Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2013, Political Science

Why do states use secrecy? Specifically, why do great powers often seem to create a kind of “backstage” area around local conflicts? That is, why create a kind of covert realm where external powers can meddle in local conflicts to pursue their security interests? This project generally analyzes how secrecy is used in international politics and why states are individually and collectively motivated to use it. Existing scholarship suggests states use secrecy to surprise their adversaries or insulate their leaders from dovish domestic political groups. I develop an alternative logic rooted in the desire to control conflict escalation risks. In the context of interventions in local conflicts by outside powers, I find intervening states use covert methods to maintain control over the perceptions and interpretations of outside audiences whose reactions determine the magnitude of external pressure on leaders to escalate further. Intervening in a secret, plausibly deniable manner makes restraint and withdrawal on the part of the intervening state easier. It also creates ambiguity about their role which can give the political space to responding states to ignore covert meddling and respond with restraint. Escalation control dynamics therefore make sense of why states intervene secretly and, more puzzling, why other states – even adversaries – may join in ignoring and covering up such covert activity (what I call “tacit collusion”). Drawing on Erving Goffman and others, I develop an “impression management” theory for why states individually and jointly use secrecy and political denial to achieve their goals. To illustrate several new concepts and evaluate the theory’s value-added, I use a sophisticated comparative case study research design that leverages within- and between-case variation in the Korean War, Spanish Civil War, and the civil war in Soviet-occupied Afghanistan. Each conflict hosts se (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Randall Schweller Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Richard Herrmann Ph.D. (Committee Member); Jennifer Mitzen Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: International Relations; Political Science

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1980, Psychology

Sixty-six male and female subjects, divided into two groups of potential clients, were asked to rate the perceived therapeutic value of role-playing vs. covert modeling in assertiveness training. Each subject viewed a fifteen minute video tape of a counseling session where the counselor's primary technique was either role-playing or covert modeling training. After the viewing of the tapes, each subject was required to answer four instruments, a bio- graphical data sheet, the Assertiveness Inventory, The Value of Counseling Technique Questionnaire, and the Perceived Therapeutic Value Semantic Differential Scale. The results of The Perceived Therapeutic Value Semantic Differential Scale indicated a) that of the two counseling techniques, role-playing was perceived to be more therapeutically valuable in assertiveness training, b)the most important factor indicated by subjects that contributed to perceived therapeutic value was active participation, c) the least important factor contributing to perceived therapeutic value was counselor attractiveness.

Committee: Donald Dell (Advisor) Subjects:

Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (MSEE), Wright State University, 2024, Electrical Engineering

This research illustrates a high-security wireless communication method using a joint radar/communication waveform, addressing the vulnerability of traditional low probability of detection (LPD) waveforms to hostile receiver detection via cyclostationary processing (CSP). To mitigate this risk, RF steganography is used, concealing communication signals within linear frequency modulation (LFM) radar signals. The method integrates reduced phase-shift keying (RPSK) modulation and variable symbol duration, ensuring secure transmission while evading detection. Implementation is validated through software-defined radios (SDRs), demonstrating effectiveness in covert communication scenarios. Results include analysis of message reception and cyclostationary features, highlighting the method's ability to conceal messages from hostile receivers. Challenges encountered are discussed, with suggestions for future enhancements to improve real-world applicability.

Committee: Zhiqiang Wu Ph.D. (Advisor); Xiaodong Zhang Ph.D. (Committee Member); Bin Wang Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Electrical Engineering

