Árvores de decisão e redes neuronais: aplicação a web mining

C44; C45; M31A evolução do conceito de Marketing coloca a relação com o cliente no centro da estratégia da empresa. O fácil acesso a informação torna os clientes mais exigentes e susceptíveis à mudança de marcas com que se relacionam. Assim, as empresas sentem a necessidade de implementar estratégias de CRM – Customer Relationship Managemen que permitam obter informação e enviar estímulos aos clientes em todos os pontos de contacto destes com a empresa. Este trabalho explora o potencial da Internet enquanto ferramenta que permite obter conhecimento sobre os consumidores, centrando-se na análise de dados obtidos através do site de um Clube de Fidelização de uma marca de Grande Consumo. Assim, propõe-se com este trabalho uma metodologia de Web Mining de utilização que permita predizer comportamentos futuros, através de dados previamente recolhidos acerca dos comportamentos de utilização por parte dos utilizadores registados. Para tal, a metodologia proposta assenta em duas etapas: segmentação e modelação. Na segmentação dos utilizadores recorre-se ao algoritmo Two-Step, reflectindo os comportamentos ao longo de três anos após a data de registo. Para a modelação, recorre-se a Árvores de Decisão (algoritmo CART) e Redes Neuronais (algoritmo Backpropagation), como métodos de classificação. Propõe-se ainda, para além da utilização de cada método de forma individual, a combinação de ambos num Modelo Híbrido. Espera-se com esta metodologia obter informação que possibilite a incorporação em estratégia de CRM, nomeadamente, possibilitando criar políticas de Marketing geradoras de motivos de interesse e capazes de captar o retorno dos utilizadores ao Site de forma continuada.The evolution of the Marketing concept puts the relationship with customer in a central position in the company strategy. Easy access to information makes customers more demanding and likely to change brands to which they relate. As an immediate consequence, the companies feel the need to implement new strategies for CRM - Customer Relationship Management in order to obtain information and send stimuli to customers at all points of contact with the company. This work explores the potential of the Internet as a tool to obtain knowledge about consumers, focusing on the analysis of data obtained through the site of a Loyalty Club for an FMCG brand. In order to achieve the main purpose, this work proposes to use a methodology of Web Usage Mining that allows to predict future behaviors, by considering data previously collected about the behavior of Registered Users. The implemented methodology is based on two steps: segmentation and modeling. In the first step the users are segmented by using the Two-Step algorithm, reflecting the behavior along three years after the date of registration. For modeling, we use the Decision Trees (CART algorithm) and Artificial Neural Networks (Backpropagation algorithm) as methods of classification. It is also proposed, besides the use of each method individually, the combination of both in a Hybrid Model. With this methodology, we expect to obtain information that facilitates the incorporation into CRM strategy, including the creation of Marketing policies that generate interest and are capable of capturing continuously the return of the Users Site

Extended right hepatectomy with partial resection of the vena cava from colorectal metastases: case report

Introduction: Hepatectomy has been standard treatment for metastases from colorectal origin (CR). Metastases with inferior vena cava (IVC) involvement may require combined resection of the liver and IVC. This approach may present high surgical risk, Both profuse bleeding and gas embolism are letal intraoperative complications. Case: The authors present a case of single hepatic CR metastasis that was treated by means extended right hepatectomy with partial inferior vena cava resection and primary reconstruction. Patient present good postoperative course without neoplasm recurrence (one year follow-up period). Conclusion: Resection of VCI and combined reconstruction with hepatectomy may be satisfactorily done in selected cases. Lack of alternative treatments associated poor prognosis of untreated cases has justified this aggressive conduct. Therefore, this approach should be realized by hepatic surgery expertise team.Introdução: A hepatectomia tem sido o tratamento padrão para metástase de origem colorretal (CR). Metástase com invasão da veia cava inferior (VCI) pode requerer ressecção combinada do fígado e VCI. Esta abordagem pode apresentar alto risco cirúrgico. Sangramento profuso e embolia gasosa são complicações intra-operatorias letais. Relato de Caso: Os autores relatam um caso de metástase colorretal única tratada com hepatectomia direita ampliada e ressecção parcial da veia cava com reconstrução primaria. Paciente apresentou boa evolução pós-operatória sem recidiva (um ano de seguimento). Conclusão: Ressecção da VCI e reconstrução combinada com hepatectomia pode ser satisfatoriamente realizada em casos selecionados. A falta de tratamentos alternativos e o prognostico reservado nos casos não operados justificam esta conduta agressiva. No entanto, esta abordagem deve ser realizada por equipe especializada em cirurgia hepática.UNIFESPHospital Regional da Asa Norte Serviço de Cirurgia GeralUFPRUSP-RPUNIFESPSciEL

