一等獎

My school requires year 13 students to complete a year long project of a topic of their choice, culminating in the presentation of a thesis, a display and speech to a public audience. Many different topics appealed, but in the end I decided to build a micro wind-turbine. I have always been fascinated with mechanics, mathematics, engineering, aerodynamics and electricity. A wind turbine is a mixture of these technologies, with the overall goal of electricity production. In a world that is starting to see the true costs of fossil fuels, renewable energy seems to be increasingly popular and the demand for electricity is always growing.\r I was aware that building a wind-turbine from the foundations up wouldn’t be easy. Many of the experts I contacted in the early days cautioned me against trying such a complex thing in one year, at the same time as completing a full Year 13 course. There were, however, people prepared to support me. Michael Lawley, who builds micro wind turbines in New Plymouth was very helpful, just full of priceless knowledge and gave me a few basic parts to start with. The knowledge gained from Doug Clark, who also builds his own 11 kW wind turbines, was such an inspiration. Later I had practical help from Wilson Springford and Darron Matthews.\r I investigated and documented the history of and current state of wind technology, as well as my own experience and learning in the design, construction and testing process. I thought it would be interesting to find out how the electrical and mechanical side works.\r The generator, a washing machine motor, needed to be completely rewired, and converted to DC (direct current) from AC (alternating current). I built my own 3-phase AC to DC converter.\r Other parts like the disc brakes and bearings had to be found. The rest was hand-made and every part, to a certain extent, had to be modified. Probably more than twenty braking system design attempts led to the final decision to incorporate the wind-activated hydraulic disc brake where the wind paddle starts to ease the brake on over a certain wind speed.\r I studied the dynamics of wind turbine blades, their shape, the material they were made from and how this affected their performance. The decision to make my own blades helped me gain a great sense of achievement and knowledge of blade design. I found some New Zealand made 100% recycled plastic pipe, an added bonus because I wanted to have minimal environmental impact. I designed the turbine with three blades to give better starting torque along with a lower top speed, perfect for how I wired the generator.\r I designed the swivel, the part of the wind turbine that enables the power cables to get from the turbine down the tower without twisting up and has the job of carrying the whole turbine, which is mostly made from recycled aluminium. The steel and bearings used to create the swivel were all second-hand parts and materials. The power from the turbine passes through the swivel into the cables and down the tower. The main mast of the tower is a little over 4.7 metres and pivots on two shorter supporting poles which go down around 2.6 metres to the bottom of the reinforced concrete foundation.\r I managed to, design and construct an operational prototype micro wind-turbine, incorporating recycled and recyclable materials as much as possible, with the end result surpassing all expectations.

Phosphodiestarase of subtype PDE IVb inhibitors are considered as perspective drugs for the treatment of the central nervous system disorders (depression, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease). Pyrrolizidinone Glaxo-1, proposed by GlaxoSmithKline, is a highly potent PDE IVb inhibitor (IC50 = 63 nM), then conventional phosphodiesterase inhibitors Ro-20-1724, Rolipram and Cilomilast. However the activity of the Glaxo-1 was studied on a racemic sample, since the asymmetric approach to its synthesis has not been developed. Therefore the purpose of this research was the development of an efficient synthetic scheme enabling enantioselective excess to both (-)- and (+)-Glaxo-1, which can be than subjected to biological studies. \r The key stage in proposed asymmetric synthesis (-)- and (+)-Glaxo-1 is stereoselective [4+2]-cycloaddition of the nitroolefin to an optically activity vinyl ethers, derived from (-)- or (+)-trans-2-phenylcyclohexanols. The resulting chiral cyclic nitronates are transformed into a functionalized cyclic oxime ethers using tandem sylilation-nucleophilic substitution procedure. Reduction and decarboxylation of these products lead to optically pure Glaxo-1 and the regeneration of chiral 2-phenylcyclohexanols (91%). \r Thus both enantiomers (+) and (-)-Glaxo-1 were obtained selectively in average yield 12% from isovaniline and nitroethane. The study of biological profiles of each enantiomer of Glaxo-1 will be conducted in near future.

