Knowledge Management as a Competitive Advantage to the Brazilian MVAS Ecosystem

The mobile value added service (MVAS) is a method of differentiation in the mobile telephone market and represents approximately 30% of the mobile network operator (MNO)'s revenue. The Brazilian MVAS sector consists of the content provider, the MNO, and the integrator. This paper aims to examine this sector by analyzing two main stakeholders: the MNOs and the integrator. We conducted a case study in the main Brazilian integrator and administered a questionnaire to managers/consultants of four MNOs that represent 74.1% of the national market share. The results indicate that the integrator has developed knowledge management, intellectual capital and competitive intelligence, operating as a business enabler and creating competitive advantage for this sector. The analysis of the collected data has been more relevant than the capacity of the integration platform. These collaborative relationships have consolidated this market as an ecosystem that operates according to the concept of coopetition

A model-based framework assisting the design of vapor-liquid equilibrium experimental plans

In this paper we propose a framework for Model-based Sequential Optimal Design of Experiments to assist experimenters involved in Vapor-Liquid equilibrium characterization studies to systematically construct thermodynamically consistent models. The approach uses an initial continuous optimal design obtained via semidefinite programming, and then iterates between two stages (i) model fitting using the information available; and (ii) identification of the next experiment, so that the information content in data is maximized. The procedure stops when the number of experiments reaches the maximum for the experimental program or the dissimilarity between the parameter estimates during two consecutive iterations is below a given threshold. This methodology is exemplified with the D-optimal design of isobaric experiments, for characterizing binary mixtures using the NRTL and UNIQUAC thermodynamic models for liquid phase. Significant reductions of the confidence regions for the parameters are achieved compared with experimental plans where the observations are uniformly distributed over the domain

Complex Network Tools to Understand the Behavior of Criminality in Urban Areas

Complex networks are nowadays employed in several applications. Modeling urban street networks is one of them, and in particular to analyze criminal aspects of a city. Several research groups have focused on such application, but until now, there is a lack of a well-defined methodology for employing complex networks in a whole crime analysis process, i.e. from data preparation to a deep analysis of criminal communities. Furthermore, the "toolset" available for those works is not complete enough, also lacking techniques to maintain up-to-date, complete crime datasets and proper assessment measures. In this sense, we propose a threefold methodology for employing complex networks in the detection of highly criminal areas within a city. Our methodology comprises three tasks: (i) Mapping of Urban Crimes; (ii) Criminal Community Identification; and (iii) Crime Analysis. Moreover, it provides a proper set of assessment measures for analyzing intrinsic criminality of communities, especially when considering different crime types. We show our methodology by applying it to a real crime dataset from the city of San Francisco - CA, USA. The results confirm its effectiveness to identify and analyze high criminality areas within a city. Hence, our contributions provide a basis for further developments on complex networks applied to crime analysis.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, 14th International Conference on Information Technology : New Generation

Performance of Calves Receiving By-Products of Oil Palm during the Dry Season in an Integrated Pasture-Forestry System in Pré-Amazonic Regions of Brazil

The integrated farming and livestock-forestry constitutes a viable alternative for the advancement of sustainable agriculture through its influence on social and ecological processes. Silvopastoral systems are integrated systems characterised by the management of animals in an agricultural-forestry association. These systems aim to provide shade for animals, stabilize forage production for meat production and/or milk products, forestry and various other environmental services (Maurício et al. 2010). Despite the benefits mentioned, the seasonality in the production of tropical forages needs to be considered. An efficient way to avoid losses in animal production in the dry season is with the use of supplementation. By-products from agri-business with high nutritional value, are often not recovered, and are discarded, sometimes incorrectly harming the environment. The use of these residues in animal feed can reduce environmental impacts and the cost of animal feed. In this context, the aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of a cattle silvopastoral system in the dry season, supplemented with babassu meal

Reconfiguration of Reo Connectors Triggered by Dataflow

Reo is a language for coordinating autonomous components in distributed environments. Coordination in Reo is performed by circuit-like connectors, which are constructed from primitive, mobile channels with well-defined behaviour. While the structure of a connector can be modeled as a graph, its behaviour is compositionally defined using that of its primitive constituents. In previous work, we showed that graph transformation techniques are well-suited to model reconfigurations of connectors. In this paper, we investigate how the connector colouring semantics can be used to perform dynamic reconfigurations. Dynamic reconfigurations are triggered by dataflow in the connector at runtime, when certain structural patterns enriched with dataflow annotations occur. For instance we are able to elegantly model dynamic Reo circuits, such as just-in-time augmentation of single-b

Meningoencefalite chagásica: relato de caso de doença recentemente incluida como indicativa de AIDS no Brasil

Recently, reactivation of Chagas disease (meningoencephalitis and/or myocarditis) was included in the list of AIDS-defining illnesses in Brazil. We report a case of a 52-year-old patient with no history of previous disease who presented acute meningoencephalitis. Direct examination of blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) showed Trypanosoma cruzi. CSF culture confirmed the diagnosis. Serological assays for T. cruzi and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) were positive. Despite treatment with benznidazol and supportive measures, the patient died 24 hours after hospital admission. In endemic areas, reactivation of Chagas disease should always be considered in the differential diagnosis of meningoencephalitis among HIV-infected patients, and its presence is indicative of AIDS.Recentemente, a reagudização da doença de Chagas (meningoencefalite e/ou miocardite) foi incluída na lista de doenças indicativas de aids no Brasil. Os autores relatam o caso de um paciente de 52 anos de idade, natural de área rural da Bahia e procedente de uma área urbana de São Paulo, sem história de doenças prévias e que apresentou meningoencefalite aguda. As sorologias e pesquisas parasitológicas diretas no sangue e no liquido cefalorraquideano (LCR) demonstraram presença de Trypanosoma cruzi, confirmando-se o diagnóstico mediante cultura do LCR. O teste rápido assim como os ELISA e Western Blot diagnosticaram infecção pelo vírus da imunodeficiência humana (HIV). Apesar do tratamento com benzonidazole e as medidas de suporte, o paciente faleceu 24 horas depois da admissão hospitalar. Em áreas endêmicas, a reagudização da doença de Chagas deve ser sempre considerada no diagnóstico diferencial das meningoencefalites e sua presença em pacientes com infecção pelo HIV é indicativa de aids

Relationships between physical activity frequency and self-perceived health, self-reported depression, and depressive symptoms in spanish older adults with diabetes: a cross-sectional study

Diabetes is one of the most prevalent noncommunicable diseases in the world. This disease can affect both physical and mental health in the population. This study analyzed the prevalence of Self-Perceived Health (SPH), self-reported depression, and depressive symptoms in comparison with the Physical Activity Frequency (PAF) reported by Spanish older adults with diabetes. A cross-sectional study was carried out with data from 2799 self-reported diabetic participants, all of whom were residents of Spain, aged 50–79 years, and included in the European Health Surveys carried out in Spain (EHIS) both in 2014 and 2020. The relationships between the variables were analysed with a chi-squared test. A z-test for independent proportions was performed to analyze differences in proportions between the sexes. A multiple binary logistic regression was carried out on the prevalence of depression. Linear regressions were performed on depressive symptoms and SPH. Dependent relationships were found between the SPH, self-reported depression, and depressive symptoms with PAF. Most of the very active participants reported a higher prevalence of self-reported depression. Physical inactivity increased the risk of depression, major depressive symptoms, and negative SPH.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio