r_Na were observed in SBR1^# than in SBR2^# (72% and 78%, 1.16 and 1.32 mgN/(gVSS·h), respectively). Additionally, similar internal carbon transformations were observed to drive EPD for NO₂⁻−N accumulation, especially for higher and faster carbon transformation with sodium acetate as carbon source compared to glucose. However, precise control of anoxic time as the peak point of nitrite (T_Ni,max) was still the key to achieve high NO₂⁻−N accumulation. Full article

A variable optical attenuator (VOA) is a crucial component for optical communication, especially for a variable multiplexer (VMUX) and reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer (ROADM). With the capacity increasing dramatically, a large-port-count and low-power-consumption VOA array is urgent for an on-chip system. In this paper, we experimentally demonstrate a 16-channel VOA array based on a polymer/silica hybrid waveguide. The proposed array is able to work over C and L bands. The VOA array shows an average attenuation larger than 14.38 dB with a low power consumption of 15.53 mW. The low power consumption makes it possible to integrate silica-based passive devices with a large port count on-chip. Full article

We aimed to compare surgical time, bleeding level, patient pain level, healing period, scar tissue, relapse of the initial process and complications in patients with nasopharyngeal oncological masses undergoing surgery using a scalpel blade versus a CO₂ surgical laser. This is a clinical prospective study comprising surgical work in the nasopharynx area. A sample of 12 inpatients dogs (N = 12) of both genders underwent a surgical excision of nasopharyngeal masses with a scalpel blade (GS n = 6) and CO₂ surgical laser (GL n = 6). An Aesculigth CO₂ surgical laser-Vetscalpel^® model with a superpulse mode, 12 W of power, and a multi-focus pen was used. Statistically significant differences were registered for a p-value of < 0.05. Variations were noted between both groups (GS and GL) concerning surgery time (p = 0.038), first meal time (p = 0.013), pain level (p = 0.003), and healing time (p = 0.014), with the GL group presenting lower values. GL exhibited only one relapse case, with the elapsed time being more than double that of the GS group. Surgical and healing times were shorter in the GL group, and pain levels were lower, with the GL group also demonstrating less scar tissue than the GS group, along with a lower relapse rate. Nasopharynx surgical exposure with precision via the soft palate using the CO₂ laser has facilitated successful treatment of regional masses without discomfort and complications, compared to conventional blade scalpel procedures. Full article

Due to the multi-scale and spectral features of remote sensing images compared to natural images, there are significant challenges in super-resolution reconstruction (SR) tasks. Networks trained on simulated data often exhibit poor reconstruction performance on real low-resolution (LR) images. Additionally, compared to natural images, remote sensing imagery involves fewer high-frequency components in network construction. To address the above issues, we introduce a new high–low-resolution dataset GF_Sen based on GaoFen-2 and Sentinel-2 images and propose a cascaded network CSWGAN combined with spatial–frequency features. Firstly, based on the proposed self-attention GAN (SGAN) and wavelet-based GAN (WGAN) in this study, the CSWGAN combines the strengths of both networks. It not only models long-range dependencies and better utilizes global feature information, but also extracts frequency content differences between different images, enhancing the learning of high-frequency information. Experiments have shown that the networks trained based on the GF_Sen can achieve better performance than those trained on simulated data. The reconstructed images from the CSWGAN demonstrate improvements in the PSNR and SSIM by 4.375 and 4.877, respectively, compared to the relatively optimal performance of the ESRGAN. The CSWGAN can reflect the reconstruction advantages of a high-frequency scene and provides a working foundation for fine-scale applications in remote sensing. Full article

The timing of nitrogen fertilizer application in an orchard can determine the amount of nitrogen (N) absorbed, distributed, and accumulated in fig tree organs. This study aimed to evaluate the fate of nitrogen (N) applied to the fig tree at different times in the soil. The experiment was conducted in the 2009–2010 crop season. The planted trees belonged to the cultivar Roxo de Valinhos, in the São João Del Rei municipality of Minas Gerais state (MG), Brazil. The treatments were the application of 20 kg N ha⁻¹ as urea, enriched with 2% excess ¹⁵N atoms, on September 30 (T1) or on October 30 (T2). In January 2010, the fig trees were cut down and separated into fruit, leaves, new shoots and shoots from previous years, and the stem. The harvested parts were dried, weighed, and ground. Soil was collected from the 0.00–0.10 and 0.10–0.20 m layers, dried, and ground. The total N and excess ¹⁵N atoms in the organs and in the soil were determined, and the N derived from the fertilizer was calculated. The annual organs of the fig tree, including leaves, fruit, and young shoots, exhibited the highest accumulation of N from soil application at both timings, with similar N uptake and accumulation levels. However, nitrogen fertilization had a minimal contribution to the overall nitrogen content in young trees and did not exceed 11%. Understanding the fate of nitrogen derived from fertilizer within the fig tree’s organs will allow for more precise adjustments when recommending nitrogen doses. Full article

