Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Mon secret'

Écrivain de la passion, de l’amour fou et de la mort, Duras peut également être qualifiée d’écrivain de l’« intime ». Comme le montrent les récits des années soixante, Moderato Cantabile, Dix heures et demie du soir en été, Hiroshima mon amour et Le Ravissement de Lol V. Stein, le silence autour duquel se construisent les textes, le mystère qui entoure les personnages féminins et leurs sentiments, sont le signe d’un vécu « intime » gardé secret, intériorisé, jamais tout à fait exprimé. Dans ces œuvres, Duras tente inlassablement de pénétrer l’« intime » de ses héroïnes en cherchant à mettre au jour et à comprendre leur vécu, cette histoire douloureuse et personnelle qui demeure enfouie. Duras ne fera ainsi qu’écrire et réécrire l’événement traumatique vécu par ses héroïnes, cet événement se manifestant à travers la musique et lors de scènes rappelant la « scène primitive ». Le manque et l’absence, motifs omniprésents également associés aux personnages féminins, s’avèrent de leur côté se faire l’écho d’un deuil impossible. Alors que ce processus de réécriture témoigne d’un rapport de quête vers une solution, Duras semble loin d’avoir résolu le passé immémorial des héroïnes. Si tous ces thèmes caractéristiques de l’œuvre durassienne – l’absence, le manque, l’amour et la mort – ne cessent d’être ressassés, c’est finalement parce qu’ils se trouvent directement ou indirectement liés à l’enfance de l’auteur, à la mère et à la mort du jeune frère aimé avec passion
Writer about passion, “crasy love”, and of death, Duras can also be qualified as the writer of the « intimate » as shown in the novels of the sixties, Moderato Cantabile, Dix heures et demie du soir en été, Hiroshima mon amour et Le Ravissement de Lol V. Stein, the silence around which the texts were built, the mystery surrounding the female characters and their feelings, are the sing of a past experience « intimate », kept secret, interiorized, never really expressed. In these works Duras tries untiringly to penetrate the « intimate » of her heroines by striving to bring to light and undestand their past experience, this painful and personal story which remains hidden. Duras in this manner would write and re-write the traumatic event lived by her heroines, this event displayed through music and scenes of the initial scene. Yearning and absence, omnipresent grounds equally associated to female characters, confirmed on their side making the echo of an impossible mourning. Whereas the preocess of re-wrinting gives evidence of the report of the search towards a solution, Duras seems far from having resolved the immemorial past of the heroines. If al these themes characteristics of the durassian work – absence, yearning, love and death – do not stop being scrutinized it is because at the end they are found directly or indirectly connected to the childhood of the author, to the mother and to the death of the younger brother passionately loved

Le conte Le Petit Prince, commence par " Lorsque j'avais six ans ". Ces mots sont précédés d'une image montrant l'enlacement d'un serpent boa autour d'une bête fauve. Or les premiers mots d'une oeuvre ainsi que l'illustration qui les précède en indiquent le déroulement et permet de prévoir la fin. Ces deux notations signalent que ce conte est l'histoire d'un enfant de six ans qui se pose deux questions clés: que signifient ces enlacements à la fois merveilleux et inquiétants dont il reproduit l'image et en quoi leur dynamique le concerne-t-il? Il pose ainsi la question " d'où je viens ? " suivi de son corollaire naturel " suis-je concerné par de telles pulsions ?". À travers la métaphore du Petit Prince, Saint-Exupéry prend appui sur sa propre expérience. Entre sa sixième et septième année il vécut un important traumatisme qui lui permit d'accéder seul, à la connaissance du sexuel existant entre les moutons et les fleurs, entre les hommes et les femmes, permettant à l'humanité de se perpétuer. L'universalité de la question des origines permet une traduction dans toutes les langues, sans que ce conte perde une once de sa pertinence. L'oeuvre Le Petit Prince s'inscrit dès lors et en quelque sorte comme une nouvelle écriture de la Genèse, mais d'une genèse dégagée de tout contexte religieux, en somme d'une genèse laïque donc totalement universelle. Cette Genèse " universelle " est à entendre au sens métonymique du terme. Genèse qu'Antoine de Saint-Exupéry déploie au pied de la lettre dans le Cosmos, inventant une cosmogonie pour tous les Petits Princes du Monde qui osent se demander, dans une profonde solitude, ce que ça fout ensemble ces drôles d'adultes...

