Kajian Keprihatinan Ahli Akademik Terhadap Tatacara Berpakaian, Sahsiah dan Rupa Diri Pelajar Universiti Malaysia Pahang

Tamadun adalah perkataan Arab “Maddana” yang bermaksud adab, akhlaq, moral dan mempunyai agama yang baik. Manakala hidup bertamadun bermaksud kehidupan yang penuh dengan adab sopan, moral dan berakhlak. Dalam konteks dunia pendidikan hari ini isu tatacara berpakaian, rupa diri, sahsiah dan akhlak pelajar pernah dibincangkan dan diketengahkan di peringkat institusi pengajian tinggi amnya, namun masih tidak menampakkan hasil positif. Kelihatan seolah-olah tiada keseriusan daripada pelbagai pihak untuk mengendalikan dan menjayakan isu ini sebaik mungkin sehingga ke akar umbinya dan secara tidak langsung untuk berusaha menyelesaikannya. Justeru, satu kajian berfokus telah dijalankan terhadap pelajar di Universiti Malaysia Pahang dari pelbagai fakulti. Kajian ini bertujuan meninjau sejauh mana komitmen pensyarah selaku aset penting yang berintegriti tinggi, bernilai dan berakhlak mulia dalam menjalankan amanah mereka mendidik anak bangsa khususnya dalam membangunkan akhlak dan sahsiah diri terpuji dalam kalangan mahasiswa. Kajian ini dilakukan secara tinjauan melalui aplikasi internet iaitu SurveyMonkey kepada lebih dari 100 orang pelajar. Melalui kajian ini terdapat enam perkara yang diperhatikan dan dikaji secara terperinci. Kajian ini berkisar komitmen pelajar dan pensyarah di kampus antaranya ialah komitmen pelajar terhadap pemakaian kad pelajar universiti (kad matrik), komitmen pensyarah memperuntukkan masa dalam kelas bagi menyatakan kepentingan tatacara berpakaian dan rupa diri di kampus, komitmen mengambil tindakan terhadap pelajar yang gagal mematuhi peraturan tatacara berpakaian dan rupa diri, komitmen mengambil tindakan terhadap pelajar yang lewat atau gagal hadir dalam kelas, dan amanah dalam mengisi ruang di slip kehadiran rakan sekuliah dalam kelas. Hasil kajian mendapati bahawa komitmen di kalangan pelajar dan pensyarah kurang memberangsangkan. Perkara ini harus dipandang serius dan sangat membimbangkan kerana penekanan terhadap isu-isu tersebut sangat penting dalam melahirkan pelajar bertamadun iaitu berpengetahuan luas, berkemahiran tinggi dan bersikap, berakhlak serta bersahsiah terpuji

A Versatile Method for Viral Transfection of Calcium Indicators in the Neonatal Mouse Brain

The first three postnatal weeks in rodents are a time when sensory experience drives the maturation of brain circuits, an important process that is not yet well understood. Alterations in this critical period of experience-dependent circuit assembly and plasticity contribute to several neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism, epilepsy, and schizophrenia. Therefore, techniques for recording network activity and tracing neuronal connectivity over this time period are necessary for delineating circuit refinement in typical development and how it deviates in disease. Calcium imaging with GCaMP6 and other genetically encoded indicators is rapidly becoming the preferred method for recording network activity at the single-synapse and single-cell level in vivo, especially in genetically identified neuronal populations. We describe a protocol for intracortical injection of recombinant adeno-associated viruses in P1 neonatal mice and demonstrate its use for longitudinal imaging of GCaMP6s in the same neurons over several weeks to characterize the developmental desynchronization of cortical network activity. Our approach is ideally suited for chronic in vivo two-photon calcium imaging of neuronal activity from synapses to entire networks during the early postnatal period

EZcalcium: Open-Source Toolbox for Analysis of Calcium Imaging Data

Fluorescence calcium imaging using a range of microscopy approaches, such as two-photon excitation or head-mounted “miniscopes,” is one of the preferred methods to record neuronal activity and glial signals in various experimental settings, including acute brain slices, brain organoids, and behaving animals. Because changes in the fluorescence intensity of genetically encoded or chemical calcium indicators correlate with action potential firing in neurons, data analysis is based on inferring such spiking from changes in pixel intensity values across time within different regions of interest. However, the algorithms necessary to extract biologically relevant information from these fluorescent signals are complex and require significant expertise in programming to develop robust analysis pipelines. For decades, the only way to perform these analyses was for individual laboratories to write their custom code. These routines were typically not well annotated and lacked intuitive graphical user interfaces (GUIs), which made it difficult for scientists in other laboratories to adopt them. Although the panorama is changing with recent tools like CaImAn, Suite2P, and others, there is still a barrier for many laboratories to adopt these packages, especially for potential users without sophisticated programming skills. As two-photon microscopes are becoming increasingly affordable, the bottleneck is no longer the hardware, but the software used to analyze the calcium data optimally and consistently across different groups. We addressed this unmet need by incorporating recent software solutions, namely NoRMCorre and CaImAn, for motion correction, segmentation, signal extraction, and deconvolution of calcium imaging data into an open-source, easy to use, GUI-based, intuitive and automated data analysis software package, which we named EZcalcium

Addressing the disparities in dementia risk, early detection and care in Latino populations: Highlights from the Second Latinos and Alzheimer's Symposium

