Public Perceptions of the Midwest’s Pavements: Policies and Thresholds

A 5-year, pooled fund study with the Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin departments of transportation assessed the public\u27s perceptions of pavement improvement strategies and developed thresholds of satisfaction using the departments\u27 physical indices, such as pavement ride and condition on rural, two-lane highways in the states. Approximately 3,600 drivers in the three states were involved in the three phases of the project, which included 18 focus groups, 400 statewide surveys in each state, and 2,300 targeted surveys across the three states. A multidisciplinary team from Marquette University and a mass media survey lab conducted the studies. A summary of focus group methods and purposes and a three-state summary of policy and improvement issues are provided. More than 450 highway segments were surveyed in Phase III, with input from 2,300 drivers through a two-step recruitment and postdrive interview. Thresholds of International Roughness Index and condition indices are summarized for the three states. The study found a high degree of trust in the three departments of transportation and public support for building longer-lasting pavements and minimizing delay. A three-step methodology is recommended for other state studies. Physical data thresholds using both public satisfaction and the agreement to improve are presented for each state\u27s physical pavement indices (ride and condition)

Improving the mesomorphic behaviour of supramolecular liquid crystals by resonance-assisted hydrogen bonding

A systematic structure-property relationship study on hydrogen-bonded liquid crystals was performed, revealing the impact of resonance-assisted hydrogen bonds (RAHBs) on the self-assembling behavior of the supramolecular architecture. The creation of a six-membered intramolecular hydrogen-bonded ring acts as a counterpart to the self-organization between hydrogen bond donators and acceptors and determines thus the suprastructure. Variation of the hydrogen-bonding pattern allowed us to significantly improve the temperature range of the reported liquid crystalline assemblies

A high-gain Quantum free-electron laser: emergence & exponential gain

We derive an effective Dicke model in momentum space to describe collective effects in the quantum regime of a free-electron laser (FEL). The resulting exponential gain from a single passage of electrons allows the operation of a Quantum FEL in the high-gain mode and avoids the experimental challenges of an X-ray FEL oscillator. Moreover, we study the intensity fluctuations of the emitted radiation which turn out to be super-Poissonian

Public Perceptions of the Midwest’s Pavements - Minnesota - Executive Summary

This report summarizes Minnesota results of a five year, Pooled Fund study involving the Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota DOTs designed to 1) assess the public\u27s perceptions of the departments’ pavement improvement strategies and 2) to develop customer-based thresholds of satisfaction with pavements on rural two lane highways in each state as related to the Departments’ physical indices, such as pavement ride and condition. The primary objective was to seek systematic customer input to improve the Departments’ pavement improvement policies by 1) determining how drivers perceive the departments’ pavements in terms of comfort and convenience but also in terms of other tradeoffs departments had not previously considered, 2) determining relationships between perceptions and measured pavement condition thresholds (including a general level of tolerance of winter ride conditions in two of the states), and 3) identifying important attributes and issues that may not have been considered in the past. Secondary objectives were 1) to provide a tool for systematic customer input in the future and 2) provide information which can help structure public information programs. A University of Wisconsin-Extension survey lab conducted the surveys under the direction of a multi-disciplinary team from Marquette University. Approximately 4500 drivers in the three states participated in the three phases of the project. Researchers conducted six focus groups in each state, approximately 400 statewide telephone interviews in each state and 700-800 targeted telephone interviews in each state. Approximately 400 winter ride interviews were conducted in Wisconsin and Minnesota. A summary of the method for each survey is included. In Phase I, focus groups were conducted with drivers to get an initial indication of what the driving public believes in regards to pavements and to frame issues for inclusion in the more representative state-wide surveys of drivers conducted in Phase II of the project. Phase II interviews gathered information about improvement policy trade-off issues and about preliminary thresholds of improvement in terms of physical pavement indices. In Phase III, a two-step recruitment and post-drive interview procedure yielded thresholds of ride and condition index summarized for each state. Results show that, in general, the driving public wants longer lasting pavements and are willing to pay for them. They want to minimize construction delay, improve entire sections of highway at one time but they dislike detours, and prefer construction under traffic even if it stretches out construction time. Satisfaction with pavements does not correlate directly to a high degree with physical pavement indices, but was found instead to be a complex, multi-faceted phenomenon. A psychological model (after Fishbein/Ajzen) was applied to explain satisfaction to a respectable degree (R2 of .67) for the social sciences. Results also indicate a high degree of trust in the three DOTs which is enhanced when the public is asked for input on specific highway segments. Conclusions and recommendations include a three-step methodology for other state studies. Physical data thresholds based on both public satisfaction and the agreement to improve are presented for each state\u27s physical pavement indices (ride and condition). Recommendations for changes to the quality ranges of the physical indices where appropriate are also made

