The women and peace hypothesis suggests that women are more likely than men to choose peace and compromise over violent conflict, whether as ordinary citizens or as government leaders. I test this concept by analyzing the percent of women in the parliaments and executive cabinets of 93 nations over a 31-year-period, comparing these figures to the presence of violent interstate conflicts for each country-year. Controlling for wealth, democratic status, national capabilities, military expenditures, and contiguity, I find moderate support for the women and peace hypothesis. This support continues when democratic system type is interacted with the measured office. While women do not affect a nation’s likelihood of violent conflict to the same degree that other, well-documented predictors do, the effect of women in higher office is nonetheless still significant.

<div>The space around the Earth is becoming increasingly populated with a growth in number of launches and proliferation of debris. Currently, there are around 44,000 objects (with a minimum size of 10cm) orbiting the Earth as per the data made publicly available by the US strategy command (USSTRATCOM). These objects include active satellites and debris. The number of these objects are expected to increase rapidly in future from launches by companies in the private sector. For example, SpaceX is expected to deploy around 12000 new satellites in the LEO region to develop a space-based internet communication system. Hence in order to protect active space assets, tracking of all the objects is necessary. Probabilistic tracking methods have become increasingly popular for solving the multi-target tracking problem in Space Situational Awareness (SSA). This thesis studies one such technique known as the GM-PHD filter, which is an algorithm which estimates the number of objects and its states when non-perfect measurements (noisy measurements, false alarms) are available. For Earth orbiting objects, especially those in Geostationary orbits, ground based optical sensors are a cost-efficient way to gain information.In this case, the likelihood of gaining target-generated measurements depend on the probability of detection (p_D) of the target.An accurate modeling of this quantity is essential for an efficient performance of the filter. p_D significantly depends on the amount of light reflected by the target towards the observer. The reflected light depends on the relative position of the target with respect to the Sun and the observer, the shape, size and reflectivity of the object and the relative orientation of the object towards Sun and the observer. The estimation of the area and reflective properties of the object is in general, a difficult process. Uncontrolled objects, for example, start tumbling and no information regarding the attitude motion can be obtained. In addition, the shape can change because of disintegration and erosion of the materials. For the case of controlled objects, given that the object is stable, some information on the attitude can be obtained. But materials age in space which changes the reflective properties of the materials. Also, exact shape models for these objects are rare. Moreover,, area can never be estimated with optical measurements or any other measurements, as it is always albedo-area i.e., reflectivity times area that can be measured.</div><div> The purpose of this work is to design a variation of the GM-PHD filter which accounts for the uncertainty in p_D as the original GM-PHD filter designed by Vo and Ma assumes p_D as a constant. It is validated that the proposed method improves the filter performance when there is an uncertainty in area(hence uncertainty in p_D) of the targets. In the tested cases, the uncertainty in p_D was modeled as an uncertainty in area while assuming that the targets are spherical and that the reflectivity of the targets is constant. It is seen that a model mismatch in p_D affects the filter performance significantly and the proposed method improves the performance of the filter in all cases.</div>

Fysikalism ifråga om vårt upplevande – fenomenella – medvetande; att det är helt och enbartfysiskt, står i kontrast till olika former av dualism, som säger att medvetandet inte helt låter sigreduceras till det fysiska.Frank Jackson har presenterat det så kallade kunskapsargumentet mot fysikalism. Eftersom vilär oss något nytt då vi får en ny upplevelse, och eftersom detta inte kan läras på något annatsätt än att själv erfara upplevelsen, så drar kunskapsargumentet slutsatsen att det finns ickefysiskafakta om världen, och att fysikalismen därför är falsk.Förmågehypotesen (eng. the Ability Hypothesis) är ett svar på detta argument som lagts framav David Lewis och Laurence Nemirow. De menar att det vi lär oss då vi får en ny upplevelseinte är något annat än vissa förmågor, och därför är kunskapsargumentets slutsats att det finnsicke-fysiska fakta om världen falsk.Syftet med föreliggande uppsats är att undersöka om Förmågehypotesen utgör ett hållbartförsvar för fysikalismen mot kunskapsargumentet. För att genomföra detta utvärderar jag feminvändningar mot Förmågehypotesen och de svar på dessa som Nemirow anför. Jag kommeratt argumentera för att två av dessa invändningar pekar på problem med Förmågehypotesensom inte låter sig lösas, och därför drar jag slutsatsen att Förmågehypotesen inte lyckas försvarafysikalismen mot Jacksons kunskapsargument. / Physicalism concerning the phenomenal consciousness; the view that it is entirely physical,stands in contrast with various versions of dualism, which claims that consciousness isirreducibly non-physical.Frank Jackson has presented the so-called knowledge argument against physicalism. Becausewe do learn something new upon having a new experience, and because this something cannotbe learned any other way than to have the experience, the knowledge argument concludes thatthere are non-physical facts about the world. Hence, physicalism is false.The Ability Hypothesis is a response to the knowledge argument presented by David Lewis andLaurence Nemirow. They argue that what we learn upon having a new experience is nothingbut a set of abilities. Hence, the conclusion of the knowledge argument that there are nonphysicalfacts about the world, is false.The aim of this paper is to investigate whether the Ability Hypothesis constitutes a viabledefense for physicalism against the knowledge argument. To accomplish this, I evaluate fiveobjections that have been raised against the Ability Hypothesis and the answers to thesepresented by Nemirow. I will argue that two of these objections point to problems with theAbility Hypothesis which cannot be solved, and I therefore conclude that the Ability Hypothesisis unable to defend physicalism against Jacksons knowledge argument

