Objectives: The accuracy of self-reported driving exposure has questioned the validity of using self-reported mileage to inform research questions. Studies examining the accuracy of self-reported driving exposure compared to objective measures find low validity, with drivers overestimating and underestimating driving distance. The aims of the current study were to (1) examine the discrepancy between self-reported annual mileage and driving exposure the following year and (2) investigate whether these differences depended on age and annual mileage.
Methods: Two estimates of drivers’ self-reported annual mileage collected during vehicle installation (obtained via prestudy questionnaires) and approximated annual mileage driven (based upon Global Positioning System data) were acquired from 3,323 participants who participated in the Strategic Highway Research Program 2 (SHRP2) Naturalistic Driving Study.
Results: A Wilcoxon signed rank test showed that there was a significant difference between self-reported and annual driving exposure during participation in SHRP 2, with the majority of self-reported responses overestimating annual mileage the following year, irrespective of whether an ordinal or ratio variable was examined. Over 15% of participants provided self-reported responses with over 100% deviation, which were exclusive to participants underestimating annual mileage. Further, deviations in reporting differed between participants who had low, medium, and high exposure, as well as between participants in different age groups.
Conclusions: These findings indicate that although self-reported annual mileage is heavily relied on for research, such estimates of driving distance may be an overestimate of current or future mileage and can influence the validity of prior research that has utilized estimates of driving exposure. 相似文献
Research on biodegradable materials has been stimulated due to concern regarding the persistence of plastic wastes. Blending starch with poly(lactic acid) (PLA) is one of the most promising efforts because starch is an abundant and cheap biopolymer and PLA is biodegradable with good mechanical properties. Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVOH) contains unhydrolytic residual groups of poly(vinyl acetate) and also has good compatibility with starch. It was added to a starch and PLA blend (50:50, w/w) to enhance compatibility and improve mechanical properties. PVOH (MW 6,000) at 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% (by weight) based on the total weight of starch and PLA, and 30% PVOH at various molecular weights (MW 6,000, 25,000, 78,000, and 125,000 dalton) were added to starch/PLA blends. PVOH interacted with starch. At proportions greater than 30%, PVOH form a continuous phase with starch. Tensile strength of the starch/PLA blends increased as PVOH concentration increased up to 40% and decreased as PVOH molecular weight increased. The increasing molecular weight of PVOH slightly affected water absorption, but increasing PVOH concentration to 40% or 50% increased water absorption. Effects of moisture content on the starch/PLA/PVOH blend also were explored. The blend containing gelatinized starch had higher tensile strength. However, gelatinized starch also resulted in increased water absorption. 相似文献
Starch-PVOH cast films were prepared with and without crosslinking agent (hexamethoxymethylmelamine) in the absence of plasticizer.
Moisture absorption in films without crosslinking agent at a low relative humidity was similar to that of PVOH and increased
as the relative humidity increased. Films with crosslinking agent showed moisture absorption linearly proportional to the
relative humidity. Significant improvement in resistance to water disintegration for crosslinked starch-PVOH films was observed.
While the tensile strength decreased with increased relative humidity, crosslinking significantly improved the tensile strength.
Increased PVOH content improved elongation of films even when the relative humidity was 80% or higher. Biodegradation studies
revealed that the degradation rate was negatively correlated with the PVOH content in films and crosslinking generated more
converged degradation curves.
Names are necessary to report factually on available data; however, the USDA neither guarantees nor warrants the standard
of the product, and the use of the name by USDA implies no approval of the product to the exclusion of others that may also
be suitable. 相似文献