Experiential-sensorial adaptive system model for hospitality based on 360° VR videos and case-based reasoning.

In this work, an adaptive software architecture is proposed for the generation of experiences for hotel promotion and marketing, based on Case-based Reasoning (CBR) that uses the attributes and user characteristics and immersive 360° videos. Considering that immersion in virtual reality (VR) environments can trigger responses in various dimensions, such as affective, cognitive, attitudinal, and behavioral dimensions, these dimensions are evaluated in immersive environments with 360° videos. To validate the results obtained with the software architecture, a quasi-experimental study was conducted through the evaluation of the experience, consisting in the visualization of the environments of a boutique hotel, with a sample of a randomly selected group of young people. The contribution of this work lies in the use of 360° VR videos, for the visualization of the hotel characteristics and environments according the user profiles, to evaluate the affective, cognitive and attitudinal and behavioral responses and their influence on the booking intention and attitude. Finally, conclusions and recommendations for future work have been established.

Patient views regarding cannabis use in chronic kidney disease and kidney failure: a survey study.

BACKGROUND: Cannabis is frequently used recreationally and medicinally, including for symptom management in patients with kidney disease. METHODS: We elicited the views of Canadian adults with kidney disease regarding their cannabis use. Participants were asked whether they would try cannabis for anxiety, depression, restless legs, itchiness, fatigue, chronic pain, decreased appetite, nausea/vomiting, sleep, cramps and other symptoms. The degree to which respondents considered cannabis for each symptom was assessed with a modified Likert scale ranging from 1 to 5 (1, definitely would not; 5, definitely would). Multilevel multivariable linear regression was used to identify respondent characteristics associated with considering cannabis for symptom control. RESULTS: Of 320 respondents, 290 (90.6%) were from in-person recruitment (27.3% response rate) and 30 (9.4%) responses were from online recruitment. A total of 160/320 respondents (50.2%) had previously used cannabis, including smoking [140 (87.5%)], oils [69 (43.1%)] and edibles [92 (57.5%)]. The most common reasons for previous cannabis use were recreation [84/160 (52.5%)], pain alleviation [63/160 (39.4%)] and sleep enhancement [56/160 (35.0%)]. Only 33.8% of previous cannabis users thought their physicians were aware of their cannabis use. More than 50% of respondents probably would or definitely would try cannabis for symptom control for all 10 symptoms. Characteristics independently associated with interest in trying cannabis for symptom control included symptom type (pain, sleep, restless legs), online respondent {ß = 0.7 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.1-1.4]} and previous cannabis use [ß = 1.2 (95% CI 0.9-1.5)]. CONCLUSIONS: Many patients with kidney disease use cannabis and there is interest in trying cannabis for symptom control.

Fundamentos de criopreservación / Basic points in cryopreservation

El entender y aplicar adecuadamente la criopreservación de material biológico es fundamental en laboratorios y bancos de células. Sin embargo, aunque se han implementado protocolos para criopreservación, aún no se tienen los ideales en la mayoría de los casos. El objetivo de esta revisión es dar a conocer ciertos parámetros inherentes al proceso de criopreservación y la importancia de conocer ciertas características de la célula que pueden incidir con la viabilidad del producto congelado para lograr la técnica adecuada. Para alcanzar este propósito, el documento se basará en el conocimiento de las propiedades fisicoquímicas de la célula y/o el tejido, pues este proceso es afectado por diferentes variables como permeabilidad celular, volumen osmóticamente inactivo y relación superficie/área de la célula, la cual es variable de acuerdo a la especie, tipo y estadio de la célula a congelar. La estructura y composición de las membranas plasmáticas determinan los principales eventos celulares que tienen lugar durante los procesos de criopreservación; las bajas temperaturas afectan la difusión y ósmosis a través de las membranas y cada célula maneja su propio perfil biofísico el cual interactúa con diferentes criopreservantes celulares. El hallar el protocolo adecuado será lo que garantice la viabilidad y funcionabilidad celular.