Rapid total sialic acid monitoring during cell culture process using a machine learning model based soft sensor.

Total sialic acid content (TSA) in biotherapeutic proteins is often a critical quality attribute as it impacts the drug efficacy. Traditional wet chemical assays to quantify TSA in biotherapeutic proteins during cell culture typically takes several hours or longer due to the complexity of the assay which involves isolation of sialic acid from the protein of interest, followed by sample preparation and chromatographic based separation for analysis. Here, we developed a machine learning model-based technology to rapidly predict TSA during cell culture by using typically measured process parameters.

Responsiveness and construct validity of two outcome measures of bilateral upper limb function in patients with chronic stroke.

Background: Stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability among stroke survivors. Despite the availability of numerous stroke rehabilitative therapies, such as mirror therapy, bilateral arm training, and robot-assisted therapy, the recovery of motor function after stroke remains incomplete. Bilateral arm function is a key component in stroke patients to perform activities of daily living and to reflect their functional autonomy.

Reliability of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment in people with stroke.

This study examined the relative and absolute reliability of the Taiwanese version of the MoCA (MoCA-T) in people with stroke. The study recruited 114 individuals who were at least 3 months after the onset of a first-ever unilateral stroke. The MoCA-T was administered twice, at a 6-week interval, to all participants.

Positive and negative psychosocial impacts on cancer survivors.

The purpose of this study is to understand psychosocial impacts on cancer survivors using the patient-reported outcomes measurement information system (PROMIS) Psychosocial Illness Impact banks. Cancer survivors (n = 509; age: 59.5 ± 1.

Three Ways to Improve Arm Function in the Chronic Phase After Stroke by Robotic Priming Combined With Mirror Therapy, Arm Training, and Movement-Oriented Therapy.

Objective: To examine the effects of bilateral robotic priming combined with mirror therapy (R-mirr) vs bilateral robotic priming combined with bilateral arm training (R-bilat), relative to the control approach of bilateral robotic priming combined with movement-oriented training (R-mov) in patients with stroke.

Design: A single-blind, preliminary, randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Four outpatient rehabilitation settings.

Effects of robotic priming of bilateral arm training, mirror therapy, and impairment-oriented training on sensorimotor and daily functions in patients with chronic stroke: study protocol of a single-blind, randomized controlled trial.

Background: Combining robotic therapy (RT) with task-oriented therapy is an emerging strategy to facilitate motor relearning in stroke rehabilitation. This study protocol will compare novel rehabilitation regimens that use bilateral RT as a priming technique to augment two task-oriented therapies: mirror therapy (MT) and bilateral arm training (BAT) with a control intervention: RT combined with impairment-oriented training (IOT).

Methods: This single-blind, randomized, comparative efficacy study will involve 96 participants with chronic stroke.

Validation of the factor structure of the WHOQOL-BREF using meta-analysis of exploration factor analysis and social network analysis.

The brief version of the World Health Organization's Quality of Life Questionnaire, called WHOQOL-BREF, is an internationally applicable measurement for quality of life (QOL) and is widely used in medical and psychological research. Consistent factor structure across countries is essential for the WHOQOL-BREF. However, poor construct validity was found in Lin and Yao's systematic review study.

A Metabolomics Approach to Increasing Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) Cell Productivity.

Much progress has been made in improving the viable cell density of bioreactor cultures in monoclonal antibody production from Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells; however, specific productivity (qP) has not been increased to the same degree. In this work, we analyzed a library of 24 antibody-expressing CHO cell clones to identify metabolites that positively associate with qP and could be used for clone selection or medium supplementation. An initial library of 12 clones, each producing one of two antibodies, was analyzed using untargeted LC-MS experiments.

A Comparative Efficacy Study of Robotic Priming of Bilateral Approach in Stroke Rehabilitation.

Stroke survivors can remain impaired in body functions, activity, and participation. A novel rehabilitation regimen is required to obtain scientific evidence and to help clinicians determine effective interventions for stroke. Mirror therapy (MT) and bilateral upper limb training (BULT) are based on the tenet of bilateral movement practice; however, the additional effect of bilateral robotic priming combined with these two therapies is unclear.

