This dissertation consists of three essays in Economic Theory. The rst essay proposes and studies a new solution concept for games with incomplete information. In game theory, there is a basic methodological dichotomy between Harsanyi's \game-theoretic" view and Aumann's \Bayesian decision-theoretic" view of the world. We follow the game theoretic view, propose and study interim partially correlated rationalizability for games with incomplete information. We argue that the distinction between this solution concept and the interim correlated rationalizability studied by Dekel, Fudenberg and Morris (2007) is fundamental, in that the latter implicitly follows Aumann's Bayesian view. Our main result shows that two types provide the same prediction in interim partially correlated rationalizability if and only if they have the same in nite hierarchy of beliefs over conditional beliefs. We also establish an equivalence result between this solution concept and the Bayesian solution{a notion of correlated equilibrium proposed by Forges (1993). The second essay studies the relationship between correlated equilibrium the redundancy embedded in type spaces. The Bayesian solution is a notion of correlated equilibrium proposed by Forges (1993), and hierarchies of beliefs over conditional beliefs are introduced by Ely and Peski (2006) in their study of interim rationalizability. We study the connection between the two concepts. We say that two type spaces are equivalent if they represent the same set of hierarchies of beliefs over conditional beliefs. We show that the correlation embedded in equivalent type spaces can be characterized by partially correlating devices, which send correlated signals to players in a belief invariant way. Since such correlating devices also implement the Bayesian solution, we establish that the Bayesian solution is invariant across equivalent type spaces. The third essay studies the existence of equilibria for rst-price sealed bid auctions when bidders form a network and each bidder observes perfectly their neighbors' private valuations. Asymmetry in bidders' positions in the network creates asymmetry in bidders' knowledge. We show the existence of pure-strategy equilibrium. / text

Association rules are a useful concept in data mining with the goal of summa- rizing the strong patterns that exist in data. We have identified several issues in mining association rules and addressed them in three main areas. The first area we explore is standardized interestingness measures. Different interestingness measures exist on different ranges, and interpreting them can be subtly problematic. We standardize several interestingness measures and show how these are useful to consider in association rule mining in three examples. A second area we address is incomplete transactions. By applying statistical methods in new ways to association rules, we provide a more comprehensive means of analyzing incomplete transactions. We also describe how to find families of distributions for interestingness measure values when transactions are incomplete. Finally, we address the common result of mining: a plethora of association rules. Unlike methods which attempt to reduce the number of resulting rules, we harness this large quantity to find a higher-level set of patterns. / NSERC Discovery Grant and OMRI Early Researcher Award

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1997. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [158]-167).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Miami University, Dept. of Psychology, 2009. / Title from second page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 53-59).

Fashion is a social construct and its very essence is to express identity and status. Depending on context we dress differently and we are constantly adapting in order to meet social expectations of dress. This work explores the relationship between archetypical garments and status. The main objective of this exploration is to challenge hierarchies in fashion by clashing different stereotypes by the means of construction. This implies to question social structures currently present in fashion. Due to these structures, we conform to stereotypical ideas of how to dress, which restricts us. What could be defined as missing within fashion today is the clash between garments on opposite sides of the hierarchy in fashion. While meetings within the same garment group has been explored before by numerous designers, combining archetypes from opposite sides of the hierarchy is yet relatively unexplored. If one was to transcend the boundaries and jump freely between garment groups, there is a possibility to select fragments from different categories in a garment to work with. This could then create more free ways of expressing oneself through dress. What is presented in this work is an approach aiming to challenge hierarchies in fashion. The examples can be read as archetypical and stereotypical hybrids with the intention to question how we dress in certain contexts. Resulting in new meetings of materials and expressions relating to dress codes.

A 3D visualization tool for file system hierarchies is presented. The visualization technique used is based on the Tree-map / nested Venn diagram concept and is capable of visualizing metrics and attributes such as size, change and file type for thousands of nodes simultaneously. Size is visualized through node base area, change is visualized through the ghosting and hiding of unchanged nodes and file type is visualized through colors. Actions such as navigation and selection are performed exclusively in 3D. Finally a method for improving the visibility of nodes through the equalization of sibling nodes is proposed. / Ett 3D visualiseringsverktyg för filsystem presenteras. Visualiseringstekniken är baserad på Tree-maps / Venn diagram och kan visualisera attribut såsom storlek, förändring och filtyp för tusentals noder samtidigt. Storlek visualiseras genom noders bas area, förändringar visualiseras genom ghosting (avfokusering) och hiding (gömning) av oförändrade noder och filtyp visualiseras med färger. Slutligen så föreslås en metod för att förbättra synligheten hos noder genom utjämning. / Tel. 0457-26310 Alt. 044-246025 (annars e-mail)

