View All Items

Title: Keeping Quiet: Investigating the Maintenance and Policing of Male-dominated Gaming Space.
Creator: Charles, Christopher, Pritchard, Robert, Preston-Sidler, Leandra, Grauerholz, Liz, Corzine, Harold, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Despite the near parity between the number of female and male gamers (Entertainment Software Association, 2014), studies on gender in videogames illustrate a culture that typically reflects hegemonic masculinity and excludes women on a multitude of levels. Because these interactions occur within real and virtual space (both online and within games), a holistic approach is warranted to analyze these mechanisms of oppression. This paper seeks to uncover the ways by which gaming culture is...
Show moreDespite the near parity between the number of female and male gamers (Entertainment Software Association, 2014), studies on gender in videogames illustrate a culture that typically reflects hegemonic masculinity and excludes women on a multitude of levels. Because these interactions occur within real and virtual space (both online and within games), a holistic approach is warranted to analyze these mechanisms of oppression. This paper seeks to uncover the ways by which gaming culture is maintained and policed as a male-dominated space, through qualitative data collection. By using ethnographic, participant observation at a large, multi-genre convention the experiences of both male and female gamers were collected and analyzed. Their stories shed light on the means by which women are silenced, or (")kept quiet,(") by voice chat profiling, verbal abuse, and hostile Internet communities. They are subject to strict policing of gamer identity, relegation as casual gamers, and their calls for inclusiveness all too often fall on game developers' deaf ears.
Show less
Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: CFE0006281, ucf:51605
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006281

Title: OPEN WORLD TRANSLATION: LOCALIZING JAPANESE VIDEO GAMES FOR A GLOBALIZING WORLD.
Creator: Suvannasankha, Emily, Flammia, Madelyn, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This paper investigates the most effective ways of handling cultural differences in the Japanese-to-English game localization process. The thesis advocates for applying the Skopos theory of translation to game localization; analyzes how topics such as social issues, humor, fan translation, transcreation, and censorship have been handled in the past; and explores how international players react to developers' localization choices. It also includes interviews with three Japanese-to-English...
Show moreThis paper investigates the most effective ways of handling cultural differences in the Japanese-to-English game localization process. The thesis advocates for applying the Skopos theory of translation to game localization; analyzes how topics such as social issues, humor, fan translation, transcreation, and censorship have been handled in the past; and explores how international players react to developers' localization choices. It also includes interviews with three Japanese-to-English translators who have worked with major Japanese game companies to gain insight into how the industry operates today. Through the deconstruction of different aspects of Japanese-to-English localization, this analysis aims to help the game industry better fine-tune Japanese media to Western audiences while still sharing valuable aspects of Japanese culture. The thesis concludes that if Japanese game companies work to improve the localization process by considering more diverse international perspectives, hiring native speakers as translators, and approaching the English script as a creative endeavor in itself, they will be able to both broaden the minds of their global audiences and more effectively capitalize on the worldwide fervor for Japanese video games.
Show less
Date Issued: 2019
Identifier: CFH2000464, ucf:45828
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000464

Title: THE ADJUDICATION OF PRESIDENTIAL POWER IN THE U.S. SUPREME COURT:A PREDICTIVE MODEL OF INDIVIDUAL JUSTICE VOTING.
Creator: Curry, Todd, Lanier, Drew, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The interaction between the President and Congress is many times quite public and well documented (Cronin 1980; Covington et al. 1995; Fisher 1994; Schlesinger 2004). Similarly, relations between the Congress and the Supreme Court are well documented; Congress makes law and, if requested, the Court interprets it. The interaction between the president and the Court, however, is not nearly as well defined, and certainly not as public. Supreme Court cases involving the president directly are...
Show moreThe interaction between the President and Congress is many times quite public and well documented (Cronin 1980; Covington et al. 1995; Fisher 1994; Schlesinger 2004). Similarly, relations between the Congress and the Supreme Court are well documented; Congress makes law and, if requested, the Court interprets it. The interaction between the president and the Court, however, is not nearly as well defined, and certainly not as public. Supreme Court cases involving the president directly are fairly rare. King and Meernik (1995) identify 347 cases involving the foreign policy powers of the president, decided from 1790 to 1996, which is roughly 1.5 cases per calendar year. This study will examine the influence of attitudinal and extra-attitudinal factors on the individual level decision-making of the U.S. Supreme Court justices in cases involving presidential power. By using both attitudinal and extra-attitudinal factors, such as public opinion and armed conflict, this study will explore the limitations of a simple attitudinal model in complex and highly salient cases such as those that involve presidential power. The cases to be examined will be all presidential power cases decided from 1949 to 2005 (N = 38). The unit of analysis will, however, be the justice's individual-level vote (N = 337).
Show less
Date Issued: 2006
Identifier: CFE0001202, ucf:46953
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001202

Title: MITIGATING MISBEHAVIOR IN WIRELESS NETWORKS: A GAME THEORETIC APPROACH.
Creator: Wang, Wenjing, Chatterjee, Mainak, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: In a distributed wireless system, multiple network nodes behave cooperatively towards a common goal. Though such assumptions on cooperation are desirable (e.g., controlling the transmit power level, reducing interference for each other, revealing private information, adhering to network policies) for analyzing and modeling, certain nodes belonging to a real-world system have often shown to deviate. These nodes, known as misbehaving nodes, bring more challenges to the design of the wireless...
Show moreIn a distributed wireless system, multiple network nodes behave cooperatively towards a common goal. Though such assumptions on cooperation are desirable (e.g., controlling the transmit power level, reducing interference for each other, revealing private information, adhering to network policies) for analyzing and modeling, certain nodes belonging to a real-world system have often shown to deviate. These nodes, known as misbehaving nodes, bring more challenges to the design of the wireless network because the unreliable channel makes the actions of the nodes hidden from each other. In this dissertation, we analyze two types of misbehavior, namely, selfish noncooperation and malicious attacking. We apply game theoretic techniques to model the interactions among the nodes in the network. First, we consider a homogeneous unreliable channel and analyze the necessary and sufficient conditions to enforce cooperative packet forwarding among a node pair. We formulate an anti-collusion game and derive the conditions that achieve full cooperation when the non-cooperative nodes collude. In addition, we consider multi-hop communication with a heterogeneous channel model. We refine our game model as a hidden action game with imperfect private monitoring. A state machine based strategy is proposed to reach Nash Equilibrium. The strategy attains cooperative packet forwarding with heterogeneous channel and requires only partial and imperfect information. Furthermore, it also enforces cooperation in multi-hop packet forwarding. To tackle the malicious attacks, we use Bayesian game analysis to show the existence of equilibrium in the detection game and argue that it might not be profitable to isolate the malicious nodes upon detection. We propose the concept of "coexistence with malicious nodes" by proving the co-existence equilibrium and derive the conditions that achieve the equilibrium. This research is further accomplished by extensive simulation studies. Simulation results illustrate the properties of the games and the derived equilibria. The results validate our design philosophy and clearly indicate that the proposed game theoretic solutions can be effectively used to enforce cooperation and mitigate attacks.
Show less
Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: CFE0003080, ucf:48294
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003080

Title: Essays on Marketing Strategies in the Context of Interdependent Consumption.
Creator: Talebi Ashoori, Minoo, Stock, Axel, Liu, Lin, Mao, Huifang, Caputo, Michael, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This dissertation consists of two essays in which I study the impact of two interdependent consumerbehaviors, fairness concerns and exclusivity seeking, on a companys marketing strategiesand profits specifically in a context where it tries to expand its clientele with the objective of generatingrepeat purchases, for example by running deals on daily deal platforms. In the first essay,I examine the impact of customers fairness concerns on the profitability of a company runningpromotions on...
Show moreThis dissertation consists of two essays in which I study the impact of two interdependent consumerbehaviors, fairness concerns and exclusivity seeking, on a companys marketing strategiesand profits specifically in a context where it tries to expand its clientele with the objective of generatingrepeat purchases, for example by running deals on daily deal platforms. In the first essay,I examine the impact of customers fairness concerns on the profitability of a company runningpromotions on daily deal platforms. With the prevalence of social media and the internet, informationabout such targeted promotions can become available to all consumers including those whodid not have access to the platform and paid a full-price. Conducting a laboratory experiment,I demonstrate that knowledge about targeted promotions often leads to post-promotional fairnessconcerns among these consumers resulting in an increased tendency to switch providers. Incorporatingthe results of the experiment in a two-period game-theoretic model I analyze the impactof customers post-promotional fairness concerns on the profits of quality differentiated companieswho compete by running targeted promotions. I find that the low quality provider always suffersfrom consumers sensitivity to unfairness. Contrary, I show that the high quality provider can counterintuitivelybenefit from consumers fairness concerns as long as its quality advantage is not toolarge. Furthermore, I analyze how profits are impacted when information about the targeted dealsleaks to non-targeted customers who would have bought at the regular price. I find that, counterintuitively,competing firms profits increase with leakage. In the second essay of this dissertation, Istart with the observation that many platform members are new customers and are uncertain aboutthe quality of the companys product or service until they consume it. In such a context, I examinea high quality sellers optimal signaling strategy in a market where consumers prefer to purchase ascarce product due to desire for exclusivity or to receive a service in a non-crowded environmentdue to better experience and service delivery. Utilizing a repeat purchase signaling model I show that, consistent with prior literature, the high quality firm signals its quality by making its productscarce as well as charging a high price when consumers desire for exclusivity is high and cost ofquality is great. Contrary, I also find conditions under which the high quality firm counterintuitivelymakes its product widely available and prices it low to signal its quality. The model may inpart explain how high quality sellers market their products or services on daily deal websites.
Show less
Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: CFE0005890, ucf:50855
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005890

