<p>In this thesis, I explore if Latvia has experienced, during the last ten years, a change in identity and threat perception that could allow for the building of a “cooperative security community” in Northern Europe. Recent constructivist researches contend that such change is in progress in neighboring Estonia. This research, performed through a discourse analysis of political elite’s speeches, reveals the presence – explained by the concept of interim inconsequentiality - of two opposite identity/security discourses. I link the first, inclusive, discourse to Latvia’s Western socialization, but not to a change in identity, as I contend that both threat images and identity have been instrumentalized for the sake of the accession strategy. As for the second, exclusionary, discourse that shows a persistent distrust of both Russia and the ethnic Russian minorities, and is the more prevalent in terms of political behavior, I link it to Latvia’s identity as a small ethnic nation vulnerable to external pressures - an identity strengthened during the period by Russia’s behavior. I verify this thesis by exposing the exclusionary discourse’s salience on the EU integration issue. I conclude that the period of reference, far from resolving the security dilemma, has, on the contrary, reinforced it.</p>

Title: Yes, but… - How changes in banks in Västerbotten are linked to the current financial crisis, but are still normal organizational development Background: In the beginning of the 90’s, there was a financial crisis in Sweden which hit Swedish banks hard. The Swedish bank Gota banken went bankrupt and Nordbanken was taken over by the government, in large part because of their apathetic reactions to the situation they were so surprised to find themselves in. Today, almost 20 years later, the banks of Sweden find themselves in a new crisis. Because of the important position banks have in society, it is extremely important that they remain stable and have the capacity to ride out a crisis situation comfortably. As the banks did not show any crisis management strategy or skills in the 1992 crisis, it is relevant to explore if the previous experience has given Swedish banks the ability to handle a crisis situation in an efficient way. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to apply organizational development theory, crisis management theory and adversity reaction theory to the primary data collected from the interviews with the banks and through that analyze if Swedish banks are acting to prevent the financial crisis from affecting them badly. Method: The study has a hermeneutical approach and was carried out by interviewing managers from the five major banks in Västerbotten. The primary data collected has been analyzed to get an understanding of the current development in the banks and its possible link to the financial crisis. Conclusion: We found that banks are constantly changing in order to keep up with their competitors, changes in technology, society and the increasing demands from customers. The current events and changes in the banks are undoubtedly linked to the financial crisis, it has accelerated change, it has slowed down ongoing processes and it has facilitated harder decisions and less popular changes. But the crisis has not caused drastic changes in the organizations or their way of doing business. In fact, it can be said that the changes due to the financial crisis is normal organizational development, as the banks have responded to it in much the same fashion as they do to all changes in the external environment. Key words: crisis management, organizational development, threat rigidity, prospect theory, financial crisis

Every day media reports acts of violence in various kinds. Crime statistics shows that threats and violence are increasing in regard to both frequency and intensity within the nation. Nurses in the ambulance service are often the first to meet with a patient, therefore these nurses often find themselves in situations where violence and threats occur or have occurred. Drug addiction or some kind of illness are often reasons behind threats and violence. Earlier studies within this area of knowledge are mostly foreign and therefore little describes Swedish nurses` experiences of threats and violence within the ambulance service. The purpose of this study was to describe nurses experiences of threats and violence in the meeting with patients within the ambulance service. The study is a qualitative interview study performed within the School of Life Sciences at the University of Skövde. Six nurses were interviewed with the criterion that they should have experienced threats and violence within their occupation. The primary information was analyzed with a qualitative method. The result showed that threats and violence occur within the occupation and that the nurses feel exposed for the same. It indicated that the types of threat vary and that the education concerning how threats and violence should be handled is considered poor by the nurses themselves. The result also showed that the patient care is affected by the amount of threats and violence that the nurses are exposed to. There is a need for further research within this area of knowledge and within education in how to handle these situations for personnel in the ambulance service.

Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att ta del av revisorers uppfattning om det förekommer självgranskningshot vid utfärdandet av apportintyg, samt vilka rådgivningstjänster som kan utövas utan att det hotar revisorns självständighet och opartiskhet. Metod: Vi har i vår studie använt oss av en kvalitativ forskningsmetod, där vi har intervjuat fyra stycken auktoriserade revisorer. Detta har givit oss en bra grund för att kunna reda ut syftet med uppsatsen. Teori: Uppsatsens teoridel består främst av fakta från Krister Moberg samt tidningen Balans, då dessa har varit relevanta för att kunna forska i det valda ämnet. Empiri: Denna del består av fyra stycken intervjuer med auktoriserade revisorer som besitter erfarenhet av apportuppdrag. Dessa revisorer kommer från två olika byråer som ligger i två olika städer. Resultat: Vår studie visar att det råder delade meningar om att apportuppdrag kan leda till självgranskningshot. Men alla revisorerna var överrens om att självgranskningshot blir ett faktum om revisorn själv värderar apportegendomen. Detta eftersom revisorn vid bokslutet kommer att granska sin egen värdering. En annan anledning till varför revisorn inte själv ska värdera apportegendomen är att revisorn ej besitter den kompetens som kan krävas vid en sådan värdering. Därför är det viktigt att värderingen sker av en pålitligt, oberoende samt kunnig värderingsman. / Purpose: The purpose with our thesis is to understand if the auditors think that it occurs a self-audit threat about the issue of capital contribution, and which service can an auditor perform without not disturb and threat the auditor’s independence. Methodology: We have used a qualitative method in our thesis. We carried out four interviews with auditors from two different auditing firms. Theory: Our thesis theory part is based especially on facts from Krister Moberg and the newspaper Balans, because these facts have been relevant to our study. Empirical foundation: This part exists of four interviews with four chartered accountants, who have experience capital contribution. Our four auditors were from two different auditor firms in two different towns. Conclusions: Our study shows different pictures about capital contribution that can lead to a self-audit threat. But every one of the auditors is agree that a self-audit threat can occur if the auditor himself appraises the property. The reason is that the auditor is going to review his own appraises in the final account. Another reason is that the auditors not have the competence to do appraise like this. It is important that appraise performs by a reliable, independent and competent appraiser.

The past two decades have seen a substantial increase in the availability of numerical data that individuals are faced with on a daily basis. In addition, research uncovering the multiple facets of statistical reasoning has become increasingly prominent. Both gender differences and the effect of experience or training have emerged as two key factors that influence performance in statistics. Surprisingly, though, the combined effects of these two variables have not been studied. This gap in understanding the joint effect of gender and experience on statistical reasoning is addressed in the present dissertation with six studies. In Study 1 (N = 201), participants with various levels of experience in statistics were asked to complete the Statistical Reasoning Assessment (SRA; Garfield, 2003). Although the performance of both genders improved with experience, the gender gap persisted across all experience levels. Multiple measures of individual differences were used in a confirmatory structural equation model. This model supported the idea that differences in statistical reasoning are not uniquely a matter of cognitive ability. In fact, gender was found to influence statistical reasoning directly, as well as indirectly through its influence on thinking dispositions. In Studies 2 (N = 67), 3 (N = 157), and 4 (N = 206), the role of stereotype threat was examined as a potential cause of the persisting gender gap in statistics, and value affirmation was tested as an intervention to overcome stereotype threat. Despite the fact that many women believed negative stereotypes about the ability of women in statistics, value affirmation had no significant impact on performance. To help explain this lack of effect, and in keeping with the results of the structural equation model suggesting a multi-pronged approach, efforts were turned towards a different (and potentially richer) cognitive factor. Specifically, mental representations were explored to help shed light on the root causes of those conceptual understanding differences in statistics. In Studies 5 and 6, gender differences in mental representations of statistical features were examined using a categorization paradigm. In Study 5 (N = 219), extending some of the key findings in Studies 1, 3 and 4, it was established that two courses in statistics are necessary to create a significant difference in the quality of mental representations of statistical concepts. More importantly, Study 6 (N = 208) demonstrated how constraining the task format particularly benefits women in that the quality of their reasoning significantly improved, where that of men was equal across tasks. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

It is not uncommon to read about hacker attacks in the newspaper today. The hackers are targeting governments and enterprises, and motives vary. It may be political or economic reasons, or just to gain reputation. News about smaller systems is, unsurprisingly, not as common. Does this mean that security is less relevant of smaller systems? This report investigates the threat model of smaller web applications, to answer that very question.Different attacks are described in the detail needed for explaining their threat but the intention is not to teach the reader to write secure code. The report does, however, provide the reader with a rich source of references for that purpose. After describing some of the worst threats, the general cloud threat model is analyzed. This is followed by a practical analysis of a cloud system, and the report is closed with general strategies for countering threats.The severe destruction that a successful attack may cause and the high prevalence of those attacks motivates some security practices to be performed whenever software is produced. Attacks against smaller companies are more common now than ever before