Concept drift detection and adaptation for federated and continual learning

Smart devices, such as smartphones, wearables, robots, and others, can collect vast amounts of data from their environment. This data is suitable for training machine learning models, which can significantly improve their behavior, and therefore, the user experience. Federated learning is a young and popular framework that allows multiple distributed devices to train deep learning models collaboratively while preserving data privacy. Nevertheless, this approach may not be optimal for scenarios where data distribution is non-identical among the participants or changes over time, causing what is known as concept drift. Little research has yet been done in this field, but this kind of situation is quite frequent in real life and poses new challenges to both continual and federated learning. Therefore, in this work, we present a new method, called Concept-Drift-Aware Federated Averaging (CDA-FedAvg). Our proposal is an extension of the most popular federated algorithm, Federated Averaging (FedAvg), enhancing it for continual adaptation under concept drift. We empirically demonstrate the weaknesses of regular FedAvg and prove that CDA-FedAvg outperforms it in this type of scenarioThis research has received financial support from AEI/FEDER (EU) grant number TIN2017-90135-R, as well as the Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria of Galicia (accreditation 2016–2019, ED431G/01 and ED431G/08, reference competitive group ED431C2018/29, and grant ED431F2018/02), and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). It has also been supported by the Ministerio de Universidades of Spain in the FPU 2017 program (FPU17/04154)S

Mountain farmland protection and fire-smart management jointly reduce fire hazard and enhance biodiversity and carbon sequestration

The environmental and socio-economic impacts of wildfires are foreseen to increase across southern Europe over the next decades regardless of increasing resources allocated for fire suppression. This study aims to identify fire-smart management strategies that promote wildfire hazard reduction, climate regulation ecosystem service and biodiversity conservation. Here we simulate fire-landscape dynamics, carbon sequestration and species distribution (116 vertebrates) in the Transboundary Biosphere Reserve Gerês-Xurés (NW Iberia). We envisage 11 scenarios resulting from different management strategies following four storylines: Business-as-usual (BAU), expansion of High Nature Value farmlands (HNVf), Fire-Smart forest management, and HNVf plus Fire-Smart. Fire-landscape simulations reveal an increase of up to 25% of annual burned area. HNVf areas may counterbalance this increasing fire impact, especially when combined with fire-smart strategies (reductions of up to 50% between 2031 and 2050). The Fire-Smart and BAU scenarios attain the highest estimates for total carbon sequestered. A decrease in habitat suitability (around 18%) since 1990 is predicted for species of conservation concern under the BAU scenario, while HNVf would support the best outcomes in terms of conservation. Our study highlights the benefits of integrating fire hazard control, ecosystem service supply and biodiversity conservation to inform better decision-making in mountain landscapes of Southern Europe.This research work was funded by national funds through the FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., under the FirESmart project (PCIF/MOG/0083/2017) and the project INMODES (CGL2017- 89999-C2-2-R) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. A.R. was funded by the Xunta de Galicia (postdoctoral fellowship ED481B2016/084-0) and IACOBUS program (INTERREG VA España – Portugal, POCTEP 2014-2020). J.D. and A.R. thanks the support of Xunta de Galicia ED431B 2018/36. Â. Sil received support from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through Ph.D. Grant SFRH/BD/132838/2017, funded by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, and by the European Social Fund - Operational Program Human Capital within the 2014- 2020 EU Strategic Framework. FM-F has a contract from FCT (ref. DL57/2016/CP1440/CT0010). We thank to Adrián Lamosa Torres, Xosé Pardavila and Alberto Gil for their help during fieldwork in Xurés and Rafael Vázquez for providing additional data for amphibians and reptiles.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Using fire to enhance rewilding when agricultural policies fail