Title: COMPARISON OF LEARNING EXPERIENCES AND OUTCOMES BETWEEN A SERIOUS GAME-BASED AND NON-GAME-BASED ONLINE AMERICAN HISTORY COURSE.
Creator: Hess, Taryn, Gunter, Glenda, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The use of online courses continues to increase despite the small amount of research that exists on the effectiveness of online educational environments. The little research that has been conducted has focused on evaluating factors taken into consideration during the adoption of online learning environments. One notable benefit often cited is the ability to incorporate multimedia such as video games. Although game researchers and developers are pushing for the use of video games for...
Show moreThe use of online courses continues to increase despite the small amount of research that exists on the effectiveness of online educational environments. The little research that has been conducted has focused on evaluating factors taken into consideration during the adoption of online learning environments. One notable benefit often cited is the ability to incorporate multimedia such as video games. Although game researchers and developers are pushing for the use of video games for educational purposes, there is a lack of research on the effectiveness of serious video games. When paring the increasing use of online educational environments, the push to use serious video games, and the lack of research on the effectiveness of online learning environments and video games, there is a clear need for further investigation into the use of serious video games in an online format. Based on current literature, no other known study has conducted an analysis comparing a serious game-based and non-game based online course; making this a unique study. The purpose of this study was to compare student learning experiences and outcomes between a serious game-based and non-game based online American History course. The data sources were data provided from Florida Virtual School (FLVS) and student and teacher interviews. Random samples of 92 students were statistically analyzed. A group of 8 students and 4 teachers were interviewed. FLVS data provided were analyzed using an independent t-test and the Mann-Whitney test and the student and teacher interview were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results of an independent t-test revealed that there was a significant (p < .01) difference in the mean number of days necessary to complete the course (MGB = 145.80, SDGB = 50.64, MNGB = 112.63, SDNGB = 49.60). The Mann-Whitney results indicated a significant difference between course performance and the type of American history course (Z = -5.066, p < .01); students in the serious game-based online course had an A average whereas students in the non-game-based online course had a B average. The thematic analysis of the relationship between student performance and motivation in both courses indicated that students and teachers of the game-based online course provided more reasons for student motivation than the students and teachers in the non-game-based online course. The thematic analysis of what aspects do students perceive as helpful and/or hindering to their learning indicated that students and teachers of the game-based online course provided more desirable, more helpful, less undesirable, and less hindering aspects for their course than the students and teachers in the non-game-based online course. As a result of the unique nature of this study, the findings provide new information for the fields of research on online learning, serious video gaming, and instructional design as well as inform instructional-designers, teachers, education stakeholders, serious video game designers, and education researchers.
Show less
Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: CFE0003221, ucf:48566
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003221

Title: The Effects of Regulatory Orientation on Subjective Task Values, Ability Beliefs, and Gameplay in a Grammar Editing Computer Game.
Creator: Strnad, Stephen, Hoffman, Bobby, Hartshorne, Richard, Sivo, Stephen, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This study investigated mean group differences in composite subjective task values, ability beliefs, and gameplay behaviors between low promotion and high promotion English as a Second Language (ESL) postsecondary students while playing two versions of a grammar-editing computer game. First, students were categorized according to their scores on the General Regulatory Focus Measure. Next, students played two identical versions of the grammar-editing game; in the second game version, an...
Show moreThis study investigated mean group differences in composite subjective task values, ability beliefs, and gameplay behaviors between low promotion and high promotion English as a Second Language (ESL) postsecondary students while playing two versions of a grammar-editing computer game. First, students were categorized according to their scores on the General Regulatory Focus Measure. Next, students played two identical versions of the grammar-editing game; in the second game version, an independent variable was added in the form of an in-game punishment. In the middle of each game version, students completed a modified version of the Expectancy-value Questionnaire. Independent samples t-tests were conducted to determine any statistically significant group differences between groups in terms of subjective task values, ability beliefs, and gameplay behaviors. Results indicated no statistically significant differences between groups for any of the composite dependent variables tested. However, two individual items measuring utility and attainment value indicated significant group differences. The findings of this study both supported and contradicted aspects of regulatory orientation theory and previous regulatory orientation research. This research contributed to the need for motivation studies in the field of digital game-based learning utilizing well-established theoretical frameworks. In addition, this study offered researchers, teachers, instructional designers, and video game designers insights into the effects of regulatory orientations in the digital game-based learning context.
Show less
Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: CFE0007105, ucf:51939
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007105