Inspirés par les idées de détachement et de renoncement, les thèmes cléricaux et monastiques du contemptus mundi dénoncent la richesse, la chair et la gloire comme autant d'obstacles dans la quête de Dieu. Ils devaient, cependant, être renouvelés à la faveur de sa réception humaniste tandis que la Réforme, de son côté, avait besoin d'une doctrine du mépris du monde qui lui soit propre. La façon dont ce topos est transformé par Théodore Bèze au XVIe siècle pour devenir un thème majeur pour les réformateurs n'a pas encore reçu l'attention qu'elle mérite. C'est pourtant une manière importante de comprendre leur « imaginaire » à partir des mentalités, de l'anthropologie culturelle et de la théorie de la réception. Via les genres littéraires à sa disposition, Théodore Bèze favorise une reconfiguration du contemptus mundi à partir des traditions médiévales et classiques. Son itinéraire commence à Orléans dans le contexte de la poésie latine humaniste et de l'évangélisme, ainsi que dans les bouleversements provoqués par les persécutions. Sa conversion au calvinisme le conduit à l'exil. La reformulation du mépris du monde à travers ses thèmes de prédilection comme la conversion, les normes et la discipline des églises, les confessions de foi, la sanctification, l'eschatologie, la méditation sur la mort et la vanité de ce monde… s'est traduite par une diffusion plus large du motif à travers de nouveaux genres et médias. Bèze a joué un grand rôle dans l'adoption d'une conception éthique personnelle d'une attitude chrétienne droite à adopter face au théâtre d'un monde en mutation. Cette reconfiguration du mépris du monde est devenue constitutive du rayonnement calviniste en Europe
My PhD proposes to examine how the Ancient idea of « contempt for the world » was perceived, and then transformed by the French Calvinist Reformer in the second part of the sixteenth century.To contextualize the « disdaining », or « despising » of the world, is a translation of « contemptus mundi ». Based on the ideas of renunciation and detachment, main topics of this thema accuse wealthy, it evoked those dangers or obstacles - the pursuit of wealth, the way of the flesh, the quest for glory - in the pursuit of God. This points to both a monastic ideal of piety and an ecclesial doctrine. It was a topos in moral literature, especially in the piety of the Devotio Moderna movement of the emerging Renaissance. « Contempt for the world » seemed, in this context, to afford a position from which to critique its defects, harnessing the humanist reception of Ancient philosophy and new Biblical exegesis. How this topos evolved to become a major theme for Protestant Reformers, however, has not yet received the attention it deserves. It is, however, an important way of understanding their « imaginary » (« l'imaginaire »), and an essential element in their « cultural anthropology ».The PhD focuses on the French and French-Swiss Calvinist experience in the sixteenth century. It has three aspects to it :a) The role of « disdaining the world » in the works of John Calvin and of his elaboration of his human anthropology.b) Its role in the mental and spiritual evolution of his principal followers, Theodore Beza (1519-1605), who favored a via media recomposition from the medieval and classical traditions.c) How their reformulation of the « disdaining of the world » played out in its broader diffusion through new genres and media (icones and emblemata, for exemple) in the course of the sixteenth century. My research is therefore situated within the historical methodologies of mentality, historical cultural anthropology and reception theory.The subject is very broad and interdisciplinary. To provide specificity, its second aspect (the case of Theodore Beza) provides the central focus for research and reflection. His itinerary began in Orleans and Paris in the context of humanistic latin poetry and evangelism, as well in the upheavals caused by the persecutions. His conversion to Calvinism in 1548 encouraged him to flee and settle first in Lausanne, then in Geneva. There, after his mentor John Calvin's died in 1564, he became the leader of the continental European Reformation until he died in 1605. Each of these periods, considered as « moments » of the history of the Reformation history, enable us to buid our thesis on the study of the main topics of his works: conversion, the institution of new norms in building churches through disciplinary, confessions of faith and polemics, sanctification, eschatology, meditation on death and vanity of this world “below”.Beza played a far-reaching role in the adoption of upright Christian attitudes to adopt in face of the theatre of changing world. Beza's work provide a specific way of documenting how he reformulated « disdain for the world » became his very particular and personal ethical conception. By the beginning of the seventeenth century, this refashioned « disdaining of the world » became more broadly constitutive of Calvinist image of itself in Europe, and these images constitute the final element of the research program of this PhD

Stories told to us by our family members, and stories that we tell inside and beyond our families not only become ‘our heritage’, but are integral to our sense of self. As ‘Aborigines’ (Indigenous, or First Nation peoples) our stories also become a form of resistance to the taking on of identities based on stories told about us by writers (historians, anthropologists, journalists) from cultures other than our own. The argument of this thesis is that strategies of colonisation – oppression, domination, and genocide – that were and still are perpetrated against Aborigines result in the living out of ‘secret’ lives. This is how we have survived and how our ancient culture has endured. My thesis encompasses the secret life of a Goenpul man in modern Queensland. It is based on my experiences of living and interacting in two worlds - one brutally harsh and public and the other secret and loving.
Thesis (Masters)
Master of Philosophy (MPhil)
School of Humanities
Arts, Education and Law
Full Text

Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees (2002) tells the story of a motherless fourteen-year-old Lily Owens, raised by a cruel father, who desperately searches for clues to unlock her mother’s past. Kidd’s bildungsroman reveals the incredible power of black women, particularly a group of beekeeping sisters and a black Mary, to create a safe haven where Lily can examine her fragmented life and develop psychologically, finally becoming a self-actualized young lady. Lily’s matriarchal world of influence both compares and contrasts with the patriarchal world represented in Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, exposing the matriarchy’s aptly structured ways of providing a more healing environment than is Huck Finn’s. Kidd’s novel also showcases the stylistic strategies of first person narrative point of view, language, dialect, and the motif of place in order to contextualize the social awareness and psychological development Lily gains through her journey.

Internet use is a routine element of daily life in the early 21st century for many middle-class Americans. Today, millions of middle-class American mothers read and write online web-logs detailing motherhood and domestic life and mom blogs, formerly known as "mommy blogs," facilitate substantial economic activity. Participants collectively invest millions of hours in these blogs, sharing information and experiences, and offering each other validation and support. The present qualitative study of American mom blogs uses traditional grounded theory methods as well as Netnography techniques to investigate the thematic content found in the publicly posted text of 25 different mom blogs during 2011. Aspects of Goffman's theory of Dramaturgy and Chayko's theory of portable communities provide an interpretive framework for my findings. These findings suggest that mom blogs give participating mothers the power of voice which they use to publish highly controlled, yet powerful messages that communicate the values and role definitions of early 21st century motherhood to a growing online community. Messages tend to portray standards, styles, and secrets of contemporary, middle-class American motherhood.

Collegiate secret societies, as distinguished from Greek-letter fraternal organizations, enjoyed prominence within many American campus communities from the early nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth century (Baird, 1879; Hitchcock, 1863; Slosson, 1910; Veysey, 1965). The establishment of these elite groups preceded the maturation of university administrative structures responsible for managing students’ extracurricular life, as well as the mass democratization of American higher education which occurred after World War II (Rudolph, 1990; Cohen, 2010). The presence of prestigious secret societies is documented and celebrated in college yearbooks and newspapers, reflecting a period in higher education's past when the hegemony of the white, male prevailed in student culture and fostered the composite ideal of the “Big Man on Campus” (“B.M.O.C.”) – the handsome varsity athlete, fraternity man, and club president destined for success in American public life.

Although collegiate secret societies “disappeared” on many campuses in the Civil Rights Era amidst accusations of elitism and reactions against established white, Anglo-Saxon Protestant norms, their legacy lingers into the twenty-first century, along with many unanswered questions about their historical role as a source of student power on campus. Their roots can be traced to the prestigious all-male boarding schools of the Northeastern United States in the late nineteenth century where patterns of upper-class masculine socialization developed. Due to a dearth of historical research on this topic, however, institutional leaders are challenged to understand the origins, purpose, and legacy of this type of student association that still holds meaning for students and other stakeholders in some campus communities.

