269 results match your criteria: "Merrimack College[Affiliation]"

School Meals for All: A Qualitative Study Exploring Lessons in Successful Advocacy and Policymaking in Maine and California.

J Acad Nutr Diet

December 2024

Department of Public Health and Nutrition, Merrimack College, North Andover, Massachusetts; Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic focused national attention on food insecurity, equity, and the role of school meal programs in supporting children, families, and communities. In doing so, the pandemic created a rare policy window-an opportunity to advance a longstanding public health goal of guaranteed access to free school meals for all students. In July 2021, California and Maine became the first states to authorize school meal for all legislation (also known as universal free meals).

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Introduction: Prior studies have investigated the diagnostic potential of microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles for endometriosis. However, the vast majority of previous studies have only included adult women. Therefore, we sought to investigate differential expression of miRNAs among adolescents and young adults with endometriosis.

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A Window of Opportunity: Radical Versus Repurposing Innovation Under Conditions of Environmental Uncertainty and Crisis.

IEEE Trans Eng Manag

June 2023

Department of Marketing, Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the Department of Management, Manning School of Business, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854 USA.

In this article, we extend the innovation literature by examining how firms respond to crisis, specifically exogenous crises. At their early onset, crises may represent a window of opportunity for innovation, but it is not equally allocated across firms. We created a unique database of 636 biopharmaceutical firms, from 24 countries and territories, developing innovative treatments during the early outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis to study this phenomenon.

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Lead (Pb) induces oxidative stress in plants, which results in different responses, including the production of antioxidants and changes in the profile of secondary metabolites. In this study, the responses of Scrophularia striata exposed to 250mgL-1 Pb (NO3 )2 in a hydroponic environment were determined. Growth parameters, oxidative and antioxidative responses, redox status, and the concentration of Pb were analysed in roots and shoots.

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Objective: To evaluate if parent perceptions of school meals influence student participation.

Design: In May 2022, an online survey was used to evaluate parents' perceptions of school meals and their children's participation.

Participants: A total of 1,110 California parents of kindergarten through 12th-grade students.

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Three experiments were conducted examining whether an artificially selected "gold" color variant in female "models" affects mate choice copying behavior in sailfin mollies (Poecilia latipinna). Experiment I consisted of a pair of female preference assays, first assessing preference for male body size, followed by a mate choice copying assay that paired a model female with the smaller, non-preferred male from the initial preference test. Female subjects were divided into three groups that used either a wildtype female model, an artificially selected "gold" variant (cultivated within the aquarium fish trade) model, or control wherein no model was presented.

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Silver nanoparticles in plant health: Physiological response to phytotoxicity and oxidative stress.

Plant Physiol Biochem

April 2024

Laboratory of Bioclimatology, Department of Ecology and Environmental Protection, Poznan University of Life Sciences, Piątkowska 94, 60-649, Poznań, Poland.

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have gained significant attention in various fields due to their unique properties, but their release into the environment has raised concerns about their environmental and biological impacts. Silver nanoparticles can enter plants following their exposure to roots or via stomata following foliar exposure. Upon penetrating the plant cells, AgNPs interact with cellular components and alter physiological and biochemical processes.

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Background: Youth with intellectual disabilities experience disparities in physical activity and diet quality. Physical and food literacy are hypothesised to support adoption of healthy lifestyles; however, few such interventions have been developed for this population.

Method: Participants with intellectual disabilities ages 12-16 years were recruited for a 12-week online sports skills and nutrition education intervention.

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Bacteriophage Rummer is a siphovirus morphology actinophage isolated from . Rummer has a 50,908 base pair genome encoding 89 predicted protein-coding genes and three tRNAs. Based on gene content similarity to sequenced actinobacteriophages, Rummer is assigned to phage subcluster A3.

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Article Synopsis
  • Over four million women in the US have endometriosis, a painful condition, and many need better ways to manage their pain besides surgery and hormones.
  • The study looked at how women of different ages use methods like sleep, music, and exercise to cope with their pain.
  • Results showed that younger girls (under 18) tend to rely more on sleep and music, while exercise often makes pain worse for them compared to older women.
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Participation in the US Department of Agriculture's Summer Meal Programs: 2019-2021.

J Sch Health

July 2024

Rudd Center for Food Policy & Health, University of Connecticut, Hartford, CT; Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA.

Background: The US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) summer meal programs are designed to provide meals at no cost while school is out of session. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, several regulatory waivers were enacted to facilitate meal distribution. The aim of this study was to assess the rates of meal distribution before and after these waivers were in effect.

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Competitive Foods' Nutritional Quality and Compliance with Smart Snacks Standards: An Analysis of a National Sample of U.S. Middle and High Schools.

Nutrients

January 2024

Center for Health Inclusion, Research and Practice (CHIRP), Department of Nutrition and Public Health, Merrimack College, 315 Turnpike Street, North Andover, MA 01845, USA.

