Native Mobile Applications For Personal Well-Being: A Persuasive Systems Design Evaluation

Smartphone applications have shown promise in supporting people to adopt healthy lifestyles. Hence, it is critical to understand persuasive design strategies incorporated in native mobile applications that facilitate behavior change. The aim of our study was to identify distinct persuasive software features assimilated in twelve selected applications using Persuasive Systems Design (PSD) model and provide a methodical framework for systems developers and IS researchers to extract and evaluate such features. Further, this study aimed to provide deeper comprehension of persuasive design and strategies by learning from practice. Exhaustive evaluations were performed by four researchers specializing in persuasive information systems simulating users walking through the applications step-by-step performing regular tasks. The results disclose the need for improvement in designing and incorporating persuasive techniques in personal well-being applications. While self-monitoring and personalization were moderately exploited, tailoring, a key persuasive feature, was not identified among the evaluated applications. In addition, evaluated applications lacked features that could augment human-computer dialogue as well as social support. The contribution of this paper is two-fold: while it exposes weakness in persuasive design of native mobile applications for personal well-being, it provides a methodical approach for enhancing general persuasiveness of such applications for instance, through enhanced dialogue support. We propose that designers and IS researchers perform rigorous evaluations of persuasive features incorporated in personal well-being applications

Vapauden, tasa-arvon ja solidaarisuuden rajat sosiaalipolitiikan uudessa paradigmassa

Ekologisiin rajoihin sopeutuminen ja hyvinvointivaltion kehittyminen sosiaalisten investointien toteuttajaksi muuttaa todennäköisesti oikeuksien, tasa-arvon ja yhteisvastuun tasapainoa suomalaisessa sosiaalipolitiikassa. Uusi sosiaalipolitiikan paradigma korostaa yksilöä moraalisena valintoja tekevänä subjektina, ja samalla yhteiskunnan velvollisuutta mahdollistaa ja ohjata yksilöitä tekemään eettisesti ja ekologisesti kestäviä valintoja. Lisäksi se korostaa pyrkimystä rakentaa vastavuoroisuuteen perustuvaa luottamusta sosiaalisten ja ekologisten riskien varalta myös globaalisti. Sosiaalipolitiikka on aina oikeuksien, tasa-arvon ja yhteisvastuun tavoitteiden yhteensovittamista. Niihin liittyvien näkemyserojen yhteensovittaminen on hyvinvointipolitiikan tehtävä. Suomalaista sosiaalipolitiikkaa on leimannut oikeuksien korostaminen yhteisvastuun kustannuksella ja utilitaristinen seurausetiikka velvollisuus- ja sopimusetiikan kustannuksella. Arvokeskustelu oikeuksien, tasa-arvon ja yhteisvastuun yhteensovittamisesta sosiaaliturvassa on ollut vähäistä. Työpaperi tarkastelee vapausoikeuksien, tasa-arvon ja solidaarisuuden historiaa ja osin ristiriitaisia tavoitteita sosiaalipolitiikassa sekä sitä, miten niitä on yhteensovitettu suomalaisessa hyvinvointipolitiikassa. Lopuksi pohditaan, mikä niiden painotus ehkä on tulevaisuuden suomalaisessa sosiaaliturvassa ja -politiikassa

The quality of warfarin therapy and CHA(2)DS(2)-VASc score associate with the incidence of myocardial infarction and cardiovascular outcome in patients with atrial fibrillation : data from the nationwide FinWAF Registry

Aims The impact of the quality of warfarin therapy on cardiovascular outcomes excluding stroke is largely unknown. The aims of this study were to evaluate the association between the warfarin control and the incidence and outcome of myocardial infarction (MI) and to validate the predictive value of the CHA2DS2-VASc score for MI in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients taking warfarin. Methods and results The nationwide FinWAF Registry consists of 54 568 AF patients (mean age 73.31 +/- 10.7 years, 52% men) taking warfarin. The quality of warfarin therapy was assessed continuously by calculating the time in therapeutic range within a 60-day window using the Rosendaal method (TTR60). Adjusted Cox proportional hazards models were prepared for the incidence of MI and cardiovascular mortality in six different TTR60 categories. During the 3.2 +/- 1.6 years of follow-up, the annual incidence of MI (95% confidence interval) was 3.3% (3.0-3.5%), 2.9% (2.6-3.3%), 2.4% (2.1-2.7%), 1.9% (1.7-2.2%), 1.7% (1.5-2.0%), and 1.2% (1.1-1.3%) among patients with TTR60 80%, respectively. Well-managed warfarin therapy (TTR60 >80%) was associated also with a lower cardiovascular mortality, whereas a high CHA(2)DS(2)-VASc score correlated with poor outcome. Conclusion Cardiovascular outcome was superior among AF patients with good warfarin control and in those with a low CHA(2)DS(2)-VASc score. The inverse association between the TTR60 and incidence of MI and cardiovascular mortality indicate that in AF patients the quality of warfarin therapy is critical not only for prevention of stroke but also with regard to cardiovascular outcome.Peer reviewe