Title: AN ECONOMIC FRAMEWORK FOR RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND PRICING IN WIRELESS NETWORKS WITH COMPETITIVE SERVICE PROVIDERS.
Creator: SENGUPTA, SHAMIK, Chatterjee, Mainak, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: A paradigm shift from static spectrum allocation to dynamic spectrum access (DSA) is becoming a reality due to the recent advances in cognitive radio, wide band spectrum sensing, and network aware real--time spectrum access. It is believed that DSA will allow wireless service providers (WSPs) the opportunity to dynamically access spectrum bands as and when they need it. Moreover, due to the presence of multiple WSPs in a region, it is anticipated that dynamic service pricing would be offered...
Show moreA paradigm shift from static spectrum allocation to dynamic spectrum access (DSA) is becoming a reality due to the recent advances in cognitive radio, wide band spectrum sensing, and network aware real--time spectrum access. It is believed that DSA will allow wireless service providers (WSPs) the opportunity to dynamically access spectrum bands as and when they need it. Moreover, due to the presence of multiple WSPs in a region, it is anticipated that dynamic service pricing would be offered that will allow the end-users to move from long-term service contracts to more flexible short-term service models. In this research, we develop a unified economic framework to analyze the trading system comprising two components: i) spectrum owner--WSPs interactions with regard to dynamic spectrum allocation, and ii) WSP--end-users interactions with regard to dynamic service pricing. For spectrum owner--WSPs interaction, we investigate various auction mechanisms for finding bidding strategies of WSPs and revenue generated by the spectrum owner. We show that sequential bidding provides better result than the concurrent bidding when WSPs are constrained to at most single unit allocation. On the other hand, when the bidders request for multiple units, (i.e., they are not restricted by allocation constraints) synchronous auction mechanism proves to be beneficial than asynchronous auctions. In this regard, we propose a winner determination sealed-bid knapsack auction mechanism that dynamically allocates spectrum to the WSPs based on their bids. As far as dynamic service pricing is concerned, we use game theory to capture the conflict of interest between WSPs and end--users, both of whom try to maximize their respective net utilities. We deviate from the traditional per--service static pricing towards a more dynamic model where the WSPs might change the price of a service almost on a session by session basis. Users, on the other hand, have the freedom to choose their WSP based on the price offered. It is found that in such a greedy and non-cooperative behavioral game model, it is in the best interest of the WSPs to adhere to a price threshold which is a consequence of a price (Nash) equilibrium. We conducted extensive simulation experiments, the results of which show that the proposed auction model entices WSPs to participate in the auction, makes optimal use of the common spectrum pool, and avoids collusion among WSPs. We also demonstrate how pricing can be used as an effective tool for providing incentives to the WSPs to upgrade their network resources and offer better services.
Show less
Date Issued: 2007
Identifier: CFE0001848, ucf:47364
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001848

Title: Game-Theoretic Frameworks and Strategies for Defense Against Network Jamming and Collocation Attacks.
Creator: Hemida, Ahmed, Atia, George, Simaan, Marwan, Vosoughi, Azadeh, Sukthankar, Gita, Guirguis, Mina, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Modern networks are becoming increasingly more complex, heterogeneous, and densely connected. While more diverse services are enabled to an ever-increasing number of users through ubiquitous networking and pervasive computing, several important challenges have emerged. For example, densely connected networks are prone to higher levels of interference, which makes them more vulnerable to jamming attacks. Also, the utilization of software-based protocols to perform routing, load balancing and...
Show moreModern networks are becoming increasingly more complex, heterogeneous, and densely connected. While more diverse services are enabled to an ever-increasing number of users through ubiquitous networking and pervasive computing, several important challenges have emerged. For example, densely connected networks are prone to higher levels of interference, which makes them more vulnerable to jamming attacks. Also, the utilization of software-based protocols to perform routing, load balancing and power management functions in Software-Defined Networks gives rise to more vulnerabilities that could be exploited by malicious users and adversaries. Moreover, the increased reliance on cloud computing services due to a growing demand for communication and computation resources poses formidable security challenges due to the shared nature and virtualization of cloud computing. In this thesis, we study two types of attacks: jamming attacks on wireless networks and side-channel attacks on cloud computing servers. The former attacks disrupt the natural network operation by exploiting the static topology and dynamic channel assignment in wireless networks, while the latter attacks seek to gain access to unauthorized data by co-residing with target virtual machines (VMs) on the same physical node in a cloud server. In both attacks, the adversary faces a static attack surface and achieves her illegitimate goal by exploiting a stationary aspect of the network functionality. Hence, this dissertation proposes and develops counter approaches to both attacks using moving target defense strategies. We study the strategic interactions between the adversary and the network administrator within a game-theoretic framework.First, in the context of jamming attacks, we present and analyze a game-theoretic formulation between the adversary and the network defender. In this problem, the attack surface is the network connectivity (the static topology) as the adversary jams a subset of nodes to increase the level of interference in the network. On the other side, the defender makes judicious adjustments of the transmission footprint of the various nodes, thereby continuously adapting the underlying network topology to reduce the impact of the attack. The defender's strategy is based on playing Nash equilibrium strategies securing a worst-case network utility. Moreover, scalable decomposition-based approaches are developed yielding a scalable defense strategy whose performance closely approaches that of the non-decomposed game for large-scale and dense networks. We study a class of games considering discrete as well as continuous power levels.In the second problem, we consider multi-tenant clouds, where a number of VMs are typically collocated on the same physical machine to optimize performance and power consumption and maximize profit. This increases the risk of a malicious virtual machine performing side-channel attacks and leaking sensitive information from neighboring VMs. The attack surface, in this case, is the static residency of VMs on a set of physical nodes, hence we develop a timed migration defense approach. Specifically, we analyze a timing game in which the cloud provider decides when to migrate a VM to a different physical machine to mitigate the risk of being compromised by a collocated malicious VM. The adversary decides the rate at which she launches new VMs to collocate with the victim VMs. Our formulation captures a data leakage model in which the cost incurred by the cloud provider depends on the duration of collocation with malicious VMs. It also captures costs incurred by the adversary in launching new VMs and by the defender in migrating VMs. We establish sufficient conditions for the existence of Nash equilibria for general cost functions, as well as for specific instantiations, and characterize the best response for both players. Furthermore, we extend our model to characterize its impact on the attacker's payoff when the cloud utilizes intrusion detection systems that detect side-channel attacks. Our theoretical findings are corroborated with extensive numerical results in various settings as well as a proof-of-concept implementation in a realistic cloud setting.
Show less
Date Issued: 2019
Identifier: CFE0007468, ucf:52677
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007468

