Gestão de custos: desenvolvimento de uma ferramenta gerencial de custeio híbrido para empresas prestadoras de serviços contábeis

Este estudo objetiva desenvolver um modelo de custeio híbrido para empresas prestadoras de serviços contábeis, que permita conhecer os reais custos consumidos de acordo com a demanda de seus clientes, combinando os princípios do método de custeio baseado em atividade (ABC), variável e absorção. Em termos metodológicos, trata-se de uma pesquisa descritiva, com abordagem predominantemente qualitativa e desenvolvida por meio de uma pesquisa participativa e estudo de caso. Os resultados na Empresa XYZ apontam para um custo médio do serviço base para as rotinas contábeis que todos os clientes necessitam de R$208,18, diferente do valor de R$ 300,00 atualmente tabelado pela mesma. Com base nestas informações e aplicando as demais variáveis de custos consumidas no período, os custos da prestação de serviços para os demais clientes também podem ser encontrados. A exemplo do cliente A, no mês de setembro de 2017, o custo foi de R$146,80 para as atividades contábeis de rotina e, R$ 97,71 foram consumidos em atividades variáveis, totalizando R$231,75, sendo que, neste mesmo período, o honorário recebido por estes serviços foi de R$ 380,00, resultado positivo para a Empresa XYZ de R$ 148,25. Por fim, pode-se concluir que o modelo proposto e estruturado permite que sejam mensurados os custos de todos os clientes de forma customizada, alterando apenas o tempo consumido por cada atividade e, a correta evidenciação das atividades variáveis, consumidos de forma extraordinária que não estavam sendo mensurados.

A Machine Learning-Based Methodology for in-Process Fluid Characterization With Photonic Sensors

This paper proposes a novel methodology for run-time fluid characterization through the application of machine learning techniques. It aims to integrate sophisticated multi-dimensional photonic sensors inside the chemical processes, following the Industry 4.0 paradigm. Currently, this analysis is done offline in laboratory environments, which increases the decision-making times. As an alternative, the proposed method tunes the spectralbased machine learning solutions to the requirements of each case enabling the integration of compound detection systems at the computing edge. It includes a novel feature selection strategy that combines filters and wrappers, namely Wavelength-based Hybrid Feature Selection, to select the relevant information of the spectrum (i.e., the relevant wavelengths). This technique allows providing different trade-offs involving the spectrum dimensionality, complexity, and detection quality. In terms of execution time, the provided solutions outperform the state-of-the-art up to 61.78 times using less than 99% of the wavelengths while maintaining the same detection accuracy. Also, these solutions were tested in a real-world edge platform, decreasing up to 68.57 times the energy consumption for an ethanol detection use case

Recognition of Compromised Accounts on Twitter

In this work, we propose an approach for recognition of compromised Twitter accounts based on Authorship Verification. Our solution can detect accounts that became compromised by analysing their user writing styles. This way, when an account content does not match its user writing style, we affirm that the account has been compromised, similar to Authorship Verification. Our approach follows the profile-based paradigm and uses N-grams as its kernel. Then, a threshold is found to represent the boundary of an account writing style. Experiments were performed using a subsampled dataset from Twitter. Experimental results showed that the developed model is very suitable for compromised recognition of Online Social Networks accounts due to the capability of recognize user styles over 95% accuracy

Patient satisfaction with E-Oral Health care in rural and remote settings: a systematic review protocol

BACKGROUND: Individuals living in rural and remote settings face oral health problems and access-to-care barriers due to the shortage of oral health care providers in these areas, geographic remoteness, lack of appropriate infrastructure and lower socio-economic status. E-Oral Health technology could mitigate these barriers by providing the delivery of some aspects of health care and exchange of information across geographic distances. This review will systematically evaluate the literature on patient satisfaction with received E-Oral Health care in rural and remote communities. METHODS: This systematic review will include interventional and observational studies in which E-Oral Health technology is used as an intervention in rural and remote communities of any country worldwide. Conventional oral health care will be used as a comparator when provided. Patient satisfaction with received E-Oral Health care will be considered as a primary outcome for this review. Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, EMBASE and Global Health will be searched using a comprehensive search strategy. Two review authors will independently screen results to identify potentially eligible studies and independently extract the data from the included studies. A third author will resolve any discrepancies between reviewers. Two independent researchers will assess the risk of bias and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation. DISCUSSION: The potential implications and benefits of E-Oral Health care can inform policymakers and health care professionals to take advantage of this technology to address health care challenges in these areas

Ferramenta de análise de riscos na concessão de crédito por cooperativas financeiras para pessoas jurídicas

