Gingival crevicular fluid MMP-8-concentrations in patients after acute myocardial infarction

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aim of this study was to determine the presence of matrix metalloproteinase-8 in the gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) of patients after acute myocardial infarction (AMI).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 48 GCF samples from 20 AMI patients, hospitalized at the Department of Cardiology and Angiology of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, were investigated. Besides the myocardial infarction all patients suffered from chronic periodontal disease. Fifty-one GCF samples from 20 healthy age matched individuals with similar periodontal conditions served as controls. The dental examination included the assessment of oral hygiene, gingival inflammation, probing pocket depth, clinical attachment level and X-ray examination. The study was only carried out after the positive consent of the regional ethic commission. A quantitative assessment of aMMP-8 levels in the gingival crevicular fluid was performed with the help of the DentoAnalyzer (Dentognostics GmbH, Jena, Germany), utilising an immunological procedure.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The aMMP-8 concentrations found in the gingival crevicular fluid of the AMI patients significantly differed (p = 0.001; mean value 30.33 ± 41.99 ng/ml aMMP-8) from the control group (mean value 10.0 ± 10.7 ng/ml aMMP-8). These findings suggest that periodontal inflammation in AMI patients might be associated with higher MMP-8-values compared to the healthy controls.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The acute myocardial infarction seems to influence the degree of periodontal inflammation, thus the measurement of the gingival crevicular fluid MMP8 levels seems to be a helpful biochemical test to obtain information about the severity of the periodontal disease.</p

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)1.

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field

Sourcing Technological Knowledge Through Foreign Inward Licensing to Boost the Performance of Indian Firms: The Contingent Effects of Internal R&D and Business Group Affiliation

Sourcing technological knowledge from abroad is becoming a popular strategy among emerging market firms (EMFs). Combining the Knowledge-Based View and the Resource Dependence Theory, we argue that augmenting technological knowledge through foreign licensing enables EMFs to access state-of-the-art technological knowledge, reduce operational costs and risks associated to the innovation process, and develop a knowledge-based competitive advantage, ultimately boosting their financial performance. Using data about Indian firms observed from 2001 to 2013, we find that firms with a higher share of foreign inward technology licenses report better financial performance. However, the positive impact of technological knowledge accessed through inward licensing on firm performance is contingent upon: (1) the internal knowledge developed through R&D activity, and (2) the affiliation with business groups. While Indian firms with higher level of internal R&D are able to better leverage the value of foreign technological knowledge, thus reaching higher performance, firms affiliated to business groups gain fewer benefits from licensed foreign technological knowledge than non-business-group affiliated firms

Marketplace platforms as game changers: Internationalization of smaller enterprises

Despite resource constraints, smaller enterprises (SEs) are increasingly participating in international markets and becoming part of the global economy. E-commerce marketplace platforms are propelling this internationalization of SEs by alleviating SEs' resource constraints. However, there is a paucity of research in the nascent area of platform-based internationalization of SEs. Using an abductive inquiry, the study explores how platforms mitigate SEs' resource poverty, provide access to non-location-bound assets, and enable their internationalization. Accordingly, this study enunciates how platform-specific advantages (PSAs) allow for efficient markets through superior economizing of bounded rationality and reliability while assisting SEs with mitigating their liabilities associated with internationalization

Offshore Outsourcing and Firm Performance: Moderating Effects of Size, Growth and Slack Resources

This study explores the impact of foreign technology and professional services from outsourcing on firm financial performance. To this aim, we use a sample of 1710 Indian firms over a time period of 13 years, from 2001 to 2013. The empirical evidence obtained shows that the positive effects of technological knowledge and professional services on performance are moderated by firm size, business growth and slack resources. In particular, the benefits of outsourcing in terms of higher profitability are more pronounced for small than for large firms, especially when small firms have higher growth rates and financial slack. The work contributes to the resource based view and the internalization theory of the firm. Our results suggest that firms from an emerging country such as India may have alternative motives for offshore outsourcing different from the reasons of firms from advanced economies. Several managerial implications are also derived from our findings

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Advances in Aquaculture Vaccines Against Fish Pathogens: Global Status and Current Trends.

In recent years, aquaculture has attained a major economic revolution, however, infectious diseases of bacterial, viral, mycotic and parasitic origin are the most significant restrictive agents in the improvement of intensified aquaculture, which has become a fast blooming seafood industry. For environment-friendly aquaculture and human health concerns owing to the rise in incidences of antimicrobial resistant microbes and food safety hazards, the immunoprophylaxis or vaccination strategies are highly effective and economical in protecting the health of fish and aquaculture animals from various infectious agents. Advancements in science have paved newer avenues in both basic and applied research areas for developing and designing novel and effective vaccines, as well as improving existing vaccines for rendering protection from various types of infectious diseases. Current advances in vaccines and vaccinology offer valuable opportunities to discover new vaccine candidates to combat fish pathogens, including mycotic and parasitic agents, for which vaccines are still lacking. This review focuses on the current knowledge, recent advances and future perspectives of vaccines and vaccination in the aquaculture industry, from traditional inactivated and attenuated vaccines to new generation vaccines comprising of recombinant, subunit, vectored, genetically engineered, DNA and peptide vaccines, reverse vaccinology and plant-based edible vaccines, and nanovaccines.Maryam Dadar and Kuldeep Dhama would like to thank the research affairs section of Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute and Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources for their support of the research projects. Vikram N. Vakharia and Sunil K. Joshi thank their respective institutes/organizations