This study utilized critical social theory from Bourdieu and Gramsci and the emerging scholarship of whiteness studies to provide an historical analysis of the rise and fall of the Order of Red Friars senior class secret society that was active at Duke University (Trinity College prior to 1924) between 1913 and 1971. Student leaders who manifested the “B.M.O.C.” ideal were tapped for membership in this group and collaborated with presidents, trustees, administrators, and select faculty on an agenda for student life (Durden, 1993). Utilizing archival research methods and oral history interviews, I was able to explore the involvement of the Order of Red Friars in the administration of student affairs at Duke University for sixty years during the twentieth century. This study provided basic knowledge about the phenomenon of the collegiate secret society and a deeper understanding of the cultural hegemony from which they emerged that continues to influence campus cultures today.

The history of American higher education literature documents how faculty discarded their in loco parentis responsibilities for managing student behavior as their field professionalized in the late nineteenth century (Rudolph, 1990; Thelin, 2011; Veysey, 1965) and how specialization of the student affairs profession coalesced four decades later in the 1930s (ACE, 1937; Biddix & Schwartz, 2012; Lloyd-Jones, 1934; Schwartz, 2003). Yet, the historical role of students in the campus power structure of the early twentieth century, and particularly their role in sustaining their extracurricular affairs during this period, has been largely unexamined. This study addresses the gap that exists in the history of higher education literature about collegiate culture in the early twentieth century in the South, as well as the phenomenon of the collegiate secret society as a source of power on campus. (Thelin, 1982; Veysey, 1965).

The aim of this thesis was to examine changing representations of men and masculinities in a particular historical period (“The Sixties”) and to explore the impact that this had in a period of rapid social change in the UK and the legacy of that impact. In order to do this, a multi-method study was developed, combining documentary research with a set of eleven semi-structured interviews. The documentary research took the form of a case study of The Beatles, arguing that their position as a group of men who became a global cultural phenomenon, in the period under study, made theme a suitable vehicle through which to read changing representations of masculinities in this period and to reflect on what this meant for men in UK society. The Beatles’ live action films were chosen as a sample of Beatle “texts” which allowed for the Beatles to be looked at at different points in the “The Sixties” and for possible changes over that time period to be tracked. Textual analysis within discourse analysis (based on a framework suggested by van Dijk [1993], Fairclough [1995] and McKee [2003]) was used to analyse the texts. Ideas advanced by the Popular Memory Group (1982) about the interaction of public representations of the past and private memory of that past were influential in the decision to combine this piece of documentary research with interviews with a sample of men, in an age range of 18 to 74. The interview stage was designed to elicit data on the perception of the participants of the role of representation (with particular reference to the Beatles) of masculinities on them as individuals and their ideas about how this may have had an impact in terms of longer term social change. Ehrenreich’s (1983) notion of a male revolt in the late 1950s, an emergence of a challenge to established ideas about men and masculinity, was also influential, particularly as it is an idea at odds with the “crisis in masculinity” discourse (Tolson, 1977; Kimmel, 1987; Whitehead, 2002) at work in a number of texts on men and masculinity. Examining further Inglis’ (2000b : 1) concept of The Beatles as “men of ideas” with a global reach, the chosen Beatle texts were examined for discourses of masculinity which appeared to be resistant to the dominant. What emerged were a number of findings around resistance, non-conformity, feminised appearance, pre-metrosexuality, the male star as object of desire and The Beatles as a global male phenomenon open to the radical diversity of the world in a period of rapid social change. The role of popular culture within this process was central to the thesis, given its focus on The Beatles as a case study. However, broader ideas about the role of the arts also emerged with a resultant conclusion that “the sixties” is where a recognition of the importance of representation begins as well as a period where representations of gender (as well as class and race) became more accessible due to the rise in popularity of TV in the UK and a resurgence in British cinema. The thesis offers a number of ideas for further research, building on the outcomes of this particular study. These include further work on the competing crisis/ revolt discourse at work in the field of critical men’s studies, ascertaining female perspectives on representations of masculinities and their impact, further work on the Beatles through fans and an application of some of the ideas at work in the thesis to other periods of British history.

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Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)
O objetivo desta dissertação é discutir conceitos sobre gênero, presentes em algumas teorias e críticas pontuais e analisar dois romances contemporâneos: o norte-americano The Secret Life of Bees (2002), de Sue Monk Kidd, e o brasileiro Sapato de salto (2006), de Lygia Bojunga. Pretende-se cotejar o modo como cada escritora apresenta o processo de formação das protagonistas e, visto que esses romances são considerados Bildungsromane femininos, verificar como a forma do romance influencia na construção do gênero nas personagens principais das obras supracitadas. A formação das protagonistas será avaliada de acordo com as perspectivas críticas adotadas em que o sujeito é performativo e reivindica posições como marca da própria identidade. Considerando que as obras estão inseridas na contemporaneidade, procura-se mostrar que a mulher não assume mais uma posição inferior ao homem. A tradição misógina e machista é rompida nos romances, conforme propõe Butler, no momento em que as autoras dão voz e vez ao sexo (até então tido como) frágil, instaurando, assim, um discurso da ruptura. Como aparato crítico-teórico, utilizar-se-ão as perspectivas de Beauvoir (1974), Wittig (1982), Hollanda (1994) e Butler (1990; 2001; 2004), para questões do gênero; os trabalhos de Pinto (1990), Maas (2000) e Scwhantes (2007), para o estudo sobre o romance de formação tradicional ou feminino e as obras de Laclau (1990), Ortiz (1994) e Santos (2001), para a contextualização da contemporaneidade
The aim of this work is to discuss concepts about gender, present in some theories and specific criticisms, and analyze two contemporary novels: the American - The Secret Life of Bees (2002), by Sue Monk Kidd, and the Brazilian - Sapato de salto (2006), by Lygia Bojunga. It is intended to collate the way each writer presents the protagonists’ formation process and to check how the form of the novel influences on the gender construction of the main characters in both works, once these novels are considered feminine Bildungsromane. It is pertinent to emphasize that the protagonists’ formation will be evaluated according to the adopted critical perspectives in which the subject is performative and claims positions as a mark of identity. Whereas the works are embedded in contemporary times, it attempts to show that women do not assume an inferior position to men anymore. A misogynistic and sexist tradition is broken in the novels, as Butler proposes, at the moment the authors give the weaker sex their turn and voice, thus introducing a discourse of rupture. As critical- theoretical apparatus, the prospects of Beauvoir (1974), Wittig (1982), Hollanda (1994) and Butler (1990, 2001, 2004) will be used about gender issues; Pinto (1990), Maas (2000) and Scwhantes (2007) works will be the basis for the study of traditional and female Bildungsromane, and the works by Laclau (1990), Ortiz (1994) and Santos (2001) will contextualize the contemporaneity