The Priming Effects of Mirror Visual Feedback on Bilateral Task Practice: A Randomized Controlled Study.

The priming effect of mirror visual feedback can be simply provided by inexpensive mirror therapy (MT), which exhibits beneficial effects on sensorimotor recovery in stroke. The present study was a single-blind pretest-posttest study that examined whether the priming effect of mirror visual feedback on bilateral task practice would render better outcomes. Twenty-three patients with chronic stroke were randomized to receive hospital-based task-oriented MT or bilateral arm training (BAT) for 4 weeks at 90 minutes/day, 3 days/week and a home practice for 30-40 minutes/day, 5 days/week.

A Social Desirability Item Response Theory Model: Retrieve-Deceive-Transfer.

In this study, a new item response theory model is developed to account for situations in which respondents overreport or underreport their actual opinions on a positive or negative issue. Such behavior is supposed to be a result of deception and transfer mechanisms. In the proposed model, this behavior is simulated by incorporating a deception term into a multidimensional rating scale model, followed by multiplication by a transfer term, with the two operations performed by an indicator function and a transition matrix separately.

Unilateral vs Bilateral Hybrid Approaches for Upper Limb Rehabilitation in Chronic Stroke: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: To investigate the effects of unilateral hybrid therapy (UHT) and bilateral hybrid therapy (BHT) compared with robot-assisted therapy (RT) alone in patients with chronic stroke.

Design: A single-blind, randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Four hospitals.

Caregiving demands, job demands, and health outcomes for employed family caregivers of older adults with dementia: Structural equation modeling.

Many family caregivers are also employed full- or part-time and are known to be affected by job demands. This study explored the mediating effect of job demands on the relationship between caregiving demands and caregiver health outcomes in primary family caregivers of older persons with dementia in Taiwan (N = 214). A cross-sectional design using a self-completed structured questionnaire was implemented.

Psychometric evaluation of the WHOQOL-BREF, Taiwan version, across five kinds of Taiwanese cancer survivors: Rasch analysis and confirmatory factor analysis.

Background: Quality of life (QoL) is important for clinicians to evaluate how cancer survivors judge their sense of well-being, and WHOQOL-BREF may be a good tool for clinical use. However, at least three issues remain unresolved: (1) the psychometric properties of the WHOQOL-BREF for cancer patients are insufficient; (2) the scoring method used for WHOQOL-BREF needs to be clarify; (3) whether different types of cancer patients interpret the WHOQOL-BREF similarly.

Methods: We recruited 1000 outpatients with head/neck cancer, 1000 with colorectal cancer, 965 with liver cancer, 1438 with lung cancer and 1299 with gynecologic cancers in a medical center.

Depression Affects the Scores of All Facets of the WHOQOL-BREF and May Mediate the Effects of Physical Disability among Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

Background: Geriatric depression is associated with the overall quality of life (QOL). However, how depressive symptoms affect the different domains and facets of QOL in older adults, and whether depressive symptoms mediate the relationship between physical disability and QOL in older adults are unclear.

Methods: A total of 490 ambulatory community-dwelling older adults aged 65 years or above were interviewed using the brief version of the World Health Organisation Quality of Life instrument (WHOQOL-BREF), the Modified Barthel Index (MBI), the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15), and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).

Indicators of perceived useful dementia care assistive technology: Caregivers' perspectives.

Aim: The study aims to investigate the caregivers' context-specific perceived usefulness of available assistive technology (AT) devices and the professionals' perspectives on the usefulness indicators of AT devices for home-dwelling individuals with mild-to-moderate dementia.

Methods: A total of 72 caregivers completed a questionnaire rating 82 AT devices with a high-perceived usefulness (HPU) or low-perceived usefulness (LPU). A total of 21 experts rated 10 usefulness indicators of these devices.

Zebrafish as a model to study live mucus physiology.

Dysfunctional mucus barriers can result in important pulmonary and gastrointestinal conditions, but model systems to study the underlying causes are largely missing. We identified and characterized five mucin homologues in zebrafish, and demonstrated a strategy for fluorescence labeling of one selected mucin. These tools can be used for in vivo experiments and in pharmacological and genetic screens to study the dynamics and mechanisms of mucosal physiology.

