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Demographic, criminal history, instant case, treatment modality, program failure, and re-arrest data were collected from 400 New York City drug court participants. Actuarial risk scores were created for program failure and re-arrest by performing stepwise logistic regressions based on criminal history, present case, and demographic predictors of these outcomes. Placement in a residential (vs. outpatient) setting increased the likelihood of program failure and re-arrest after controlling for actuarial risk scores. Residential placement was particularly counter-productive with low-risk program participants, whose re-arrest rate was more than double that of low-risk participants placed in an outpatient setting. Conversely, placement of low-risk participants in the least restrictive treatment modality—a non-intensive outpatient setting—lowered the likelihood of re-arrest relative to placement either in a residential setting or an intensive outpatient program. Results are discussed in terms of the Risk-need-responsivity model of offender intervention, which recommends avoiding overly restrictive treatment of low-risk offenders.

[EN] In this paper, a new approach for characterizing material damage, using ultrasonic waves, is proposed. Two concrete series with two types of cement with different C3A content and similar mechanical properties were subjected to external sulphate attack (ESA) and evaluated using a novel Recurrence Plot Quantification Analysis (RQA) method. This brand new technique was compared with several methods, such as mechanical tests (compressive and flexural strength determination), dynamic test (dynamic modulus) measurements, and traditional ultrasonic measurements (propagation velocity and ultrasonic wave attenuation). In these experiments, RQA showed a high sensitivity to damage in spoiled series, improving the reliability of damage detection with ultrasonics in non-homogeneous materials compared to other non-destructive techniques. Interesting advantages of this new non-destructive technique are: a) the RQA parameter is normalized (range of 0 to 1); b) a calibration process is not required; c) the values of its standard deviation show the dispersion of the damage. It can contribute greatly to the diagnosis of the degree of damage to a material, when combined with other traditional measures such as the attenuation of the material. ; This work was supported by the Spanish Government under grants TEC2011-23403, BIA2014-55311-C2-1-P and BIA2014-55311-C2-2-P. This work is protected by the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (SPTO) under reference P201630212. ; Carrión García, A.; Genovés, V.; Gosálbez Castillo, J.; Miralles Ricós, R.; Paya Bernabeu, JJ. (2017). Ultrasonic signal modality: A novel approach for concrete damage evaluation. Cement and Concrete Research. 101:25-32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2017.08.011 ; S ; 25 ; 32 ; 101

Since the late 1990s a selection on policy approach to aid was advocated such that more aid should be allocated to countries with good policies. A number of donors accepted this recommendation, including the World Bank, but there is little evidence that this has occurred. Donors, including the World Bank, seem no more likely to use policy and governance indicators to determine the amount of aid allocated to particular recipients. This paper argues that donors may exercise selectivity over the aid modality. Specifically, multilateral donors (we consider only EC and WB) will cede more recipient control over aid by granting more budget support to those recipients with better service delivery systems and spending preferences (towards the poor) aligned with the donor. We test this for the EC and WB over 1997-2007 and find some support. The principal determinant of receiving budget support has been having a PRSP process in place, and this can be considered a good indicator of aligned preferences. Furthermore towards the end of the period (2005-07) there was some increase in the share of countries receiving budget support but then government effectiveness was also a determinant of eligibility, and having a PRSP increased the amount of budget support. Multilateral donors have been more likely to give budget support to countries with aligned spending preferences and better quality systems, even if they have not reallocated the total aid envelope in that way.

Since the late 1990s a selection on policy approach to aid was advocated such that more aid should be allocated to countries with good policies, but there is little evidence that this has occurred. This paper argues that donors may exercise selectivity over the aid modality. Specifically, multilateral donors will cede more recipient control over aid by granting more budget support to those recipients with better expenditure systems and spending preferences (towards the poor) aligned with the donor. We test this for European Commission and World Bank budget support over 1997-2009 and find some support. Both donors have given budget support to almost half of the countries they give aid, and it is usually a significant share of their aid. The principal determinants of receiving budget support are having a poverty reduction strategy in place, which can be considered a good indicator of aligned preferences, and indicators of government efficiency. These variables did not, however, influence the amount of budget support given. Multilateral donors have been more likely to give budget support to countries with aligned spending preferences and better quality systems, even if they have not reallocated the total aid envelope in that way. Adapted from the source document.

