Georgia Institute of Technology

About: Georgia Institute of Technology is a education organization based out in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Nonlinear system. The organization has 45387 authors who have published 119086 publications receiving 4651220 citations.

Engineering Optimal Network Effects via Social Media Features and Seeding in Markets for Digital Goods and Services

Abstract: Firms nowadays are increasingly proactive in trying to strategically capitalize on consumer networks and social interactions. In this paper, we complement an emerging body of research on the engineering of word-of-mouth effects by exploring a different angle through which firms can strategically exploit the value-generation potential of the user network. Namely, we consider how software firms should optimize the strength of network effects at utility level by adjusting the level of embedded social media features in tandem with the right market seeding and pricing strategies in the presence of seeding disutility. We explore two opposing seeding cost models where seeding-induced disutility can be either positively or negatively correlated with customer type. We consider both complete and incomplete information scenarios for the firm. Under complete information, we uncover a complementarity relationship between seeding and building social media features that holds for both disutility models. When the cost of any of these actions increases, rather than compensating by a stronger action on the other dimension to restore the overall level of network effects, the firm will actually scale back on the other initiative as well. Under incomplete information, this complementarity holds when seeding disutility is negatively correlated with customer type but may not always hold in the other disutility model, potentially leading to fundamentally different optimal strategies. We also discuss how our insights apply to asymmetric networks.

Treating psychological and phsyical disorders with VR

Abstract: We present some applications that therapists have used with patients. Treating psychological disorders is one aspect of a larger application area of VR that we refer to as clinical virtual reality-the direct use of VR as a tool in treating or assessing psychological and physical disorders. Examples of clinical applications that use VR include treatment of phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder in Vietnam War veterans, eating disorders, pain distraction; and physical (stroke and orthopedic) rehabilitation. This article offers some general ideas on how clinical VR applications fundamentally differ from many other VR applications and presents three detailed examples of current clinical VR applications that have moved from the demonstration phase to actual use with patients in a clinical setting.

Increasing variance in North Pacific climate relates to unprecedented ecosystem variability off California

Abstract: Changes in variance are infrequently examined in climate change ecology. We tested the hypothesis that recent high variability in demographic attributes of salmon and seabirds off California is related to increasing variability in remote, large-scale forcing in the North Pacific operating through changes in local food webs. Linear, indirect numerical responses between krill (primarily Thysanoessa spinifera) and juvenile rockfish abundance (catch per unit effort (CPUE)) explained >80% of the recent variability in the demography of these pelagic predators. We found no relationships between krill and regional upwelling, though a strong connection to the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation (NPGO) index was established. Variance in NPGO and related central Pacific warming index increased after 1985, whereas variance in the canonical ENSO and Pacific Decadal Oscillation did not change. Anthropogenic global warming or natural climate variability may explain recent intensification of the NPGO and its increasing ecological significance. Assessing non-stationarity in atmospheric-environmental interactions and placing greater emphasis on documenting changes in variance of bio-physical systems will enable insight into complex climate-marine ecosystem dynamics.