本實驗在探討，當金奈米粒子和植物中的葉綠素產生鍵結作用力時，能量轉移的結果是否能幫助葉綠素激發電子。經由兩者混合後光譜的變化,發現兩者之間發生能量轉移。為探討此轉移現象和濃度的關係，我們將大小不同的金奈米和不同毫升數的葉綠素作用，並將其結果和金奈米與葉綠素的吸收強度和作比較，使用正規化的計算方法算出比值，由此看出兩者之間能量轉移的效率。當金顆粒約大於30nm時，正規化的數值隨的葉綠素濃度的增加而變大；而當金奈米顆粒約小於30nm時，則隨著葉綠素的增加而變小。Much attention is currently focused on chromophoric molecules because they can not only mimic natural antenna systems but also exhibit unique optical and physical properties. Chlorophyll , produced by extracting from green leaves, has electrostatic interactions with Au nanoparticles through carboxyl groups. Herein, we report the charge transfer between chlorophyll and Au nanoparticles using UV-vis electronic absorption spectroscopy. The efficiency of charge transfer from chlorophyll to Au nanoparticles was estimated by the normalization of Q-ban absorption intensity. From the observation of absorption intensity versus concentration of chlorophyll curves, we find that the efficiency of charge transfer is increased while the size of Au-particle is larger than 30nm, but decreased while the size smaller than 30nm.

細胞凋亡具有控制生物體細胞數目之功能，能讓特定的細胞走向死亡，因此若能掌握其作用機制，便可能藉由調控細胞凋亡的發生，進而應用於癌症治療。前人研究（2.）指出，經基因重組技術純化之口蹄疫病毒鞘蛋白rVP1，會導致BHK-21的Akt 蛋白質去活化，引起細胞凋亡的現象。然而在其後續的研究中，卻發現到在BHK-21中大量表現磷酸化的Akt 蛋白質，並無法反轉由rVP1 所誘發之細胞凋亡。因此本實驗利用二維蛋白質電泳，尋找Akt pathway 以外之細胞凋亡相關蛋白質。目前已證明Prohibitin 此一蛋白質，在由rVP1 所引起之細胞凋亡中，有自細胞核移動至細胞質的現象。此外，亦經由實驗排除Prohibitin 位於Akt pathway 的可能性。Western Blot 之結果更顯示，經rVP1 處理後，Prohibitin 在很短的時間內便出現遷移的現象，故推測其具有調控細胞凋亡上游反應的功能。Apoptosis can lead some specific cells to programmed death, thus, it is a major way for creatures to control their cells amounts. If we can command the mechanism of apoptosis, we may use it as a therapy for cancer by artificial regulation of apoptosis. VP1 is one of the capsid proteins of Foot and Mouth Disease Virus (FMDV). A research (2.) has indicated that the recombinant VP1 (rVP1) can result in dephosphorylation of Akt in BHK-21, and then lead the cells to apoptosis. However, in their follow-up experiments, they discovered that even if they expressed great amount of phospho-Akt in BHK-21, it still couldn’t reverse the apoptosis induced by rVP1. Therefore, this experiment takes the advantage of two-dimension protein electrophoresis (2D) in order to find apoptotic proteins excluded from the Akt pathway. I have found that Prohibitin exports from nucleus to cytosol after rVP1 treatment. Furthermore, I eliminate the possibility that Prohibitin’s may be located in Akt pathway. The results of Western Blot also shows that protein amount of Prohibitin in BHK-21 increase after rVP1 treatment, hence the purpose of nuclear export of Prohibitin might not be to degrade it. It might have some much more important function in the process of exportation. Besides, Prohibitin exports to cytosol in quite a short time after rVP1 treatment. According to this phenomenon, I suppose that Prohibitin has a role as a regulator of apoptotic up-stream reactions.

由於蜘蛛絲複雜的分子結構及產生過程，長久以來一直被視為一個特殊的生物材料(高延展性，高韌性，和高強度)，此外，前人研究指出蜘蛛能自己調控絲的性質，並受到環境的影響。然而，大多數的研究多以結網性蜘蛛為主，只有極少數研究著重在探討非結網性蜘蛛，如:跳蛛。本研究中，以安德遜蠅虎為材料，分析跳蛛的跳躍行為，以及探討曳絲在跳躍過程時所造成的影響。我們初步的研究結果顯示: (一)曳絲在跳蛛跳躍過程中，對於安全降落扮演重要的角色，及(二)跳蛛會藉由改變身體的角度來維持身體的平衡。在跳躍過程中，蜘蛛的跳躍速度會因空氣阻力而減少，但是蜘蛛絲的彈性恢恢復力(根據虎克定律)會讓跳蛛跳躍速度更顯著的減少，並藉著身體的轉動與曳絲的作用達到身體平衡。對於一個非結網性蜘蛛是另外一個不可或缺的輔助工具。相對於其他跳躍動物，有絲的跳蛛具備另一項能減緩降落速度的工具以增加降落的安全性。