This article examines modal resources in the mediatised discourse of social transformation in Nigeria with a view to showing how they are strategically used to code interpersonal meanings for enhanced and impactful delivery of messages of social transformation in the nation. Data for the study comprises texts on aspects of social transformation campaigns in Nigeria in the context of democracy, anti-corruption crusade, insecurity and domestic violence compiled as small corpora. The data comprises texts produced by government and non-governmental actors consisting of speeches, radio commentaries, jingles, printed texts, interviews, tweets and online newspaper comments and covers the period from March 2013 to March 2018. The five-year span was informed by the wide gamut of negative realities in the nation during the time frame which led to increased mediatisation of social transformation messages. Corpus-assisted critical discourse approach was employed for data analysis, using Fairclough's (1989, revised 2015) dialectical relational approach, the corpus linguistic tool of Antconc, chi-square test on R-Studio and normalised relative frequencies. Data analysis revealed that the different participants in the discourse characteristically used different modal resources to reflect their power on the one hand and resistance on the other and to capture the intensity of their views and feelings on the actions required for Nigeria to experience genuine social transformation. The study concludes that even though the discourse is largely ideational, modal resources are deployed for emphasising the urgency and seriousness of the issues in the ideational contents of the discourse.

Summary The present U.S.-based study adds to the ongoing discourse on the ethical use of digital technology in social work practice, made more urgent by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Following the achievement of Human Subjects approval, we obtained a stratified, random sample of 150 institutions of higher education with Council on Social Work Education-accredited undergraduate and graduate social work programs. Prior to COVID-19, we administered a 61-item, Likert-scale survey to social work program directors via email, who then communicated this information to student listservs. A total of 430 social work student responses were retained for analysis. The survey instrument included items related to the students' social media use, their attitudes toward social media, and their knowledge of social media's impact on society. Rao-Scott chi-square tests for independence were used to ascertain statistical relationships between U.S. social work students' responses to the survey item, social media should be used as a treatment modality, and student demographic variables that include: Age, program level, course format, and social media use. Findings Statistically significant relationships were determined to exist between social work students' endorsement of social media as a treatment modality and: (1) Age and (2) program level. Conversely, no significant relationships were found regarding (1) course format and (2) social media use. Applications Implications for social work professional education are discussed. Recommendations for future social work research are provided: (1) A national replication study; (2) qualitative studies; (3) a comparative study with social work educators and practitioners; (3) a global study; and (4) ongoing evaluation of direct practice methods.

Objective: This study examined the effect of two in-vehicle information systems (IVIS) on signal detection in the visual, auditory, and tactile modalities; established whether the detrimental effects of an IVIS on driving could be quantified by these detection tasks; and examined the effect of stimulus modality on signal detection. Background: The peripheral detection task has been used widely for assessing the effects of an IVIS on driving. However, performance on this task relies on drivers' ability to see a series of LEDs, which can be problematic in field tests (e.g., on sunny days). Method: Participants responded to one of three detection tasks during a simulated driving experiment. The effect of IVIS interaction on these detection tasks was also measured. Reduced performance in the detection tasks was assumed to indicate a decline in drivers' ability to handle sudden events in the driving task. Results: Response time to all detection tasks increased by around 200 ms when drivers performed the IVIS tasks, as compared with baseline driving. Analyses of variance and comparison of effect sizes showed the effects of these two IVISs to be the same across the three detection tasks. Conclusion: These detection tasks are useful for quantifying the safety of an IVIS during driving. The absence of a difference in signal detection by modality suggests that performance on these tasks relies on general attentional resources and is not modality specific. Application: The signal detection tasks employed here should be further investigated for their suitability in assessing the safety of in-vehicle systems.

