The purpose of this study is to analyze comparatively the New York Times and China Daily’s 2011 news coverage regarding the portrayal of the Chinese government. The study is positioned in international communication studies. The research employs a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods: content analysis and discourse analysis. 252 news articles from the China Daily and 324 from the New York Times during 01-01-2011 to 31-12-2011 were selected for the content analysis in order to compare the theme of news, news sources, comments on the Chinese government. Furthermore, six news articles on three cases were selected for the discourse analysis to further examine the representation of the Chinese government and the framing types embedded in the news coverage of the two newspapers. The study suggests that although the two newspapers share some similarities regarding the portrayal of the Chinese government, differences can be obviously observed. In particular, the New York Times tends to apply an anti-Chinese government frame while a pro-government frame is common in the China Daily. As a result, the Chinese government is represented as “other” by the New York Times and as “us” by the China Daily.

In Corpus Based Knowledge Representation [CBKR], limited association capability, that is, no criteria in place to extract substantial associations in the corpus, and lack of support for hypothesis testing and prediction in context, restricted the application of the methodology by information specialists and data analysts. In this thesis, the researcher proposed a framework called CBKR+ to increase the expressiveness of CBKR by identifying and incorporating association criteria to allow the support of new forms of analyses related to hypothesis testing and prediction in context. <br /><br /> As contributions of the CBKR+ framework, the researcher (1) defined a new domain categorization model called Basis for Categorization model, (2) incorporated the Basis for Categorization model to (a) facilitate a first level categorization of the schema components in the corpus, and (b) define the Set of Criteria for Association to cover all types of associations and association agents, (3) defined analysis mechanisms to identify and extract further associations in the corpus in the form of the Set of Criteria for Association, and (4) improved the expressiveness of the representation, and made it suitable for hypothesis testing and prediction in context using the above. <br /><br /> The application of the framework was demonstrated, first, by using it on examples from the CBKR methodology, and second, by applying it on 12 domain representations acquired from multiple sources from the physical-world domain of Criminology. The researcher arrived at the conclusion that the proposed CBKR+ framework provided an organized approach that was more expressive, and supported deeper analyses through more diagnostic and probability-based forms of queries.