This study aims to elaborate an analysis tool with a broad view of the risks involved in a financial cooperative in granting of credit. The risks in cooperative were analyzed to identify current tools of credit analysis; to verify the efficiency of these, the risk mutations and their impacts during different periods. This research was applied with managers by an interview and was carried out a documentary survey of loan portfolio, which revealed that the lack of an effective credit risk analysis interferes directly with the institution's economic result, which would represent an average of five million more between 2010 and 2016. The findings show that 26% of concessions in the analyzed period were not recovered. It is concluded that the analysis of credit in the cooperative investigated has limitations, mainly regarding the risks not identified before the granting of credit, therefore, a generic model of comprehensive risk assessment was developed, capable of remedying the frailties found.Este estudo objetiva elaborar uma ferramenta de análise com visão ampla dos riscos envolvidos em uma cooperativa financeira na concessão de crédito. Analisou-se os riscos na cooperativa afim de identificar as atuais ferramentas de análise de crédito; verificar a eficiência destas, as mutações do risco e seus impactos durante diferentes períodos. Operacionalizou-se entrevistas com gerentes, bem como um levantamento documental da carteira de crédito, que revelou que a falta de uma efetiva análise dos riscos na concessão de crédito interfere diretamente no resultado econômico da instituição, a qual representaria em média cinco milhões a mais entre 2010 e 2016. Os achados demonstram que 26% das concessões no período analisado não foram recuperados. Conclui-se que a análise de crédito na cooperativa investigada apresenta limitações, principalmente quanto aos riscos não identificados previamente à concessão de crédito, portanto, desenvolveu-se um modelo genérico de avaliação ampla de riscos capaz de sanar as fragilidades encontradas

Framework estratégico para sustentação da vantagem competitiva em empresas de serviços contábeis: análise da complementaridade entre as perspectivas de Porter e das capacidades dinâmicas

Este estudo objetiva desenvolver um framework estratégico para sustentação da vantagem competitiva a partir do consenso entre os gestores de empresas de serviços contábeis em relação ao conjunto de elementos da perspectiva teórica de Porter e das Capacidades Dinâmicas (CDs). O estudo é descritivo, de análise quantitativa, com amostra de 38 empresas prestadoras de serviços contábeis, cujas respostas foram obtidas majoritariamente de proprietários, diretores, gerentes, supervisores e coordenadores com poder de tomada de decisão. Os resultados apresentaram consenso entre os profissionais de empresas prestadoras de serviços contábeis perante a complementariedade entre as teorias. Além disto, os resultados apresentam certo nivelamento perante estratégias de diferenciação no mercado do Alto Vale do Itajaí. Com isso, conclui-se que não houve predominância de consenso das práticas internas das organizações sobre nenhum dos dois modelos teóricos analisados neste estudo. Destaca-se a complementariedade entre as teorias, a qual seria estabelecida na visão dos elementos externos e internos para tomada de decisões estratégicas, destarte, desenvolveu-se um modelo de gestão para sustentação da vantagem competitiva fundamentado nas teorias de base do presente estudo

Towards an Machine Learning-based Edge Computing Oriented Monitoring System for the Desert Border Surveillance Use Case

The design of border surveillance systems is critical for most countries in the world, having each border specific needs. This paper focuses on an Internet of Things oriented surveillance system to be deployed in the Sahara Desert, which is composed of many unattended fixed platforms, where the nodes in the edge have a Forward Looking InfraRed (FLIR) camera for field monitoring. To reduce communications and decentralise the processing, IR images should be fully computed on the edge by an Automated Target Recognition (ATR) algorithm, tracking and identifying targets of interest. As edge nodes are constrained in energy and computing capacity, this work proposes two ATR systems to be executed in low-power microprocessors. Both proposals are based on using Bag-of-Features for feature extraction and a supervised algorithm for classification, both differing in segmenting the InfraRed image in regions of interest or working directly with the whole image. Both proposals are successfully applied to infer about a dataset generated to this end, getting a trade-off between computing cost and detection capacity. As a result, the authors obtained a detection capacity of up to 97% and a frame rate of up to 5.71 and 59.17, running locally on the edge device and the workstation, respectively.

Adaptation of the Psychological Behavioral Acculturation Scale to a Community of Urban-based Mexican Americans in the United States

Objective: To report the psychometric properties of the Psychological-Behavioral Acculturation Scale (P-BAS), a tool gauging behavioral and psychological acculturation after adapting it through formative research to people of Mexican origin in the United States. Methods: We analyzed data from adapted P-BAS questionnaires in the TalaSurvey study, using standard methods to establish internal consistencies (Cronbach’s alpha), construct validity, and ascertain if the value orientation profile differed by ethnic group. Results: In 2012-13, 505 respondents (mean age 45.2 ±14.1, 56% female) participated: 250 European Americans (EA) and 255 people of Mexican origin (MA). Conclusions: Although internal consistencies of 15 value orientation measures were occasionally low, overall results were encouraging. A weighted combination of value orientation scores strongly discriminated between EA and MA. Additionally, the pattern of relationships among MAs identified between acculturation scores and the validity contrasts supported the construct validity of the proposed dual framework. The trend was particularly evident for most behavioral variables