Teaching in Tumultuous Times: Unraveling Teachers’ Experiences amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

Teachers are the most significant assets in any educational institution. They serve as an avenue for conveying knowledge, skills, and values to students. They play a vital role in reforming and strengthening the education system of any country. However, education in the new normal requires numerous adaptations, as teachers were unprepared when the pandemic struck. This qualitative study sought to discover the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) from teachers' lived experiences in teaching during the pandemic. A total of 28 participants were involved, who had first-hand experiences of teaching tertiary level in the new normal in a university. The qualitative phenomenological research design was used in this study. Thus, teaching in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic provided teachers’ deficiencies in some course delivery; however, they worked diligently to transform and demonstrate resilience in teaching in the new normal amidst pandemics, converting them into strengths and opportunities. On the other hand, instructors' and professors’ strengths should be recognized, and professional development opportunities should be provided to help them become more competent educators

A relative shift in cloacal location repositions external genitalia in amniote evolution

The publisher's final edited version of this article is available at Nature.International audienceThe move of vertebrates to a terrestrial lifestyle required major adaptations in their locomotory apparatus and reproductive organs. While the fin-to-limb transition has received considerable attention, little is known about the developmental and evolutionary origins of external genitalia. Similarities in gene expression have been interpreted as a potential evolutionary link between the limb and genitals; however, no underlying developmental mechanism has been identified. We re-examined this question using micro-computed tomography, lineage tracing in three amniote clades, and RNA-sequencing-based transcriptional profiling. Here we show that the developmental origin of external genitalia has shifted through evolution, and in some taxa limbs and genitals share a common primordium. In squamates, the genitalia develop directly from the budding hindlimbs, or the remnants thereof, whereas in mice the genital tubercle originates from the ventral and tail bud mesenchyme. The recruitment of different cell populations for genital outgrowth follows a change in the relative position of the cloaca, the genitalia organizing centre. Ectopic grafting of the cloaca demonstrates the conserved ability of different mesenchymal cells to respond to these genitalia-inducing signals. Our results support a limb-like developmental origin of external genitalia as the ancestral condition. Moreover, they suggest that a change in the relative position of the cloacal signalling centre during evolution has led to an altered developmental route for external genitalia in mammals, while preserving parts of the ancestral limb molecular circuitry owing to a common evolutionary origin

A relative shift in cloacal location repositions external genitalia in amniote evolution

The move of vertebrates to a terrestrial lifestyle required major adaptations in their locomotory apparatus and reproductive organs. While the fin-to-limb transition has received considerable attention1,2, little is known about the developmental and evolutionary origins of external genitalia. Similarities in gene expression have been interpreted as a potential evolutionary link between the two anatomical structures3-6, yet without providing any underlying developmental mechanism. Here, we have reexamined this question using micro-Computed Tomography (μCT), lineage tracing in three amniote clades and RNA-Seq transcriptional profiling. We show that the developmental origin of external genitalia has shifted through evolution, and in some taxa limbs and genitals share a common primordium. In squamates, the genitalia develop directly from the budding hindlimbs, or the remnants thereof, whereas in mice the genital tubercle originates from the ventral and tail bud mesenchyme. The recruitment of different cell populations for genital outgrowth follows a change in the relative position of the cloaca, the genitalia organizing center. Ectopic grafting of the cloaca demonstrates the conserved ability of different mesenchymal cells to respond to these genitalia-inducing signals. Our results support a limb-like developmental origin of external genitalia as the ancestral condition. Moreover, it suggests that a change in the relative position of the cloacal signaling center during evolution has led to an altered developmental route of external genitalia in mammals, while preserving parts of the ancestral limb molecular circuitry due to a common evolutionary origin