全國中小學科展

2022年

Preparation of a Specific Detector for Aspergillus Niger in Swimming Pools

Swimming pools are one of the transmission routes of superficial and cutaneous fungal infections. Maintenance of environmental hygiene in different parts of swimming pools is of great importance, especially the hygiene of water (1). The conventional fungal detection methods include direct smear preparation, culture, and pathological examinations. However, these methods are not fast enough or do not have sufficient sensitivity (2). Therefore, the present research introduces a novel method for detecting Aspergillus niger in pool water through creating optimal conditions for this fungus, which leads to the citric acid production by the fungus and pH changes of the related culture medium. Four experiments in 10 steps were performed to find the optimal conditions for fungal growth. According to our results, adding each of the variables sucrose, soy, and ferrous sulfate can lead to favorable results. Moreover, the shaker speed increase and fungal aeration are important. Also, we showed that soybean led to the best results compared to other variables. Considering the obtained results, including the shortened detection duration and cost-effectiveness, this method can be presented to the swimming pool owners and pathobiology laboratories as the method of choice for Aspergillus niger detection.

Solving Mathematical and Chemical Equations using Python

Max Gold's project, titled “Solving Mathematical and Chemical Equations using Python”, is a website comprising of 4 main programmes: one to find the smallest possible combination of two chemical compounds or elements; a self-made parsing function to convert a chemical equation into a matrix, then using Gaussian-Jordan elimination to find coefficients for an equation; a programme to parse a mathematical expression and use that parsed expression in algebraic division of an algebraic dividend of nth degree polynomial by a divisor of 1st degree polynomial; finally, a programme to solve binomial equations for the power s∈Q. This website was originally made so that Max Gold could improve his programming skills for GCSE computer science but expanded to incorporate his passion for chemistry and maths and thus allow others to use these programmes to help them with their problems as well. A problem with many conventional calculator websites is their lack of specificity – they tend to be able to compute some functions but not all. These programmes are tailored to GCSE and A level maths and chemistry, meaning this website provides an outlet to compute specific topics of problems.

Generating Conditioned Air in an Open Space in Accordance with Sustainable Architecture Criteria (Based on Wind-Catchers)

Nowadays, cooling open spaces in hot seasons without using fossil fuels has gained a lot of attention. In this regard, natural air conditioning is a great method for conserving energy that can be used for reducing energy consumption and environmental pollution. Structures like windcatchers are used for natural air conditioning as a building component in warm climates since they are placed in the path of the wind and direct the wind to play a significant role in reducing the temperature. The main objective of the current study is to explore air conditioning in open spaces based on sustainable architecture. The current study reviews the relevant literature from credible journals, and it includes studies with relevant subjects published from 1851 to 2021. The findings show that implementing this design project can result in significant advances in terms of reducing humidity, removing dust and insects from the air, conserving energy, reducing the global temperature, using renewable energies, and producing conditioned air for the area

Expectations for extension of cell life and next generation anticancer drugs by using secondary metabolites of actinomycetes

Inhibitory effects of the secondary metabolite of actinomycete were examined on cell cycle of the yeasts of S. pombe and S. cerevisiae. The secondary metabolite was obtained from cultivation of the actinomycete isolated from the soil of Owakudani in Hakone, Japan. The fifth fraction of the secondary metabolite by ODS column separation (HK-T5), which was soluble to pure methanol, was used in the present experiments. The HK-T5 brought about the delay of forming colonies of S. pombe for about 11 days compared to that cultivated without the HK-T5. The delay of the colony formation was longer for the S. pombe cultivated with more amount of the HK-T5. The cultivation with HK-T5 also brought about the extension of the lifespan of the S. pombe for more than 10 weeks in a liquidus medium. The cell life recovered the ordinary manner by removal of the HK-T5, meaning that the activities of the HK-T5 is reversible. These facts confirm the suppression of cell cycle, and the delay of cell growth by the HK-T5. These phenomena were similarly observed for S. cerevisiae. Comparison of the action of HK-T5 with hydroxyurea, which is an anticancer drug inhibiting the cell cycle at S phase, clarified that the inhibitory action of HK-T5 worked at the phase earlier than S phase. The combined effects of HK-T5 on the cell cycle were evaluated with triamcinolone acetonide (TA), or aspirin, the former of which is a drug synchronizing cancer cells in S phase, and the latter keeping human cells in G1/G0 phases. The combined use of HK-T5 with TA synchronized the cells at the phase slightly proceeding from G1 to S phase without toxicity. On the other hand, the combined use with aspirin made the inhibitory effect of HK-T5 inactive. Hence, the HK-T5 is attractive as a drug for the extension of cell lifespan, and anticancer therapy.

