Maternal hyperleptinemia is associated with male offspring’s altered vascular function and structure in mice

Children of mothers with gestational diabetes have greater risk of developing hypertension but little is known about the mechanisms by which this occurs. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that high maternal concentrations of leptin during pregnancy, which are present in mothers with gestational diabetes and/or obesity, alter blood pressure, vascular structure and vascular function in offspring. Wildtype (WT) offspring of hyperleptinemic, normoglycemic, Lepr db/+ dams were compared to genotype matched offspring of WT-control dams. Vascular function was assessed in male offspring at 6, and at 31 weeks of age after half the offspring had been fed a high fat, high sucrose diet (HFD) for 6 weeks. Blood pressure was increased by HFD but not affected by maternal hyperleptinemia. On a standard diet, offspring of hyperleptinemic dams had outwardly remodeled mesenteric arteries and an enhanced vasodilatory response to insulin. In offspring of WT but not Leprdb/+ dams, HFD induced vessel hypertrophy and enhanced vasodilatory responses to acetylcholine, while HFD reduced insulin responsiveness in offspring of hyperleptinemic dams. Offspring of hyperleptinemic dams had stiffer arteries regardless of diet. Therefore, while maternal hyperleptinemia was largely beneficial to offspring vascular health under astandard diet, it had detrimental effects in offspring fed HFD. These results suggest that circulating maternal leptin concentrations may interact with other factors in the pre- and post-natal environments to contribute to altered vascular function in offspring of diabetic pregnancie

Taking Your Course Online: An Interdisciplinary Journey

This book focuses on online pedagogy and the challenges and opportunities incumbent in the transformation of a face-to-face college course. It is intended as a resource and support for new online teachers – a source of ideas and strategies from a variety of disciplinary perspectives as well as pedagogical perspectives – and for those experienced in the online environment. The book meets the needs of faculty new to online teaching by providing them a wide variety of perspectives on the online transition – e.g. pedagogical, multidisciplinary, class size and level – by faculty with varying degrees of previous experience who have recently made the transition from face-to-face to online. Their advice and recollections offer a fresh, contemporary perspective on the subject. For administrators and faculty experienced with online instruction, the collection works as a resource for ideas intended to sustain the vibrancy and efficacy of the online environment. Taking Your Course Online includes the experiences of a cohort of faculty that responded to a University - wide call for faculty interested in developing online courses for summer session. This group participated in a series of workshops that addressed various aspects of developing online courses and online pedagogy. All of the authors taught their new online course over a subsequent 10-week summer session, and many of them have done so subsequently as well. Their experiences have great currency in the ever-changing world of online teaching. Because the collection represents the work of teachers exposed to best practices and many discussions concerning rigor, assessment, and accountability, it provides support for the viability of online teaching/learning in an environment frequently plagued by doubts about its effectiveness. Practitioners using this book will learn how to turn their face-to-face course into an online course successfully, understand best practices for transitioning courses/online teaching, minimize errors and avoid pitfalls in the transition process, and maximize learning. Faculty development professionals can use this book as a resource to teach faculty from a wide range of disciplines how to transition from the actual to the virtual classroom. Administrators such as deans and program chairs will gain useful insights into ways to think about taking entire programs online, as well as how to guide faculty in their development of pedagogical skills pertinent to online learning

Supporting Sustained Faculty Engagement in Blended Learning

Faculty professional development in higher education, especially at the intersections of pedagogy and technology, is an essential need given rapid, ongoing changes in technology, as well as the digital learning experiences students bring to college that inform how they learn and how they want to learn. This chapter outlines the implementation of faculty development programs at UMass Dartmouth and the University of Rhode Island that have positively impacted blended teaching and learning practices. The authors discuss best practices of blended learning training courses that can transform faculty thinking about course (re)design and student learning assessment, as well as the need for strong faculty peer mentorship programs to create a culture of collaboration, mentorship, and assessment focused on student retention and learning. As the authors conclude, there is a need for concurrent, intentional faculty development programming, and peer mentoring in order to improve student learning outcomes in the blended learning environment

Emergency department visits: the cost of trauma centers

Hospital, Cost, Trauma care, Economies of scale,