A comparative study of recruitment and enrollment practices in colleges and universities using integrated marketing communications

A study was conducted to determine if using an integrated marketing communications (IMC) approach to college and university recruitment and enrollment helps institutions better achieve their enrollment goals. This study involved a review of related research, in-depth interviews with education-specific marketing consulting firms, and admissions and marketing professionals at various institutions of higher learning. Primary research involved a 14-item self-administered questionnaire mailed to selected four-year colleges and universities across the country. The questionnaire asked institution executives familiarity and general institutional marketing questions, marketing activity questions, use of IMC, opinion inquiries and demographics. Mean scores through coded responses, frequencies and percentages assessed resulting data. Findings revealed a great deal of attention is devoted to IMC by many institutions. Colleges and universities using an integrated marketing approach to recruitment and enrollment believe their student yield has improved significantly since fully incorporating IMC strategies. Institutions not using an integrated approach to marketing communications feel they are not as successful at enrolling either the number nor the type of students desired for their school

Antibodies with Dual Reactivity to Plasminogen and Complementary PR3 in PR3-ANCA Vasculitis

Patients with inflammatory vascular disease caused by anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies (ANCA) can harbor antibodies not only to the autoantigen proteinase 3 (PR3) but also to complementary PR3 (cPR3105–201), a recombinant protein translated from the antisense strand of PR3 cDNA. The purpose of this study was to identify potential endogenous targets of anti-cPR3105–201 antibodies. Patients’ plasmapheresis material was tested for the presence of antigens reactive with affinity-purified rabbit and chicken anti-cPR3105–201 polyclonal antibodies. Antigen-containing fractions were tested with patients’ anti-cPR3105–201 affinity-purified IgG, and putative protein targets were sequenced by mass spectrometry. Unexpectedly, plasminogen was identified as a target of anti-cPR3105–201. Reactivity of affinity-purified antibodies from two patients was lost when plasminogen was converted to plasmin, indicating restricted specificity. Antiplasminogen antibodies from five patients bound plasminogen at a surface-exposed loop structure within the protease domain. This loop contains an amino acid motif that is also found in a portion of recombinant cPR3105–201; site-directed mutagenesis of this sequence decreased antibody reactivity by 30%. Functionally, antiplasminogen antibodies delayed the conversion of plasminogen to plasmin and increased the dissolution time of fibrin clots. Serologically, antiplasminogen antibody levels were higher in PR3-ANCA patients (n = 72) than healthy control subjects (n = 63), myeloperoxidase-ANCA patients (n = 34), and patients with idiopathic thrombosis (n = 57; P = 0.001). Of the patients with PR3-ANCA, nine had documented deep venous thrombosis events, five of whom were positive for antiplasminogen antibodies. In summary, capitalizing on interactions with complementary proteins, specifically complementary PR3, this study identified plasminogen as a previously undescribed autoantigen in PR3-ANCA vasculitis