Abstract
As machine learning technologies are increasingly adopted, the demand for responsible AI practices to ensure transparency and accountability grows. To better understand the decision-making processes of machine learning models, GASTeN was developed to generate realistic yet ambiguous synthetic data near a classifier’s decision boundary. However, the results were inconsistent, with few images in the low-confidence region and noise. Therefore, we propose a new GASTeN version with a modified architecture and a novel loss function. This new loss function incorporates a multi-objective measure with a Gaussian loss centered on the classifier probability, targeting the decision boundary. Our study found that while the original GASTeN architecture yields the highest Fréchet Inception Distance (FID) scores, the updated version achieves lower Average Confusion Distance (ACD) values and consistent performance across low-confidence regions. Both architectures produce realistic and ambiguous images, but the updated one is more reliable, with no instances of GAN mode collapse. Additionally, the introduction of the Gaussian loss enhanced this architecture by allowing for adjustable tolerance in image generation around the decision boundary. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.

Abstract
DeepAR is a popular probabilistic time series forecasting algorithm. According to the authors, DeepAR is particularly suitable to build global models using hundreds of related time series. For this reason, it is a common expectation that DeepAR obtains poor results in univariate forecasting [10]. However, there are no empirical studies that clearly support this. Here, we compare the performance of DeepAR with standard forecasting models to assess its performance regarding 1 step-ahead forecasts. We use 100 time series from the M4 competition to compare univariate DeepAR with univariate LSTM and SARIMAX models, both for point and quantile forecasts. Results show that DeepAR obtains good results, which contradicts common perception. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.

Abstract
This paper addresses a job shop scheduling problem with peak power constraints, in which jobs can be processed once or multiple times on either all or a subset of the machines. The latter characteristic provides additional flexibility, nowadays present in many manufacturing systems. The problem is complicated by the need to determine both the operation sequence and starting time as well as the speed at which machines process each operation. Due to the adherence to renewable energy production and its intermittent nature, manufacturing companies need to adopt power-flexible production schedules. The proposed power control strategies, that is, adjusting processing speed and timing to reduce peak power requirements may impact production time (makespan) and energy consumption. Therefore, we propose a bi-objective approach that minimizes both objectives. A linear programming model is developed to provide a formal statement of the problem, which is solved to optimality for small-sized instances. We also proposed a multi-objective biased random key genetic algorithm framework that evolves several populations in parallel. Computational experiments provide decision and policymakers with insights into the implications of imposing or negotiating power consumption limits. Finally, the several trade-off solutions obtained show that as the power limit is lowered, the makespan increases at an increasing rate and a similar trend is observed in energy consumption but only for very small makespan values. Furthermore, peak power demand reductions of about 25% have a limited impact on the minimum makespan value (4-6% increase), while at the same time allowing for a small reduction in energy consumption.

Abstract
As many automated algorithms find their way into the IT systems of the banking sector, having a way to validate and interpret the results from these algorithms can lead to a substantial reduction in the risks associated with automation. Usually, validating these pricing mechanisms requires human resources to manually analyze and validate large quantities of data. There is a lack of effective methods that analyze the time series and understand if what is currently happening is plausible based on previous data, without information about the variables used to calculate the price of the asset. This paper describes an implementation of a process that allows us to validate many data points automatically. We explore the K-Nearest Neighbors algorithm to find coincident patterns in financial time series, allowing us to detect anomalies, outliers, and data points that do not follow normal behavior. This system allows quicker detection of defective calculations that would otherwise result in the incorrect pricing of financial assets. Furthermore, our method does not require knowledge about the variables used to calculate the time series being analyzed. Our proposal uses pattern matching and can validate more than 58% of instances, substantially improving human risk analysts' efficiency. The proposal is completely transparent, allowing analysts to understand how the algorithm made its decision, increasing the trustworthiness of the method.

Abstract
The power transformer is one of the key components of any electrical grid, and, as such, modern day industrialization activities require constant usage of the asset. This increases the possibility of failures and can potentially diminish the lifespan of a power transformer. Dissolved gas analysis (DGA) is a technique developed to quantify the existence of hydrocarbon gases in the content of the power transformer oil, which in turn can indicate the presence of faults. Since this process requires different chemical analysis for each type of gas, the overall cost of the operation increases with number of gases. Thus said, a machine learning methodology was defined to meet two simultaneous objectives, identify gas subsets, and predict the remaining gases, thus restoring them. Two subsets of equal or smaller size to those used by traditional methods (Duval's triangle, Roger's ratio, IEC table) were identified, while showing potentially superior performance. The models restored the discarded gases, and the restored set was compared with the original set in a variety of validation tasks.