國王的海市蜃樓
在夏日的午後，在炎熱的柏油路面上很容易可觀察到遠方的 路面上，出現如鏡子般的倒影，看起來彷彿前方有一灘水，但當 我們向前進一些時，倒影卻突然消失了，這個現象，一般稱為海 市蜃樓。 一般解釋海市蜃樓的成因，都是由於在上層的低溫空氣，和 在下層靠近路面的高溫空氣，因密度的不同，以致於折射率的漸 層差異，繼而產生全反射。 但我們觀察發現，地面與上層空氣的溫差，並非柏油路面上 假積水現象及倒影出現的必要條件；反而和入射光的角度、路面 的平坦程度及路面的性質有關。我們提出了粗糙面在入射光的入 射角接近90度時，可發生單向反射的模型。並由實驗來驗證假積 水現象及倒影主要的成因是「柏油路面的單向反射」而非「空氣 的折射與全反射」。 Under the scorching sunshine, we can see the reflection on the tarmac in the distance just like a water puddle on the road. And the water also reflects the people and object nearby. But, in fact, the tarmac road over there is very hot and dry. Therefore we call the phenomenon as the “false water puddle on the tarmac.” According to the textbook , the main reason for “false water puddle on the tarmac” is that the temperature difference leads to the refraction of the light and causes the phenomenon. However, from our observation, the theory still can’t explain some phenomenon, For example, the “false water puddle on the tarmac” remains to appear when the wind blows fiercely. Even with little temperature different at night the phenomenon is still obvious. Therefore, in our opinion, the temperature different of the air is not a necessary condition of “ the false water puddle on the tarmac.” We bring up the model to explain the phenomenon that when the incident angle of the light approach 90 degrees, the light will result in one-way reflection. According to the model, furthermore, we make experiments at midnight and at dawn. The result of the experiment assures us the hypothesis of the model, Consequently, we hold the ideal that the main condition of the “false water puddle on the tarmac.” Is not because of the refraction and the total reflection but because the light reflects off the road and result in the one-way reflection on the tarmac road.
一些Moire patterns 的數學性質研究
Moire 為法文，其英譯為watered， 是古代織布技術的一種應用；將印有規律條?的透明薄片重疊時，稍微移動或轉動其中的一片，會形成極大的圖形變化，稱為moire pattern本作品針對三個moire pattern 的數學式加以推導：(一)、兩張透明片各印有等間隔平行線，轉動其中一片使兩線的夾角θ，亮紋垂直距離和暗?垂直距離的比值為tanθ/2tanθ 。(二)、兩張透明片各印有輻射線，重疊後行成圓系，可由代數或幾何加以證明，利用三角函數可推導出此圓系方程式為：x2+{y-rtan[π/2-(θ-?)]}2)]}={rsec[π/2-(θ-?)]}2)]}\r \r (三)、透明片A 印有等間隔平行線，B 印有符合高斯曲線的平行線，AB 重疊時，形成一系列的高斯曲線，AB 的夾角減少時，會增大曲線的曲率，我們進一步討論曲線的曲率和平行線斜率的關係。Moire is the French word “watered” and refers to an ancient technique employed in cloth making. The moire occurs whenever two or more transparent sheets with periodic strips on them are superposed. The characteristic of moire patterns is the fact that a slight shift of sheets will create dramatic alternations in the observed patterns. In the present report, We derive the equations of three different moire patterns. First of all, take a sheet with equal spaced straight lines and placed it on top of another identical sheet. They are made to intersect and form an angle of θ. As the angle changes slightly, it produces huge changes in the spacing of moire fringes. We can derive a formula related to the interfringe distance. The ratio of bright fringes and dark fringes is tanθ/2tanθ.Secondly, two transparent sheets with radial lines on them are overlapped, forming a pattern similar to the lines of force between point charges. We can find that the pattern is a series of circle by means of algebraic and geometric proofs. And proven by trigonometric functions, we canconclude that they satisfy the equation :x2+{y-rtan[π/2-(θ-?)]}2)]}={rsec[π/2-(θ-?)]}2)]}\r Thirdly, a set of lines of equal spacing is overlapped with a second set of lines whose spacing are derived from a Gaussian curve. A series of Gaussian curves is reproduced in a moire pattern. Reducing the angle of intersection between the two figures steepen the curvature. We discussed the relation between the curvature and the slope of inclined lines.
