Undergraduate Students' Perceived Stress Levels in Summer Term 2020 - A Comparison to Preceding Academic Terms.

The COVID-19 pandemic tremendously affected teaching and learning in both schools and higher education settings. In Germany, university students had to shift from in-person group learning in lectures and seminars to new forms of e-learning and distance teaching. Even before COVID-19, stress was a common experience among university students, and these changes have reinforced students' stress levels. Based on a sample of n = 110 German university students, this study explores whether students' perceived stress levels in summer term 2020 differed from their perceived stress levels in preceding academic terms. The results show that students experienced lower levels of stress and higher levels of joy in summer term 2020 compared to preceding academic terms. Despite limitations in the interpretation of these findings, possible explanations, such as changes in academic and non-academic workload or decreased demands in university exams, are discussed.

Non-invasive and high-throughput interrogation of exon-specific isoform expression.

Expression of exon-specific isoforms from alternatively spliced mRNA is a fundamental mechanism that substantially expands the proteome of a cell. However, conventional methods to assess alternative splicing are either consumptive and work-intensive or do not quantify isoform expression longitudinally at the protein level. Here, we therefore developed an exon-specific isoform expression reporter system (EXSISERS), which non-invasively reports the translation of exon-containing isoforms of endogenous genes by scarlessly excising reporter proteins from the nascent polypeptide chain through highly efficient, intein-mediated protein splicing. We applied EXSISERS to quantify the inclusion of the disease-associated exon 10 in microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT) in patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells and screened Cas13-based RNA-targeting effectors for isoform specificity. We also coupled cell survival to the inclusion of exon 18b of FOXP1, which is involved in maintaining pluripotency of embryonic stem cells, and confirmed that MBNL1 is a dominant factor for exon 18b exclusion. EXSISERS enables non-disruptive and multimodal monitoring of exon-specific isoform expression with high sensitivity and cellular resolution, and empowers high-throughput screening of exon-specific therapeutic interventions.