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Autopsies afford simultaneous access to all tissues and body compartments. The unique opportunity for extensive sampling during autopsy enables several research questions to be addressed. Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, [...]

Recent changes in mental health policies within Japanese organisations have been marked by the introduction of Work Style Reforms, however, workplace mental health still faces significant challenges, including an excessive reliance on psychiatric treatment and cultural stigma surrounding mental health in Japan. This commentary, therefore, suggests an in-house mentoring scheme as a solution, facilitating conversations about mental health in a dyad format. Though this scheme has been proven effective mostly in western countries, our professional experiences indicate it can be applied to the Japanese contexts. Considering the serious impact of COVID-19 since 2020 on employee mental health and the increasing emphasis on workplace communication, this commentary offered timely insights into the improvement of mental health among Japanese workers., Author(s): Mariko Yagisawa [sup.1] , Freya TSUDA-McCaie [sup.1] , Kohki Arimitsu [sup.3] , Yasuhiro Kotera [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) https://ror.org/02yhrrk59, grid.57686.3a, 0000 0001 2232 4004, College of Health, Psychology and [...]

Author(s): Joshua Nowak [sup.1] [sup.2] , Andre Emmermacher [sup.3] , Johannes Wendsche [sup.1] [sup.4] , Antonia-Sophie Döbler [sup.1] [sup.5] , Jürgen Wegge [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.4488.0, 0000 0001 2111 [...], Presenteeism is problematic since it relates to lower health and productivity. Prior research examined many work and attitudinal variables relating to presenteeism at the individual level. Here, we conceptualize presenteeism as multilevel phenomenon also shaped by the overall attendance behavior (absenteeism and presenteeism) at the work unit. We surveyed employees at a manufacturing plant on presenteeism, health-related lost productive time (HLPT) and absenteeism (N = 911, 22 units) and collected preceding (past 12-7 and 6 months) objective absence data aggregating it at unit level. Considering the individual-level antecedents only higher physical demands predicted higher absence duration. Presenteeism related positively to physical demands, a burdensome social environment, and organizational identification and negatively to ease of replacement, and core self-evaluations. These relationships were similar for HLPT as outcome. Regarding unit-level factors, preceding unit-level absence frequency (but not duration) negatively related to presenteeism. The negative relationship between core self-evaluations and individual presenteeism decreased under a stronger presenteeism context supporting the hypothesized cross-level effect of unit-level presenteeism context strength. Moreover, individual and unit-level presenteeism correlated, as expected, more strongly with health complaints than absenteeism. Our study demonstrates the value of a contextual, multilevel approach for understanding antecedents and consequences of attendance behavior.

Author(s): Muhammad Zeeshan Mirza [sup.1] , Mumtaz Ali Memon [sup.2] , Maureen Dollard [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.412117.0, 0000 0001 2234 2376, Department of Engineering Management, National University of Sciences [...], Leadership plays an important role in occupational health psychology in explaining worker psychological health. However, to date, there is limited work on how cultural context affects a leader's effectiveness. The purpose of this study is to identify types of leadership that can have beneficial effects on employees' health in the Malaysian context. Further this study examines the mechanism (mediating role of psychosocial safety climate) linking health-centric leadership styles and employees' psychological health. At Time 1, data were collected from the employees of petrochemical and gas processing plants (n = 303, response rate = 61%), and at Time 2 (n = 192, response rate = 48%) completed the questionnaires. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), using SmartPLS3.0, was used to test the proposed framework. Results confirm a positive association between health-centric leadership styles and psychosocial safety climate. Psychosocial safety climate was negatively related with psychological health. Further, the findings confirm the mediating role of psychosocial safety climate between health-centric leadership styles and psychological health among Malaysian oil and gas employees. The present study fills a gap in the literature by proposing a health-centric leadership framework based on contextual requirements. Additionally, this is the first study that examines psychosocial safety climate as a mediator, thereby fills an important research gap in the existing literature.