O problema de controlar o nível significância do teste FBST(Full BayesianSignificantTest) é estudado no contexto de modelos bayesianos para densidade. Assim, é mostrado um método bayesiano que trabalha com estimação da densidade e como deve ser conduzido o FBST com este método quando deseja-se testar se uma população pode ser dita de determinada distribuição ou testar igualdade de duas populações. Para isso é apresentada a definição do e-valor modificado que é uma maneira alternativa de cálculo da medida de evidência do FBST. Por fim, é feito um estudo de simulação com diferentes distribuições de densidade e analisado o comportamento da função poder do teste nos casos de uma e duas populações. / The problem of controlling the significan celevelof the FBST (FullBayesianSignificantTest) test is studied in the contex of Bayesian models for density, thus, a Bayesian method is shown that works with density estimation estimation and how the FBST should be conducted in that situation with this method when it is desired to test if one population has certain density distribution or equality test of two populations. For this, a modified e-value definition is presented that is an alternative to calculate the FBST measure. At end a simulation study with different density distributions and analysis the power function of the test in cases of one and two populations.

Text in English / This work is organised around two main objectives: a) the formulation of a new conceptual framework as the basis for a new scientific aesthetic; and (b) an attempt to explain the possibilities and current limitations of neuroscience in aesthetics. The first part of the work is devoted to the conceptual foundations of aesthetics. In the first chapter, I analyse the philosophical assumptions reflected in neuroaesthetics. In particular, I would like to show that the concept of art on which neuroaesthetics is based is both conceptually and empirically untenable. In the second chapter, I propose a new conceptual framework for a theory of aesthetics; in particular, I present new definitions of key concepts in aesthetics, such as 'art', 'artistic system', 'artistic movement', 'artwork', and so forth. Furthermore, in the second chapter, I advance the view that—even though the neurosciences are an essential part of aesthetics—not every aesthetic problem requires a neuroscientific solution. In other words, there are aesthetic problems that cannot be answered satisfactorily by neuroscience using only its special concepts and terminology. Some questions may require additional sociological, physical and/or semiotic concepts, and explanatory devices. The second part of this thesis deals with the experimental aspects of the neuroscience of artistic appreciation. First, I argue that the conceptual foundations underlying much of the current approaches to neuroaesthetics are still problematic and that the experimental approach cannot be applied in any straightforward manner to conduct neuroaesthetic research. I then review some of the most important results of experimental aesthetics and cognitive neurosciences with regard to the mechanisms of aesthetic appreciation before proposing a new neurocognitive model of artistic appreciation based on the notion of an artistic 'task-set' Finally, I end the second part with a theoretical postulate and a neurocognitive framework pertaining to the interactions between mental images and emotions and their possible role in the process of appreciating literary artworks. In the third and final part of the work, I briefly discuss the central ontological preconditions of the neurocognitive studies of art, namely, the neural hypothesis of identity, ‘mind = brain’, and compare it to other approaches of the mind-brain relationship. I also offer a hierarchical model of mental functions based on both the anatomical and the functional aspects of the brain. / Psychology / Ph. D. (Psychology)

The study of contact and desegregation in post apartheid South Africa has not received adequate attention (Durrheim & Dixon, 2005b). Mondeor, a previously White populated suburb in the South of Johannesburg has been identified as being a racially diverse neighbourhood . By focusing on this suburb, the current study investigated whether or not residents interacted or mixed with members from other race groups and whether or not increased contact with members of different race groups in a residential neighbourhood would promote positive intergroup attitudes. Zones were identified for the purpose of this study whereby each Zone was predominantly comprised of a specific race group. Quantitative data was collected by means of distributing an intergroup attitude and contact questionnaire to the residents according to the zones in which they resided. A sample of N=197 respondents was obtained. The results indicated that there was generally no significant difference in contact for the Zones (racially exclusive zones and racially mixed zones), however, significant differences existed in levels of contact for the various race groups. In addition to this it was found that significant differences in contact existed for the various education levels of the respondents. As expected, a significant negative relationship (r = -0.16) was found to exist between contact and affective prejudice. In addition to these results, significant relationships were found to exist between affective prejudice and the following variables: Intergroup anxiety (r=0.37), and social distance (r=0.27). In conclusion, it was found that residents were not mixing as much as what was envisaged for a racially mixed neighbourhood. In addition to this, contact in and of itself was not found to be a predictive measure for affective prejudice. Thus, this finding lends support to Allport’s contact hypothesis making it clear that it is imperative to examine the nature of the contact as this may be pertinent in the promotion of the reduction of affective prejudice in intergroup contact situations.

