The late positive potential (LPP) is an event-related potential (ERP) component associated with increased affective processing. Studies have shown that stimuli with high evolutionary significance (e.g. a threatening face) induce increased activity over centro-parietal areas of the brain. In an electrophysiological context, this is hypothesized to be indexed by greater LPP amplitudes. The facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) is a facial-masculinity metric which refers to cheekbone width, divided by upper facial height (top of the lip to between the brows). For the first time, LPP amplitudes were examined in subjects upon observing faces with high vs. low facial fWHRs. Prior studies suggest that faces with high fWHRs are perceived as more threatening than faces with low fWHRs. Consequently, fWHR has by some researchers been proposed to serve as a cue of threat. Two separate tasks in the present study were used to investigate this. In the aggression task, males with high fWHRs were judged as more aggressive. Moreover, when put in a threatening context, high fWHR faces also elicited greater LPP amplitudes in subjects compared to faces with low fWHRs. Conversely, in the self-regulation task, differences in LPP amplitudes did not reach significance. In this task, statistical power was low due to few blocks/trials in the ERP experiment and subjects were not primed on threat, which may explain the non-significant results. Taken together, the results provide modest support to the theory that fWHR serve as a cue of threat. Future studies will need to take the present study’s limitations into consideration

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.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-07-29T16:21:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE JULIO COLA ROVIDA.pdf: 491833 bytes, checksum: 38ea9a7ec6fd58dba6680dfa971676e6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-02-18 / The current rate of extinctions observed in the entire planet has its origin in high rates of habitat loss due to human population increase. The species-area relationship may be usefull in predicting extinction threats when combined with this loss. Lists of Cerrado s tetrapods were compiled and using the species-area relationship, we predicted values of species a threat. These values were compared with the IUCN Red List. The predictions of threat in all cases were higher than the Red List, except for endemic mammals that reflect the current threat list, and endemic birds whose predictions are lower than the threat level by IUCN. A large portion of species have populations in decline according to IUCN. Part of these results can be explained by a time-lag in the response time to the degradation itself associated with the gaps of knowledge about the species. The relationship could be used as a preliminary threat assessment, and followed by the aggregation of these red lists in order to increase efficiency in conservation planning. Life history, spatial and environmental heterogeneity data, when aggregated, should increase the prediction s accuracy. Major investments in basic biology are necessary in order to achieve maximum information input about the species to be evaluated. / A atual taxa de extinções observadas em todo planeta tem sua origem nas altas taxas de perda de habitat em decorrência do aumento populacional humano. A relação espécies-área pode ser útil na predição de ameaças de extinção quando associada a essa perda. Compilamos listas de tetrápodes do Cerrado e usando a relação espécie-área, foram preditos valores (números) de espécies em ameaça. Esses valores foram comparados com a lista vermelha da IUCN. As predições de ameaça em todos os casos foram superiores às da lista vermelha, excetuando-se mamíferos endêmicos que refletem as predições da lista atual, e aves endêmicas cuja predição de ameaça é inferior ao observado pela IUCN. Uma grande parcela de espécies também possui populações em declínio segundo a IUCN. Parte desses resultados seria explicada por um time-lag no tempo de resposta à degradação associada a lacunas de conhecimento acerca das espécies. A relação poderia ser usada como forma preliminar de avaliação de ameaça, e em segundo momento a agregação dessas listas vermelhas deveria ser feita a fim de se aumentar a eficiência no planejamento da conservação. Dados de história de vida, heterogeneidade ambiental e espacial, quando agregados, aumentariam a precisão da predição. Maiores investimentos em pesquisa básica se fazem necessários a fim de se obter o máximo de informações acerca das espécies a serem avaliadas.

