This dissertation applies theories and concepts of wireless communications and signal processing to the security domain to assess the security of a Wireless secret Key Generation (WKG) system against capable eavesdroppers, who employ all the feasible tools to compromise the system’s security. The security of WKG is evaluated via real wireless measurements, where adversary knows and applies appropriate signal processing tools in ordere to predict the generated key with the communicating pair. It is shown that in a broadband stationary wireless communication channel, (e.g. commercial off-the-shelf 802.11 WLAN devices), a capable eavesdropper can recover a large portion of the secret key bits. However, in an Ultra-wideband (UWB) communication, at the same stationary environment, secret key rates of 128 bits per channel probe are achievable. / Graduate

The Secret Doctrine is the magnum opus of H.P. Blavatsky and one of the foundation texts of the Theosophical Society. It represents her attempt to appropriate authority in a wide variety of fields, including, science, religion, and philosophy. This study examines H.P. Blavatsky’s engagement with Ancient Egypt in relation to two specific themes, the constitution of the individual and the afterlife, as they are portrayed in this work. It locates Theosophy in its historical context, the late nineteenth century, in relation to various fields of knowledge. It reviews the sources that H.P. Blavatsky drew on in her work and discusses the various interpretive techniques she employed to insert Theosophical content into various world religions. Finally, it contrasts the Theosophical presentation of Ancient Egypt in The Secret Doctrine with that of mainstream modern Egyptology. The fundamental disconnect which is revealed highlights the challenges that the Theosophical perspective faces. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M. A. (Religious Studies)

Dans le contenu des 4960 lettres qu’ils ont écrites et qui ont survécu aux destructions volontaires et involontaires, mon étude a porté uniquement sur les materialia et a écarté les spiritualia. Elle décrit d’abord la recherche des fonds nécessaires à la conquête puis au management d’une partie d’un diocèse, et, ensuite la collecte d’argent ou de biens fonciers pour créer puis développer un Ordre, la Visitation. Des contraintes politiques et sociales encadrent cette recherche de financement et l’optimisation des placements, en tenant compte de la conjoncture (guerres, pestes, famines), ce qui conduit à étudier la mise en œuvre des vertus financières (pauvreté, charité, travail). Leur objectif financier ne peut être atteint qu’en s’appuyant sur des réseaux mondains et ecclésiastiques, essentiellement au plus haut niveau de la société. La concurrence est rude aussi bien au sein de l’Eglise (autres prélats, Ordres, Saint-Siège) qu’avec les autorités séculières (princes, haute noblesse, municipalités). Leurs objectifs ne peuvent donc être atteints qu’en menant de nombreux procès, en contradiction avec ce qu’ils écrivent pas ailleurs. La complexité de leurs entreprises leur fait élaborer un management de leurs ressources, financières, immobilières, humaines qui préfigure celui des Organisations contemporaines. Leur souci du détail, aussi bien dans les taux de placement des rentes, dans la production de meubles ou de livres, dans le choix des biens fonciers, dans la sélection de leurs cadres intermédiaires, tout cela correspond au comportement d’un dirigeant d’entreprise contemporaine, sachant qu’à chaque fois il faut trouver de l’argent pour financer ces actions. En ce sens cette Eglise est aussi à l’origine du capitalisme moderne, mais, dans une autre dimension que le protestantisme présenté par Max Weber. Par contre, ces contraintes financières incessantes peuvent les conduire à oublier la finalité de leur action. / In the the survey of 4960 surviving letters (after voluntary or involuntary destructions), I only deal with materialia avoiding spiritualia. First, I find the fund raising necessary for the (re)conquest and the management of a part of a diocese, and then, the quest for money and real estate in order to launch and then develop a monastic order, Visitation.Political and social restrictions frame the fund raising and the optimization of the investments, taking in account the circumstances (wars, plagues, famines). Consequently we study their implementation of the financial virtues (poverty, charity, labour). Their financial aims can only be obtained with the help of non-ecclesiastical and ecclesiastical networks, mainly in the upper society. The competition is harsh inside the roman church (prelates, monastic orders, Rome) as well as in the world (princes, nobility, local councils); thus they engage in many lawsuits, in contradiction with their other own writings. The complexity of their enterprises prompts them to build a resources management (finance, real estate, human resources), foreshadowing the one of contemporary organizations.The follow-up of details, as well in the fields of investment rate, as for producing pieces of furniture or books, as for selecting buildings or managers, all this detailed behaviour fits with the one of a modern top-manager, who shall finance his many activities. Finally, the Roman Catholic Church could be considered as a root of modern capitalism, in an other dimension than the one developed by Max Weber for Protestantism.On the other hand, those ceaseless limitations could lead them to forget their ultimate goals.