Skin cancer, including basal cell and squamous cell skin carcinoma, is known to\r be the most common cancer type. Skin cancer is thought to make up half of all known\r cancers. Over one million non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSC) are reported every year. \r Approximately 300,000 of these cases are squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). It is\r estimated that about 2,000 people die from NMSC each year. Of the two skin cancer\r types, SCC tends to be the more clinically aggressive and likely to spread and invade,\r typically by way of blood or lymphatic vessels. Understanding the signaling pathways\r in SCC cells that regulate invasion will be important for developing improved cancer\r treatments. The signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Stat3) protein is a\r central regulator of numerous cellular activities, including proliferation, survival, and\r motility. Stat3 also has enhanced activity in many cancers, including skin SCC. This\r study shows that Stat3 regulates several invasive properties in a human skin SCC cell culture model.\r HGF (hepatocyte growth factor)- induced cell schattering was assessed for\r SRB12-p9 cells (p9WT), a human skin SCC cell line, along with SRB12-p9 cells\r engineered to have reduced Stat3 activity. Next, a cell viability-based adhesion assay\r was performed with these cells. Finally, severe combined immunodeficient (SCID)\r mice were injected subcutaneously with P9WT and S3DN cells and tumors were\r measured twice weekly. Extracted tumors were analyzed by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting for expression of the invasion related enzyme, MMP-2 and MMP-9.\r The suppression of Stat3 activity in S3DN cell lines resulted in reduced motility,\r greater adhesion, and a less invasive phenotype in SCID mice. Immunohistochemistry and Western blotting indicated higher levels of MMPs in the P9WT cells with\r expression localization towards the outer perimeter of the tumors. This data suggests\r that Stat3 plays a role in skin SCC invasion and better understanding of Stat3 function\r could lead to improved treatment and prevention of the disease.

二元根樹是資訊科學上最重要的結構之一，因此其結構的探討就很有價值。在這個研究中，我們探討二元根樹上反鏈(Antichain)，鏈(Chain),獨立集(Independent set)計數。在每一個子題之下，我們求出計算反鏈，鏈，獨立集的方法。之後我們求出極值(包括最大跟最小值)，並且討論該極值之下所有可能的樹形。此外，我們並討論要列出二元根樹上這些資料(反鏈，鏈，獨立集)所需的演算法。In this paper we enumerate the number of antichains, chains, and independent sets of a binary tree of size n. After that we focus on the extreme values (maximal/minimal). we calculate the extreme values and discuss the possible graphs of trees when achieving these extreme values. Moreover, we offer algorithms for listing all the objects in each extreme case.

The research is about the optimal on parallel processing. Through boot disk – which will automatically finish booting configuration, .it is efficient and quick to build high performance PC clusters. The advantage of parallel computing could be applied to massive image processing. By sharing processing and breaking huge processing load into lots of pieces, we could get more efficient result. It is also possible to optimal parallel system through some special means such as dynamic configuration. Through the means, the system could distribute work loading itself. It could also adjust itself to get the highest performance and the most stable environment. 本研究之目的在於探討平行處理中的計算資源的最佳化，透過自動完成開機設定的Boot Disk 來有效快速建製出高效率的PC Clusters 環境，並透過動態配置與類神經網路的校調，使整體叢集的運算能自動調整至最佳化。平行處理優勢，可以應用在耗費極大量的運算資源的影像處理上。透過運算資源分享，可以以很高的效率將極為龐大的運算工作分散成許多較小的程序，使影像處理速度加快。經由平行演算法及實際應用的調整，可對已成形之平行系統作效能上的加強。使用類神經網路的方式訓練，使其系統能夠自我分配運算工作量，且隨著各平行化程式與各節點的不同，能自我校調至最佳化，達到高效率且穩定的運算環境。\r 本研究透過高效率且能自我調校的運算環境，可用於優化其本身結構，以達到\r 演化出更進一步系統，具有相當大的發展潛力。

A vast amount of research has been conducted on various ant species such as Monomonum pharaonis, Formica rufa, and Lasius niger, demonstrating the coexistence of polygyny and monogyny colonies. In polygyny colony, the high heredity variability of filial generation could be expected, but what could the monogyny colony do to hold the high heredity variability in order to increase the fitness? I hope I can account the sex ratio in the colony of spiny weaver ants, Polyrhachis dives, and compare the different colony with different reproductive strategies. I also want to check by V8 that the colony can form a polygyny colony and virgin queens can mate with many males of the same colony in the artificial nest. The results suggest that in the colony of spiny weaver ants, the higher the number of the dealate queens, the lower the number of the male. In the monogyny colony, workers control the sex ratio. According to the observation, we can see the alate adult mate in the artificial nest, and multimating can be recorded for the first time. The following study was there for undertaken to examine what’s the aftereffect made by the Reproductive strategies of polygyny colony and monogyny colony.在多后聚落內，子代變異度高是可以預期的，但是單后聚落中，又如何維持遺傳的變異度以增加其對環境的適應力呢？我們希望能計算黑棘蟻聚落組成，比較不同生殖策略的聚落之各種性比，並且錄影證實黑棘蟻聚落可以為多后聚落並進行巢內自交。我們發現：黑棘蟻聚落內，蟻后數愈高，則雄蟻比例較低；單后聚落之性比決定於工蟻；而根據錄影觀察，聚落中的有翅生殖族可在人工蟻巢中完成交配，多次交配的現象首次被實地紀錄，並且佔所有交配新生蟻后的92.8%。本實驗可利用黑棘蟻來了解單后與多后聚落的生殖策略對其族群發展的影響。

