SuperIdentity: fusion of identity across real and cyber domains

Under both benign and malign circumstances, people now manage a spectrum of identities across both real-world and cyber domains. Our belief, however, is that all these instances ultimately track back for an individual to reflect a single ‘SuperIdentity’. This paper outlines the assumptions underpinning the SuperIdentity Project, describing the innovative use of data fusion to incorporate novel real-world and cyber cues into a rich framework appropriate for modern identity. The proposed combinatorial model will support a robust identification or authentication decision, with confidence indexed both by the level of trust in data provenance, and the diagnosticity of the identity factors being used. Additionally, the exploration of correlations between factors may underpin the more intelligent use of identity information so that known information may be used to predict previously hidden information. With modern living supporting the ‘distribution of identity’ across real and cyber domains, and with criminal elements operating in increasingly sophisticated ways in the hinterland between the two, this approach is suggested as a way forwards, and is discussed in terms of its impact on privacy, security, and the detection of threa

Ambient Intelligence through Image Retrieval

An ambient intelligent environment needs dynamic enrollment of strangers without too much human intervention. For this purpose, we propose an entity recognition process based on images captured with low-cost but widespread webcams and easy-to-deploy image processing techniques. We find that the use of levels of confidence in recognition due to different techniques and context-based image retrieval improves the process

The role of dieting, happiness with appearance, self-esteem, and bullying in the relationship between mental health and body-mass index among UK adolescents: a longitudinal analysis of the Millennium Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Mental illness and obesity are among the biggest challenges to population health, they are linked, and may be modifiable during adolescence. We aimed to determine intervening pathways between mental health and BMI z-score symptoms across adolescence. METHODS: In this longitudinal cohort study, we used path models to examine self-reported dieting, happiness with appearance, self-esteem and bullying at 14 years as potential mediators of the cross-lagged relationship between mental health (via the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire) and Body Mass Index (BMI) z-score at 11 and 17 years by sex in the UK Millennium Cohort Study, a prospective cohort study of 18,818 children born in the UK between September 1st, 2000, and January 31st, 2002. Full, incomplete data on all singleton children still participating in the study by age 11 years were analysed in GSEM via maximum likelihood estimation (N = 12,450). FINDINGS: We found happiness with appearance and self-esteem, but not dieting or bullying, mediated the relationship between BMI age 11 and mental health age 17. Each increase in BMI z-score at 11 years was associated with 0.12 increase for boys and a 0.19 increase for girls in scores of unhappiness with appearance (boys: b 0.12, 95% C.I.; girls b 0.19, C.I. 0.14 to 0.23) and a 16% increase for boys and a 22% increase for girls in odds of low self-esteem (boys OR 1.16, 95% C.I. 1.07 to 1.26; girls: OR 1.22, 95% C.I. 1.15 to 1.30) at 14 years. In turn, for both boys and girls, being unhappy with appearance and low self-esteem at 14 years were associated with a greater likelihood of emotional and externalizing symptoms at 17 years. INTERPRETATION: Early prevention strategies to encourage healthy physical and mental development of children need to focus on the promotion of positive body-mage and self-esteem. FUNDING: The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) School for Public Health Research (SPHR)

Is earlier obesity associated with poorer executive functioning later in childhood? Findings from the Millennium Cohort Study

BACKGROUND: Children affected with overweight or obesity have been associated with having lower educational achievement compared to peers who are non-overweight/obese. One of the drivers of this association could be a link between obesity and poorer executive function. Evidence is limited to small, cross-sectional studies which lack adjustment for important common causes. OBJECTIVE: We investigate the association between weight status and executive function longitudinally in mid-childhood, accounting for potential common causes. METHODS: Linear regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between weight status between 5 and 7 years and executive functioning at 11 years in members of the Millennium Cohort Study (n = 7739), accounting for a wide range of potential common causes. Age- and sex-specific International Obesity Taskforce cut-points for body mass index (BMI) were used. Executive function, including decision-making, impulsivity and spatial working memory, was assessed using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery. RESULTS: There were no unadjusted associations between weight status and decision-making or impulsivity. After adjustment for all potential common causes, there was a lack of consistent evidence to support an association between persistent obesity (including overweight) between 5 and 7 years and spatial working memory task at 11 years. CONCLUSIONS: We found little evidence that poorer spatial working memory contributes to the association of children with obesity having lower educational achievement

Depression in individuals who subsequently develop inflammatory bowel disease: a population-based nested case-control study.