聚球藻 RF 一 1 品系生物時鐘之特性
我們成功的用溶氣計偵測到了聚球藻 RF-1 在 28℃下光合作用的概日韻律。和傳統的研究方法比起來，這個方法具有連續偵測的優點，減少因不斷取樣所造成的影響，此實驗可觀察到聚球藻 RF-1 溶氣量之變化圖與一般藻類（如單殼縫藻）不同.在光 /暗條件下 RF-1 之溶氣量的增加與減少均呈週期性變化，而且此變化現象在進入連續照光後仍然可以維持兩個循環以上，這些結果顯示以溶氣計連續偵測聚球藻 RF -1之概日韻律是可行的，而且所得到的變化圖形遠比傳統方法（於不同時間取樣）所得者自然。本實驗同時發現含聚球藻之培養液的溫度，在進入黑暗週期時會有明顯的上升，由於其變化程度比其他藻類明顯，如加以探討應有助於對此藻以及其韻律特性之瞭解。We successfully detected the photosynthesis circadian rhythm of the prokaryote Synechococcus RF-1 under 28℃ by a DO (Dissolved-Oxygen) meter. The advantage of this method, comparing with the traditional methods, is that it can detect signals continuously, reduce the influence of discrete sampling. The DO curves of the Synechococcus RF-1 are different from that of other algae. Under Light/Dark conditions, the DO values of RF-i increased and decreased periodically. The periodic phenomena progressed over two cycles under constant lighting conditions. These results revealed the feasibility of using DO meter to continuous detect the circadian rhythm of the Synechococcus RF-1 The detected DO curves looked more natural than those obtained in the traditional discrete-sampling method. We also found that the temperature of the culture increased in dark cycle. Since the variation is clearer than that of other algae, further investigation will benefit the understanding of the Synechcoccus RF-i and its circadian rhythm.
Rubik's Cube Solver
Aim: Over the years I became quite quick at solving the cube. I was keen to see if I could create a mechanical system that would do it in a similar time. Because of financial limitations and equipment I thought it impossible to achieve my usual times of around 1 minute and so settled on a target of 10 minutes. So my aim became; “To create a mechanical system that could solve the cube 100% reliably in less than 10 minutes” What I did: I started from the view that I wanted to get it to find a solution using the process that I usually use. The downside of this approach was that this approach meant that most internet research was irrelevant to my project. Also some methods I found were very sophisticated and expensive eg. the university professor who created a system to solve it in 6 seconds. I wrote software capable of solving the cube, printed out its results then testing the instruction steps by manually manipulating the cube. This was improved until 100% reliable. I then developed the user interface to input the colours on each face. The building of the hardware to manipulate the cube proved my most difficult challenge. To get the cube flipped and rotated accurately using the 5 servos. I modeled this using lego and popsicle sticks until the movements met the accuracy and reliability outcomes I needed. Surprisingly these materials held up to the challenge. Integrating the software and hardware functional models took a lot longer than anticipated to get the software instructions executed and coordinated. A great deal of fine tuning was required. Outcome: The system solves the cube 100% of the time. I was exceptionally pleased with this result in view of the lego and popsicle stick model. On reflection I have achieved a successful working model that university students have aspired to and this gives me great satisfaction. Conclusion: While the outcome is pleasing I envisaged achieving a much faster system with easier data input using camera and colour recognition software. Unfortunately time and my budget restrictions prevented this from being developed. However this is a step I am interested in implementing in the future. The speed could be improved by designing more efficient cube solving algorithms, implementing a camera with colour recognition, and possibly rethinking and redesigning my mechanical design. I would also like to Figure 1 illustrates how the air would flow through a fan, and get pushed underground in several short HDPE pipes. This tempered air would then be fed into a small, insulated air chamber built against the home that contains an air-sourced heat pump. The walls of this chamber would have small vents to balance air pressure, and an exit near the top for cooled exhaust air. When the temperature outdoors is in the coldest stage of winter (daily average of -3.0ºC), the tempered air being brought into the chamber would simulate an outdoor ambient temperature of about 10.0ºC, allowing a heat pump to operate with a COP of ~3.79 (based on data from Goodman Air Conditioning and Heating).² This means that for every unit of energy put into the heat pump, 3.79 units of energy are extracted. 4. Conclusions: In building an enclosed air chamber for around an air-sourced heat pump, it was found that it is possible to simulate a 10.0ºC climate in the coldest parts of winter through air tempering. This will allow the heat pump to run substantially more efficiently throughout the year. This system could be used effectively to heat a home in the winter, as well as cool a home in the summer.