The aim of the article is to analyze lexical and grammatical means of expressing modality in the literature on technical sciences in German and the ways of their translating. Basing on the aim of the research, it is necessary to solve the following problems: 1) to distinguish the means of expressing modality in the literature on technical sciences; 2) to define the role of lexical and grammatical means of expressing modality in a special test; 3) to identify the means of expressing modality which are the most difficult to translate and to understand in the test; 4) to give some recommendations as to developing and improving the skills of translating and using the means of expressing modality in speech.

Objective Investigating take-over, driving, non-driving related task (NDRT) performance, and trust of conditionally automated vehicles (AVs) in critical transitions on a test track. Background Most experimental results addressing driver take-over were obtained in simulators. The presented experiment aimed at validating relevant findings while uncovering potential effects of motion cues and real risk. Method Twenty-two participants responded to four critical transitions on a test track. Non-driving related task modality (reading on a handheld device vs. auditory) and take-over timing (cognitive load) were varied on two levels. We evaluated take-over and NDRT performance as well as gaze behavior. Further, trust and workload were assessed with scales and interviews. Results Reaction times were significantly faster than in simulator studies. Further, reaction times were only barely affected by varying visual, physical, or cognitive load. Post-take-over control was significantly degraded with the handheld device. Experiencing the system reduced participants' distrust, and distrusting participants monitored the system longer and more frequently. NDRTs on a handheld device resulted in more safety-critical situations. Conclusion The results confirm that take-over performance is mainly influenced by visual-cognitive load, while physical load did not significantly affect responses. Future take-over request (TOR) studies may investigate situation awareness and post-take-over control rather than reaction times only. Trust and distrust can be considered as different dimensions in AV research. Application Conditionally AVs should offer dedicated interfaces for NDRTs to provide an alternative to using nomadic devices. These interfaces should be designed in a way to maintain drivers' situation awareness. Précis This paper presents a test track experiment addressing conditionally automated driving systems. Twenty-two participants responded to critical TORs, where we varied NDRT modality and take-over timing. In addition, we assessed trust and workload with standardized scales and interviews.

We sought to provide a quantitative overview of haptic tests, so as to identify what has been done in this area so far and discuss possible avenues for the future design of haptic tests for use with persons with visual impairments. We reviewed 24 haptic psychometric tests, that is, tests performed in the haptic modality, with no reliance on vision. We found that haptics (that is, tactilokinesthetic perception or the sense of active touch) has been used in two different ways: first, to assess nonverbal or practical intelligence, replacing vision in haptic analogs of mainstream tests (for example, tactile adaptations of Wechsler performance scales); second, to assess, per se, the quality of haptic functioning in specialized tests (for example, Tactual Profile, Haptic Test Battery). In both cases, we found that only a limited number of tests had been standardized for children or were developmental tests or both. We also noticed an overwhelming use of 3-D material in the tests, and a general lack of a comparison group (blindfolded sighted participants) during the standardization process. We discuss the usefulness of designing developmental haptic test batteries to assess 2-D haptic functioning in visually impaired and sighted children.

