Applying Marketing Mix (4Ps) to Enhance the Adherence of Asthmatics in China

This project has first tried apply the knowledge of social marketing to improving the adherence of asthmatics in China. The researcher has found 14 participants who are voluntary to take part in this project through the personal contact. Ages of all participants ranged from 20 to 40years and all participants provided the confirmed consent. In the main body, the author introduced and explained how the social marketing influence the patient adherence. In addition, the Health Beliefs Model was applied to this research and each component was associated with the research results. Finally, the researcher concluded social marketing knowledge would be an alternative method to increase the adherence of asthmatics in this case

Superphobicity/philicity janus fabrics with Switchable, spontaneous, directional transport ability to water and oil fluids

Herein we demonstrate that switchable, spontaneous, directional-transport ability to both water and oil fluids can be created on fabric materials through wet-chemistry coating and successive UV irradiation treatment. When the fabric showed directional transport to a liquid, it prevented liquids of higher surface tension from penetration, but allowed liquids of lower surface tension to permeate, from either side. The directional transport ability can be switched from one fluid to another simply by heating the fabric at an elevated temperature and then re-irradiating the fabric with UV light for required period of time. By attaching liquid drops vertically upwards to a horizontally-laid fabric, we further demonstrated that this novel directional fluid transport was an automatic process driven by surface property alone, irrespective of gravity's effect. This novel fabric may be useful for development of “smart” textiles and functional membranes for various applications

Autoreactive marginal zone B cells enter the follicles and interact with CD4+ T cells in lupus-prone mice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Backgound</p> <p>Marginal zone B cells have been implicated in the production of autoantibodies in murine models of lupus. It has been suggested that they contribute to lupus immunopathogenesis through their enhanced effector functions and their repertoire that is biased toward autoreactive specificities. In the B6.NZM2410.<it>Sle.Sle2.Sle3 </it>(B6.TC) model of lupus, the majority of marginal zone B cells are located outside the marginal zone and inside the follicles. Genetic alterations of this strain have shown a correlation between autoimmune pathogenesis and the presence of intrafollicular marginal zone B cells. This study was designed first to strengthen our original observations and to determine how the marginal zone B cells from the lupus-prone mice respond to stimulations and interact with T cells.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The intrafollicular location of B6.TC MZB cells starts before disease manifestations and puts MZB cells in direct contact with CD4⁺T cells. Two different autoreactive B cell receptor (BCR) transgenic models showed that the expression of the <it>Sle </it>susceptibility loci enhances the presence of MZB cells inside the follicles. <it>In vitro</it>, B6.TC MZB cells were better effectors than B6 MZB cells with enhanced proliferation and antibody (Ab) production, including anti-DNA Ab, in response to stimulation with TLR ligands, immune complexes or anti-CD40. Furthermore, B6.TC MZB and CD4⁺T cells showed a reciprocally enhanced activation, which indicated that their contacts inside B6.TC follicles have functional consequences that suggest an amplification loop between these two cell types.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results showed that the NZM2410 susceptibility loci induce MZB cells to locate into the follicles, and that this breach of follicular exclusion occurs early in the development of the autoimmune pathogenesis. The enhanced responses to stimulation and increased effector functions of MZB cells from lupus-prone mice as compare to non-autoimmune MZB cells provide a mechanism by which the failure of MZB cell follicular exclusion contributes to the autoimmune process.</p