Abstract
Nowadays demand response (DR) is known as one of the main parts of the power system especially in the smart grid infrastructure. Furthermore, to enhance the participation of the consumers in the DR programs, the Independent System Operators (ISOs) have introduced a new entity, i.e. Demand Response Aggregator (DRA). The main contribution of this paper is to investigate a novel framework to increase the profits of the DRA participating in the day-ahead electricity market, i.e. employment of an axillary generation system in the DRA entity. It is supposed that the DRA in this paper has an axillary generation system and it would lead to an increase in the profit of the DRA through avoiding the economic loss in the process of trading DR obtained by the active participation of prosumers in the electricity market. The fuel cell is introduced as the axillary generation unit to the DRA unit. In the framework proposed in this paper, the DR is acquired from end-users during peak periods and will be offered to the day-ahead electricity market. The power flow during the off-peak hours is in another direction, i.e. from the grid to the consumers. In this model, the information-gap decision theory (IGDT) is chosen as the risk measure. The uncertain parameter is the day-ahead electricity market price. The optimization problem's objective is to maximize the profit of the DRA. The behavior of the risk-seeker decision-maker is analyzed and investigated. The feasibility of the program is demonstrated by applying it to realistic data.

Abstract
In this paper, an integrated approach for optimal planning and operation of energy hubs is provided considering the effects of wind energy resources. Inevitable uncertainties of electrical, heating, cooling demands as well as the wind power generation are considered in this study. The proposed model is based on two-stage optimization problems and represented as a stochastic programming problem to address the effects of uncertain parameters. In order to address the uncertain parameters in the model, different scenarios have been generated by Monte-Carlo Simulation approach and then the scenarios are reduced by applying K-means method. In addition, the effects of demand response programs on the operational sub-problem are taken into account. Benders decomposing approach is adopted in this research to solve the complex model of coordinated planning and operation problem. The master problem is supposed to determine the type and capacity of hub equipment, while the operating points of these assets are the decision variables of the operational slave problem. As a result, the proposed mathematical model is expressed as a linear model solved in GAMS. The simulation results confirm that the Benders decomposition method offers extremely high levels of accuracy and power in solving this problem in the presence of uncertainties and numerous decision variables. Moreover, the convergence time is drastically decreased using Benders decomposition method.

Abstract
This study studies a double-surface sliding-mode observer (DS-SMO) for estimating the flux and speed of induction motors (IMs). The SMO equations are based on an IM model in the stationary reference frame. The DS-SMO is developed based on the equations of a single-surface SMO (SS-SMO) of IM. In DS-SMO method, the observer is designed through combining sliding variables produced by combining estimated fluxes of currents error. The speed is easily determined based on the pass of switching signal through a low-pass filter. Also, an optimal DS-SMO (ODS-SMO) is proposed to improve the transient condition by optimally tuning the observer parameters. To optimise these parameters, the particle swarm optimisation method is adopted. Moreover, an improved DS-SMO (IDS-SMO) is proposed to improve both transient and steady-state conditions, torque ripple and total harmonic distortion. Moreover, the proposed IDS-SMO has a stable performance under sudden load change and the low-speed region. Finally, the accuracy of the proposed ODS-SMO and IDS-SMO methods is substantiated through simulation and experimental results.

Abstract
There is a growing need for increased flexibility in modern power systems. Traditionally, this flexibility has been provided by supply-side technologies. There has been an increase in the research surrounding flexibility services provided by demand-side actors and technologies, especially flexibility services provided by prosumers (those customers who both produce and consume electricity). This work gathers 1183 peer-reviewed journal articles concerning the topic and uses them to identify the current state of the art. This body of literature was analysed with two leading textual and scientometric analysis tools, SAS (c) Visual Text Analytics and VOSviewer, in order to provide a detailed understanding of the current state-of-the-art research on prosumer flexibility. Trends, key ideas, opportunities and challenges were identified and discussed.

Abstract
The integrated use of electricity and natural gas has captured great attention over recent years, mainly due to the high efficiency and economic considerations. According to the energy hub design and operation, which allows using different energy carriers, it has turned into a critical topic. This paper develops a two-stage stochastic model for energy hub planning and operation. The uncertainties of the problem have arisen from the electric, heating, and cooling load demand forecasts, besides the intermittent output of the solar photovoltaic (PV) system. The scenarios of the uncertain parameters are generated using the Monte-Carlo simulation (MCS), and the backward scenario reduction technique is used to alleviate the number of generated scenarios. Furthermore, this paper investigates the effectiveness of demand response programs (DRPs). The presented model includes two stages, where at the first stage, the optimal energy hub design is carried out utilizing the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. In this respect, the capacity of the candidate assets has been considered continuous, enabling the planning entity to precisely design the energy hub. The problem of the optimal energy hub operation is introduced at the second stage of the model formulated as mixed-integer non-linear programming (MINLP). The proposed framework is simulated using a typical energy hub to verify its effectiveness and efficiency.

Abstract
A highly versatile optimal task scheduling algorithm is proposed, inspired by Dijkstra's shortest path algorithm. The proposed algorithm is named "Dijkstra Optimal Tasking" (DOT) and is implemented in a generic manner allowing it to be applicable on a plethora of tasking problems In this study, the application of the proposed DOT algorithm is demonstrated for industrial setting in which a set of tasks must be performed by a mobile agent transiting between charging stations. The DOT algorithm is demonstrated by determining the optimal task schedule for the mobile agent which maximizes the speed of task achievement while minimizing the movement, and thereby energy consumption, cost. A discussion into the anticipated plethora of applications of this algorithm in different sectors is examined.