The Association Between Fruit and Vegetable Consumption and Mental Health Among Young Adults

While the majority of the American population is aware that fruits and vegetables can improve physical health, research also suggests that mental health may benefits as well. With depression and anxiety rates increasing and fruit and vegetable consumption decreasing across the country there is potential that the two are related. It has been found that majority of American adults do not meet fruit and vegetable recommendations, while 16 million adults face depression and anxiety. Young adults reported the lowest amount of fruit and vegetable consumption, as well as some of the highest rates of depression and anxiety. The purpose of the current study was to find if there is a relationship between fruit and vegetable consumption and mental health in young adults. The study gathered data on 113 American young adults, ages 18-25, and their recorded food intake and mental health using validated questionnaires and nutrition tools. The findings show a positive relationship between fruit intake and self-esteem, a negative correlation between fruit intake and cognitive dysregulation and lastly, a positive correlation between total fruit and vegetable intake and self-esteem. These findings support existing literature in that there is a correlation between fruit and vegetable consumption and mental health in young adults

Formative Assessment as a Method to Improve Student Performance in the Sciences

This study focused on utilizing formative assessment to shape student understanding and teaching practices in a junior high science classroom. Students were given a pre-test as a method of formative assessment and their results on the pre-assessment before instruction were compared to their performance on a modified post-test. Students received direct instruction, completed an independent project, and responded to daily “bellringer” questions as a form of additional formative assessment before taking the post-test. Students showed marked improvement on the post-test as average scores increased from a 35.7 percent to a 94.4 percent

Communication In A Digital Age

The inundation of technology over the past twenty-five years in the form of desktop computing, cell phones and the Internet has transformed how we communicate with one another. Traditional communication such as face-to-face meetings, although critical to our everyday dialogue, has fallen flat within organizations. At this point, we lean towards advanced methods of communication provided in a digitally mediated format. Digitally mediated communication (DMC) provides us with a multitude of ways to communicate and has freed us from the boundaries of time and place. This study researches the transformation of communication with its progression into the digital age by examining the differences, implications and impact of traditional communication versus digitally mediated communication. By understanding these various aspects of communication, today\u27s leaders benefit by striking a balance between the two methods, which will lead to increased overall communication effectiveness

Association between depressive symptoms and pericardial fat in healthy older men and women

Depressive symptoms are associated with increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD), and inflammation may contribute to this relationship. Pericardial fat, a highly metabolically active fat depot, is implicated in the pathogenesis of CVD, but its association with depressive symptoms is unclear. This study examined the cross-sectional and longitudinal association between depressive symptoms and pericardial fat over a three-year period. Participants were 543 healthy men and women (mean age = 62.9 years) without history or objective signs of coronary heart disease from the Whitehall II cohort. In men, depressive symptoms were positively associated with pericardial fat at baseline after adjustment for sociodemographics, waist to hip ratio and conventional cardiovascular risk factors. Inflammation, indexed by plasma interleukin 6 concentration, accounted for 17% of this association. Longitudinally, depressive symptoms did not predict pericardial fat three years later in men once baseline levels of pericardial fat were accounted for. No significant associations between depressive symptoms and pericardial fat were found in women. Overall, our findings suggest that greater pericardial fat might be a mechanism by which depressive symptoms are associated with increased risk for CVD in men, and inflammation may also lie on this pathway

Pericardial fat, socioeconomic status and biological responses to acute mental stress

OBJECTIVE: Central adiposity is associated with impaired biological responses to mental stress, and socioeconomic status (SES) might moderate this relationship. However, evidence for associations between pericardial fat, a fat depot implicated in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease (CVD), with cardiovascular and inflammatory responses to mental stress is lacking, and moderation by SES is unknown. METHODS: The sample was 473 healthy men and women (mean age 62.8 years) from the Whitehall II study. Cardiovascular and inflammatory responses to laboratory-induced mental stress, consisting of a five minute Stroop task and five minute mirror tracing task, were assessed. Pericardial fat volume was measured using electron bean computed tomography and adjusted for body surface area. SES was defined by grade of employment within the British civil service (higher/intermediate/lower). RESULTS: Pericardial fat was associated with lower heart rate variability, raised heart rate, plasma interleukin-6, fibrinogen and C-reactive protein at baseline. Furthermore, greater pericardial fat was associated with lower systolic blood pressure reactivity to mental stress, independent of sociodemographics, smoking status, waist to hip ratio and baseline systolic blood pressure. There were no interactions between pericardial fat and SES for any outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Greater pericardial fat was associated with numerous cardiovascular and inflammatory factors implicated in CVD. It was also related to reduced systolic blood pressure reactivity to acute mental stress, independent of central adiposity and baseline systolic blood pressure. This association did not vary by SES. Reduced systolic blood pressure reactivity to mental stress might contribute to the association between greater pericardial fat and CVD

Moving from Inaction to Action: Challenging Homo- and Transphobia in Middle School English Language Arts

What happens when teachers have opportunities to engage in LGBTQ-affirming practices but choose not to? In the following paper, the authors present a vignette from a middle school context and consider ways to challenge silences to support LGBTQ students in middle school English classrooms. The authors provide discussion and resources to help teachers engage in LGBTQ affirming practices with middle school students

What Utilities Wish We Knew

Utility coordination in design has changed, but we still don’t have all the facts. Utility owners have valuable information that could make our coordination efforts even more successful. In this presentation, utility representatives discuss the top three things they wish designers knew and how we can seek to understand the project from their perspective, ultimately saving the project and utility owners alike time and money

Childhood adversity and cardiometabolic biomarkers in mid-adulthood in the 1958 British birth cohort

Studies that have examined associations between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and cardiometabolic biomarkers in adulthood are limited as they mainly focus on childhood maltreatment. This study aimed to examine the association between a range of prospectively and retrospectively reported ACEs and cardiometabolic biomarkers in mid-adulthood. Multiply-imputed data on 8511 participants from the National Child Development Study (1958 British birth cohort) were used. ACEs were prospectively reported at ages 7, 11 and 16, and retrospectively reported at age 33/44/45. Cardiometabolic outcomes assessed at age 44/45 included glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), cholesterol (total, low- and high-density lipoprotein), triglycerides, blood pressure (systolic and diastolic), body mass index, waist circumference and metabolic syndrome. Parental separation/divorce, physical neglect, emotional neglect and psychological abuse were associated with lower HDL cholesterol. Parental offending and physical neglect were associated with higher triglyceride concentrations. Parental offending was also associated with increased HbA1c. Exposure to 2+ (vs. 0) prospective ACEs was associated with lower HDL cholesterol. All these associations were after adjustment for sex and multiple early life factors. To conclude, several individual ACEs are associated with poorer cardiometabolic risk factor profiles in mid-adulthood. Furthermore, exposure to two or more prospective ACEs is associated with lower HDL cholesterol concentrations in mid-adulthood

Mothers of children with congenital heart defects: the effects of ethnicity and education on perceptions, attitudes and feelings; (Implications for social work practice)

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University, 196