[Satisfaction of wheelchair users in the Baixada Santista Metropolitan Region].

This article seeks to identify user satisfaction in relation to wheelchairs and the provision of public and private health services in the Baixada Santista Metropolitan Region. It involved a cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach. Participants answered a sociodemographic questionnaire and the Brazilian version of the Quebec Assistive Technology User Satisfaction Assessment.

Trends in steroid agent and diluent choices for epidural steroid injections: a survey of Spine Intervention Society physicians.

Background: Epidural steroid injections (ESIs) are a frequently used treatment for refractory radicular spinal pain. ESIs, particularly transforaminal epidural steroid injections (TFESI), may provide pain relief and delay the need for surgery. Corticosteroid agent and diluent choices are known to impact the safety of ESIs.

Cost-Effective Hearing Conservation: Regulatory and Research Priorities.

Hearing conservation programs (HCPs) mandated by the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cost about $350/worker/year. Are they cost-effective? A cross-sectional model of the US adult population with and without HCPs incorporates (1) the American Medical Association's method for estimating binaural hearing impairment and whole-person impairment; (2) the model of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for estimating both age-related and noise-induced hearing loss; and (3) an acceptable cost of $50,000 per quality-adjusted life year. The ISO model's outputs were audiometric thresholds for groups of people with different age, sex, and noise exposure history.

MARK4 regulates NLRP3 positioning and inflammasome activation through a microtubule-dependent mechanism.

Excessive activation of the NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome is involved in many chronic inflammatory diseases, including cardiovascular and Alzheimer's disease. Here we show that microtubule-affinity regulating kinase 4 (MARK4) binds to NLRP3 and drives it to the microtubule-organizing centre, enabling the formation of one large inflammasome speck complex within a single cell. MARK4 knockdown or knockout, or disruption of MARK4-NLRP3 interaction, impairs NLRP3 spatial arrangement and limits inflammasome activation.

High glucose enhances microRNA-26a to activate mTORC1 for mesangial cell hypertrophy and matrix protein expression.

High glucose milieu inhibits PTEN expression to activate Akt kinase and induces glomerular mesangial cell hypertrophy and matrix protein expression in diabetic nephropathy. Specific mechanism by which high glucose inhibits PTEN expression is not clear. We found that high glucose increased the expression of the microRNA-26a (miR-26a) in mesangial cells.

Aloe polymannose enhances anti-coxsackievirus antibody titres in mice.

Aloe polymannose (AP), a high mannose biological response modifier (BRM) purified from the Aloe barbadensis Miller plant, was tested for activity in enhancing antibody titres against coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) and CVB3-induced myocarditis in murine models of the disease. Inoculation of mice with AP over a range of three nontoxic doses and in varying schedules did not reduce virus titres in heart tissues or ameliorate virus-induced cardiopathological alterations during acute disease. However, this BRM was found to significantly enhance titres of anti-CVB3 antibodies produced during acute infection of three strains of mice with CVB3.