With augmented reality, we can create interfaces that merge virtual objects and data seamlessly with the real world, potentially improving collaboration and interaction. This technology offers opportunities for games, allowing new designs that merge the diverse social and physical interaction of real world games with rapid interactivity and computing power of digital games. To date, research has primarily focused on issues of technology, interaction design, and nfrastructure; the design of compelling play has received little attention. We play games because they are enjoyable; therefore, in order to create attractive games, we must understand enjoyment. In games, engagement, social interaction, and emotional involvement are among the most common causes. We can design for engagement in play using Csikszentmihalyi's model of 'flow'; for social play by making communication easy, natural, and useful; and emotional involvement by understanding the mechanisms by which games stimulate us. Alongside an understanding of enjoyment, lessons must be drawn from design experience. AR Tankwar is an augmented reality strategy game developed over the course of this thesis, and has been evaluated in the field at a large games convention, and in a detailed comparative study with existing games on tabletop and desktop PC. Evaluations revealed predictable limitations with the technology, but also provided insight into how designers can make best use of the medium. Based on these activities, and existing knowledge of interaction and collaboration in augmented reality, this thesis addresses compelling play in augmented reality by developing a set of design guidelines for augmented reality games, with particular focus on strategy games.

This case is intended to be used in an International Business or Strategic Management course to introduce the topic of entry strategy development and evaluation. Victor Yang, founder and Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at Enter Active Media International (EAM), must decide whether or not EAM should enter the China market and if so, work with the executive team to develop an entry strategy. EAM is a privately held company, headquartered in Singapore, which develops and distributes interactive solutions aimed at mobile phone service providers (SP). EAM’s solution, called “Genie” consists of in-store kiosks that are located in every SP’s retail outlet and provide information about service plans and handsets to customers without having to talk to a customer service representative (CSR). On the back end, Genie provides detailed usage and demographic statistics to SPs. Even though EAM has operated successfully in several countries in South East Asia, the Chinese market presents unique challenges. Telecommunications sectors in most South East Asian countries have evolved in a similar way, with government owned monopolies being opened to competition from the private sector. China’s telecommunications sector, however, has evolved in a different way. In China, Provincial Post and Telecommunication Authorities (PTA) independently operate telecommunication networks in every city, which means EAM has to negotiate individual contracts in every city. Intellectual Property (IP) protection is another source of concern for EAM. It is not clear when or even whether China will develop a world-class IP protection system. Several experts believe China will follow the same path as countries such as Japan, Korea and Taiwan, which developed solid IP protection systems as they started producing IP worth protecting. On the other hand, some experts argue that this will never happen, since most R&D efforts in China are aimed at creating derivative technologies in order to avoid paying royalties, not true innovation requiring protection. It is also unclear whether or not there is a demand for EAM’s services in China. Finally, Dr. Thomas Chou, Victor’s partner, had suggested that EAM provide its services as a website and find ways to generate revenue through online advertisement instead of using EAM’s current business model. Victor and the rest of the executive team agree that EAM will enter the China market at one point, but questions remain about the right business model and whether this is the right time. India, Latin America and Eastern Europe seem like safer bets for the time being. Should EAM enter the China market now? If so, what should be their strategy? These are the questions Victor is trying to answer during his trip to Taiwan to finalize a contract with Vibo Telecom, one of the Island’s 3G mobile service provider