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No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_PatriciaReginaCaldeiraDareArtoni.pdf: 2049299 bytes, checksum: 4026feb5c8cbd73a4d3b99ba8bbf3522 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-08-09 / Considering the evolution in research and theory of the psychology of risk and, in particular, from the perspective of risk as feelings (emphasizing the interaction between cognition and emotion on threat analysis), this thesis proposes and tests a conceptual model with focus on the influences of vulnerability on consumer response to automobile services. This study hypothesized that self-efficacy reduces or eliminates the vulnerability‟s effect on behavioral intentions. The lack of research on feelings of vulnerability in services consumption, specifically those not related to health as are the maintenance automotive services, and the lack of studies linking vulnerability and behavioral intentions to service purchase, stimulated this research. The impact of the three antecedents of threat analysis (perceived risk, risk as feelings and perceived severity) has been tested in a single model with self-efficacy on behavioral intention in the specific context of service consumption. The measurement proposed model was evaluated for dimensionality, validity and reliability by using confirmatory factor analysis; subsequently evaluated the causal hypotheses proposed in the model of full structural equation. The model was estimated and in one samples (ns = 202). Data were collected through an transverse online survey and research findings confirm the hypotheses that (1) the perceived risk and self-efficacy affect vulnerability. The hypotheses of (2) relationship between service failure severity and perceived risk or vulnerability were not supported. Implications for the theory and management are discussed. These findings help to understand the results of studies conducted in the U.S. in recent decades, offer a theoretical contribution to the understanding of the phenomenon of vulnerability, validate a scale to measure the phenomenon applied to services in the Brazilian context and reinforce the importance of considering self-efficacy for generalizations. From the perspective of management, the study shows that vulnerability influences business performance of automotive service companies, since it negatively influences the positive recommendation and maintaining business relationships. The findings suggest that managers of service companies should endeavor to reduce the vulnerability of the consumer through information that assist in the negotiation and evaluation of the service to minimize uncertainties. / Considerando os avanços da pesquisa e teoria da psicologia do risco e, em particular, da perspectiva do risco como sentimentos, ressaltando a interação entre cognição e emoção na análise de ameaças, esta tese propõe e testa um modelo conceitual sobre o efeito da vulnerabilidade (risco como sentimento) em intenções comportamentais de serviços relacionados a automóveis. Este estudo teve como hipótese que a autoeficácia percebida pelo consumidor diminui ou elimina o efeito da vulnerabilidade nas intenções comportamentais de perpetuidade de relacionamento com a empresa de serviço. Estimularam o interesse de pesquisa tanto a carência de pesquisas sobre o papel da vulnerabilidade no consumo de serviços não relacionados à área da saúde ou ao corpo do consumidor, quanto a carência de pesquisas sobre a relação entre a vulnerabilidade e as intenções comportamentais. Testou-se em um único modelo, o impacto previsto pelos processos cognitivos e afetivos que envolvem a análise de ameaça (sentimentos de vulnerabilidade, risco e severidade das falhas) e de capacidade de enfrentamento (autoeficácia) na intenção comportamental, no contexto específico de consumo de serviços relativos a automóveis. O modelo de mensuração proposto foi avaliado quanto à dimensionalidade, validade e confiabilidade pelo uso de análise fatorial confirmatória; posteriormente, avaliou-se a relação causal proposta nas hipóteses pelo modelo completo de equações estruturais. O modelo de mensuração proposto foi avaliado quanto à dimensionalidade, validade e confiabilidade pelo uso de análise fatorial confirmatória; posteriormente, avaliou-se a relação proposta nas hipóteses pelo modelo completo de equações estruturais, usando-se o software Amos e a estimativa por máxima verossimilhança. O modelo foi estimado em uma amostra de 202 respondentes. Os dados foram coletados por meio de um levantamento eletrônico transversal e os achados da pesquisa apontam para a confirmação das hipóteses de que (1) o risco percebido cognitivamente, sentimentos de vulnerabilidade e a autoeficácia influenciam as intenções comportamentais. Não foi possível suportar a hipótese de que (2) a severidade das possíveis falhas de serviço tem relação com risco ou com sentimentos de vulnerabilidade. Esses achados ajudam a compreender a relação entre intenções comportamentais e sentimentos de vulnerabilidade. Implicações para o desenvolvimento teórico da pesquisa na área e implicações gerenciais são discutidas. Os resultados auxiliam a compreensão dos resultados de estudos realizados nos EUA nas últimas décadas. Os achados oferecem uma contribuição teórica ao entendimento do fenômeno da vulnerabilidade, a adaptação de uma escala de medida para o fenômeno no contexto brasileiro e aplicado a serviços que não sejam de saúde e cuidados com o corpo. Do ponto de vista gerencial, o estudo alerta para o fato de a vulnerabilidade exercer influência no desempenho comercial de empresas de serviços automotivos, visto que ela influência negativamente a recomendação positiva e a manutenção de relacionamentos de negócios. Os achados sugerem que os gestores de empresas de serviços devem empreender esforços para reduzir a vulnerabilidade do consumidor por meio de informações que o auxiliem na negociação e avaliação do serviço ao minimizar incertezas.