Title: SPECTRUM SHARING AND SERVICE PRICING IN DYNAMIC SPECTRUM ACCESS NETWORKS.
Creator: Brahma, Swastik, Chatterjee, Mainak, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Traditionally, radio spectrum has been statically allocated to wireless service providers (WSPs). Regulators, like FCC, give wireless service providers exclusive long term licenses for using specific range of frequencies in particular geographic areas. Moreover, restrictions are imposed on the technologies to be used and the services to be provided. The lack of flexibility in static spectrum allocation constrains the ability to make use of new technologies and the ability to redeploy the...
Show moreTraditionally, radio spectrum has been statically allocated to wireless service providers (WSPs). Regulators, like FCC, give wireless service providers exclusive long term licenses for using specific range of frequencies in particular geographic areas. Moreover, restrictions are imposed on the technologies to be used and the services to be provided. The lack of flexibility in static spectrum allocation constrains the ability to make use of new technologies and the ability to redeploy the spectrum to higher valued uses, thereby resulting in inefficient spectrum utilization [23, 38, 42, 62, 67]. These limitations have motivated a paradigm shift from static spectrum allocation towards a more 'liberalized' notion of spectrum management in which secondary users can borrow idle spectrum from primary spectrum licensees, without causing harmful interference to the latter- a notion commonly referred to as dynamic spectrum access (DSA) or open spectrum access ,. Cognitive radio [30, 47], empowered by Software Defined Radio (SDR), is poised to promote the efficient use of spectrum by adopting this open spectrum approach. In this dissertation, we first address the problem of dynamic channel (spectrum) access by a set of cognitive radio enabled nodes, where each node acting in a selfish manner tries to access and use as many channels as possible, subject to the interference constraints. We model the dynamic channel access problem as a modified Rubinstein-Stahl bargaining game. In our model, each node negotiates with the other nodes to obtain an agreeable sharing rule of the available channels, such that, no two interfering nodes use the same channel. We solve the bargaining game by finding Subgame Perfect Nash Equilibrium (SPNE) strategies of the nodes. First, we consider finite horizon version of the bargaining game and investigate its SPNE strategies that allow each node to maximize its utility against the other nodes (opponents). We then extend these results to the infinite horizon bargaining game. Furthermore, we identify Pareto optimal equilibria of the game for improving spectrum utilization. The bargaining solution ensures that no node is starved of channels. The spectrum that a secondary node acquires comes to it at a cost. Thus it becomes important to study the 'end system' perspective of such a cost, by focusing on its implications. Specifically, we consider the problem of incentivizing nodes to provide the service of routing using the acquired spectrum. In this problem, each secondary node having a certain capacity incurs a cost for routing traffic through it. Secondary nodes will not have an incentive to relay traffic unless they are compensated for the costs they incur in forwarding traffic. We propose a path auction scheme in which each secondary node announces its cost and capacity to the routing mechanism, both of which are considered as private information known only to the node. We design a route selection mechanism and a pricing function that can induce nodes to reveal their cost and capacity honestly (making our auction truthful), while minimizing the payment that needs to be given to the nodes (making our auction optimal). By considering capacity constraint of the nodes, we explicitly support multiple path routing. For deploying our path auction based routing mechanism in DSA networks, we provide polynomial time algorithms to find the optimal route over which traffic should be routed and to compute the payment that each node should receive. All our proposed algorithms have been evaluated via extensive simulation experiments. These results help to validate our design philosophy and also illustrate the effectiveness of our solution approach.
Show less
Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: CFE0004049, ucf:49125
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004049