Roman Catholicism and Srivaiṣṇavism are two religious traditions in which mediation, primarily through the use of images, plays a central role in soteriology. A comparison of various modes of mediation between these two traditions will highlight a dialectic of presence and absence, inherent in mediation, and will examine the various ways of interpreting and dealing with this dialectic in their respective theologies. Three general categories of mediation are identified through which this comparison will take place: God, saint, and priest.
Images of the full presence of God, namely the eucharistic host in Roman Catholicism and the arcavatara in Srivaiṣṇavism, mediate this full presence either through the transformation of substance (as in Roman Catholicism) or through the appearance of materiality and limited form (in Srivaiṣṇavism). Saints and alvars can also be regarded as images or mediatory modes; the saint embodies and mediates Christ's presence, becoming "as if" Christ. This presence is manifested not only in the saint's life but in his or her relics as well. The alvar is regarded as an aṁsa or partial incarnation, thus manifesting a part of God, most notably His ornaments, weapons and companions.
A specific comparison of Mary and Aṇṭaḷ/Sri will further highlight the dialectic of presence and absence in addition to pointing out their unique status within their respective traditions. A comparison of priests and acaryas will show mediation in living images. Priests become "as if" Christ through their ordination, and are seen to embody him particularly in specific ritual acts. The acarya functions in much the same way as Aṇṭaḷ/Sri, mediating between God and the believer as an aṁsa or partial incarnation.
Different theological conceptions of God and incarnation result in the different understandings of mediation and the different ways that the two traditions deal with the dialectic of presence and absence. Images in both traditions also bring to light an "as if" conception in the mind of the believer; saints and priests function "as if" Christ and the various images in Srivaiṣṇaavism appear "as if" material or "as if" human, thus allowing them to mediate the divine presence to the community.

Dans cette thèse, trois romans sont analysés: The book of secrets de l'écrivain néo-zélandais Fiona Kidman, Moi, Tituba sorcière de la guadeloupéenne Maryse Condé, et Les enfants du sabbat de l'écrivain québécois Anne Hébert. Ces romans ont été choisis parce qu'ils présentent un personnage central féminin qualifié de sorcière, et que la représentation du trope de la sorcière de chaque roman diffère considérablement. Ceci a conduit à la création du terme "witchness" ("sorciéritude") pour décrire les caractéristiques et qualités des sorcières. Cette étude cherche à identifier le rapport entre l'écriture de la "witchness" et le "biais" de chaque roman. Ce mot fait référence aux discours qui agissent dans le roman, par l'intermédiaire du point de vue du narrateur aussi bien que par le biais des discours idéologiques, sociaux, culturels et historiques inscrits dans le texte et déterminés par le contexte dans lequel les romans ont été écrits. La première partie de la thèse consiste de l'identification d'un intertexte historique de chaque roman, et puis de l'analyse du cadre dans lequel l'intertexte a été inséré. Dans la section deux, nous étudions comment la "witchness" est représentée dans les romans, et comment celle-ci défie les étiquettes de l'autre et de la différence. Dans la troisième partie, nous examinons comment ces représentations différentes de la "witchness" influencent les discours sur l'identité et sur l'individualité des personnages féminins principaux. En bref, cette thèse consiste à identifier les contre-discours dans les trois romans sélectionnés, à faire une étude des représentations diverses de la "witchness", et à analyser les moyens par lesquels l'identité est créée par l'intermédiaire des stratégies contrediscursives associées aux différentes façons d'écrire l'héritage féminin à travers la "witchness". Nous visons, donc. à comprendre le but des stratégies contre-discursives associées à l'écriture de la "witchness" dans ces trois romans.

De nos jours, les ordinateurs sont omniprésents. Tous ces ordinateurs stockent et manipulent de l'information, parfois sensible, d'où l'intérêt de protéger et de confiner la dissémination de cette information. Les mécanismes de contrôle de flux d'information permettent justement d'analyser des programmes manipulant de l'information sensible, afin de prévenir les fuites d'information. Les contributions de cette thèse incluent des techniques d'analyse de programmes pour le contrôle de flux d'information tant qualitatif que quantitatif. Les techniques d'analyse qualitatives permettent la détection et la prévention des fuites d'information. Les techniques quantitatives permettent d'estimer ces fuites afin de décider si elles sont négligeables
Computers have become widespread nowadays. All these computers store and process information. Often, some of this information is sensitive; hence the need to confine and control its dissemination. An important field in computer science, that is concerned about analysing programs in order to confine and control the release of sensitive information, is the information flow control field. The contributions of this thesis include program analysis techniques for qualitative and quantitative information flow control. Qualitative techniques aim at detecting and preventing information leaks. Quantitative techniques go beyong the detection of information leaks, by estimating the leakage in order to decide whether it is negligeable