Line Following Waiter Robot

Technology is erratic. We never know what could be the next big thing. Nowadays, IoT (the internet of things) has taken over the market. Every technology created nowadays is somehow related to IoT. You should manage to connect the IoT technology with a robust area of hospitality. Catering customers' needs during peak hours at any restaurant or cafe could get overwhelmed with hectic tasks such as taking orders, fetching water, and ordering meals. We created a raw model to accommodate the limitations of the human mind. The technology-based IoT (Internet of things) can come in handy during hectic sessions. A Robot waiter is built from scratch using materials like Arduino (2), Gear DC motor (2), L298N motor driver (1), Ultrasonic sensor (2), IR sensor (2), Servo motor (4) HC-05 Bluetooth module. Desired orders are sent on a wireless network through the menu bar to the kitchen. Then, the robots transfer the food from the kitchen to the customers. The floor will be all white, while there will be a strip of black line to connect every sitting and the kitchen. For instance, if table number three is to be served, we click the number three in the app, which renders an obstacle in table 3. The motor barricades the robot, and the ultrasonic sensors sense it, and it stops. If anyone picks the plate, the ultrasonic sensor senses it, the blockage is removed, and the robot paces in the designated path. People visited the place more often to experience such stimuli. Using the robots attracted more customers and made the work very quick.

Investigating the application of nanotechnology for detecting fishes hatching time

Introduction: Using advanced technologies such as nanotechnology in the food and fishery industry, as one of the most important industrial sectors of countries, has received too much attention. Traditionally, fishing and hunting have been considered important sources of supplying food. The subject and methodology: The study aims to investigate nanotechnology for detecting fish hatching time. This is a review article that collects the information from databases such as Sid, civilica, and Google Scholar. In the end, 22 papers were studied for extracting and collecting the required information from the abovementioned scientific database. Finding: After examining the food, drug, and agricultural-related papers published from 2009 to 2020, it was concluded that small Nano-sensors, controlling & monitoring systems made from nanotechnology can be installed on fishing nets, fishing rods, and other fishing equipment. These devices (Nano-sensors and controlling & monitoring systems) will help fishes so that they don’t get caught. In this way, as a fish gets close to the fishing equipment, it will receive sound, smell, or heat-based alarm. Therefore, the fish will stay away from the fishing equipment. The result: according to the finding of this study, it can be concluded that excessive fishing in the hatching time will be avoided by the application of nanotechnology in the fishing equipment. As a result, the following advantages will be secured: 1- There are lots of opportunists who misuse fish during the hatching time. With the application of nanotechnology, they will be stopped. 2- Opportunists are ambushing in different time points to misuse fish. Also, the guards might be ignorant. With the application of nanotechnology, guards are no longer required. 3- This plant is cost-effective too.

Method of prosthetic vision

This work is devoted to solving the problem of orientation in the space of visually impaired people. Working on the project, a new way of transmitting visual information through an acoustic channel was invented. In addition, was developed the device, which uses distance sensors to analyze the situation around a user. Thanks to the invented algorithm of transformation of the information about the position of the obstacle into the sound of a certain tone and intensity, this device allows the user to transmit subject-spatial information in real time. Currently, the device should use a facette locator made of 36 ultrasonic locators grouped in 12 sectors by the azimuth and 3 spatial cones by the angle. Data obtained in such a way is converted into its own note according to the following pattern : the angle of the place corresponds to octave, the azimuth corresponds to the note and the distance corresponds to the volume. The choice of the notes is not unambiguous. However, we used them for the reason that over the centuries, notes have had a felicitous way of layout on the frequency range and on the logarithmic scale. Therefore, the appearance of a new note in the total signal will not be muffled by a combination of other notes. Consequently, a blind person, moving around the room with the help of the tone and volume of the sound signals, will be able to assess the presence and location of all dangerous obstacles. After theoretical substantiation of the hypothesis and analysis of the available information, we started the production of prototypes of the devices that would implement the idea of transmitting information via the acoustic channel.

