Knowledge of human papillomavirus vaccination and related factors among parents of young adolescents: a nationwide survey in China.

PURPOSE: To investigate the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine-related knowledge and factors associated with the knowledge among parents of young adolescents in China. METHODS: The study was based on data of a survey carried out in seven geographic regions of China. Parents of students in junior middle school were surveyed during parents' meetings. RESULTS: A total of 2895 parents were included in the analyses. Of parents, 38.3% responded with "yes" to more than three of the six knowledge questions, among whom only 4.5% of them correctly answered all six questions. Social benefit programs (41.3%), doctors and/or nurses (39.7%), and newspapers and/or magazines (36.5%) were selected as the top three sources of HPV-related knowledge. Mothers, parents who work in the health care sector, and parents with a higher annual income or with vaccination experience outside the expanded program on immunization showed a better knowledge base. Parents who consented to sex education for children or showed fear of cervical cancer were likely to have more HPV-related knowledge. In particular, the knowledge level of parents with prior consultation regarding HPV vaccines was higher. CONCLUSIONS: Parents of young adolescents in China possessed a low level of HPV vaccine-related knowledge. Findings highlight the need for tailored health education through different channels to improve HPV-related knowledge among parents.

Human papillomavirus vaccine awareness, acceptability, and decision-making factors among Chinese college students.

BACKGROUND: College students are recommended as the target groups for catch-up human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. Systematical exploration of awareness, acceptability, and decision-making factors of HPV vaccination among Chinese college students has been limited. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A multi-center survey was conducted in mainland China between November 2011 and May 2012. College students aged 18-22 years were stratified by their grade, gender, and major for sampling. Socio-demographic and HPV-related information such as knowledge, perceptions, acceptability, and attitudes were collected through a questionnaire. RESULTS: A total of 3,497 undergraduates completed the questionnaire, among which 1,686 were males. The acceptability of the HPV vaccine was high (70.8%). Undergraduates from high-level universities, at lower grade, or with greater prior knowledge of HPV vaccines showed higher acceptability of HPV vaccination (ptrend <0.001). Additionally, undergraduates with vaccination experience outside the National Expanded Program on Immunization (OR=1.29; 95%CI: 1.10-1.51) or fear of HPV-related diseases (OR=2.79; 95%CI: 2.28-3.41) were more willing to accept HPV vaccination. General knowledge of HPV vaccine was low among undergraduates, and safety was a major concern (71.05%). The majority of students wished to pay less than 300RMB for HPV vaccine and chose the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention as the most appropriate venue for vaccination. CONCLUSIONS: Although most undergraduates demonstrate positive attitudes towards HPV vaccination, challenges pertaining to introduction exist in China. Corresponding proactive education and governmental subsidy to do so are urgently needed by this age-group population. Suggestions and potential strategies indicated may help shape the future HPV vaccination program in China.

Quantitative study of iron metabolism-related genes expression in rat.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the multiple iron metabolism-related genes expression, its regulation by iron and the expression correlation among the genes in rat tissues. METHODS: Two groups (n=30) of Sprague-Dawley female weanling rats were fed with a control diet and an iron deficient diet respectively for 4 weeks. All rats were then sacrificed, and blood and tissue samples were collected. The routine blood examination was performed with a veterinary automatic blood cell analyzer. Elemental iron levels in liver, spleen and serum were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The mRNA expression of genes was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR. RESULTS: After 4 weeks, the hemoglobin (Hb) level and red blood cell (RBC) count were significantly lower in the iron deficient group compared with those in the control group. The iron levels in liver, spleen and serum in the iron deficient group were significantly lower than those in the control group. In reference to small intestine, the relative expression of each iron-related gene varied in the different tissues. Under the iron deficiency, the expression of these genes changed in a tissue-specific manner. The expression of most of the genes significantly correlated in intestine, spleen and lung, but few correlated in liver, heart and kidney. CONCLUSION: Findings from our study provides new understandings about the relative expression, regulation by iron and correlation among the mRNA expressions of transferrin receptors 1 and 2, divalent metal transporter 1, ferritin, iron regulation proteins 1 and 2, hereditary hemochromatosis protein, hepcidin, ferroportin 1 and hephaestin in intestine, liver, spleen, kidney, heart, and lung of rat.

Divalent metal transporter 1 expression and regulation in human placenta.

Divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1) is likely responsible for the release of iron from endosomes to the cytoplasm in placental syncytiotrophoblasts (STB). To determine the localization and the regulation of DMT1 expression by iron directly in placenta, the expression of DMT1 in human term placental tissues and BeWo cells (human placental choriocarcinoma cell line) was detected and the change in expression in response to different iron treatments on BeWo cells was observed. DMT1 was shown to be most prominent near the maternal side in human term placenta and predominantly in the cytoplasm of BeWo cells. BeWo cells were treated with desferrioxamine (DFO) and human holotransferrin (hTf-2Fe) and it was found that both DMT1 mRNA and protein increased significantly with DFO treatment and decreased with hTf-2Fe treatment. Further, DMT1 mRNA responded more significantly to treatments if it possessed an iron-responsive element than mRNA without this element. This study indicated that DMT1 is likely involved in endosomal iron transport in placental STB and placental DMT1 + IRE expression was primarily regulated by the IRE/IRP mechanism.

Prognostic analysis of ovarian cancer patients using the Cox regression model.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Ovarian cancer is one of the most common causes of death among gynecological malignancies. This study was to investigate the prognostic factors for ovarian cancer using the Cox regression model. METHODS: Data of 103 patients, initially operated at Shaanxi Tumor Hospital from 1999 to 2004, were retrospectively analyzed. All patients were operated by experienced surgeons, and underwent adjuvant chemotherapy afterwards. Follow-up lasted for 100 months. The Kaplan-Meier survival curves, long-rank test and the Cox regression model were used for analysis. RESULTS: The one-, three- and five-year survival rates of patients with ovarian cancer were 87.7%, 50.8% and 31.1%, respectively. Univariate analysis and the Cox regression model showed that clinical stage, differentiation, residual tumor size and chemotherapy course were the major prognostic factors of ovarian cancer. CONCLUSION: Sufficient removal of the ovarian cancer at the early stage, residual tumor of less than 2 cm in diameter and sufficient adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery could improve the survival rate of ovarian cancer.

[Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy study on normal and malignant tissues of cervix].

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to investigate 35 cervical tissues , including 17 squamous cell carcinoma of cervical samples, and 5 adenocarcinoma of cervical samples, 13 normal cervical samples. The results show that there are 18 spectral bands with highly appearance percentage(>80%) in these three types of tissues, and these spectral bands may be the characteristic infrared spectra bands for cervical tissues; Some of relative absorbance ratios are statistically significant (p < 0.05) among these three types of tissues. These differences of relative absorbance ratios are mainly centered at 1080, 1238, 1314, 1339, 1397, 1454, 1541, 1647, 2854, 2873, 2926, and 2958 cm(-1). The present results indicate that FTIR can be used to distinguish these three types of tissues. The utilization of FTIR spectra in cervical tissues is expected to be a hopeful method in cervical cancer screening and clinical diagnosis in the future.