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, EDU Teaching and Learning

This dissertation aims to expand how LCYA scholars think about and use narrative theory in the context of YA literature. It also aims to demonstrate the literary quality and merit of YA literature featuring gay characters, advocating for its uses in classrooms. To achieve these aims, I will conduct narrative analyses of three contemporary, award-winning books of young adult fiction featuring gay characters: Benjamin Alire Saenz's Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (2012); David Levithan's Two Boys Kissing (2013); and Adam Silvera's They Both Die at the End (2017). Specifically, I will use narrative theory to identify, analyze, and discuss various narrative elements and techniques in the three texts, using the process and findings to model specific interventions in LCYA research. The study finds that these books' narrative situations create distinctive themes and rhetorical dynamics, implicating their implied readers and authorial readers uniquely; however, their broader narratives and rhetorical situations converge to articulate a general rhetorical purpose of LGBTQ+ YAL, too. As examples of LGBTQ+ YAL, these books suggest the wider genre can and should be defined by its rhetorical situation, in particular a rhetorical purpose these three narratives seem to share: loving the implied reader and authorial reader. As discussed in Chapters Three, Four, and Five, these narratives as examples of books featuring gay characters and of LGBTQ+ YAL are purportedly defined by the sexual and romantic orientations of their narrators and/or characters. Instead, my framework and broader analysis show that these books actually define love, family/community, and connection as the central themes and purposes of their rhetorical situations and that they articulate them in rhetorically and ideologically robust ways. This re-emphasis on love, family/community, and connection as the books' major rhetorical themes and purposes should inform how LCYA researchers and (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Caroline Clark (Advisor); Michelle Abate (Committee Member); Lisa Pinkerton (Committee Member) Subjects: Composition; Curricula; Early Childhood Education; Education; Elementary Education; Language Arts; Library Science; Literacy; Literature; Pedagogy; Rhetoric; Secondary Education; Teacher Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Emerging technologies and infrastructure developments in information and communication systems have paved the way for the extraordinary exposure of information around the globe. Specifically, the ease and the reliable exchange of information have promoted cultural, social, and economic activities. Meanwhile, this exposure is being exploited against user privacy and data confidentiality. In response, there have been major activities in keeping information safe. These activities can be summarized under three main domains: 1) Authentication: granting only legitimate access to data at rest, 2) Confidentiality: protecting information from being leaked to unauthorized parties in transit, and 3) Privacy: concealing user identity and activities. Modern cryptography is a practical and standardized approach that provides a certain level of information security. Cryptosystems obfuscate data in a way that makes it almost impossible to recover the plaintext, even with significant computational resources, but they do not rule out brute force recovery of data. They are robust in the communication media, i.e., the attackers are ruled out to have access to the ciphertext without a problem. Another approach, which is based on the physical characteristics of the hardware and/or the location, has been emerged as a powerful technique that can achieve unconditional security, i.e., without any assumption on the computational resources of the attackers. These two approaches are complementary and future security approaches will likely utilize both. In this dissertation, we mainly focus on the physical layer approaches, in particular, hardware-aided approaches, and discuss ways on how they can be used to enhance encryption-based approaches. First, we study multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO)-aided covert communication (also referred to as communication with a low probability of detection): the session between two legitimate parties remains undetectable from an external eavesdropper. (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: C. Emre Koksal (Advisor); Yingbin Liang (Committee Member); Daniel J. Gauthier (Committee Member) Subjects: Electrical Engineering; Information Science; Information Systems

Master of Science, Miami University, 2019, Computational Science and Engineering

This thesis proposes a novel "search and sort" algorithm for an Ultra-Wideband Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexed (UWB-OFDM) signal. This algorithm is used to optimize the Peak to Average Power Ratio (PAPR) and Proportional Sidelobe Ratio (PSLR) of signals generated via a Weibull Random Process being used to determine the sub-channel weights of the signal. Two methods are compared using this algorithm, PSLR First Method and PAPR First Method. Additionally, analysis is provided pertaining to covert communication using this random modulated scheme, to provide evidence of penalization of an intercepting platform, using a Maximum Likelihood Estimator to determine the shape key of the transmitted signals. Results from the 2-parameter optimization showed that PAPR is independent of which method is chosen as it showed an improvement of about 5.5 dB when compared with the average PAPR of all signals sampled; however, the PSLR results show that the PSLR First Method has an improvement of about 5 dB whereas the PAPR First Method has an improvement of about 20 dB over the average. The interceptor penalization shows that, in a simulation of 10,000 transmissions, the number of transmissions required to reach a selected Data Intercept Fidelity (DIF) increases as the DIF increases. Furthermore, the number of transmissions needed to reach higher DIF thresholds is exponentially higher. Finally, discussion of the experimental setup and results are covered using a Software Defined Radar System.

Committee: Dmitriy Garmatyuk (Advisor); Chi-Hao Cheng (Committee Chair); Donald Ucci (Committee Chair) Subjects: Electrical Engineering

Master of Arts (MA), Wright State University, 2018, History

In the years approaching World War I's centennial, many scholars have published books reexamining different aspects of the conflict, as well as attempting to update prominent scholarship from years past. These include books focusing on individual battles, such as Verdun, to the importance of the Zimmerman telegram in spurring American desire to join the war effort. One topic of interest that appeals to a more general audience would be that of spy and sabotage activity during the conflict. The topic of spy and sabotage activity might interest a curious reader, but the matter concerning its importance during the war is still largely up in the air. This study discusses the influence of German spy and sabotage operations on the Wilson administration, and how these activities helped lead to the abandonment of Wilsonian neutrality. Although spy and sabotage operations have not been emphasized by many historians as influential, these operations can doubtlessly be connected to President Wilson's decision to expel German officials and to favor war.

