Seasonal changes in mood and behavior contribute to suicidality and worthlessness in a population-based study

Limited evidence suggests that the seasonal changes in mood and behavior may associate with suicidality and the feelings of worthlessness, but these associations have not been analyzed in large population-based data. A random sample of adults (n = 4069), representative of the general population living in Finland, attended a nationwide health examination survey. Seasonal variations (seasonality) in mood and behavior were analyzed with the six items of global seasonality score (GSS) and the experienced problem due to these variations. Their impact on suicidality as well as on the feelings of worthlessness were analyzed using logistic regression models. After adjusting for age and gender, the GSS, each of its six items and the experienced problem due to the seasonal variations in mood and behavior all showed separately a significant association with suicidality as well as with worthlessness. After further adjustment for the education level and region of residence, the GSS, its mood item and the experienced problem remained significantly associated with both suicidality and worthlessness. Seasonal variations in mood and behavior have a significant association with both suicidality and worthlessness.Peer reviewe

Customers’ opinions on incentive based insurance

Copyright (c) 2017 Raimo Voutilainen. This journal has a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Adoption of incentive-based insurance applications : the perspective of psychological ownership

Incentive-based health insurance applications have been implemented to trigger lower insurance premiums when the individual follows healthy living habits. It has been recognised that this benefit notwithstanding, consumers’ perceptions related to such applications in the life-insurance field and health tracking are not necessarily positive. Recent research has recognised that psychological ownership, a mental state wherein one feels a technology or application to be his or her own, plays a crucial role in individuals’ willingness to adopt and use new technologies. It has been suggested that many digital applications and platforms possess unique empowering and co-creative features that offer special potential to facilitate the emergence of psychological ownership and satisfy the underlying needs. The aim of our study, proceeding from these premises, was to identify and thematize hurdles to take-up of incentive-based health insurance applications with regard to meeting needs that drive development of psychological ownership. We achieved this by conducting a thematic analysis of perceptions of consumers who were not willing to adopt a specific application of the relevant type. The resulting framework, which recognises 14 thematized hurdles in all, holds important implications for scientific and managerial use both.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Information and communication technologies and the digital divide in the Third World countries

The technophiles view is that the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) herald the arrival of the new information era and are key factors for social change. The technophobes view the advances in ICT as new and sophisticated tools that would further the industrial imperialism. In spite of these opposing views, it is a fact that ICT have been contributing to a significant part of the economy of many developing nations. This is substantiated by the actions of almost every Third World country in treating ICT as a high priority item in their economic planning. ICT is seen to play an important role in political, socioeconomical, and cultural globalization process. Many international organizations including the World Bank, United Nations (UN) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), have fostered multitude of initiatives in the Third World countries that not only help in bringing the benefits of ICT to the Third World, but also create a framework for influencing policy formulations, open up markets, introduce competition and deregulate the ICT market. The changes brought about by ICT are rapid and ubiquitous. The uneven diffusion of this fast- changing technology has also caused the digital divide within the countries and between the countries. It is almost certain that the countries which do not adopt and adapt to these changes will be marginalized, widening the digital divide. Third World countries are precariously poised at this juncture and a careful planning on their part would decide if the ICT would bring economic growth for them or push them deeper into technological isolation. In this paper, we discuss the emerging trend in ICT, the state of their assimilation world over and the emerging digital divide

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"HE 243/2006 vp rajat ylittävin yhteistyön tehostamisesta erityisesti terrorismin, rajat ylittävän rikollisuuden ja laittoman muuttoliikkeen torjumiseksi tehdyn sopimuksen (Prümin sopimus) hyväksymisestä ja laiksi sen lainsäädännön alaan kuuluvien määräysten voimaansaattamisesta sekä eräiksi muiksi siihen liittyviksi laeiksi