Organisational justice:new insights from behavioural ethics

Both organizational justice and behavioural ethics are concerned with questions of 'right and wrong' in the context of work organizations. Until recently they have developed largely independently of each other, choosing to focus on subtly different concerns, constructs and research questions. The last few years have, however, witnessed a significant growth in theoretical and empirical research integrating these closely related academic specialities. We review the organizational justice literature, illustrating the impact of behavioural ethics research on important fairness questions. We argue that organizational justice research is focused on four reoccurring issues: (i) why justice at work matters to individuals; (ii) how justice judgements are formed; (iii) the consequences of injustice; and (iv) the factors antecedent to justice perceptions. Current and future justice research has begun and will continue borrowing from the behavioural ethics literature in answering these questions

Enhancement of myeloma development mediated though myeloma cell-Th2 cell interactions after microbial antigen presentation by myeloma cells and DCs

Microbial agents are regarded as a potential cause of tumors, but their direct effects on tumors, such as myeloma, are not well studied. Our studies demonstrated that expression of HLA-DR and CD40 on the myeloma cell membrane surface is upregulated by interferon-γ and/or microbial antigens (Ags). Unlike prior studies, our study showed that Th2 cells cannot promote myeloma growth directly. However, Bacillus Calmette–Guerin Vaccine (BCGV)-specific Th2 cells stimulated by BCGV-loaded dendritic cells (DCs) promoted myeloma clonogenicity directly when the myeloma cells expressed major histocompatibility complex Class-II molecules (MHC-II) and took up BCGV Ag. B-cell lymphoma 6 (Bcl-6) protein expression and the proportion of HLA-DR+ or CD40+ cells were higher in colonies of Th2 cell-stimulated myeloma cells. Furthermore, anti-HLA-DR or neutralizing CD40 antibody could prevent this increase in Bcl-6 expression and colony number. These results indicate that microbes and microbial Ag-specific Th2 cells may directly impact the biology of myeloma and contribute to tumor progression. Activation may be limited to MHC-II+ myeloma cells that retain B cell and stem cell characteristics. Taken together, our data suggest that factors involved in microbial Ag presentation, such as DCs, Th2 cells and so on, are potential targets for myeloma therapeutic intervention

OSS (Outer Solar System): A fundamental and planetary physics mission to Neptune, Triton and the Kuiper Belt

The present OSS mission continues a long and bright tradition by associating the communities of fundamental physics and planetary sciences in a single mission with ambitious goals in both domains. OSS is an M-class mission to explore the Neptune system almost half a century after flyby of the Voyager 2 spacecraft. Several discoveries were made by Voyager 2, including the Great Dark Spot (which has now disappeared) and Triton's geysers. Voyager 2 revealed the dynamics of Neptune's atmosphere and found four rings and evidence of ring arcs above Neptune. Benefiting from a greatly improved instrumentation, it will result in a striking advance in the study of the farthest planet of the Solar System. Furthermore, OSS will provide a unique opportunity to visit a selected Kuiper Belt object subsequent to the passage of the Neptunian system. It will consolidate the hypothesis of the origin of Triton as a KBO captured by Neptune, and improve our knowledge on the formation of the Solar system. The probe will embark instruments allowing precise tracking of the probe during cruise. It allows to perform the best controlled experiment for testing, in deep space, the General Relativity, on which is based all the models of Solar system formation. OSS is proposed as an international cooperation between ESA and NASA, giving the capability for ESA to launch an M-class mission towards the farthest planet of the Solar system, and to a Kuiper Belt object. The proposed mission profile would allow to deliver a 500 kg class spacecraft. The design of the probe is mainly constrained by the deep space gravity test in order to minimise the perturbation of the accelerometer measurement.Comment: 43 pages, 10 figures, Accepted to Experimental Astronomy, Special Issue Cosmic Vision. Revision according to reviewers comment

Current issues in medically assisted reproduction and genetics in Europe: research, clinical practice, ethics, legal issues and policy. European Society of Human Genetics and European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology.

