Characterising the information requests of aerospace engineering designers

During product development, engineering designers raise several information requests that make them search through human and documentary sources. This paper reports research to characterise, in detail, these requests for designers working in a major aerospace engineering company. The research found that at a high level, a distinction can be made between requests to acquire information and to process information. The former are raised to access design and domain information. The latter, instead, are formed to define designs. For researchers, this study extends existing knowledge of information requests by characterising key differences in their nature and explaining how they are used in the design process. For practitioners, these findings can be used as a basis to understand the diverseness of information requests and how to channel efforts to support designers in information seeking. In particular, the research indicates that a strategy to support designers should enable the development of engineering communities that share information effectively and the introduction of techniques that facilitate the documentation of information. © 2012 Springer-Verlag London Limited.

JUSTEIS: JISC Usage Surveys: Trends in Electronic Information Services Final report 2003/2004 Cycle Five

Urquhart, C., Spink, S., Thomas, R., Yeoman, A., Durbin, J., Turner, J., Fenton, R. & Armstrong, C. (2004). JUSTEIS: JISC Usage Surveys: Trends in Electronic Information Services Final report 2003/2004 Cycle Five. Aberystwyth: Department of Information Studies, University of Wales Aberystwyth. Sponsorship: JISC

Women's help seeking behaviour and the associated influencing factors on self discovery of a breast symptom

To investigate women’s help seeking behavior (HSB) following self discovery of a breast symptom and determine the associated influencing factors. A descriptive correlation design was used to ascertain the help seeking behavior (HSB) and the associated influencing factors of a sample of women (n = 449) with self discovered breast symptoms. The study was guided by the ‘Help Seeking Behaviour and Influencing Factors” conceptual framework (Facione et al., 2002; Meechan et al., 2003, 2002; Leventhal, Brissette and Leventhal, 2003 and O’Mahony and Hegarty, 2009b). Data was collected using a researcher developed multi-scale questionnaire package to ascertain women’s help seeking behavior on self discovery of a breast symptom and determine the factors most associated with HSB. Factors examined include: socio-demographics, knowledge and beliefs (regarding breast symptom; breast changes associated with breast cancer; use of alternative help seeking behaviours and presence or absence of a family history of breast cancer),emotional responses, social factors, health seeking habits and health service system utilization and help seeking behavior. A convenience sample (n = 449 was obtained by the researcher from amongst women attending the breast clinics of two large urban hospitals within the Republic of Ireland. All participants had self-discovered breast symptoms and no previous history of breast cancer. The study identified that while the majority of women (69.9%; n=314) sought help within one month, 30.1% (n=135) delayed help seeking for more than one month following self discovery of their breast symptom. The factors most significantly associated with HSB were the presenting symptom of ‘nipple indrawn/changes’ (p = 0.005), ‘ignoring the symptom and hoping it would go away’ (p < 0.001), the emotional response of being ‘afraid@ on symptom discovery (p = 0.005) and the perception/belief in longer symptom duration (p = 0.023). It was found that women who presented with an indrawn/changed nipple were more likely to delay (OR = 4.81) as were women who ‘ignored the symptoms and hoped it would go away’ (OR = 10.717). Additionally, the longer women perceived that their symptom would last, they more likely they were to delay (OR = 1.18). Conversely, being afraid following symptom discovery was associated with less delay (OR = 0.37; p=0.005). This study provides further insight into the HSB of women who self discovered breast symptoms. It highlights the complexity of the help seeking process, indicating that is not a linear event but is influenced by multiple factors which can have a significant impact on the outcomes in terms of whether women delay or seek help promptly. The study further demonstrates that delayed HSB persists amongst women with self discovered breast symptoms. This has important implications for continued emphasis on the promotion of breast awareness, prompt help seeking for self discovered breast symptoms and early detection and treatment of breast cancer, amongst women of all ages.

