Real-Time Cytotoxicity Assay for Rapid and Sensitive Detection of Ricin from Complex Matrices

BACKGROUND: In the context of a potential bioterrorist attack sensitive and fast detection of functionally active toxins such as ricin from complex matrices is necessary to be able to start timely countermeasures. One of the functional detection methods currently available for ricin is the endpoint cytotoxicity assay, which suffers from a number of technical deficits. METHODOLOGY/FINDINGS: This work describes a novel online cytotoxicity assay for the detection of active ricin and Ricinus communis agglutinin, that is based on a real-time cell electronic sensing system and impedance measurement. Characteristic growth parameters of Vero cells were monitored online and used as standardized viability control. Upon incubation with toxin the cell status and the cytotoxic effect were visualized using a characteristic cell index-time profile. For ricin, tested in concentrations of 0.06 ng/mL or above, a concentration-dependent decrease of cell index correlating with cytotoxicity was recorded between 3.5 h and 60 h. For ricin, sensitive detection was determined after 24 h, with an IC50 of 0.4 ng/mL (for agglutinin, an IC50 of 30 ng/mL was observed). Using functionally blocking antibodies, the specificity for ricin and agglutinin was shown. For detection from complex matrices, ricin was spiked into several food matrices, and an IC50 ranging from 5.6 to 200 ng/mL was observed. Additionally, the assay proved to be useful in detecting active ricin in environmental sample materials, as shown for organic fertilizer containing R. communis material. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The cell-electrode impedance measurement provides a sensitive online detection method for biologically active cytotoxins such as ricin. As the cell status is monitored online, the assay can be standardized more efficiently than previous approaches based on endpoint measurement. More importantly, the real-time cytotoxicity assay provides a fast and easy tool to detect active ricin in complex sample matrices

Physician privacy concerns when disclosing patient data for public health purposes during a pandemic influenza outbreak

Background: Privacy concerns by providers have been a barrier to disclosing patient information for public health\ud purposes. This is the case even for mandated notifiable disease reporting. In the context of a pandemic it has been\ud argued that the public good should supersede an individual’s right to privacy. The precise nature of these provider\ud privacy concerns, and whether they are diluted in the context of a pandemic are not known. Our objective was to\ud understand the privacy barriers which could potentially influence family physicians’ reporting of patient-level\ud surveillance data to public health agencies during the Fall 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza outbreak.\ud Methods: Thirty seven family doctors participated in a series of five focus groups between October 29-31 2009.\ud They also completed a survey about the data they were willing to disclose to public health units. Descriptive\ud statistics were used to summarize the amount of patient detail the participants were willing to disclose, factors that\ud would facilitate data disclosure, and the consensus on those factors. The analysis of the qualitative data was based\ud on grounded theory.\ud Results: The family doctors were reluctant to disclose patient data to public health units. This was due to concerns\ud about the extent to which public health agencies are dependable to protect health information (trusting beliefs),\ud and the possibility of loss due to disclosing health information (risk beliefs). We identified six specific actions that\ud public health units can take which would affect these beliefs, and potentially increase the willingness to disclose\ud patient information for public health purposes.\ud Conclusions: The uncertainty surrounding a pandemic of a new strain of influenza has not changed the privacy\ud concerns of physicians about disclosing patient data. It is important to address these concerns to ensure reliable\ud reporting during future outbreaks.University of Ottawa Open Access Author Fun