Since the first reserve selection algorithm was developed in the early 1980s, systematic approaches to reserve design have attracted widespread support due to their ability to identify repeatable and efficient solutions to conservation planning problems. Yet there has been limited application of these methods to the problem of designing reserve systems for biodiversity conservation in the marine environment. In my dissertation research, I apply systematic methods to examine four fundamental issues in marine reserve system design. These issues consider how conservation planning outcomes are influenced when design constraints such as spatial compactness, efficiency, economic costs and incremental reserve establishment are formulated as part of the reserve design problem. First, I consider the trade-offs between spatial design and cost efficiency. In particular, I examine how well marine reserve systems can satisfy the design requirement to minimise the degree of fragmentation whilst minimising reserve system cost. In this case cost refers to the number of sites required to achieve biodiversity conservation objectives. The second issue is the inefficiency of ad hoc marine reserve system design. In terrestrial systems, ad hoc reserve design has been shown to produce inefficient reserve systems, limiting opportunities to achieve conservation targets. I examine how efficiently South Australia’s existing marine reserves contribute to quantitative conservation targets and introduce a new measure of irreplaceability. This metric reflects the potential value of a site’s contribution to reservation goals, by assessing whether a site is selected more than could be expected from chance alone. Sites selected as often as would be expected by chance, fail to contribute to the design of efficient marine reserve systems and represent an opportunity cost. The third issue addresses the demands on reserve systems to achieve both conservation and socio-economic objectives. Options for the design of marine reserve systems, which achieve better economic outcomes for commercial users without compromising conservation targets, are examined using a cost function that serves to make trade–offs early in the design process. The fourth issue is one of shifting targets and incremental reserve design. The problem was most recently highlighted with the rezoning of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, where the amount of no-take areas increased from 5% to over 30% but the original zoning arrangements were left in place. The consequence this has on the efficiency of the final marine reserve system is examined when different starting targets are used as the base. Each issue is examined by formulating planning scenarios using data for South Australia’s state waters as a case study. The marine reserve systems are configured using the mathematical optimisation program MARXAN to examine the complex trade-offs of conservation planning problems. The program offers the flexibility to incorporate new approaches and developing theory in marine conservation into the formal statement of the reserve design problem. The results offer some important insights for the future of marine reserve system design. These include 1) efficient representation of biodiversity is only part of the reserve design problem, with small increases in reserve system cost reported as a trade-off for more spatially compact marine reserve systems, 2) despite spanning less than 4% of South Australian state waters, the existing ad hoc marine reserves presented considerable opportunity costs that did not improve even when conservation targets were increased. Hence ad hoc reserve selection is likely to constrain effective conservation of marine biodiversity by compromising the ability to select more suitable sites, 3) integrating conservation and socio-economic objectives presents opportunities to design representative, efficient and practical marine reserve systems that minimise potential loss to commercial users with only small increases to the areal extent of the reserve system and 4) incrementally changing target levels of reservation has a minor affect on the efficiency of the final reserve system, though is likely to influence which planning units are in the final reserve system.

Games on graphs have become an indispensable tool in modern computer science. They provide powerful and expressive models for numerous phenomena and are extensively used in computer- aided verification, automata theory, logic, complexity theory, computational biology, etc. The infinite games on finite graphs we study in this thesis have their primary applications in verification, but are also of fundamental importance from the complexity-theoretic point of view. They include parity, mean payoff, and simple stochastic games. We focus on solving graph games by using iterative strategy improvement and methods from linear programming and combinatorial optimization. To this end we consider old strategy evaluation functions, construct new ones, and show how all of them, due to their structural similarities, fit into a unifying combinatorial framework. This allows us to employ randomized optimization methods from combinatorial linear programming to solve the games in expected subexponential time. We introduce and study the concept of a controlled optimization problem, capturing the essential features of many graph games, and provide sufficent conditions for solvability of such problems in expected subexponential time. The discrete strategy evaluation function for mean payoff games we derive from the new controlled longest-shortest path problem, leads to improvement algorithms that are considerably more efficient than the previously known ones, and also improves the efficiency of algorithms for parity games. We also define the controlled linear programming problem, and show how the games are translated into this setting. Subclasses of the problem, more general than the games considered, are shown to belong to NP intersection coNP, or even to be solvable by subexponential algorithms. Finally, we take the first steps in investigating the fixed-parameter complexity of parity, Rabin, Streett, and Muller games.

The Diploma thesis "Survey of the Validity of the Methods of Employee Selection" deals with analysis of methods validity that is used for the company employees'selection. On the basis of literature studied, author identifies following keywords related to the subject of the diploma thesis: Human Resources Management, Vision, Business strategy, HR strategy, Human Resources planning, Employees' selection and recruitment, Fluctuation and Evaluation of Work performance. Author further focuses on the research of validity of personal selection methods that have already been published earlier. Author performed particular research solution that took place in three phases. The first stage explored an optimal mix of selection methods for recruitment according to particular positions. Respondents were experts specializing on issues of Human Resources issues. The second phase focused on research of validity of personal selection methods. Validity of selection methods was examined by correlation coefficient between predicted work performance estimated by the given method, and the measured real work performance of the recruited employee in the evaluation system of the work performance. HR staff was questioned. The third phase examined the appropriateness of using selection methods, which were determined by...

This paper treat of the support of the metacognitive skills in school teaching. Resources for elaboration of this paper are legislation, framework educational programs, specific concepts for development of learning and principles of total quality management. The outcom of this paper is specific model of teacher's self-management.