Multi-touch and keyboard/mouse devices comparison in an information search task: influence on cognitive load and task engagement

Nowadays multi-touch devices (MTD) can be found in all kind of contexts. In the learning context, MTD availability leads many teachers to use them in their class room, to support the use of the devices by students, or to assume that it will enhance the learning processes. Despite the raising interest for MTD, few researches studying the impact in term of performance or the suitability of the technology for the learning context exist. However, even if the use of touch-sensitive screens rather than a mouse and keyboard seems to be the easiest and fastest way to realize common learning tasks (as for instance web surfing behaviour), we notice that the use of MTD may lead to a less favourable outcome. The complexity to generate an accurate fingers gesture and the split attention it requires (multi-tasking effect) make the use of gestures to interact with a touch-sensitive screen more difficult compared to the traditional laptop use. More precisely, it is hypothesized that efficacy and efficiency decreases, as well as the available cognitive resources making the users’ task engagement more difficult. Furthermore, the presented study takes into account the moderator effect of previous experiences with MTD. Two key factors of technology adoption theories were included in the study: familiarity and self-efficacy with the technology.Sixty university students, invited to a usability lab, are asked to perform information search tasks on an online encyclopaedia. The different tasks were created in order to execute the most commonly used mouse actions (e.g. right click, left click, scrolling, zooming, key words encoding…). Two different conditions were created: (1) MTD use and (2) laptop use (with keyboard and mouse). The cognitive load, self-efficacy, familiarity and task engagement scales were adapted to the MTD context. Furthermore, the eye-tracking measurement would offer additional information about user behaviours and their cognitive load.Our study aims to clarify some important aspects towards the usage of MTD and the added value compared to a laptop in a student learning context. More precisely, the outcomes will enhance the suitability of MTD with the processes at stakes, the role of previous knowledge in the adoption process, as well as some interesting insights into the user experience with such devices.

Behavior-Based branch prediction by dynamically clustering branch instructions

Conditional branches frequently exhibit similar behavior (bias, time-varying behavior,...), a property that can be used to improve branch prediction accuracy. Branch clustering constructs groups or clusters of branches with similar behavior and applies different branch prediction techniques to each branch cluster. We revisit the topic of branch clustering with the aim of generalizing branch clustering. We investigate several methods to measure cluster information, with the most effective the storage of information in the branch target buffer. Also, we investigate alternative methods of using the branch cluster identification in the branch predictor. By these improvements we arrive at a branch clustering technique that obtains higher accuracy than previous approaches presented in the literature for the gshare predictor. Furthermore, we evaluate our branch clustering technique in a wide range of predictors to show the general applicability of the method. Branch clustering improves the accuracy of the local history (PAg) predictor, the path-based perceptron and the PPM-like predictor, one of the 2004 CBP finalists.

Fragility of information cascades: an experimental study using elicited beliefs

This paper examines the occurrence and fragility of information cascades in two laboratory experiments. One group of low informed participants sequentially guess which of two states has been randomly chosen. In a matched pairs design, another group of high informed participants make similar guesses after having observed the guesses of the low informed participants. In the second experiment, participants' beliefs about the chosen state are elicited. In equilibrium, low informed players who observe an established pattern of identical guesses herd without regard to their private information whereas high informed players always guess according to their private information. Equilibrium behavior implies that information cascades emerge in the group of low informed participants, the belief based solely on cascade guesses is stationary, and information cascades are systematically broken by high informed participants endowed with private information contradicting the cascade guesses. Experimental results show that the behavior of low informed participants is qualitatively in line with the equilibrium prediction. Information cascades often emerge in our experiments. The tendency of low informed participants to engage in cascade behavior increases with the number of identical guesses. Our main finding is that information cascades are not fragile. The behavior of high informed participants differs markedly from the equilibrium prediction. Only one-third of laboratory cascades are broken by high informed participants endowed with private information contradicting the cascade guesses. The relative frequency of cascade breaks is 15% for the situations where five or more identical guesses are observed. Participants' elicited beliefs are strongly consistent with their own behavior and show that, unlike in equilibrium, the more cascade guesses participants observe the more they believe in the state favored by those guesses.