The present study examined the impact of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) on adults’ ability to discriminate between various facial expressions of emotions. Additionally, the study examined whether individuals reporting PTSS exhibited an attentional bias toward threat-related facial expressions of emotions. The research design was a 2 (expression intensity) x 3 (emotional pairing) x 2 (PTSS group) mixed-model factorial design. Participants for the study were 89 undergraduates recruited from psychology courses at Western Kentucky University. Participants completed the Traumatic Stress Schedule to assess for prior exposure to traumatic events. A median split was used to divide the sample into two groups (i.e., low and high PTSS). Additionally, participants also completed a demographics questionnaire, the Impact of Events Scale-Revised, the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales to assess for possible covariates. Then, participants completed the discrimination of facial expressions task and the dot probe position task. Results indicate that individuals experiencing high levels of PTSS have difficulty discriminating between threatening and non-threatening facial expressions of emotions; additionally, these individuals’ difficulty is exacerbated by comorbid levels of anxiety symptoms. Furthermore, results suggests these individuals focus attention on threatening facial expressions while avoiding expressions that may activate memories associated with the prior trauma. These findings have significant clinical implications, as clinicians could focus treatment on correcting these difficulties which should help promote more beneficial social interactions for these individuals experiencing high levels of PTSS. Additionally, these behavioral measures could be used to assess the effectiveness of treatment. Effective treatment should help alleviate these difficulties, which could be measured by improved performance on the discrimination of facial expressions task and the dot probe position task from baseline to post-treatment.

Visualising uncertainty information has been a research area for the past decade or so, and this thesis contains the results of an experiment that examines whether prior research on icon degradation for showing uncertainty can be used in a simulated aircraft cockpit environment. Using icon degradation has been suggested as being effective to combat overconfidence bias, as well as to accurately convey information about uncertainty. Two icon sets using icon degradation were taken from prior research, and one new icon set using shape change and colour change was created for comparison. Subjects flew a flight simulator while reading icons to evaluate the uncertainty displayed, and also evaluating their own confidence in their reading. The results show that shape change leads to much higher accuracy in reading icons, and slightly higher levels of confidence. Furthermore, icon degradation results in a higher variance in reading icons and an increase in errors when no time-pressure or distraction is present. This suggests that the suitability of icon degradation for showing uncertainty is questionable in all situations, and that other design approaches such as shape change should be considered. Furthermore, problems were uncovered in the prior research that the old icons were taken from, and these problems call into question the general approach used in that research. Keywords: Uncertainty visualisation, Naturalistic decision-making, NDM, Aviation, Aircraft cockpit, Decision support, Situation assessment, Threat assessment.

As an accepted genre of female composition, song lies in a unique position among musical genres. This allows it to stand largely outside the area of Claude Steele’s notion of “stereotype threat,” and being absent such weighty pressures, it could then furnish an arena in which female composers can do their best work. As a genre that combines the arts of music and poetry, song is based upon a given set of symbols that provide the composer with inspiration. The study of these symbols and their possible metaphorical meanings can offer a guide to that inspiration. By studying two settings by male composers and two settings of female composers, we can compare their individual and gendered approach to those symbols for elements of a masculine or feminine style. Heinrich Heine’s 23rd poem in Die Heimkehr, analyzed thoroughly in Chapter 2, is the focal text in this study. In Chapters 3 through 6 each of the settings is examined at length using both a standard formal analysis and the “Grundgestalt” concept of Schoenberg. The settings examined are “Ihr Bild” by Franz Schubert, “Ich stand in dunkeln Träumen” and “Ihr Bildniss” (two versions of the same work) by Clara Schumann, “Ich stand in dunkeln Träumen” by Hugo Wolf, and a setting of the same name by Ingeborg von Bronsart. Each discussion focuses on the individual reactions to the specific symbols identified in Chapter 2, as well as the global approach to some well-known literary aspects of paternalistic literary culture of the time. The thesis concludes with a summary of the similarities and differences in the preceding four examinations. Chapter 7 also draws conclusions based on those contrasts, which yields an evaluation of gendered reactions and the possibility of a feminine style in the nineteenth century.

This study investigates the post-performance effects of stereotype threat. Undergraduate students (N = 130) classified as either strongly- or weakly- identified with academics were told a diagnostic anagram task either typically shows poorer performance for their gender (stereotype threat) or no gender differences (no stereotype threat), and received arbitrary positive or negative feedback on an initial task. They later performed a second anagram task. Results indicate a 2-way interaction between stereotype threat and academic identification among those who received negative feedback. Negative feedback under stereotype threat did not harm performance for participants strongly-identified with academics, but did harm performance for participants weakly-identified with academics. This same 2-way interaction within the negative feedback condition also predicted post-feedback levels of identification as a college student, though it did not seem to affect post-feedback levels of academic identification. Strongly-identified participants receiving negative feedback identified less as a college student if they were under stereotype threat while weakly-academically identified participants identified more. Levels of post-feedback identification as a college student negatively predicted performance.