Cognitive Science is interested in being able to develop methodologies for analyzing human learning and performance data. Intelligent tutoring systems need good cognitive models that can predict student performance. Cognitive models of human processing are also useful in tutoring because well-designed curriculums need to understand the common components of knowledge that students need to be able to employ. A common concern is being able to predict when transfer should happen. We describe a methodology first used by Koedinger that uses empirical data and cognitively principled task analysis to evaluate the fit of cognitive models. This methodology seems particularly useful when you are trying to find evidence for“hidden" knowledge components, which are hard to assess because they are confounded with accessing other knowledge components. We present this methodology as well as an illustration showing how we are trying to use this method to answer an important cognitive science issue.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:38:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 CYNTHIAFML_TESE.pdf: 4260965 bytes, checksum: d530470ff44413f536252f34785ca556 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-04-12 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / This research aimed to evaluate the Family Health Strategy (FHS) in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, through its managers, professionals and users, having as its support the Theory of Belief and the Cognitive-Behavioral Theory. This is a multimethod research and is divided into three sub-studies. In the first study, nine managers answered to a semi-structured interview, to verify the knowledge and beliefs on SUS; the quantitative data were analyzed with descriptive statistics with the aid of SPSS software and the qualitative data were submitted to lexical analysis with support of ALCESTE software. In the second study, we have a descriptive correlational research in which the antecedent variables are related to working conditions in the family health units (FHUs) and to the professionals‟ profile; the corresponding variables refer to the evaluations of the FHS; a stratified probabilistic sample with 475 professionals, who answered to two scales, both consisting of three factors: Physical infrastructure, Material resources, and Treatment effectiveness, and data were analyzed using descriptive, bivariate and multivariate statistics, with the aid of SPSS. The third study is a descriptive correlational research in which the antecedent variables refer to the treatment in the FHUs and to the users‟ profile, and the corresponding variables refer to the evaluations of the FHS, with a stratified non-probabilistic sample with 390 users, who contributed to the construction of a new scale with a factor, effectiveness in treatment, analyzed through descriptive, bivariate and multivariate statistics, with the aid of SPSS. The results showed problems which start from management, under the shape of admission due to political indication and lack of knowledge on SUS and the FHS; they pass through the low tenure of professionals and insufficient professional; and they end up spreading all over the analyzed items: infrastructure of FHUs, material resources, professionals‟ training, accessibility and referral system. One concludes that, despite following an ideal model, the FHS is in need of changes with regard to the barriers to its operational reality / Esta pesquisa objetivou avaliar a ESF em Natal-RN, atrav?s de seus gestores, profissionais e usu?rios, embasada na Teoria das Cren?as e da Teoria Cognitivo-comportamental. Trata-se de uma proposta de multim?todos e encontra-se dividida em tr?s subestudos. No primeiro estudo, nove gestores responderam uma entrevista semiestruturada, para verificar o conhecimento e as cren?as sobre o SUS, sendo os dados quantitativos analisados com estat?stica descritiva com aux?lio do software SPSS e os dados qualitativos submetidos ? an?lise lexical com apoio do software ALCESTE. No segundo estudo, uma pesquisa descritiva correlacional na qual as vari?veis antecedentes referem-se ?s condi??es de trabalho nas Unidades de Sa?de da Fam?lia (USFs) e ao perfil dos profissionais e as vari?veis correspondentes referem-se ?s avalia??es da ESF; uma amostra probabil?stica estratificada com 475 profissionais, que responderam duas escalas, ambas compostas por tr?s fatores: Infraestrutura f?sica, Recursos materiais e Efici?ncia no atendimento, sendo os dados analisados por meio de estat?stica descritiva, bivariada e multivariada com aux?lio do SPSS. O terceiro estudo ? uma pesquisa descritiva correlacional na qual as vari?veis antecedentes referem-se ?s condi??es de atendimento nas USFs e ao perfil dos usu?rios, e as vari?veis correspondentes referem-se ?s avalia??es da ESF, com uma amostra n?o probabil?stica estratificada com 390 usu?rios, que contribu?ram para a constru??o de uma nova escala com um fator, efici?ncia no atendimento, analisado por meio estat?stica descritiva, bivariada e multivariada com aux?lio do SPSS. Os resultados mostraram problemas que come?am com a gest?o, sob a forma de admiss?o por indica??o pol?tica e falta de conhecimento sobre o SUS e a ESF; passam pela rotatividade e quantidade insuficiente de profissionais; e acabam disseminando-se por todos os itens analisados: infraestrutura e recursos materiais das USFs, capacita??o dos profissionais, acessibilidade e sistema de refer?ncia. Conclui-se que, apesar de seguir um modelo ideal, a ESF necessita de mudan?as em rela??o aos entraves de sua realidade operaciona