The thesis focuses on the privacy of communication that can be ensured by means of the physical layer, i.e., by appropriately chosen coding and resource allocation schemes. The fundamentals of physical-layer security have been already formulated in the 1970s by Wyner (1975), Csiszár and Körner (1978). But only nowadays we have the technical progress such that these ideas can find their way in current and future communication systems, which has driven the growing interest in this area of research in the last years. We analyze two physical-layer approaches that can ensure the secret transmission of private information in wireless systems in presence of an eavesdropper. One is the direct transmission of the information to the intended receiver, where the transmitter has to simultaneously ensure the reliability and the secrecy of the information. The other is a two-phase approach, where two legitimated users first agree on a common and secret key, which they use afterwards to encrypt the information before it is transmitted. In this case, the secrecy and the reliability of the transmission are managed separately in the two phases. The secrecy of the transmitted messages mainly depends on reliable information or reasonable and justifiable assumptions about the channel to the potential eavesdropper. Perfect state information about the channel to a passive eavesdropper is not a rational assumption. Thus, we introduce a deterministic model for the uncertainty about this channel, which yields a set of possible eavesdropper channels. We consider the optimization of worst-case rates in systems with multi-antenna Gaussian channels for both approaches. We study which transmit strategy can yield a maximum rate if we assume that the eavesdropper can always observe the corresponding worst-case channel that reduces the achievable rate for the secret transmission to a minimum. For both approaches, we show that the resulting max-min problem over the matrices that describe the multi-antenna system can be reduced to an equivalent problem over the eigenvalues of these matrices. We characterize the optimal resource allocation under a sum power constraint over all antennas and derive waterfilling solutions for the corresponding worst-case channel to the eavesdropper for a constraint on the sum of all channel gains. We show that all rates converge to finite limits for high signal-to-noise ratios (SNR), if we do not restrict the number of antennas for the eavesdropper. These limits are characterized by the quotients of the eigenvalues resulting from the Gramian matrices of both channels. For the low-SNR regime, we observe a rate increase that depends only on the differences of these eigenvalues for the direct-transmission approach. For the key generation approach, there exists no dependence from the eavesdropper channel in this regime. The comparison of both approaches shows that the superiority of an approach over the other mainly depends on the SNR and the quality of the eavesdropper channel. The direct-transmission approach is advantageous for low SNR and comparably bad eavesdropper channels, whereas the key generation approach benefits more from high SNR and comparably good eavesdropper channels. All results are discussed in combination with numerous illustrations
Der Fokus dieser Arbeit liegt auf der Abhörsicherheit der Datenübertragung, die auf der Übertragungsschicht, also durch geeignete Codierung und Ressourcenverteilung, erreicht werden kann. Die Grundlagen der Sicherheit auf der Übertragungsschicht wurden bereits in den 1970er Jahren von Wyner (1975), Csiszár und Körner (1978) formuliert. Jedoch ermöglicht erst der heutige technische Fortschritt, dass diese Ideen in zukünftigen Kommunikationssystemen Einzug finden können. Dies hat in den letzten Jahren zu einem gestiegenen Interesse an diesem Forschungsgebiet geführt. In der Arbeit werden zwei Ansätze zur abhörsicheren Datenübertragung in Funksystemen analysiert. Dies ist zum einen die direkte Übertragung der Information zum gewünschten Empfänger, wobei der Sender gleichzeitig die Zuverlässigkeit und die Abhörsicherheit der Übertragung sicherstellen muss. Zum anderen wird ein zweistufiger Ansatz betrachtet: Die beiden Kommunikationspartner handeln zunächst einen gemeinsamen sicheren Schlüssel aus, der anschließend zur Verschlüsselung der Datenübertragung verwendet wird. Bei diesem Ansatz werden die Abhörsicherheit und die Zuverlässigkeit der Information getrennt voneinander realisiert. Die Sicherheit der Nachrichten hängt maßgeblich davon ab, inwieweit zuverlässige Informationen oder verlässliche Annahmen über den Funkkanal zum Abhörer verfügbar sind. Die Annahme perfekter Kanalkenntnis ist für einen passiven Abhörer jedoch kaum zu rechtfertigen. Daher wird hier ein deterministisches Modell für die Unsicherheit über den Kanal zum Abhörer eingeführt, was zu einer Menge möglicher Abhörkanäle führt. Die Optimierung der sogenannten Worst-Case-Rate in einem Mehrantennensystem mit Gaußschem Rauschen wird für beide Ansätze betrachtet. Es wird analysiert, mit welcher Sendestrategie die maximale Rate erreicht werden kann, wenn gleichzeitig angenommen wird, dass der Abhörer den zugehörigen Worst-Case-Kanal besitzt, welcher die Rate der abhörsicheren Kommunikation jeweils auf ein Minimum reduziert. Für beide Ansätze wird gezeigt, dass aus dem resultierenden Max-Min-Problem über die Matrizen des Mehrantennensystems ein äquivalentes Problem über die Eigenwerte der Matrizen abgeleitet werden kann. Die optimale Ressourcenverteilung für eine Summenleistungsbeschränkung über alle Sendeantennen wird charakterisiert. Für den jeweiligen Worst-Case-Kanal zum Abhörer, dessen Kanalgewinne einer Summenbeschränkung unterliegen, werden Waterfilling-Lösungen hergeleitet. Es wird gezeigt, dass für hohen Signal-Rausch-Abstand (engl. signal-to-noise ratio, SNR) alle Raten gegen endliche Grenzwerte konvergieren, wenn die Antennenzahl des Abhörers nicht beschränkt ist. Die Grenzwerte werden durch die Quotienten der Eigenwerte der Gram-Matrizen beider Kanäle bestimmt. Für den Ratenanstieg der direkten Übertragung ist bei niedrigem SNR nur die Differenz dieser Eigenwerte maßgeblich, wohingegen für den Verschlüsselungsansatz in dem Fall keine Abhängigkeit vom Kanal des Abhörers besteht. Ein Vergleich zeigt, dass das aktuelle SNR und die Qualität des Abhörkanals den einen oder anderen Ansatz begünstigen. Die direkte Übertragung ist bei niedrigem SNR und verhältnismäßig schlechten Abhörkanälen überlegen, wohingegen der Verschlüsselungsansatz von hohem SNR und vergleichsweise guten Abhörkanälen profitiert. Die Ergebnisse der Arbeit werden umfassend diskutiert und illustriert

Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a vital component to the security ecosystem and the most popular security protocol used on the Internet today. Despite the strengths of the protocol, numerous vulnerabilities result from its improper use in practice. Some of these vulnerabilities arise from weaknesses in authentication, from the rigidity of the trusted authority system to the complexities of client certificates. Others result from the misuse of TLS by developers, who misuse complicated TLS libraries, improperly validate server certificates, employ outdated cipher suites, or deploy other features insecurely. To make matters worse, system administrators and users are powerless to fix these issues, and lack the ability to properly control how their own machines communicate securely online. In this dissertation we argue that the problems described are the result of an improper placement of security responsibilities. We show that by placing TLS services in the operating system, both new and existing applications can be automatically secured, developers can easily use TLS without intimate knowledge of security, and security settings can be controlled by administrators. This is demonstrated through three explorations that provide TLS features through the operating system. First, we describe and assess TrustBase, a service that repairs and strengthens certificate-based authentication for TLS connections. TrustBase uses traffic interception and a policy engine to provide administrators fine-tuned control over the trust decisions made by all applications on their systems. Second, we introduce and evaluate the Secure Socket API (SSA), which provides TLS as an operating system service through the native POSIX socket API. The SSA enables developers to use modern TLS securely, with as little as one line of code, and also allows custom tailoring of security settings by administrators. Finally, we further explore a modern approach to TLS client authentication, leveraging the operating system to provide a generic platform for strong authentication that supports easy deployment of client authentication features and protects user privacy. We conclude with a discussion of the reasons for the success of our efforts, and note avenues for future work that leverage the principles exhibited in this work, both in and beyond TLS.

A acromegalia é doença insidiosa e desfigurante caracterizada por um crescimento desproporcional dos ossos das mãos, pés e do crânio devido à exposição crônica a altos níveis de hormônio de crescimento (GH) e de seu efetor insuline growth factor 1 (IGF-1). Trata-se de uma doença rara, com incidência estimada de 3-4 casos por milhão, com prevalência de aproximadamente 50 casos por milhão de pessoas. A principal causa da acromegalia é a presença de um tumor hipofisário secretor de GH (somatotropinoma). Caso o somatotropinoma ocorra durante a infância ou adolescência, antes do fechamento das epífises dos ossos longos, a criança crescerá longitudinalmente de forma descontrolada, caracterizando a forma clínica gigantismo. Na grande maioria dos casos a acromegalia se apresenta na forma esporádica, entretanto casos familiais da doença podem ocorrer associados à Neoplasia Endócrina Múltipla tipo 1 (NEM-1), ao complexo de Carney (CNC) e à acromegalia familial isolada (IFS). Os genes responsáveis pela NEM-1 (MEN1) e CNC (PRKAR1A) foram clonados há mais 10 anos, entretanto etiologia molecular da IFS permaneceu desconhecida até recentemente. Vierimaa et al. (2006) combinaram estudos de ligação por análise de polimorfismos e estudos de expressão gênica e identificaram mutações no gene AIP em famílias com acromegalia não-NEM-1 e não-CNC; além de perda de heterozigose (LOH) nos somatotropinomas dos pacientes com mutação AIP. No presente estudo, investigamos o gene AIP em três famílias brasileiras com IFS e em seus tumores (hipofisários e não-hipofisários). Descrevemos uma nova mutação AIP (Y268X) em uma família brasileira com IFS, confirmando o papel desse novo gene na predisposição a tumores hipofisários. A partir de dados gerados em uma extensa revisão da literatura, sugerimos que os tumores hipofisários familiais isolados são doenças multigênicas que possuiriam um gene principal, mas que sofreriam influência de outros genes/loci ainda pouco caracterizados. Assim, investigamos também o envolvimento de diversos genes/loci candidatos (SSTR2, SSTR5, CDKN1B, AHR, PRKAR1A, PTTG, PROP1, MEG3, RB1 e 2p16) como possíveis moduladores do fenótipo na IFS. Nossos dados sugerem que além da mutação AIP, há necessidade da co-segregação de marcadores localizados em regiões com potencial oncogênico para o desenvolvimento da doença hipofisária. Também apresentamos nesta Tese as primeiras análises de tumores nãohipofisários em pacientes com mutação AIP e encontramos evidências do possível envolvimento de AIP na tumorigênese de um carcinoma funcionante do córtex adrenal de paciente com IFS.
Acromegaly is a rare disfigurating and insidious disease characterized by enlargement of hands, feet and skull bones due to excess of growth hormone (GH) secreted by a pituitary tumor (somatotropinoma). The majority of the cases with acromegaly is sporadic, however it may occur in association with inherited disorders as Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia type 1 (MEN1), Carney complex (CNC) and Isolated Familial Somatotropinoma (IFS). The genes associated with MEN1 syndrome (MEN1) and CNC (PRKAR1A) have been described more than a decade ago, however until very recently the molecular etiology of IFS remained unknown. Using a combined strategy of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis and gene expression analysis, Vierimaa et al. (2006) described mutations in the AIP gene occurring in families with acromegaly not associated with MEN1 and CNC. In the current study, we investigated three Brazilian families with IFS and were able to describe two germline mutations in the AIP gene, confirming the role of this new gene in the predisposition to familial somatotropinoma. We revised the literature of genetic studies of isolated pituitary adenoma syndromes, which indicated a genetic heterogeneity as well as possible multigenic inheritance for these diseases. Thus, we investigated the role of several genes/loci (SSTR2, SSTR5, CDKN1B, AHR, PRKAR1A, PTTG, PROP1, MEG3, RB1 and 2p16) selected as potentially acting as phenotypic modulators in IFS. Our data indicate that AIP-mutated patients are prone to pituitary disease, however it is necessary the co-segregation of markers located at oncogenic regions to the development of the pituitary tumors and manifestation of the disease. Herein, we also present the first somatic analysis of non-pituitary tumors of AIP-mutated patients. A potential role of AIP, which is implicated in the cAMP pathway, could not be excluded in the development of an adrenocortical carcinoma.

