This thesis examines the current Chinese foreign policy, planning and practice in terms of the strategic cultural studies which was developed and used by the United States during the cold war to accurately interpret the strategic thinking of the Soviet Union. The studies, after 30 years of evolution has made its contribution to the interpretation of national strategic behavior as well. The strategic cultural studies, however, has also aroused widespread concern because it entirely breaks the traditional boundaries of disciplines, science and culture, philosophy and strategic research, trying to interpret the strategic phenomenon in terms of ideology and culture, and clarifying the relevance of the phenomenon¡¦s past, present, and future. More importantly, the strategic culture studies questions the concept of structure of realism that a nation is a single, common, non-historical, and rational actor, but assumes that the strategic environment and its response are the results of historical building and social learning. The establishment of China¡¦s national policy at different times has been determined by two factors: the ever-changing domestic and international environments and the influence of its national leader. So after four national leaders and from the perspective of China¡¦s national strategy, the CPC foreign policy can be basically divided into two periods: prior and post reform and opening up. Before the 1978 reform, China was forced to deal with the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, and the then national leader Mao Zedong decided to adopt its foreign policy largely based on the "war and revolution,". As a result, China classed all the countries around the world by means of international class struggle, and utilized the strategy of the united front to confront them. While it helped China to raise its national self-esteem, national unity and morale , most of the time the nation had to pay a painful price due to the ignorance of reality . Since China began to adopt the policy of reforming and opening up in 1980s, the nation has changed its strategic development course from politics to economy, making it necessary to ponder its foreign policy rationally; therefore, the national interest has become the fundamental directives of it. International observers note that China has moved from the "war and revolution" to "peace and development", and the peripheral peace has become the core issue of the nation¡¦s foreign policy. Ruled by Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, China¡¦s comprehensive national strength has risen rapidly, and its regional and even global influence has been increasing at the same time. The responsibility of a great power and the national image have become increasingly important to China., so based on Deng Xiaoping's diplomatic policy , Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, in response to domestic and international evolution of the situation, have continued to put forward such diplomatic discourses as "great power diplomacy", "new security concept", "peaceful rise", and "harmonious world", with particular emphasis on culture. It can be perceived that while enhancing the traditional national strength, China also emphasizes on the influence that culture has exerted on international community. And the PRC has been stressing "Chinese characteristics", which has made a great impact on the international community dominated by the Western values . "Beijing Consensus" and "China threat " are the direct reflection of this trend. Contrary to the Cold War, military forces nowadays can not completely reflect a nation's influence. In the 21st century, A nation¡¦s influence has a new name: an international image, which can only be obtained through moral, intellectual, scientific, artistic, economic, cultural and other achievements by a nation. They can be perceived as an ideal projection of international image. This development has made the CCP's foreign policy, regardless of political, economic, security and cultural aspects, change from isolation to participation and cooperation with other countries. As China¡¦s comprehensive national strength increases, its demand for the international responsibility and authority will increase accordingly, which is a correct way a nation should act diplomatically. However, this will inevitably lead to restructuring of the international authority, causing the counter-attack of the old forces. An all-out confrontation will eventually arise in the cognition of both power and values. Thus, the reaction of powers like the United States will become the restrictions and challenges of CPC's foreign policy. Facing the rise of Chinese influence and intertwined with the power struggle of the United States and China, Taiwan has to deal with these complicated issues with maximum discretion, and it will surely become a major issue in developing our own foreign policy .

Threat management of water distribution systems is essential for protecting consumers. In a contamination event, different strategies may be implemented to protect public health, including flushing the system through opening hydrants or isolating the contaminant by manipulating valves. To select the most effective options for responding to a contamination threat, the location and loading profile of the source of the contaminant should be considered. These characteristics can be identified by utilizing water quality data from sensors that have been strategically placed in a water distribution system. A simulation-optimization approach is described here to solve the inverse problem of source characterization, by coupling an evolutionary computation-based search with a water distribution system model. The solution of this problem may reveal, however, that a set of non-unique sources exists, where sources with significantly different locations and loading patterns produce similar concentration profiles at sensors. The problem of non-uniqueness should be addressed to prevent the misidentification of a contaminant source and improve response planning. This paper aims to address the problem of non-uniqueness through the use of Niched Co-Evolution Strategies (NCES). NCES is an evolutionary algorithm designed to identify a specified number of alternative solutions that are maximally different in their decision vectors, which are source characteristics for the water distribution problem. NCES is applied to determine the extent of non-uniqueness in source characterization for a virtual city, Mesopolis, with a population of approximately 150,000 residents. Results indicate that NCES successfully identifies non-uniqueness in source characterization and provides alternative sources of contamination. The solutions found by NCES assist in making decisions about response actions. Once alternative sources are identified, each source can be modeled to determine where the vulnerable areas of the system are, indicating the areas where response actions should be implemented.

