Tubular Daylighting Devices and People: A comparison of the human responses to Tubular Daylighting Devices and fluorescent lighting

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
James Sullivan

<p>Tubular Daylighting Devices are used to bring daylight into deep-plan spaces, and meet sustainability goals. However, they are expensive, and justification for their use lies in hypothesised benefits they can provide in areas such as well-being and productivity. Yet, there is very little research into the effects of Tubular Daylighting Devices. The broader daylighting literature suggests that benefits to satisfaction, mood, and performance are possible — though research into the benefits of daylight is still not conclusive.  Therefore, a before and after study was carried out in a windowless computer room in the university to compare how the students responded under TDDs versus typical electric lighting. Their cognitive performance, change in mood, average sleepiness, and perceptions of the room and lighting were measured.  TDDs significantly increased ratings of room attractiveness and brightness, and had no more perceived glare than the electric lighting. Ratings of lighting quality were on a par with both typical electric lighting and good modern lighting. They were also just as effective on overcast days as sunny. No effects were found on performance or sleepiness, and mood results were inconclusive.  Overall, it is suggested that TDDs can be considered to be on a par with good modern lighting, and superior to typical existing lighting. Note, however, that it is possible that effects in rooms with windows could differ from those found here. Further research should use longer exposures and larger sample sizes if they wish to find performance effects.</p>

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
James Sullivan

<p>Tubular Daylighting Devices are used to bring daylight into deep-plan spaces, and meet sustainability goals. However, they are expensive, and justification for their use lies in hypothesised benefits they can provide in areas such as well-being and productivity. Yet, there is very little research into the effects of Tubular Daylighting Devices. The broader daylighting literature suggests that benefits to satisfaction, mood, and performance are possible — though research into the benefits of daylight is still not conclusive.  Therefore, a before and after study was carried out in a windowless computer room in the university to compare how the students responded under TDDs versus typical electric lighting. Their cognitive performance, change in mood, average sleepiness, and perceptions of the room and lighting were measured.  TDDs significantly increased ratings of room attractiveness and brightness, and had no more perceived glare than the electric lighting. Ratings of lighting quality were on a par with both typical electric lighting and good modern lighting. They were also just as effective on overcast days as sunny. No effects were found on performance or sleepiness, and mood results were inconclusive.  Overall, it is suggested that TDDs can be considered to be on a par with good modern lighting, and superior to typical existing lighting. Note, however, that it is possible that effects in rooms with windows could differ from those found here. Further research should use longer exposures and larger sample sizes if they wish to find performance effects.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
James Sullivan

<p>Tubular Daylighting Devices are used to bring daylight into deep-plan spaces, and meet sustainability goals. However, they are expensive, and justification for their use lies in hypothesised benefits they can provide in areas such as well-being and productivity. Yet, there is very little research into the effects of Tubular Daylighting Devices. The broader daylighting literature suggests that benefits to satisfaction, mood, and performance are possible — though research into the benefits of daylight is still not conclusive.  Therefore, a before and after study was carried out in a windowless computer room in the university to compare how the students responded under TDDs versus typical electric lighting. Their cognitive performance, change in mood, average sleepiness, and perceptions of the room and lighting were measured.  TDDs significantly increased ratings of room attractiveness and brightness, and had no more perceived glare than the electric lighting. Ratings of lighting quality were on a par with both typical electric lighting and good modern lighting. They were also just as effective on overcast days as sunny. No effects were found on performance or sleepiness, and mood results were inconclusive.  Overall, it is suggested that TDDs can be considered to be on a par with good modern lighting, and superior to typical existing lighting. Note, however, that it is possible that effects in rooms with windows could differ from those found here. Further research should use longer exposures and larger sample sizes if they wish to find performance effects.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
James Sullivan

