A Culturally Specific Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Program to Improve Diet in Immigrant Communities in Brooklyn, New York.

Anti-Asian and anti-immigrant sentiment has surged in the country in the last 3 years. Food insecurity is also on the rise; in our local needs assessment of n = 1,270 Asian American adults in New York City, accessing food was cited as the number 1 priority among those who needed help. Finally, racial discrimination and food access are related to fear of being attacked-driving feelings of safety and therefore willingness to travel for food. To combat these narratives and leveraging pivots by our community partners, we implemented a community-supported agriculture pilot program (n = 38) to assess whether culturally appropriate food access can improve diet and foster cross-cultural learning among immigrant families in Brooklyn, NY. Over a 20-week period from June to October 2022, participants received Chinese-specific produce and nutrition education. Participants reported eating more and a greater variety of vegetables and had higher vegetable intake measured via skin carotenoid scores. This pilot may inform the adaptation of nutrition interventions to reduce inequities in chronic diseases in immigrant communities.

Van der Waals interfaces in epitaxial vertical metal/2D/3D semiconductor heterojunctions of monolayer MoS2 and GaN.

A promising approach for high speed and high power electronics is to integrate two-dimensional (2D) materials with conventional electronic components such as bulk (3D) semiconductors and metals. In this study we explore a basic integration step of inserting a single monolayer MoS2 (1L-MoS2) inside a Au/p-GaN junction and elucidate how it impacts the structural and electrical properties of the junction. Epitaxial 1L-MoS2 in the form of 1-2 µm triangle domains are grown by powder vaporization on a p-doped GaN substrate, and the Au capping layer is deposited by evaporation. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of the van der Waals interface indicates that 1L-MoS2 remained distinct and intact between the Au and GaN and that the Au is epitaxial to GaN only when the 1L-MoS2 is present. Quantitative TEM analyses of the van der Waals interfaces are performed and yielded the atomic plane spacings in the heterojunction. Electrical characterization of the all-epitaxial, vertical Au/1L-MoS2/p-GaN heterojunctions enables the derivations of Schottky barrier heights (SBH) and drawing of the band alignment diagram. Notably, 1L-MoS2 appears to be electronically semi-transparent, and thus can be considered as a modifier to the Au contact rather than an independent semiconductor component forming a pn-junction. The I-V analysis and our first principles calculation indicated Fermi level pinning and substantial band bending in GaN at the interface. Lastly, we illustrate how the depletion regions are formed in a bipolar junction with an ultrathin monolayer component using the calculated distribution of the charge density across the Au/1L-MoS2/GaN junction.