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Development of MBR, CO2 absorption ball

We invented the Midori which means green Bioreactor (MBR), beads of euglena and other microalgae fixed in calcium alginate that absorbs carbon dioxide (CO2). We examined the effect of 19 different solutions and two different organisms on MBR cultivation. Surprisingly, when the MBR was supplied with carbon dioxide or cultured with yeast, they became drastically darker green. Chromatography revealed this green color to be that of microalgae such as green algae or Euglena because chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b were detected. Under sunlight, MBR absorbed CO2 and the absorption rate was 1.5 L CO2/day/1L of MBR. Furthermore, when we put MBR in the water tank, they increased the amount of dissolved oxygen without polluting the environment. These results indicate that MBR can absorb CO2 by photosynthesizing without leaking out the inside microalgae.

探究螢光單體分子對激發複合體發光性質的影響及其應用

本研究設計與合成一系列的電子供體分子,以研究分子單體的化學結構對於所形成的激發複合體光物理性質的影響。 五個所設計的供體分子已被成功的合成並確定均具有分子內電子轉移的性質 其躍遷偶級距變化分布範圍在17.6-28.6D之間。 將此五個供體分子分別與兩種電子受體分子在溶液聚集在一起,利用在長波長處所新生的螢光發光,推測激發複合體的形成。研究的成果並顯示,具有類似三角形結構的供體分子將更容易形成激發複合體,而具有棒狀結構的分子則較不易形成之。此成果有效的提供有關於單體分子結構的設計對於所需激發複合體光物理性質的影響,形成可快速地提供各式不同發光波長的材料,將可作為在發光二極體發光層材料、螢光感測器、生物成像等領域需求時的分子設計藍圖與指引。

Developing a Heart-Rate Monitoring App to Help Families in Identifying Mood Changes for Children Diagnosed With Neurodivergence

This study dives into the benefits of a heart rate (HR) monitoring application to aid families in identifying mood changes in children diagnosed with neurodivergence. Children with neurodivergence often struggle with communicating their emotions, which often results in tantrums or emotional outbursts, and this study plans to address this by creating an app that detects users’ HR to calculate heart rate variability (HRV) and detect when the user’s heart rate variability (HRV) levels become higher than usual. Heart-rate variability is defined as a small variation of the interval between every heartbeat, it’s calculated with the formula of . By looking at the developments of these small variations, it will be 60/𝐵𝑃𝑀 × 1000 easier to notice then the interval for heartbeats are shorter, meaning the body is in need of more blood pumped quickly for support. The app is connected to a heart rate sensor that is worn by the user. The heart-rate sensor frequently uploads data to the app which the app processes and carefully observes while looking for any sudden, dramatic change. The sensor and app was tested and proved to meet the expected requirements of functionality. Four participants with neurodivergence were asked to equip the heart-rate sensor and results showed that different developments of heart-rate variability were able to be detected by the app, these participants varied in their type of neurodivergence as well as their age. As an example, the third participant showed the purpose of the app most visibly, having a resting heart-rate of 86 BPM (697.67 ms) turning into a high 107 BPM (561.68ms) after changing activities. When the user’s sensor detects a sudden spike in heart-rate variability, the app notified the parent account about this change in emotion. This study has supported the relevance of using heart-rate variability to observe changes in mood.

Quantitative environmental DNA metabarcoding for the enumeration of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.)

