The assessment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in children using continous performance tasks in virtual environments

The assessment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) involves the use of different instruments, and one of the most frequently used is the Continuous Performance Test (CPT). Virtual reality allows for the achieving of the presentation of stimuli with high levels of control. In addition, it facilitates the presentation of distracters with a high level of resemblance to elements which in fact can be found in the real world by placing them in a similar context. Thus, it is possible to assume that a higher ecological validity can be found in CPT tests performed in this manner as compared to the traditional CPT test. During the last years Rizzo developed a virtual reality based CPT called "the Virtual Classroom". Several studies show that "Virtual Classroom" is an effective measure to identify attention difficulties in children with ADHD. Our research team developed a virtual CPT, similar to the "Virtual Classroom", that allows to execute four different tasks: an auditory task with non-distractive stimuli, an auditory task with distractive stimuli, a visual task with non-distractive stimuli and a visual task with distractive stimuli. In this study, we offer additional data supporting the validity of using this type of technology for the assessment of ADHD

Evaluación del Trastorno por Déficit de Atención con Hiperactividad en niños mediante tareas de ejecución contínua en entornos virtuales

The assessment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) involves the use of different instruments, and one of the most frequently used is the Continuous Performance Test (CPT). Virtual reality allows for the achieving of the presentation of stimuli with high levels of control. In addition, it facilitates the presentation of distracters with a high level of resemblance to elements which in fact can be found in the real world by placing them in a similar context. Thus, it is possible to assume that a higher ecological validity can be found in CPT tests performed in this manner as compared to the traditional CPT test. During the last years Rizzo developed a virtual reality based CPT called “the Virtual Classroom”. Several studies show that “Virtual Classroom” is an effective measure to identify attention difficulties in children with ADHD. Our research team developed a virtual CPT, similar to the “Virtual Classroom”, that allows to execute four different tasks: an auditory task with non-distractive stimuli, an auditory task with distractive stimuli, a visual task with non-distractive stimuli and a visual task with distractive stimuli. In this study, we offer additional data supporting the validity of using this type of technology for the assessment of ADHD.Uno de los instrumentos más empleados para la evaluación del Trastorno por Déficit de Atención con Hiperactividad (TDAH) es el Test de Ejecución Continua (CPT). Utilizando realidad virtual es posible presentar estímulos con un elevado grado de control, y algunos de ellos pueden ejercer la función de distractores muy similares a los que se encuentran en la realidad. Por ello cabe pensar que las pruebas CPT realizadas mediante realidad virtual pueden tener un mayor grado de validez ecológica que las que se realizan de modo tradicional. Durante los últimos años Rizzo ha desarrollado una prueba CPT denominada “Virtual Classroom” que puede ser presentada mediante realidad virtual, y diferentes estudios han encontrado que es un procedimiento eficaz y válido para evaluar el déficit de atención en niños con TDAH. Nuestro equipo de investigación ha desarrollado una prueba CPT virtual similar, mediante la que es posible aplicar cuatro tipos de tareas de ejecución continua: visuales y auditivas con y sin distractores. En este estudio se ofrecen datos adicionales que confirmar la validez de este tipo de pruebas para la evaluación de las dificultades atencionales

Evaluación del Trastorno por Déficit de Atención con Hiperactividad en niños mediante tareas de ejecución contínua en entornos virtuales