The graph model for conflict resolution (GMCR) provides a convenient and effective means to model and analyze a strategic conflict. Standard practice is to carry out a stability analysis of a graph model, and then to follow up with a post-stability analysis, two critical components of which are status quo analysis and coalition analysis. In stability analysis, an equilibrium is a state that is stable for all decision makers (DMs) under appropriate stability definitions or solution concepts. Status quo analysis aims to determine whether a particular equilibrium is reachable from a status quo (or an initial state) and, if so, how to reach it. A coalition is any subset of a set of DMs. The coalition stability analysis within the graph model is focused on the status quo states that are equilibria and assesses whether states that are stable from individual viewpoints may be unstable for coalitions. Stability analysis began within a simple preference structure which includes a relative preference relationship and an indifference relation. Subsequently, preference uncertainty and strength of preference were introduced into GMCR but not formally integrated. In this thesis, two new preference frameworks, hybrid preference and multiple-level preference, and an integrated algebraic approach are developed for GMCR. Hybrid preference extends existing preference structures to combine preference uncertainty and strength of preference into GMCR. A multiple-level preference framework expands GMCR to handle a more general and flexible structure than any existing system representing strength of preference. An integrated algebraic approach reveals a link among traditional stability analysis, status quo analysis, and coalition stability analysis by using matrix representation of the graph model for conflict resolution. To integrate the three existing preference structures into a hybrid system, a new preference framework is proposed for graph models using a quadruple relation to express strong or mild preference of one state or scenario over another, equal preference, and an uncertain preference. In addition, a multiple-level preference framework is introduced into the graph model methodology to handle multiple-level preference information, which lies between relative and cardinal preferences in information content. The existing structure with strength of preference takes into account that if a state is stable, it may be either strongly stable or weakly stable in the context of three levels of strength. However, the three-level structure is limited in its ability to depict the intensity of relative preference. In this research, four basic solution concepts consisting of Nash stability, general metarationality, symmetric metarationality, and sequential stability, are defined at each level of preference for the graph model with the extended multiple-level preference. The development of the two new preference frameworks expands the realm of applicability of the graph model and provides new insights into strategic conflicts so that more practical and complicated problems can be analyzed at greater depth. Because a graph model of a conflict consists of several interrelated graphs, it is natural to ask whether well-known results of Algebraic Graph Theory can help analyze a graph model. Analysis of a graph model involves searching paths in a graph but an important restriction of a graph model is that no DM can move twice in succession along any path. (If a DM can move consecutively, then this DM's graph is effectively transitive. Prohibiting consecutive moves thus allows for graph models with intransitive graphs, which are sometimes useful in practice.) Therefore, a graph model must be treated as an edge-weighted, colored multidigraph in which each arc represents a legal unilateral move and distinct colors refer to different DMs. The weight of an arc could represent some preference attribute. Tracing the evolution of a conflict in status quo analysis is converted to searching all colored paths from a status quo to a particular outcome in an edge-weighted, colored multidigraph. Generally, an adjacency matrix can determine a simple digraph and all state-by-state paths between any two vertices. However, if a graph model contains multiple arcs between the same two states controlled by different DMs, the adjacency matrix would be unable to track all aspects of conflict evolution from the status quo. To bridge the gap, a conversion function using the matrix representation is designed to transform the original problem of searching edge-weighted, colored paths in a colored multidigraph to a standard problem of finding paths in a simple digraph with no color constraints. As well, several unexpected and useful links among status quo analysis, stability analysis, and coalition analysis are revealed using the conversion function. The key input of stability analysis is the reachable list of a DM, or a coalition, by a legal move (in one step) or by a legal sequence of unilateral moves, from a status quo in 2-DM or $n$-DM ($n > 2$) models. A weighted reachability matrix for a DM or a coalition along weighted colored paths is designed to construct the reachable list using the aforementioned conversion function. The weight of each edge in a graph model is defined according to the preference structure, for example, simple preference, preference with uncertainty, or preference with strength. Furthermore, a graph model and the four basic graph model solution concepts are formulated explicitly using the weighted reachability matrix for the three preference structures. The explicit matrix representation for conflict resolution (MRCR) that facilitates stability calculations in both 2-DM and $n$-DM ($n > 2$) models for three existing preference structures. In addition, the weighted reachability matrix by a coalition is used to produce matrix representation of coalition stabilities in multiple-decision-maker conflicts for the three preference frameworks. Previously, solution concepts in the graph model were traditionally defined logically, in terms of the underlying graphs and preference relations. When status quo analysis algorithms were developed, this line of thinking was retained and pseudo-codes were developed following a similar logical structure. However, as was noted in the development of the decision support system (DSS) GMCR II, the nature of logical representations makes coding difficult. The DSS GMCR II, is available for basic stability analysis and status quo analysis within simple preference, but is difficult to modify or adapt to other preference structures. Compared with existing graphical or logical representation, matrix representation for conflict resolution (MRCR) is more effective and convenient for computer implementation and for adapting to new analysis techniques. Moreover, due to an inherent link between stability analysis and post-stability analysis presented, the proposed algebraic approach establishes an integrated paradigm of matrix representation for the graph model for conflict resolution.

The study of the infinite (countable) family of partial differential equations known as the Kadomtzev - Petviashvili (KP) hierarchy has received much interest in the mathematical and theoretical physics community for over forty years. Recently there has been a renewed interest in its application to enumerative combinatorics inspired by Witten's conjecture (now Kontsevich's theorem). In this thesis we provide a detailed development of the KP hierarchy and some of its applications with an emphasis on the combinatorics involved. Up until now, most of the material pertaining to the KP hierarchy has been fragmented throughout the physics literature and any complete accounts have been for purposes much diff erent than ours. We begin by describing a family of related Lie algebras along with a module on which they act. We then construct a realization of this module in terms of polynomials and determine the corresponding Lie algebra actions. By doing this we are able to describe one of the Lie group orbits as a family of polynomials and the equations that de fine them as a family of partial diff erential equations. This then becomes the KP hierarchy and its solutions. We then interpret the KP hierarchy as a pair of operators on the ring of symmetric functions and describe their action combinatorially. We then conclude the thesis with some combinatorial applications.

