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Previous work has shown the robust nature of gender bias in both children and adults. However, much less attention has been paid toward understanding what factors shape these biases. The current preregistered study used parent surveys and child interviews to test whether parents' conversations with their children about and modeling of gender intergroup relations and/or children's self-guided interests about gender ("self-socialization") contribute to the formation of gender attitudes, status perceptions, and gender intergroup behaviors among young 4- to 6-year-old children. Our participant sample also allowed us to explore variation by child gender, ethnicity (Asian-, Black-, Latiné-, and White-American), and U.S. geographical region (Northeast, Pacific Northwest, West, Southeast, and Hawaii). Data suggest that children whose parents reported they were especially active in seeking information about gender tended to allocate more resources to same-gender versus other-gender children and expressed less positive evaluations of other-gender children in comparison to children who were less active. By contrast, we found that parents' conversations with their children about gender intergroup relations and about gender-play stereotypes showed few connections with children's gender attitudes. In terms of demographic differences, boys raised in households with more unequal versus equal division of labor perceived that men had higher status than women, but few differences by ethnicity or geographic region emerged. In sum, our study suggests that both self- and parent socialization processes are at play in shaping early gender attitudes, status perceptions, and gender intergroup behavior, although self-socialization seemed to play a larger role.

Being strong is a prominent male stereotype that children learn early in life; however, it is unknown as to when children start to value being strong and when gender differences in valuing strength might emerge. In the current study, we interviewed an ethnically diverse sample of 168 3-5 year-olds (88 girls, 80 boys) to address this gap in the literature. Results showed that boys as young as age 3 generally valued strength more than girls: (1) boys, on average, said it was more important to be strong than girls did, and (2) boys were more likely to prefer strength-related occupations than girls. Boys were also more likely to select boys than girls as the gender who cares more about physical strength. Additionally, with age, both girls and boys demonstrated knowledge of the stereotype that boys care about physical strength, with girls also being less likely to associate being a girl with being strong. Overall, the results suggest that valuing physical strength starts in early childhood, and gender differences in valuing strength are evident at the eve of gender identity development. Possible implications for boys' later well-being and health are discussed.

This study explored potential influence of a text-based program for fathers of children on the autism spectrum. Fathers (N = 184) were recruited through autism services across Australia. Participants received messages focusing on five domains: (a) relationships with parenting partner; (b) formal support; (c) father-child interaction; (d) understanding autism; and, (e) coping. Surveys explored parenting stress, co-parenting quality and autism-specific parenting self-efficacy. Eighty-eight percent completed the program, 43.6% completed pre and post surveys. There was significant reduction in parenting stress (p < 0.01) and increase in autism-specific parenting self-efficacy (p < 0.01). Effect sizes indicate these may be clinically meaningful. This highly scalable intervention has potential to influence factors that shape and sustain relationships fathers share with their children on the autism spectrum, families and services.

Our early-life environment has a profound influence on developing organs that impacts metabolic function and determines disease susceptibility across the life-course. Using a rat model for exposure to an endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC), we show that early-life chemical exposure causes metabolic dysfunction in adulthood and reprograms histone marks in the developing liver to accelerate acquisition of an adult epigenomic signature. This epigenomic reprogramming persists long after the initial exposure, but many reprogrammed genes remain transcriptionally silent with their impact on metabolism not revealed until a later life exposure to a Western-style diet. Diet-dependent metabolic disruption was largely driven by reprogramming of the Early Growth Response 1 (EGR1) transcriptome and production of metabolites in pathways linked to cholesterol, lipid and one-carbon metabolism. These findings demonstrate the importance of epigenome:environment interactions, which early in life accelerate epigenomic aging, and later in adulthood unlock metabolically restricted epigenetic reprogramming to drive metabolic dysfunction.

In spring 2017, Ervin Malakaj (Assistant Professor of German) and Jeffrey L. Littlejohn (Professor of History) led a Difficult Dialogues seminar on #BlackLivesMatter for the Sam Houston State University (SHSU) Honors College. The seminar considered the complex historical, economic, and cultural forces that produced the movement along with the various responses to it. By mid-semester, however, the course had become a target for fake news blogs and websites. Critics of the #BlackLivesMatter movement attempted to portray the course as a propagandistic endeavor intended to force a left-wing ideology upon unwilling students who had reluctantly enrolled in the course in order to receive scholarship money from taxpayer funds. Media responses mischaracterized the institutional parameters governing the course as well as the course aims. Consequently, Malakaj (as the instructor of record), the SHSU Honors College, and university administrators were all contacted by various interest groups angered by the news. Donors threatened to withdraw donations to the university. Students who had been accepted for admission and had declared that they would matriculate the following fall threatened to withdraw their initial intent to attend the university. At the same time, however, the course instructors and the university received a great deal of support. We provide here an outline of the institutional parameters within which the course was offered, the pedagogical aims and content of the course, and an examination of the public and university response to the fake news story. Our goal is to offer a case study that will benefit honors colleges considering similar course programs as well as those having dealt with or anticipating negative public responses to sensitive programming.