[pt] Esta dissertação aborda o impacto do fluxo de refugiados de guerra na segurança dos Estados anfitriões. Tal impacto foi investigado por meio de revisão bibliográfica das principais contribuições teóricas sobre a questão, e do estudo de caso da região dos Grandes Lagos, localizada na África Central. Tomando como objeto referencial de segurança os governos de tais Estados, identificou-se que tais fluxos podem representar uma ameaça econômica, política e/ou cultural, o que irá variar de acordo com o contexto específico de cada Estado. Verificou-se ainda que as questões relativas aos refugiados geram uma interdependência entre os Estados da região estudada no que se refere às suas considerações de segurança, identificando-se portanto uma dinâmica regionalista. / [en] This dissertation concerns the impact of the refugees flows on the security of the host State. Such impact was investigated through bibliographic research and the study of case of the Big Lake region, located in Central Africa. Taking as referencial the security of the governements of this States, the analysis identified that such fluxes could configures an economic, political and/or cultural threat, depending of the specific context of each State. It was also identified that the issues related with refugees generate an interdependence between the States of the region in their concerns about security, showing an regionalist dynamics.

Artificial intelligence has in recent years taken center stage in the technological development. Major corporations, operating in a variety of economic sectors, are investing heavily in AI in order to stay competitive in the years and decades to come. What differentiates this technology from traditional computing is that it can carry out tasks previously limited to humans. As such it contains the possibility to revolutionize every aspect of our society. Until now, social science has not given the proper attention that this emerging technological phenomena deserves, a phenomena which, according to some, is increasing in strength exponentially. This paper aims to problematize AI in the light of democratic elections, both as an analytical tool and as a tool for manipulation. It also looks at three recent empirical cases where AI technology was used extensively. The results show that there in fact are reasons to worry. AI as an instrument can be used to covertly affect the public debate, to depress voter turnout, to polarize the population, and to hinder understanding of political issues.

Many embedded systems are complex, and it is often required that the firmware in these systems are updatable by the end-user. For economical and confidentiality reasons, it is important that these systems only accept firmware approved by the firmware producer. This thesis work focuses on creating a security enhanced firmware update procedure that is suitable for use in embedded systems. The common elements of embedded systems are described and various candidate algorithms are compared as candidates for firmware verification. Patents are used as a base for the proposal of a security enhanced update procedure. We also use attack trees to perform a threat analysis on an update procedure. The results are a threat analysis of a home office router and the proposal of an update procedure. The update procedure will only accept approved firmware and prevents reversion to old, vulnerable, firmware versions. The firmware verification is performed using the hash function SHA-224 and the digital signature algorithm RSA with a key length of 2048. The selection of algorithms and key lengths mitigates the threat of brute-force and cryptanalysis attacks on the verification algorithms and is believed to be secure through 2030.

The Heimdal Framework presented in this thesis is a step towards an unambiguous framework that reveals the objective strength and weaknesses of the security of components. It provides a way to combine different aspects affecting the security of components - such as category requirements, implemented security functionality and the environment in which it operates - in a modular way, making each module replaceable in the event that a more accurate module is developed. The environment is assessed and quantified through a methodology presented as a part of the Heimdal Framework. The result of the evaluation is quantitative data, which can be presented with varying degrees of detail, reflecting the needs of the evaluator. The framework is flexible and divides the problem space into smaller, more accomplishable subtasks with the means to focus on specific problems, aspects or system scopes. The evaluation method is focusing on technological components and is based on, but not limited to, the Security Functional Requirements (SFR) of the Common Criteria.

