Continuous coloured light altered human brain haemodynamics and oxygenation assessed by systemic physiology augmented functional near-infrared spectroscopy

Exposure to artificial coloured light is unavoidable in our modern life, but we are only just beginning to understand the impact of coloured light on human physiology. The aim of the present study was to determine effects of coloured light exposure on human systemic and brain physiology using systemic physiology augmented functional near-infrared spectroscopy (SPA-fNIRS). We measured changes in haemoglobin concentrations and tissue oxygen saturation in the left and right prefrontal cortices (L-PFC, R-PFC) by fNIRS, and also recorded skin conductance (SC), partial pressure of end-tidal CO₂ (P_ETCO₂), and heart-rate variability variables. 17 healthy adults (median age: 29 years, range: 25–65 years, 6 women) were exposed to blue, red, green, or yellow light for 10 minutes. Pre-light and post-light conditions were in darkness. In the L-PFC the yellow evoked a brain activation. SC and P_ETCO₂ did not change during any of the coloured light exposures, but SC increased and P_ETCO₂ decreased for all colours (except green) in the post-light period. Changes in L-PFC haemoglobin concentration were also observed during the post-light period but have to be interpreted with care, because heart rate and SC increased while P_ETCO₂ decreased. The detected effects are potentially of high relevance for choosing room lighting and may possibly be applied therapeutically.

Measuring Noncognitive Factors Related to College Student Outcomes: Development and Initial Construct Validation of the Student Strengths Inventory

This study describes the development and initial construct validation of the Student Strengths Inventory (SSI), a brief measure of noncognitive variables previously found to be related to college student outcomes. A sample of 760 first-year college students completed an initial item pool in addition to a lengthier, established noncognitive assessment tool with similar constructs. Results support a 48-item, six-factor measure with the following scales: Academic Self-efficacy, Academic Engagement, Campus Engagement, Resiliency, Social Comfort, and Educational Commitment. The SSI demonstrates good internal consistency reliability and construct validity. Future research is needed to examine the predictive validity of the SSI subscales with respect to academic performance and persistence. Practice implications include providing individualized feedback to students on their noncognitive strengths and weaknesses and helping them set goals for their academic success. Moreover, the results of the SSI can inform interventions at the individual, group, and institutional level.

Leadership in Division 17

Themes of Division 17 presidential addresses from 1984to 2002, published in The Counseling Psychologist , were examined using a grounded theory approach. Sorting and coding of the data yielded six major categories: distinctiveness of counseling psychology, disappointments/missed opportunities, successes, foundations of counseling psychology, outside influences, and future recommendations. Review of the coding provided identification of underlying dimensions. Specifically, the connections that emerged from the qualitative analysis are explained using a grid with “identity” on a temporal x-axis (from who we are to who we want to be) and “actions” on a functional y-axis (from internal to the division to externally focused). The combined messages or stories of the Division 17 presidents may provide insight into the forces that have influenced counseling psychology over the last 2 decades.

Houston, 2001

This article presents an overview of the Houston 2001 National Counseling Psychology Conference. The authors discuss the context for the 4th National Counseling Psychology Conference, documentthe process of decision makingaboutthe conference, andexamine the content of the conference. The authors also examine a unique feature of the conference, the social action groups, discussing their philosophical underpinnings as well as how they were organized, what took place, and recommendations drawn from the groups. The authors evaluatethe outcomes of the Houston Conference andalso assess the conference within the context of the legacy of the three other counseling psychology conferences held at Northwestern University in 1951, in the Greyston Conference Center at Teachers College in 1964, and in Atlanta in 1987. Finally, the authors make recommendations for the field to move the conference’s initiatives forward and plan for future conferences.

The Relationship Between Interests and Values in Career Decision Making

Personal attributes such as interests and values are typically combined as part of an integrated career assessment to help clients examine, clarify, and integrate self-knowledge. Although most researchers agree there should be some relationship between these constructs, the empirical evidence is scarce and yields mixed results. The relationships between career interests (as measured by the Choices Interest Profiler) and work values (as measured by the Choices Work Value Sorter) were examined in this study using a sample of 57,032 individuals. Results showed good internal consistency reliabilities for career interests (all αs above .93), but extremely poor internal consistency reliabilities for work values (five of the six were negative). The low reliabilities for work values were due to the ideographic model for measuring work values. It is proposed that measuring work values nomothetically (as abilities and interests are measured) would improve the psychometric properties of values scales and make them more useful in career guidance. As would be expected, the correlations between career interests and work values were all close to zero.

Factors that predict bleeding following endoscopic mucosal resection of large colonic lesions

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS

Endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) for large colonic laterally spreading tumors (LSTs) is a safe, efficacious, and cost-effective treatment. The most common serious complication is delayed bleeding, which reduces these advantages, but consensus guidelines for large-polyp EMR do not exist.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Data from two large prospective intention-to-treat studies of EMR for colonic LSTs 20 mm or greater in size were analyzed. Data collection was comprehensive, and included patient and lesion characteristics. EMR technique and cessation of anticoagulant and antiplatelet therapy was standardized. Clinically significant delayed bleeding was defined as that requiring hospital admission.

RESULTS

EMR was performed on 302 lesions in 288 patients. There was clinically significant delayed bleeding in 21 cases (7 %). Ten underwent colonoscopy. One required angiography. One required surgery after perforation following hemostatic clip placement. There were no deaths. Risk factors for bleeding on multivariate analysis were right colon location [adjusted odds ratio (OR) 4.4, P = 0.01], use of aspirin (OR 6.3, P = 0.005), and age (OR per decade of age 1.70). All bleeds occurred before aspirin was restarted. Patient characteristics, including ASA grade and co-morbidity type, were not predictive. Despite requiring more complex EMR, larger lesion size ( P = 0.2), multiple excisions rather than en bloc resection ( P = 0.1), polyp morphology ( P = 0.2), and previous attempts ( P = 0.5), were not associated with increased risk.

CONCLUSIONS

Proximal lesion location is a highly significant risk for clinically significant delayed bleeding following colonic EMR, and this knowledge could form the basis of a targeted therapeutic trial. Recent aspirin use also increases bleeding risk--specific consensus guidelines in this area are required for colonic EMR.