This work should be seen as a pilot study of the effect that the common-sense based statement that one understands and learns best in their best language has on pupils in Swedish schools. A number of students have been given a mathematical test in the language they use for their normal school activities, and that is not their mother tongue. Some of them (approximately 50%) were led to believe this particular test to be language fair. Their average score on the test has then been compared to the average score on the same test of the remaining 50% students who considered the test a normal one. The difference in performance between the two subgroups has been interpreted with the help of the concept of stereotype threat. This pilot study showed a trace of the hypothesised best language stereotype threat in a specific group of students and will hopefully serve as a guide for a larger work that could prove (or falsify) the existence of the best language stereo-type threat with statistical certainty, extend its range of applicability to a wider group of students and establish its size as compared to other related factors. A final caveat: This study is focussed on (and relevant only for those) students that perform their school activities in a language different from their mother tongue but that are fully operational in the teaching language.

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This work intends to be an application and understanding of the Christian just war tradition as it pertains to the actions of the United States government in Iraq. It includes a short history of the evolution of the tradition, the application and discussion of the three most controversial criterion, and a discussion of how the terror attacks on the World Trade Center may constitute a pre-emptive strike. Essentially, the piece endeavors to explore how untested, unseen dangers drive a government to act for the defense of its citizens and their way of life. The theory draws heavily on Michael Walzer’s invention of the concept of “supreme emergency” which allowed for exceptional actions during war if a people’s entire way of life is threatened.

This paper studied whether threats to self-esteem and goal orientation affected an individual?s propensity to ask for help. Eighty-two undergraduate students from the University of Waterloo completed a self-esteem and goal orientation questionnaire in addition to completing two tests. One test was designed to be more self-relevant than the other, making that test more potentially threatening to an individual?s self-esteem. In each test, subjects were given the opportunity to ask for help on each question. The results show that the use of social comparison motivates individuals to engage in self-protection by reducing their willingness to ask for help. In situations where many others had asked for help, help seeking behavior increased. These results extend other research in showing the impact of social comparison on individual behaviour.

After its abandonment in the 1980s, threat has re-emerged as an area of theoretical importance in understanding social movement mobilization (Jasper 1998). This case study examines the role of threat in mobilizing members of a movement to empower the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation (a small tribal community in NC). The study explores threats and the emotions that make them up, while also investigating the relevance of other prominent assumptions embedded in mobilization theories. The study employed mixed methodologies including focus groups, individual interviews, and participant observation. Findings supported the idea that threats may be partially responsible for creating mobilization, but also suggest that prominent threats faced by this community complicate the ways in which threat is understood. The findings also shed light on limitations of the prominent Weber-Michels model for movement growth/decline, and highlight potential areas of interest for future research with Indigenous communities.

In this thesis we develop, evaluate and implement a security solution for Open Controllers wireless sensor network platform. A scenario is used to describe an exemplar application showing how our system is supposed to function. The security of the platform is analyzed using a well-established threat modeling process and attack trees which result in the identification of a number of risks, which could be security weaknesses. These attack trees visualize the security weaknesses in an easy to access way even for individuals without special security expertise. We develop a security solution to counter these identified risks. The developed security solution consists of three different security levels together with a number of new security policies. Each additional level applies different security mechanisms to provide increasingly improved security for the platform. The new security policies ensure that the security solution is continuously secure during its operating time. We implement part of the security solution in the Contiki operating system to assess its function in practice. Finally we evaluate the developed security solution by looking back to the previously identified weaknesses and the implementation proving that the security solution mitigates the risks.

The idea of this study is to test if it is possible to use a modified Multi Critera Analysis (MCA) to automatically identify probable sites for roadside bombs in a country like Afghanistan. The intention is to create a sieving method that saves time when evaluating the threat in large areas. As the data available in such a country is sparse the method will be able to run on as little as a topographic map and a Digital Elevation Model (DEM). The outline of the method is that features that construct a Vulnerable Point (VP) are identified on the map and then assessed by a developed formula of threat to see if they lie within an area where insurgents are known to operate. The result is then refined to show only the VPs on the road. These VPs are then converted to vector to enhance visibility at all scales. The constructed method does work on the data in this study but needs to be further evaluated on more complex data.

The aim of the study was to examine if and how the social service and the social welfare secretary provides against threat and violence in the encounter with clients. The study is qualitative and carried out with six semi-structured interviews with social welfare secretaries and participation observations at the social welfare offices in three municipalities. The theoretical starting points used were symbolic interactionism and strange loops. The result shows that social service and social welfare secretaries both use measures to prevent threat and violence to occur. The precautionary measures mainly used by social services are ; looked doors, alarm device, loose objects removes and interview rooms are furnish in purpose for the social welfare secretary to flee the room at urgent need. Measures used by the social welfare secretary where focusing on their manner of behaving in their encounter with clients. Some of the important factors where to act respectful, professional, calmly, honestly and to posses`knowledge. The result also shows that measures such as looked doors, removing loose objects and the use of alarm device might be perceived by clients as insulting, provocative, a feeling of being inferior and losing control of their situation. The study implies that an increased knowledge of if and how the surroundings and the precautionary measures used by social service affect clients. The aim should be to create a more open then closed social service office.

This essay takes a look at Israel's security policy and the definition of threat as a major factor in building up the security policies. This essay brings up also the problems of having a realist way of acting towards a more constructivist problem, as it is in this case. To understand better the constructivist context an analysis of Israel's security policy and a research of its roots are made as well as how Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Hamas and Hezbollah are seen as threats to the Israeli state security. The aim is to look at the problem and at the basis of the foundation of both the organizations and Israel. From there, the conclusion takes its essence. In fact. what come forward are the social structures that created the infrastructures and this phenomenon is the root of the problem and not just the balance of power, which tends to come from a more bipolar problem thinking. This means that this problem might be easier to please with a more constructivist way of thinking and of looking at the problem to be able to think of solving it.

This paper studied whether threats to self-esteem and goal orientation affected an individual?s propensity to ask for help. Eighty-two undergraduate students from the University of Waterloo completed a self-esteem and goal orientation questionnaire in addition to completing two tests. One test was designed to be more self-relevant than the other, making that test more potentially threatening to an individual?s self-esteem. In each test, subjects were given the opportunity to ask for help on each question. The results show that the use of social comparison motivates individuals to engage in self-protection by reducing their willingness to ask for help. In situations where many others had asked for help, help seeking behavior increased. These results extend other research in showing the impact of social comparison on individual behaviour.