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Background: The lack of racial diversity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines is perhaps one of the most challenging issues in the United States higher education system. The issue is not only concerning diverse students, but also diverse faculty members. One important contributing factor is the faculty hiring process. To make progress toward equity in hiring decisions, it is necessary to better understand how applicants are considered and evaluated. In this paper, we describe and present our study based on a survey of current STEM faculty members and administrators who examined applicant qualifcations and characteristics in STEM faculty hiring decisions. Results: There are three key fndings of the present research. First, we found that faculty members placed diferent levels of importance on characteristics and qualifcations for tenure track hiring and non-tenure track hiring. For example, items related to research were more important when evaluating tenure track applicants, whereas items related to teaching and diversity were more important when evaluating non-tenure track applicants. Second, faculty members' institutional classifcation, position, and personal identities (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity) had an impact on their evaluation criteria. For instance, we found men considered some diversity-related items more important than women. Third, faculty members rated the importance of qualifcations with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)-related constructs signifcantly lower than qualifcations that did not specify DEI-related constructs, and this trend held for both tenure track and non-tenure track faculty hiring. Conclusions: This study was an attempt to address the issue of diversity in STEM faculty hiring at institutions of higher education by examining how applicant characteristics are considered and evaluated in faculty hiring practices. Emphasizing research reputation and postdoctoral reputation while neglecting institutional diversity and equitable and inclusive teaching, research, and service stunt progress toward racial diversity because biases--both implicit and explicit, both positive and negative--still exist. Our results were consistent with research on bias in recruitment, revealing that afnity bias, confrmation bias, and halo bias exist in the faculty hiring process. These biases contribute to inequities in hiring, and need to be addressed before we can reach, sustain, and grow desired levels of diversity

Low mental health literacy is a public health concern in China and contributes to the low underutilization of mental health resources. We extended the current conceptualization of mental health literacy and developed a comprehensive self-report measure of mental health literacy in the Chinese context, the Mental Health Literacy Questionnaire (MHLQ). We generated items based on existing literature, extensive qualitative interviews with mental health professionals and community members. We revised these items based on expert review to examine content validity, after which we conducted a pilot test with a representative sample of 734 urban and rural community members to illicit feedback on wording clarity and select items within appropriate difficulty levels (i.e., correct rate). We then examined dimensionality and item performance using multidimensional item response theory analyses in a combined sample of mental health professionals (n = 122), community members (n = 121), and college students (n = 144). We concluded a six-factor structure for the MHLQ encompassing mental health knowledge, mental illness knowledge, attitudes towards mental health, attitudes towards mental illness, behaviors regarding mental health promotion, and behaviors regarding mental illness coping. The scale yielded adequate internal reliability estimates and test-retest agreement, and convergent evidence and known-group comparisons results in support of construct validity. The six-factor MHLQ largely supported our extended theoretical conceptualization of the mental health literacy in the Chinese context. Future studies are needed to further validate the factor structure and examine measurement invariance., Author(s): Jue Wu [sup.1] [sup.2] [sup.3] , Cixin Wang [sup.4] , Yun Lu [sup.5] , Xu Zhu [sup.1] [sup.2] [sup.3] , Yanqing Li [sup.1] [sup.2] [sup.3] , Guangda Liu [sup.1] [...]

Involving students in the co-design of educational curricula and practices can benefit both students and teachers. Students who participate in co-design may show better learning or increased agency or engagement. In the present study, we investigated what kind of science knowledge or practices can be learned by student co-designers while engaging in co-design practices and how that learning happens with six high school students. We created a model to guide the analysis of students' learning with technology in co-designing processes. The results revealed that students learned engineering design process even if no explicit instruction on engineering learning was given. Also, our analysis suggested that co-designing with technology enabled learning of the engineering design process and potentially furthered learning of science because it promoted knowledge integration. The results have implications for understanding and enhancing engineering design and science learning through co-designing with technology.

Lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2) and graphite-based Li-ion batteries have been widely applied for consumer electronics because of the long cycle life and easy preparation. However, the limited capacity for traditional materials hampers the practical application for high energy-density battery. Conventional electrolyte system could not satisfy the need for high-capacity materials. Here, methylene methanedisulfonate (MMDS) was chosen as electrolyte additive for enhancing the available capacity for LiCoO2 and graphite-based battery. The effect of MMDS on the LiCoO2 cathode and graphite anode was investigated via multi electrochemical methods. It was found that the capacity for cells with MMDS electrolyte additive increases (from 142.6 mAh g−1 for pristine to 193.4 mAh g−1 on LiCoO2/Li battery, from 275.5 mAh g−1 for pristine to 407.0 mAh g−1 on graphite/Li battery). The experimental results indicate that improved capacity by MMDS electrolyte additive can be attributable to the stabilized interface on both cathode and anode sides, leading to superior interfacial Li+ kinetics and mitigated bulk structural degradation, which was further confirmed by the ex-situ electrochemical and structural characterization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the transnational literacies that contribute to creating online social connections among migrant youth that may support their development and navigation of life across countries. We examine how social connectedness is semiotically constructed through time–space framing among two youth of Chinese descent who were participants of a larger study of the digital media practices of young people in an urban high school. We build on the concept of chronotope (Bakhtin, 1981) and scholarship of transnational literacies to understand the space–time dimensions of digital literacy practices, specifically how youth create the spatiotemporal context or frame of reference for their actions and positionings with others across geographical distances. Using a case study approach with data from interviews and observations, we analyzed how the youth depicted their transnational social relations within particular time–space frames. Qualitative and discourse analyses of the youths' narrative accounts show that they positioned themselves in proximity with their transnational peers within particular time–space contexts that supported their actions and emotions, and how they made sense of events, issues, practices, and their own identities as transnational individuals. The youths' ideas of schooling and education, and attunement to nationalistic ideologies, were developed through multiple chronotopes in their social connections across countries. This study offers implications for how an attention to the transnational spatiotemporal frame of youths' discourse and narrative may give us a more nuanced understanding of the subjectivity, knowledge, and perspective they derive from their experiences of movement and connection across borders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. This study aimed to investigate nurses' perceptions of spirituality and spiritual care and perceived professional benefits in China and reveal the relationship between them. Design and Methods. In this study, 372 nurses (response rate: 93.47%) from a number of hospitals across China were surveyed using convenience sampling. The data were collected through online questionnaires, including a sociodemographic characteristics form, the Chinese version of the Spiritual Care-Giving Scale (C-SCGS), and the Nurses' Perceived Professional Benefits Questionnaire (NPPBQ). Findings. The total score of the NPPBQ was 136.88±20.13. A statistically significant relationship was found between the total score and subscale score of the C-SCGS and the total score and subscale score of the NPPBQ (R=0.217-0.475, P, Author(s): Xiaoying Zeng [1]; Jianhua Yang [1]; Yanjia Li [1]; Min Chen [2]; Jue Wu [3]; Yanli Hu [4]; Weinan Lu [1]; Jing Liu [1]; Qian Yang [1]; Wenqiong Guo [...]

The gender imbalance in computer science (CS) is one of the most challenging issues in American education. CS is the only science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) field in which women's representation has steadily declined in recent decades. In this study, we explored one potential approach that could be effective in increasing college women's participation in CS: participation in Women‐in‐Computing (WiC) groups. Through participant observation and individual interviews in a WiC group at a major research university, we investigated how students engage in WiC, the impacts of the WiC on identity and belonging, and the challenge of sustainability. The results were coded using a hybrid of grounded and deductive coding and indicate that WiC groups offer various programs and events that enable women in CS to fully participate, learn, and grow. WiC represents an identity, a community, a safe space, and a journey. The results also suggest that the WiC has had positive impacts on students' identity and belonging, as evidenced by increased self‐efficacy, reduced imposter syndrome, and enhanced sense of belonging and community. Furthermore, we outline three strategies employed by the WiC to ensure the group's sustainability. Our study sheds light on how WiC can encourage women to enter and persist in CS, and on some of the characteristics of a successful WiC. We demonstrate that WiC may be potentially effective in diversifying CS through identity‐based participation. Moreover, student leaders design both the structure of the group and the leadership continuity process to ensure sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brain tumor is a severe cancer disease caused by uncontrollable and abnormal partitioning of cells. Recent progress in the field of deep learning has helped the health industry in Medical Imaging for Medical Diagnostic of many diseases. For Visual learning and Image Recognition, task CNN is the most prevalent and commonly used machine learning algorithm. Similarly, in our paper, we introduce the convolutional neural network (CNN) approach along with Data Augmentation and Image Processing to categorize brain MRI scan images into cancerous and non-cancerous. Using the transfer learning approach we compared the performance of our scratched CNN model with pre-trained VGG-16, ResNet-50, and Inception-v3 models. As the experiment is tested on a very small dataset but the experimental result shows that our model accuracy result is very effective and have very low complexity rate by achieving 100% accuracy, while VGG-16 achieved 96%, ResNet-50 achieved 89% and Inception-V3 achieved 75% accuracy. Our model requires very less computational power and has much better accuracy results as compared to other pre-trained models.

