http://repub.eur.nl/res/aut/15267/ List of Publications en http://repub.eur.nl/static-eur/img/logo.png http://repub.eur.nl http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/23162/ 2010-04-01T00:00:00Z As more and more new vaccines are developed and brought to the market, governments have to make decisions about which vaccinations to include in public programmes. This paper describes the experience in the Netherlands in developing a framework for assessing whether a vaccination should be included in the National Immunization Programme (NIP). Bearing in mind the public nature, the factors that determine a vaccine’s suitability for inclusion in a communal vaccination programme have been translated into seven selection criteria, grouped under five thematic headings: seriousness and extent of the disease burden, effectiveness and safety of the vaccination, acceptability of the vaccination, efficiency of the vaccination, and priority of the vaccination. The seven criteria and the explanation of them provide a framework for the systematic examination of arguments for and against the inclusion and prioritisation of particular vaccinations. As an illustration, the vaccinations currently provided in the Netherlands through public programmes as well as 23 ‘candidate’ vaccinations are assessed against the seven criteria. The proposed assessment framework including the selection criteria can take full account of the values and specificities as they may differ between situations and countries; the transparency of the approach may help to clarify which elements of the assessment are pivotal in specific situations. Using the criteria furthers a trustworthy, transparent and accountable process of decision-making about inclusion of new vaccinations in public vaccination programmes and may help to retain public confidence. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/13369/ 2004-07-01T00:00:00Z FXR1 is one of the two known homologues of FMR1. FXR1 shares a high degree of sequence homology with FMR1 and also encodes two KH domains and an RGG domain, conferring RNA-binding capabilities. In comparison with FMRP, very little is known about the function of FXR1P in vivo. Mouse knockout (KO) models exist for both Fmr1 and Fxr2. To study the function of Fxr1 in vivo, we generated an Fxr1 KO mouse model. Homozygous Fxr1 KO neonates die shortly after birth most likely due to cardiac or respiratory failure. Histochemical analyses carried out on both skeletal and cardiac muscles show a disruption of cellular architecture and structure in E19 Fxr1 neonates compared with wild-type (WT) littermates. In WT E19 skeletal and cardiac muscles, Fxr1p is localized to the costameric regions within the muscles. In E19 Fxr1 KO littermates, in addition to the absence of Fxr1p, costameric proteins vinculin, dystrophin and alpha-actinin were found to be delocalized. A second mouse model (Fxr1 + neo), which expresses strongly reduced levels of Fxr1p relative to WT littermates, does not display the neonatal lethal phenotype seen in the Fxr1 KOs but does display a strongly reduced limb musculature and has a reduced life span of approximately 18 weeks. The results presented here point towards a role for Fxr1p in muscle mRNA transport/translation control similar to that seen for Fmrp in neuronal cells.