Health burden of sugarcane burning on agricultural workers and nearby communities.

Sugarcane is the most widely cultivated crop in the world, with equatorial developing nations performing most of this agriculture. Burning sugarcane is a common practice to facilitate harvest, producing extremely high volumes of respirable particulate matter in the process. These emissions are known to have deleterious effects on agricultural workers and nearby communities, but the extent of this exposure and potential toxicity remain poorly characterized.

Decoding the exposome: data science methodologies and implications in exposome-wide association studies (ExWASs).

This paper explores the exposome concept and its role in elucidating the interplay between environmental exposures and human health. We introduce two key concepts critical for exposomics research. Firstly, we discuss the joint impact of genetics and environment on phenotypes, emphasizing the variance attributable to shared and nonshared environmental factors, underscoring the complexity of quantifying the exposome's influence on health outcomes.

Psychosocial characteristics of potential and actual living kidney donors.

The psychosocial assessment is an essential component of the living kidney donor (LKD) evaluation. However, it remains uncertain how specific psychosocial factors impact LKD eligibility. We performed a retrospective chart review of LKD candidates who initiated the evaluation process and who had completed a required, in-person licensed social work (LSW) visit.

Effect of progesterone administration in male and female smokers on nicotine withdrawal and neural response to smoking cues: role of progesterone conversion to allopregnanolone.

Background: Progesterone administration has therapeutic effects in tobacco use disorder (TUD), with females benefiting more than males. Conversion of progesterone to the neurosteroid allopregnanolone is hypothesized to partly underlie the therapeutic effects of progesterone; however, this has not been investigated clinically.

Methods: Smokers (n = 18 males, n = 21 females) participated in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study of 200 mg progesterone daily across 4 days of abstinence.