Perceived risk in online services and its effect on password strength

Passwords are the most used method for authentication in online platforms. At the same time, password management continues to be one of the biggest security risks for individual users. This is due to both inadequate password behavior of most users, especially related to password strength which depends on the parameters assigned by the user in most cases. Two of the most prevalent behaviors that can expose users to danger are password reuse and weak password strength. Our thesis focuses on the problem of weak password strength usage. Therefore, we seek to answer the following research problem: “Does the perception of risk associated with different online services influence password strength and is this universally applied?”. We conducted the research study on Norwegian students from the University of Agder. To answer our question, we followed a quantitative methodology in form of an online distributed survey. The study was based on findings from a literature review which helped us get an understanding of different factors affecting users’ password behavior, risk perception, knowledge, and the state of password strength. The survey received 99 respondents of which 70 were eligible for further analysis. The analyses of the data were conducted using Excel. We present our findings in figures, tables, and descriptive analysis. Our results show that using different password strengths for different online services is common among users. In addition, there are no significant changes in password strength between the services when analyzing behaviors of individual users. Moreover, the perceived risk of user accounts being attempted compromised, and the consequences of compromise in services have low correlation with password strength, with a few exceptions for some services. Two of these exceptions being porn, and news. Furthermore, we discuss our findings in detail by looking at outliers and trends in the data, and some commonalities between the services that follow a similar pattern in our findings. We concluded that password strength differs among online services, and that certain online services are more likely to have weaker passwords than others

Perceived risk in online services and its effect on password strength

Passwords are the most used method for authentication in online platforms. At the same time, password management continues to be one of the biggest security risks for individual users. This is due to both inadequate password behavior of most users, especially related to password strength which depends on the parameters assigned by the user in most cases. Two of the most prevalent behaviors that can expose users to danger are password reuse and weak password strength. Our thesis focuses on the problem of weak password strength usage. Therefore, we seek to answer the following research problem: “Does the perception of risk associated with different online services influence password strength and is this universally applied?”. We conducted the research study on Norwegian students from the University of Agder. To answer our question, we followed a quantitative methodology in form of an online distributed survey. The study was based on findings from a literature review which helped us get an understanding of different factors affecting users’ password behavior, risk perception, knowledge, and the state of password strength. The survey received 99 respondents of which 70 were eligible for further analysis. The analyses of the data were conducted using Excel. We present our findings in figures, tables, and descriptive analysis. Our results show that using different password strengths for different online services is common among users. In addition, there are no significant changes in password strength between the services when analyzing behaviors of individual users. Moreover, the perceived risk of user accounts being attempted compromised, and the consequences of compromise in services have low correlation with password strength, with a few exceptions for some services. Two of these exceptions being porn, and news. Furthermore, we discuss our findings in detail by looking at outliers and trends in the data, and some commonalities between the services that follow a similar pattern in our findings. We concluded that password strength differs among online services, and that certain online services are more likely to have weaker passwords than others

Dental and Periodontal Health in Acute Intermittent Porphyria

In the inherited metabolic disorder acute intermittent porphyria (AIP), high sugar intake prevents porphyric attacks due to the glucose effect and the following high insulin levels that may lower AIP disease activity. Insulin resistance is a known risk factor for periodontitis and sugar changes diabetogenic hormones and affects dental health. We hypothesized differences in homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) scores for insulin resistance in AIP cases vs. controls and in those with periodontitis. Our aim was to systematically study dental health in AIP as poor dental health was previously only described in case reports. Further, we aimed to examine if poor dental health and kidney failure might worsen AIP as chronic inflammation and kidney failure might increase disease activity. In 47 AIP cases and 47 matched controls, X-rays and physical examination of clinical attachment loss (CAL), probing pocket depth (PPD), and decayed missing filled teeth (DMFT) were performed. Dietary intake was evaluated through a diet logbook. Plasma cytokines and diabetogenic hormones were measured using multiplex technology and urine porphobilinogen and kidney and liver function by routine methods. An excel spreadsheet from the University of Oxford was used to estimate HOMA scores; beta cell function, HOMA%B (%B), insulin sensitivity, HOMA%S (%S), and insulin resistance HOMA-IR (IR), based on glucose and plasma (P) C-peptide. The Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank test, the Mann–Whitney U-test, and Spearman’s nonparametric correlation were used. Insulin (p = 0.007) and C-peptide (p = 0.006) were higher in the AIP cases with periodontitis versus those without. In AIP patients, the liver fibrosis index 4 correlated with DMFT (p < 0.001) and CAL ≥4 mm (p = 0.006); the estimated glomerular filtration rate correlated with DMFT (p < 0.001) and CAL ≥4 mm (p = 0.02). CAL ≥4 mm was correlated with chemokine ligand 11 and interleukin (IL)-13 (p = 0.04 for both), and PPD >5 mm was correlated with plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (p = 0.003) and complement component 3 (p = 0.02). In conclusion, dental health in AIP cases was correlated with insulin resistance, inflammatory markers, and biomarkers of kidney and liver function, demonstrating that organ damage in the kidney and liver are associated with poorer dental health

