Religion, Discrimination and Trust

We propose that religion impacts trust and trustworthiness in ways that depend on how individuals are socially identified and connected. Religiosity and religious affiliation may serve as markers for statistical discrimination. Further, affiliation to the same religion may enhance group identity, or affiliation irrespective of creed may lend social identity, and in turn induce taste-based discrimination. Religiosity may also relate to general prejudice. We test these hypotheses across three culturally diverse countries. Participants' willingness to discriminate, beliefs of how trustworthy or trusting others are, as well as actual trust and trustworthiness are measured incentive compatibly. We find that interpersonal similarity in religiosity and affiliation promote trust through beliefs of reciprocity. Religious participants also believe that those belonging to some faith are trustworthier, but invest more trust only in those of the same religion – religiosity amplifies this effect. Across non-religious categories, whereas more religious participants are more willing to discriminate, less religious participants are as likely to display group biases

Mapping Strategic Goals and Operational Performance Metrics for Smart Manufacturing Systems

The complexity of the relationship of strategic goals to operational performance across the many levels of a manufacturing system inhibits the realization of Smart Manufacturing Systems (SMS). This paper proposes a method for identifying what aspects of a manufacturing system should be addressed to respond to changing strategic goals. The method uses standard techniques in specifying a manufacturing system and the relationship between strategic goals and operational performance metrics. Two existing reference models related to manufacturing operations are represented formally and integrated to support the proposed method. The method is illustrated for a single scenario using agility as a strategic goal. By replicating the proposed method for other strategic goals and with multiple scenarios, a comprehensive set of performance challenges can be identified. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.111215Ysciescopu

Spread, circulation, and evolution of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus

The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was first documented in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in 2012 and, to date, has been identified in 180 cases with 43% mortality. In this study, we have determined the MERS-CoV evolutionary rate, documented genetic variants of the virus and their distribution throughout the Arabian peninsula, and identified the genome positions under positive selection, important features for monitoring adaptation of MERS-CoV to human transmission and for identifying the source of infections. Respiratory samples from confirmed KSA MERS cases from May to September 2013 were subjected to whole-genome deep sequencing, and 32 complete or partial sequences (20 were ≥99% complete, 7 were 50 to 94% complete, and 5 were 27 to 50% complete) were obtained, bringing the total available MERS-CoV genomic sequences to 65. An evolutionary rate of 1.12 × 10−3 substitutions per site per year (95% credible interval [95% CI], 8.76 × 10−4; 1.37 × 10−3) was estimated, bringing the time to most recent common ancestor to March 2012 (95% CI, December 2011; June 2012). Only one MERS-CoV codon, spike 1020, located in a domain required for cell entry, is under strong positive selection. Four KSA MERS-CoV phylogenetic clades were found, with 3 clades apparently no longer contributing to current cases. The size of the population infected with MERS-CoV showed a gradual increase to June 2013, followed by a decline, possibly due to increased surveillance and infection control measures combined with a basic reproduction number (R0) for the virus that is less than 1

Immunomodulatory effects of betulinic acid isolation from the bark of Melaleuca cajuputi

Betulinic acid and its derivatives showed cytotoxicity against variety of tumour and cancer cell lines comparable to some clinically used drug. In the present study, the immunomodulatory effects of betulinic acid, isolated from the roots of Melaleuca Cajuputi, was studied. Immunomodulatory effect was evaluated by using lymphocytes proliferation assay on mice splenocytes, thymocytes and human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), while the cell cycle progression of betulinic acid treated PBMC was also studied by using flow cytometer. The production of human interleukin-2 (IL-2) and human inteleukin-12 (IL-12) cytokines was also assessed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The results showed that betulinic acid was able to stimulate the proliferation of mice thymocytes, splenocytes and human PBMC in a time and dose-dependent manner. Meanwhile, betulinic acid treated immune cells were proliferated well at lower concentration (7.5 µg /mL), but growth inhibition occurred at a higher concentration (30 µg /mL). The findings obtained from the cell cycle analysis exhibited the proliferation effect of betulinic acid on PBMC, whereby 43.66 ± 2.60% and 42.83 ± 2.40% of the cells entered G2/M phase after 24h and 48h, respectively. Moreover, betulinic acid also induced extracellular IL-2 and IL-12 production. This finding demonstrates that betulinic acid acts as an immunomodulatory agent that may be useful in enhancing immune system. A. R. Mashitoh, S. K. Yeap, A. M. Ali, A. Faujan, M. Suhaimi, M. K. Ng, H. Y. Lam and N. B. Alithee

Autophagy in dental tissues: a double-edged sword

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council [BB/L02392X/1]SCI(E)PubMedEDITORIAL [email protected]

Graft-vs-tumor effect in patients with advanced nasopharyngeal cancer treated with nonmyeloablative allogeneic PBSC transplantation

While nonmyeloablative peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (NST) has shown efficacy against several solid tumors, it is untested in nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC). In a phase II clinical trial, 21 patients with pretreated metastatic NPC underwent NST with sibling PBSC allografts, using CY conditioning, thymic irradiation and in vivo T-cell depletion with thymoglobulin. Stable lymphohematopoietic chimerism was achieved in most patients and prophylactic CYA was tapered at a median of day +30. Seven patients (33%) showed partial response and three (14%) achieved stable disease. Four patients were alive at 2 years and three showed prolonged disease control of 344, 525 and 550 days. With a median follow-up of 209 (4–1147) days, the median PFS was 100 days (95% confidence interval (CI), 66–128 days), and median OS was 209 days (95% CI, 128–236 days). Patients with chronic GVHD had better survival—median OS 426 days (95% CI, 194–NE days) vs 143 days (95% CI, 114–226 days) (P=0.010). Thus, NST may induce meaningful clinical responses in patients with advanced NPC