In Silico Modeling of Lovastatin Analogues as Inhibitors of HIV-1 Nef Protein

Currently, no method can completely eliminate the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in an infected person. HIV employs an accessory protein called Nef that forms a complex with cellular AP-1, preventing detection of HIV-infected cells. Lovastatin has been recently identified to inhibit the formation of said Nef-AP-1 complex, but its effective concentration is remarked to be far higher than other Nef inhibitors. This study aims to develop a modified lovastatin molecule exhibiting higher binding affinity to the HIV-1 Nef protein than lovastatin in silico. Modified lovastatin molecules based on the interaction map of lovastatin with Nef were modeled, and flexible ligand-flexible receptor docking to the Nef binding site was performed using AutoDock Vina. Residues within the Nef binding site identified by Liu et al. (2019) to be crucial (Glu-63, Val-66, Phe-68, Asp-108, Leu-112, Tyr-115) were set as flexible. Fragment-based drug design was utilized to append molecular fragments to lovastatin in order to maximize its interactions with said crucial residues. From the fragment-based approach, molecule F4 ((1S,3S)‐8‐{2‐[(2R,4R)‐4‐chloro‐6‐oxooxan‐2‐yl]ethyl}‐3‐(hydroxymethyl)‐7‐methyl‐1,2,3,4‐tetrahydronaphthalen‐1‐yl 4‐aminobenzoate) exhibited a binding affinity of -9.0 kcal/mole, and its estimated IC50 ranges between 0.25-0.51 μM which is at least 7.5 times lower than the reported IC50 of lovastatin from literature. This study presents insights on the key modifications to improve lovastatin as an HIV-1 Nef inhibitor and pertinent information about the Nef binding site for future drug development studies.

強菌來襲!口腔大騷動!——食品中乳酸菌對牙齒保健的影響

乳酸菌(Lactic acid bacteria)是生活中常接觸到的菌種,除了製作食品,也有研究指出部分乳酸菌菌株可抑止造成齲齒的「變異鏈球菌」生長,目前已有牙膏等產品號稱添加乳酸菌。但乳酸菌發酵產生的乳酸,會分解牙齒的琺瑯質,所以我們從發酵乳食品中分離出9株乳酸菌,並進行氫氧基磷灰石的分解實驗與對變異鏈球菌的抑菌實驗。經過實驗,1號、5號、6號與8號乳酸菌株對氫氧基磷灰石的分解能力較弱,而6號、8號與15號對變異鏈球菌的抑制效果較明顯,實驗結果交互比較後,得出6號和8號菌作為牙齒保健的應用價值較高。未來若能進一步研究,可嘗試以離心將乳酸菌各部位分離,研究其真正有抑菌作用的物質,並加以純化,應用於保健食品中。

IoT based automatic water temperature adjustor

This paper represents IOT Based Automatic Water Temperature Adjustor. IoT (Internet of Things) refers to the network of physical objects that are embedded with sensors, software, and other technologies for the purpose of connecting and exchanging data with other devices and systems over the internet. This system is for adjusting water temperature according to the possible surroundings such as home temperature, atmosphere temperature, etc. To solve problems like high water temperature while using, time-consuming waiting for water to heat and cool, high power consumption, and not satisfying water temperature this system offers the feature for automatically adjusting the temperature. Arduino, DHT11 (Temperature-Humidity Sensor), Bread Board, DS18B20 (Water Temperature Sensor), Jumper Wires, Resistor, I2C OLED, Water Heating Coil, Relay and LED are used for operating this system. The application of this system is very vast as it can be implemented in power plants, hospitals, mountain regions, local homes, and lodges. This system is time-saving, cost-efficient, easy to implement, provide automatic features, less power consumption, safety, and many more. Compared to other water geyser systems it has the feature of automatically detecting the environmental temperature and adjusting the temperature of the water accordingly. This system is still in its developing phase.