Cortical thickness and resting-state cardiac function across the lifespan: a cross-sectional pooled mega analysis

Understanding the association between autonomic nervous system [ANS] function and brain morphology across the lifespan provides important insights into neurovisceral mechanisms underlying health and disease. Resting state ANS activity, indexed by measures of heart rate [HR] and its variability [HRV] has been associated with brain morphology, particularly cortical thickness [CT]. While findings have been mixed regarding the anatomical distribution and direction of the associations, these inconsistencies may be due to sex and age differences in HR/HRV and CT. Previous studies have been limited by small sample sizes, which impede the assessment of sex differences and aging effects on the association between ANS function and CT. To overcome these limitations, 20 groups worldwide contributed data collected under similar protocols of CT assessment and HR/HRV recording to be pooled in a mega-analysis (N = 1,218 (50.5% female), mean age 36.7 years (range: 12-87)). Findings suggest a decline in HRV as well as CT with increasing age. CT, particularly in the orbitofrontal cortex, explained additional variance in HRV, beyond the effects of aging. This pattern of results may suggest that the decline in HRV with increasing age is related to a decline in orbitofrontal CT. These effects were independent of sex and specific to HRV; with no significant association between CT and HR. Greater CT across the adult lifespan may be vital for the maintenance of healthy cardiac regulation via the ANS – or greater cardiac vagal activity as indirectly reflected in HRV may slow brain atrophy. Findings reveal an important association between cortical thickness and cardiac parasympathetic activity with implications for healthy aging and longevity that should be studied further in longitudinal research

Perceived risk in online services and its effect on password strength

Passwords are the most used method for authentication in online platforms. At the same time, password management continues to be one of the biggest security risks for individual users. This is due to both inadequate password behavior of most users, especially related to password strength which depends on the parameters assigned by the user in most cases. Two of the most prevalent behaviors that can expose users to danger are password reuse and weak password strength. Our thesis focuses on the problem of weak password strength usage. Therefore, we seek to answer the following research problem: “Does the perception of risk associated with different online services influence password strength and is this universally applied?”. We conducted the research study on Norwegian students from the University of Agder. To answer our question, we followed a quantitative methodology in form of an online distributed survey. The study was based on findings from a literature review which helped us get an understanding of different factors affecting users’ password behavior, risk perception, knowledge, and the state of password strength. The survey received 99 respondents of which 70 were eligible for further analysis. The analyses of the data were conducted using Excel. We present our findings in figures, tables, and descriptive analysis. Our results show that using different password strengths for different online services is common among users. In addition, there are no significant changes in password strength between the services when analyzing behaviors of individual users. Moreover, the perceived risk of user accounts being attempted compromised, and the consequences of compromise in services have low correlation with password strength, with a few exceptions for some services. Two of these exceptions being porn, and news. Furthermore, we discuss our findings in detail by looking at outliers and trends in the data, and some commonalities between the services that follow a similar pattern in our findings. We concluded that password strength differs among online services, and that certain online services are more likely to have weaker passwords than others

Perceived risk in online services and its effect on password strength

Passwords are the most used method for authentication in online platforms. At the same time, password management continues to be one of the biggest security risks for individual users. This is due to both inadequate password behavior of most users, especially related to password strength which depends on the parameters assigned by the user in most cases. Two of the most prevalent behaviors that can expose users to danger are password reuse and weak password strength. Our thesis focuses on the problem of weak password strength usage. Therefore, we seek to answer the following research problem: “Does the perception of risk associated with different online services influence password strength and is this universally applied?”. We conducted the research study on Norwegian students from the University of Agder. To answer our question, we followed a quantitative methodology in form of an online distributed survey. The study was based on findings from a literature review which helped us get an understanding of different factors affecting users’ password behavior, risk perception, knowledge, and the state of password strength. The survey received 99 respondents of which 70 were eligible for further analysis. The analyses of the data were conducted using Excel. We present our findings in figures, tables, and descriptive analysis. Our results show that using different password strengths for different online services is common among users. In addition, there are no significant changes in password strength between the services when analyzing behaviors of individual users. Moreover, the perceived risk of user accounts being attempted compromised, and the consequences of compromise in services have low correlation with password strength, with a few exceptions for some services. Two of these exceptions being porn, and news. Furthermore, we discuss our findings in detail by looking at outliers and trends in the data, and some commonalities between the services that follow a similar pattern in our findings. We concluded that password strength differs among online services, and that certain online services are more likely to have weaker passwords than others