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the accuracy of thoracic radiology as a screening test for congenital heart diseases in dogs, to identify the main contributions and limitations of this modality, and to verify the reproducibility of the evaluations by three observers with different levels of training. An interobserver, observational, retrospective and prospective study was carried out, including ninety dogs: thirty healthy animals, thirty with acquired heart diseases and thirty with congenital heart diseases, which all had thoracic radiographs and a confirmed echocardiographic diagnosis. The cases were separated and randomized by a mediator who did not participate in the reading of the radiographic examinations, and no evaluator had access to the patients' data. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) and accuracy of each observer were calculated in relation to the correct classification of dogs to groups of normal or acquired and congenital heart diseases, as well as identification of enlargement of the cardiac silhouette and large vessels of dogs with congenital heart diseases. Finally, the Kappa coefficient was obtained between the observers to verify the reproducibility of the radiological evaluations performed. In general, sensitivity, PPV and accuracy were unsatisfactory ( 70%), and the agreement ranged from poor to reasonable (between 0 and 0.39). Although greater accuracy was achieved in the differentiation of healthy dogs from those with acquired and congenital heart diseases by thoracic radiography, when compared to the other studies, the modality was able only to identify healthy patients, and could not differentiate the individuals with different forms of heart disease or define the cardiac malformations. In addition, there was low reproducibility between observers, therefore, this technique should not be used as a sole screening method in dogs with suspected congenital heart diseases.

Introduction: The objective of the current study was to design and pilot-test a nonverbal intelligence test for children and adolescents with visual impairment (i.e., blindness and low vision) aged 10 to 16 years. Method: A three-dimensional haptic matrix test of nonverbal cognitive abilities (3-DHMT-CA), initially developed for adults with visual impairment, was adapted and administered to 25 juveniles with severe low vision or blindness and 25 sighted peers. The test consisted of 22 tactual matrices with a missing element, and juveniles were asked to understand the logical scheme underlying each matrix and to complete it. Convergent validity was assessed in the sighted group with the Standard Progressive Matrices. Divergent validity was measured with the Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI) and the Working Memory Index (WMI) of the Italian version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–Fourth Edition. Between-group differences were analyzed with Student's t-test and ANOVA. Results: Results show a high correlation with the convergent measure (with the Standard Progressive Matrices), and the moderate correlations with divergent measures (VCI and WMI). Between-group differences showed significantly higher scores for sighted peers than juveniles with visual impairment at 3-DHMT-CA, and non-significant differences at VCI and WMI. Discussion: This haptic nonverbal cognitive test showed good psychometric properties, but it needs to be validated in a larger sample with a qualitative analysis of solution strategies because juveniles with visual impairment seem to use different verbal and working memory strategies. Implications for Practitioners: The 3-DHMT-CA and the haptic two-hands modality seem to be suitable to test nonverbal cognitive abilities in juveniles with visual impairment. Practitioners should focus on empowering verbal and working memory abilities, since they may affect nonverbal cognitive abilities as well.

Graffiti are increasingly observed on urban and peri-urban buildings and their removal requires a huge financial outlay by local governments and agencies. Graffiti are not usually removed immediately, but rather over the passage of time, viz. months or even years. In this study, which forms part of a wider research project on graffiti removal, different methods (gravimetric analysis, examination of digital images, colour and infrared measurements) were used to evaluate the performance of accelerated ageing tests (involving exposure to humidity, freeze-thawing cycles and NaCl and Na2SO4 salts) for graffiti painted on stone. Silver (metallic) and black (non-metallic) graffiti spray paints were applied to two types of igneous rock (granite and rhyolitic ignimbrite) and one sedimentary rock (fossiliferous limestone, i.e., biocalcarenite). The metallic and non-metallic graffiti spray paints acted differently on the stone surfaces, both chemically and physically. Older graffiti were found to be more vulnerable to weathering agents. The ageing test with NaCl and particularly Na2SO4, both applied to granite, proved the most severe on the paints, yielding more detrimental and faster artificial ageing of the type of material under study ; The authors are grateful to Lucía Naveiro Seijo (University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain), who carried out her degree research on this subject within the BioRemoGraf project. This work was partly financed through grant GRC2014/028 (Xunta de Galicia). Patricia Sanmartín is currently financially supported by a postdoctoral contract within the framework of the 2011–2015 Galician Plan for Research, Innovation and Growth, Plan I2C, Modality B (2016 Call) with the project: "Light4Heritage: Lighting-based strategies to control biological colonization in the built heritage (2016-PG011)" ; SI