A influência do terrorismo nos comportamentos de viagem internacionais

A partir de uma amostra de 600 turistas internacionais que circulam em Portugal, Espanha e Itália, este estudo identifica as principais os conceitos chave relacionados com o terrorismo, a percepção de risco, envolvimento e motivação para a segurança dos turistas internacionais. Diferentes níveis de preocupação relativamente à segurança pode influenciar as decisões dos turistas. No seu processo de decisão, os turistas avaliam vários factores, nomeadamente, o nível de risco ou de segurança que consideram nos destinos (Sonmez, 1998). Os turistas adoptam uma atitude protectora alterando os seus comportamentos durante os processos de decisão, substituindo os destinos que consideram inseguros por outros associados a uma maior segurança (Gu & Martin, 1992; Mansfeld, 1996). O terrorismo exacerbado pelos media tem efeitos graves nas receitas dos destinos turísticos (Taylor, 2006). Através da publicidade negativa, um destino turístico que experiencia um incidente terrorista pode ver a sua reputação danificada e a actividade turística severamente comprometida (Sonmez, 1998). Inclusivamente, a imageme negativa de um destino pode ser generalizada e pode também afectar outros países ou regiões por períodos de tempo indeterminados (Taylor, 2006). Um modelo de equações estruturais revela que os turistas são motivados para adquirir informação sobre o terrorismo nos media, nomeadamente mostram atenção e interesse sobre essas notícias e esse facto influencia directamente o seu risco percebido. A percepção de risco influencia directamente o envolvimento dos turistas no planeamento da viagem, especificamente a procura de informação antes da viagem e quando estão no destino. A percepção de risco e o envolvimento dos turistas influencia a percepção da importância da segurança.A discussão foca as implicações deste modelo para a teoria e para as instituições e organizações turísticas. São igualmente apresentadas recomendações para os gestores e promotores dos destinos e para os gestores das organizações turísticas. Direcções futuras de investigação são igualmente apresentadas.

Building a person home behavior model based on data from smart house sensors 2015

Dissertação para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Electrotécnica Ramo de Energia

Severity of ED : relationship to treatment-seeking and satisfaction with treatment using PDE5 inhibitors

Introduction. Research in the past 20 years has demonstrated that erectile dysfunction (ED) is an area of concern for men and their partners.

Aim. The current study was designed to evaluate the impact of the perceived severity of ED on treatment-seeking behavior and satisfaction with treatment among men with ED.

Main Outcome Measures. Participants completed a questionnaire to assess the above variables, as well as the duration of ED.

Methods. Participants were 410 men with ED who were primarily recruited over the Internet via men's health websites.

Results. The results demonstrated that men with more severe ED compared with men with milder ED were more likely to have discussed their ED with their partner and doctor, have sought assistance for their ED problem, but they were also less satisfied with the effectiveness of phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors, and said they were less likely to use them in the future. Men with more severe ED were also less likely to want ED medication to last for 24 hours.

Conclusions. Implications of these findings for the treatment of men with different levels of ED are discussed.

Doctoral research and scholarly communication : candidates, supervisors and information literacy

This study investigates information literacy and scholarly communication within the processes of doctoral research and supervision at a distance. Both doctoral candidates and supervisors acknowledge information literacy deficiencies and it is suggested that disintermediation and the proliferation of information may contribute to those deficiencies. Further to this, the influence of pedagogic continuity—particularly in relation to the information seeking behaviour of candidates—is investigated, as is the concomitant aspect of how doctoral researchers practise scholarly communication. The well-documented and enduring problem for candidates of isolation from the research cultures of their universities is also scrutinised. The contentious issue of more formally involving librarians in the doctoral process is also considered, from the perspective of candidates and supervisors. Superimposed upon these topical and timely issues is the theoretical framework of adult learning theory, in particular the tenets of andragogy. The pedagogical-andragogical orientation of candidates and supervisors is established, demonstrating both the differences and similarities between candidates and supervisors, as are a number of independent variables, including a comparison of on-campus and off-campus candidates. Other independent variables include age, gender, DETYA (Department of Education, Training & Youth Affairs) category, enrolment type, stage of candidature, employment and status, type of doctorate, and English/non-English speaking background. The research methodology uses qualitative and quantitative techniques encompassing both data and methodological triangulation. The study uses two sets of questionnaires and a series of in-depth interviews with a sample of on-campus and off-campus doctoral candidates and supervisors from four Australian universities. Major findings include NESB candidates being more pedagogical than their ESB counterparts, and candidates and supervisors from the Sciences are more pedagogical than those from Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, or Education. Candidates make a transition from a more dependent and pedagogically oriented approach to learning towards more of an independent and andragogical orientation over the duration of their candidature. However, over tune both on-campus and off-campus candidates become more isolated from the research cultures of their universities, and less happy with support received from their supervisors in relation to their literature reviews. Ill The study found large discrepancies in perception between the support supervisors believed they gave to candidates in relation to the literature review, and the support candidates believed they received. Information seeking becomes easier over time, but candidates face a dilemma with the proliferation of information, suggesting that disintermediation has exacerbated the challenges of evaluation and organisation of information. The concept of pedagogic continuity was recognised by supervisors and especially candidates, both negative and positive influences. The findings are critically analysed and synthesised using the metaphor of a scholarly 'Club' of which obtaining a doctorate is a rite of passage. Recommendations are made for changes in professional practice, and topics that may warrant further research are suggested.