La recherche sur les soucoupes volantes commence à la fin des années 1940 en France. Elle est principalement le fait de ceux qui se nomment « soucoupistes ». En parallèle de cette activité exercée essentiellement à titre individuel, l’armée mène également ses propres enquêtes. Son intérêt pour la question ne se dément pas depuis les années 1940, même si les informations concernant son implication et son action se révèlent peu accessibles. De leur côté les soucoupistes s’agrègent et les premiers groupements privés d’envergure apparaissent dans les années 1950 et se généralisent à la fin des années 1960. La décennie 1970 correspond, quant à elle, à l’âge d’or de l’ufologie en France : les organisations se comptent par centaines et les ufologues par milliers. Un véritable réseau de recherche scientifique sur les ovnis apparait donc. Ce réseau s’articule autour des groupements de personnes et des individus -qui publient dans des revues spécialisées- et tente de se connecter à une ufologie scientifique publique en plein essor. Cette dernière, placée sous l’égide du CNES, prend le nom de GEPAN. Ce service, plusieurs fois rebaptisé, existe toujours aujourd’hui. Il s’appuie sur l’armée –principalement la gendarmerie- et certaines administrations qui le pourvoient en informations OVNI. L’ufologie française –en déclin depuis les années 1980- se caractérise donc par la coexistence d’un réseau de recherche privé et d’un réseau public qui, hormis en de rares occasions, collaborèrent très peu, cette situation contribuant à la maigreur des résultats obtenus par les ufologues. / The research about unidentified flying objects has started in the late 1940s in France. All this is the doing of those who are commonly known in French as the soucoupistes (the researchers in this field). Currently with this mainly individual initiative, the army also has made their own enquiries. Their interest for the question has proved consistent since the 1940s although the details about their implication and their action have been uneasy to know. As for them, the soucoupistes (or French ufologists) have joined together and the first major private groups have come out in the 1950s to become widespread in the late 1960s. Nonetheless, the decade of the 1970s was the golden age of ufology research in France : there were hundreds of organizations and thousands of ufologists. A real reasearch network came out. This network has revolved both around groups of people and individuals, who publish in specialized reviews, and they try to connect to a booming public scientific ufology. The latter, which is under the aegis of the CNES, is known as GEPAN. The department has been often renamed but still exists today. It is based on the army, mainly on the police force, but also on some administrations which provide them with information about UFO. French ufology, which has been in decline since the 1980s, is characterized by the coexistence of a private research network and a public one. Except for a few occasions, both of them have hardly collaborated and this situation explains why ufologists haven’t found many results.

Advertising constantly surrounds us in different ways and it affects us in our everyday lives. The underwear industry has often been criticized for sexist and excluding advertisements and women has often been depicted in a stereotyped way. Today marketing has become more inclusive, as diversity of people in advertisements has become a hot topic of discussion. It is interesting to examine this topic out of a Swedish context as it in many ways is a country that is on the cutting edge when it comes to inclusion and diversity. This study aims to, based on images and commercials from Victoria’s Secret Sweden and Lindex, examine how and in what ways inclusion and exclusion depicts in female underwear advertising. Our theoretical framework consists of following theories: representation, stereotyping, intersectionality, and following terms: norm, norm creativity and femininity. Our analysis is made with semiotic image analysis as the chosen method. The main conclusion of this study is that our material included women with different skin colors and ethnicities, and partly women with varying body types and ages. People with visible disabilities was excluded from the advertisements. Factors such as class, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, gender identity and invisible disabilities we could not distinguish, which made it impossible for us to assess whether these groups was included or excluded in the advertisements. Thus, the advertisements was both including and excluding, however we question whether it is possible for companies to include all types of groups and people in their advertisements.

