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Prior studies have shown that terminology support can improve health information retrieval but have not taken into account the characteristics of the user performing the search. In this chapter, the impact of translating queries’ terms between lay and medico-scientific terminology, in users with different levels of health literacy and topic familiarity, is evaluated. Findings demonstrate that medico-scientific queries demand more from the users and are mostly aimed at health professionals. In addition, these queries retrieve documents that are less readable and less well understood by users. Despite this, medico-scientific queries are associated with higher precision in the top-10 retrieved documents results and tend slightly to generate knowledge with less incorrect contents, the researchers concluded that search engines should provide query suggestions with medico-scientific terminology, whenever the user is able to digest it, that is, in users above the lowest levels of health literacy and topic familiarity. On the other hand, retrieval systems should provide lay alternative queries in users with inadequate health literacy or in those unfamiliar with a topic. In fact, the quantity of incorrect contents in the knowledge that emerges from a medico-scientific session tends to decrease with topic familiarity and health literacy. In terms of topic familiarity, the opposite happens with Graded Average Precision. Moreover, users most familiar with a topic tend to have higher motivational relevance with medico-scientific queries than with lay queries. This work is the first to consider user context features while studying the impact of a query processing technique in several aspects of the retrieval process, including the medical accuracy of the acquired knowledge.

Introduction The principal objective of a portfolio manager's work is the construction and maintenance of successful, efficient portfolios of investment assets. It is necessary, therefore, that methods are designed and made available through which the success and efficiency of portfolios may be assessed. Only through the continuous monitoring of the achieved results can long term investment strategies succeed.

Heat-treatable AA-6061-T651 Aluminum alloys (Al-Mg-Si) have found considerable importance in structural and aerospace applications for their high strength to weight ratio and improved corrosion resistance properties. Intrinsic weld defects, post-weld residual stresses, and microstructural changes are the key factors for performance reductions and failures of welded structures. Gas-Tungsten-Arc-Welding (TIG/GTAW) was carried out on AA-6061-T651 plates with Argon/Helium (50/50) as the shielding gases. Non-destructive Phased-Array-Ultrasonic-Testing (PAUT) was applied for the detection and characterization of weld defects and mechanical performances. Ultrasonic technique was used for the evaluation of post-weld residual stresses in welded components. The approach is based on the acoustoelastic effect, in which ultrasonic wave propagation speed corresponds to the magnitude of stresses present within the materials. To verify the PAUT's residual stress results, a semi-destructive hole-drilling technique was used; and observed analogous results. The effects of post-weld-heat-treatment (PWHT) on the residual stresses, grain size, micro-hardness, and tensile properties are also studied. The grain size and micro-hardness values are studied through Heyn's method and Vickers hardness test, respectively. Lower residual stresses are observed in post-weld heat-treated specimens, which are also confirmed from microstructural and micro-hardness studies. The PWHT enhanced tensile properties for the redistribution of microstructures and residual stresses.

Property investment performance measurement is a vital defence for the property investment manager. This paper examines various points of detail in the use and interpretation of performance measurement results, recommending the use of internal rates of return as the means of measurement and making further specific points concerning the division of return into the causal factors of income and capital changes. Exhibits are provided in illustration of the proposed approach.

This paper discusses an experimental and numerical study to investigate the failure behavior of innovative and newly designed non-conventional cross-sectional fiber reinforced composite pipes subjected to internal pressure and bending loads. An adaptive filament winder for non-conventional pipes is exclusively designed and built to fabricate the test samples used in this investigation. Experiments are conducted on triangular and rectangular cross-sectioned samples as per ASTM standards to find the internal burst pressure, bending strength, and failure modes of the pipes. Numerical analysis for the pipe loading process has been developed based on the finite element method for linear orthotropic conditions for composite pipes. The finite element analysis is used to build the model and predict the stresses imposed on the non-conventional pipes. The relationships between the applied internal pressure and peak circumferential stress, bending load, and bending strength with reference to the fillet radius are determined; and generally a good correlation is found between the experimental and numerical results. This study has extended the use of non-conventional composite pipes in structural applications.

This study examines how a social studies methods course, with an emphasis in civic education, is taught and carried through from its original implementation within a teacher education social studies course to practicing teachers’ classrooms. Findings suggest that by implementing social action curriculum projects teachers: 1) effectively integrated emerging curriculum, 2) facilitated student-led instruction in a democratic classroom, 3) increased effective communication and built partnerships beyond the classroom, and 4) used structured reflections as a tool for growth and evaluation.

In this paper we propose exact thermoelastic stress, and iterative creep solutions for a non-uniformly heat generating and rotating cylindrical vessel made of functionally graded thermal and mechanical properties. Equations of equilibrium, compatibility, stress-strain, and strain-displacement relations are solved to obtain closed-form initial stress and strain solutions. It is found that material gradient indices have significant influences on thermoelastic stress profiles. For creep analysis, Norton’s model is incorporated into rate forms of the above-mentioned equations to obtain time-dependent stress and strain results using an iterative method. Validity of our solutions are at first verified using finite element analysis, and numerical results found in the recent literature are improved. Investigation of effects of material gradients reveals that radial variation of density and creep coefficient have significant effects on strains histories, while Young’s modulus and thermal property distributions only influence stress redistribution at an early stage of creep deformation.

As Australia embarks on the new millennium, marketers must understand the basis of consumer choice, both domestically and internationally. Generally, brands are becoming globalised (Boze and Patton, 1995), but the wine industry provides an interesting example of global branding in the context of a plethora of brand names. In Australia alone, over one thousand wine companies produce over 16,000 wine brands (Spawton, 1998). This array of wine product creates a complex marketplace, which causes consumers great difficulty when making a purchase decision (Greatorex and Mitchell, 1988). To combat this problem, wine companies have been using branding as a means of differentiating their product (Lockshin, 1997). The introduction of geographical indicators (registered names for specific regions of origin) has spurred on the use of regional branding as a branding tool. This research is being conducted to clarify the effect of regional branding on consumer choice behaviour. The results from the qualitative research stage highlighted the fact that a small number of consumers used regional branding as a cue in their choice decision. These consumers generally had higher perceived knowledge of wine, greatly enjoyed purchasing wine and spent a longer time in the wine retail outlet than other consumer groups. A quantitative study will now be conducted to clarify which consumer groups use regional branding as part of the choice process and to determine the importance of a company's brand and price used in consumers' choice process. As wine is not the only product branded by its region of origin, this research will be beneficial to other product categories such as cheese, seafood and olive oil (Belk King, 1997).