Australian newspaper coverage of human papillomavirus vaccination, October 2006-December 2009

Vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) is now routine practice for adolescent females in Australia. Media information about HPV vaccination is likely to affect girls' and parents' decisions about vaccination. This article reports a content analysis of 131 Australian print media news stories published between October 2006 and December 2009. Each story was coded for main themes of the article; completeness and accuracy of information presented; potential issues and concerns related to HPV vaccination; phrasing, emphasis, and language used; and representation of experts. Resulting themes were as follows: Australian pride in vaccine development; details and progress of the National Vaccination Program; vaccine safety; HPV vaccination's future; whether or not males could and/or should get the vaccine; issues related to sexual activity and the vaccine; and issues about decision making for acceptance of HPV vaccine. To fill gaps that are created by media representations of HPV vaccination, educational interventions should include information about HPV transmission and male vaccination and should promote adolescent involvement in decision making.     

石斛类叶鞘的显微鉴定研究

商品石斛的植物来源复杂,规格繁多,外形鉴定较困难。为了准确鉴定石斛的品种,对常作为药用的16种石斛属(Dendrobium Sw)植物的叶鞘进行了显微观察,发现其表皮细胞的形状,大小,所含草酸钙结晶的形状、大小、分布等种间区别较明显,可作为鉴别石斛种类的科学依据之一。本文对金钗石斛D.nobile Lindl。等16种石斛的叶鞘表面特征加以描述,并附主要特征图和检索表。     

5-取代-1-正丁基-3-吡唑烷酮类化合物的合成及抗惊作用的构效关系

1-正癸基-3-吡唑烷酮是一种新的抗惊活性物质。杜明慧、雷小平等相继合成了一系列3-吡唑烷酮类化合物,结果,1-正丙基-5-对氟苯基-3-吡唑烷酮的抗惊作用最强(EP_(50)=14.7 mg/kg)。为了继续研究1位和5位取代基对抗惊活性的影响,我们将前人合成的35个化合物(表1中化合物1～35)进行了Hansch分析得到以下方程:     

‘Get your own house in order’: Qualitative dialogue groups with nonvaccinating parents on how measles outbreaks in their community should be managed

ObjectiveCommunities with high levels of vaccine rejection present unique challenges to vaccine‐preventable disease outbreak management. We sought perspectives of nonvaccinating parents to inform public health responses in such communities.MethodsNineteen purposively sampled nonvaccinating Australian parents participated in one of seven online dialogue groups. We asked what they thought parents, school principals and public health professionals should do in a hypothetical school measles outbreak and used a framework approach to data analysis.ResultsParents'' views were grounded in strong beliefs in parental responsibility and the belief that vaccines are not effective, thus unvaccinated children do not therefore pose a threat. They then reasoned that the forced exclusion of unvaccinated children from school in a measles outbreak was disproportionate to the risk they pose, and their child''s right to education should not be overridden. Nonvaccinating parents judged that all parents should keep sick children at home regardless of disease or vaccination status; that school principals should communicate directly with parents and avoid using social media; that public health professionals should provide information to parents so they can decide for themselves about excluding their children from school; that public health responses should avoid accidental identification of unvaccinated children and that mainstream media should be avoided as a communication tool.ConclusionNonvaccinating parents do not always agree with current Australian approaches to measles outbreak management. Their perspectives can inform approaches to outbreak responses in communities with high levels of vaccine rejection.Patient or Public ContributionWe sought input from individuals who did and did not vaccinate on study design in its early phases. Individual conversations were used deliberately as we felt the group advisory situation may have felt less safe for nonvaccinating parents, given the divisive and often hostile nature of the topic.     

Dysregulation of transforming growth factor β signaling in scleroderma: Overexpression of endoglin in cutaneous scleroderma fibroblasts

Objective

As an initial approach to understanding the basis of the systemic sclerosis (SSc; scleroderma) phenotype, we sought to identify genes in the transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) signaling pathway that are up‐regulated in lesional SSc fibroblasts relative to their normal counterparts.

Methods

We used gene chip, differential display, fluorescence‐activated cell sorter, and overexpression analyses to assess the potential role of TGFβ signaling components in fibrosis. Fibroblasts were obtained by punch biopsy from patients with diffuse cutaneous SSc of 2–14 months' duration (mean 8 months) and from age‐ and sex‐matched healthy control subjects.

Results

Unexpectedly, we found that fibroblasts from SSc patients showed elevated expression of the endothelial cell–enriched TGFβ receptor endoglin. Endoglin is a member of the nonsignaling high‐affinity TGFβ receptor type III family. The expression of endoglin increased with progression of disease. Transfection of endoglin in fibroblasts suppressed the TGFβ‐mediated induction of connective tissue growth factor promoter activity.

Conclusion

SSc is characterized by overproduction of matrix; that is, genes that are targets of TGFβ signaling in normal fibroblasts. Our findings suggest that lesional SSc fibroblasts may overexpress endoglin as a negative feedback mechanism in an attempt to block further induction of profibrotic genes by TGFβ.