This study aims to understand the complexity underwear brands are subject to in particular in relation to their explicit use of models to create an organizational identity and image. Through two underwear brands (Victoria’s Secret and Twilfit By Change) we intend to examine their use of models in different sizes and different skin tones through visual communication (imagery and text) on their respective websites. The questions we intend to answer are: How are body ideals and body inclusivity constructed throughout Victoria’s Secret and Twilfit By Changes’ visual communication? and How does this contribute to the construction of Victoria's Secret and Twilfit By Changes organizational identity? When collecting material and performing the analysis we will be using two analysis methods, semiotic image analysis using denotation and connotation and a rhetorical analysis using ethos, pathos and logos. The theoretical framework for the study consists of three theories; norm theory, sexual objectification theory and organizational theory with a focus on identity and image. By using these analysis methods and theories we found that there is a significant difference between these companies and their way of using inclusion and diversity in their marketing efforts of the brand. One seems to have made a huge shift in communication to be more inclusive both in regards to body sizes and skin colors. The other one seems to be stuck in the past in regards to their imagery. By using models that represent a more diverse group you can improve your organizational identity and avoid contributing to the harm of young women and women's mental health in regards to body image and ideals.

A strong brand is a valuable asset for modern companies. Victoria’s Secret is an American lingerie company that has had a well established and successful brand for years. However, the company’s net sales and market share have been decreasing since 2016. The company has also received criticism for creating unattainable beauty standards and excluding women with different appearances. In recent years, the brand has made changes in their marketing. This might be an attempt to increase revenues again and to gain lost market shares back. However, the numbers have continued to decrease, which indicates that the new strategy has not been very successful. The questions that the study intends to answer are how Victoria's Secret’s marketing has changed between 2016 and 2022 and why the new marketing strategy does not seem to be successful. The purpose of the study is to increase the comprehension of possible challenges that can arise in the process of trying to change an already established brand. This is a qualitative, interpretive study that uses a method called semiotic content analysis. The semiotic content analysis was used to analyze how the brand’s advertising images have changed. The results from the semiotic studies were then analyzed through some theories and earlier studies on the subject, to find possible explanations to why the rebranding does not seem to have created the expected results. The study found that Victoria’s Secret’s marketing has become less sensual, aesthetic and fantasy-like. Instead it has become more inclusive and oriented towards comfort, relatability and self-esteem. The study further presents a couple of possible explanations to why the new branding concept does not seem to have become successful, according to a couple theories on the subject. The explanations that were found was that the company does not seem to have achieved a congruence between the brand’s new identity and the brand image, that the changes might not be perceived as authentic and that the brand can no longer capitalize on an idealized identity.

La protection juridique des idées générées par les entreprises au Canada ne répond que partiellement à leurs besoins et préoccupations. Ces idées qui se traduisent en des informations confidentielles ou des secrets commerciaux représentent une valeur économique considérable et croissante pour de nombreuses entreprises. C’est en l’absence d’une législation uniforme portant sur les secrets commerciaux en droit civil au Québec et en common law dans les autres provinces au Canada que sont créés des défis juridiques pour les entreprises. Une réponse conventionnelle à de tels défis consiste à prôner des réformes statutaires afin de renforcer le droit applicable relativement aux secrets commerciaux et leur protection. C’est précisément la solution qui a été retenue aux États-Unis avec l’adoption de législation portant sur les secrets commerciaux, telles que le Uniform Trade Secrets Act et le Defend Trade Secrets Act. L’entrée en vigueur au Canada de l’Accord Canada-États-Unis-Mexique a donné lieu à l’adoption de nouvelles dispositions criminelles, qui est en soi, une première étape vers la codification plus élargie de la protection juridique des secrets commerciaux. Ce mémoire porte, dans un premier temps, sur les notions d’informations confidentielles et de secrets commerciaux, ainsi que de l’absence de cohérence sur la nature juridique de ceux-ci. Dans un deuxième temps, ce mémoire traite des régimes de protection juridique des secrets commerciaux au Canada, tant en droit civil qu’en common law. Nous abordons comment le rapport de confiance joue un rôle déterminant sur les obligations de confidentialité à respecter en présence ou en absence d’un contrat. Par la suite, nous analysons les clauses essentielles qu’une entreprise doit prévoir dans un contrat commercial ou de travail ainsi que les mesures pratiques de sauvegarde à implanter pour contrôler la diffusion des informations confidentielles et des secrets commerciaux. / The legal protection of ideas generated by companies in Canada only partially meets their needs and concerns. Such ideas translate into confidential information or trade secrets representing considerable and growing economic value for a great number of companies. It is in the absence of uniform trade secret legislation under civil law in Quebec and common law in other provinces in Canada that legal challenges are created for companies. A conventional response to such challenges is the advocacy of statutory reforms to strengthen the applicable law with respect to trade secrets and of their protection. This is precisely the solution instituted by the United States with the adoption of trade secret legislation per the Uniform Trade Secrets Act and the Defend Trade Secrets Act. The coming into force in Canada of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement has resulted in the adoption of new criminal provisions, which, is a first step towards the broader codification of the legal protection of trade secrets. Firstly, this masters’ thesis discusses the concept of confidential information and trade secrets, as well as the lack of consensus as to their legal nature. Secondly, the present thesis deals with the legal protection of trade secrets in Canada, under civil law and common law. We discuss the decisive role that trust occupies in the obligation of confidentiality that is to be respected in presence or absence of a contract. Subsequently, we analyze the essential clauses that a company must include in a commercial or employment agreement along with practical safeguard measures to be implemented to control the dissemination of confidential information and trade secrets.

