Computational intelligence contributions to readmisision risk prediction in Healthcare systems

136 p.The Thesis tackles the problem of readmission risk prediction in healthcare systems from a machine learning and computational intelligence point of view. Readmission has been recognized as an indicator of healthcare quality with primary economic importance. We examine two specific instances of the problem, the emergency department (ED) admission and heart failure (HF) patient care using anonymized datasets from three institutions to carry real-life computational experiments validating the proposed approaches. The main difficulties posed by this kind of datasets is their high class imbalance ratio, and the lack of informative value of the recorded variables. This thesis reports the results of innovative class balancing approaches and new classification architectures

Framing of visual content shown on popular social media may affect viewers’ attitudes to threatened species

Content published on social media may affect user’s attitudes toward wildlife species. We evaluated viewers’ responses to videos published on a popular social medium, focusing particularly on how the content was framed (i.e., the way an issue is conveyed to transmit a certain meaning). We analyzed videos posted on YouTube that showed vultures interacting with livestock. The videos were negatively or positively framed, and we evaluated viewers’ opinions of these birds through the comments posted. We also analyzed negatively framed videos of mammalian predators interacting with livestock, to evaluate whether comments on this content were similar to those on vultures. We found that the framing of the information influenced the tone of the comments. Videos showing farmers talking about their livestock losses were more likely to provoke negative comments than videos not including farmer testimonies. The probability of negative comments being posted on videos about vultures was higher than for mammalian predators. Finally, negatively framed videos on vultures had more views over time than positive ones. Our results call for caution in the presentation of wildlife species online, and highlight the need for regulations to prevent the spread of misinformed videos that could magnify existing human-wildlife conflicts.Fil: Ballejo, Fernando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; ArgentinaFil: Plaza, Pablo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; ArgentinaFil: Lambertucci, Sergio Agustin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentin

Ecología trófica y tafonomía del Jote de cabeza negra, Coragyps atratus (Cathartidae), y su comparacion con los Cathartidae del Noroeste Patagónico

Tesis presentada para optar al Grado de Doctor en Ciencias NaturalesFil: Ballejo, Fernando. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo; Argentin

Computational intelligence contributions to readmisision risk prediction in Healthcare systems

136 p.The Thesis tackles the problem of readmission risk prediction in healthcare systems from a machine learning and computational intelligence point of view. Readmission has been recognized as an indicator of healthcare quality with primary economic importance. We examine two specific instances of the problem, the emergency department (ED) admission and heart failure (HF) patient care using anonymized datasets from three institutions to carry real-life computational experiments validating the proposed approaches. The main difficulties posed by this kind of datasets is their high class imbalance ratio, and the lack of informative value of the recorded variables. This thesis reports the results of innovative class balancing approaches and new classification architectures

A long and troublesome journey: People's perceptions and attitudes along the migratory path of a scavenger bird

In recent decades, there has been a growing interest in integrating the social sciences and conservation studies to inform a more realistic management approach. Indeed, an understanding of people's perception of fauna helps in the evaluation of possible conflicts with humans, and provides tools to solve these conflicts. However, perceptions may change along a species geographical distribution. Scavenger birds are not exempt from these conflicts as many farmers blame them for attacking and killing livestock. We evaluated the knowledge, perceptions and attitude of people regarding New World vultures along a migratory path in South America. We conducted 114 interviews with farmers in six different localities between Argentine Patagonia and central Bolivia. About half (48.2%) of the interviewees considered vultures harmful to livestock and a substantial number (24.5%) considered killing these birds as a solution for the conflict. The perception of the damage caused by these birds was worse in vultures wintering and breeding areas, than along the migration route. People with a higher level of education and greater numbers of livestock exhibited more negative perceptions. However, many people (53%) still believed that scavenger birds are important for the environment. Our results suggest that acknowledgment of services provided by scavengers makes killing of scavengers less likely. Educational strategies are needed to increase levels of appreciation toward the ecosystem services provided by vultures, over those of perceived damages.Fil: Ballejo, Fernando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche. Laboratorio de Ecotono; ArgentinaFil: Graña Grilli, Maricel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche. Laboratorio de Ecotono; ArgentinaFil: Lambertucci, Sergio Agustin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche. Laboratorio de Ecotono; Argentin

Covid longa : um estudo antropológico sobre os impactos continuados da pandemia de Covid-19 no Brasil

Uma parcela significativa da população vem sofrendo com o que vem sendo chamado de Covid Longa ou Síndrome Pós-Covid, um prolongamento de sintomas novos ou inalterados frutos de uma infecção com a Covid-19 que, por sua vez, traz diferentes impactos em diferentes esferas da vida para aqueles que são acometidos por essa condição. Entende-se ser relevante, portanto, atentar para essa condição e buscar melhor compreende-la, sobretudo porque ela se encontra ainda em uma posição de invisibilidade. Desta forma, esse trabalho, que é um recorte de uma pesquisa mais ampla, pretende investigar acerca dos impactos da Covid Longa e da reestruturação do cotidiano daqueles que por ela são afetados, partindo do pressuposto de que a pandemia não está necessariamente finalizada, visto que ela ainda traz diversas implicações e prolongamentos, sendo a Covid Longa uma delas. Para sua realização, são analisados dados obtidos a partir das respostas ao questionário elaborado, três entrevistas realizadas ao fim de junho deste ano e relatos de pessoas que sofrem com essa condição, publicados em reportagens

Aprendizagem de conceitos de área e perímetro com o Geogebra no 6º ano do ensino fundamental

Este trabalho buscou investigar de que forma o software GeoGebra pode contribuir na construção de conceitos de perímetro e área por estudantes do 6º ano do ensino fundamental em uma escola da rede particular de Porto Alegre. Tem como referencial as teorias Construcionista, de Papert e da Aprendizagem Significativa, de Ausubel. Este artigo está dividido em quatro etapas: verificação em livros didáticos a respeito do assunto de área e perímetro; caracterização do grupo pesquisado e delimitação de seus conhecimentos prévios; aplicação de seis atividades referentes ao estudo de geometria no software GeoGebra e questionário final, analisado por meio da Análise Textual Discursiva. Concluiu-se que a utilização do GeoGebra contribuiu significativamente na compreensão de perímetro e área sob a perspectiva da teoria construcionista. A análise dos resultados revelou que a utilização desse software auxiliou na aprendizagem de maneira significativa