[Functional analysis of CG8005 gene in Drosophila testis].

The processes of self-renewal and differentiation of germ cells are crucial to the development of male infertility and germ cell tumors. CG8005 gene is one of the regulatory factors of the testicular germ stem cells in Drosophila melanogaster, and its functional mechanism is still unknown. To explore the biological function(s) of CG8005 gene in the germ cell niche of Drosophila testis, first, the UAS-gal4 system was used to drive the expression of UAS-CG8005 RNAi in Drosophila testicular germ cells and cyst cells. Fertility tests were then performed to determine the fertility rate of male flies. Second, the expression patterns of Vasa, IBI, Zn finger homeodomain 1 (Zfh1), eyes absent (Eya), DE-cad, FasIII and Phospho-Histone H3(PH3), and TUNEL were analyzed by immunofluorescence staining in both control and CG8005 RNAi testes. Lastly, small interfering RNA (siRNA) was used to silence the CG8005 gene expression in Drosophila S2 cells; and PH3 was used to detect the proliferation ability of Drosophila S2 cells in the control group and CG8005 siRNA group. Apoptosis of Drosophila S2 cells was analyzed with TUNEL and flow cytometry. To observe the relative expression of the spliceosome, the mRNA levels of the spliceosome subunits were detected by fluorescence quantitative RT-PCR. As compared with the control group, the results showed that deletion of the CG8005 gene in the germ cells and cyst cells of the testis reduced or even completely abolished the fertility of male fruit flies. In addition, nos-gal4 driven UAS-CG8005 RNAi led to loss of fusomes and reduce the proliferative ability of germ cells. Noticeably, tj-gal4-directed UAS-CG8005 RNAi knockdown of CG8005 gene in the testis led to germ cell tumor development. Knockdown of CG8005 gene in Drosophila S2 cells resulted in increase in apoptosis and inhibition of proliferation. Further, the silencing of the CG8005 gene in Drosophila S2 cells caused increases in the mRNA levels of the spliceosome subunits. Hence, CG8005 gene is essential for the self-renewal and differentiation of germ cells in Drosophila testis. Its deletion may lead to restricted germ cell survival and the formation of germ cell-like tumors. CG8005 gene can participate in the regulation of proliferation and apoptosis of Drosophila S2 cells, which is essential for the maintenance of cell life, and might competitively regulate the mRNA levels of spliceosome subunits.

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. We compared the mean of each indicator between the HPU and LPU groups. RESULTS: Most caregivers, who are generally amenable to using AT devices, thought they were useful for helping to care for home-dwelling older adults with mild-to-moderate dementia. The level of perceived usefulness from the experts' perspectives depends on specific design indicators (e.g. familiarity) and the context in which the AT is used (e.g. in everyday life or in emergencies). Indicators for HPU devices were: allows selective accident prevention, has an intuitive interface, is familiar, offers ease of use and simplifies activities. LPU devices featured client prompting. There were no significant differences between HPU and LPU devices with indicators of: is automated, informs caregiver, preserves privacy and preserves autonomy. Safety issues were considered important, and sometimes overshadowed ethical dilemmas, such as privacy and autonomy concern. CONCLUSIONS: The present study provides insight into how caregivers perceived the usefulness of AT devices, and how that varied with context. Indicators of devices perceived as useful can serve as guidelines for modifying existing devices and designing new devices. Future application could also incorporate the points of view from the persons with dementia.

Wheelchair-related accidents: relationship with wheelchair-using behavior in active community wheelchair users.

OBJECTIVE: To report the prevalence, mechanisms, self-perceived causes, consequences, and wheelchair-using behaviors associated with wheelchair-related accidents. DESIGN: A case-control study. SETTING: Community. PARTICIPANTS: A sample of experienced, community-dwelling, active manual and powered wheelchair users (N=95) recruited from a hospital assistive technology service center. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Wheelchair-using behaviors, wheelchair-related accidents over a 3-year period, and the mechanisms and consequences of the accidents. RESULTS: Among the 95 participants, 52 (54.7%) reported at least 1 accident and 16 (16.8%) reported 2 or more accidents during the 3 years prior to the interview. A total of 74 accidents, were categorized into tips and falls (87.8%), accidental contact (6.8%), and dangerous operations (5.4%). A logistic regression found individuals who failed to maintain their wheelchairs regularly (odds ratio [OR]=11.28; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.62-48.61) and used a wheelchair not prescribed by professionals (OR=4.31; 95% CI, 1.10-16.82) had significantly greater risks of accidents. In addition to the risk factor, lack of regular wheelchair maintenance, the Poisson regression corroborated the other risk factor, seat belts not used (incident rate ratio=2.14; 95% CI, 1.08-4.14), for wheelchair-related accidents. CONCLUSIONS: Wheelchair-related accidents are closely related to their wheelchair-using behaviors. Services including professional evaluation, repair, maintenance, and an educational program on proper wheelchair use may decrease the risks of wheelchair accidents.

Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Quebec User Evaluation of Satisfaction with Assistive Technology (QUEST 2.0): the development of the Taiwanese version.

OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate a cross-cultural version of the Quebec User Evaluation of Satisfaction with Assistive Technology (QUEST 2.0) for users of assistive technology devices in Taiwan. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey. PROCEDURES: The standard cultural adaptation procedure was used for questionnaire translation and cultural item design. A field test was then conducted for item selection and psychometric properties testing. SUBJECTS: One hundred and five volunteer assistive device users in community. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: A questionnaire comprising 12 items of the QUEST 2.0 and 16 culture-specific items. RESULTS: One culture-specific item, 'Cost', was selected based on eight criteria and added to the QUEST 2.0 (12 items) to formulate the Taiwanese version of QUEST 2.0 (T-QUEST). The T-QUEST consisted of 13 items which were classified into two domains: device (8 items) and service (5 items). The internal consistencies of the device, service and total T-QUEST scores were 0.87, 0.84 and 0.90, respectively. The device, services and total T-QUEST scores achieved good test-retest stability (intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) 0.90, 0.97, 0.95). Exploratory factor analysis revealed that T-QUEST had a two-factor structure for device and service in the construct of user satisfaction (53.42% of the variance explained). CONCLUSIONS: Users of assistive device in different culture may have different concerns regarding satisfaction. T-QUEST is the first published version of QUEST with culture-specific items added to the original translated items of QUEST 2.0. T-QUEST was a valid and reliable tool for measuring user satisfaction among Mandarin-speaking individuals using various kinds of assistive devices.