Dataset from a mesocosm experiment on brownification in the Baltic Sea

Refers to Brownification affects phytoplankton community composition but not primary productivity in eutrophic coastal waters: A mesocosm experiment in the Baltic Sea Science of The Total Environment, Volume 841, 1 October 2022, Pages 156510 Kristian Spilling, Eero Asmala, Noora Haavisto, Lumi Haraguchi, Kaisa Kraft, Anne-Mari Lehto, Aleksandra M. Lewandowska, Joanna Norkko, Jonna Piiparinen, Jukka Seppälä, Mari Vanharanta, Anu Vehmaa, Pasi Ylöstalo, Timo TamminenClimate change is projected to cause brownification of some coastal seas due to increased runoff of terrestrially derived organic matter. We carried out a mesocosm experiment over 15 days to test the effect of this on the planktonic ecosystem. The experiment was set up in 2.2 m3 plastic bags moored outside the Tvärminne Zoological Station at the SW coast of Finland. We used four treatments, each with three replicates: control (Contr) without any manipulation; addition of a commercially available organic carbon additive called HuminFeed (Hum; 2 mg L−1); addition of inorganic nutrients (Nutr; 5.7 µM NH4 and 0.65µM PO4); and a final treatment of combined Nutr and Hum (Nutr+Hum) additions. Water samples were taken daily, and measured variables included water transparency, organic and inorganic nutrient pools, chlorophyll a (Chla), primary and bacterial production and particle counts by flow cytometry.Peer reviewe

Kuopio birth cohort - design of a Finnish joint research effort for identification of environmental and lifestyle risk factors for the wellbeing of the mother and the newborn child

Background: A Finnish joint research effort Kuopio Birth Cohort (KuBiCo) seeks to evaluate the effects of genetics, epigenetics and different risk factors (medication, nutrition, lifestyle factors and environmental aspects) during pregnancy on the somatic and psychological health status of the mother and the child. Methods: KuBiCo will ultimately include information on 10,000 mother-child pairs who have given their informed consent to participate in this cohort. Identification of foetal health risk factors that can potentially later manifest as disease requires a repository of relevant biological samples and a flexible open up-to-date data handling system to register, store and analyse biological, clinical and questionnaire-based data. KuBiCo includes coded questionnaire-based maternal background data gathered before, during and after the pregnancy and bio-banking of maternal and foetal samples that will be stored in deep freezers. Data from the questionnaires and biological samples will be collected into one electronic database. KuBiCo consists of several work packages which are complementary to each other: Maternal, foetal and placental metabolism and omits; Paediatrics; Mental wellbeing; Prenatal period and delivery; Analgesics and anaesthetics during peripartum period; Environmental effects; Nutrition; and Research ethics. Discussion: This report describes the set-up of the KuBiCo and descriptive analysis from 3532 parturients on response frequencies and feedback to KuBiCo questionnaires gathered from June 2012 to April 2016. Additionally, we describe basic demographic data of the participants (n = 1172). Based on the comparison of demographic data between official national statistics and our descriptive analysis, KuBiCo represents a cross-section of Finnish pregnant women.Peer reviewe

Association of circulating metabolites with healthy diet and risk of cardiovascular disease : analysis of two cohort studies

Diet may modify metabolomic profiles towards higher or lower cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. We aimed to identify metabolite profiles associated with high adherence to dietary recommendations-the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) - and the extent to which metabolites associated with AHEI also predict incident CVD. Relations between AHEI score and 80 circulating lipids and metabolites, quantified by nuclear magnetic resonance metabolomics, were examined using linear regression models in the Whitehall II study (n = 4824, 55.9 +/- 6.1 years, 28.0% women) and were replicated in the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study (n = 1716, 37.7 +/- 5.0 years, 56.3% women). We used Cox models to study associations between metabolites and incident CVD over the 15.8-year follow-up in the Whitehall II study. After adjustment for confounders, higher AHEI score (indicating healthier diet) was associated with higher degree of unsaturation of fatty acids (FA) and higher ratios of polyunsaturated FA, omega-3 and docosahexaenoic acid relative to total FA in both Whitehall II and Young Finns studies. A concordance of associations of metabolites with higher AHEI score and lower CVD risk was observed in Whitehall II. Adherence to healthy diet seems to be associated with specific FA that reduce risk of CVD.Peer reviewe

Patients with type 1 diabetes show signs of vascular dysfunction in response to multiple high-fat meals

Peer reviewe

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms