Initial stages of attitude’s instrument adaptation to brazilian sports competitions

The aim of this study was to adapt and initiate validation of an instrument of attitudes toward mathematics to sports competitions. So through a correlational study, we adapted the instrument counting on a total sample of 260 young athletes (n=260), all students, divided into three rounds, and the confirmatory purpose we apply a pre competitive stress scale in order to show mappable symptoms. An initial reliability of the instrument, Alpha 0.83 to negative attitudes, and 0.90 for positive attitudes, with the average results of 2.52 (±0.86) to negative attitudes and 4.66 (±0.84) was determined for attitudes positive; we conclude that the instrument performed well in this first test, and should be applied in a larger sample, by un mounting this case study that young athletes have positive attitudes toward sports competition, so they enjoy participating in the competition.

Family Health Strategy Professionals Facing Medical Social Needs: difficulties and coping strategies

Professionals of Family Health Strategy (FHS) work in communities where there are complex medical social problems. These contexts may lead them to psychological suffering, jeopardizing their care for the users, and creating yet another obstacle to the consolidation of FHS as the primary health care model in Brazil. The study investigated the difficulties and coping strategies reported by health professionals of the FHS teams when they face medical social needs of the communities where they work. Focus groups and semi-structured interviews were carried out with 68 professionals of three primary care units in the city of Sao Paulo (Southeastern Brazil). Drug dealing and abuse, alcoholism, depression and domestic violence are the most relevant problems mentioned by the study group. Professionals reported lack of adequate training, work overload, poor working conditions with feelings of professional impotence and frustration. To overcome these difficulties, professionals reported collective strategies, particularly experience sharing during team meetings and matrix support groups. The results indicate that the difficulties may put the professionals in a vulnerable state, similar to the patients they care for. The promotion of specialized and long term support should be reinforced, as well as the interaction with the local network of services and communities leaders. That may help professionals to deal with occupational stress related to medical and social needs present in their routine work; in the end, it may as well contribute to the strengthening of FHS.

Police Interviews with Victims and Suspects of Violent and Sexual Crimes : Interviewee's experiences and interview outcomes

The police interview is one of the most important investigative tools that law enforcement has close at hand, and police interview methods have changed during the twentieth century. A good police interview is conducted in the frame of the law, is governed by the interview goal, and is influenced by facilitating factors that may affect the elicited report. The present doctoral dissertation focuses on police interviews in cases of very serious crimes of violence and sexual offences. Results reveal crime victims’ and perpetrators’ experiences of being interviewed and police officers’ attitudes towards conducting interviews related to traumatizing crimes. Study 1 revealed that when police officers interviewed murderers and sexual offenders, the interviewees perceived attitudes characterized by either dominance or humanity. Police interviews marked by dominance and suspects’ responses of anxiety were mainly associated with a higher proportion of denials, whereas an approach marked by humanity, and responses of being respected were significantly associated with admissions. In line with Study 1, the victims of rape and aggravated assault in Study 2 also revealed the experience of two police interview styles, where an interviewing style marked by dominance and responses of anxiety was significantly associated with crime victims’ omissions of information. Moreover, a humanitarian interviewing style, and crime victims’ feelings of being respected and co-operative, was significantly related to crime victims providing all information from painful events. Special squad police officers’ attitudes towards interviewing crime victims, in Study 3, also showed a humanitarian approach and two dominant approaches, one affective and the other refusing. The attitude towards interviewing suspects of crimes in focus revealed humanitarian and dominant interviewing attitudes, and an approach marked by kindness. The present thesis shows that, during their entire career, an overwhelming majority of the special squad police officers have experienced stressful events during patrol as well as investigative duty. Results show that symptoms from stressful event exposures and coping mechanisms are associated with negative attitudes towards interviewing suspects and supportive attitudes towards crime victim interviews. Thus, experiences from stressful exposures may automatically activate ego-defensive functions that automatically generate dominant attitudes. Moreover, it is important to offer police officers who have been exposed to stressful events the opportunity to work through their experiences, for example, through debriefing procedures. After debriefings, police officers are better prepared to meet crime victims and suspects and, through conscious closed-loop processes, to conduct police interviews without awaking ego-defensive functions.

Burnout and work engagement among teachers: an application of the job demands-resources model

The present dissertation focuses on burnout and work engagement among teachers, with especial focus on the Job-Demands Resources Model: Chapter 1 focuses on teacher burnout. It aims to investigate the role of efficacy beliefs using negatively worded inefficacy items instead of positive ones and to establish whether depersonalization and cynism can be considered two different dimensions of the teacher burnout syndrome. Chapter 2 investigates the factorial validity of the instruments used to measure work engagement (i.e. Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, UWES-17 and UWES-9). Moreover, because the current study is partly longitudinal in nature, also the stability across time of engagement can be investigated. Finally, based on cluster-analyses, two groups that differ in levels of engagement are compared as far as their job- and personal resources (i.e. possibilities for personal development, work-life balance, and self-efficacy), positive organizational attitudes and behaviours (i.e., job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behaviour) and perceived health are concerned. Chapter 3 tests the JD-R model in a longitudinal way, by integrating also the role of personal resources (i.e. self-efficacy). This chapter seeks answers to questions on what are the most important job demands, job and personal resources contributing to discriminate burned-out teachers from non-burned-out teachers, as well as engaged teachers from non-engaged teachers. Chapter 4 uses a diary study to extend knowledge about the dynamic nature of the JD-R model by considering between- and within-person variations with regard to both motivational and health impairment processes.

Physical and mineralogical changes of Hungarian monumental stones exposed to different conditions: stone-testing in-situ and under laboratory conditions

The Székesfehérvár Ruin Garden is a unique assemblage of monuments belonging to the cultural heritage of Hungary due to its important role in the Middle Ages as the coronation and burial church of the Kings of the Hungarian Christian Kingdom. It has been nominated for “National Monument” and as a consequence, its protection in the present and future is required. Moreover, it was reconstructed and expanded several times throughout Hungarian history. By a quick overview of the current state of the monument, the presence of several lithotypes can be found among the remained building and decorative stones. Therefore, the research related to the materials is crucial not only for the conservation of that specific monument but also for other historic structures in Central Europe. The current research is divided in three main parts: i) description of lithologies and their provenance, ii) physical properties testing of historic material and iii) durability tests of analogous stones obtained from active quarries. The survey of the National Monument of Székesfehérvár, focuses on the historical importance and the architecture of the monument, the different construction periods, the identification of the different building stones and their distribution in the remaining parts of the monument and it also included provenance analyses. The second one was the in situ and laboratory testing of physical properties of historic material. As a final phase samples were taken from local quarries with similar physical and mineralogical characteristics to the ones used in the monument. The three studied lithologies are: fine oolitic limestone, a coarse oolitic limestone and a red compact limestone. These stones were used for rock mechanical and durability tests under laboratory conditions. The following techniques were used: a) in-situ: Schmidt Hammer Values, moisture content measurements, DRMS, mapping (construction ages, lithotypes, weathering forms) b) laboratory: petrographic analysis, XRD, determination of real density by means of helium pycnometer and bulk density by means of mercury pycnometer, pore size distribution by mercury intrusion porosimetry and by nitrogen adsorption, water absorption, determination of open porosity, DRMS, frost resistance, ultrasonic pulse velocity test, uniaxial compressive strength test and dynamic modulus of elasticity. The results show that initial uniaxial compressive strength is not necessarily a clear indicator of the stone durability. Bedding and other lithological heterogeneities can influence the strength and durability of individual specimens. In addition, long-term behaviour is influenced by exposure conditions, fabric and, especially, the pore size distribution of each sample. Therefore, a statistic evaluation of the results is highly recommended and they should be evaluated in combination with other investigations on internal structure and micro-scale heterogeneities of the material, such as petrographic observation, ultrasound pulse velocity and porosimetry. Laboratory tests used to estimate the durability of natural stone may give a good guidance to its short-term performance but they should not be taken as an ultimate indication of the long-term behaviour of the stone. The interdisciplinary study of the results confirms that stones in the monument show deterioration in terms of mineralogy, fabric and physical properties in comparison with quarried stones. Moreover stone-testing proves compatibility between quarried and historical stones. Good correlation is observed between the non-destructive-techniques and laboratory tests results which allow us to minimize sampling and assessing the condition of the materials. Concluding, this research can contribute to the diagnostic knowledge for further studies that are needed in order to evaluate the effect of recent and future protective measures.

Durability of crystalline monumental stones in terms of their petrophysical characteristics

The durability of stone building materials is an issue of utmost importance in the field of monument conservation. In order to be able to preserve our built cultural heritage, the thorough knowledge of its constituent materials and the understanding of the processes that affect them are indispensable. The main objective of this research was to evaluate the durability of a special stone type, the crystalline stones, in correlation with their intrinsic characteristics, the petrophysical properties. The crystalline stones are differentiated from the cemented stones on the basis of textural features. Their most important specific property is the usually low, fissure-like porosity. Stone types of significant monumental importance, like the marble or granite belong to this group. The selected materials for this investigation, indeed, are a marble (Macael marble, Spain) and a granite (Silvestre Vilachán granite, Spain). In addition, an andesite (Szob andesite, Hungary) also of significant monumental importance was selected. This way a wide range of crystalline rocks is covered in terms of petrogenesis: stones of metamorphic, magmatic and volcanic origin, which can be of importance in terms of mineralogical, petrological or physical characteristics. After the detailed characterization of the petrophysical properties of the selected stones, their durability was assessed by means of artificial ageing. The applied ageing tests were: the salt crystallization, the frost resistance in pure water and in the presence of soluble salts, the salt mist and the action of SO2 in the presence of humidity. The research aimed at the understanding of the mechanisms of each weathering process and at finding the petrophysical properties most decisive in the degradation of these materials. Among the several weathering mechanisms, the most important ones were found to be the physical stress due to crystallization pressure of both salt and ice, the thermal fatigue due to cyclic temperature changes and the chemical reactions (mostly the acidic attack) between the mineral phases and the external fluids. The properties that fundamentally control the degradation processes, and thus the durability of stones were found to be: the mineralogical and chemical composition; the hydraulic properties especially the water uptake, the permeability and the drying; the void space structure, especially the void size and aperture size distribution and the connectivity of the porous space; and the thermal and mechanical properties. Because of the complexity of the processes and the high number of determining properties, no mechanisms or characteristics could be identified as typical for crystalline stones. The durability or alterability of each stone type must be assessed according to its properties and not according to the textural or petrophysical classification they belong to. Finally, a critical review of standardized methods is presented, based on which an attempt was made for recommendations of the most adequate methodology for the characterization and durability assessment of crystalline stones.

LoneStar : Design and evaluation of an energy-efficient, disk-based archival storage system

Bandlaufwerke waren bisher die vorherrschende Technologie, um die anfallenden Datenmengen in Archivsystemen zu speichern. Mit Zugriffsmustern, die immer aktiver werden, und Speichermedien wie Festplatten die kostenmäßig aufholen, muss die Architektur vor Speichersystemen zur Archivierung neu überdacht werden. Zuverlässigkeit, Integrität und Haltbarkeit sind die Haupteigenschaften der digitalen Archivierung. Allerdings nimmt auch die Zugriffsgeschwindigkeit einen erhöhten Stellenwert ein, wenn aktive Archive ihre gesamten Inhalte für den direkten Zugriff bereitstellen. Ein band-basiertes System kann die hierfür benötigte Parallelität, Latenz und Durchsatz nicht liefern, was in der Regel durch festplattenbasierte Systeme als Zwischenspeicher kompensiert wird.rnIn dieser Arbeit untersuchen wir die Herausforderungen und Möglichkeiten ein festplattenbasiertes Speichersystem zu entwickeln, das auf eine hohe Zuverlässigkeit und Energieeffizienz zielt und das sich sowohl für aktive als auch für kalte Archivumgebungen eignet. Zuerst analysieren wir die Speichersysteme und Zugriffsmuster eines großen digitalen Archivs und präsentieren damit ein mögliches Einsatzgebiet für unsere Architektur. Daraufhin stellen wir Mechanismen vor um die Zuverlässigkeit einer einzelnen Festplatte zu verbessern und präsentieren sowie evaluieren einen neuen, energieeffizienten, zwei- dimensionalen RAID Ansatz der für „Schreibe ein Mal, lese mehrfach“ Zugriffe optimiert ist. Letztlich stellen wir Protokollierungs- und Zwischenspeichermechanismen vor, die die zugrundeliegenden Ziele unterstützen und evaluieren das RAID System in einer Dateisystemumgebung.

Transmission of Chlamydia trachomatis through sexual partnerships: a comparison between three individual-based models and empirical data

Chlamydia trachomatis is the most common bacterial sexually transmitted infection (STI) in many developed countries. The highest prevalence rates are found among young adults who have frequent partner change rates. Three published individual-based models have incorporated a detailed description of age-specific sexual behaviour in order to quantify the transmission of C. trachomatis in the population and to assess the impact of screening interventions. Owing to varying assumptions about sexual partnership formation and dissolution and the great uncertainty about critical parameters, such models show conflicting results about the impact of preventive interventions. Here, we perform a detailed evaluation of these models by comparing the partnership formation and dissolution dynamics with data from Natsal 2000, a population-based probability sample survey of sexual attitudes and lifestyles in Britain. The data also allow us to describe the dispersion of C. trachomatis infections as a function of sexual behaviour, using the Gini coefficient. We suggest that the Gini coefficient is a useful measure for calibrating infectious disease models that include risk structure and highlight the need to estimate this measure for other STIs.

Patients' and healthcare workers' perceptions of a patient safety advisory

To assess patients' and healthcare workers' (hcw) attitudes and experiences with a patient safety advisory, to investigate predictors for patients' safety-related behaviors and determinants for staff support for the advisory.

La Politique linguistique éducative du Cameroun: attitudes et représentations relatives à l'intégration des langues nationales dans les écoles primaires de l'Adamaoua

At the moment actions are undertaken in order to introduce National Languages in Primary Schools, it is interesting to study The Cameroon linguistic and educational policy: Attitudes and Representations relating to the Integration of national languages in the Adamawa Primary Schools. This study on images is a survey carried out with the collaboration of 115 teachers, 120 parents and some of the Adamawa educational Responsibles. The fundamental question which guides this survey is: are Attitudes and Representations of the Adamawa educational actors favourable to the Introduction of National Languages in the Primary Schools of that Region ? Our research’s hypothesis is that these perceptions impede the implementation of this policy. In the end of the data processing and the analysing of the field’s information, we are led to the following results. The basic education actors of the Adamawa Region don’t have information about legal and constitutional texts that support promotion and teaching of local languages. Nevertheless, they are disposed to support this policy. They propose fulani as the first language to be taught and the other languages after. But also, the selection of these languages is smeared by demeaning stereotypes. That’s why we recommend the organisation of wide Sensitization Campaigns destined for all the educational actors, the implication of ENIEG in the formation of teachers in local languages, and finally, the introduction of specific Contents for the teaching of National Languages in Cameroonian Primary Schools.

Current Changes in the Lifestyle and Mental Health of Teenagers

The group studied 1,253 students from various types of schools chosen randomly from those in Prague and Budejovice in order to evaluate the life styles, prevailing value standards, attitudes and behavioural patterns of Czech adolescents. The respondents (including 614 men and 639 women with an average age of 16.4 years) completed questionnaires containing standard scales focusing on feelings about social life, conservative and authoritarian tendencies, levels of self-esteem, general health, eating attitudes and behaviour The adolescents showed a relatively high level of conformity with authoritarian, conservative tendencies and with a dictate of power, rigid conventionality, ethnocentrism and low inner tolerance of differences, their scores being higher than those found in Western European countries. These tendencies were stronger among students outside Prague and those attending vocational schools. As the level of education rose, the sense of fatality and social determination decreased, indicating a higher share of responsibility for events in the surrounding world. When changes of life style were considered, adolescents can be expected to adapt more easily to more risky, socially attractive and manifest models of attitudes and behaviour. On the one hand, adolescents were often involved in sports, and young women in particular often showed a extreme concern and care for their own bodies. On the other hand, one quarter of respondents smoked, one fifth reported serious problems with alcohol and one quarter had already had some experience with drugs. One third of young men and one quarter of young women reported regular consumption of alcohol, and 6.5 percent of men and 3.6 percent of women regularly smoked marihuana or hashish. For the majority of adolescents, life conditions and conformity seem to be more important than the sense of active choice and responsibility for one's own life.

Racism, Youth Violence and the New Right: A Comparative Study of the Political Transformation of Extremism in Hungary and Romania

This research focused on the re-emerging of national and minority identities and the concomitant hostilities emerging from them in Hungary and in Romania. In particular the findings indicate that extremist incidents against members of minority groups on the local level seem to follow patterns in publicised media events. Violent attacks by skinheads against Gypsies in Hungary are often isolated incidents but are also inadvertently supported by biased media coverage, hostile majority attitudes and stereotyped behaviour reproduced in the media. The research also indicates that extremism both in Hungary against Gypsies and in Romania against Hungarians is of three kinds: organised within the framework of extremist groups, state-supported violence (both real and symbolic), and isolated, local instances with a few perpetrators committing atrocities. However, and this is a positive development, with rising interethnic tensions and extremist attacks prevalent in Hungary and Romania, there is also a parallel emergence of a more sophisticated human and minority rights campaign to combat them.

Towards a Variety of Family Models: Economic Contributions of Spouses and Family Power

In Western societies the increase in female employment (especially among married women) is seen as having brought about the crisis of the traditional model of the family, reinforcing the position of the "modern" model - the egalitarian family with two working spouses and a "dual-career" family. In contrast, the transitional situation in the post-communist countries during the 1990s is producing a crisis of the family with two working spouses (the basic type of the communist period) and leading to new power relations within the family. While the growth of dual-earner households in this century has implied modification of family models towards greater symmetry of responsibility for breadwinning and homemaking, there is considerable evidence that women's increased employment does not necessarily lead to a more egalitarian approach to gender roles within the family. The group set out to investigate the economic situation of families and economic power within the fame as a crucial factor in the transformation of families with two working spouses in order to reveal the specific patterns of gender contracts and power relations within the family that are emerging in response to the current political and economic transformation. They opted for a comparative approach, selecting the Czech Republic as a country where the very similar tendencies of a few years ago (almost 100% of women employed and the family as a realm of considerable private freedom where both women's and men's gender identities and the traditional distribution of family responsibilities were largely preserved) are combined with a very different experience in terms of economic inequalities during the 1990s to that of Russia. In the first stage of the study they surveyed 300 married couples (150 in each country) on the question of breadwinning. They then carried out in-depth interviews with 10 couples from each country (selected from among the educated layers of the population), focusing on the process of the social construction of gender, using breadwinning and homemaking as gender boundaries which distinguish men from women. By analysing changes in social position and the type of interpersonal interaction of spouses they distinguished two main types of family contracts: the neo-traditional "communal sharing" (with male breadwinner, traditional distribution of family chores and negotiated family power) and the modern one based on negotiated agreement. The most important pre-conditions of husband-wife agreement about breadwinning seemed to imply their overall gender ideology rather than the economic and/or family circumstances. In general, wives were more likely to express egalitarian views, supporting the blurring or even elimination of many gender boundaries. Husbands, on the other hand, more often gave responses calling for the continued maintenance of gender boundaries. The analysis showed that breadwinning is still an important gender boundary in these cultures, one that is assumed unless it is explicitly questioned and that is seen as part of what makes a man a "real man". The majority of respondents seemed to be committed to egalitarian ideology on gender roles and the distribution of family tasks, including decision making, but this is contradicted by the persistent idea of the husband as the breadwinner. This contradiction is more characteristic of the Russian situation than of the Czech. The quantitative study showed a difference in prevailing family models between the two countries, with a clearer shift towards the traditional family contract in the Russian case. The Czechs were more likely to consider their partnerships as based on negotiated agreement, while the Russians saw theirs as based on egalitarian contract, in both cases seeing this as the norm. The majority of couples said they felt satisfied with their marriage, although in both countries wives seemed to be less satisfied. There was however a difference in the issues that aroused dissatisfaction, with Czech women being more sensitive to issues such as self-realisation, personal independence, understanding and recognition in the family, and Russians to issues of love, understanding and recognition. The most disputed area for the majority of families was chores in the home, presumably because in many families both husband and wife were working hard outside the home and because a number of partners had differing views as to the ideal distribution of chores within the family. The distribution of power in the family seems to be linked to the level of well being. The analysis showed that in the dominant democratic model there is still an inverse connection between family leadership and well being: the more prominent the wife's position as head of the family is, the lower the level of family income. This may reflect both the husband's refusal to play the leading role in the family and even his rejection of any involvement in family issues in such a family. The qualitative research revealed that both men and women see the breadwinning role to be an essential part of masculine identity, a role which the female partner would take on temporarily to assist the male but not permanently since this would threaten the gender boundaries and the man's identity. At the same time, few breadwinners expressed a sense of job satisfaction and all considered their choice as imposed on them by the circumstances (i.e. having a family in difficult times). The group feel that family orientation and some loss of personal involvement in their profession is partly reflected in the fact that many of the men felt more comfortable and self-confident at home than at work. Women's work, on the other hand, was largely seen as a source of personal and self-realisation and social life. Eight out of ten of the Russian women interviewed were employed, although only two on a full-time basis, but none saw their jobs as adding substantially to the family budget. Both partners see the most important factor as the wife's wish to work or stay at home, and do not think it wise for the wife to work at the expense of her part of the "family contract", although husbands from the "egalitarian" relationships expressed more willingness to compromise. The analysis showed clearly that wives and husbands did not construct gender boundaries in isolation, with the interviews providing clear evidence of negotiation. At the same time, husbands' interpretations of their wives' employment were less susceptible to the influence of negotiation than were their gender attitudes and norms about breadwinning. One of the most interesting aspects of the spouses' negotiations was the extent to which they disagreed about what they seemed to have agreed upon. Most disagreements about the breadwinning boundaries, however, were over norms and were settled by changes in norms rather than in behavioural interpretation. Changes in norms were often a form of peace offering or were in response in changes in circumstances. The study did show, however, that many of the efforts at cooperation and compensation were more symbolic than real and the group found the plasticity of expressed gender ideology to be one of the most striking findings of their work. They conclude that the shift towards more traditional gednder distributions of incomes and domestic chores does not automatically mean the reestablishment of a patriarchal model of family power. On the contrary, it seems to be a compromise formation, relatively unstable, temporary and containing self-defeating forces as the split between the personal and professional value of work and its social value expressed in a money equivalent cannot be maintained for generations.