Title: IMPACT OF RETURNS POLICIES AND GROUP-BUYING ON CHANNEL COORDINATION.
Creator: Tran, Thanh, Desiraju, Ramarao, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This dissertation investigates the role of two marketing practices---returns policies and group-buying services---in improving channel coordination. The first study (presented in Chapter Two) focuses on the interaction between two types of returns policies---returns of unwanted products from consumers to retailers and returns of unsold inventory from retailers to manufacturers. Even without the right to return unsold inventory to the manufacturer, the retailers may accept returns from...
Show moreThis dissertation investigates the role of two marketing practices---returns policies and group-buying services---in improving channel coordination. The first study (presented in Chapter Two) focuses on the interaction between two types of returns policies---returns of unwanted products from consumers to retailers and returns of unsold inventory from retailers to manufacturers. Even without the right to return unsold inventory to the manufacturer, the retailers may accept returns from consumers; by doing so, they benefit from a less price-sensitive market demand, an ability to screen for high-valuation consumers, and a competitive advantage (offering a returns policy makes a retailer more attractive to consumers). From the manufacturer's perspective, accepting returns may induce the retailers to order more stock, set lower prices, generate more sales, and therefore, improves the performance of the channel. However, under some conditions (e.g., when the marginal cost of stock-outs is relatively high), this study shows that this effect disappears and the manufacturer does not accept returns from the retailer in equilibrium. The second study (presented in Chapter Three) investigates the rationale for using group-buying services vis-a-vis the traditional posted-pricing mechanism. It focuses on the behavior of consumers and explores the role of heterogeneity in their valuation for the product and cost of purchasing via group-buying in the functioning of group-buying services as a price-discrimination device. Finally, the role of group-buying services in improving channel coordination under asymmetric information is studied in Chapter Four. This analysis shows that the availability of group-buying services provides an opportunity for the manufacturer to reduce the informational rents of the retailer arising from its private information about the market condition. Interestingly, the manufacturer can avoid paying these rents and regains the first-best profitability when asymmetry in information exists regarding the relative sizes of consumer segments. In other settings (e.g., when asymmetric information exists regarding consumers' price sensitivity), leveraging the group-buying mechanism nevertheless allows the manufacturer to design a contract that requires lower rents and improves channel coordination to some extent.
Show less
Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: CFE0002747, ucf:48182
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002747

Title: Explicit Feedback Within Game-Based Training: Examining the Influence of Source Modality Effects on Interaction.
Creator: Goldberg, Benjamin, Bowers, Clint, Cannon-Bowers, Janis, Kincaid, John, McDaniel, Thomas, Sottilare, Robert, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This research aims to enhance Simulation-Based Training (SBT) applications to support training events in the absence of live instruction. The overarching purpose is to explore available tools for integrating intelligent tutoring communications in game-based learning platforms and to examine theory-based techniques for delivering explicit feedback in such environments. The primary tool influencing the design of this research was the Generalized Intelligent Framework for Tutoring (GIFT), a...
Show moreThis research aims to enhance Simulation-Based Training (SBT) applications to support training events in the absence of live instruction. The overarching purpose is to explore available tools for integrating intelligent tutoring communications in game-based learning platforms and to examine theory-based techniques for delivering explicit feedback in such environments. The primary tool influencing the design of this research was the Generalized Intelligent Framework for Tutoring (GIFT), a modular domain-independent architecture that provides the tools and methods to author, deliver, and evaluate intelligent tutoring technologies within any training platform. Influenced by research surrounding Social Cognitive Theory and Cognitive Load Theory, the resulting experiment tested varying approaches for utilizing an Embodied Pedagogical Agent (EPA) to function as a tutor during interaction in a game-based environment. Conditions were authored to assess the tradeoffs between embedding an EPA directly in a game, embedding an EPA in GIFT's browser-based Tutor-User Interface (TUI), or using audio prompts alone with no social grounding.The resulting data supports the application of using an EPA embedded in GIFT's TUI to provide explicit feedback during a game-based learning event. Analyses revealed conditions with an EPA situated in the TUI to be as effective as embedding the agent directly in the game environment. This inference is based on evidence showing reliable differences across conditions on the metrics of performance and self-reported mental demand and feedback usefulness items. This research provides source modality tradeoffs linked to tactics for relaying training relevant explicit information to a user based on real-time performance in a game.
Show less
Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: CFE0004850, ucf:49696
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004850