To be able to protect an organisation's resources, it is important to understand what there is to protect and what to protect it from. The first step is to try to analyse the security threats that exist against an organisation's resources to explore the risks. Threats have to be identified, for the organisation to protect its resources and find where the optimal placement against threats is. This thesis analysis whether it is possible to obtain a Threat Tree Analysis that is useful for developing an information security policy for the municipality in Ronneby, using the SS 62 77 99-1 standard. A co-operation between the technical solutions and the administrative security is necessary to achieve information security, together with ordinary common sense. True, each of these can help improve security, but none of them is a complete solution. Security is not a product - it is a process. Threat trees form the basis of understanding that process. In this thesis, we have been using a qualitative method. The analysis method is a case study at the Social Department, at the municipality in Ronneby. Through interviews it has come us to hand, that the organisation has not established an information security policy which should give the code of practice for how the work of information security will pursue within the organisation. The organisation does neither use a model for structuring threats nor a method for collecting threats against information today. Through the structure of possible threats, the personnel generates an understanding of the organisation and takes active part finding adequate threats within the Social Department. As users understand the importance of security, how to use it, and where to report suspected violations, they can do a great deal to reduce the risk to loose information. Important to remember is that the education is an ongoing process, new users need training and trained users need reminding, especially when new technologies or processes are introduced. Thus, Threat Tree Analysis is useful for continuing towards developing an information security policy according to SS 62 77 99-1 standard. / För att kunna skydda en organisations resurser är det viktigt att förstå vad organisationen behöver skydda och vad den ska skydda det ifrån. Det första steget är att analysera hot mot organisationens resurser för att uppskatta riskerna. Hot måste identifieras för att organisationen ska kunna skydda sina resurser och hitta den optimala placeringen av åtgärder mot hot. Denna uppsatsen undersöker om det är möjligt att skapa en hotträdsanalys som är användbar för skapandet av en informationssäkerhetspolicy för Ronneby kommun, genom att använda standarden SS 62 77 99-1. Vi betonar i uppsatsen att ett samarbete mellan existerande tekniska lösningar och administrativ säkerhet är nödvändigt för att uppnå informationssäkerhet. Visst kan var och en av dessa hjälpa till att förbättra säkerheten, men ingen av dem är ensam den kompletta lösningen. Säkerhet är inte en produkt - det är en process. Hotträd formar grunden för en förståelse av den processen. I denna uppsats har vi använt en kvalitativ metod. Analysmetoden är en fallstudie på Socialförvaltningen i Ronneby kommun. Genom intervjuer har vi fått fram att organisationen inte har etablerat en informationssäkerhetspolicy, vilken ska ge riktlinjer för hur säkerhetsarbetet ska fullföljas inom organisationen. Organisationen använder varken en modell för att identifiera hot mot information eller en metod för att strukturera hoten. Genom strukturen av möjliga hot, genererar personalen en förståelse för organisationen och tar aktivt del i att identifiera hot mot Socialförvaltningen. Detta medför att alla användare förstår hur viktigt det är med säkerhet, vart de ska rapportera misstänkta händelser och de kan göra mycket för att minska risken att förlora information. Det är viktigt att komma ihåg att utbildning är en pågående process, nya användare behöver utbildning och utbildade användare behöver vidareutbildning, speciellt när nya tekniker eller processer introduceras. Därför är hotträdsanalysen en användbar modell för arbetet mot att skapa en informationssäkerhetspolicy enligt standarden SS 62 77 99-1. / Sandra Olandersson Blåbärsvägen 27 372 38 RONNEBY 0457 / 12084 Jeanette Fredsson Villa Viola 372 36 RONNEBY 0457 / 26616

The internet has permeated the lives of the modern men in more respects than can be tabulated simply. The ease of access to online shopping, social networking, simplified communication, etc. make the internet a modern panacea for a number of problems. However, the internet also opens up avenues that expose the user to vulnerabilities at the hand of hackers and malicious software coders. The use of the internet to exchange personal and fiscal information makes attacks all the more inviting. This is compounded by the fact that most online users are unaware of threats that affect them on a daily basis and how to protect themselves against such threats. Despite the fact that the level of awareness of the contemporary cyber threats, has significantly increased among online users within the last few years, there is a growing need to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the countermeasures currently being used. Fortunately, there are a number of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) principles that can effectively be used to enhance online user interaction and reduce internet security threats.