This study aimed to investigate the differences of different teacher-student matches in science gender stereotype threat and classroom observations on teacher-student interactions of different gender match and interviews on science teachers. The study developed two standardized scales for junior high school students, Science Gender Stereotype Scale and Science Identification Scale. A total of 1,224 students from 44 classes out of 11 junior high schools in Kaohsiung City were selected through judgmental sampling to complete questionnaires in the study. The results indicated: (1) students of female-male group (female teacher and male student) had stronger science identification than students of female-female group (female teacher and female student); students of male-male group (male teacher and male student) had stronger science identification than students of male-female group (male teacher and female student); and female students taught by male teacher had the lowest science identification (2) there was no significant difference of students¡¦ gender stereotype belief in sciences in different teacher-student matches (3) students of female-male group (female teacher and male student) had stronger perception of gender stereotype than students of female-female group (female teacher and female student); students of male-male group (male teacher and male student) had stronger perception of gender stereotype than students of male-female group (male teacher and female student). The results of observations and interviews indicated: (1) male students were more initiative and therefore had more opportunities to interact with teachers (2) female students of upper-intermediate level were more susceptible to perceive gender stereotype threat in science learning (3) the difference in male and female teachers may be attributed to the influence of female role model (4) degree of difficulty was a crucial component stimulating students¡¦ gender stereotype threat.

<p>This study investigates the effects of traumatic experiences on emotional content of dreams. The theoretical framework of the present study is both the threat simulation theory and Hartmann’s theory of dreams as a mechanism for handling emotions after traumatic events. Both theories predict an increase in negative emotions after trauma but assign a different function for this increase. The subjects in this study (N = 16) were regularly writing dream diaries which after the 9/11 attack gave the researchers an unique opportunity to study the exact impact of events on dream content. Each subject’s ten last dreams before 9/11, and ten first dreams after 9/11, were analysed according to the emotional content. The results showed no significant differences in the number or tone of emotions in the before dreams compared to the after dreams. Possibly because none of the subjects experienced the event first hand.</p>

Throughout history, men have played a significant role in the field of nursing. However, they currently represent only 12% of nursing students and 9.6% of Registered Nurses. As a minority in their occupation, male nurses experience gender-based barriers and negative stereotypes that female nurses do not. Research has addressed these barriers and stereotypes, but has lagged in identifying the consequences of exposure to them other than men's reluctance to enter or stay in the field. With the nurse-patient relationship at the core of quality healthcare, it is important to further clarify the consequences of stereotype exposure for male nurses in the clinical setting. The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the communicative consequences of exposure to gender-based stereotypes among male nurses through the theoretical lens of stereotype threat (Steele & Aronson, 1995). Stereotype threat describes the apprehension individuals experience from the prospect of confirming a negative self-relevant stereotype. In the reported experiment, the salience of gender-based stereotypes (women are more empathic than men; men are better managers than women) was controlled for while male and female nursing students completed a simulated nurse-patient interaction task. Findings from this study highlight the influence of subtle stereotyping in simulated nurse-patient interactions. Specifically, men were less grammatically accurate when participating under conditions of threat than when not under conditions of threat. This finding provides a need for caution as healthcare is experiencing a shift towards e-health, which will rely heavily on both the spoken and written word. Additionally, findings suggest that the disruptive potential of making salient stereotyped attributes (e.g., empathy) may be offset by patient gender. For example, male participants were less tentative under conditions of threat with a female patient than a male patient. The influence of patient gender provides optimism that a shift in gender-based stereotyping is occurring. Therefore, it is an optimal time to increase recruitment and retention efforts of men in the field of nursing. Recommendations for such efforts are offered as well as future directions for stereotype threat research in interpersonal communication and healthcare. / text

A steady increase of new immigrants to the United States has sparked a great debate on the financial impact the foreign born population has on public services. While the United States government has an extensive history on exclusions for potential public charges, the impact of negative attitudes towards immigrants has caused substantial changes in eligibility criteria for legal permanent residents and ultimately immigration policy at large. This report uses group threat theory, which predicts a punitive response from a dominant group when these individuals perceive a threat to their group interests to explain shifts in attitudes and corresponding changes in eligibility criteria for public benefit programs for immigrants. Additionally, this study examines how U.S. citizens’ misinformed perceptions of immigrants’ utilization of public programs may negatively influence public support for increased government spending on public health care programs. To quantify the implications of public attitudes, the study uses repeat crosssectional data on attitudes towards immigration from the General Social Survey (GSS) from 1994 (N=578), prior to Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996. The responses are compared to a similar survey conducted by GSS in 2004 (N=365) an era of steep economic growth and substantially higher health care costs. / text

A study investigated men and women's attributions of criticism, rejection, and threats to gender status in a fictitious partner conflict scenario in which the victim was either a man or a woman. The results indicated that in the context of a partner conflict scenario that ends in violence, greater perceived threats to gender status are attributed to a female victim who criticizes a man's manhood more than a male victim who criticizes a woman's womanhood. The results also revealed that women attribute greater amounts of criticism/rejection and gender status threat in a victim's statements toward an abuser than men do, regardless of the gender of the victim. Individual differences in gender role stress, ambivalent sexism, and propensity for abusiveness failed to moderate these effects. These results present preliminary evidence grounded in precarious manhood theory that attributions of intention during domestic conflicts differ along gendered lines.