Assessment of soil erosion vulnerability in rural communities in the vicinity of Motozintla de Mendoza, Chiapas, Mexico : a physical and sociological approach

Soil erosion is a natural geological phenomenon resulting from removal and transportation of soil particles by water, wind, ice and gravity. As soil erosion may be affected from cultural factors as well. The physical and social phenomena of soil erosion are researched in six communities in the upper part of Rio Grijalva Basin in the vicinity of Motozintla de Mendoza, Chiapas, Mexico. For this study, the USDA RUSLE model was applied to estimate soil erosion rates in the six communities based on the available data. The RUSLE model is based on soil properties, topography, and land cover and management factors. These results showed that estimated soil erosion rates ranged from a high of 2,050 metric ton ha-1 yr-1 to a low of 100 metric ton ha-1 yr-1. A survey concerning knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) related to soil erosion was also conducted in all 236 households in the six communities. The main findings of the KAP survey were: 69% of respondents did not know what soil erosion was, while over 40% of the population perceived that hurricanes are the biggest factors that cause soil erosion, and about 20 % of the interviewees said that the landslides are the consequences of the soil erosion. People in communities did not perceive cultural factors as important in conservation efforts for reduce vulnerability to erosion; therefore, the results obtained are suggested to be useful for informing efforts to educate stakeholders.

Evaluation of the performance and cost-effectiveness of pavement sections containing open-graded base courses

Moisture induced distresses have been the prevalent distress type affecting the deterioration of both asphalt and concrete pavement sections. While various surface techniques have been employed over the years to minimize the ingress of moisture into the pavement structural sections, subsurface drainage components like open-graded base courses remain the best alternative in minimizing the time the pavement structural sections are exposed to saturated conditions. This research therefore focuses on assessing the performance and cost-effectiveness of pavement sections containing both treated and untreated open-graded aggregate base materials. Three common roadway aggregates comprising of two virgin aggregates and one recycled aggregate were investigated using four open-ended gradations and two binder types. Laboratory tests were conducted to determine the hydraulic, mechanical and durability characteristics of treated and untreated open-graded mixes made from these three aggregate types. Results of the experimental program show that for the same gradation and mix design types, limestone samples have the greatest drainage capacity, stability to traffic loads and resistance to degradation from environmental conditions like freeze-thaw. However, depending on the gradation and mix design used, all three aggregate types namely limestone, natural gravel and recycled concrete can meet the minimum coefficient of hydraulic conductivity required for good drainage in most pavements. Tests results for both asphalt and cement treated open-graded samples indicate that a percent air void content within the range of 15-25 will produce a treated open-graded base course with sufficient drainage capacity and also long term stability under both traffic and environmental loads. Using the new Mechanistic and Empirical Design Guide software, computer simulations of pavement performance were conducted on pavement sections containing these open-graded base aggregate base materials to determine how the MEPDG predicted pavement performance is sensitive to drainage. Using three truck traffic levels and four climatic regions, results of the computer simulations indicate that the predicted performance was not sensitive to the drainage characteristics of the open-graded base course. Based on the result of the MEPDG predicted pavement performance, the cost-effectiveness of the pavement sections with open-graded base was computed on the assumption that the increase service life experienced by these sections was attributed to the positive effects of subsurface drainage. The two cost analyses used gave two contrasting results with the one indicating that the inclusion of open-graded base courses can lead to substantial savings.