This study explored potential influence of a text-based program for fathers of children on the autism spectrum. Fathers (N = 184) were recruited through autism services across Australia. Participants received messages focusing on five domains: (a) relationships with parenting partner; (b) formal support; (c) father-child interaction; (d) understanding autism; and, (e) coping. Surveys explored parenting stress, co-parenting quality and autism-specific parenting self-efficacy. Eighty-eight percent completed the program, 43.6% completed pre and post surveys. There was significant reduction in parenting stress (p < .01) and increase in autism-specific parenting self-efficacy (p < .01). Effect sizes indicate these may be clinically meaningful. This highly scalable intervention has potential to influence factors that shape and sustain relationships fathers share with their children on the autism spectrum, families and services., Author(s): Chris D. May [sup.1] , Jennifer M. St George [sup.1] , Shelly Lane [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.266842.c, 0000 0000 8831 109X, Family Action Centre, University of Newcastle, , [...]

Defining meaningful endpoints for research of early-stage high-risk prostate cancer is challenging, with established measures such as overall survival and metastasis-free survival facing limitations related to feasibility and adequate reflection of patient relevance. Developing endpoints must cater to diverse perspectives across scientific, clinical, regulatory, and patient viewpoints. Endpoints such as pathological complete response, no evidence of disease, and prevention of prostate-specific antigen relapse may reflect patient benefit by accounting for diagnostic and treatment burdens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microbial electrosynthesis is a renewable energy and chemical production platform that relies on microbial cells to capture electrons from a cathode and fix carbon. Yet despite the promise of this technology, the metabolic capacity of the microbes that inhabit the electrode surface and catalyze electron transfer in these systems remains largely unknown. We assembled thirteen draft genomes from a microbial electrosynthesis system producing primarily acetate from carbon dioxide, and their transcriptional activity was mapped to genomes from cells on the electrode surface and in the supernatant. This allowed us to create a metabolic model of the predominant community members belonging to Acetobacterium, Sulfurospirillum, and Desulfovibrio. According to the model, the Acetobacterium was the primary carbon fixer, and a keystone member of the community. Transcripts of soluble hydrogenases and ferredoxins from Acetobacterium and hydrogenases, formate dehydrogenase, and cytochromes of Desulfovibrio were found in high abundance near the electrode surface. Cytochrome c oxidases of facultative members of the community were highly expressed in the supernatant despite completely sealed reactors and constant flushing with anaerobic gases. These molecular discoveries and metabolic modeling now serve as a foundation for future examination and development of electrosynthetic microbial communities.

Despite increasing advocacy for gender equality, gender prejudice and discrimination persist. The origins of these biases develop in early childhood, but it is less clear whether (1) children's gender attitudes predict discrimination and (2) gender attitudes and discrimination vary by ethnicity and US region. We examine these questions with an ethnically (Asian, Black, Latinx and White) and geographically (Northeast, Pacific Northwest, West, Southeast and Hawaii) diverse sample of 4‐ to 6‐year‐old children (N = 605) who completed measures of gender attitudes and discrimination in a preregistered study. Children, across groups, demonstrated more positive attitudes towards their gender ingroup. Children who showed more pro‐ingroup attitudes also showed more pro‐ingroup behavioural discrimination. Girls showed stronger ingroup favouritism than boys, but ethnic and regional groups generally did not vary in levels of bias. These findings contribute to our understanding of how gender intergroup biases develop and highlight the generalizability of these processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This study assessed the potential of large language models (LLMs) as educational tools by evaluating their accuracy in answering questions across urological subtopics. Methods: Three LLMs (ChatGPT-3.5, ChatGPT-4, and Bing AI) were examined in two testing rounds, separated by 48 h, using 100 Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQs) from the 2022 European Board of Urology (EBU) In-Service Assessment (ISA), covering five different subtopics. The correct answer was defined as "formal accuracy" (FA) representing the designated single best answer (SBA) among four options. Alternative answers selected from LLMs, which may not necessarily be the SBA but are still deemed correct, were labeled as "extended accuracy" (EA). Their capacity to enhance the overall accuracy rate when combined with FA was examined. Results: In two rounds of testing, the FA scores were achieved as follows: ChatGPT-3.5: 58% and 62%, ChatGPT-4: 63% and 77%, and BING AI: 81% and 73%. The incorporation of EA did not yield a significant enhancement in overall performance. The achieved gains for ChatGPT-3.5, ChatGPT-4, and BING AI were as a result 7% and 5%, 5% and 2%, and 3% and 1%, respectively (p > 0.3). Within urological subtopics, LLMs showcased best performance in Pediatrics/Congenital and comparatively less effectiveness in Functional/BPS/Incontinence. Conclusion: LLMs exhibit suboptimal urology knowledge and unsatisfactory proficiency for educational purposes. The overall accuracy did not significantly improve when combining EA to FA. The error rates remained high ranging from 16 to 35%. Proficiency levels vary substantially across subtopics. Further development of medicine-specific LLMs is required before integration into urological training programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]