Performance and inter-observer variability of prostate MRI (PI-RADS version 2) outside high-volume centres

Objective: Despite the growing trend to embrace pre-biopsy MRI in the diagnostic pathway for prostate cancer (PC), its performance and inter-observer variability outside high-volume centres remains unknown. This study aims to evaluate sensitivity of and variability between readers of prostate MRI outside specialized units with radical prostatectomy (RP) specimen as the reference standard. Materials and methods: Retrospective study comprising a consecutive cohort of all 97 men who underwent MRI and subsequent RP between January 2012 and December 2014 at a private hospital in Sweden. Three readers, blinded to clinical data, reviewed all images (including 11 extra prostate MRI to reduce bias). A tumour was considered detected if the overall PI-RADS v2 score was 3-5 and there was an approximate match (same or neighbouring sector) of tumour sector according to a 24 sector system used for both MRI and whole mount sections. Results: Detection rate for the index tumour ranged from 67 to 76%, if PI-RADS 3-5 lesions were considered positive and 54-66% if only PI-RADS score 4-5 tumours were included. Detection rate for aggressive tumours (GS &gt;= 4 + 3) was higher; 83.1% for PI-RADS 3-5 and 79.2% for PI-RADS 4-5. The agreement between readers showed average values of 0.41 for PI-RADS score 3-5 and 0.51 for PI-RADS score 4-5. Conclusions: Prostate MRI evidenced a moderate detection rate for clinically significant PC with a rather large variability between readers. Clinics outside specialized units must have knowledge of their performance of prostate MRI before considering omitting biopsies in men with negative MRI

Cortical Thickness and Resting State Cardiac Function Across the Lifespan: A Cross-Sectional Pooled Mega Analysis

Understanding the association between autonomic nervous system [ANS] function and brain morphology across the lifespan provides important insights into neurovisceral mechanisms underlying health and disease. Resting state ANS activity, indexed by measures of heart rate [HR] and its variability [HRV] has been associated with brain morphology, particularly cortical thickness [CT]. While findings have been mixed regarding the anatomical distribution and direction of the associations, these inconsistencies may be due to sex and age differences in HR/HRV and CT. Previous studies have been limited by small sample sizes, which impede the assessment of sex differences and aging effects on the association between ANS function and CT. To overcome these limitations, 20 groups worldwide contributed data collected under similar protocols of CT assessment and HR/HRV recording to be pooled in a mega-analysis (N = 1,218 (50.5% female), mean age 36.7 years (range: 12-87)). Findings suggest that the decline in HRV with increasing age is related to a decline in prefrontal CT, particularly in the orbitofrontal cortex. These effects were independent of sex and specific to HRV; with no significant association between CT and HR. Greater CT across the adult lifespan may be vital for the maintenance of healthy cardiac regulation via the ANS. Nonetheless, in the absence of longitudinal data, alternative explanations need to be considered. Findings reveal an important association between cortical thickness and cardiac parasympathetic activity with implications for healthy aging and longevity

Cortical thickness and resting-state cardiac function across the lifespan: A cross-sectional pooled mega-analysis

Understanding the association between autonomic nervous system [ANS] function and brain morphology across the lifespan provides important insights into neurovisceral mechanisms underlying health and disease. Resting-state ANS activity, indexed by measures of heart rate [HR] and its variability [HRV] has been associated with brain morphology, particularly cortical thickness [CT]. While findings have been mixed regarding the anatomical distribution and direction of the associations, these inconsistencies may be due to sex and age differences in HR/HRV and CT. Previous studies have been limited by small sample sizes, which impede the assessment of sex differences and aging effects on the association between ANS function and CT. To overcome these limitations, 20 groups worldwide contributed data collected under similar protocols of CT assessment and HR/HRV recording to be pooled in a mega-analysis (N = 1,218 (50.5% female), mean age 36.7 years (range: 12–87)). Findings suggest a decline in HRV as well as CT with increasing age. CT, particularly in the orbitofrontal cortex, explained additional variance in HRV, beyond the effects of aging. This pattern of results may suggest that the decline in HRV with increasing age is related to a decline in orbitofrontal CT. These effects were independent of sex and specific to HRV; with no significant association between CT and HR. Greater CT across the adult lifespan may be vital for the maintenance of healthy cardiac regulation via the ANS—or greater cardiac vagal activity as indirectly reflected in HRV may slow brain atrophy. Findings reveal an important association between CT and cardiac parasympathetic activity with implications for healthy aging and longevity that should be studied further in longitudinal research