Title: Energy Efficient and Secure Wireless Sensor Networks Design.
Creator: Attiah, Afraa, Zou, Changchun, Chatterjee, Mainak, Wang, Jun, Yuksel, Murat, Wang, Chung-Ching, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: ABSTRACTWireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are emerging technologies that have the ability to sense,process, communicate, and transmit information to a destination, and they are expected to have significantimpact on the efficiency of many applications in various fields. The resource constraintsuch as limited battery power, is the greatest challenge in WSNs design as it affects the lifetimeand performance of the network. An energy efficient, secure, and trustworthy system is vital whena WSN...
Show moreABSTRACTWireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are emerging technologies that have the ability to sense,process, communicate, and transmit information to a destination, and they are expected to have significantimpact on the efficiency of many applications in various fields. The resource constraintsuch as limited battery power, is the greatest challenge in WSNs design as it affects the lifetimeand performance of the network. An energy efficient, secure, and trustworthy system is vital whena WSN involves highly sensitive information. Thus, it is critical to design mechanisms that are energyefficient and secure while at the same time maintaining the desired level of quality of service.Inspired by these challenges, this dissertation is dedicated to exploiting optimization and gametheoretic approaches/solutions to handle several important issues in WSN communication, includingenergy efficiency, latency, congestion, dynamic traffic load, and security. We present severalnovel mechanisms to improve the security and energy efficiency of WSNs. Two new schemes areproposed for the network layer stack to achieve the following: (a) to enhance energy efficiencythrough optimized sleep intervals, that also considers the underlying dynamic traffic load and (b)to develop the routing protocol in order to handle wasted energy, congestion, and clustering. Wealso propose efficient routing and energy-efficient clustering algorithms based on optimization andgame theory. Furthermore, we propose a dynamic game theoretic framework (i.e., hyper defense)to analyze the interactions between attacker and defender as a non-cooperative security game thatconsiders the resource limitation. All the proposed schemes are validated by extensive experimentalanalyses, obtained by running simulations depicting various situations in WSNs in orderto represent real-world scenarios as realistically as possible. The results show that the proposedschemes achieve high performance in different terms, such as network lifetime, compared with thestate-of-the-art schemes.
Show less
Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: CFE0006971, ucf:51672
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006971

Title: AN EXAMINATION OF CENTRAL ASIAN GEOPOLITICS THROUGH THE EXPECTED UTILITY MODEL: THE NEW GREAT GAME.
Creator: Stutte, Corey, Wan, Thomas, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The New Great Game is a geopolitical competition between regional stakeholders over energy resources in Central Asia. The author seeks to use the expected utility voting model based on Black's median voter theorem for forecasting the New Great Game in Central Asia. To judge the external validity of the voting model, the author uses data from the Correlates of War project data set, to formulate three distinct models based only on the numbers in 1992 and 1993. Capabilities and alliance data...
Show moreThe New Great Game is a geopolitical competition between regional stakeholders over energy resources in Central Asia. The author seeks to use the expected utility voting model based on Black's median voter theorem for forecasting the New Great Game in Central Asia. To judge the external validity of the voting model, the author uses data from the Correlates of War project data set, to formulate three distinct models based only on the numbers in 1992 and 1993. Capabilities and alliance data were used to develop balance of power positions and compare the outcome of 100 simulations to the actual outcome in 2000 based on Correlates of War project data. This allows us to judge whether the emergence of Russia's weak advantage as well as the continuation of the competition in the New Great Game as of 2000 could have been predicted based on what was known in 1992 and 1993. By using only one year's data to forecast the New Great Game, we are able to eliminate historical and researcher bias and judge the applicability of the model in global policy and strategic analysis.
Show less
Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: CFE0002861, ucf:48088
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002861

Title: Secondary World: The Limits of Ludonarrative.
Creator: Dannelly, David, Adams, JoAnne, Price, Mark, Poindexter, Carla, Kovach, Keith, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Secondary World: The Limits of Ludonarrative is a series of short narrative animations that are a theoretical treatise on the limitations of western storytelling in video games. The series covers specific topics relating to film theory, game design and art theory: specifically those associated with Gilles Deleuze, Jean Baudrillard, Jay Bolter, Richard Grusin and Andy Clark. The use of imagery, editing and presentation is intended to physically represent an extension of myself and my thinking...
Show moreSecondary World: The Limits of Ludonarrative is a series of short narrative animations that are a theoretical treatise on the limitations of western storytelling in video games. The series covers specific topics relating to film theory, game design and art theory: specifically those associated with Gilles Deleuze, Jean Baudrillard, Jay Bolter, Richard Grusin and Andy Clark. The use of imagery, editing and presentation is intended to physically represent an extension of myself and my thinking process and which are united through the common thread of my personal feelings, thoughts and experiences in the digital age.
Show less
Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: CFE0005155, ucf:50704
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005155