This thesis focuses on attitudes of the majority population against immigrants on the national level. In selected countries of the European Union, these attitudes are analysed with the goal of confirming causality between heterogeneous make-up of the population (in terms of proportion of foreign-born residents in the population) and the degree of xenophobia of the majority population. The work is based on the concept of contact hypothesis and assumes that the larger the relative size of the population of foreign-born residents is, the more positive the attitudes of the majority population are. Attitudes of the majority populations are studied on two levels. First, through the opinions of the European Social Survey 2014 respondents, and second, by the election results of populist radical right-wing parties, which are typically associated with firm anti-immigrant policies. While the levels of xenophobia expressed by the ESS respondents partially fits the expected model, the connection between results of relevant political parties and the percentage of foreign-born residents in the population was not proven. The contradictory results of both analyses are attributed to a so-called "modern racism". Keywords: xenophobia, immigration, radical right, contact hypothesis, Europe

The fungal microbiome, or “mycobiome” of plants is diverse and important to host health, but the fluxes of fungi among plant hosts and with the surrounding environment are poorly understood. In chapter two, we employed sterile culture techniques and spatial sampling to examine leaves as possible vectors for transfer of their endophytic fungi from the canopy to substrate on the forest floor, as predicted by the Foraging Ascomycete hypothesis. Some foliar endophytic fungal species are also present as wood-decomposing fungi on the forest floor, that transfer of mycelium across these two life history stages can occur, that endophytic life history stages are buffered from environmental conditions in comparison to wood-decomposing fungi, and that spatial linkages between the two life history stages can be observed. In another study, described in chapter 3, wood and leaf wood endophytes were sampled across a 25 ha plot, to explore landscape patterns of mycobiomes, and to explore the concept of a core microbiome in aerial plant tissues. We found that core microbiomes may be observed in a real ecological setting, but that the concept of core must be carefully defined and that some level of buffering from disturbance may be necessary to allow core microbiomes to assemble. In chapter four, we return to examine some of the assumptions and implications of the Foraging Ascomycete hypothesis, with an agent-based model. We model the conditions under which dispersal through falling leaves may represent a fitness-enhancing dispersal strategy for fungi, and that deforestation as is currently underway throughout the world may have impacts on fungi that rely upon a canopy- inhabiting life stage for dispersal. In chapter five, some challenges associated with environmental sampling of microbes using illumina© MiSeq sequences are critically examined. We find that biases introduced by random sampling at various stages of IVenvironmental DNA extraction and illumina© MiSeq sequencing are not well corrected by currently accepted bioinformatic algorithms. In addition, information loss from differential extraction, PCR amplification, and sequencing success, requires that users of MiSeq read libraries to interpret read abundances carefully. This dissertation includes previously published, co-authored material.

Value and momentum strategies have been heavenly researched in financial academic literature. In this essay, different portfolios based on value and momentum strategies have been constructed to examine if it is possible to exploit market anomalies to outperform market returns. Both value and momentum is seen as two market anomalies according to earlier literature. The test were made on the Swedish market, and all data were collected from the Nasdaq OMX Stockholm Large Cap list. The findings includes a significant outperformance of market returns in nearly all portfolio tested, as well as lower standard deviations for some. However, an empirical asset pricing model, based on four factors from the Swedish market were constructed to seek explanation for the results. Overall the factor variables were rejected on their statistical significances, except for the market factor which were statistical significant for all portfolios except one.

Previous studies support that the relative width of the upper face (facial width-to-height ratio; fWHR) has evolved to signal threat, but these studies rely greatly on subjective facial ratings and measurements prone to confounds. The present study objectively quantifies threat perception to the magnitude of the observers’ electrophysiological reaction, specifically the event-related potential (ERP) called the late positive potential (LPP), and investigate if brow height and jaw width could have confounded previous fWHR studies. Swedish and international students (N = 30, females = 11, Mage = 24 years, SDage = 2.9) were shown computer-generated neutral faces created with the underlying skeletal morphology varying in brow ridge height, cheekbone width and jaw width. Participants first rated how threatening each face was and then viewed 12 blocks of 64 faces while their electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded. The results supported that the LPP could be used to index threat perception and showed that only brow height significantly affected both facial ratings (p &lt; .001, ɳp2 = .698) and magnitude of the LPP within the 400 to 800 ms latency (p = .02, d = .542). Hence, brow height, not facial width, could explain previous findings. The results contradict the hypothesis that fWHR is an evolved cue of threat and instead support the overgeneralisation hypothesis in that faces with similar features to anger will be perceived as more threatening.