A recent study has shown how the degree of dependency among the elderly can automatically be measured in a non-intrusive way, using only a smart wristband, while they carry out their everyday activities

This solution can save time for health professionals and healthcare systems thanks to the early detection of dependency and other diseases or impairments

Researchers from the Departments of Software Engineering and Physiotherapy of the University of Granada (UGR) have developed a new method of assessing the state of dependency of people over the age of 65, based on artificial intelligence (AI).

The study, published in the International Journal of Medical Informatics,confirms that it is possible to automatically measure the degree of dependency among elderly people in a non-intrusive way, using only a smart wristband, while they perform their day-to-day activities. This solution can save time for health professionals and healthcare systems thanks to the early detection of dependency and other diseases or impairments.

Traditionally, the dependency status of people over 65 years of age is assessed with tests or questionnaires that are self-reported or administered by others—such as the Lawton & Brody questionnaire. In this approach, elderly people are asked to perform tasks relating to 8 ‘domains of function’—known as Instrumental Activities of Daily Living or IADLs—while a health professional observes whether they perform them adequately or if they have any difficulties.

These activities include the ability to use the telephone, do the shopping, prepare food, wash their clothes, etc. In general, these types of observation-based evaluations require considerable time and, in addition, present a subjective dimension. Therefore, they are often not carried out because they are resource-intensive.

In a bid to overcome these drawbacks, the authors of this UGR-based study used wearable devices such as smartwatches and wristbands to collect physiological data (objective data on vital signs) from the elderly subjects during a complex and highly comprehensive IADL, such as supermarket shopping.

After analysing the data, combined with machine learning techniques, the researchers successfully validated a model capable of distinguishing between dependent and independent people—accurately, non-intrusively, and inexpensively.

Bibliography:

M. Garcia-Moreno, M. Bermudez-Edo, E. Rodríguez-García, J. M. Pérez-Mármol, J. L.

Garrido, & M. J. Rodríguez-Fórtiz (2022), ‘A machine learning approach for semi-automatic assessment of IADL dependence in older adults with wearable sensors’, 157 International Journal of Medical Informatics,  104625. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2021.104625

Media enquiries:

Francisco M. García Moreno

Department of Software Engineering, University of Granada

Email: fmgarmor@ugr.es

Website: https://frangam.com

This ground-breaking finding, published in the scientific journal Theranostics, may represent a great advance in the prevention of the development of metastases in cancer patients

The Liquid Biopsy and Cancer Interception research group—part of the Biohealth Research Institute in Granada (ibs.GRANADA), in which researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) participate—has discovered that tumour cells pass themselves off as platelets to go undetected in the bloodstream.

This finding constitutes a paradigm shift in terms of how the metastatic process unfolds, and may contribute not only to a better understanding of the tumour process but also to the development of treatments for intercepting the process of tumour dissemination and, ultimately, the appearance of metastasis.

Metastasis is the leading cause of cancer-related death, due to the release of tumour cells from a primary tumour into the bloodstream, where they can travel to another organ and create a secondary tumour. These cells are known as Circulating Tumour Cells (CTCs) and, despite being known for their prognostic and predictive value as cancer biomarkers, little is known about their biology. CTCs are capable not only of detaching from the tumour mass but also of withstanding attacks from the immune system and colonising distant organs.

This team of scientists from ibs.GRANADA , the UGR, GENyO, and the ‘Virgen de las Nieves’ Teaching Hospital in Granada have demonstrated for the first time that platelets are capable of transferring biomolecules such as lipids, proteins, and ribonucleic acid to the CTCs, which helps them to go unnoticed in the bloodstream. In other words, tumour cells acquire part of the configuration of platelets to ‘trick’ the body into believing they are platelets, enabling them to take over other organs.

Therefore, this study reveals how platelets can phenotypically, genetically, and functionally modify tumour cells, indicating which ones could play a crucial role in metastasis by interacting with and modifying CTCs.

This research was led by Dr. María José Serrano, researcher on the ‘Nicolás Monardes’ programme at the GENyO Center and in the ‘Virgen de las Nieves’ Teaching Hospital. The study was the result of collaboration with Dr. Pedro Real of the UGR, renowned oncologist Dr. Christian Rolfo of the Center for Thoracic Oncology at the Tisch Cancer Institute, Mount Sinai, member of the external advisory committee of ibs.GRANADA, and Dr. Massimo Cristofanilli of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.