Insider threats--trusted members of an organization who compromise security--are considered the greatest security threat to organizations. Because of ignorance, negligence, or malicious intent, insider threats may cause security breaches resulting in substantial damages to organizations and even society. This research helps alleviate the insider threat through developing mitigation strategies and detection techniques in three studies. Study 1 examines how security controls--specifically depth-of-authentication and training recency--alleviate non-malicious insider threats through encouraging secure behavior (i.e., compliance with an organization's security policy). I found that `simpler is better' when implementing security controls, the effects of training diminish rapidly, and intentions are poor predictors of actual secure behavior. Extending Study 1's finding on training recency, Study 2 explains how different types of training alleviate non-malicious insider threat activities. I found that just-in-time reminders are more effective than traditional training programs in improving secure behavior, and again that intentions are not an adequate predictor of actual secure behavior. Both Study 1 and Study 2 introduce effective mitigation strategies for alleviating the non-malicious insider threat; however, they have limited utility when an insider threat has malicious intention, or deliberate intentions to damage the organization. To address this limitation, Study 3 conducts research to develop a tool for detecting malicious insider threats. The tool monitors mouse movements during an insider threat screening survey to detect when respondents are being deceptive. I found that mouse movements are diagnostic of deception. Future research directions are discussed to integrate and extend the findings presented in this dissertation to develop a behavioral information security framework for alleviating both the non-malicious and malicious insider threats in organizations.

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.

This thesis examines the pervasive presence of the vulnerability of the human body in Charles Dickens’s writing. It demonstrates, through a collection and discussion of bodily references drawn from the range of Dickens’s novels, that the the body’s vulnerability is, in conjunction with the use of humour and the literalizing of metaphorical references to the body, a crucial and fundamental element of both Dickens’s distinctive style and of his enduring literary popularity. Chapter one provides evidence for the contention that a sense of physical vulnerability was particularly intense in the Victorian era and that Dickens shared this awareness as his social and humanitarian interests and activities illustrate. The following chapter focuses on Dickens’s more private concerns with the body, particularly upon his personal physical fears and experiences, the public attention given to his body as a result of fame, his continual denial of his own physical frailties, and the interplay between his body and his writing all of which provided impetus to his literature. Chapters three, four, and five examine consecutively the ways in which physical vulnerability—to damage, disease, and death, but most importantly to dismemberment— function in the novels. They do so on three broad levels: Character, Conversation, and Expression which depict in ascending order increasing bodily insecurity in Dickens’s texts. The Character level concerns the bodily forms and fates of Dickens’s characters. We see here that the more a player’s body is described the more vulnerable it will become, thus good-hearted heroes are virtually “bodiless” and suffer little physical pain while evil characters are described in great anatomical detail and come to bodily harm. Dickens metes out “bodily justice” on this level in that he ensures that characters who have transgressed the rules of good conduct in his fictional world are physically punished for their misdeeds and that bodily punishment is in direct proportion to the “crime” committed. On the Conversational level Dickens depicts extreme physical horrors by expressing these things humorously, by putting descriptions of them in mouths variously and interestingly accented, and, most significantly, by playing on the dual literal and metaphorical meanings of bodily references. Most of this anatomical dialogue is anecdotal and therefore unverifiable, hypothetical and therefore unlikely to happen, or professional, i.e., spoken by “bodily experts” such as doctors or undertakers, and therefore irrefutable. Here exaggeration and extremes attract readers who are simultaneously fascinated and repelled by what characters say of the body. Dickens’s methods of Expression reflect physical reality—all bodies are vulnerable to sudden damage just as Dickens can dismember a body suddenly either with the stroke of a pen or by delaying its complete description. We see that on this level the body is at it most vulnerable and is damaged by methods of expression rather than by narrative. Dickens here plays most intensively with the literalization of metaphor, linguistically insisting that if a head appears around a doorway we can no longer assume that a body will follow. The novels are filled with dictionally decapitated heads and severed limbs, but through the use of humour and by reanimating these members Dickens ensures that his style elicits not simply a reaction of horror in his readers but elicits a response to the grotesque—a strong instinctual attraction to his work which is rooted in the body, not in the intellect. This dissertation concludes that the body’s vulnerability is not only a continual presence in Dickens’s novels but is an under-examined yet fundamental element in what makes his writing style distinctive and what makes his work continually popular.