Committee: Paul Lockhart Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Jonathan Winkler Ph.D. (Committee Member); Drew Swanson Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: History

Master of Science, Miami University, 2017, Computational Science and Engineering

This thesis proposes encoding information onto random distribution parameters so that the same exact signal may be used for both radar and communications, simultaneously. Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) sub-carrier weights are used to transmit samples of a random distribution. Weibull and Rayleigh distributions are explored and friendly reception in simulation for Rayleigh achieved a bit error rate (BER) of 10-3. Assuming a worst case scenario where an eavesdropper is missing only one piece of information about the signal, we show that using at least 32 sub-carriers they are unable to achieve a BER less than 30% for both Weibull and Rayleigh distributions. Finally, experimental results show similar trends in penalization using a Weibull distribution

Committee: Dmitriy Garmatyuk (Advisor); Chi-Hao Cheng (Committee Chair); Paul Urayama (Committee Chair) Subjects: Electrical Engineering

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2017, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Tremendous increase in throughput, reliability and security requirements in present and future wireless communication networks necessitates the migration towards the underutilized higher frequency bands. The premise of large scale multiple input multiple output (MIMO) technology deployment in these bands has the potential of fulfilling future network requirements. At the same time, large scale network deployment, or the so-called dense coverage (large number of small scale base stations), is another link level strategy that also has the potential of enhancing the overall network quality of service (QoS). Performance of MIMO communication systems is governed by the amount of channel state information (CSI) available at both transmitter and receiver especially when deployed in a dense coverage network which has the potential of high line of sight (LoS) opportunity. This thesis aims to address throughput, reliability and physical layer security aspects of MIMO communication systems deployed in a fading environment with a stable path between transmitter and receiver with limited CSI feedback. The research involves four major research directions: (1) Transmitter optimization for public messages with minimal form of CSI feedback, (2) Secrecy capacity and optimal transmission strategy for confidential messages under the same limited CSI feedback model with eavesdropper uncertainty, (3) Establishing fundamental limits of covert communication of MIMO AWGN channel and highlight the potential of having a dominant channel mode in establishing high covert rates, (4) Message source authentication over MIMO channel with dominant mode. We start by considering the MIMO channel with dominant LoS component where the only CSI available at the transmitter are the Rician factor and the physical direction of the receiver with respect to the transmitter antennas array. For this particular scenario, although the exact capacity still unknown in a closed form, we establish an upper bou (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Hesham El Gamal Professor (Advisor); Can Emre Koksal Professor (Advisor); Inder Gupta Professor (Committee Member); Sheila Morgan Professor (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Electrical Engineering; Information Science

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2004, Psychology (Arts and Sciences)

It is hypothesized that recent developments in narcissism theory and research which argue for overt and covert narcissism subtypes would inform the discussion of narcissistic attribution styles. A number of theorists and researchers have suggested that DSM criteria for narcissism are too narrowly drawn and miss the more covert, hypersensitive, and vulnerable aspects of narcissistic disturbances. To date, research into characteristically narcissistic attribution styles has been limited by an over-reliance on the DSM-based measure of the overt, grandiose, and exhibitionistic narcissism, the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI). This study differentiates between the overt and covert subtypes by including both the NPI, as a measure of overt narcissism, and the Hypersensitive Narcissism Scale (HSNS), as a measure covert narcissism. The attribution styles of low, moderate, and high overt and covert narcissism individuals are compared for hypothetical, retrospective, and prospective, positive and negative events. Results indicate that NPI-defined overt narcissism is related to self-enhancing attributions (internal, stable, and global) for positive hypothetical events. Overt narcissism is also related to defensive attributions (external, unstable, and specific) negative events. In addition, HSNS-defined covert narcissism was related to pessimistic attributions (internal, stable, and global) for negative events. Next, participants who scored in the extremes on both overt and covert narcissism were recruited to see how combinations of overt and covert narcissism would effect attribution styles. These results indicate that the most significant differences in attribution styles are between Grandiose/Exhibitionistic (high overt/low covert) narcissism individuals who made self-enhancing attributions for positive events, and Hypersensitive/Vulnerable (low overt/high covert narcissism) individuals who made self-depreciating attributions for negative events. Individuals who scor (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: John Garske (Advisor) Subjects: Psychology, Clinical

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2005, Psychology

The purpose of the present study was to test the hypothesis that the three covert interparental conflict processes of loyalty conflicts, child involvement in parental disputes, and parental alienation would differentially mediate the relationship between overt interparental conflict and adjustment in college students from both intact and divorced families. Self-report questionnaires were utilized to assess exposure to overt and covert interparental conflict processes during childhood and present levels of internalizing, externalizing, and difficulty navigating the stage-salient developmental task of establishing satisfying intimate relationships. Structural Equation Modeling was used to analyze the data. Each of the four models tested failed to meet the stringent fit criteria utilized in the present study. The discussion of the results focuses on speculations as to how the models could have been improved in order to produce a better fit, limitations of the study, and directions for future research.