The Alzheimer's Association hosted the second Latinos & Alzheimer's Symposium in May 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting was held online over 2 days, with virtual presentations, discussions, mentoring sessions, and posters. The Latino population in the United States is projected to have the steepest increase in Alzheimer's disease (AD) in the next 40 years, compared to other ethnic groups. Latinos have increased risk for AD and other dementias, limited access to quality care, and are severely underrepresented in AD and dementia research and clinical trials. The symposium highlighted developments in AD research with Latino populations, including advances in AD biomarkers, and novel cognitive assessments for Spanish-speaking populations, as well as the need to effectively recruit and retain Latinos in clinical research, and how best to deliver health-care services and to aid caregivers of Latinos living with AD

Global urban environmental change drives adaptation in white clover

Urbanization transforms environments in ways that alter biological evolution. We examined whether urban environmental change drives parallel evolution by sampling 110,019 white clover plants from 6169 populations in 160 cities globally. Plants were assayed for a Mendelian antiherbivore defense that also affects tolerance to abiotic stressors. Urban-rural gradients were associated with the evolution of clines in defense in 47% of cities throughout the world. Variation in the strength of clines was explained by environmental changes in drought stress and vegetation cover that varied among cities. Sequencing 2074 genomes from 26 cities revealed that the evolution of urban-rural clines was best explained by adaptive evolution, but the degree of parallel adaptation varied among cities. Our results demonstrate that urbanization leads to adaptation at a global scale

Dendritic Spines in Early Postnatal Fragile X Mice Are Insensitive to Novel Sensory Experience

Autism spectrum disorders are often associated with atypical sensory processing and sensory hypersensitivity, which can lead to maladaptive behaviors, such as tactile defensiveness. Such altered sensory perception in autism spectrum disorders could arise from disruptions in experience-dependent maturation of circuits during early brain development. Here, we tested the hypothesis that synaptic structures of primary somatosensory cortex (S1) neurons in Fragile X syndrome (FXS), which is a common inherited cause of autism, are not modulated by novel sensory information during development. We used chronic in vivo two-photon microscopy to image dendritic spines and axon "en passant" boutons of layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons in S1 of male and female WT and Fmr1 KO mice, a model of FXS. We found that a brief (overnight) exposure to dramatically enhance sensory inputs in the second postnatal week led to a significant increase in spine density in WT mice, but not in Fmr1 KO mice. In contrast, axon "en passant" boutons dynamics were impervious to this novel sensory experience in mice of both genotypes. We surmise that the inability of Fmr1 KO mice to modulate postsynaptic dynamics in response to increased sensory input, at a time when sensory information processing first comes online in S1 cortex, could play a role in altered sensory processing in FXS.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Very few longitudinal in vivo imaging studies have investigated synaptic structure and dynamics in early postnatal mice. Moreover, those studies tend to focus on the effects of sensory input deprivation, a process that rarely occurs during normal brain development. Early postnatal imaging experiments are critical because a variety of neurodevelopmental disorders, including those characterized by autism, could result from alterations in how circuits are shaped by incoming sensory inputs during critical periods of development. In this study, we focused on a mouse model of Fragile X syndrome and demonstrate how dendritic spines are insensitive to a brief period of novel sensory experience

Two-photon probes for in vivo multicolor microscopy of the structure and signals of brain cells.

Imaging the brain of living laboratory animals at a microscopic scale can be achieved by two-photon microscopy thanks to the high penetrability and low phototoxicity of the excitation wavelengths used. However, knowledge of the two-photon spectral properties of the myriad fluorescent probes is generally scarce and, for many, non-existent. In addition, the use of different measurement units in published reports further hinders the design of a comprehensive imaging experiment. In this review, we compile and homogenize the two-photon spectral properties of 280 fluorescent probes. We provide practical data, including the wavelengths for optimal two-photon excitation, the peak values of two-photon action cross section or molecular brightness, and the emission ranges. Beyond the spectroscopic description of these fluorophores, we discuss their binding to biological targets. This specificity allows in vivo imaging of cells, their processes, and even organelles and other subcellular structures in the brain. In addition to probes that monitor endogenous cell metabolism, studies of healthy and diseased brain benefit from the specific binding of certain probes to pathology-specific features, ranging from amyloid-β plaques to the autofluorescence of certain antibiotics. A special focus is placed on functional in vivo imaging using two-photon probes that sense specific ions or membrane potential, and that may be combined with optogenetic actuators. Being closely linked to their use, we examine the different routes of intravital delivery of these fluorescent probes according to the target. Finally, we discuss different approaches, strategies, and prerequisites for two-photon multicolor experiments in the brains of living laboratory animals

Image_1_A Versatile Method for Viral Transfection of Calcium Indicators in the Neonatal Mouse Brain.JPEG

<p>The first three postnatal weeks in rodents are a time when sensory experience drives the maturation of brain circuits, an important process that is not yet well understood. Alterations in this critical period of experience-dependent circuit assembly and plasticity contribute to several neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism, epilepsy, and schizophrenia. Therefore, techniques for recording network activity and tracing neuronal connectivity over this time period are necessary for delineating circuit refinement in typical development and how it deviates in disease. Calcium imaging with GCaMP6 and other genetically encoded indicators is rapidly becoming the preferred method for recording network activity at the single-synapse and single-cell level in vivo, especially in genetically identified neuronal populations. We describe a protocol for intracortical injection of recombinant adeno-associated viruses in P1 neonatal mice and demonstrate its use for longitudinal imaging of GCaMP6s in the same neurons over several weeks to characterize the developmental desynchronization of cortical network activity. Our approach is ideally suited for chronic in vivo two-photon calcium imaging of neuronal activity from synapses to entire networks during the early postnatal period.</p