Motivations for seeking treatment for ED: the woman's perspective

There is increasing evidence that partners have a major role in treatment-seeking behavior for men with ED. This study investigated the motivations of 100 females for seeking medical treatment for their partner's ED. Semi-structured interviews focused on reasons for seeking treatment from the female's perspective. The themes that emerged from the data centered on the importance of sex in the relationship, with closeness and intimacy frequently being seen as more important than sex. The second major theme related to hopes that females had in relation to the medication, particularly in relation to increasing their partner's confidence and reducing his sexual frustration. Enhancement of the relationship as well as improving the female's own feelings of self-doubt and sexual frustration were also mentioned. The results of this study show the multi-faceted nature of the motivations that females express in terms of seeking help for their partner's ED.

Presenting evidence-based health information for people with multiple sclerosis : the IN-DEEP project protocol

Background - Increasingly, evidence-based health information, in particular evidence from systematic reviews, is being made available to lay audiences, in addition to health professionals. Research efforts have focused on different formats for the lay presentation of health information. However, there is a paucity of data on how patients integrate evidence-based health information with other factors such as their preferences for information and experiences with information-seeking. The aim of this project is to explore how people with multiple sclerosis (MS) integrate health information with their needs, experiences, preferences and values and how these factors can be incorporated into an online resource of evidence-based health information provision for people with MS and their families.

Methods - This project is an Australian-Italian collaboration between researchers, MS societies and people with MS. Using a four-stage mixed methods design, a model will be developed for presenting evidence-based health information on the Internet for people with MS and their families. This evidence-based health information will draw upon systematic reviews of MS interventions from The Cochrane Library. Each stage of the project will build on the last. After conducting focus groups with people with MS and their family members (Stage 1), we will develop a model for summarising and presenting Cochrane MS reviews that is integrated with supporting information to aid understanding and decision making. This will be reviewed and finalised with people with MS, family members, health professionals and MS Society staff (Stage 2), before being uploaded to the Internet and evaluated (Stages 3 and 4).

Discussion - This project aims to produce accessible and meaningful evidence-based health information about MS for use in the varied decision making and management situations people encounter in everyday life. It is expected that the findings will be relevant to broader efforts to provide evidence-based health information for patients and the general public. The international collaboration also permits exploration of cultural differences that could inform international practice.

Young adults and politics: investigating factors influencing voter decision making

Many parallels have been drawn between politics and marketing; however, the application of consumer behavior decision making to voter decision making is still an important research focus. Results from general elections around the world show that the turnout among young adults tends to be lower than in the general electorate, suggesting low interest and involvement in politics. This qualitative study investigated low-involvement decision making of young adult voters in Australia. Data were compiled from semistructured face-to-face interviews conducted with 29 young adults to explore their views, and NVivo software was used to assist with thematic analysis. Findings suggest that with low-involvement voter decision making, perceived knowledge and passive information seeking are important factors. Exposure to the media also plays an important role, and young voters rely more on traditional media such as newspapers and television than on social media for current political information.

Longitudinal prediction of mid-adolescent psychosocial outcomes from early adolescent family help seeking and family support

This study examined whether family help seeking and family support represented the same or distinct constructs and prospective associations between emergent constructs and psychosocial outcomes. Data were from 1,713 school-based adolescents participating in a randomized controlled trial, in Victoria, Australia. Family help seeking emerged as a single factor, distinct from family support, and was prospectively associated with improved psychosocial outcomes. Father closeness predicted lower depressive symptoms. Family help seeking predicted higher help seeking for peers. Interactions between family help seeking and family support on psychosocial outcomes were not apparent. Findings highlight the importance of examining family help seeking and family support separately in future studies of adolescents' help-seeking behavior.

Comportamento informacional de pós-graduandos de educação: estudo sobre as variáveis intervenientes

Pós-graduação em Ciência da Informação - FFC