OBJECTIVE: Depression is a potential risk factor for developing IBD. This association may be related to GI symptoms occurring before diagnosis. We aimed to determine whether depression, adjusted for pre-existing GI symptoms, is associated with subsequent IBD. DESIGN: We conducted a nested case-control study using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink identifying incident cases of UC and Crohn's disease (CD) from 1998 to 2016. Controls without IBD were matched for age and sex. We measured exposure to prevalent depression 4.5-5.5 years before IBD diagnosis. We created two sub-groups with prevalent depression based on whether individuals had reported GI symptoms before the onset of depression. We used conditional logistic regression to derive ORs for the risk of IBD depending on depression status. RESULTS: We identified 10 829 UC cases, 4531 CD cases and 15 360 controls. There was an excess of prevalent depression 5 years before IBD diagnosis relative to controls (UC: 3.7% vs 2.7%, CD 3.7% vs 2.9%). Individuals with GI symptoms prior to the diagnosis of depression had increased adjusted risks of developing UC and CD compared with those without depression (UC: OR 1.47, 95% CI 1.21 to 1.79; CD: OR 1.41, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.92). Individuals with depression alone had similar risks of UC and CD to those without depression (UC: OR 1.13, 95% CI 0.99 to 1.29; CD: OR 1.12, 95% CI 0.91 to 1.38). CONCLUSIONS: Depression, in the absence of prior GI symptoms, is not associated with subsequent development of IBD. However, depression with GI symptoms should prompt investigation for IBD

Everything you always wanted to know about dictionaries (but were afraid to ask): A Massive Open Online Course

© Lexicography in Global Contexts. We have created a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) about dictionaries and dictionary-making, to be hosted by FutureLearn. This paper discusses the design and development of this course, which is pitched at high school and undergraduate level participants as well as language enthusiasts around the world. The MOOC will answer questions such as: how dictionaries are made and how this process has changed over time; what goes into a dictionary and who decides; and what kinds of language evidence underpin the information which dictionaries provide. Participants will be encouraged to compare the quantity and quality of information in different types of dictionary, and will investigate corpus-based and computational lexicographic methods. It will also consider dictionary users' attitudes and common misconceptions, taking into account the requirements and habits of English language learners as well as fluent speakers. By the end of the course, participants will know about some of the latest trends in lexicographic research, the roles of language technology, corpora and crowdsourcing in the dictionary compilation process, the range of possible dictionary entry components, lexicographical choices and computational methods surrounding the selection and ordering of word meanings, and the content and wording of definitions

Supporting Human Decision-Making Online using Information Trustworthiness Metrics

The vast amount of information available online places decision makers wishing to use this content in an advantageous but also very difficult position. The advantages stem from the volume of content from a variety of sources that is readily available; the difficulties arise because of the often unknown quality and trustworthiness of the information – is it fact, opinion or purely meant to deceive? In this paper we reflect on and extend current work on information trust and quality metrics which can be used to address this difficulty. Specifically, we propose new metrics as worthy of consideration and the new combinatorics required to take measurements of the various trust factors into a single score. These feed into our existing overarching policy-based approach that uses trustworthiness metrics to support decision-making online

Grand Challenges: Improving HIV Treatment Outcomes by Integrating Interventions for Co-Morbid Mental Illness.

In the fourth article of a five-part series providing a global perspective on integrating mental health, Sylvia Kaaya and colleagues discuss the importance of integrating mental health interventions into HIV prevention and treatment platforms. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary

Amyand's Hernia – Case Report and Review of the Literature

Amyand's hernia is an extremely rare condition in which the appendix is positioned in the inguinal hernia sac. Acute appendicitis is much less common in this situation and few reports are found in the literature. We report a case of acute appendicitis with the tip of the appendix incarcerated outside the external ring of the right groin. A mobilized cecum and ascending colon were noticed during surgery. We conducted a review of the literature, emphasizing possible causes and suggesting a predisposing factor for the condition