Rewilding has been proposed as an opportunity for biodiversity conservation in abandoned landscapes. However, rewilding is challenged by the increasing fire risk associated with more flammable landscapes, and the loss of open-habitat specialist species. Contrastingly, supporting High Nature Value farmlands (HNVf) has been also highlighted as a valuable option, but the effective implementation of agricultural policies often fails leading to uncertain scenarios wherein the effects of wildfire management remain largely unexplored. Herein, we simulated fire-landscape dynamics to evaluate howfire suppression scenarios affect fire regime and biodiversity (102 species of vertebrates) under rewilding and HNVf policies in the future (2050), in a transnational biosphere reserve (Gerês-Xurés Mountains, Portugal-Spain). Rewilding and HNVf scenarios were modulated by three different levels of fire suppression effectiveness. Then, we quantified scenario effects on fire regime (burned and suppressed areas) and biodiversity (habitat suitability change for 2050). Simulations confirm HNVf as a longterm opportunity for fire suppression (up to 30,000 ha of additional suppressed areas between 2031 and 2050 in comparison to rewilding scenario) and for conservation (benefiting around 60% of species). Rewilding benefits some species (20%), including critically endangered, vulnerable and endemic taxa, while several species (33%) also profit from open habitats created by fire. Although HNVf remains the best scenario, rewilding reinforced by low fire suppression management may provide a nature-based solution when societal support through agricultural policies failsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Bioconversion of Lactose from Cheese Whey to Organic Acids

Organic acids constitute a group of organic compounds that find multiple applications in the food, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries. For this reason, the market for these products is continuously growing. Traditionally, most organic acids have been produced by chemical synthesis from oil derivatives. However, the irreversible depletion of oil has led us to pay attention to other primary sources as possible raw materials to produce organic acids. The microbial production of organic acids from lactose could be a valid, economical, and sustainable alternative to guarantee the sustained demand for organic acids. Considering that lactose is a by-product of the dairy industry, this review describes different procedures to obtain organic acids from lactose by using microbial bioprocesses

Recombinant human leptin treatment in genetic lipodystrophic syndromes: the long-term Spanish experience

Lipodystrophies are a group of diseases mainly characterized by a loss of adipose tissue and frequently associated with insulin resistance, hypertriglyceridemia, and hepatic steatosis. In uncommon lipodystrophies, these complications frequently are difficult to control with conventional therapeutic approaches. This retrospective study addressed the effectiveness of recombinant methionyl leptin (metreleptin) for improving glucose metabolism, lipid profile, and hepatic steatosis in patients with genetic lipodystrophic syndromes. We studied nine patients (five females and four males) with genetic lipodystrophies [seven with Berardinelli-Seip syndrome, one with atypical progeroid syndrome, and one with type 2 familial partial lipodystrophy (FPLD)]. Six patients were children under age 9 years, and all patients had baseline triglycerides levels >2.26 mmol/L and hepatic steatosis; six had poorly controlled diabetes mellitus. Metreleptin was self-administered subcutaneously daily at a final dose that ranged between 0.05 and 0.24 mg/(kg day) [median: 0.08 mg/(kg day)] according to the body weight. The duration of treatment ranged from 9 months to 5 years, 9 months (median: 3 years). Plasma glucose, hemoglobin A1c (Hb A1c), lipid profile, plasma insulin and leptin, and hepatic enzymes were evaluated at baseline and at least every 6 months. Except for the patient with FPLD, metreleptin replacement significantly improved metabolic control (Hb A1c: from 10.4 to 7.1 %, p < 0.05). Plasma triglycerides were reduced 76 % on average, and hepatic enzymes decreased more than 65 %. This study extends knowledge about metreleptin replacement in genetic lipodystrophies, bearing out its effectiveness for long periods of time