影像的色偏校正
The human eyes can adjust automatically the color of object under different illuminants. But digital camera does not have such mechanism, must join the white balance to simulate the color constancy of human eyes. There are many existing white balance methods. They can be categorized into two types. The first type utilizes the widespread assumption on the dealing natural scenery, which has the advantage of simplicity. Another type explores knowledge of the semantic content, which has the advantage of accuracy. In this study we modify and enhance the widespread assumption methods that can adopt the advantage of the simplicity and accuracy. Our proposed method is structured in two main parts: a color cast detector and a color cast remover. The detector first analyzes the color distribution of the image with simple statistical tools to determine whether or not the image has color cast. The remover, a modified and enhanced version of the widespread assumption methods ( gray world and max RGB ), is then applied on the color cast image. From the experiment results, it demonstrates the efficacy and performance of the proposed method.人類的視覺能夠自動修正因光線變化而改變的物體顏色，但是數位取像設備的感光元件卻不具有這樣的功能，必須加入白平衡的功能，才可模擬人眼維持色彩恆常的特性。現有的白平衡演算法可分為兩大類型，第一類型為廣泛假設型，具有運算速度快、與取像設備無關的特性，但是平均誤差會較大；另一類型為預知特性型，其特徵為準確性較高，但是運算較速度較慢、建立色彩特性資訊時所需的成本較高，本篇研究針對廣泛假設型的演算法做些修正與增強，使其具有較小的平均誤差以獲得較佳色彩品質的影像。我們將影像的色偏校正分為色偏偵測與色偏移除等兩個階段來進行，由於僅有被偵測出有色偏的影像才需要進行色偏的移除，所以可以避開將無色偏或固有色偏的影像做錯誤的修正，由實驗的結果看來，我們的方法確實有效，除了具有運算速度快、與取像設備無關的優點外，其色偏校正能力也較現有的方法好，使得影像色彩更能與人眼所見相近。
榕樹粗萃取液對種子萌發及生長之影響
相剋作用是指植物在代謝過程中釋放出有毒物質以抑制本身或鄰近植物種子萌發及植株發育生長的過程。一般認為，榕樹是具有相剋作用的常見植物，但很少見到相關的文獻探討。本實驗利用榕樹不同組織萃取液，以小白菜、結球白菜與阿拉伯芥作材料，探討該萃取液對上述植物發芽與生長之影響，結果顯示榕樹葉萃取液所造成之影響較顯著，不同榕樹組織的萃取液、不同濃度的萃取液對不同植物所產生的效果不盡相同，針對不同生長期的植物進行處理所造成的影響亦有差異。進一步以管柱層析法與高壓液相層析法（HPLC）分離葉萃取液，結果發現以正己烷和乙酸乙酯75：25為沖提液的條件下，於HPLC的層析圖中分離時間約8分時所流出的物質具最明顯的抑制作用。電泳剖面分析顯示處理與未處理間有些許蛋白質條帶差異，此變化蛋白可能與植物幼苗對該萃取液之耐受性有關。利用核酸微陣列(microarray)對榕樹萃取液處理之阿拉伯芥植物進行基因表現分析，發現榕樹萃取液對植物部分基因表現也有促進和抑制的情形，經由基因體與蛋白質體分析法可推論出一些受影響之相關基因。 Allelopathy was defined as a phenomenon which certain plant species, by secreting metabolites to the environment, can suppress the growth of themselves, seed germination and/or growth of other plants in the same habitats. Banyan （Ficus microcarpa L.f.） is a plant species in our campus likely to have allelopathy effect. However, documents describing such action on allelopathy were rare. In this study, we applied the crude tissue extracts including leaves, stems, roots of banyan onto the germinating seeds of Pai-Tsai （Brassica rapa L.ssp.chinensis（Rupr.（Olsson）））, Chinese cabbage （Brassica pekinensis Rupr.） and Arabidopsis（Arabidopsis thaliana, ecotype Columbia-0） to study the effects of such plant extract on the germination and seedling growth of other plants. It is found that allelopathic effects on seed germination vary among different tissues used for extract preparation. Different concentration of the extract also yield various degree of allelophathic effects. It is also noted that the application of extract onto the post-germinated sprouts has less effects on plant growth. The extract of leaves was subsequently chromatographed over silica gel using hexane/EtOH gradient solvent system and HPLC. The result showed that there was one fraction about 8 min in the chromatography of HPLC eluted with 25% EtOAc in hexane had the most inhibitory effect. SDS-PAGE analysis on the electrophoretic profiles of water soluble proteins has explored a different band pattern between the treated and non-treated sprouts. The observed band difference might provide a clue for exploring proteins which reacted differently upon the application of extract. DNA microarray analysis on the effect of banyan extract on Arabidopsis gene expression has also been employed to characterize genes responsive to the allelophathic treatment. Cross-comparison between the differential transcript and protein profiles will reveal key regulators in plants experiencing allelophathic condition. \r