鉤盲蛇(Ramphotyphlops braminus)捕獵四部曲
Feeding behavior is the action which animals depend on maintain livelihood. Snakes usually use the three following ways to catch their preys: winding, venom-releasing and pressing their game to death. However, previews study is rare about the feeding behavior of Ramphotyphlops braminus. This puzzles us, prompting us to do in-depth research on it. When performing an experiment, we will use the camera with infrared function to record entire experiment and the obtained data will transform the graph. Our result shows the feeding behavior of R.braminus is a new way to catch their game, and the minute process of this special way is also written down in our report. We hope that the result can let everyone be clear about Ramphotyphlops braminus of soil ecosystem status, and it is an essential contribution for building the archive of Family Typhlopidae. 攝食行為是動物賴以維生的行為。在蛇類中，常見的捕捉方式有：纏繞、 使用毒液、壓斃等三種類型。但，文獻中卻沒有任何有關於鉤盲蛇(Ramphotyphlops braminus)的捕食行為。這使我們感到疑惑，並想深入探討。在實驗進行當中，我們使用紅外線攝影機將實驗全程錄製下來，並將所得的數據轉化成圖表。而其結果顯示鉤盲蛇(Ramphotyphlops braminus)的捕食行為是一種全新的模式，這種模式的詳細過程也被我們全部收錄到報告中。我們希望做出來的結果能讓大家對鉤盲蛇(Ramphotyphlops braminus)在土壤生態系中的地位更加了解，而且對於建立盲蛇科(Typhlopidae)資料庫有實質的貢獻。
Nonlinear Time Series Analysis of Electroencephalogram Tracings of Children with Autism
Methods of nonlinear time series analysis were compiled for use in the analysis of Electroencephalogram (EEG) tracings of children aged three to seven with varying degrees of autism in order to provide a quantitative means of diagnosing autism and determining its severity in a child. After determining the EEG leads to be used for analysis, the identified methods were coded and saved as functions on Scilab. To test the compiled program, a minimum of five EEG readings per cluster of children diagnosed with mild, moderate, severe and no autism will be obtained. The project was able to identify the mean, standard deviation, skewness, kurtosis and other higher order moments, the autocorrelation function, and the Fourier Series as the time-resolved statistical methods to be used for time series analysis. The nonlinear analysis methods identified include the use of the correlation integral, time-delay embedding and the Lorenz equations. One-way ANOVA testing will then be used on the numerical data obtained from the analysis to determine if a significant numerical differentiation has been obtained between the different clusters of EEG. This will provide a definitive way to medically diagnose autism, pinpointing children afflicted with the disorder and giving them proper treatment.\r Two copies of the "Abstract of Exhibit" (in English) should be sent to the National Taiwan Science Education Center or email to fung@mail.ntsec.gov.tw or yuonne@mail.ntsec.gov.tw before December 31, 2009.
Transformer Robot
Nicholas’s project is a transforming robot, who he has named Reggie. He's about a foot tall and can transform from a biped into a vehicle and vice versa?\r Reggie has been Nick’s project for just under a year now, mainly working on him in technology classes. He operates without physical connection to anything else, so everything he needs from micro controllers to power is stored somewhere on Reggie’s body?\r Reggie is controlled through a programmable Arduino board (programmed in C++) that is connected up to a motor driver, for controlling the two driving motors and an SSC-32 servo controller for controlling the 14 servos via serial port. The Arduino uses the SSC-32 to coordinate the servos movements using pre-programmed sets of movements stored in procedures in order to complete all actions.\r All the parts were produced on a 3D CAD system to begin with, as well as the robot as a whole, although the design did change drastically over the course of its construction and now is considerably different from the original design as there were many problems and complications ranging from space to torque issues that called for a change in design.\r Most of the parts were from the servo erector set from lynx motion, although some of them were used in the way they were intended to and most of them were modified slightly. Some parts Nick manufactured himself either on a rapid prototyping machine, a lathe or milling machine and sometimes a combination of them or even high temperature soldiering?\r Currently Reggie is capable of driving and standing up and is currently radio controlled. He will eventually be capable of walking and modifications to allow him to (such as stronger leg servos) have been made to facilitate that, but it is possible more may have to be made.