Public Perceptions of the Midwest’s Pavements - Wisconsin - Executive Summary

This report summarizes Wisconsin results of a five year, Pooled Fund study involving the Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota DOTs designed to 1) assess the public\u27s perceptions of the departments’ pavement improvement strategies and 2) to develop customer-based thresholds of satisfaction with pavements on rural two lane highways in each state as related to the Departments’ physical indices, such as pavement ride and condition. The primary objective was to seek systematic customer input to improve the Departments’ pavement improvement policies by 1) determining how drivers perceive the departments’ pavements in terms of comfort and convenience but also in terms of other tradeoffs departments had not previously considered, 2) determining relationships between perceptions and measured pavement condition thresholds (including a general level of tolerance of winter ride conditions in two of the states, including Wisconsin), and 3) identifying important attributes and issues that may not have been considered in the past. Secondary objectives were 1) to provide a tool for systematic customer input in the future and 2) provide information which can help structure public information programs. A University of Wisconsin-Extension survey lab conducted the surveys under the direction of a multi-disciplinary team from Marquette University. Approximately 4500 drivers in the three states participated in the three phases of the project. Researchers conducted six focus groups in each state, approximately 400 statewide telephone interviews in each state and 700-800 targeted telephone interviews in each state. Approximately 400 winter ride interviews were conducted in Wisconsin and Minnesota. A summary of the method for each survey is included. In Phase I, focus groups were conducted with drivers to get an initial indication of what the driving public believes in regards to pavements and to frame issues for inclusion in the more representative state-wide surveys of drivers conducted in Phase II of the project. Phase II interviews gathered information about improvement policy trade-off issues and about preliminary thresholds of improvement in terms of physical pavement indices. In Phase III, a two step recruitment and post-drive interview procedure yielded thresholds of ride and condition index summarized for each state. Results show that, in general, the driving public is tolerant of a poorer ride in Winter and they understand the cause. The driving public wants longer lasting pavements and are willing to pay for them. They want to minimize construction delay, improve entire sections of highway at one time but they dislike detours, and prefer construction under traffic even if it stretches out construction time. Satisfaction with pavements does not correlate directly to a high degree with physical pavement indices, but was found instead to be a complex, multi-faceted phenomenon. A psychological model (after Fishbein/Ajzen) was applied to explain satisfaction to a respectable degree (R2 of .7) for the social sciences. Results also indicate a high degree of trust in the three DOTs which is enhanced when the public is asked for input on specific highway segments. Conclusions and recommendations include a three-step methodology for other state studies. Physical data thresholds based on both public satisfaction and the agreement to improve are presented for each state’s physical pavement indices (ride and condition). Recommended changes to the quality ranges of the physical indices where appropriate are also made

Public Perceptions of the Midwest’s Pavements - Iowa - Phase III

There are several objectives to this report. The first objective is to describe the sample with regard to the physical pavement data and three measures of driver satisfaction. In this section, the proportion of respondents who are satisfied with pavements on two-lane, rural, state highways will be examined and the distribution of pavement condition and roughness indices will be presented. The second objective will be a short description of the highway segments and any differences in satisfaction found between regions and pavement types. This was done in Phase II in each state and a letter sent showing the results in all three states. That letter sets forth the revised work plan and budget for Phase III of the project. The third objective is to describe the relationship between physical pavement characteristics and driver satisfaction. This will include a description of both the magnitude of relationship as well as identifying critical International Road Index (IRI) and Pavement Condition Index (PCI) cutoffs where a majority of the sample were satisfied. This will be done for comparative purposes with the Phase II approach, using the total sample to compute cumulative percentages responding to each of the three series of satisfaction questions

Examining Mental Health and Well-being Provision in Schools in Europe: Methodological Approach

Schools are considered an ideal setting for community-based mental health and well-being interventions for young people. However, in spite of extensive literature examining the effectiveness of such interventions, very few studies have investigated existing mental health and well-being provision in schools. The current study aims to extend such previous research by surveying primary and secondary schools to investigate the nature of available provision in nine European countries (Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, the UK and Ukraine). Furthermore, the study aims to investigate potential barriers to mental health and well-being provision and compare provision within and between countries

Hydrogen-bonded liquid crystals with broad-range blue phases

We report a modular supramolecular approach for the investigation of chirality induction in hydrogen-bonded liquid crystals. An exceptionally broad blue phase with a temperature range of 25 °C was found, which enabled its structural investigation by solid state 19F-NMR studies and allowed us to report order parameters of the blue phase I for the first time