Teaching Belonging in Nursing Using Narrative Pedagogy.

Background: As Abraham Maslow asserts, belonging is essential to achieving self-esteem and self-actualization. With increasing numbers of novice nurse burnout and a perceived education-practice gap, promoting a sense of belonging is important to nurses' growth and psychological well-being and should start in nursing school.

Method: An elective course, Belonging in Nursing, was developed to assist undergraduate nursing students in understanding the importance of belonging through narrative pedagogy.

MicroRNA-146a is induced by inflammatory stimuli in airway epithelial cells and augments the anti-inflammatory effects of glucocorticoids.

Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are emerging as central regulators of inflammation, but their role in asthma and airway epithelial cells is not well studied. Glucocorticoids are the cornerstone of therapy in asthma and other inflammatory disease, yet their mechanisms of action are not completely elucidated, and it is not clear whether miRNAs modulate their effects.

Objective: We aimed to identify miRNAs that regulate cytokine and chemokine expression in airway epithelial cells and whether these miRNAs are subject to the effects of glucocorticoids.

Effects of allergic stimulation and glucocorticoids on miR-155 in CD4 T-cells.

Rationale: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are emerging as important regulators of allergic inflammation and potential therapeutic targets. We sought to identify which miRNAs are expressed in CD4 T-cells and determine whether allergic stimuli or glucocorticoids alter their expression.

Methods: After IRB approval, blood was collected from dust mite (DM) allergic rhinitis subjects (n=20), non-allergic controls (n=8), and asthmatics (n=16).

miR-155 Modulates Cockroach Allergen- and Oxidative Stress-Induced Cyclooxygenase-2 in Asthma.

Exposure to cockroach allergen is a strong risk factor for developing asthma. Asthma has been associated with allergen-induced airway epithelial damage and heightened oxidant stress. In this study, we investigated cockroach allergen-induced oxidative stress in airway epithelium and its underlying mechanisms.

Isolation and profiling of plasma microRNAs: Biomarkers for asthma and allergic rhinitis.

Chronic inflammatory diseases can be particularly challenging to diagnose and characterize, as inflammatory changes in tissue may not be present in blood. There is a crucial need to develop non-invasive biomarkers that would be useful in diagnosing disease and selecting medical therapies. For example, there are no blood tests to diagnose asthma, a common inflammatory lung disease.