This thesis is an expository account of three central theorems in the representation theory of semisimple Lie groups, namely the theorems of Borel-Weil-Bott, Casselman-Osborne and Kostant. The first of these realizes all the irreducible holomorphic representations of a complex semisimple Lie group G in the cohomology of certain sheaves of equivariant line bundles over the flag variety of G. The latter two theorems describe the Lie algebra cohomology of a maximal nilpotent subalgebra of Lie(G) with coefficients in an irreducible Lie(G)-module. Applications to geometry and representation theory are given. Also included is a brief overview of Schmid's far-reaching generalization of the Borel--Weil--Bott theorem to the setting of unitary representations of real semisimple Lie groups on (possibly infinite-dimensional) Hilbert spaces.

In 1949, Wever observed that the degree d of an invariant Lie polynomial must be a multiple of the number q of generators of the free Lie algebra. He also found that there are no invariant Lie polynomials in the following cases: q = 2, d = 4; q = 3, d = 6; d = q ≥ 3. Wever gave a formula for the number of invariants for q = 2 in the natural representation of sl(2). In 1958, Burrow extended Wevers formula to q > 1 and d = mq where m > 1. In the present thesis, we concentrate on finding invariant Lie polynomials (simply called Lie invariants) in the natural representations of sl(2) and sl(3), and in the adjoint representation of sl(2). We first review the method to construct the Hall basis of the free Lie algebra and the way to transform arbitrary Lie words into linear combinations of Hall words. To find the Lie invariants, we need to find the nullspace of an integer matrix, and for this we use the Hermite normal form. After that, we review the generalized Witt dimension formula which can be used to compute the number of primitive Lie invariants of a given degree. Secondly, we recall the result of Bremner on Lie invariants of degree ≤ 10 in the natural representation of sl(2). We extend these results to compute the Lie invariants of degree 12 and 14. This is the first original contribution in the present thesis. Thirdly, we compute the Lie invariants in the adjoint representation of sl(2) up to degree 8. This is the second original contribution in the present thesis. Fourthly, we consider the natural representation of sl(3). This is a 3-dimensional natural representation of an 8-dimensional Lie algebra. Due to the huge number of Hall words in each degree and the limitation of computer hardware, we compute the Lie invariants only up to degree 12. Finally, we discuss possible directions for extending the results. Because there are infinitely many different simple finite dimensional Lie algebras and each of them has infinitely many distinct irreducible representations, it is an open-ended problem.

Abstract Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur bilden av ”moderskapet” gestaltas i den amerikanska TV-serien ”United States of Tara”. De frågor som ligger till grund för undersökningen är: hur skapas och definieras identiteten av modern i serien ”United States of Tara”? Hur konstrueras relationen mellan modern och de andra familjemedlemmarna i serien? Hur förändras framställningen av den kvinnliga huvudpersonen Tara från det första till det sista avsnittet? Analysen utgår från en metod för analys av TV-program som presenteras i boken ”How to Study Television” (1995) av Keith Selby &amp; Ron Cowdery, med fokus på begreppen narrativ och konstruktion. Materialet består av första säsongens första avsnitt och sista säsongens sista avsnitt av serien ”United States of Tara”. De teoretiska utgångspunkterna som ligger till grund för undersökningen är en teoriblandning av begrepp som: representation, performativitet, identitet, identitetsordningar samt Rosalind Gills teorier kring den postfeministiska kvinnan. Resultatet visar på att i serien ”United States of Tara” presenteras en ovanlig bild av modern, en outsider-moder som, i enlighet med den postfeministiska synen på kvinnan, genomgår en tydlig förändring under seriens gång från en svag och förvirrad kvinna till en självsäker person.

The aim of this thesis is to describe Western images of China by focusing on media representations of Chinese attempts to invest in Saab. Theories of media representation, orientalism, racialization and stereotype are applied and used in the qualitative discourse analysis in order to find out if there are orientalist and racialized stereotypes in the material. The findings show that there are orientalist stereotypes and racialized stereotypes presented in the material. The analysis also sums up that China is a country whose people are represented to be adaptable and to have amazing productivity, since China has cheap labor power and lax labor law. Furthermore, China is represented as a country whose financial power is strong and solid, Western media characterizes China as a threat. Moreover, Chinese negotiators who went to Sweden to negotiate not only are represented as full of ambitions, but also they are seen as the saviors for Western companies which are on the verge of bankrupt. This thesis contributes to the literature by filling the gap about the Chinese attempts to invest in Saab, which is characterized by Western media.