The assessment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) involves the use of different instruments, and one of the most frequently used is the Continuous Performance Test (CPT). Virtual reality allows for the achieving of the presentation of stimuli with high levels of control. In addition, it facilitates the presentation of distracters with a high level of resemblance to elements which in fact can be found in the real world by placing them in a similar context. Thus, it is possible to assume that a higher ecological validity can be found in CPT tests performed in this manner as compared to the traditional CPT test. During the last years Rizzo developed a virtual reality based CPT called “the Virtual Classroom”. Several studies show that “Virtual Classroom” is an effective measure to identify attention difficulties in children with ADHD. Our research team developed a virtual CPT, similar to the “Virtual Classroom”, that allows to execute four different tasks: an auditory task with non-distractive stimuli, an auditory task with distractive stimuli, a visual task with non-distractive stimuli and a visual task with distractive stimuli. In this study, we offer additional data supporting the validity of using this type of technology for the assessment of ADHD.Uno de los instrumentos más empleados para la evaluación del Trastorno por Déficit de Atención con Hiperactividad (TDAH) es el Test de Ejecución Continua (CPT). Utilizando realidad virtual es posible presentar estímulos con un elevado grado de control, y algunos de ellos pueden ejercer la función de distractores muy similares a los que se encuentran en la realidad. Por ello cabe pensar que las pruebas CPT realizadas mediante realidad virtual pueden tener un mayor grado de validez ecológica que las que se realizan de modo tradicional.Durante los últimos años Rizzo ha desarrollado una prueba CPT denominada “Virtual Classroom” que puede ser presentada mediante realidad virtual, y diferentes estudios han encontrado que es un procedimiento eficaz y válido para evaluar el déficit de atención en niños con TDAH. Nuestro equipo de investigación ha desarrollado una prueba CPT virtual similar, mediante la que es posible aplicar cuatro tipos de tareas de ejecución continua: visuales y auditivas con y sin distractores. En este estudio se ofrecen datos adicionales que confirmar la validez de este tipo de pruebas para la evaluación de las dificultades atencionales

University Culture: An Analysis at the Level of Research and Educational units (using the Competing Values Framework)

The aim of the present study was to investigate the current organizational culture in one large Romanian university, using the Competing Values Framework (CVF). Specifically, we aimed to identify the current overall culture profile and the cultural dominant dimensions at the level of the education and research units. The data was provided by 898 participants, coming from 96 teaching and research units, using a paper-and-pencil form of the ipsative Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument, Part 1. The data was analysed at the level of the organizational units. The results indicated that the overall culture profile of the analysed units comprises a combination of the four cultures, with the predominance of the values of bureaucratic and human relations/clan cultures. This profile was not fully invariant across the six dimensions of the organizational culture: (1). dominant characteristics; (2). organizational leadership; (3). management of employees; (4). organizational glue; (5). strategic emphases, and (6). success criteria. The predominance of the values of bureaucratic and human relations/clan cultures is confirmed in three of the six cultural dimension profiles, namely, the organizational leadership, strategic emphases, and success criteria

Working as a Healthcare Professional and Wellbeing During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Work Recovery Experiences and Need for Recovery as Mediators

Considering the high impact strain that the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has put on medical personnel worldwide, identifying means to alleviate stress on healthcare professionals and to boost their subjective and psychological wellbeing is more relevant than ever. This study investigates the extent to which the relationships between the status of working in healthcare and the subjective and psychological wellbeing are serially mediated by work recovery experiences and the need for recovery. Data were collected from 217 Romanian employees (44 health professionals and 173 employees from other domains) using a cross-sectional design with self-report instruments, during the first stage of the nationwide lockdown. The results of the serial mediation analyses revealed that working in the medical field is indirectly related to subjective and psychological wellbeing through the following: (i) mastery experiences and (ii) mastery experiences as an antecedent of the need for recovery. As such, our findings indicate that (i) working in the medical field is, in fact, linked to healthcare professionals' subjective and psychological wellbeing, and they provide some input on (ii) how recovery experiences and the need for recovery intervene in these relationships. Based on these findings, theoretical, methodological, and practical implications were suggested, and future research directions were proposed to maximize healthcare professionals' wellbeing

Methodology for measuring the seismic effects generated by quarry blasting works

Exploitation of useful mineral substances by surface works is an important branch of mining activity. For rocks of low strength or weak aggregation, the method of extraction by mechanical means (excavators of various types, draglines) is successfully applied, but for rocks of medium and high strength, aggregated with or without cracks, or other geological anomalies, the method of extraction generalized exploitation is that by drilling-blasting, using explosives appropriate to the field conditions and correlated according to the technical possibilities and the geometry of the work. One of the major disadvantages to the technologies where drillingblasting works are applied is the generation of seismic waves, which will propagate after the detonation of the charges. In the common situation, where in the area of operation are civilian or industrial targets, that need to be protected, it is important to monitor these effects by performing seismic measurements and then processing the data to adjust the blasting technique in order to reduce these seismic waves in intensity, but while maintaining adequate performance parameters. The paper presents the methodology based on technical-scientific principles for performing these measurements, applied to surface exploitation