Gut microbiota-derived uremic toxins (UT) accumulate in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Dietary phosphorus and protein restriction are common in CKD treatment, but the relationship between dietary phosphorus, a key nutrient for the gut microbiota, and protein-derived UT is poorly studied. Thus, we explored the relationship between dietary phosphorus and serum UT in CKD rats. For this exploratory study, we used serum samples from a larger study on the effects of dietary phosphorus on intestinal phosphorus absorption in nephrectomized (Nx, n = 22) or sham-operated (sham, n = 18) male Sprague Dawley rats. Rats were randomized to diet treatment groups of low or high phosphorus (0.1% or 1.2% w/w, respectively) for 1 week, with serum trimethylamine oxide (TMAO), indoxyl sulfate (IS), and p-cresol sulfate (pCS) analyzed by LC-MS. Nx rats had significantly higher levels of serum TMAO, IS, and pCS compared to sham rats (all p < 0.0001). IS showed a significant interaction between diet and CKD status, where serum IS was higher with the high-phosphorus diet in both Nx and sham rats, but to a greater extent in the Nx rats. Serum TMAO (p = 0.24) and pCS (p = 0.34) were not affected by dietary phosphorus levels. High dietary phosphorus intake for 1 week results in higher serum IS in both Nx and sham rats. The results of this exploratory study indicate that reducing dietary phosphorus intake in CKD may have beneficial effects on UT accumulation. Full article

Among the different types of phase change materials, paraffin is known to be the most widely used type due to its advantages. However, paraffin’s low thermal conductivity, its limited operating temperature range, and leakage and stabilization problems are the main barriers to its use in applications. In this research, a thermal energy storage unit (TESU) was designed using a cylindrical macroencapsulation technique to minimize these problems. Experimental and numerical analyses of the storage unit using a tubular heat exchanger were carried out. The Ansys 18.2-Fluent software was used for the numerical analysis. Two types of paraffins with different thermophysical properties were used in the TESU, including both encapsulated and non-encapsulated forms, and their thermal energy storage performances were compared. The influence of the heat transfer fluid (HTF) inlet conditions on the charging performance (melting) was investigated. The findings demonstrated that the heat transfer rate is highly influenced by the HTF intake temperature. When the effect of paraffin encapsulation on heat transfer was examined, a significant decrease in the total melting time was observed as the heat transfer surface and thermal conductivity increased. Therefore, the energy stored simultaneously increased by 60.5% with the encapsulation of paraffin-1 (melting temperature range of 52.9–60.4 °C) and by 50.7% with the encapsulation of paraffin-2 (melting temperature range of 32.2–46.1 °C), thus increasing the charging rate. Full article

Preserving microbial ecosystems obtained from traditional cheese-making processes is crucial to safeguarding the biodiversity of microbial cheese communities and thus ensuring that the high flavor quality of traditional cheeses is maintained. Few protocols have been proposed for the long-term storage of microbial consortia. This work aimed to develop preservation methods to stabilize the entire microbial community in smear-ripened cheese without multiplication or isolation. A simplified microbial community, capable of reproducing the metabolic pattern of cheese maturation, was used in three independent cheese productions. Cheese samples were taken before and after the ripening step, mixed with maltodextrin or saline solution, and subjected to different stabilization conditions including freezing and freeze-drying, followed by 1 month of storage. Microbial survival was quantified using the colony-forming unit assay. Differential scanning calorimetry was used to relate the physical events occurring within the samples to the microbial storage stability. Freezing at −80 °C resulted in the lowest loss of culturability (<0.8 log unit), followed by freezing at −20 °C and freeze-drying. The ripening bacteria appeared as the most sensitive microorganisms within the community. Moreover, a successful cheese production using the best-stabilized community showed the possibility of preserving and re-using an entire microbial community of interest. Full article

The automatic cultivation of corn has become a significant research focus, with precision equipment operation being a key aspect of smart agriculture’s advancement. This work explores the tracking process of corn, simulating the detection and approach phases while addressing three major challenges in multiple object tracking: severe occlusion, dense object presence, and varying viewing angles. To effectively simulate these challenging conditions, a multiple object tracking dataset using simulated corn was created. To enhance accuracy and stability in corn tracking, an optimization algorithm, YOLOv8MS, is proposed based on YOLOv8. Multi-layer Fusion Diffusion Network (MFDN) is proposed for improved detection of objects of varying sizes, and the Separated and Enhancement Attention Module (SEAM) is introduced to tackle occlusion issues. Experimental results show that YOLOv8MS significantly enhances the detection accuracy, tracking accuracy and tracking stability, achieving a mean average precision (mAP) of 89.6% and a multiple object tracking accuracy (MOTA) of 92.5%, which are 1% and 6.1% improvements over the original YOLOv8, respectively. Furthermore, there was an average improvement of 4% in the identity stability indicator of tracking. This work provides essential technical support for precision agriculture in detecting and tracking corn. Full article