中文摘要：\r 化學實驗中，常常會使用到各種具有揮發性的有機溶劑，如醇類、酸類、醛類及酮類等。\r 當吸入過量的揮發性有機溶劑時，將會對人體造成嚴重的傷害，故使用時格外需要留意。有\r 鑑於此，我們開始著手研究如何偵測氣相中的有機氣體分子。\r 本研究中，我們利用聚苯胺薄膜吸附氣體分子的特性並結合對質量變化極靈敏的石英晶\r 體微天平，自行設計了一套簡單、藥品用量少且不需昂貴儀器的實驗系統。藉由此系統，我\r 們有效的針對各種揮發性有機溶劑進行偵測，並進一步地探討不同氣體分子對於聚苯胺薄膜\r 的吸附現象。\r \r 英文摘要：\r Students usually use volatile organic solvent in laboratorys such as alcohols, carboxylic acids,\r aldehydes, ketones, etc. It will injure our body when we breathe in too much volatile organic\r solvent. For this purpose, we begin to study how to detect volatile organic compound in air.\r In this work, we combine polyaniline membrane which can adsorb gas molecules and quartz\r crystal microbalance which is highly sensitive to mass changes to design a simple and inexpensive\r system which needs only little chemicals. With this system, we can effectively detect different\r volatile organic compounds. Furthermore, we can also study the adsorption of polyaniline\r membrance for different volatile organic compounds.

超導體具有兩大特性 - 抗磁性及零電阻，若善加利用便能大量減少能量損\r 失。不過目前發現的超導體有的結構太複雜，其他則是臨界溫度太低。一年前科\r 學家發現不同於以往銅氧組成的鐵基超導體（FeSe），結構簡單但其臨界溫度仍\r 然太低。故我們利用原料濃度比例不同的Fe 及Se 以TOPO 熱熔法析出奈米顆\r 粒，分析其超導性質。結果顯示Fe 比Se 難析出，故Fe 濃度應比Se 多，且在油\r 性水域中較好混合。

傳統光學玻璃透鏡的焦距和倍率都是固定，改變倍率必須靠多重透鏡組和改\r 變鏡組距離。可變倍率透鏡則在單一透鏡中具有多重倍率，可讓光學器材簡單輕\r 巧。我使用高彈性薄膜和高折射率液體，進行可變倍率液體透鏡的設計、分析和\r 製作，並不斷地改進，讓其達到輕薄化、微小化及低成本的特性。同時我推導出\r 液體透鏡之各種理論焦距與倍率，找出倍率與液量之關係，並以實驗驗證。\r 而像差是液體透鏡很難解決的問題。我透過電腦模擬和分析，建立減少液體\r 透鏡像差的方法，並以實驗驗證此方法的可行性。研究中也設計發展出多項應用，\r 包括成像教具、生物觀察器、非接觸式測距器、內視鏡、可調兩段式聰明眼鏡，\r 對教學、日常應用、醫療保健等，都提供相當大的幫助。

這個專題研究的目的是要發展出一套簡單可靠的方法和廉價自製的器材，在地面上即能有效估測大氣層的厚度。我們小組研究光學中雷氏(Rayleigh)散射的原理，針對空氣分子對光線散射作用和特定方向之偏極效應，利用一已知散射長度之路徑，測量其偏極光的強度，同時比對由大氣層散射而來，在同一偏極面上的散射光強度，即能估算大氣層的厚度，方法簡單新穎，自製器材經實際測量和改進，有發展和推廣的價值。\r The main idea of the experiment is to set a system in order to effectively estimate the thickness of the atmosphere. On the theory of “Rayleigh Scattering” (small air molecules sizing about 10-4μm), we developed an equipment that has two tubes. The tubes lead the scattered lights from two paths. One is called “air light” scattered in the ground air, and the other “sky light” is scattered in the sky and reflected by a beam splitter. The two paths are on the same plane; the scattered lights are perpendicular to the direction of sunlight and 100% polarized. We could adjust and measure the distance “d” of the air light path. We simultaneously observe and compare the intensity of the lights from the two paths with the electronic instrument made by ourselves. By using the known distance “d” and the reflection “x” of the beam splitter, we can calculate the thickness of the atmosphere. The experiment is simple, novel and easy to do in an extensive field at school. Researchers don’t have to use a bloom, radar or satellite to discover the atmosphere, but you could use a simple equipment to observe the features of it.