This study was to explore the nature of two basic constitutes of the regular pentagon,With these two constitutes, the regular pentagon could be multiplied into any times in size. We used four multiplication methodsto show how the regular pentagon enlarge and to verify that the enlarged regular pentagons derived from computer did exist. By integrating these four multiplication rules, we were able to arrange regular pentagon of any length of side, and evidenced the equation was ( If m,n is the number of A,B of a regular pentagon respectively ) When we tried to verify if any regular pentagon could be constituted by other smaller regular pentagons, we found that it was un-dividable only if the length of pentagon side were (the number of A, B were the 2n and 2n-1 item of Lucas Sequence), otherwise, any regular pentagon is able to be constituted by other smaller regular pentagons. The divided forms could be multiple. We also found that any pentagon could be divided by two successive un-dividable pentagons, which is called “standard division rule”. We expected to derive all kinds of division by analysis of two successive un-dividable pentagons in standard division rule. 這個研究起源於一個拼圖玩具：利用兩種黃金三角形排出指定大小的正五邊形。我們的研究動機是：一、 假如無限量供應A 和B，能夠拼出哪些邊長的正五邊形？二、 哪些拼好的正五邊形不能拆成一些較小的正五邊形？我們將研究的主要結果分述如下：

1. Purpose of the research: Recovering bioethanol from fruit wastes by using brewing yeast and enzyme Viscozyme L\r 2. Procedures: Four different experiments were conducted in our project.\r Experiment-1: Samples in RM by the addition of only S.Cerevisia.\r Experiment-2: Samples in RM broth meduim by the addtion of 100 μl/g ViscozymeL and S. Cerevisiae\r Experiment-3 : ViscozymeL with different concentration\r Experiment-4: to determenine whether the enzyme with high concentration inhibited the fermentation.\r Analysis of ethanol: HPLC method was used for the analysis;\r HPLC method: (high performance liquid chromatography)\r 3. Data\r HPLC measured initial and final concentrations of glucose and ethanol by the addtion of S. Cerevisiae.\r Initial glucose concentration and final ethanol concentration was the highest in Grape pulp 12 and 9 g/L respectively. Despite the glucose concentration was the lowest, the ethanol concentration was quite high (7 g/L) in the mixture with orange. The lowest ethanol was produced in the mixture with pomegranate.\r Concentrations of ethanol and glucose from the samples in RM broth meduim by the addtion of 100 μl/g ViscozymeL and S. Cerevisiae\r After the 24 hour incubation by the addition of enzyme glucose concentration incresed by 1, 4 and 2 respectively in sample 1, 2 and 3. The ethanol concentrations in comparison to first experiment were higher especially in the sample1 (grape pulp).\r Effect of ViscozymeL with different concentration on glucose production.\r The glucose concentration generally increased by the addition of 200 micro L of enzyme as the time proceeded. In grape pulp sample glucose concentartion didnt increased by the addition of 500 micro L enzyme.\r The remaning glucose and produced ethanol concentrations by the addition of viscozyme L with two different concentartion and S. Cerevisiae\r As the concentartion of enzyme added incresed the amout of ethanol also inreased in sample 2 and 3 but in the sample 3 the fermentation was inhibited.\r 4. Conclusions\r In this study sugars in fruit wastes that are regularly not recylecled were fermented successfully into ethanol by using S. Cerevisiae.\r Generally we get more ethanol from the samples when the enzyme was used. As the graph5 shows the ethanol concentration generally increased as the enzyme concentration increased. But especially in the sample1 (mixture with pomegranate) at 200 and 500 micro liter concentrations, ethanol production were 2 and 0 g/L respectively. In the light of this daha we conluded that the enzyme with high concentartion might inhibit the fermentation. When the activity of enzyme was inhibited by keeping the pretreated enzyme in boiling water, the fermentation restarted and recovered more ethanol; 8 and 12 g/L at the enzyme concentration of 200 and 500 microliter respectively.