<p>Tubular Daylighting Devices are used to bring daylight into deep-plan spaces, and meet sustainability goals. However, they are expensive, and justification for their use lies in hypothesised benefits they can provide in areas such as well-being and productivity. Yet, there is very little research into the effects of Tubular Daylighting Devices. The broader daylighting literature suggests that benefits to satisfaction, mood, and performance are possible — though research into the benefits of daylight is still not conclusive.  Therefore, a before and after study was carried out in a windowless computer room in the university to compare how the students responded under TDDs versus typical electric lighting. Their cognitive performance, change in mood, average sleepiness, and perceptions of the room and lighting were measured.  TDDs significantly increased ratings of room attractiveness and brightness, and had no more perceived glare than the electric lighting. Ratings of lighting quality were on a par with both typical electric lighting and good modern lighting. They were also just as effective on overcast days as sunny. No effects were found on performance or sleepiness, and mood results were inconclusive.  Overall, it is suggested that TDDs can be considered to be on a par with good modern lighting, and superior to typical existing lighting. Note, however, that it is possible that effects in rooms with windows could differ from those found here. Further research should use longer exposures and larger sample sizes if they wish to find performance effects.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Bertrams ◽  
Myriam Zäch

Social anxiety (alternatively: social-contact uncertainty) in the university context can lead to reduced health, well-being, and performance, and can even cause premature leaving of education. With the present study, we intended to supplement cross-sectional studies on students' autistic traits and social anxiety with longitudinal findings. We measured autistic traits and social-contact uncertainty of 118 university students on two occasions, roughly 1 year apart. Correlation, multiple regression, and cross-lagged analyses showed that more pronounced autistic traits predicted higher future social-contact uncertainty. Social-contact uncertainty did not predict autistic traits. We conclude that university students who are high in autistic traits tend not only to be more socially anxious at the moment but have a heightened risk of still being so in the future.


2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 76
Author(s):  
Said Nasser Al Harthy ◽  
Najla Al Subhi ◽  
Cyruz Tuppal ◽  
Mark Donald Reñosa

Purpose: This systematic review aimed to provide available evidence in determining for the effectiveness of IPE as a modality in developing interprofessional learning environment for healthcare students.Methods: The computerized searches from 2009-2015 in ten electronic databases were performed. Two independent reviewers were consulted to assess the eligibility, level of evidences and methodological quality in each study. Result: nine out of ten studies were retrieved. These studies include (a) two RCT studies; scored eight and seven out of eight, (b) Three quasi-experimental pretestposttest design; scored seven, six, and six out of eight, (c) Three controlled before and after study; scored six, six, five and five out of eight, and (d) one controlled longitudinal; scored six out of eight respectively.Conclusion: Based on the systematic review, evidence showed that IPE was effective in building strong interprofessional learning environment. On the other hand, the authors recommend considering conduct of similar systematic review grounded on IPE with larger sample size within the health allied discipline.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew P. Allen ◽  
Andrew P. Smith

Recent evidence has indicated that chewing gum can enhance attention, as well as promoting well-being and work performance. Four studies (two experiments and two intervention studies) examined the robustness of and mechanisms for these effects. Study 1 investigated the acute effect of gum on mood in the absence of task performance. Study 2 examined the effect of rate and force of chewing on mood and attention performance. Study 3 assessed the effects of chewing gum during one working day on well-being and performance, as well as postwork mood and cognitive performance. In Study 4, performance and well-being were reported throughout the workday and at the end of the day, and heart rate and cortisol were measured. Under experimental conditions, gum was associated with higher alertness regardless of whether performance tasks were completed and altered sustained attention. Rate of chewing and subjective force of chewing did not alter mood but had some limited effects on attention. Chewing gum during the workday was associated with higher productivity and fewer cognitive problems, raised cortisol levels in the morning, and did not affect heart rate. The results emphasise that chewing gum can attenuate reductions in alertness, suggesting that chewing gum enhances worker performance.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel M. Blumberg ◽  
Luciano Giromini ◽  
Konstantinos Papazoglou ◽  
A. Renee Thornton

First responders experience a myriad of stressors (e.g., operational, organizational, personal) over the course of their career. An abundance of empirical evidence shows that the impact of those stressors on first responders’ health, well-being, and performance can be detrimental. Nevertheless, previous research has mainly focused on the role of a specific technique (e.g., mindfulness, breathing exercises, psychoeducation) towards the promotion of well-being among first responders. This allows us to explore the role of a single technique in supporting first responders. However, given the complexity of stressors experienced by this population, it appears that a synergistic role of multileveled intervention is imperative to promote lasting improvement in first responders’ well-being. To this end, The HEROES Project, an eight-week online training program, was developed to address the aforementioned gap in the literature. The HEROES Project incorporates lessons that aim to build a cluster of skills that together promote first responders’ wellbeing. In the present study, a sample of first responders (n = 124) from the US Midwest were recruited and completed The HEROES Project. They were assessed before and after completion of the program, and then follow-up measurements were obtained for two years following the baseline assessment. Results showed that participants with higher distress and lower psychological resources before the training benefited most from The HEROES Project, but that the training significantly improved psychological capital and reduced stress, depression, anxiety, and trauma symptoms for all participants. Clinical and training implications as well as future research directions are discussed.