Understanding species abundance is critical to managing and conserving planetary biodiversity. Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) are keystone species of cultural, economic, and ecological importance in Alaska and especially Southwest Alaska. Traditional methods of enumerating salmon such as weirs and visual surveys are often costly, time-intensive, and reliant on taxonomic expertise. Environmental DNA (eDNA), which identifies and quantifies species based on DNA they shed in their habitats, is a potential cost- and time- saving alternative. The relative ease of collecting eDNA samples also enables citizen scientist involvement, expanding research coverage. Currently, more research is required to define eDNA’s potential and limits. This project investigates whether quantitative eDNA metabarcoding can accurately quantify the abundances of six fish species: the five Pacific salmon species plus rainbow trout. Water samples were collected from eight creeks in the Wood River watershed of Southwest Alaska. eDNA metabarcoding and subsequent bioinformatics processing produced a read count for each species. These were compared to visual survey counts, taken to be the true counts for the purposes of this study. Data analyses showed a positive, linear relationship between visual survey count and eDNA count for sockeye salmon. The regressions were significant for both the early (p = 0.089) and late (p = 0.030) sampling dates when 𝛼 = 0.10. eDNA detections of non-sockeye species generally corresponded to visual survey observations of species presence or absence. Overall, the results of this study support eDNA’s potential to be an alternative or supplement to standard methods for the enumeration of fish species.

在量子電腦上模擬量子諧振子隨時間演化

量子電腦是近年來新發展的科技,利用量子糾纏態的量子位元進行計算。本文希望可以利用量子電腦計算諧振子隨時間演化算符。而這也是我第一次在量子電腦上模擬諧振子隨時間演化系統。首先我找出可以用於諧振子算符的合適算符矩陣大小、空間步長(Δ𝑥)、質量(m)、角頻率(ω)並且在位置基底下表現時間演化算符矩陣。設計並簡化量子電路後,使用IBM公司提供的量子電腦模擬並計算數值。我透過矩陣修正減少修正輸出錯誤產生的誤差,達到較精確的結果。模擬出在一個時間單位內的數值與理論值大致相符,未來希望可以利用此量子電路尋找矩陣的特徵值或是模擬更大型的系統。

Investigating the Effects of Temperature and Carbon Dioxide Levels on Nannochloropsis oceanica Using a Hemocytometer Counting Method

Climate changes that include ocean acidification and global warming are serious problems in the ecosystem, affecting marine phytoplankton, including Nannochloropsis oceanica. In the effort to further explore the impact of rising temperature and carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentrations on oceanic ecosystems, the phytoplankton Nannochloropsis oceanica was used as a model organism. This study explored the effect of temperature change and CO₂ concentration on the growth of Nannochloropsis oceanica, achieving 243 samples that were tested with three different temperatures (24 degrees Celsius (°C), 28°C, 32°C) and CO₂ concentrations (0 milliliter (ml)/min, 0.4 ml/min, 0.6 ml/min), utilizing a hemocytometer counting method. Results indicate that the CO₂ concentration has a significant effect on the population of Nannochloropsis oceanica. But the temperature doesn't affect a lot. The Nannochloropsis oceanica in the lowest temperature and highest concentration of CO₂ in its environment had the highest population growth, and in the highest temperature and lowest concentration of CO₂, it had the lowest population growth. Results show the serious negative effect of climate change on the cosystem and the importance of environmental protection. Population blooms due to excess CO₂ taking up ocean resources causing dangerous ecological imbalances.

橡實代謝物與飛鼠小腸內生菌共發酵產物之應用

This study primarily investigates the components of food residues in the stomach of flying squirrels and the metabolism of the intestinal bacteria Floricoccus tropicus. Using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) hydrogen spectrum analysis, the signals of long-chain fatty acids were detected in both n-hexane and 75% ethanol extracts of flying squirrel gastric residues and acorns, suggesting that acorns may be a primary food source for the flying squirrels. The study also identified Floricoccus tropicus, one of the lactic acid bacteria, from the intestines of flying squirrels and discovered its role in the metabolism of fatty acids in acorns. Results showed that polyunsaturated fatty acids significantly decreased during fermentation, indicating that they were converted into short-chain fatty acids with anti-inflammatory properties. In the antibacterial activity experiments, the acorn grease showed no inhibitory effects before fermentation, but after fermentation, the acorn grease exhibited inhibitory effects against E. coli. Furthermore, in anti-inflammatory tests, fermented acorn grease samples significantly suppressed the production of NO and TNF-α in LPSinduced RAW 264.7 cells, with greater inhibition at higher concentrations. In conclusion, the lactic acid bacteria Floricoccus tropicus was found to metabolize fatty acids of acorns into compounds with antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects.