Motivation The rapid development of high-throughput biomedical technologies can provide researchers with detailed multi-omics data. The multi-omics integrated analysis approach based on machine learning contributes a more comprehensive perspective to human disease research. However, there are still significant challenges in representing single-omics data and integrating multi-omics information. Results This article presents HyperTMO, a Trusted Multi-Omics integration framework based on Hypergraph convolutional network for patient classification. HyperTMO constructs hypergraph structures to represent the association between samples in single-omics data, then evidence extraction is performed by hypergraph convolutional network, and multi-omics information is integrated at an evidence level. Last, we experimentally demonstrate that HyperTMO outperforms other state-of-the-art methods in breast cancer subtype classification and Alzheimer's disease classification tasks using multi-omics data from TCGA (BRCA) and ROSMAP datasets. Importantly, HyperTMO is the first attempt to integrate hypergraph structure, evidence theory, and multi-omics integration for patient classification. Its accurate and robust properties bring great potential for applications in clinical diagnosis. Availability and implementation HyperTMO and datasets are publicly available at https://github.com/ippousyuga/HyperTMO [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addicted drugs like nicotine affect autonomic nervous system that results in arrhythmia and other cardiovascular diseases. Notable effects of Zen meditation on autonomic nervous system have been reported during the past decade. Holistic Detox Association (HDA) in Taiwan offered Zen-meditation program to drug addicts as the core scheme among a variety of drug addiction treatments. This paper reports the results of quantifying the cardiorespiratory interactions and autonomic nervous system function to evaluate the on-site effect of Zen meditation on drug rehab. Methods and schemes for quantifying time-domain heart rate variability were employed to electrocardiograph and respiratory signals. Peak-valley method was developed to quantify the respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) behavior. Poincaré Plot Analysis was adopted to evaluate the cardiorespiratory functioning. Among 18 voluntary drug addicts during the 10-minute Zen meditation session, about two-third subjects have significant improvement in autonomic nervous system function characterized by heart rate variability (SDNN, RMSSD and pNN50). Group average of RSA increases from 33.43 ms(Rest) to 69.14 ms(AR Zen meditation). Poincaré-plot analysis reveals the improvement of SD1, SD2 and SD2/SD1 by respectively 14.7%, 19.8% and 8.8%. The group averages of all the parameters exhibit significantly positive changes in the 10-minute session of abdominal-respiration Zen meditation. Even the subject with heart transplant showed the improvement of all the quantitative indicators during the AR Zen meditation. Keywords: Cardiorespiratory interaction, Drug addiction, Heart rate variability, Respiratory sinus arrhythmia, Zen meditation

This study aimed to reveal potential roles of the phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K)-protein kinase B (Akt)-mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway in apoptosis and autophagy of astrocytes induced by methamphetamine (METH). A Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) was used to determine the reduction in proliferation of U-118 MG cells induced by METH. Hoechst 33258 and flow cytometry were used to observe the astrocytes. Western blot analysis was performed to evaluate protein expression and phosphorylation levels. METH inhibited the proliferation of U-118 MG cells and induced apoptosis and autophagy. Western blot analysis showed that the ratio of LC3-II/I was increased, whereas the expression of Bcl-2 was decreased. The phosphorylation cascade of kinases in the PI3K-Akt-mTOR signaling pathway was significantly inhibited by METH exposure, as were proteins downstream of mTORC1, such as p70s6k, rps6, 4EBP1 and eIF4E. METH inhibited proliferation of U-118 MG cells and induced apoptosis and autophagy. The PI3K-Akt-mTOR signaling pathway likely plays a critical role in these effects.

There is increasing interest in both the cumulative and long-term impact of early life adversity on brain structure and function, especially as the brain is both highly vulnerable and highly adaptive during childhood. Relationships between SES and neural development have been shown in children older than age 2 years. Less is known regarding the impact of SES on neural development in children before age 2. This paper examines the effect of SES, indexed by income-to-needs (ITN) and maternal education, on cortical gray, deep gray, and white matter volumes in term, healthy, appropriate for gestational age, African-American, female infants. At 5 weeks postnatal age, unsedated infants underwent MRI (3.0T Siemens Verio scanner, 32-channel head coil). Images were segmented based on a locally constructed template. Utilizing hierarchical linear regression, SES effects on MRI volumes were examined. In this cohort of healthy African-American female infants of varying SES, lower SES was associated with smaller cortical gray and deep gray matter volumes. These SES effects on neural outcome at such a young age build on similar studies of older children, suggesting that the biological embedding of adversity may occur very early in development.

