Analysis of Risky and Aggressive Driving Behaviors among Adult Iowans

In 2011 alone, risky and aggressive driving behaviors were reported as contributing factors for 43,668 drivers who have been involved in 29,757 fatal crashes in the U.S.; these behaviors have become a growing problem recently. To alleviate this problem, the exploratory research study was designed to examine the relationship of perception of, acceptance/permissiveness of, and experience with various risky and aggressive driving behaviors among adult Iowans. Past studies have recommended developing comprehensive research to analyze the aggressive behaviors from the perspective of transportation engineering. Therefore, a cell phone and landline questionnaire survey covering a wide range of traffic safety topics such as attitudes toward traffic safety policies, enforcement, activities, and driving experience was disseminated across the State in 2011. 1,088 respondents were eventually involved, and their perceptions, attitudes, and practices of aggressive driving behaviors including speeding, red-light running (RLR), and driving with aggression (DWA) were investigated. Path analysis, which is a special case of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) techniques, was used to estimate conceptual mediating models that were constructed based on a proposed version the theory of reasoned action (TRA). Mediating models for these three behaviors were analyzed from perception to experience through acceptance/permissiveness, where acceptance/permissiveness was the mediator. The results from several conceptual models indicated that the respondents held more tolerating attitudes towards speeding and DWA than towards RLR, and participants\u27 enhanced perceptions on the behaviors raised their experience with behaving aggressively both directly and indirectly through their accepting/permissive attitudes towards aggressive driving. Moreover, an individual\u27s demographic characteristics and travel information were also examined to investigate the relationship between aggressive driving behaviors and driver\u27s characteristics. The results showed that young male drivers were found more aggressive than female drivers and older age groups. In addition, several SEM structural models were also established and verified the results obtained from conceptual models. This study provides valuable findings to engineers, policy makers, and companies with various interventions and applications, in a bid to improve driver\u27s driving behaviors and the overall traffic safety in Iowa

Statewide Heavy-Truck Crash Assessment

In 2010, 16.5 percent of all fatal vehicle crashes in Iowa involved large trucks compared to the national average of 7.8 percent. Only about 16 percent of these fatalities involved the occupants of the heavy vehicles, meaning that a majority of the fatalities in fatal crashes involve non-heavy-truck occupants. These statistics demonstrate the severe nature of heavy-truck crashes and underscore the serious impact that these crashes can have on the traveling public. These statistics also indicate Iowa may have a disproportionately higher safety risk compared to the nation with respect to heavy-truck safety. Several national studies, and a few statewide studies, have investigated large-truck crashes; however, no rigorous analysis of heavy-truck crashes has been conducted for Iowa. The objective of this study was to investigate and identify the causes, locations, and other factors related to heavy-truck crashes in Iowa with the goal of reducing crashes and promoting safety. To achieve this objective, this study used the most current statewide data of heavy-truck crashes in Iowa. This study also attempted to assess crash experience with respect to length of commercial driver’s license (CDL) licensure using the most recent five years of CDL data linked to the before mentioned crash data. In addition, this study used inspection and citation data from the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) Motor Vehicle Division and Iowa State Patrol to investigate the relationship between enforcement activities and crash experience

Analysis of Risky and Aggressive Driving Behaviors among Adult Iowans

In 2011 alone, risky and aggressive driving behaviors were reported as contributing factors for 43,668 drivers who have been involved in 29,757 fatal crashes in the U.S.; these behaviors have become a growing problem recently. To alleviate this problem, the exploratory research study was designed to examine the relationship of perception of, acceptance/permissiveness of, and experience with various risky and aggressive driving behaviors among adult Iowans. Past studies have recommended developing comprehensive research to analyze the aggressive behaviors from the perspective of transportation engineering. Therefore, a cell phone and landline questionnaire survey covering a wide range of traffic safety topics such as attitudes toward traffic safety policies, enforcement, activities, and driving experience was disseminated across the State in 2011. 1,088 respondents were eventually involved, and their perceptions, attitudes, and practices of aggressive driving behaviors including speeding, red-light running (RLR), and driving with aggression (DWA) were investigated. Path analysis, which is a special case of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) techniques, was used to estimate conceptual mediating models that were constructed based on a proposed version the theory of reasoned action (TRA). Mediating models for these three behaviors were analyzed from perception to experience through acceptance/permissiveness, where acceptance/permissiveness was the mediator. The results from several conceptual models indicated that the respondents held more tolerating attitudes towards speeding and DWA than towards RLR, and participants' enhanced perceptions on the behaviors raised their experience with behaving aggressively both directly and indirectly through their accepting/permissive attitudes towards aggressive driving. Moreover, an individual's demographic characteristics and travel information were also examined to investigate the relationship between aggressive driving behaviors and driver's characteristics. The results showed that young male drivers were found more aggressive than female drivers and older age groups. In addition, several SEM structural models were also established and verified the results obtained from conceptual models. This study provides valuable findings to engineers, policy makers, and companies with various interventions and applications, in a bid to improve driver's driving behaviors and the overall traffic safety in Iowa.</p

Statewide Heavy-Truck Crash Assessment

In 2010, 16.5 percent of all fatal vehicle crashes in Iowa involved large trucks compared to the national average of 7.8 percent. Only about 16 percent of these fatalities involved the occupants of the heavy vehicles, meaning that a majority of the fatalities in fatal crashes involve non-heavy-truck occupants. These statistics demonstrate the severe nature of heavy-truck crashes and underscore the serious impact that these crashes can have on the traveling public. These statistics also indicate Iowa may have a disproportionately higher safety risk compared to the nation with respect to heavy-truck safety. Several national studies, and a few statewide studies, have investigated large-truck crashes; however, no rigorous analysis of heavy-truck crashes has been conducted for Iowa. The objective of this study was to investigate and identify the causes, locations, and other factors related to heavy-truck crashes in Iowa with the goal of reducing crashes and promoting safety. To achieve this objective, this study used the most current statewide data of heavy-truck crashes in Iowa. This study also attempted to assess crash experience with respect to length of commercial driver’s license (CDL) licensure using the most recent five years of CDL data linked to the before mentioned crash data. In addition, this study used inspection and citation data from the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) Motor Vehicle Division and Iowa State Patrol to investigate the relationship between enforcement activities and crash experience.</p

A Subjective Study of Multi-Dimensional Aesthetic Assessment for Mobile Game Image

International audienc

Identification of genomic characteristics and selective signals in Guizhou black goat

Abstract Background Guizhou black goat is one of the indigenous black goat breeds in the southwest region of Guizhou, China, which is an ordinary goat for mutton production. They are characterized by moderate body size, black coat, favorite meat quality with tender meat and lower odor, and tolerance for cold and crude feed. However, little is known about the genetic characteristics or variations underlying their important economic traits. Results Here, we resequenced the whole genome of Guizhou black goat from 30 unrelated individuals breeding in the five core farms. A total of 9,835,610 SNPs were detected, and 2,178,818 SNPs were identified specifically in this breed. The population structure analysis revealed that Guizhou black goat shared a common ancestry with Shaanbei white cashmere goat (0.146), Yunshang black goat (0.103), Iran indigenous goat (0.054), and Moroccan goat (0.002). However, Guizhou black goat showed relatively higher genetic diversity and a lower level of linkage disequilibrium than the other seven goat breeds by the analysis of the nucleotide diversity, linkage disequilibrium decay, and runs of homozygosity. Based on F ST and θπ values, we identified 645, 813, and 804 selected regions between Guizhou black goat and Yunshang black goat, Iran indigenous goat, and cashmere goats. Combined with the results of XP-EHH, there were 286, 322, and 359 candidate genes, respectively. Functional annotation analysis revealed that these genes are potentially responsible for the immune response (e.g., CD28, CD274, IL1A, TLR2, and SLC25A31), humility-cold resistance (e.g., HBEGF, SOSTDC1, ARNT, COL4A1/2, and EP300), meat quality traits (e.g., CHUK, GAB2, PLAAT3, and EP300), growth (e.g., GAB2, DPYD, and CSF1), fertility (e.g., METTL15 and MEI1), and visual function (e.g., PANK2 and NMNAT2) in Guizhou black goat. Conclusion Our results indicated that Guizhou black goat had a high level of genomic diversity and a low level of linkage disequilibrium in the whole genome. Selection signatures were detected in the genomic regions that were mainly related to growth and development, meat quality, reproduction, disease resistance, and humidity-cold resistance in Guizhou black goat. These results would provide a basis for further resource protection and breeding improvement of this very local breed