Cluster ensembles are collections of individual solutions to a given clustering problem which are useful or necessary to consider in a wide range of applications. The R package clue provides an extensible computational environment for creating and analyzing cluster ensembles, with basic data structures for representing partitions and hierarchies, and facilities for computing on these, including methods for measuring proximity and obtaining consensus and "secondary" clusterings. (author's abstract)

Since the inauguration of Donald J. Trump as the 45th president of the United States of America, US policy has shifted towards isolation and protectionism, challenging initial patterns of cooperation among the states within the global political order, aiming at improving the American stance in the world. Thus, this paper will analysis whether the ‘Trumpian’ foreign policy approach might indeed be able to enhance the American stance in the international realm, by arguing that the breaking with initial patterns of cooperation provokes resistance with the American leadership, leading to a weakening of the American positionality within the global hierarchical structure and thus, weakening the structural power-capabilities of the US. In order to do so, the author applies a qualitative discourse analysis to the examination of documents, representing the voices of European decision-makers. The author concludes by stating that the American behaviour is eventually challenging the positionality of the US globally, provoking a restructuring of the global political order.

Primates are the closest living relatives of Homo sapiens and are an important model for understanding human origins. From studying primates and making comparisons to what we know from the hominid fossil record, we can elucidate and make inferences into human physical and social evolution. My research focuses on the social aspects of primate life and attempts to find significant correlations between primate biology and social structure. Specifically, I am interested in how dominance hierarchies and power relationships between male and female primates are established and maintained in primate communities. This study contains a comprehensive dataset on a large sample of known primate species, predominantly from previously published sources and studies. For each primate species, the variables included are body mass, level of sexual dimorphism, brain size, habitat type, diet, life span, age at sexual maturity, gestation length, birth interval, locomotion type, social structure, terrestrial or arboreal locomotion, group size, home range, nocturnal or diurnal, philopatric sex, and dominant sex. Pearson's correlation coefficients between the above variables were calculated. The goal of this research is to determine what factors of primate life, both social and biological, have the largest influence on the formation and maintenance of dominance hierarchies. Certain biological variables related to body mass were found to be correlated with dominance. However, the correlation with sexual dimorphism was not found to be statistically significant and it is presumed that other ecological variables should be studied to better understand primate power relations.

<p>Salmonids, such as rainbow trout, form social hierarchies, consisting of dominant and subordinate individuals, when in groups in environments with limiting resources, such as space or food. There were two main objectives for this thesis: to investigate the physiological consequences of being in a social hierarchy as well as to investigate whether grouped social status or individual behaviour most accurately recorded physiological data for a hierarchy and secondly, to investigate the behavioural and physiological changes of groups of rainbow trout exposed to ammonia concentrations which are above chronic protected guidelines.</p> <p>To create social hierarchies, groups of four fish were fed by a new method using a darkened feeding container, twice daily (morning and evening) for eight days. Each morning feeding was videotaped in order to record aggressive behaviour. Each aggressive act was scored, allowing for fish to be assigned a social status. For ammonia exposures, groups of fish were exposed to either 700, 1200 and 1500 µM total ammonia (or 2.97, 5.10, 6.37 µM NH3, respectively) 24 hours before first feeding and these concentrations were maintained throughout the experiment. On day 5 and day 10, physiological parameters were taken in fish fasted for 24-h in control and 700 µM total ammonia exposed hierarchies.</p> <p>Social hierarchies were created in all ammonia-free and 700 µM total ammonia groups, with no hierarchies formed in 1200 and 1500 µM total ammonia groups. In M.Sc. Thesis – Josias (Si) Grobler McMaster University – Department of Biology iv ammonia-free hierarchies, one fish would become dominant, while the three subordinate individuals would each assume a stable social rank and display similar physiology which was different from the dominant fish.</p> <p>Fish from the 700 µM total ammonia group showed reductions in various physiological parameters during period 1, however, these fish displayed similar values as what was reported in ammonia-free hierarchies during period 2. This suggests biochemical or physiological changes occurring in these fish in order to acclimate to the high ammonia environment</p> / Master of Science (MSc)