O trabalho do tutor a distância do curso de pós- graduação lato sensu em educação: Métodos e técnicas de ensino do IFRR / The tutor's work distance from the lato sensu graduate course in education: IFRR teaching methods and techniques

Analisar a didática do Tutor a Distância, o qual realiza papel de professor do início ao fim  do curso é importante, principalmente nas fases iniciais das primeiras disciplinas. Justificada pela necessidade de saber se as ações do tutor a distância estão de acordo com as especificações estabelecidas e se o mesmo tem realizado um bom trabalho, onde se espera obter um retorno positivo, principalmente no que se refere a minimização do risco de evasão em Universidades que conduz essa modalidade de ensino. Com isso, objetiva-se analisar o trabalho do Professor Tutor a Distância do Curso de Pós-Graduação Lato Sensu em Educação: Métodos e Técnicas de Ensino do IFRR. Metodologicamente esta pesquisa está caracterizada como pesquisa de campo e sua abordagem caracteriza-se como pesquisa quantitativa. O público alvo totalizou aproximadamente 180 cursistas dos 5 municípios, sendo eles: Boa Vista, Mucajaí, Normandia, Pacaraima e Rorainópolis. Diante dos conceitos apresentados, os quais foram mais pontuados como conceitos “Bom” e “Ótimo”, considera- se a atuação na realização do trabalho do Professor Tutor a Distância como SATISFATÓRIA. Ter obtido um índice acima da média de 90% é reflexo de uma tutoria que já tinha experiencia na condução de outros cursos ofertados dentro do IFRR. Por isso, preparar e selecionar quando possível tutores com experiência é uma estratégia essencial para a condução e não evasão dentro dos cursos ofertados na modalidade em EAD

Sistema de Gestão Escolar: uma análise se o Q-Acadêmico do Instituto Federal de Roraima atende as necessidades dos cursos da modalidade EaD / School Management System: an analysis of whether the Q-Academic of the Federal Institute of Roraima meets the needs of EaD courses

O cenário atual tornou-se um mundo informatizado, onde todos os processos administrativos, entre outros passaram a utilizar softwares que tem por finalidade agilizar, armazenar e proteger informações de uma empresa, governos e instituições de ensino pública e privada. A presente pesquisa justifica pela necessidade de conhecer se o sistema de gestão escolar Q-Acadêmico atende as necessidades em relação ao armazenamento e interação entre a plataforma Moodle utilizada pelo Instituto Federal de Roraima (IFRR) nos cursos ofertados pela modalidade de Ensino à Distância. Logo, o seu objetivo é investigar se o Sistema de Gestão Escolar - Q-Acadêmico, atende as necessidades em relação a armazenamento, migração e interação entre a plataforma Moodle utilizada pelo Instituto Federal de Roraima (IFRR) das informações pertinentes dos cursos ofertados pela modalidade de Ensino à Distância. A abordagem adotada foi a qualitativa, devido a obtenção das informações serem subjetivas e adquiridas por meio dos métodos de campo sendo caracterizado como um estudo de caso e tendo como instrumento de coleta um questionário no formato de roteiro de entrevista aplicado no mês de janeiro no DEAD a um professor experiente o qual também atua como administrador do AVA. Acredita-se que após a implementação de sincronização entre os dois sistemas, os cursos ofertados em EAD passem a ser vistos com mais credibilidade e esse tipo de modalidade de ensino passe a ser visto como algo funcional, uma vez que problemas de atrasos tem sido procastinados dentro da instituição por algumas coordenações, onde acredita-se por parte de algumas pessoas que não se deva dar crédito quanto a formação dos cursistas