About the research group

The Liquid Biopsy and Cancer Interception research group of ibs.GRANADA is led by Dr. José Expósito Hernández and Dr. María José Serrano. It is an active research group with multiple ongoing collaborations with other groups at regional, national, and international levels. It aims to bring clinical and basic knowledge together in a practical, useful approach for patients and to support the evaluation of healthcare services.

For more information about the group, see:

A06-Oncología Clínica y Biopsia Líquida

Liquid Biopsy & Cancer interception

Bibliography:

Rodríguez-Martínez A, Simon-Saez I, Perales S, Garrido-Navas C, Russo A, de Miguel-Pérez D, Puche-Sanz I, Alaminos C, Ceron J, Lorente JA, Molina MP, González C, Cristofanilli M, Ortigosa-Palomo A, Real PJ, Rolfo C, & Serrano MJ (2022), ‘Exchange of cellular components between platelets and tumor cells: Impact on tumor cells behavior’, Theranostics 12(5):2150-2161.

doi:10.7150/thno.64ilable from https://www.thno.org/v12p2150.htm

Media enquiries:

María José Serrano Fernández

Department of Anatomical Pathology and History of Science, University of Granada

Email: mjose.serrano@genyo.es

Pedro José Real Luna

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I, University of Granada

Tel.: +34 958 243252

Email: pedroreal@ugr.es

In light of COVID-19 concerns, research led by the UGR’s Francisco Peco Torres proposes that hotel firms should segment their communication and marketing plans according to clients’ resilience and risk perception of the pandemic

The perception of physical and emotional risk caused by COVID-19 among hotel clients influences their decision-making when it comes to deciding whether to stay in this type of establishment. Hence, hotel firms that base the design of their marketing and communication campaigns on this variable will find it helps make their offer appealing.

This is demonstrated by a study led by Francisco Peco-Torres of the Department of Marketing and Market Research at the University of Granada, together with Ana Isabel Polo-Peña and Professor Dolores María Frías-Jamilena.

The study also seeks to determine how resilience—the individual’s ability to readily recover from stressful situations and adapt to contexts characterised by uncertainty—can help consumers adjust to the ‘new normal’ caused by COVID-19 in the hotel sector.

A quantitative empirical study was conducted among Spanish hotel clients. The analysis showed that, when the client perceives physical and emotional risk attached to staying at a hotel due to COVID-19, this reduces their intention to resume their consumption of hotel accommodation in the wake of the pandemic while the virus is still present in the population. Physical risk is the degree to which the consumer perceives that it is possible to contract the virus at a hotel, while emotional risk is the concern that, due to the situation caused by the pandemic, the hotel experience will not prove satisfactory and may cause extreme mental overwhelm. In this scenario, according to Peco Torres, “consumer resilience helps reduce perceived physical and emotional risk”.

The results show that the more resilient the consumer, the better he or she will adapt to the new situation and the less risk they will perceive. In turn, the less risk they perceive, the greater their intention to return to staying in hotels again, even with COVID-19 still present.

Adapting hotel marketing and communications

The research has highlighted the role of resilience in consumer decision-making, showing that hotel firms must take this individual capacity into account when designing their marketing and communication plans. “One way of incorporating consumer resilience into these plans would be to segment consumers based on their degree of resilience, distinguishing between two types of consumers”, explains Francisco Peco.

On the one hand, less resilient individuals will perceive a higher degree of risk and present a low intention to resume their consumption of hotel accommodation. According to this study, firms wanting to target this segment in their communications should emphasize the anti-COVID-19 safety measures being taken by the hotel, in order to demonstrate that protecting their clients is their top priority. It would also be useful to emphasize the emotional cost of unnecessarily missing out on safe tourism experiences.

On the other hand, consumers with more personal resilience will perceive hotels to present a lower degree of risk and will show a higher level of intention to return to staying in them. Communication aimed at this segment should adopt a more commercial approach that motivates consumers to return to enjoying touristic experiences. It would also be appropriate to take a social approach to communications targeted at this profile of consumer, to convey how important their custom and their trust are for the survival of the hotel sector and all the employment it generates.

Bibliography:

Francisco Peco-Torres, Ana I. Polo-Peña, Dolores M. Frías-Jamilena, ‘The effect of COVID-19 on tourists’ intention to resume hotel consumption: The role of resilience, International’, 99 Journal of Hospitality Management, 2021.

103075, ISSN 0278-4319 [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2021.103075]

Media enquiries:
Francisco Torres
Department of Marketing and Market Research
Faculty of Economics and Business
University of Granada
Email: fpeco@ugr.es