Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2018, Political Science

A good deal of research in the counterinsurgency literature focuses on the effects of service provision and nation-building programs that incentivize support for the counterinsurgent force. At the same time, many insurgent groups also engage in similar distributions of public goods. The overall consequences of these non-state service programs are much less well understood, and this dissertation seeks to identify these effects by assessing the link between the provision of social services and insurgent success against state forces. When the role of social services is evaluated using traditional statistical methods, it appears that these public goods increase the likelihood that a militant group will perform well against the state. However, the observation of these non-state social service programs is shaped by underlying conflict dynamics that affect the ability to draw conclusions about their role in the outcome of a fight. The groups that choose to provide services and succeed in doing so despite government efforts to stop them are likely to be stronger than those groups that we do not see providing services. The endogeneity of social services therefore calls into question the finding that services make insurgents more successful. As a solution to this challenge, this project applies flexible joint regression modeling, a recently-developed approach for endogenous treatment variables, to assess the impacts of insurgent-provided services in the complex contexts of civil conflict and counterinsurgent operations. Results of this analysis indicate that social service programs implemented by insurgents do not significantly shape the outcome of civil conflict.

Committee: Bear Braumoeller (Advisor); Christopher Gelpi (Committee Member); Jan Pierskalla (Committee Member); Bradley Holland (Committee Member) Subjects: Political Science

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2015, Arts and Sciences: Classics

This dissertation analyzes the immediate and long-term effects of Roman annexation on the important metropolis of Antioch on the Orontes in northern Syria. Compared to many other urban centers of the ancient Mediterranean, direct textual and archaeological material for Antioch is minimal and does not provide a consistent standard by which to measure the city's development over time and space. Many questions thereby remain about how a former Seleucid capital became an integrated and assimilated part of the Roman Empire. This dissertation argues that ancient coin finds provide a substantial and quantifiable dataset that when mapped can provide a starting point for identifying and examining larger patterns of political, economic, and social change rendered by Roman annexation. Where, when, and in what quantities coins appear can speak to limits in their circulation and movement, as well as to the activity and policies of the different authorities issuing them. The primary focus of this project is on the distribution of central, provincial, and civic coins produced by the mint at Antioch from the late Seleucid period (223 BCE) through the early centuries of the late antique period (423 CE). In order to draw out meaningful patterns in the data, this project applies a new methodology using Google Earth as a visualization platform for the distribution of coins finds. Patterns established in Google Earth are then examined through quantified analysis of individual site assemblages and regional groupings from the city of Antioch and sites within Syria, Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Asia Minor, and the western Roman Empire. This dissertation both reinforces and challenges traditional conclusions about the Roman annexation of Antioch and the East. On the one hand, the coin finds reinforce the gradual and transformative policies of the Roman Empire, which took advantage of regional structures and encouraged civic diversity while establishing regional boundaries and (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Barbara Burrell Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Duncan MacRae Ph.D. (Committee Member); Peter Van Minnen Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Ancient Civilizations

MS, University of Cincinnati, 2011, Arts and Sciences: Mathematical Sciences

The motivation of my thesis came from a problem I heard on Radiolab, a podcast distributed through National Public Radio. In the podcast, the two hosts asked the question, “What is the probability of flipping seven consecutive tails when flipping a coin a hundred times?” They approximated the probability to being 1/6. From a mathematical point of view, this seems like too simple of an answer because there are 2^100 cases one must consider. In my thesis, I first go about finding an exact probability to this initial question. Afterwards, I show how one can answer a generalized version of this question, where the number of flips and the number of consecutive events are variable. Additionally, I show how to find the probability of consecutive heads or tails occuring. By answering these questions, I learned calculation techniques using matrix multiplication. These methods are shared in the paper. Lastly, I go into some of the underlying mathematics in this matrix multiplication and how it relates to their related recursive sequences.

Committee: Stephan Pelikan PhD (Committee Chair); Donald French PhD (Committee Member); Joanna Mitro PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Mathematics

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2011, EDU Physical Activity and Educational Services

This study compared the effects of two different instructional strategies. The first is a systematic, classroom-based, teacher-directed instructional strategy called discrete trial training (DTT). The second is a more naturalistic instructional strategy performed outside of the classroom called embedded instruction. The study was conducted to determine which strategy would best help middle-school-age children with intellectual disabilities maintain acquired math skills over time. The math skill for the students involved was counting quarters and nickels (in like groups), up to $1.50. Either DTT or embedded instruction was provided to the students until they could count quarters and nickels with 100% accuracy across three consecutive trials. After mastery was reached, the students were moved to a maintenance phase where data was collected two times per week, but not on the same day. The data were compared to see which strategy helped students maintain mastery levels of the skill. The strategies were alternated and data from each strategy were compared. The study demonstrated that both instructional methods were able to help students with intellectual disabilities reach mastery levels of performance and maintain these levels over time. However, one student acquired the skill slightly more slowly with DTT, requiring one additional teaching session. In addition, all students were able to apply the embedded instruction skill in various settings and all three students stated that they preferred embedded instruction.

Committee: Helen Malone PhD (Advisor); Sheila Morgan PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Special Education

Master of Science (MS), Bowling Green State University, 2006, Physics

The main purpose of this thesis is to show that quantum strategies have distinct advantages over classical strategies. To accomplish this task, this study generalizes two existing quantum game protocols. The first part of the thesis discusses the coin tossing game, which can be played both classically and quantum mechanically. The discussion includes the analysis of a previously studied quantum coin tossing game. The analysis starts with the simplest coin tossing game between two players, which involves two games, and examines all possible classical and quantum game combinations. Similarly, as an extension, three games between two players with all possible game combinations are analyzed. At the end, it becomes clear that quantum strategies always dominate classical strategies. The second part of the thesis investigates an interesting quantum gambling game between two distant mistrustful parties, which has also been previously studied. Since this game appears to be unfair for the gambler, the problem is generalized and investigated for the requirements for a fair quantum gambling game. Consequently, it is discovered that a fair quantum gambling game between two distant mistrustful parties can be defined. Quantum gambling between such parties, however, does not have a classical counterpart.

Committee: Haowen Xi (Advisor) Subjects: Physics, General