Title: Learning Dynamic Network Models for Complex Social Systems.
Creator: Hajibagheri, Alireza, Sukthankar, Gita, Turgut, Damla, Chatterjee, Mainak, Lakkaraju, Kiran, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Human societies are inherently complex and highly dynamic, resulting in rapidly changing social networks, containing multiple types of dyadic interactions. Analyzing these time-varying multiplex networks with approaches developed for static, single layer networks often produces poor results. To address this problem, our approach is to explicitly learn the dynamics of these complex networks. This dissertation focuses on five problems: 1) learning link formation rates; 2) predicting changes in...
Show moreHuman societies are inherently complex and highly dynamic, resulting in rapidly changing social networks, containing multiple types of dyadic interactions. Analyzing these time-varying multiplex networks with approaches developed for static, single layer networks often produces poor results. To address this problem, our approach is to explicitly learn the dynamics of these complex networks. This dissertation focuses on five problems: 1) learning link formation rates; 2) predicting changes in community membership; 3) using time series to predict changes in network structure; 4) modeling coevolution patterns across network layers and 5) extracting information from negative layers of a multiplex network.To study these problems, we created a rich dataset extracted from observing social interactions in the massively multiplayer online game Travian. Most online social media platforms are optimized to support a limited range of social interactions, primarily focusing on communication and information sharing. In contrast, relations in massively-multiplayer online games (MMOGs) are often formed during the course of gameplay and evolve as the game progresses. To analyze the players' behavior, we constructed multiplex networks with link types for raid, communication, and trading.The contributions of this dissertation include 1) extensive experiments on the dynamics of networks formed from diverse social processes; 2) new game theoretic models for community detection in dynamic networks; 3) supervised and unsupervised methods for link prediction in multiplex coevolving networks for both positive and negative links. We demonstrate that our holistic approach for modeling network dynamics in coevolving, multiplex networks outperforms factored methods that separately consider temporal and cross-layer patterns.
Show less
Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: CFE0006598, ucf:51306
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006598

Game Theory (4)	+ -
Game theory (3)	+ -
game theory (3)	+ -
Coexistence (2)	+ -
Cooperation (2)	+ -

Pricing (2)	+ -
motivation (2)	+ -
video games (2)	+ -
2-D animation (1)	+ -
Ad hoc networks (1)	+ -
Algorithms (1)	+ -
American history (1)	+ -
Andy Clark (1)	+ -
Auction (1)	+ -
Balance of Power (1)	+ -
Caspian (1)	+ -
Central Asia (1)	+ -
Cloud Computing (1)	+ -
Cloud Security (1)	+ -
Cognitive Load Theory (1)	+ -
Cognitive Radio (1)	+ -
Cognitive radio (1)	+ -
Conflict Studies (1)	+ -
Dynamic Spectrum Access (1)	+ -
ESL (1)	+ -
Economics (1)	+ -
Embodied Pedagogical Agents (1)	+ -
Evolution (1)	+ -
Exclusivity Seeking (1)	+ -
Expected Utility (1)	+ -

ETD Collection (15)	+ -
Honors Collection (1)	+ -

University of Central Florida (16)	+ -
Chatterjee, Mainak (5)	+ -
Sukthankar, Gita (2)	+ -
Adams, JoAnne (1)	+ -
Atia, George (1)	+ -

Attiah, Afraa (1)	+ -
Bowers, Clint (1)	+ -
Brahma, Swastik (1)	+ -
Cannon-Bowers, Janis (1)	+ -
Caputo, Michael (1)	+ -
Charles, Christopher (1)	+ -
Corzine, Harold (1)	+ -
Curry, Todd (1)	+ -
Dannelly, David (1)	+ -
Desiraju, Ramarao (1)	+ -
Flammia, Madelyn (1)	+ -
Goldberg, Benjamin (1)	+ -
Grauerholz, Liz (1)	+ -
Guirguis, Mina (1)	+ -
Gunter, Glenda (1)	+ -
Hajibagheri, Alireza (1)	+ -
Hartshorne, Richard (1)	+ -
Hemida, Ahmed (1)	+ -
Hess, Taryn (1)	+ -
Hoffman, Bobby (1)	+ -
Kincaid, John (1)	+ -
Kovach, Keith (1)	+ -
Lakkaraju, Kiran (1)	+ -
Lanier, Drew (1)	+ -
Liu, Lin (1)	+ -

Search In

Sort Results By:

Narrow results by:

Topical Subject

Collection

Type of Resource

Language

Creator

Format

Owner