1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 571-579 ◽  
Author(s):  
Violet Kalyan-Masih ◽  
Eileen Curry

For 31 white preschool children of the University Child Development Laboratory and their parents measures given were Piagetian tasks for cognitive performance and Coate's Preschool Embedded Figures Test for cognitive style and a demographic questionnaire for parents. Pearson correlations of cognitive performance with cognitive style of young children and performance differences by children's sex and age, and parental income were estimated. Significant values between cognitive performance and cognitive style were noted. No significant differences by sex of children or by parental income were found. Developmental differences by age of children were noted for both cognitive performance and style. Possible value of such information for parents and teachers was suggested.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Hu ◽  
N Muhlert ◽  
N Robertson ◽  
M Winter

AbstractBackgroundFatigue is a common and disabling symptom in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) with a variety of direct and indirect influences, but remains poorly understood. Performance-based and self-report measures of fatigue are only weakly correlated and may have independent predictors. We adopted a multifactorial approach, utilising a measure of concurrent cognitive performance change in order to examine the clinical, psychological, and cognitive factors influencing subjective and objective fatigue in MS.MethodsSixty-one people with MS were assessed. Subjective fatigue was measured using the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale, Fatigue Assessment Instrument, and a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). The Conners Continuous Performance Test 3 (CCPT3) and VAS were administered before and after two hours of cognitive testing, representing a period of cognitive effort. The differences in scores formed measures of objective performance fatigue and subjective fatigue change, respectively. We examined differences across baseline fatigue, fatigue change and performance change classifications, using regression analysis to uncover predictors of subjective fatigue and performance change.Table 1.Demographic and clinical features of the sampleResultsDepression, sleep, and emotion-focused coping each predicted baseline fatigue and together explained 53.5% of variance. Increased subjective fatigue was linked with anxiety, lower self-efficacy and gender. Cognitive performance change on the CCPT3 was however predicted by estimated general cognitive ability, self-efficacy and post-intervention fatigue.ConclusionSubjective fatigue in MS is a multifactorial construct, with subjective and objective cognitive performance fatigue largely influenced by indirect psychological and cognitive factors. The varying factors driving subjective and objective fatigue suggest that future studies need to take into account these disparate aspects when developing fatigue assessment tools. Targeting influential fatigue drivers such as psychological variables, and even using gender specific interventions may have the potential to improve the burden of fatigue and quality of life of people with MS.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Lucy Dornonville Delacour

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] While normative success may be the most tangible measure of athletes' sport experience and coaches' success rates, it is imperative that the interpersonal dynamic not be forgotten (Jowett, 2005; Jowett and Poczwardowski, 2007). This interpersonal dynamic is grounded in a coach's coaching style, either controlling or autonomy-supportive. The communication that a coach uses is indicative of this style and significantly influences athlete well-being, motivation, behavior, and performance (Ryan and Deci, 2002). In all, data in this study was collected from twelve participants, nine collegiate gymnasts and three coaches, through both interviews and practice observations. Findings indicate a reciprocal interaction between coach-athlete communication and the development of the coach-athlete relationship. Athletes preferred a feedback style hereby termed activeconstructive instruction (ACI). Through the encouragement of athlete input, ACI presents coaches with a method of authentically providing athletes with autonomy as well as increasing their feelings of competence in their ability to accurately evaluate and correct their own performances. The utilization of the components of ACI also led athletes to garner a greater sense of care and respect from their coaches, thereby strengthening the coach-athlete relationship. As the relationship developed, the athletes felt their coaches were more adept at providing them with individualized feedback and meeting their own specific needs within the sport environment. Furthermore, the development of a strong coach-athlete relationship led the athletes to perceive greater sport enjoyment, motivation, and, ultimately, performance. These findings speak to the importance of both coach-athlete communication and the coach-athlete relationship in the pursuit of high performance and the maintenance of athlete well-being.


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