[[alternative]]台灣民間信仰企業化行銷的多種面向

博士[[abstract]]本論文係以臺灣民間信仰中的企業化行銷方式為研究對象，輔以管理科學方法參與研討的實證研究。除了介紹研究動機、目的及其架構以外，接著整理出以道、儒、釋三家為基礎的臺灣民間信仰中的寺廟機構中主要的經濟收益來源，分別為消災解厄儀式、慶典盛會、以及一般祈福活動等。此外則對於「宗教行銷」應用於台灣民間信仰內的各種類型做一初步區分，四種類型分別為廣告宣傳、建立網路社群、傳統儀式再詮釋、以及置入式行銷等當代行銷途徑。 本研究中首先結合兩大概念：高齡化社會以及宗教旅遊需求，對於進香團的旅遊形式，實際上多以高齡者為主參加的現象為研究重點。對於國內社區最常見的神祇－土地公廟間信徒的年度互訪，提出了「相互朝聖」的概念：有別於基督徒於耶路撒冷與伊斯蘭教徒至麥加其本質為「由外而內」的朝聖流動，相互朝聖行為則是一種採取對等型態，以互訪為主的宗教聯誼活動。 另外，本文以列為聯合國教科文組織「非物質文化遺產」之媽祖文化信仰為主題，探討以媽祖文化為主的廟會活動。以「經營績效」為觀點為闡釋，實際走訪數間媽祖廟宇委員會，透過管理科學方法制訂行銷資源投入的策略，除了使之達成到訪者數目以及相應捐獻收入增加，並透過問卷訪談方式，將參加廟會者的動機予以有效分類，並引伸出相關的討論結果，以及提出後續研究方向。[[abstract]]Based on the doctrines of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, Taiwanese folklore belief has existed for nearly four centuries, and has been simultaneously proven to be a spiritual sustenance for most of the population in Taiwan. Numerous services derived from folklore belief have recently become diverse marketing approaches; for example, discarding disaster or misfortune, carnival celebrations, and praying for blessings. Temples are attempting to broaden the believer base by using publicity and promotion, establishing an online community, redescribing ritual narratives, and engaging in placement marketing. Therefore, this research presents a discussion on the phenomenon of “religious marketing” from a management perspective. To investigate the temple believer base, this study analyzed the elderly pilgrimage tourists who participated in a community-initiated tour to experience a “mutual pilgrimage”. Furthermore, this study also conducted a survey at a mass religious gathering of a deity’s procession for classifying the four typologies of the tour participants according to their motivations. The conclusion involves future research directions, which are expected to be completed by developing continuity in religious management field research.[[tableofcontents]]CONTENTS CHINESE ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………….I ENGLISH ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………II CONTENTS………………………………………………………………………….III LIST OF TABLES…………………………………………………………………….V LIST OF FIGURES…………………………………………………………………..VI Chapter 1 Introduction…………………………………………………………….1 1.1 Motivation and objective………………………………………………………...1 1.2 Framework………………………………………………………………………3 1.3 Limitation………………………………………………………………………..4 Chapter 2 Folklore belief economic practices in Taiwan………………………...5 2.1 The main deities of Taoism-Buddhism based folklore belief……………………5 2.2 Major revenue source of Taiwanese temples…………………………………...11 2.3 Summary……………………………………………………………………….15 Chapter 3 Presentation of religious organization marketing in Taiwan……....16 3.1 Religious marketing with Taiwanese folklore belief characteristics..................16 3.2 Customer segmentations……………………………………………………….22 3.3 Summary……………………………………………………………………….23 Chapter 4 The role of mutual pilgrimage: Perspective from aging pilgrims….24 4.1 Religious tourism for the aging pilgrimage tourist…………………………….24 4.2 Mutual Pilgrimage……………………………………………………………...26 4.3 Planning a one-day pilgrimage tour by the SAW technique…………………...29 4.4 Survey and Results…………………………………………………….……….33 4.5 Discussions……………………………………………………………………..36 4.6 Findings………………………………………………………………………...38 Chapter 5 Religious-themed festival planning in Temple’s marketing………..39 5.1 Celebration enthusiastic participant, or festival reveler?....................................39 5.2 Mazu belief practices in Taiwan………………………………………………..41 5.3 Empirical process………………………………………………………………43 5.4 Discussion……………………………………………………………………...51 5.5 Findings………………………………………………………………………...53 Chapter 6 Conclusion and future intentions…………………………………….54 6.1 Conclusions…………………………………………………………………….54 6.2 Recommendations for further researches………………………………………55 References…………………………………………………………………………...57 Appendix…………………………………………………………………………….66 LIST OF TABLES Table 1-1 The research framework………………………………………………….4 Table 2-1 General conditions of Eastern religions in Taiwan of 2009…..................6 Table 2-2 The major deities and dedicated temple numbers in Taiwan……………11 Table 4-1 Raw data and each weighting of the four candidate affiliated temples…31 Table 4-2 Normalized matrix…………………………………………………………. 32 Table 4-3 The result matrix of average SAW…………………………………………. 32 Table 4-4 Respondents’ identity………………………………………………………34 Table 4-5 The percentage of the descriptive statistics for the group pilgrim recognitions………………………………………………………………… 35 Table 5-1 The input and output information of each Mazu temple…………………46 Table 5-2 DEA results of five Mazu temples’ festival performance in 2010…………46 Table 5-3 Advertising information……………………………………………………47 Table 5-4 The advertising budget result using multiple-objective programming…… 48 Table 5-5 The motivations of religious-based activity participants- factor analysis results………………………………………………………………………50 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1-1 The research framework…………………………………………………4 Figure 2-1 Inside a Land Deity temple located in northern Taiwan…………………7 Figure 2-2 The amulet of Mazu…………………………………………………8 Figure 2-3 The image of Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva deep inside most Taiwanese household altars……………………………………………9 Figure 2-4 The safe driving amulet of Fu You Di Jun…………………10 Figure 2-5 Two representative deity-themed products: Holy Emperor Guan key ring (left) and Wen Chang Di Jun cell phone strap (right)………………13 Figure 2-6 A lucky money envelope borrowed from Mazu and the God of Wealth…14 Figure 3-1 An internet advertising of a Dharma practice TV program………………18 Figure 3-2 A temple’s annual lunar calendar lists their facebook address as shown below…………………………………………………………20 Figure 3-3 Online sortition service displayed in the upper left corner of the facebook page……………………………………………………………20 Figure 3-4 A registration announcement for worshipping the Big Dipper…………21 Figure 3-5 Two hot sale worship guide books “How do I ask question to the deity?” (Left); and “How the blessing works step by step” (Right)…22 Figure 4-1 The difference of the general and the mutual pattern of pilgrimage……28 Figure 5-1 Chaotian Temple located at Beigang in Yunlin………42 Figure 5-2 Lantern festival of Lungshan Temple located at Wanhua in Taipei, 2012…………42 Figure 5-3 Religious-based activity participant motivations…………………… 51[[note]]學號: 899620016, 學年度: 10