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of Jinniu Capsule on methamphetamine (METH)-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) in rats and identify the underlying mechanisms. An intraperitoneal injection of 3 mg/kg METH was used for CPP training in rats. The effects of Jinniu Capsule following a single dose on rat CPP and repeat dosing on METH withdrawal were evaluated. Western Blot analysis was used to measure protein expression of the PI3K-AKT-mTOR signaling pathway to determine the mechanisms of Jinniu Capsule. A single dose of Jinniu Capsule did not influence METH-induced CPP in rats. However, repeat dosing for 7 days significantly promoted METH withdrawal. Furthermore, METH withdrawal activated the PI3K-AKT-mTOR signaling pathway phosphorylation cascade, and Jinniu Capsule partly blocked this cascade. Jinniu Capsule demonstrated potential in promoting METH withdrawal in a rat CPP model, which may be related to its influence on the PI3K-AKT-mTOR signaling pathway.

Aims. We aimed to investigate nursing students' spiritual care competence, perceived professional benefit, and retention intention and to analyze the relationship among these variables. Background. Nurse shortages are a global issue, and intern nursing students' willingness to remain in the nursing profession is important. Spiritual care can reduce patients' depression and improve their quality of life. Implementing spiritual care can help individuals have satisfying experiences. Perceived professional benefit is a positive emotional experience that is important in retention intention. However, the relationship among spiritual care competence, perceived professional benefit, and retention intention remains unclear. Methods. In this cross-sectional and correlational study, convenience sampling was used to recruit 266 intern nursing students in 10 hospitals throughout China. An online questionnaire was used to assess their sociodemographic characteristics, spiritual care competence, perceived professional benefit, and retention intention. Statistical analyses included the t-test, analysis of variance, Pearson's correlation analysis, and bootstrap analysis. Results. Intern nursing students' mean scores were 103.35 ± 19.00 for spiritual care competence, 72.88 ± 10.40 for perceived professional benefit, and 19.58 ± 3.37 for retention intention. Spiritual care competence was positively correlated with perceived professional benefit (r = 0.545; p < 0.01) and retention intention (r = 0.149; p < 0.05). Perceived professional benefit was also positively correlated with retention intention (r = 0.320; p < 0.01). Bootstrap analysis showed that perceived professional benefit completely mediates the relationship between spiritual care competence and retention intention. Conclusions. We found that nursing interns had a moderate level of retention intention, and perceived professional benefit was the mediating variable between spiritual care competence and retention intention. Implications. Our study results suggest that nursing administrators and educators should improve nursing interns' spiritual care competence and perceived professional benefit to enhance their willingness to remain in the nursing profession and alleviate nurse shortages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the pursuit of high-energy density lithium-ion battery, Li-rich Mn-based oxide cathode has gained great attention with unexpectedly high capacity, low cost and excellent thermal stability. However, the cause for the sluggish kinetics remains a mystery, hindering the application of Li-rich cathode material. Here, we reveal the interfacial instability is the driving force for the sluggish kinetics, which severely blocks the interfacial Li-ion transport and triggers fast battery failure. Through rice-husk carbon (RHC) and spinel phase modification on Li-rich Mn-based oxide Li1.2Ni0.16Mn0.56Co0.08O2 (LNMC), the poor lithium ion diffusion and interfacial degradation can be effectively prevented, delivering a high specific capacity of around 300 mAh/g and excellent rate performance. These findings provide a universal method to prepare high electrochemical performance Li-rich oxide materials. Through synergetic modification, the Li-rich Mn-based cathode delivers a high available capacity of 300 mAh/g via accelerated Li+ intercalation kinetics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the protection and inheritance of intangible cultural heritage crafts, this paper takes Dongyang bamboo weaving as an example,introduces Virtual Reality (VR), 3D digital programming and other new digital technologies to the protection and inheritance of bamboo weaving crafts. From the three following aspects: experience, application and infection, this paper summarizes the digital protection and inheritance methods and processes of intangible cultural heritage, finds out the meeting point with the modern consumer market, and makes the cultural heritage "live" in the present and into the future.It helps to better understand the traditional crafts, promote the inheritance and development of bamboo weaving crafts and provide references for the protection and inheritance of intangible cultural heritage.