Snacks and beverages are often sold in addition to meals in U.S. schools ("competitive foods"), but their current nutritional quality and compliance with national Smart Snacks standards are unknown.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study investigates how an 8-week peer health coaching program enhances cultural competence (CC) among future health professionals, focusing on both student coaches and their clients.
  • - Results indicated a measurable increase in clients' perceptions of their coaches' cultural competence from pre- to post-intervention, highlighting the effectiveness of the program.
  • - Qualitative feedback identified three key themes: differing awareness levels, the importance of respectful and culturally responsive coaching, and fostering cultural connections during the coaching process.
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Background: Peritoneal fluid is a medium for endometriosis-associated biomarker discovery from which the local peritoneal environment and pathophysiologic pathways are often inferred. Therefore, we evaluated the associations between peritoneal fluid color and volume at time of endometriosis-related laparoscopic surgery with patient characteristics, endometriosis type and lesion location in adolescents and young adults with endometriosis.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis among 545 patients undergoing surgery for endometriosis who enrolled in the Women's Health Study: from Adolescence to Adulthood cohort study.

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Objective: Human error estimating food intake is a major source of bias in nutrition research. Artificial intelligence (AI) methods may reduce bias, but the overall accuracy of AI estimates is unknown. This study was a systematic review of peer-reviewed journal articles comparing fully automated AI-based (e.

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Little is known about the lived experience of the dyad following a fetal death and the impact on relationships. The purpose of this paper is to explore the dyadic relationship between partners, with health care providers, and with the baby's memory after birth. This qualitative study utilized hermeneutic phenomenology.

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Daily Saturated Fat and Sodium Content of Elementary School Meals in a Large Sample of 128 Geographically Diverse School Systems in the United States.

J Acad Nutr Diet

March 2024

Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Nutrition and Public Health, Merrimack College, North Andover, Massachusetts; Center for Health Inclusion, Research, and Practice, Merrimack College, North Andover, Massachusetts.

Background: Despite federal regulations limiting saturated fat and sodium levels on a weekly average basis, daily nutrient content of school meals in the United States is not regulated, leading to potential large fluctuations and intake well in excess of dietary recommendations.

Objective: To assess the daily prevalence of potential public elementary school meal combinations that were high in saturated fat and sodium (using cutoffs based on the US Department of Agriculture weekly average reimbursable meal thresholds), and to identify saturated fat and sodium thresholds for entrées to limit full meals exceeding those cutoffs.

Design: Cross-sectional.

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Pregnancy and birth is often a joyous period for a dyad. In the instance of fetal death, however, dyads are met with a devastating loss of their child, the hope for the future, and the new reality of becoming a bereaved parent. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the lived experience of the dyad following a fetal death and capture the essence of the grief journey.

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STAT3 modulates CD4 T mitochondrial dynamics and function in aging.

Aging Cell

November 2023

Department of Nutrition and Public Health, Merrimack College, North Andover, Massachusetts, USA.

Aging promotes numerous intracellular changes in T cells that impact their effector function. Our data show that aging promotes an increase in the localization of STAT3 to the mitochondria (mitoSTAT3), which promotes changes in mitochondrial dynamics and function and T-cell cytokine production. Mechanistically, mitoSTAT3 increased the activity of aging T-cell mitochondria by increasing complex II.

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Introduction: Significantly fewer children participate in the U.S. Department of Agriculture-sponsored summer meal programs than in the federal school meal programs during the academic year.

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A pilot study of light exposure as a countermeasure for menstrual phase-dependent neurobehavioral performance impairment in women.

Sleep Health

February 2024

Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders, Departments of Medicine and Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Division of Sleep Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Objective: To examine effects of menstrual phase and nighttime light exposure on subjective sleepiness and auditory Psychomotor Vigilance Task performance.

Methods: Twenty-nine premenopausal women (12 =Follicular; 17 =Luteal) completed a 6.5-hour nighttime monochromatic light exposure with varying wavelengths (420-620 nm) and irradiances (1.

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Parental and Child Factors Associated With Internet Addiction in Children.

West J Nurs Res

November 2023

College of Nursing, Research Institute of Nursing Science, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea.

Background: Internet addiction has negative effects on psychological development, interpersonal relationships, and social adaptation in 10-year-old elementary school students.

Objective: This study aimed to identify parental and child characteristics related to Internet addiction in lower-grade elementary school children.

Methods: This study used a secondary data analysis.

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GamerFit-ASD beta test: adapting an evidence-based exergaming and telehealth coaching intervention for autistic youth.

Front Pediatr

September 2023

Department of Nutrition and Public Health, School of Nursing and Health Sciences, Merrimack College, North Andover, MA, United States.

Background: Health disparities faced by autistic youth are exacerbated by inadequate physical activity (PA) and sleep, whereas healthy PA and sleep may improve mood and function. Adaptive Game Squad (AGS) is an evidence-based telehealth coaching and exergaming intervention to improve PA and sleep for adolescents with diverse neurodevelopmental and psychiatric conditions. This study aimed to adapt AGS for autistic youth ages 10-15 years; beta-test the modified intervention for feasibility, accessibility, and engagement; and further refine the intervention for a larger planned demonstration pilot.

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Background: People with neurological conditions (NCs) engage in physical activity (PA) at a lower rate than those without disabilities. Physical therapists (PTs) are positioned to provide PA promotion; however, less is known about the consistency of promoting PA for their patients with NC.

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the frequency of PA promotion of PTs who treat patients with NC, the factors associated with PA promotion, and the types of PA promotion used.

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