This thesis focuses on the protection of the patient’s privacy in health care in Sweden. It is crucially important that the patient has confidence in the health care and that patient data are kept secret from other persons and authorities. A patient who is unsure about secrecy and confidentiality may choose not to provide data that could prove necessary for health care personnel to arrive at an accurate diagnosis. Some individuals might even avoid seeking medical help from fear that data may be spread to outsiders. Inadequate protection of sensitive data may lead to the confidence of citizens in health care eventually eroding or vanishing completely. Protection of patient privacy is thus of fundamental importance in this area. In the area of health care, the intention of the legislator is that the regulations regarding secrecy in public health care and confidentiality in private health care will guarantee protection of patient privacy. Secrecy in public health care is regulated mainly in Chapter 25, Section 1 of the Swedish Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act (2009:400). In private health care, confidentiality is regulated mainly in Chapter 6, Section 12, first paragraph, and Section 16 of the Swedish Act on Patient Safety (2010:659). The overall purpose of the thesis is to examine and analyse the legislator’s intentions and the juridical construction regarding the rules of secrecy and confidentiality, from the perspective of patient privacy. The starting point of the thesis is that the patient’s privacy should be strongly protected. One of the main conclusions is that the legal construction cannot be considered to be in accordance with the legislator’s intention that the regulation of patient privacy protection should constitute a strong protection for the patient’s privacy, be comprehensible, clear and easy to apply for health care personnel, as well as being the same in both public and private health care.

碩士
實踐大學
家庭研究與兒童發展學系碩士班
100
Nowadays, we cannot live without technology. Computer and Internet have completely changed people’s life style, interpersonal relationships, beliefs, values, and so on. The convenience of technology also generates various social phenomenons. This paper, focusing on the rising topic – Cybersex, discusses married males’ experiences and need of Cybersex and attempts to understand the meaning of the world of Cybersex for married males. This research undertakes the aspect of the sex relationship in marriage to analyze the reasons why married males involved in Cybersex and to understand married males’ view of Cybersex and the relationship between Cybersex and marriage. This study used qualitative approach and in-depth interviews to collect data from five married males in order to understand their motives and satisfaction they got from Cybersex and the meaning of Cybersex to them. The result indicates that the motives for married males to be involved in Cybersex are to obtain comfort and safety from Cybersex, which is lacking in their marriages. Males, through Cybersex, are able to satisfy their sexual desire, fantasy, and fulfillment. Cybersex to married males is a quick and safe way to release their sexual needs. They can enjoy sexual excitement that is lacking in their real world. When married males face their marriages, they appear to have conflicting mindset. Even though they do not consider Cybersex as real affairs, they still worry about their spouse finding out about their Cybersex activities.

Thesis (M. A.)--Florida State University, 2005.
Advisor: Dr. Maxine L. Montgomery, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of English. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Sept. 19, 2005). Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 90 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

碩士
國立成功大學
台灣文學系
103
The purpose of this research aims to discuss man-land relationship and ethnic writing as represented in Li Tung’s three young adult novels, ”Kavalan Boy”, ”Doctor, Budu and Me”, and “Our Secret Shelter.” Chapter one describes the motivation and purpose of this research as well as several relevant studies. Chapter two focuses on Li Tung’s writings, including folk songs, prose, adult fiction and juvenile fiction, in an attempt to clarify the reasons why he began his career of writing. The concept of human geography is employed to discuss Li Tung’s novels in Chapter three. Li Tung’s novels guide the readers to understand the relationship between our human beings and lands through the geographical imagination of literature. This conveys a set of philosophies orbiting in our nature. Understanding, respect, tolerance, and acceptance are the only ways to resolve the conflicts. The existence of multi-cultures then makes the entire society more balanced. Chapter four focuses on ethnic narrative in the novels. Li Tung attempts to present the main four ethnic groups in Taiwan, trying to put them on the same table for discussion. Li Tung’s works hope both the children and adults to “see”, to see the people and everything with such strong vitality continuously happening around us on this land. No matter how sorrowful or delightful our memories will be, they are all our precious treasures which belong to the Taiwanese. Li Tung teaches us how to face our emotions, accept the facts and imagine the future.

Summary: The thesis focuses on a piece of work in the form of a monastic rule which considerably influenced the whole Christian world, significantly contributed to the formation of spirituality of monastic communities, shaped the European culture and has much to say even today. The rule derives its name from its author, St. Benedict of Nursia. Given the considerable impact of his work on shaping the subsequent history of monasticism, St. Benedict is rightly called the Father of Western Monasticism. The first part introduces the Rule of Saint Benedict (Regula Benedicti). It refers to the period of its creation when certain common foundations of monastic life existed but lacked any solid anchoring. Despite the existence of other monastic rules, the Rule of Saint Benedict became the leading one thanks to its clarity and brevity. The second part deals with the Rule of the Master (Regula Magistri), an anonymous collection of monastic precepts which played a significant role as a source material for the Rule of Saint Benedict. St. Benedict took a large number of rules from it while he edited some of the original rules and intentionally omitted others. He moderated the strict text of the Rule of the Master since he was aware of human weakness. He infused the precepts with love. The third part, the longest in its...

Tato práce je vícevrstevným zamyšlením nad tématem prázdnoty. Její prvotní inspirací jsou Bondyho úvahy na toto téma. Nejde o to, ukazovat na neukazatelné, či popisovat nepopsatelné, to by byla spíše filosofická statistika; prázdnota je tu primárně chápána spíše na způsob krajního horizontu, jehož bytostné připuštění zakládá možnost pravého setkání podobném smyslu uvažuje nad souvislostí prázdnoty a milosti a otevírá možnost chápat prázdnotu nikoliv jako axiologickou neurčenost, ale právě jako horizont zvláštního setkání se světem. Takto nahlížená prázdnota otevírá bytostnou plnost a zároveň braných souvislostí těchto myšlenek o mezích ontologie - Plótínovou koncepcí emanační ontologie, či se substanční ontologií ze Spinozovy Protože se v průběhu tohoto rozboru dostává do popředí problém statického a předsudečného chápání ontologické substance (která takové vlastnosti nemůže mít, vyjdeme jako krajního ontologického horizontu), otevírá se otázka původu tohoto problému; v Myšlení vnějšku) a Berďajevem následuje hodnocení možnosti ontologii, což je přeneseně otevření otázky vztahu moci a ontologie či prolínání mocenského hlediska do ontologické úvahy (prázdnota by v yslu představovala zřeknutí se moci). Druhá kapitola práce se návazně zabývá formami zřeknutí se tohoto mocenského hlediska, coby praktikovaného...