The studies included in this dissertation investigated the experiences of individual romantic partners as secret keepers and couples as collective secret keepers. Study 1 investigated the topics of secrets kept by individual romantic partners and public perception of secret keeping in the context of romantic relationships via qualitative content analysis. The analysis of secret topics resulted in the following themes: (1) secrets about the Redditors’ relationship, (2) secrets about the Redditor, and (3) a discussion of secrecy. The analysis of public perception resulted in the following themes: (1) normalization, (2) advice, (3) comfort, (4) personal reactions, and (5) a request for more information. Study 2 investigated the experiences of collective secret keepers. Inductive analysis was used in the analysis of participants’ (n = 522) responses to questions investigating: (1) the topics of collective secrets, (2) the reasons for keeping or disclosing the secret, and (3) the reasons for disagreeing over the disclosure of the secret. Further analyses revealed a relationship between secret topic and the overall relational impact of collective secret keeping (F(27, 385) = 1.64, p < .05, 2 = .10); some topics were found to be more distancing than others. A relationship between relationship satisfaction and disagreement between spouses over the disclosure (F(1, 310) = 5.83, p < .05, η2 = .02) was also found; disagreement on the disclosure of a secret was found to result in lower relationship satisfaction. Study 2 also investigated the relationship between collective secret functions and relational outcomes via multilevel modeling. A relationship between secret functions and the following relational outcomes were found when the collective secret was kept: relational impact (χ2= 14.18, df = 1, p < .001), relational closeness (χ2= 14.18, df = 1, p < .001), and relationship satisfaction (χ2= 17.60, df = 1, p < .001). A relationship between secret functions and the relational impact was also found when the collective secret was disclosed (χ2= 3.12, df = 1, p < .10).

Secure multi-party computation (secure MPC) has been established as the de facto paradigm for protecting privacy in distributed computation. One of the earliest secure MPC primitives is the Shamir's secret sharing (SSS) scheme. SSS has many advantages over other popular secure MPC primitives like garbled circuits (GC) -- it provides information-theoretic security guarantee, requires no complex long-integer operations, and often leads to more efficient protocols. Nonetheless, SSS receives less attention in the signal processing community because SSS requires a larger number of honest participants, making it prone to collusion attacks. In this dissertation, I propose an agent-based computing framework using SSS to protect privacy in distributed signal processing. There are three main contributions to this dissertation. First, the proposed computing framework is shown to be significantly more efficient than GC. Second, a novel game-theoretical framework is proposed to analyze different types of collusion attacks. Third, using the proposed game-theoretical framework, specific mechanism designs are developed to deter collusion attacks in a fully distributed manner. Specifically, for a collusion attack with known detectors, I analyze it as games between secret owners and show that the attack can be effectively deterred by an explicit retaliation mechanism. For a general attack without detectors, I expand the scope of the game to include the computing agents and provide deterrence through deceptive collusion requests. The correctness and privacy of the protocols are proved under a covert adversarial model. Our experimental results demonstrate the efficiency of SSS-based protocols and the validity of our mechanism design.