Purpose Every fall, I collect highbush cranberries (Viburnum edule) to make jelly. In 2012, for the first time, I observed highbush cranberry leaves covered in striking patterns of raised purple dots (telia) caused by the pathogenic rust fungus Puccinia linkii. I investigated the distribution and effects of this rust for several reasons: little is known about P. linkii, highbush cranberries are an important food source for wildlife and people, and foliar pathogens may increase with climate change in sub-boreal forests. First, I investigated the patterns of telia within plants. Second, I compared the variation in infection severity among plants, hypothesising that younger plants, those in dense populations, and those in low-elevation riparian areas would be most infected. Finally, I studied the effects of P. linkii on its host, hypothesising that highly infected plants would produce fewer berries and produce berries with less sugar, and that infected leaves would die sooner. Procedures This study investigated P. linkii in mixed coniferous-deciduous forest sites near Smithers, British Columbia. I marked a total of 41 randomly-selected focal V. edule plants in four sites. To examine within-plant patterns of infection, I photographed four leaves of each plant and used a graphic analysis program to examine the size, density and coverage of telia. To assess among-plant patterns, I compared infection severity (5 classes of telia coverage), to three ecological variables: host density within 5m, position on a moisture gradient, and plant maturity. To investigate the effects of P. linkii on its host, I compared infection severity to the number of berries produced, the proportion of malformed and infected berries, and the sugar content of mature berries as measured with a handheld refractometer. I measured leaf mortality in fall. Results P. linkii produced a characteristic pattern within each plant: higher leaves consistently had fewer but bigger telia than lower leaves. Across sites, plants were significantly more infected in areas of high host density. Within sites, young plants and plants and in moister ecosystems were significantly more infected (increases of 1.1 ± 0.2; F1,128=44.8, P

The objective of this project is to investigate styrene butadiene rubber(SBR), which is the most important synthetic rubber. The project contains production methods, properties, safety methods and applications for emulsion SBR. The goal is to determine which production technique of SBR is the most beneficial. This is based on the chemical and physical properties of the final product and its quality. The process that is used in the project is emulsion SBR with combined coagulation stripping. The rubber production plant is a profitable venture. The total capital cost is estimated around $31,361,572, with an annual production cost of about $67,281,378 yearly, generating revenues of $73,801,760 per fiscal year, with an interest rate of 5%. The life of the plant is 15 years and would produce 50,000 ton/year.

Smoothened (SMO) is a critical component of Hedgehog (HH) pathway that is essential for stem cell renewal and is dysregulated in many cancer types. SMO is a seven transmembrane domain protein with three intracellular loops. Primary structures of SMO intracellular loops are unique and very much conserved among the species, which is indicative of significant and unique roles in intermolecular or intramolecular interactions. The hypothesis was that synthetic analogs of SMO intracellular loops may function as HH pathway inhibitors. Derivatives of second intracellular loop were synthesized utilizing automated solid phase peptide synthesis based on Fmoc chemistry. Peptides were purified by HPLC and there anti-proliferative activity tested on melanoma cells by MTT assay. Targeted libraries of second loop derivatives of varying length helped to identify compounds that inhibited the growth of melanoma cells in vitro with IC50 in nanomolar range. The most potent of antagonists obtained is the palmitoyl derivative of the Nterminal half of the loop, and is 12 residues long. Lipidation proved to be critical for the activity. Remarkably, retro-inverso versions of the peptide, in which all amino acids are in D-configuration, are even more potent and have IC50 in subnanomolar range. Circular dichroism studies proved that the peptides are folded both in aqueous solutions and in the presence of lipids mimicking the membrane environment. They also suggested that retroinverso analogs have a different fold, which may contribute to higher activity. The new compounds are promising drug candidates and present convenient tools for solving the\r mechanisms of hedgehog signaling.

Purpose: Many girls in South Africa miss school due to insufficient resources during menstruation. Although menstrual cups are cheaper and more environmentally friendly than pads or tampons, they are not widely known or used. This project investigates the awareness of the menstrual cup and barriers to using it among schoolgirls. Method: Girls in grades 8 and 11 at a local school were asked to complete a questionnaire before and after watching a video about the menstrual cup. Results: The results showed that 54% of younger girls and 92% of older girls had heard of the cup but in each group only 1 girl had used it. About 11% of younger girls and 40% of older girls would consider using the cup. Watching the video had both positive and negative effects on the girls’ opinions about using the cup. Conclusion: There are several barriers to using the menstrual cup among school girls. Overcoming these barriers requires more than just dissemination of factual information about the cup. Workshops with small group discussions would more than likely lead to more girls choosing the cup.

