1,721,049 research outputs found
Price discrimination and product quality under opt-in privacy regulation
Full text linkWe study how an opt-in regime of privacy regulation, which limits the scope for online price discrimination, affects product quality and consumer surplus. When consumers decide to share personal data, they benefit from the complementarity between information and quality, but they pay personalized prices instead of a uniform price. We find that, if the complementarity is strong enough, then product quality is higher with than without the opt-in regime. Privacy regulation may have conflicting effects on consumers with different attitudes towards privacy, and an increase in quality is necessary to improve total consumer surplus. Interestingly, these results hold both under monopoly and imperfect product market competition. We thus recommend that privacy protection measures be grounded in the study of the relation between personal information and product quality
Interrelationship between psychology and cytokines
No full textLeukocytes and other types of cells produce proteins or glycoproteins, termed cytokines, that serve as chemical communicators from one cell to another. Neuromediators are able to modulate functions of immune cells and other cells and the relationship between the central nervous system (CNS) and the endocrine system have been known for many years. Communication between nerves and immune and inflammatory cells plays a major role in the modulation of several dysfunctions including ion transport, mucosal permeability and cytokine production. Cytokines are involved in both injury and repair, and the conditions underlying these distinct outcomes are under intense investigation and debate. Evidence from medical studies implicates the immune system in a number of psychiatric disorders with known or suspected developmental origins, including schizophrenia, anxiety-depression, and cognitive dysfunction
Deliberate self-harm in substance-dependent patients and relationship with alexithymia and personality disorders: A case-control study
No full textThe aim of this study Is to evaluate differences in the prevalence of deliberate self-harm (DSH), alexithymia, and clinical personality patterns and syndromes between treatment-seeking substance-dependents and a comparison group, and to investigate the relationship of DSH with alexithymia, and personality disorders. One hundred and fifty-four subjects participated in the study (77 substance-dependent inpatients and 77 comparison group). DSM-IV diagnoses of substance dependence were made by the clinicians of the Addiction Services following assessment that included clinical observation. Participants were evaluated by the Deliberate Self Harm Inventory, Toronto Alexithymia Scale, and Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory. An Identifying Information Form was used to collect demographic information (e.g. age, educational history, marital status, and employment status). Only to the clinical sample information was added on: types of substance used, age at first substance use, age at regular substance use, and previous treatment attempts. Significant group differences were found for all measures (DSH, TAS-20, MCMI-III). Among substance-dependent patients there was a significant difference between groups with and without DSH in terms of previous treatment attempts, Hypomania and Borderline personality disorder. DSH were significantly correlated with difficulty in identifying feelings in all cases in both the comparison group and in the personality disorders group, and with difficulty describing feelings in the personality disorders group. Personality disorder and drug dependency were predictors for DSH. This study suggests that treatment of substance-dependents should involve screening for deliberate self-harm behavior, difficulty identifying and describing feelings, and personality disorders. Probably, when these problems are detected, specific psychological intervention should be integrated to usual treatment for substance-dependent patients
I test che lo psicologo deve conoscere
No full textSviluppato all’inizio del XX secolo dallo psichiatra svizzero Herman Rorschach (1884-1922), il Rorschach Inkblot Method è senz’altro uno dei test psicologici più noti e utilizzati in ambito clinico (Searles, 2017). Macchie d’inchiostro a fini “diagnostici” erano già usate a fine ‘800 ma a Rorschach (che pubblica il test nel 1921) – come notava Anzieu (1960) – va riconosciuta l’originalità di aver trasformato l’uso delle macchie d’inchiostro in test di personalità e non più di immaginazione. Rispetto agli autori che lo avevano preceduto, non era il contenuto delle associazioni dei soggetti che contava ma l’approccio percettivo al compito. Per complesse vicende e alterne fortune, il test si diffuse molto più tardi nel secondo ‘900 e si dovette aspettare il 1942 per la prima traduzione in inglese (Exner, 1969), il 1951 per il primo manuale europeo scritto (Bohm, 1951) e il 1981 per la traduzione italiana. Nel corso del ‘900, sia negli stati Uniti che in Europa, sono stati sviluppati diversi sistemi di siglatura e interpretazione che hanno poco in comune fra di loro, se non l’uso delle 10 tavole standard. Tanto che, quando si fa riferimento al test di Rorschach si fa riferimento alle 10 tavole standard di cui è composto, cinque in bianco e nero (I, IV, V, VI, VII) e cinque a colori (II, III, VIII, IX, X). In virtù di questa diversità, esistono in realtà tanti test di Rorschach quanti sono i sistemi sviluppati negli anni. Questa “babele” di linguaggi ha ostacolato la credibilità scientifica del test e creato le condizioni per un modello unificatore, psicometricamente affidabile e valido, accettato dalla comunità scientifica, cioè il Comprehensive System (CS) di John E. Exner (1928-2006) nella seconda metà degli anni ’80
Are you the right partner? R&D agreement as a screening device
No full textThis paper focuses on the strategic use of firms' R&D agreements to overcome R&D inefficiencies under asymmetric information and research spillovers. We introduce a duopoly game where initially one firm is not fully informed on its rival's R&D productivity. We show that, without R&D agreements, the usual underinvestment problem can be exacerbated by the presence of asymmetric information. However, the R&D agreement can be used strategically as a screening device to assess the true type of the firm with private information, hence solving the inefficiencies generated by asymmetric information. According to the model, firms are more likely to pursuit R&D agreements in presence of similar productivity and less when their productivity gap is high. This is consistent with the empirical findings highlighting the importance of firms' similarities for R&D collaborations
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