A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, March 2016. / We report on a study that investigates the applicability of formal grammars in modelling coalition formation. This particular coalition formation is amongst a group of physically distributed enterprises intending to purchase items from a supplier as a single entity, termed a virtual buying cooperative (VBC). We investigate several grammars with regard to their appropriateness in modelling the interaction strategy amongst the enterprises during the formation of a VBC. A regular grammar, context-free grammars, a random permitting context grammar, random forbidding context grammars, and random context grammars are used to model the formation of a VBC in this study. The adequacy and limitations in modelling the formation of a VBC by these grammars is explored. The results demonstrate that random context grammars are adequate in modelling a VBC environment. In addition to generating the specified languages representing a formed coalition, the production rules of all the three random context grammars investigated in this study, at every derivation step, adhere to the interaction strategy of a VBC during its formation. The strategy excludes enterprises that have not been invited to join the coalition from participating in the coalition. Furthermore, if an enterprise has been invited to join the coalition by multiple enterprises, it can only accept one invitation. This study aims to bridge the gap between formal grammars and technological applications. / M T 2016

Coalition stability is an important concept in coalition formation. One common assumption in many stability criteria in non-transferable utility games is that the preference relations of each agent is publicly known so that a coalition is said to be stable if there is no objection by any sub-group of agents according to the publicly known preferences. / However, in many software agent applications, this assumption is not true. Instead, agents are modeled as individuals with private belief and decisions are made according to those beliefs instead of common knowledge. There are two types of uncertainty here. First, uncertainty in beliefs regarding the environment means that agents are also uncertain about their preferences. Second, an agent's actions can be influenced by his belief regarding other agents' preferences. Such uncertainties have impacts on the coalition's stability which is not reflected in the current stability criteria. / In this thesis, we extend the classic stability concept of the non-transferable utility core by proposing new belief based stability criteria under uncertainty, and illustrate how the new concept can be used to analyze the stability of a new type of belief-based coalition formation game. Mechanisms for reaching solutions of the new stable criteria is proposed and a real life application example is studied. / Chan, Chi Kong. / Adviser: Ho-Fung Leung. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: B, page: 3594. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-103). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

Thesis (B.A. (Hons.))-- University of Adelaide, Dept. of Psychology, 1977.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2008. / Title from file title page. James Emshoff, committee chair; Bethann Cottrell, Marci Culley, John Peterson, Sarah Cook, committee members. Electronic text (202 p. : ill. (some col.)) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed Nov. 19, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 153-165).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Georgetown University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Bowling Green State University, 2005. / Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 143 p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (B.A.)--Haverford College, Dept. of Psychology, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF MELISSA J. HAITHCOX, for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in HEALTH EDUCATION, presented on June 29, 2009 at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: Social Support Experiences of HIV Positive HIV/AIDS Coalition Participants: A Grounded Theory Approach MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Kathleen Welshimer For more than twenty-five years HIV/AIDS has overwhelmed and devastated all corners of the world, including the United States. Grassroots organizations and governmental have responded to this devastation by implementing various strategies, including community coalitions, to counteract the social and economic effects of HIV. While HIV/AIDS coalitions resemble other health promotion coalitions, they differ because People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) are federally mandated or required by the funder to participate. While it is thought that PLWHA membership is spurred largely by these mandates, other motivation and incentive to participate have gone undocumented. There is a plethora of research regarding membership and factors related to the success of HIV/AIDS coalitions, there is little focus on the influence of social support on community coalitions. The purpose of this study was to document the types and perception of social support experiences of People Living With HIV/AIDS with regard to their participation in HIV/AIDS coalitions. This study used a qualitative research design, guided by a grounded theory approach, to investigate and describe the social support experiences of HIV positive adults who participate in HIV/AIDS coalitions. Data collection consisted of 13 semi-structured, in-depth interviews and the researcher's personal thoughts and observations, recorded in a journal. Six main themes emerged from the data: (a) the acquisition of knowledge and information, (b) the desire to give back and help others, (c) the desire to participate in a "successful" effort, (d) the desire to stay connected through coalition activities, (e) the desire to give and receive social support, (f) PLWHA membership is the most important indicator of coalition success. Themes that emerged from participants' revolved around the need to belong and emotional support. The desire to feel valued was interconnected to most of the themes. In order to feel valued, PLWHAs had a strong desire to give back to others and strived to acquire information and skills to do so. Results revealed the influence of social support on the reasons PLWHAs join, continue or discontinue their participation in HIV/AIDS coalitions, the activities they choose to participate in, and their perception of coalition success. Recommendations for health education include exploring the inner dynamics of a coalition's membership as a way to evaluate coalition success from a more holistic and comprehensive perspective, clarify goals and objectives of HIV/AIDS coalitions to ensure members and leadership are on the same page, and explore the concept of a community organizer to cultivate participation and leadership in PLWHAs.

Context: Partnerships are emerging as critically important vehicles for addressing health in local communities. Coalitions involving local health departments can be viewed as the embodiment of a local public health system. Although it is known that these networks are heavily involved in assessment and community planning activities, limited studies have evaluated whether health coalitions are functioning at an optimal capacity. Objective: This study assesses the extent to which health coalitions met or exceeded expectations for building functional capacity within their respective networks. Design: An evaluative framework was developed focusing on 8 functional characteristics of coalitions previously identified by Erwin and Mills. Twenty-nine indicators were identified that served as "proxy" measures of functional capacity within health coalitions. Setting and Participants: Ninety-three County Health Councils (CoHCs) in Tennessee. Main Outcome Measure(s): Diverse member representation; formal rules, roles, and procedures; open, frequent interpersonal communication; task-focused climate; council leadership; resources; active member participation; and external linkages were assessed to determine the level of functionality of CoHCs. Scores across all CoHCs were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency distributions, measures of central tendency, and measures of variability. Data were analyzed using SAS 9.3. Results: Of 68 CoHCs (73% response rate), the total mean score for the level of functional characteristics was 30.5 (median= 30.5; SD = 6.3; range, 18-44). Of the 8 functional characteristics, CoHCs met or exceeded all indicators associated with council leadership, tasked-focused climate, and external linkages. Lowest scores were for having a written communications plan, written priorities or goals, and opportunities for training. Conclusion: This study advances the research on health coalitions by establishing a process for quantifying the functionality of health coalitions. Future studies will be conducted to examine the association between health coalition functional capacity, local health departments' community health assessment and planning efforts, and changes in community health status.

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