In the last two decades, there has been increased interest in the utility of quantum scale semiconductors. These fluorescent single crystals can be as small as 1 nm in diameter, and their size and shape has been shown to be controlled by the duration, temperature, and ligand molecules used in their synthesis. Quantum dots, provide clear benefits over the organic dyes currently used for tracking biological processes. Yet, as the production of quantum dots is often very costly, the search continues for finding an industry-ready synthesis for a quantum scale semiconductor which would have high yield, optimal durability, high luminescence, and a broad absorbance range. Silicon, in particular, has been of great interest as it is the second most abundant element on the Earth’s crust and is generally a bioinert and electrochemically stable element. We report the synthesis of water-soluble, luminescent silicon nanoparticles with potential applications to bioimaging. Through a solution state top-down approach, the synthesis of hydrogen capped silicon nanoparticles was achieved in various organic solvents. The surface of the nanoparticles was capped with the functional organic molecules rendering the Si-QDs both air and water stable. Cell studies performed with our silicon nanoparticles and human monocytes show the direct applications these particles could have for tracking biological processes and the progression of cancer in the human body. In attempt to shift the luminescence of these particles, alterations of experimental methodology was also explored in the areas of reaction solvent and heating time. Through these changes, shape control of silicon nanoparticles was achieved in the form of silicon nanorods. The synthesis of this new shape of silicon at the quantum scale was confirmed by ultraviolet spectroscopy, photoluminescence, and transmission electron microscopy. The results of this study indicate that the use of silicon nanocrystals for biomedical applications is feasible.

在綠色能源中太陽能的利用充滿了無限的機會，其中利用太陽熱能發電的太陽能煙囪觀念有很大的潛力。在本研究中，我們以實驗的方法討論煙囪高度、入風口大小、管型等因素對solar chimney 效益的影響，發現就原先的觀念設計中，有相當大的改進空間。整體實驗而言，所改變的各項變數中，以管型之改變有最大的改進效益。就同長度直管與漸擴管而言，漸擴管在風速上有明顯改進效果，且以流速與截面積換算成效率，較原直管設計之效率高出約20 倍，因此推測漸擴管應用在現行之solar chimney 以改進效能是極有可行性的。研究中也發現煙囪管壁的熱傳導也會影響氣體的總體流動，使效率降低。相信此實驗之數據對日後嘗試對solar chimney 進行改進的研究者有相當之參考價值。Solar energy has a great market potential among many clean energies. The new solar chimney concept using solar thermal power in power generation may have a bright future. Experimental work was performed to study the energy conversion characteristics of a solar chimney. The air moving capability and the influences of chimney height, the shape of chimney and air entrance dimension were studied. It was found that there is a great room to improve the current solar chimney design and thus the efficiency. Overall speaking, the chimney pipe geometry may have the most significant impact on the improvement of performance. A diverged pipe configuration can induce nearly 20 times more flow than a traditional straight pipe. Another finding is the heat transfer effect on the chimney pipe may have the effect in reducing the flow. It is believed that the present study0 is valuable for those people in designing a future solar chimney.

大安水蓑衣（Hygrophila pogonocalyx）為局限分佈於臺中縣沿海溼地之稀有植物。大量境外復育栽殖後，造成近年來黑擬蛺蝶(Junonia iphita iphita)利用此種新寄主植物的比例增加。本實驗比較黑擬蛺蝶在原寄主植物臺灣馬藍(Strobilanthes formosanus)及新寄主植物大安水蓑衣上之生長環境遮蔽度、幼蟲生長發育、雌蝶產卵偏好的差異，探討大安水蓑衣復育對黑擬蛺蝶族群可能造成的影響。實驗結果發現利用大安水蓑衣之幼蟲生長發育較佳、羽化後成蟲體型較大、有效積溫常數較低。雌蝶產卵行為可能存在兩種偏好性，且子代雌蝶對寄主植物的偏好性與親代一致，不受幼蟲期取食植物影響。偏好新寄主植物之雌蝶其子代的生長發育，利用新寄主植物者顯著較利用原寄主植物者佳，顯示其對原寄主植物的適應顯著下降。本研究認為大安水蓑衣的復育結果，造成黑擬蛺蝶族群在可能共域的情況下，因為利用新的寄主植物可能已產生初步分化的現象。Hypgrophila pogonocalyx is a rare plant species which is distributed in wetlands along seashore of Taichung County. Recently, I found that the common butterfly Junonia iphita iphita recognized H. pogonocalyx as a new hostplant because of the restoration practices of H. pogonocalyx. We compared the differences of forest overstory coverage, larval growth performance and female oviposition preference between J. iphita iphita individuals exploiting the H. pogonocalyx and those utilizing the original hostplant Strobilanthes formosanus. Possible effects on J. iphita iphita by restoration of H. pogonocalyx are analyzed and discussed. It turns out that better growing performance and longer adult forewing length were found on the larvae feeding on H. pogonocalyx than those on the S. formosanus. Besides, the larvae feeding on H. pogonocalyx demonstrated lower constant value of effective accumulated temperature, suggesting that the new host may provide more energy to the larvae than the original host does. Two types of female oviposition preference seem to exist. No matter which hostplant the larvae fed on, the female adults still maintained the oviposition preference of the parental generation. Offspring of H. pogonocalyx-preferring female had better performance on this new hostplant. Our studies showed that the restoration of H. pogonocalyx might have caused primary differentiation of J. iphita iphita by using new hostplant in sympatry with the original hostplant.