Platelet-derived growth factor applications in periodontal and peri-implant bone regeneration

Introduction: Achieving successful tissue regeneration following traditional therapeutic protocols, combining bone grafts and barrier membranes, may be challenging in certain clinical scenarios. A deeper understanding of periodontal and peri-implant wound healing and recent advances in the field of tissue engineering have provided clinicians with novel means to obtain predictable clinical outcomes. The use of growth factors such as recombinant human platelet-derived growth factor-BB (rhPDGF) with biocompatible matrices to promote tissue regeneration represents a promising approach in the disciplines of periodontology and implantology. Areas covered: This review covers the basic principles of bone and periodontal regeneration, and provides an overview of the biology of PDGF and its potential to predictably and reproducibly promote bone regeneration in regular clinical practice. The results of preclinical and clinical human studies evaluating the effectiveness of growth-factor-enhanced matrices are analyzed and discussed. Expert opinion: Current available evidence supports the use of rhPDGF-enhanced matrices to promote periodontal and peri-implant bone regeneration

Enhanced performance measurement using OR: a case study

The case study described in this paper aims to illustrate how qualitative and quantitative system dynamics modelling and multicriteria analysis can be used in an integrated way to enhance the process of performance measurement and management in the radiotherapy department of a major UK cancer treatment centre. The complexity of the radiotherapy process and its significance for patients present particular challenges for performance measurement and management. The paper discusses the benefits arising and the practical difficulties faced in the study

There's nowhere to go: Counting the costs of extreme weather to the homeless community

People experiencing homelessness are vulnerable to extreme weather in unique ways. The entrenched inequalities that underpin disaster vulnerability are compounded by extreme isolation and the stress of transient living on mental and physical health. However, the impacts of extreme weather on the homeless in Australia are largely undocumented and rarely incorporated in emergency planning. Interviews with and surveys of emergency and homeless services and service users revealed that the primary ramifications of losing shelter and worsening mental health deepen the cycle of homelessness and trauma. Consequently, homeless shelter losses, such as tents, should be included in pre- and post-event impact statistics and subsequent recovery support. Extreme weather response plans should include early triggers and strategies for ‘non-severe’ weather events, as the homeless community is affected earlier and by a wider range of meteorological conditions. Moreover, this study also explores the benefits of a trauma-informed response to extreme weather when working with the homeless. © 2019 The Authors Disasters © 2019 Overseas Development Institut

The Periodic Review of Performance Indicators: An Empirical Investigation of the Dynamism of Performance Measurement Systems

The aim of this study is to examine one attribute of performance measurement systems (PMS) that is not widely addressed in the management accounting literature, namely the dynamism of PMS. This attribute refers to the periodic review of performance indicators by organizations. Based on contingency theory and using survey data from a sample of manufacturing firms, this study examines whether the association between the dynamism of PMS and organizational performance is contingent on the level of external and internal changes. The results suggest three main conclusions. First, even though the current business environment is characterized by fast changes, manufacturing organizations do not appear to revise their PMS to a great extent. Second, while periodic revisions of performance indicators are beneficial, these revisions may not necessarily be appropriate at all times and in all circumstances as the need for dynamic PMS varies depending on the degree of external and internal change. Third, an absence of dynamic PMS may be more harmful in a context of higher levels of change than to have dynamic PMS even if they are not required.

A performance measurement paradigm for integrating strategy formulation: a review of systems and frameworks.

Measuring organizational performance plays a very important part in translating corporate strategy into results. Various emerging (non-traditional) performance systems have recently been devised to aid firms in selecting and implementing measures. This paper discusses the strategy/measurement initiatives and compares ten emerging performance measurement systems with respect to a list of performance dimensions, the characteristics of performance measures, and the requirements of development process. Although these systems have constraints borne with their own application domains, they stand by themselves empirically and/or theoretically, and provide guidance about what to measure and how to design performance measures that could be linked to the corporate strategy and objectives of an organization. This paper concludes that there is a need to develop a paradigm for integrating strategy formulation and performance measurement in organizations