The estimation of the parameters of a sinusoidal signal is of paramount importance in various applications in the fields of sensors, signal processing, parameter estimation, and device characterization, among others. The presence, in the measurement system, of non-ideal phenomena such as additive noise in the signals, phase noise in the stimulus generation, jitter in the sampling system, frequency error in the experimental setup, among others, leads to increased uncertainty and bias in the estimated quantities obtained by least squares methods and those derived from them. Therefore, from a metrological point of view, it is important to be able to theoretically predict and quantify those uncertainties in order to properly design the measurement system and its parameters, such as the number of samples to acquire or the stimulus signal amplitude to use to minimize the uncertainty in the estimated values. Previous works have shown that the presence of these non-ideal phenomena leads to increased uncertainty and bias in the estimation of the sinewave amplitude. The present work complements this knowledge by focusing specifically on the effect of phase noise and sampling jitter in the bias of the initial phase estimation of a sinusoidal signal of known frequency (three‑parameter sine fitting procedure). A theoretical derivation of the bias of initial phase estimation that takes into consideration the presence of phase noise in the sinewave is presented. Since a Taylor series approximation was used where only the first term was retained, it was necessary to validate the analytical derivations with numerical simulations using a Monte Carlo type of procedure. This process was applied to different conditions regarding the phase noise standard deviation, initial phase value, and number of samples. It is concluded that, in most scenarios, initial phase estimation using sine fitting is unbiased in the presence of phase noise or jitter. It is shown, however, that in cases of extremely high phase noise standard deviation and a very low number of samples, a bias occurs. Full article

This paper presents a novel use of a bio-inspired retina model as a scene preprocessing stage for the recognition of letters and numbers on Chilean vehicle license plates. The goal is to improve the effectiveness and ease of pattern recognition. Inspired by the responses of mammalian retinas, this retinal model reproduces both the natural adjustment of contrast and the enhancement of object contours by parvocellular cells. Among other contributions, this paper provides an in-depth exploration of the architecture, advantages, and limitations of the model; investigates the tuning parameters of the model; and evaluates its performance when integrating a convolutional neural network and a spiking neural network into an optical character recognition (OCR) algorithm, using 40 different genuine license plate images as a case study and for testing. The results obtained demonstrate the reduction of error rates in character recognition based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs), spiking neural networks (SNNs), and OCR. It is concluded that this bio-inspired retina model offers a wide spectrum of potential applications to further explore, including motion detection, pattern recognition, and improvement of dynamic range in images, among others. Full article

At present, the magnetic selection of genetically modified cells is mainly performed with surface markers naturally expressed by cells such as CD4, LNGFR (low affinity nerve growth factor receptor), and MHC class I molecule H-2Kk. The disadvantage of such markers is the possibility of their undesired and poorly predictable expression by unmodified cells before or after cell manipulation, which makes it essential to develop new surface markers that would not have such a drawback. Earlier, modified CD52 surface protein variants with embedded HA and FLAG epitope tags (CD52/FLAG and CD52/HA) were developed by the group of Dr. Mazurov for the fluorescent cell sorting of CRISPR-modified cells. In the current study, we tested whether these markers can be used for the magnetic selection of transduced cells. For this purpose, appropriate constructs were created in MigR1-based bicistronic retroviral vectors containing EGFP and DsRedExpress2 as fluorescent reporters. Cytometric analysis of the transduced NIH 3T3 cell populations after magnetic selection evaluated the efficiency of isolation and purity of the obtained populations, as well as the change in the median fluorescence intensity (MFI). The results of this study demonstrate that the surface markers CD52/FLAG and CD52/HA can be effectively used for magnetic cell selection, and their efficiencies are comparable to that of the commonly used LNGFR marker. At the same time, the significant advantage of these markers is the absence of HA and FLAG epitope sequences in cellular proteins, which rules out the spurious co-isolation of negative cells. Full article

The energy carrier infrastructure, including both electricity and natural gas sources, has evolved and begun functioning independently over recent years. Nevertheless, recent studies are pivoting toward the exploration of a unified architecture for energy systems that combines Multiple-Energy Carriers into a single network, hence moving away from treating these carriers separately. As an outcome, a new methodology has emerged, integrating electrical, chemical, and heating carriers and centered around the concept of Energy Hubs (EHs). EHs are complex systems that handle the input and output of different energy types, including their conversion and storage. Furthermore, EHs include Combined Heat and Power (CHP) units, which offer greater efficiency and are more environmentally benign than traditional thermal units. Additionally, CHP units provide greater flexibility in the use of natural gas and electricity, thereby offering significant advantages over traditional methods of energy supply. This article introduces a new approach for exploring the steady-state model of EHs and addresses all related optimization issues. These issues encompass the optimal dispatch across multiple carriers, the optimal hub interconnection, and the ideal hub configuration within an energy system. Consequently, this article targets the reduction in the overall system energy costs, while maintaining compliance with all the necessary system constraints. The method is applied in an existing Smart Microgrid (SM) of a typical Greek 17-bus low-voltage distribution network into which EHs are introduced along with Renewable Energy Sources (RESs) and Electric Vehicles (EVs). The SM experiments focus on the optimization of the operational cost using different operational scenarios with distributed generation (DG) and CHP units as well as EVs. A sensitivity analysis is also performed under variations in electricity costs to identify the optimal scenario for handling increased demand. Full article