In March 2005, a group of experts from the European Society of Human Genetics and European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology met to discuss the interface between genetics and assisted reproductive technology (ART), and published an extended background paper, recommendations and two Editorials. Seven years later, in March 2012, a follow-up interdisciplinary workshop was held, involving representatives of both professional societies, including experts from the European Union Eurogentest2 Coordination Action Project. The main goal of this meeting was to discuss developments at the interface between clinical genetics and ARTs. As more genetic causes of reproductive failure are now recognised and an increasing number of patients undergo testing of their genome before conception, either in regular health care or in the context of direct-to-consumer testing, the need for genetic counselling and preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) may increase. Preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) thus far does not have evidence from randomised clinical trials to substantiate that the technique is both effective and efficient. Whole-genome sequencing may create greater challenges both in the technological and interpretational domains, and requires further reflection about the ethics of genetic testing in ART and PGD/PGS. Diagnostic laboratories should be reporting their results according to internationally accepted accreditation standards (International Standards Organisation - ISO 15189). Further studies are needed in order to address issues related to the impact of ART on epigenetic reprogramming of the early embryo. The legal landscape regarding assisted reproduction is evolving but still remains very heterogeneous and often contradictory. The lack of legal harmonisation and uneven access to infertility treatment and PGD/PGS fosters considerable cross-border reproductive care in Europe and beyond. The aim of this paper is to complement previous publications and provide an update of selected topics that have evolved since 2005

Housing: An Under-Explored Influence on Children’s Well-Being and Becoming

Research on housing has tended to focus on adult outcomes, establishing relationships between housing and a number of aspects of health and well-being. Research exploring the influence of housing on children has been more limited, and has tended to focus on adult concerns around risk behaviours, behavioural problems and educational attainment. While these outcomes are important, they neglect the impact of housing on children’s lives beyond these concerns. There are a number of reasons to believe that housing would play an important role in children’s well-being more broadly. Family stress and strain models highlight how housing difficulties experienced by adults may have knock on effects for children, while Bronfenbrenner’s ecological approach to human development emphasises the importance of children’s experiences of their environments, of which the home is among the most important. This paper summaries the existing evidence around housing and child outcomes, predominantly educational and behavioural outcomes, and argues for the extension of this work to consider the impact of housing on children’s lives more broadly, especially their subjective well-being

Impact Of “Killer Immunoglobulin-Like Receptor /Ligand” Genotypes On Outcome Following Surgery Among Patients With Colorectal Cancer: Activating Kirs Are Associated With Long-Term Disease Free Survival

Approximately 30 % of patients with stage II/III colorectal cancer develop recurrence following surgery. How individual regulation of host mediated anti-tumor cytotoxicity is modified by the killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIRs) genotype is essential for prediction of outcome. We analyzed the frequency of KIR and KIR ligand Human Leukocyte Antigen Class I genotypes, and their effects on recurrence and disease-free survival (DFS). Out of randomly selected 87 colorectal cancer patients who underwent R0 resection operations between 2005 and 2008, 29 patients whose cancers progressed within a median five-year follow-up period were compared with 58 patients with no recurrence within the same time period. Recurrent cases shared similar tumor stages with non-recurrent cases, but had different localizations. We used DNA isolated from pathological archival lymphoid and tumor tissues for KIR and KIR ligand (HLA-C, group C1, group C2, and HLA-A-Bw4) genotyping. Among cases with recurrence, KIR2DL1 (inhibitory KIR) and A-Bw4 (ligand for inhibitory KIR3DL1) were observed more frequently (p=0.017 and p=0.024); and KIR2DS2 and KIR2DS3 (both activating KIRs) were observed less frequently (p=0.005 and p=0.043). Similarly, in the non-recurrent group, inhibitory KIR-ligand combinations 2DL1-C2 and 2DL3-C1 were less frequent, while the activating combination 2DS2-C1 was more frequent. The lack of KIR2DL1, 2DL1-C2, and 2DL3-C1 improved disease-free survival (DFS) (100% vs. 62.3%, p=0.05; 93.8% vs. 60.0%, p=0.035; 73.6% vs. 55.9%, p=0.07). The presence of KIR2DS2, 2DS3, and 2DS2-C1 improved DFS (77.8% vs. 48.5%, p=0.01; 79.4% vs. 58.5%, p=0.003; 76.9% vs. 51.4%, p=0.023). KIR2DS3 reduced the risk of recurrence (HR=0.263, 95% CI = 0.080-0.863, p=0.028). The number of activating KIRs are correlated strongly with DFS, none/ one/ two KIR : 54/77/98 months (p=0.004). In conclusion the inheritance of increasing numbers of activating KIRs and lack of inhibitory KIRs, independent of tumor localization or stage, is associated with long-term DFS.PubMedWoSScopu