Introduction Glyphosate is a broad-spectrum, post-emergent herbicide used in both agricultural and nonagricultural settings worldwide. (1) Since it was first registered for use in 1974, glyphosate has become the most [...], BACKGROUND: Glyphosate is the most commonly used herbicide worldwide and has been implicated in the development of certain hematologic cancers. Although mechanistic studies in human cells and animals support the genotoxic effects of glyphosate, evidence in human populations is scarce. OBJECTIVES: We evaluated the association between lifetime occupational glyphosate use and mosaic loss of chromosome Y (mLOY) as a marker of genotoxicity among male farmers. METHODS: We analyzed blood-derived DNA from 1,606 farmers [greater than or equal to]50 years of age in the Biomarkers of Exposure and Effect in Agriculture study, a subcohort of the Agricultural Health Study. mLOY was detected using genotyping array intensity data in the pseudoautosomal region of the sex chromosomes. Cumulative lifetime glyphosate use was assessed using self-reported pesticide exposure histories. Using multivariable logistic regression, we estimated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the associations between glyphosate use and any detectable mLOY (overall mLOY) or mLOY affecting [greater than or equal to]10% of cells (expanded mLOY). RESULTS: Overall, mLOY was detected in 21.4% of farmers, and 9.8% of all farmers had expanded mLOY. Increasing total lifetime days of glyphosate use was associated with expanded mLOY [highest vs. lowest quartile; OR = 1.75 (95% CI: 1.00, 3.07), [p.sub.trend] = 0.03] but not with overall mLOY; the associations with expanded mLOY were most apparent among older ([greater than or equal to]70 years of age) men [OR = 2.30 (95% CI: 1.13, 4.67), [p.sub.trend] = 0.01], never smokers [OR = 2.32 (95% CI: 1.04, 5.21), [p.sub.trend] = 0.04], and nonobese men [OR = 2.04 (95% CI: 0.99, 4.19), [p.sub.trend] =0.03]. Similar patterns of associations were observed for intensity-weighted lifetime days of glyphosate use. DISCUSSION: High lifetime glyphosate use could be associated with mLOY affecting a larger fraction of cells, suggesting glyphosate could confer genotoxic or selective effects relevant for clonal expansion. As the first study to investigate this association, our findings contribute novel evidence regarding the carcinogenic potential of glyphosate and require replication in future studies. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP12834

Author(s): Jessica H. Leibler [sup.1] , Oriana Ramirez-Rubio [sup.2] [sup.3] , Juan José Amador Velázquez [sup.3] , Damaris López Pilarte [sup.3] , Wassim Obeid [sup.4] , Chirag R. Parikh [sup.4] [...], Background Mesoamerican Nephropathy (MeN), a form of chronic kidney disease of uncertain etiology, is a leading cause of death in Central America. The disease often presents in young adult male agricultural workers and progresses rapidly. Given the young age at presentation, we hypothesized that children in Central America experience subclinical kidney injury prior to working life. Methods We assessed specimens from a cross-sectional study of youth, aged 7-17 years, predominantly residing in a high-risk region of Nicaragua (n = 210). We evaluated urinary concentrations and risk factors for kidney injury biomarkers neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1), interleukin-18 (IL-18), monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), and chitinase-3-like protein 1 (YKL-40). We evaluated the association between biomarkers and contemporaneous eGFR and compared biomarker concentrations with reference values from healthy children in other countries. Results Median uNGAL, uIL-18, and uKIM-1 concentrations exceeded healthy reference values. A one-year increase in age was associated with 40% increase in odds of being in the highest quartile of uNGAL (OR 1.4; (95%CI 1.2, 1.5); p < 0.0001). Youth who reported ever experiencing dysuria had 2.5 times the odds of having uNGAL concentrations in the top quartile (OR 2.5; (95%CI 1.4, 4.6); p = 0.003). Girls had significantly higher concentrations of all biomarkers than boys. Nine percent of children demonstrated low eGFR ([less than or equal to] 100 ml/min/1.73 m.sup.2), while 29% showed evidence of hyperfiltration (eGFR [greater than or equal to] 160 ml/min/1.73 m.sup.2), both potentially indicative of renal dysfunction. Conclusions Children residing in regions of Nicaragua at high risk for MeN may experience subclinical kidney injury prior to occupational exposures.