Committee: Patricia Kerig (Advisor) Subjects: Psychology, Clinical

MS, Kent State University, 2011, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Computer Science

Covert channels facilitate the capability to transfer secret information between processes without being detected. They are used for good intentions as well as bad intentions. The latter is used in computer security attacks. The former is used to transport secret data over a covert channel. Once a covert channel is established, it is important to protect it from intruders who intend to discover its transportation mechanisms. While cryptography allows plain visibility of encrypted data, steganography hides the existence of the data and the underlying communication channel. Statistical analysis of network packets (headers or payload) as well as communication channel characteristics can be used to reveal the existence of covert activities. For example, first-order statistical analysis can be used to detect the basic properties of certain covert channels. While there exist some level of protection against establishing a cover channel at lower layers, top layers and network applications are more vulnerable to be used to establish a cover channel. There are several applications that can be used to establish a covert channel. Among them JPEG images, commonly used across the Internet, are often utilized to establish a covert channel and transport hidden data. In this thesis, first, we provide a survey of the major steganographic algorithms and we introduce a new technique in which a set of concurrent covert channels can be established between a sender and multiple receivers. Each channel is protected by a separate key. Second, we introduce a new steganographic detection technique, based on statistical sequential analysis and process control, that detects a group of covert channels established over transmission of JPEG images. The technique performs better in terms of average run length when compared to the existing detection techniques.

Committee: Hassan Peyravi PhD (Advisor); Feodor Dragan PhD (Committee Member); Mikhail Nesterenko PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Computer Science

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2008, English

Nushu is a Chinese women's script used by uneducated rural women in Jiangyong County, Hunan Province, in China to communicate and correspond with one another, cope with their hardships, and promote creativity. In the field of rhetoric and composition, despite the enormous interest in women's rhetorics and material culture, sources on Nushu in relation to the two fields are scarce. In relation to Nushu, examinations of American domestic arts, such as quilts, scrapbooking, and so on, material rhetoric are becoming popular. In my research, I examine Nushu through public and private discourse as well as aspects of material rhetoric. My research comprises real voices, collected data from previous researchers, and some Chinese history. A benefit of my proposed research for both western and eastern scholars in the fields of rhetoric and women's studies is that the interviews that I will conduct, particularly those with teachers and students of Nushu, add individual practitioners to a body of scholarship that is characterized more by the voices of scholars than practitioners. This research contributes to Western scholars' study of women's rhetorics and material culture, adding yet another literary practice through which to view the intersections of gender, culture, and language to a field where women's rhetorics and material culture have been studied extensively. And for the small emerging academic discussions of Nushu, this study will help draw the attention of Western scholars to this interesting and unusual literate practice.

Committee: Dr. Sue Carter Wood (Committee Chair); Dr. Kristine L. Blair (Committee Member); Dr. Richard C. Gebhardt (Committee Member); Dr. Jaclyn Cuneen (Committee Member) Subjects: Rhetoric

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2013, Psychology/Clinical

This study examined the relations between specific aspects of parenting (parental monitoring, parent values, and parent antisocial behaviors) and youth-reported overt and covert delinquency. Participants were 186 adolescents, ages 10-17 (9% females, 65% African American) who had been arrested for both misdemeanors and more serious charges and involved in the Lucas County Juvenile Justice System at the time of data collection. Parental monitoring, parent values, parent antisocial behaviors, overt and covert delinquent acts were measured via adolescent- report. Parental monitoring was found to fully mediate the effects of parent values for both overt and covert delinquency. Adolescent-report of their parents' engagement in antisocial behaviors was not found to be a significant predictor of participants' overt or covert delinquency. Future research might benefit from using a latent class analysis approach to define subtypes of delinquent behaviors or trajectories before investigating how these more refined subtypes of behaviors are related to parental values, parent antisocial behaviors, and parental monitoring.

Committee: Carolyn Tompsett PhD (Advisor); Eric Dubow PhD (Committee Member); Marie Tisak PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Criminology; Psychology