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Attentional and working memory processes undergo significant changes during different stages of development. However, currently there are not many Continuous Performance tools based on Virtual Reality (VR) for measuring attentional capacity in adults. The present study aimed to obtain normative data for the Nesplora Aquarium VR test in a Spanish population, looking at sex and age variables. In addition, this study also aimed to analyze the psychometric properties of the tool such as scale, internal consistency and item difficulty and discrimination indices. A total of 1469 participants from different regions of Spain (57.6% female) with ages ranging from 16 to 90 years old took part in this normative study. Nesplora Aquarium was developed in order to support clinicians in the assessment of attentional processes and WM in adults over 16 years old. It is an 18-minute individual test performed through a virtual reality (VR) system. The system provides better visual and auditory immersion in the task than computerized CPTs. This study revealed that the new VR tool, designed to measure adult attention and working memory levels, exhibited good psychometric properties related to reliability and internal consistency. In addition, item difficulty and discrimination values were also acceptable.

No abstract

The most significant finding in this study was that learning potential continued at enhanced levels in trained subjects over an intervention period lasting two years, thereby increasing rehabilitation potential and contributing to successful ageing.

The reparameterization of two classic growth models (the logistic and Gompertz equations), and the dynamic modification of the integrated form of the first of these, was applied to the description of the kinetics and metabolic behaviour of six strains of lactic acid bacteria in four media: three of these from visceral waste from fishing products, and one commercial medium. The descriptions obtained -always consistent models and statistically significant parameters- provided a wide range of reliable numerical values on notable characteristics of microbial growth and bioproductions, which allowed the assessment of the individual systems by direct comparison, and also the suggesting of the potentially most suitable groups (of species of fish and of bacteria) for bio-silage processes.