CryptoDefender - afast way to encrypt your files
1. Purpose of the research\r Nowadays, many encryption software are available to computer user. However, very few people use them which result in many cases of information and data leakage due mainly over the Internet. Most people use USB Flash Drive to store and carry confident files back home to work on. When the USB Drive is lost, the files stored are often leaked. To prevent this type of incident occurring, “CryptoDefender” is developed to enhance files protection and to change user’s habit in handling confidential information. \r 2. Procedures\r “CryptoDefender” is an add-in for common application software, e.g. Word, Excel, etc. It will appear as a new tab in the ribbon which provides the software an alternative for saving and opening a file. It protects the files in two ways: encryption and steganography. The data is first encrypted into cipher text as these encrypted data will be hidden in an image file to lower suspicion of readers. All of these procedures will be done by one click. For encrypt and decrypt, the user just needs to click the “Protect” and “Decrypt”. An extremely fast way to encrypt the file is “Quick Protect”. It will randomly choose an image from the image folder according to their file size. This function saves the time for choosing an image.\r 3. Data\r The method for steganography is using last two bit of R, last three bit of G and B to store the encrypted data. In 24-bit bitmap, RGB is represented the color of each pixel and each of them is 8-bit. The leftmost bit of each byte contains the highest value, and the right one contains the lowest value. Therefore, any change in the rightmost byte will only cause a minimal change in a byte value, and the color as well. 2-3-3 method is adopted to replace the pixels as encrypted data. It is used because it is in coordination with the program’s fluency. 2-3-3 is obtained so that 1 pixel will contain 1 byte of encrypted data. For R, the last two bit will be replaced by encrypted data. For G and B, the last 3 bit will be replaced by encrypted data. If the Bitmap size is larger than the encrypted data, random data will be replaced into the remaining pixels.\r 4. Conclusion \r “CryptoDefender” is user-friendly and efficient way to protect important and confidential digital files on most personal computers. This software will help to change the user’s habit in securing their information as to avoid data leakage even when they are accidentally lost.
突變ras基因造成過度表現在骨髓間質幹細胞啟動氧自由基誘導細胞凋亡
特定基因的表現與不同氧自由基的產生，已知會影響細胞的生長和死亡。我\r 個人有興趣利用間質幹細胞體外培養擴充，以為筋骨組織再生的可能應用。因此\r 利用轉植(transfect)突變ras 基因(Glu61Leu)進入骨髓間質細胞株(HS-5 cells)，來\r 控制ras 基因表現的高低，進而研究這些間質細胞隨著Ras 蛋白質表現的高低，\r 對氧自由基引導細胞生長與死亡之影響。結果發現ras 基因高度表現的間質細胞\r 生長減緩；相較於原生株平均減少62.4%。進一步研究其生長減少是否與細胞凋\r 亡有關，發現ras 基因高度表現的間質細胞凋亡確實比原生株高22.6%。探究其\r 凋亡原因，發現與caspase-3 有關但和粒腺體功能無關：因為caspase-3 有活化，\r 但是以粒腺體膜電位螢光追蹤劑JC-1 測得的膜電位卻沒有改變。追蹤ras 基因高\r 度表現的間質細胞其細胞內氧自由基的產量，發現Ras 高度表現株其細胞內氧自\r 由基明顯增加。當細胞外加入超氧根轉化酵素(SOD, 500 U/ml)去清除超氧根時，\r 對Ras 高度表現細胞的凋亡沒有影響；但是外加觸化酵素(catalase, 500u/ml)於培\r 養液中，卻可以抑制ras 基因高度表現的間質細胞內caspase-3 活化和細胞凋亡；\r 並且增加細胞生長循環促進分子Cyclin D1 的表現。從這些研究我們歸結出兩點\r 重要新發現: 1) ras 基因突變造成Ras 高度表現時，會促成細胞內特定氧自由基產\r 生，使得細胞生長減緩並進行細胞凋亡，只有特定抗氧化酵素(catalase)才能恢復\r 其異常； 2) Ras 蛋白高度表現而引導氧自由基產生的細胞凋亡與caspase-3 活化\r 有關，但與粒腺體功能無關。根據這些發現，未來我們或許可以朝調節特定氧化\r 還原反應或使用caspase-3 抑制劑去調控間質幹細胞的生長，以供筋骨組織再生\r 的應用。