<p>Games on graphs have become an indispensable tool in modern computer science. They provide powerful and expressive models for numerous phenomena and are extensively used in computer- aided verification, automata theory, logic, complexity theory, computational biology, etc.</p><p>The infinite games on finite graphs we study in this thesis have their primary applications in verification, but are also of fundamental importance from the complexity-theoretic point of view. They include parity, mean payoff, and simple stochastic games.</p><p>We focus on solving graph games by using iterative strategy improvement and methods from linear programming and combinatorial optimization. To this end we consider old strategy evaluation functions, construct new ones, and show how all of them, due to their structural similarities, fit into a unifying combinatorial framework. This allows us to employ randomized optimization methods from combinatorial linear programming to solve the games in expected subexponential time.</p><p>We introduce and study the concept of a controlled optimization problem, capturing the essential features of many graph games, and provide sufficent conditions for solvability of such problems in expected subexponential time.</p><p>The discrete strategy evaluation function for mean payoff games we derive from the new controlled longest-shortest path problem, leads to improvement algorithms that are considerably more efficient than the previously known ones, and also improves the efficiency of algorithms for parity games.</p><p>We also define the controlled linear programming problem, and show how the games are translated into this setting. Subclasses of the problem, more general than the games considered, are shown to belong to NP intersection coNP, or even to be solvable by subexponential algorithms.</p><p>Finally, we take the first steps in investigating the fixed-parameter complexity of parity, Rabin, Streett, and Muller games.</p>

La gestion des pêches en Atlantique Nord-Est s'oriente vers une régionalisation, prenant en compte les interactions techniques caractéristiques des pêcheries mixtes. Ceci nécessite une compréhension et une évaluation des dynamiques spatio-temporelles des espèces exploitées et des flottilles qui les exploitent. Cette thèse vise à proposer un outil pour évaluer les conséquences de stratégies de gestion dans le golfe de Gascogne. Elle se focalise sur le stock de merlu Nord (Merluccius merluccius) et la pêcherie mixte démersale merlu - sole (Solea solea) – langoustine (Nephrops norvegicus) du golfe de Gascogne. Un cadre d'évaluation de stratégies de gestion (MSE) a été développé, intégrant un modèle d'évaluation spatialisé du stock de merlu Nord, et un modèle opératoire (lSlS-Fish) simulant la pêcherie mixte démersale du golfe de Gascogne. Le modèle spatialisé d'évaluation a estimé des variations spatio-temporelles d'abondance, recrutement et mortalité par pêche du merlu Nord, malgré la sensibilité de la procédure d'estimation au point initial. Le modèle opératoire intègre I'ensemble de la connaissance disponible sur la pêcherie. ll a été calibré selon une approche multi-critères, assurant la reproduction des captures de merlu sur 2010-2012. Le cadre d'évaluation de stratégies de gestion n'est pas opérationnel, mais a mis en évidence des différences de modélisation des dynamiques à l'échelle de la pêcherie, et illustre de potentiels effets de la gestion par TAC du stock de merlu Nord sur la pêcherie, dans un contexte de mise en place de I'obligation de débarquement. Ces résultats et des pistes d'amélioration sont discutés. / North-East Atlantic fisheries management goes towards a regionalisation, accounting for mixed fisheries technical interaction. Hence, understanding and assessing the spatio-temporal dynamics of exploited species and the fleets exploiting them is needed. This study aims to provide a tool to assess the effects of several management scenarii in the Bay of Biscay. lt fouses on North-east Atlantic northern hake stock (Merluccius merluccius) and the mixed demersal hake - sole (Solea solea) - Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) Bay of Biscay fisheries.A Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) framework has been developed, pairing a spatial northern hake stock assessment model, and an operating model (lSlS-Fish) simulating the Bay of Biscay mixed demersal fisheries.A Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) framework has been developed, pairing a spatial northern hake stock assessment model, and an operating model (lSlS-Fish) simulating the Bay of Biscay mixed demersal fisheries.The spatial assessment model estimated northern hake abundance, recruitment and fishing mortality spatio-temporal variations, despite the estimation procedure sensitivity to initial point.The operating model incorporates all the current knowledge on the fisheries. lt has been calibrated following a multi-criteria approach, ensuring the reproduction of hake catch on 2010-2012. The Management Strategy Evaluation framework is not operational, although it highlighted discrepancies between both models dynamics at the fishery scale, and illustrated northern hake management through TACs potential effects on the fishery, in a landing obligation context. These results and improvement axes are discussed.