The thesis focuses on the privacy of communication that can be ensured by means of the physical layer, i.e., by appropriately chosen coding and resource allocation schemes. The fundamentals of physical-layer security have been already formulated in the 1970s by Wyner (1975), Csiszár and Körner (1978). But only nowadays we have the technical progress such that these ideas can find their way in current and future communication systems, which has driven the growing interest in this area of research in the last years. We analyze two physical-layer approaches that can ensure the secret transmission of private information in wireless systems in presence of an eavesdropper. One is the direct transmission of the information to the intended receiver, where the transmitter has to simultaneously ensure the reliability and the secrecy of the information. The other is a two-phase approach, where two legitimated users first agree on a common and secret key, which they use afterwards to encrypt the information before it is transmitted. In this case, the secrecy and the reliability of the transmission are managed separately in the two phases. The secrecy of the transmitted messages mainly depends on reliable information or reasonable and justifiable assumptions about the channel to the potential eavesdropper. Perfect state information about the channel to a passive eavesdropper is not a rational assumption. Thus, we introduce a deterministic model for the uncertainty about this channel, which yields a set of possible eavesdropper channels. We consider the optimization of worst-case rates in systems with multi-antenna Gaussian channels for both approaches. We study which transmit strategy can yield a maximum rate if we assume that the eavesdropper can always observe the corresponding worst-case channel that reduces the achievable rate for the secret transmission to a minimum. For both approaches, we show that the resulting max-min problem over the matrices that describe the multi-antenna system can be reduced to an equivalent problem over the eigenvalues of these matrices. We characterize the optimal resource allocation under a sum power constraint over all antennas and derive waterfilling solutions for the corresponding worst-case channel to the eavesdropper for a constraint on the sum of all channel gains. We show that all rates converge to finite limits for high signal-to-noise ratios (SNR), if we do not restrict the number of antennas for the eavesdropper. These limits are characterized by the quotients of the eigenvalues resulting from the Gramian matrices of both channels. For the low-SNR regime, we observe a rate increase that depends only on the differences of these eigenvalues for the direct-transmission approach. For the key generation approach, there exists no dependence from the eavesdropper channel in this regime. The comparison of both approaches shows that the superiority of an approach over the other mainly depends on the SNR and the quality of the eavesdropper channel. The direct-transmission approach is advantageous for low SNR and comparably bad eavesdropper channels, whereas the key generation approach benefits more from high SNR and comparably good eavesdropper channels. All results are discussed in combination with numerous illustrations.
Der Fokus dieser Arbeit liegt auf der Abhörsicherheit der Datenübertragung, die auf der Übertragungsschicht, also durch geeignete Codierung und Ressourcenverteilung, erreicht werden kann. Die Grundlagen der Sicherheit auf der Übertragungsschicht wurden bereits in den 1970er Jahren von Wyner (1975), Csiszár und Körner (1978) formuliert. Jedoch ermöglicht erst der heutige technische Fortschritt, dass diese Ideen in zukünftigen Kommunikationssystemen Einzug finden können. Dies hat in den letzten Jahren zu einem gestiegenen Interesse an diesem Forschungsgebiet geführt. In der Arbeit werden zwei Ansätze zur abhörsicheren Datenübertragung in Funksystemen analysiert. Dies ist zum einen die direkte Übertragung der Information zum gewünschten Empfänger, wobei der Sender gleichzeitig die Zuverlässigkeit und die Abhörsicherheit der Übertragung sicherstellen muss. Zum anderen wird ein zweistufiger Ansatz betrachtet: Die beiden Kommunikationspartner handeln zunächst einen gemeinsamen sicheren Schlüssel aus, der anschließend zur Verschlüsselung der Datenübertragung verwendet wird. Bei diesem Ansatz werden die Abhörsicherheit und die Zuverlässigkeit der Information getrennt voneinander realisiert. Die Sicherheit der Nachrichten hängt maßgeblich davon ab, inwieweit zuverlässige Informationen oder verlässliche Annahmen über den Funkkanal zum Abhörer verfügbar sind. Die Annahme perfekter Kanalkenntnis ist für einen passiven Abhörer jedoch kaum zu rechtfertigen. Daher wird hier ein deterministisches Modell für die Unsicherheit über den Kanal zum Abhörer eingeführt, was zu einer Menge möglicher Abhörkanäle führt. Die Optimierung der sogenannten Worst-Case-Rate in einem Mehrantennensystem mit Gaußschem Rauschen wird für beide Ansätze betrachtet. Es wird analysiert, mit welcher Sendestrategie die maximale Rate erreicht werden kann, wenn gleichzeitig angenommen wird, dass der Abhörer den zugehörigen Worst-Case-Kanal besitzt, welcher die Rate der abhörsicheren Kommunikation jeweils auf ein Minimum reduziert. Für beide Ansätze wird gezeigt, dass aus dem resultierenden Max-Min-Problem über die Matrizen des Mehrantennensystems ein äquivalentes Problem über die Eigenwerte der Matrizen abgeleitet werden kann. Die optimale Ressourcenverteilung für eine Summenleistungsbeschränkung über alle Sendeantennen wird charakterisiert. Für den jeweiligen Worst-Case-Kanal zum Abhörer, dessen Kanalgewinne einer Summenbeschränkung unterliegen, werden Waterfilling-Lösungen hergeleitet. Es wird gezeigt, dass für hohen Signal-Rausch-Abstand (engl. signal-to-noise ratio, SNR) alle Raten gegen endliche Grenzwerte konvergieren, wenn die Antennenzahl des Abhörers nicht beschränkt ist. Die Grenzwerte werden durch die Quotienten der Eigenwerte der Gram-Matrizen beider Kanäle bestimmt. Für den Ratenanstieg der direkten Übertragung ist bei niedrigem SNR nur die Differenz dieser Eigenwerte maßgeblich, wohingegen für den Verschlüsselungsansatz in dem Fall keine Abhängigkeit vom Kanal des Abhörers besteht. Ein Vergleich zeigt, dass das aktuelle SNR und die Qualität des Abhörkanals den einen oder anderen Ansatz begünstigen. Die direkte Übertragung ist bei niedrigem SNR und verhältnismäßig schlechten Abhörkanälen überlegen, wohingegen der Verschlüsselungsansatz von hohem SNR und vergleichsweise guten Abhörkanälen profitiert. Die Ergebnisse der Arbeit werden umfassend diskutiert und illustriert.