CUSTOMER SEGMENTATION ANALYSIS OF CANNABIS RETAIL DATA: A MACHINE LEARNING APPROACH

As the legal cannabis industry emerges from its nascent stages, there is increasing motivation for retailers to look for data or strategies that can help them segment or describe their customers in a succinct, but informative manner. While many cannabis operators view the state-mandated traceability as a necessary burden, it provides a goldmine for internal customer analysis. Traditionally, segmentation analysis focuses on demographic or RFM (recency-frequency-monetary) segmentation. Yet, neither of these methods has the capacity to provide insight into a customer’s purchasing behavior. With the help of 4Front Ventures, a battle-tested multinational cannabis operator, this report focuses on segmenting customers using cannabis-specific data (such as flower and concentrate consumption) and machine learning methods (K-Means and Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering) to generate newfound ways to explore a dispensary’s consumer base. The findings are that there are roughly five or six clusters of customers with each cluster having unique purchasing traits that define them. Although the results are meaningful, this report could benefit with exploring more clustering algorithms, comparing results across dispensaries within the same state, or investigating segmentations in other state markets

Vibrotactile sensitivity in active touch: effect of pressing force

An experiment was conducted to study the effects of force produced by active touch on vibrotactile perceptual thresholds. The task consisted in pressing the fingertip against a flat rigid surface that provided either sinusoidal or broadband vibration. Three force levels were considered, ranging from light touch to hard press. Finger contact areas were measured during the experiment, showing positive correlation with the respective applied forces. Significant effects on thresholds were found for vibration type and force level. Moreover, possibly due to the concurrent effect of large (unconstrained) finger contact areas, active pressing forces, and long duration stimuli, the measured perceptual thresholds are considerably lower than what previously reported in the literature

Influence d'internet sur l'offre de cadeaux :

Après avoir rappelé les principales recherches sur l'offre de cadeaux, nous montrons comment internet modifie les comportements dans ce domaine. Après les perspectives économique et relationnelle, nous montrons alors que la recherche sur l'orientation communautaire de l'échange de cadeaux mériterait d'être enrichie. Ainsi, en prenant l'exemple du swap de cadeaux sur Internet, nous présentons les résultats d'une première étude à visée exploratoire dont l'objectif est de montrer que l'influence d'Internet modifie la question de la réciprocité inter-individuelle, la question de la valeur économique de l'échange et ajoute une dimension ludique liée à la surprise et à l'anonymat de l'offreur. Nous envisageons alors en conclusion des perspectives pour les entreprises qui pourraient proposer des produits destinés à l'achat pour offrir et répondant aux caractéristiques que nous aurons identifiées.Internet, cadeaux, communauté, tribu, swap

To “Sketch-a-Scratch”

A surface can be harsh and raspy, or smooth and silky, and everything in between. We are used to sense these features with our fingertips as well as with our eyes and ears: the exploration of a surface is a multisensory experience. Tools, too, are often employed in the interaction with surfaces, since they augment our manipulation capabilities. “Sketch-a-Scratch” is a tool for the multisensory exploration and sketching of surface textures. The user’s actions drive a physical sound model of real materials’ response to interactions such as scraping, rubbing or rolling. Moreover, different input signals can be converted into 2D visual surface profiles, thus enabling to experience them visually, aurally and haptically

Antioxidant properties of minimally processed (ready-to-eat) Italian Cichorium genus salads

The modern lifestyle is characterized by a continuous increase in the demand of ready-to-eat fresh food products subjected to minimal processes prior marketing. Attention is drawn towards the effect of this processing on the antioxidant/antiradical properties of two typical Italian salads belonging to Cichorium genus. Four chemical assays (anti-peroxyl radical activity, DPPH• assay, metal chelating ability assay, and reducing power assay) were used for evaluating these properties. The results indicated that the anti-peroxyl radical activity, the anti-DPPH radical activity, the metal chelating ability, and the reducing power were significantly higher in fresh samples as compared to 8-days stored samples (p<0.001). Minimal processing applied to vegetables further affected the tested properties causing a decrease over time from 24h to 8d of storage at 4°C. Overall, the results presented in this study showed that any minimal processing applied to ready-to-eat vegetable affects the antioxidant/antiradical properties determining a decrease in the values registered in the four chemical assays

A case of infant botulism in a 4-month-old baby

This case-report highlights: i) the difficulty of IB diagnosis as it is a rare syndrome with subclinical onset, ii) the need for an accurate training for physicians involved in IB management, iii) the efficacy and safety of TEqA in IB treatment, iv) homemade honey is not the only cause of IB

An integrated genomic approach for the study of mandibular prognathism in the European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax)

Skeletal anomalies in farmed fish are a relevant issue affecting animal welfare and health and causing significant economic losses. Here, a high-density genetic map of European seabass for QTL mapping of jaw deformity was constructed and a genome-wide association study (GWAS) was carried out on a total of 298 juveniles, 148 of which belonged to four full-sib families. Out of 298 fish, 107 were affected by mandibular prognathism (MP). Three significant QTLs and two candidate SNPs associated with MP were identified. The two GWAS candidate markers were located on ChrX and Chr17, both in close proximity with the peaks of the two most significant QTLs. Notably, the SNP marker on Chr17 was positioned within the Sobp gene coding region, which plays a pivotal role in craniofacial development. The analysis of differentially expressed genes in jaw-deformed animals highlighted the "nervous system development" as a crucial pathway in MP. In particular, Zic2, a key gene for craniofacial morphogenesis in model species, was significantly down-regulated in MP-affected animals. Gene expression data revealed also a significant down-regulation of Sobp in deformed larvae. Our analyses, integrating transcriptomic and GWA methods, provide evidence for putative mechanisms underlying seabass jaw deformity

Diagnosis of primary headache in children younger than 6 years: A clinical challenge

Background: Criteria defined by the International headache Society are commonly used for the diagnosis of the different headache types in both adults and children. However, some authors have stressed some limits of these criteria when applied to preschool age. Objective: Our study aimed to describe the characteristics of primary headaches in children younger than 6 years and investigate how often the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD) criteria allow a definitive diagnosis. Methods: This retrospective study analysed the clinical feature of 368 children younger than 6 years with primary headache. Results: We found that in our patients the percentage of undefined diagnosis was high when either the ICHD-II or the ICHD-III criteria were used. More than 70% of our children showed a duration of their attacks shorter than 1 hour. The absence of photophobia/phonophobia and nausea/vomiting significantly correlate with tension-type headache (TTH) and probable TTH. The number of first-degree relatives with migraine was positively correlated to the diagnosis of migraine in the patients (p<0.001). Conclusions: Our study showed that the ICHD-III criteria are difficult to use in children younger than 6 years. The problem is not solved by the reduction of the lowest duration limit for the diagnosis of migraine to 1 hour, as was done in the ICHD-II

OUTSIDE THE ECHO CHAMBER: A RESPONSE TO THE “CONSENSUS STATEMENT ON ABUSIVE HEAD TRAUMA IN INFANTS AND YOUNG CHILDREN”

OUTSIDE THE ECHO CHAMBER: A RESPONSE TO THE “CONSENSUS STATEMENT ON ABUSIVE HEAD TRAUMA IN INFANTS AND YOUNG CHILDREN”