Diabetes mellitus type 2 (T2DM) is a disease caused by genetic and environmental factors, and the main clinical manifestation is hyperglycemia. Currently, insulin injections are still the first-line treatment for diabetes. However, repeated injections may cause insulin resistance, hypoglycemia, and other serious side effects. Thus, it is imperative to develop new diabetes treatments. Protein-based diabetes drugs, such as fibroblast growth factor-21 (FGF-21), have a longer-lasting glycemic modulating effect with high biosafety. However, the instability of these protein drugs limits their applications. In this study, we extract protein hypoglycemic drugs with oral and injectable functions. The FGF-21 analog (NA-FGF) was loaded into the chitosan derivative-based nanomaterials, N-2-Hydroxypropyl trimethyl ammonium chloride chitosan/carboxymethyl chitosan (N-2-HACC/CMCS), to prepare NA-FGF-loaded N-2-HACC/CMCS microspheres (NA-FGF-N-2-HACC/CMCS MPs). It was well demonstrated that NA-FGF-N-2-HACC/CMCS MPs have great biocompatibility, biostability, and durable drug-release ability. In addition to injectable drug delivery, our prepared microspheres were highly advantageous for oral administration. The in vitro and in vivo experimental results suggested that NA-FGF-N-2-HACC/CMCS MPs could be used as a promising candidate and universal nano-delivery system for both oral and injectable hypoglycemic regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The lack of racial diversity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines is perhaps one of the most challenging issues in the United States higher education system. The issue is not only concerning diverse students, but also diverse faculty members. One important contributing factor is the faculty hiring process. To make progress toward equity in hiring decisions, it is necessary to better understand how applicants are considered and evaluated. In this paper, we describe and present our study based on a survey of current STEM faculty members and administrators who examined applicant qualifications and characteristics in STEM faculty hiring decisions. Results: There are three key findings of the present research. First, we found that faculty members placed different levels of importance on characteristics and qualifications for tenure track hiring and non-tenure track hiring. For example, items related to research were more important when evaluating tenure track applicants, whereas items related to teaching and diversity were more important when evaluating non-tenure track applicants. Second, faculty members' institutional classification, position, and personal identities (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity) had an impact on their evaluation criteria. For instance, we found men considered some diversity-related items more important than women. Third, faculty members rated the importance of qualifications with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)-related constructs significantly lower than qualifications that did not specify DEI-related constructs, and this trend held for both tenure track and non-tenure track faculty hiring. Conclusions: This study was an attempt to address the issue of diversity in STEM faculty hiring at institutions of higher education by examining how applicant characteristics are considered and evaluated in faculty hiring practices. Emphasizing research reputation and postdoctoral reputation while neglecting institutional diversity and equitable and inclusive teaching, research, and service stunt progress toward racial diversity because biases—both implicit and explicit, both positive and negative—still exist. Our results were consistent with research on bias in recruitment, revealing that affinity bias, confirmation bias, and halo bias exist in the faculty hiring process. These biases contribute to inequities in hiring, and need to be addressed before we can reach, sustain, and grow desired levels of diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estrogen is correlated to the lower mortality and disease severity of female than that of male, which indicates the potential therapeutic role of estrogen supplement therapy in sepsis. The structure of Daidzein is similar to that of 17β estradiol (E 2), an estrogen in human body, causing the exogenous Daidzein can interact with estrogen receptor as well as E 2 in the body. We aim to explore the therapeutic role of estrogen in sepsis-induced vascular dysfunction. Also, we wonder if estrogen regulates blood pressure via glucocorticoid-mediated vascular reactivity. Female SD rats received ovariectomy (OVX) to induce estrogen deficiency. After 12 weeks of administration, cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) was used to establish the in vivo model of sepsis. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was used to construct the in vitro model of sepsis in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). E 2 and Daidzein were used for estrogen supplement therapy. E 2 and Daidzein significantly inhibited inflammation infiltration and histopathological injury in thoracic aorta in the rat model with CLP. E 2 and Daidzein improved carotid pressure and vascular hyporeactivity in sepsis rats with OVX. Importantly, E 2 and Daidzein promoted glucocorticoid permissive action and increased glucocorticoid receptor α (GRα) expression in thoracic aorta smooth muscle cells. E 2 and Daidzein upregulated GRα, and inhibits cytokine production, proliferative phenotype and cell migration in LPS-induced VSMCs. Estrogen improved vascular hyporeactivity in thoracic aorta induced by sepsis via permissive effect of GRα expression. • Estrogen upregulated GRα expression in VSMCs during sepsis. • Estrogen promoted glucocorticoids permissive effect in the vessels. • Estrogen reversed the vascular hyporeactivity due to sepsis. • Estrogen improved vascular injury via modulating GRα expression during sepsis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Powdery mildew (PM) is the main disease that afflicts bottle gourd. Previous studies on PM mainly focused on its effects on pumpkin, melon, and other crops; however, the exact molecular mechanism of bottle gourd resistance to PM remains unclear. RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) technology was used to investigate the dynamic changes in leaf transcriptome profiles between resistant and susceptible gourd at 12, 24, 48, and 72 h post-inoculation with powdery mildew. Compared with a susceptible variety (G3), the expression levels of the differentially expressed genes of phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, starch, and sucrose metabolism, and plant–pathogen interaction pathways in disease-resistant plants were upregulated. We propose that disease resistance and tolerance in bottle gourd are enhanced via several pathways, including the antioxidant system, phenylalanine biosynthesis, and cell wall cellulose synthesis. Our research will provide an important basis for further screening and breeding PM resistance in bottle gourd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important principle in rational manufacturing design is matching the properties of composites to their intended uses. Herein, six laminated composites (LCs) were manufactured using fibrous moso bamboo and poplar veneer units, and their pore structure, water resistance, and mechanical properties were evaluated. The LC density (640–1290 kg/m3) increased significantly with increasing bamboo veneer unit content. The LC surface texture and roughness depended on the density and type of surface layer. With increasing LC density, the water absorption rate (WAR), width swelling rate (WSR), and thickness swelling rate (TSR) decreased exponentially and the mechanical properties increased linearly. This behavior was closely related to the changes in pore structure caused by density. Notably, the water resistance and mechanical properties of the LCs with densities higher than 910 kg/m3 were superior to the highest levels specified in GB/T 20241–2006 for "laminated veneer lumber" and GB/T 30364–2013 for "bamboo scrimber flooring". Thus, these engineered materials are promising for outdoor structures and flooring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

