The prevalence of Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is increasing rapidly. In addition to the metabolic disease risks, GDM might increase the risks of cryptorchidism in children. However, its mechanism involved in abnormalities of the male reproductive system is still unclear. The purpose of this study was to study the effects of GDM on the development of mouse fetal Leydig and Sertoli cells. Pregnant mice were treated on gestational day (GD) 6.5 and 12.5 with streptozotocin (STZ, 100 mg/kg) or vehicle (sodium citrate buffer). Leydig and Sertoli cell development and functions were evaluated by investigating serum testosterone levels, cell number and distribution, genes, and protein expression. GDM decreased serum testosterone levels, the anogenital distance, and the level of DHH in Sertoli cells of testes of male offspring. Fetal Leydig cell number was also decreased in testes of GDM offspring by delaying the commitment of stem Leydig cells into the Leydig cell lineage. RNA-seq showed that FOXL2, RSPO1/β-Catenin signaling was activated and Gsk3β signaling was inhibited in GDM offspring testis. In conclusion, GDM disrupted reproductive tract and testis development in mouse male offspring via altering genes related to development.

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The configurations of point defects and their migration mechanisms in L1 0 -type CuAu ordered alloy have been investigated with the modified analytical embedded atom method. The results show that the antisite defects Cu Au (especially) and Au Cu are easier to form than Cu and Au monovacancies owing to their lower formation energies. For the divacancies, the Cu-Au divacancy is the most stable configuration among the three types of configurations (Cu-Cu, Au-Au, and Cu-Au divacancies). In five migration mechanisms of either a Cu or an Au monovacancy, the antistructural bridge migration is the most favorable due to its lowest migration energy and the one next-nearest-neighbor jump (1NNNJ) migration is the most difficult mechanism but can be achieved by six nearest-neighbor cyclic jump (S [3], and all these directly affect the kinetic and thermodynamic behaviors of pure metals and their alloys. The migration of the vacancy is the dominant mechanism of atom transport or diffusion in processes like solid-phase transformations as well as crack formation and expansion [4]. So, a good understanding of the configurations and migration mechanisms of the point defects is very important for studying many phenomena associated with them. Many indirect experimental methods, such as measurements of or using heat capacity (specific heat) [5], electrical resistivity [6,7], differential-dilatometry (thermal expansion not caused by the lattice but by increased number of vacancies) [8], positron annihilation spectrometry [9], and scanning tunneling microscopy [10] have been used to measure the formation energy and/or diffuse activation energy of the defects in surface and bulk. In this paper, the formation energy of the monovacancy and both the formation and the binding energies of three types of configurations of the divacancy in L1 0 -type CuAu ordered

Combining molecular dynamics (MD) simulation with modified analytic embeddedatom method (MAEAM), the formation, migration and activation energies of the point defects for six-kind migration mechanisms in B2-type TaW alloy have been investigated. The results showed that the anti-site defects TaW and WTa were easier to form than Ta and W vacancies owing to their lower formation energies. Comparing the migration and activation energies needed for six-kind migration mechanisms of a Ta (or W) vacancy, we found that one nearest-neighbour jump (1NNJ) was the most favourable because of its lowest migration and activation energies, but it would lead to a disorder in the alloy. One next-nearest-neighbour jump (1NNNJ) and one third-nearest-neighbour jump (1TNNJ) could maintain the ordered property of the alloy but required higher migration and activation energies. So the 1NNNJ and 1TNNJ should be replaced by straight [10 0] six nearestneighbor cyclic jumps (S[100]6NNCJ) (especially) or bent [100] six nearest-neighbour cyclic jumps (B[100]6NNCJ) and [110] six nearest-neighbor cyclic jumps ([110]6NNCJ), respectively.

Cu has been used extensively to replace Al as interconnects in ULSI and MEMS devices. However, because of the difference in the thermal expansion coefficients between the Cu film and the Si substrate, large biaxial stresses will be generated in the Cu film. Thus, the Cu film becomes unstable and even changes its morphologies which affects the device manufacturing yield and ultimate reliability. The structural stability and theoretical strength of Cu crystal under equal biaxial loading have been investigated by combining the MAEAM with Milstein-modified Born stability criteria. The results indicate that, under sufficient tension, there exists a stress-free BCC phase which is unstable and slips spontaneously to a stress-free metastable BCT phase by consuming internal energy. The stable region ranges from −15.131 GPa to 2.803 GPa in the theoretical strength or from −5.801% to 4.972% in the strain respectively.