Prenatal exposure to organophosphate (OP) pesticides has been linked with poorer neurodevelopment and behaviors related to autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in previous studies, including in the Center for Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS) study, a birth cohort living in the agricultural Salinas Valley in California. The objective of the study is to investigate the association of prenatal exposure to OP pesticides with traits related to ASD, in childhood and adolescents in CHAMACOS.

Early childhood interventions have potential to offset the negative impact of early adversity. We evaluated the impact of a community-based parenting group intervention on child development in Zambia.

Original Source

Euthanasia or assisted suicide (EAS) of psychiatric patients is increasing in some jurisdictions such as Belgium and the Netherlands. However, little is known about the practice, and it remains controversial.

Aggregation of alpha synuclein has strong implications in Parkinson’s disease. The heterogeneity of folding/aggregation landscape and transient nature of the early intermediates result in difculty in developing a successful therapeutic intervention. Here we used fuorescence measurements at ensemble and single molecule resolution to study how the late and early events of alpha synuclein aggregation modulate each other.

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Aligarh, a densely populated town of Uttar Pradesh, is the hub of a variety of industries and is feared to be home to children at risk of lead exposure. Hence, this study was planned to determine the socio-demographic and clinical correlates of elevated blood lead levels in children of Aligarh.

Original Source

The objective of the study was to investigate the kinetics and metabolism of caffeine in serum from patients with Parkinson disease (PD) and controls using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry.

Original Source

Average body mass index (BMI) and depression prevalence grew over the last several decades, increasing medical expenditures. There is a strong correlation between obesity and depression but limited evidence on the causal effect of weight on mental health. I use an index of genetic risk for high BMI as a source of exogenous variation in weight to provide novel evidence on the effect of weight on mental health. This is one of the first studies to use genetics as an instrument for BMI and to examine the causal relationship between weight and depression.