Constitutive rhetoric focuses on the idea that in times of historical crisis, speakers possess the ability to repair the language of the community and reshape the identity of the community. This dissertation relies upon the concept of constitutive rhetoric to examine the Supreme Court’s reapportionment and redistricting decision. By employing constitutive rhetoric, the Supreme Court reacts to the crisis of representation because of malapportionment and redistricting to transform our Constitutional republic to a Constitutional democracy and, further, to debate competing visions of representation and democracy necessary to sustain political life and the democratic experience. Chapter I offers readers a literature review on constitutive rhetoric, a literature review on reapportionment and redistricting, and presents readers with an outline of the dissertation. Chapter II provides a brief history of redistricting in the United States since Colonial times, the development of apportionment and redistricting law at the state court level, and the Supreme Court’s invention of a rhetorical tradition in apportionment and districting law before the Reapportionment Revolution. In the last section of Chapter II, I argue that the Pre-Revolution Supreme Court cases weakened the authority of the rhetorical tradition of judicial deferment. Chapter III examines the Supreme Court’s decision in Baker v. Carr, which reconstitutes the authority of the judiciary in apportionment and redistricting law by redefining the meaning of voting rights and the political questions doctrine, as well as reconceptualizing the law behind voting rights. Further, this chapter outlines the new role of the judiciary in American society and the ethos of judicial restraint that is to guide apportionment and redistricting cases. Chapter IV examines the development of the new rhetorical tradition in apportionment law from the Reapportionment Revolution cases of Gray v. Sanders, Wesberry v. Sander, Reynolds v. Sims, and the rest of the Supreme Court cases form the 1960s. In this new rhetorical tradition, the Supreme Court reconstitutes the American republican to create a legal and moral American democracy, a form of government that rests on the development of the democratic experience and the expansion of the right to vote at the local, state, and federal level. Chapter V examines the Supreme Court cases during the 1970s and the 1980s where, because of their ideological divisions, the Justices offer the American people competing visions of representation and democracy in an attempt to gain interpretive dominance for their visions. Finally, Chapter VI examines the Supreme Court’s decisions from the 1990s and 2000s. In these decisions, the Justices debate the best means to achieve racial reconciliation through apportionment and redistricting law and the best formation of democracy to secure that reconciliation.

Seismic modeling is a technique for simulating wave propagation through the subsurface. For a given geological model, seismic modeling allows us to generate snapshots of wave propagation and synthetic data. In my dissertation, for real seismic events I have chosen to implement the finite-difference modeling technique. When adequate discretization in space and time is possible, the finite-difference technique is by far one of the most accurate tools for simulating elastic-wave propagation through complex geological models. In recent years, a significant amount of work has been done in our group using 2D finite-difference modeling. For complex salt structures which exploration and pro- duction industries meet today, 2D finite-difference modeling is not sufficient to study subsalt imaging or the demultiple of subsalt models. That is why I have developed a 3D finite-difference modeling code. One of the key challenges that I have met in developing the 3D finite-difference code is to adapt the absorbing boundary conditions. Absorbing boundary conditions are needed to describe the infinite geological models by limited computing domain. I have validated the 3D finite-difference code by comparing its results with analytic solutions. I have used 3D finite-difference program to generate data corresponding to 3D complex model which describes salt and subsalt structures of Gulf of Mexico. The resulting data include reflections, diffractions and other scattering phenomena. I have also used finite-difference program in anisotropic context to show that we can effectively predict shear-wave splitting and triplication in the data. There are new sets of events that are not directly recorded in seismic data, they have been called virtual events. These events are turning to be as important as real events in modern data processing. Therefore we also have to learn how to model them. Unfortunately, they cannot yet be modeled directly from finite-difference. Here I will describe how to model these events by using cross correlation type representation theorem. As illustration of how important of virtual events for seismic data process- ing, I also described an internal multiple attenuation technique which utilized virtual events.