Certain gene’s expression as well as different species of oxygen radicals can\r affect cell growth and apoptosis. We are interested in amplifying mesenchymal\r progenitor cells for the application of musculoskeletal tissue regeneration. Thus, we\r transfected a mutant ras gene (61Glu/Leu) to change Ras protein expression in the\r mesenchymal progenitor cell line (HS-5 cells) and studied how ras expressing levels\r influenced intracellular oxygen radicals, and its relationship to cell growth and\r apoptosis. Results showed that Ras over-expressing HS-5 cells grew slower than those\r with wild type ras HS-5 cells and revealed a higher apoptosis rate. The higher\r apoptosis in Ras over-expressing cells was not related to mitochondrial dysfunction\r since mitochondrial membrane potential was normal as determined by flow\r cytometric analysis of JC-1 fluorescent staining assay. The higher apoptosis was\r related to higher caspase-3 activation. Further studies showed that Ras\r over-expressing HS-5 cells revealed a higher production of intracellular oxygen\r radicals in comparison to those with wild type ras HS-5 cells. Addition of catalase\r (500 u/ml) but not superoxide dismutase (SOD; 500 u/ml) specifically revived the cell\r growth associated with increase of cyclin D1 expression, but decrease of apoptosis\r associated with lower caspase-3 activation. Results from these studies demonstrated\r two important findings: 1) the ras gene over-expressing in a ras-mutant HS-5 cell line\r triggers a higher production of intracellular oxygen radicals resulting in higher cell\r apoptosis; and 2) the higher oxygen radicals related cell apoptosis is mediated by\r caspase-3 but not mitochondrial dysfunction. Based on these findings, we may\r propose to regulate mesenchymal progenitor cell growth for musculoskeletal tissue\r regeneration via modulation of redox reactions or caspase-3 inhibitors in the future.
The Use of Simulated Annealing in Predicting Solar Flare Activity
A program based on the simulated annealing (SA) algorithm was developed to allow for a longer-term prediction of the occurrence of solar flares, thus reducing the risks they may pose to astronauts, satellites, and ultimately the planet Earth. Sunspot data such as the solar cycle, the appearance of sunspots, the sun's magnetic field, the occurrence of solar flares and other factors that concern the sun were considered in the development of the algorithm. The program, coded in C++, included providing for an initial random state that pertained to the sun's state at a specified time. A neighborhood function was designed based on how sunspots are formed and how they disappear, and the probability function was designed using previous solar cycles to show relationships between the number of sunspots and the time it takes for the sun to reach solar maxima. Finally, the cooling function was designed as a representation of the time. Recorded sunspot counts obtained from the US National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) during the solar cycle 22 from 1986 to 1996 was used as test data. The output was compared to the actual recorded solar events or the period. The program was found to be 66.7% accurate in predicting solar flares when compared on a smoothed trendline, while it exhibited a 50.5% accuracy when comparing day-to-day data. Since solar flare acitivty is predicted in terms of the trend of activity and intensity, improving daily data accuracy is superfluous. Smoothed trendline prediction accuracy may however be improved by altering the importance of each factor in predicting solar flare activity and by devising a different sunspot classification scheme for intensity and activity.