Saliva/Pathogen Biomarker Signatures and Periodontal Disease Progression

The purpose of this study was to determine the role of saliva-derived biomarkers and periodontal pathogens during periodontal disease progression (PDP). One hundred human participants were recruited into a 12-month investigation. They were seen bi-monthly for saliva and clinical measures and bi-annually for subtraction radiography, serum and plaque biofilm assessments. Saliva and serum were analyzed with protein arrays for 14 pro-inflammatory and bone turnover markers, while qPCR was used for detection of biofilm. A hierarchical clustering algorithm was used to group study participants based on clinical, microbiological, salivary/serum biomarkers, and PDP. Eighty-three individuals completed the six-month monitoring phase, with 44 exhibiting PDP, while 39 demonstrated stability. Participants assembled into three clusters based on periodontal pathogens, serum and salivary biomarkers. Cluster 1 members displayed high salivary biomarkers and biofilm; 82% of these individuals were undergoing PDP. Cluster 2 members displayed low biofilm and biomarker levels; 78% of these individuals were stable. Cluster 3 members were not discriminated by PDP status; however, cluster stratification followed groups 1 and 2 based on thresholds of salivary biomarkers and biofilm pathogens. The association of cluster membership to PDP was highly significant (p < 0.0002). The use of salivary and biofilm biomarkers offers potential for the identification of PDP or stability (ClinicalTrials.gov number, CT00277745)

The need for economic and pre-economic marketing controlling

The splitting or rather the widening of a marketing controlling system into economic and pre-economic control of performance makes effective strategic forward-looking planning, management, and control of marketing activities possible. The main reason for including pre-economic measures of performance is the possibility to receive and assimilate so-called weak signals from the market which cannot be received by traditional economic controlling systems. These early warning indicators prevent marketing management from decision making based on past-oriented data, the use of which would require the structure of the environment to remain unchanged. Based on this expanded knowledge, marketing strategies can be generated in a much more sound way

Self-Help Groups for Alcohol Dependency: A Scoping Review

The aim of this literature review was to scope and present evidence on self-help groups that aim to facilitate recovery from alcohol addiction. A threefold search strategy was deployed. Within the 25 identified quantitative studies, three themes were identified: attendance, involvement and location, each of which impacted on recovery. Nine qualitative studies were also identified, five of these focusing on Alcoholics Anonymous. This international review of self-help groups in recovery from alcohol dependency demonstrates them to be an important and effective component of recovery. However, this review demonstrates that more research is needed into ‘non-AA, non-12-step’ affiliated self-help groups