Diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) is an estrogen-like compound widely used as a plasticizer in commercial products and is present in medical devices, and common household items. It is considered an endocrine disruptor since studies on experimental animals clearly show that exposure to DEHP can alter epigenetics of germ cells. This study was designed to assess the effects of DEHP on DNA methylation of imprinting genes in germ cells from fetal and adult mouse. Pregnant mice were treated with DEHP at doses of 0 and 40 μg DEHP/kg body weight/day from 0.5 to 18.5 day post coitum. The data revealed DEHP exposure significantly reduced the percentage of methylated CpG sites in Igf2r and Peg3 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) in primordial germ cells from female and male fetal mouse, particularly, in the oocytes of 21 dpp mice (F1), which were produced by the pregnant micetreated with DEHP. More surprisingly, the modification of the DNA methylation of imprinted genes in F1 mouse oocytes was heritable to F2 offspring which exhibit lower percentages of methylated CpG sites in imprinted genes DMRs. In conclusion, DEHP exposure can affect the DNA methylation of imprinting genes not only in fetal mouse germ cells and growing oocytes, but also in offspring's oocytes.

Playing nano‐tectonics: The interaction of atomic hydrogen with a single layer of hexagonal boron nitride on rhodium leads to the removal of the h‐BN surface corrugation (see picture; blue region: corrugated, orange region: flat). This change of surface texture arises from the intercalation of hydrogen atoms between the h‐BN skin and the metal, and can be restored by annealing to about 600 K to expel the hydrogen atoms.

The different types and advantages of nanoparticles in sonodynamic therapy.

The moiré superstructure of a single layer of carbon on ruthenium, where 25×25 graphene honeycombs sit on 23×23 substrate unit cells, is determined from first principles. The density functional theory (DFT) calculations predict two kinds of structural units, Ω and Y, in the supercell, which are identified as moiré beatings or moirons. The related topographic bucklings, or "hills," have distinct carbon conformations and a height of 1.16 Å. The different moirons are observed with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), and surface x-ray diffraction (SXRD) also discriminates the two. This connects ab initio DFT calculations with STM and SXRD experiments in unit cells containing more than 4000 atoms.

Water was investigated on a h-BN/Rh(111) nanomesh template using variable temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Below 52 K, two distinct phases self-assemble within the 3.2 nm unit cell of the nanomesh that consists of "holes" and "wires". In the 2 nm holes, an ordered phase of nano-ice crystals with about 40 molecules is found. The ice crystals arrange in a bilayer honeycomb lattice, where hydrogen atoms of the lower layer point to the substrate. The phase on the 1 nm wires is a low density gas phase. Tunneling barrier height dI/dz spectroscopy measurements reveal the dipoles of individual molecules in the nano-ice clusters and access proton disorder.