Measuring quality of life with fuzzy numbers: in the perspectives of reliability, validity, measurement invariance, and feasibility.

Purpose: Fuzzy set theory (FST) can improve various aspects of measurement with questionnaires. However, very little is known about how to use FST to measure quality of life (QOL). The main purpose of our study was to find an appropriate fuzzy measure for QOL that, while demonstrating the advantages of FST, can also be compared with mainstream QOL measures, most of which use traditional Likert-type scales.

Psychometric properties of the Chinese-version Quality of Nursing Work Life Scale.

In this study, we developed and tested the psychometric properties of the Chinese-version Quality of Nursing Work Life Scale along seven subscales: supportive milieu with security and professional recognition, work arrangement and workload, work/home life balance, head nurse's/supervisor's management style, teamwork and communication, nursing staffing and patient care, and milieu of respect and autonomy. An instrument-development procedure with three phases was conducted in seven hospitals in 2010-2011. Phase I comprised translation and the cultural-adaptation process, phase II comprised a pilot study, and phase III comprised a field-testing process.

Likelihood ratios of multiple cutoff points of the Taipei City Developmental Checklist for Preschoolers, 2nd version.

Background/purpose: This study aimed to examine the reliability and clinical decision validities of the Taipei City Developmental Checklist for Preschoolers, 2nd version (the Taipei II, which was filled out by parents) and the screening procedures conducted in the medical setting.

Methods: Methodology research and case control study designs were adopted. A total of 310 dyads consisting of children who were developing typically and 196 dyads of children with developmental delays and age 5.

Cervical mucus properties stratify risk for preterm birth.

Background: Ascending infection from the colonized vagina to the normally sterile intrauterine cavity is a well-documented cause of preterm birth. The primary physical barrier to microbial ascension is the cervical canal, which is filled with a dense and protective mucus plug. Despite its central role in separating the vaginal from the intrauterine tract, the barrier properties of cervical mucus have not been studied in preterm birth.

Dose-response relationship of robot-assisted stroke motor rehabilitation: the impact of initial motor status.

Background And Purpose: The increasing availability of robot-assisted therapy (RT), which provides quantifiable, reproducible, interactive, and intensive practice, holds promise for stroke rehabilitation, but data on its dose-response relation are scanty. This study used 2 different intensities of RT to examine the treatment effects of RT and the effect on outcomes of the severity of initial motor deficits.

Methods: Fifty-four patients with stroke were randomized to a 4-week intervention of higher-intensity RT, lower-intensity RT, or control treatment.

Exploring conflict between caregiving and work for caregivers of elders with dementia: a cross-sectional, correlational study.

Aim: To report the moderating effects of work-related conditions and interactive family-care-giving variables, including mutuality and preparedness, on caregiver role strain and mental health for family caregivers of patients with dementia.

Background: Few studies have examined the interrelationships among caregivers' working conditions, care-giving dynamics and caregiver well-being.

Design: Cross-sectional, correlational study.

Psychometric properties of the eating disorder inventory in clinical and nonclinical populations in Taiwan.

Objective: To examine psychometric properties and investigate factor structures of the Mandarin Chinese version of the Eating Disorder Inventory (C-EDI).

Method: The Mandarin C-EDI and other self-administered questionnaires were completed by a group of female eating disorder (ED) patients (n = 551) and a group of female nursing students (n = 751). Internal consistency, and convergent and discriminant validities were evaluated.

Validation of the WHOQOL-HIV BREF among HIV-infected patients in Taiwan.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the quality of life (QOL) of an individual is essentially defined as the subjective evaluation by such individuals of their own personal life embedded within the context of their culture and values. In the present study, we set out to examine the reliability and validity of the WHOQOL-HIV BREF, a newly-developed, multi-dimensional instrument comprising 31 items designed to assess the QOL of people in Taiwan infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). We collected data on a total of 680 people in Taiwan infected with HIV; these study participants were found to have a mean age of 36.