ABSTRACT
The MyScope online training resource has been supporting the global microscopy community since 2011. Since then, it has expanded from six to twelve modules, growing in line with emerging and increasingly important areas of microscopy such as FIB and Cryo-EM. By sharing the expertise and commitment of Microscopy Australia staff to effective and efficient microscopy training, MyScope is being maintained as an up-to-date training tool. Online teaching and training resources such as MyScope have proven to be more important than ever in helping facilities and course leaders manage pandemic-impacted teaching, training and access regimes.
Subject(s)
Microscopy , HumansABSTRACT
In response to the requirements imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, we developed a remote learning undergraduate workshop for 44 students at the University of Newcastle by embedding scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of Maratus (Peacock) spiders into the MyScope Explore environment. The workshop session had two main components: 1) to use the online MyScope Explore tool to virtually image scales with structural color and pigmented color on Maratus spiders; 2) to join a live SEM session via Zoom to image an actual Maratus spider. In previous years, the undergraduate university students attending this annual workshop would enter the Microscopy Facility at the University of Newcastle to image specimens with SEM; however, in 2020 the Microscopy Facility was closed to student visitors, and this virtual activity was developed in order to proceed with the educational event. The program was highly successful and constitutes a platform that can be used in the future by universities for teaching microscopy remotely.
ABSTRACT
Cardiovascular disease has a multifactorial aetiology that is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. Endothelial dysfunction is a key event in the pathogenesis of vascular disease that occurs before structural vascular changes or clinical symptoms are evident. Conventional risk factors, for example hypertension and diabetes mellitus, are associated with endothelial dysfunction, but the influence of other putative risk factors is not clear. The methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T genotype, a common polymorphism that induces hyperhomocysteinaemia, has been proposed as being a genetic risk factor for cardiovascular disease. A total of 126 healthy adults recruited by MTHFR C677T genotype (42 of each genotype, i.e. CC, CT and TT) underwent assessment of endothelial function. Brachial artery endothelium-dependent flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) was measured using high-resolution ultrasonic vessel "wall-tracking". Using multiple regression analysis, MTHFR genotype and 21 other subject and subject-lifestyle variables were investigated as potential predictors of endothelial function. FMD was influenced positively by frequency of aerobic exercise and by hormone replacement therapy, and negatively by increases in systolic blood pressure. MTHFR C677T genotype and the associated variation in plasma homocysteine levels did not influence FMD. Additionally, other factors, including plasma cholesterol and self-supplementation with either antioxidant vitamins or cod liver oil, showed no significant relationship with FMD, although these findings are compromised by the narrow range studied for cholesterol and the small number of subjects taking supplements. These observations have implications for risk factor management in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in healthy individuals.