RuSb2, as a sister material of thermoelectric material FeSb2, has been extensively studied focusing on the comparisons with FeSb2, however, the properties of RuSb2 under pressure have not been surveyed thoroughly yet. In this work, we studied the properties of RuSb2 under pressure and explored the similarities and differences of crystal and electronic structures between the Ru-pnictides partners RuP2 and RuAs2. Using the crystal structures search method together with first-principles calculations, we found that this family undergoes a serial of structural phase transitions: (I) For RuSb2: Pnnm → I4/mcm → I4/mmm; (II) for RuP2: Pnnm → I41/amd → Cmcm; (III) for RuAs2: Pnnm → P-62m. The newly found five phases are all energetically and dynamically stable at high-pressure and exhibit metallic properties. The four high pressure phases of RuSb2 and RuP2 can be quenched to zero pressure. The superconducting transition temperatures of I4/mcm and I4/mmm phases of RuSb2 and I41/amd and Cmcm phase of RuP2 are predicted to be approximately 7.3 K, 10.9 K, 13.0 K, and 10.1 K at 0 GPa, respectively. In addition, the I4/mcm and I4/mmm phases of RuSb2 and the I41/amd phase of RuP2 exhibit non-trivial topological properties. Our studies illustrate that pressure is an effective way to tune the structural, electronic, and superconducting behavior of the Ru-pnictides compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fetal origins of adult disease (FOAD) hypothesis holds that events during early development have a profound impact on one's risk for the development of future adult disease. Studies from humans and animals have demonstrated that many diseases can begin in childhood and are caused by a variety of early life traumas, including maternal malnutrition, maternal disease conditions, lifestyle changes, exposure to toxins/chemicals, improper medication during pregnancy, and so on. Recently, the roles of Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) in FOAD have been increasingly appreciated due to their wide variety of biological actions. PPARs are members of the nuclear hormone receptor subfamily, consisting of three distinct subtypes: PPARα, β/δ, and γ, highly expressed in the reproductive tissues. By controlling the maturation of the oocyte, ovulation, implantation of the embryo, development of the placenta, and male fertility, the PPARs play a crucial role in the transition from embryo to fetus in developing mammals. Exposure to adverse events in early life exerts a profound influence on the methylation pattern of PPARs in offspring organs, which can affect development and health throughout the life course, and even across generations. In this review, we summarize the latest research on PPARs in the area of FOAD, highlight the important role of PPARs in FOAD, and provide a potential strategy for early prevention of FOAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]