Investigating the Effects of Temperature and Carbon Dioxide Levels on Nannochloropsis oceanica Using a Hemocytometer Counting Method

Climate changes that include ocean acidification and global warming are serious problems in the ecosystem, affecting marine phytoplankton, including Nannochloropsis oceanica. In the effort to further explore the impact of rising temperature and carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentrations on oceanic ecosystems, the phytoplankton Nannochloropsis oceanica was used as a model organism. This study explored the effect of temperature change and CO₂ concentration on the growth of Nannochloropsis oceanica, achieving 243 samples that were tested with three different temperatures (24 degrees Celsius (°C), 28°C, 32°C) and CO₂ concentrations (0 milliliter (ml)/min, 0.4 ml/min, 0.6 ml/min), utilizing a hemocytometer counting method. Results indicate that the CO₂ concentration has a significant effect on the population of Nannochloropsis oceanica. But the temperature doesn't affect a lot. The Nannochloropsis oceanica in the lowest temperature and highest concentration of CO₂ in its environment had the highest population growth, and in the highest temperature and lowest concentration of CO₂, it had the lowest population growth. Results show the serious negative effect of climate change on the cosystem and the importance of environmental protection. Population blooms due to excess CO₂ taking up ocean resources causing dangerous ecological imbalances.

Deciphering The Illusion: A Multi Faceted Algorithm in Deepfake Detection

AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology has developed very rapidly in recent years, to the point where it can make fake videos or photos called "deepfake''. According to Sumsub Identity Fraud Report 2023 just in the past year, in the APAC region the number of deepfakes has grown 1530%, in the philippines an astounding 4500% and in 馬來西亞 a 1000% increase, these numbers will continue to rise without a proper defense against them, With this rapidly developing technology, there are several threats from misuse deepfake, namely making fraud via video calls, fake videos to blame innocent people, and so on. Therefore, in this research project, an algorithm architecture will be created, namely a system and method used to detect "deepfake" images. The architecture of this algorithm involves convolution functions, neural networks, convolutional neural networks, data normalization functions, namely ReLu and SoftMax, and pooling. This architecture will then be trained over and over with 140,000 scrambled images, which then will make the architecture ready to be used. By researching and combining this algorithm architecture, a system is produced without a cost and with a final result of up to 90% accuracy and detection of 32 images faster than a human can blink.

Resolving the Phosphate Fertilizer Dilemma through Progressive Wastewater Treatment

The study aimed to resolve global phosphate scarcity by developing a cost-effective method for phosphorus recovery from industrial wastewater. In existing wastewater treatment, oxidizing phosphite ions (PHO32-) posed a significant challenge. However, our research aimed to develop an effective method for this oxidation process, crucial for phosphorus recovery in industrial wastewater treatment. By utilizing low-cost iron compounds and innovative catalysts, such as iodine obtained from seawater and copper, we achieved remarkable success. Our method demonstrated the ability to oxidize over 80% of PHO32- into phosphate ions (PO43-) within 120 minutes, overcoming the limitations of existing costly methods involving palladium catalysts or high-voltage conditioned ozone (O3). Moreover, the process exhibited profitability, with a gross profit of $1.84 per kilogram of phosphorus, presenting a drastic reduction in cost compared to conventional methods using palladium catalysts. This breakthrough not only offers sustainable wastewater purification but also promises a pathway for resource recovery. Additionally, our future prospects involve refining this method into a device capable of purifying industrial wastewater and recovering phosphorus, emphasizing sustainability and reduced power consumption through innovative techniques like using iron and carbon plates forming a battery. This novel technology represents a sustainable solution utilizing abundant resources such as iodine from seawater, iron, and calcium, paving the way for sustainable phosphorus resource recovery.