2024年

二甲雙胍(metformin)為第二型糖尿病的口服藥。現有研究已知粒線體在肝癌組織中有過度表現的情形，且二甲雙胍與粒線體自噬作用相關然其機制尚未清楚，故本研究探討二甲雙胍對於肝臟細胞粒線體自噬作用的活化機制以了解其是否具肝癌治療的潛力。以西方墨點法測試加入二甲雙胍前後人類肝癌細胞(Huh7)的 LC3B-I、LC3B-II的表現，發現加藥後表現上升。以串聯螢光標記實驗，透過螢光顯微鏡觀察加藥前後粒線體的型態從線狀變為橄欖球狀，LC3表現上升，PARKIN有明顯位移至粒線體外膜的情形，顯示二甲雙胍可刺激自噬體的形成。並透過 mito-QC(mito-quality control)的技術，可觀察到加藥後粒線體與溶酶體結合的情形也有所提升。本研究推論二甲雙胍可活化人類肝癌細胞中 PINK1-PARKIN 依賴型選擇性粒線體自噬作用的形成，未來有望應用於肝臟疾病相關治療。

據 WHO 於 2023 的統計，全球約有四千萬人罹患阿茲海默症，且近年來患病率逐年上升，已成為當今無法避免的疾病。造成阿茲海默症的因子眾多，目前著重研究 Tau 蛋白毒性與其的關係。前人研究發現真核生物缺乏嘌呤時會形成嘌呤體，而嘌呤體始於 PAICS 泛素化，Cullin 在其中擔任重要角色，然而現今仍未得知哪些 Cullin 與 PAICS 泛素化較有關聯，故本研究以黑腹果蠅為實驗模型，用 T- test 統計數據並探討不同 Cullin 在阿茲海默症毒性下對於 PAICS 泛素化形成嘌呤體的影響。根據實驗結果，本研究發現 Cullin3 的複眼面積顯著變小，推測其最可能和 PAICS 泛素化有關聯；而與預期相反的是 Cullin5、6，結果顯示其果蠅複眼面積皆顯著大於對照組。本研究結果可提供 Cullin3 對阿茲海默症研究扮演重要角色。

本研究主要是探討空氣鳳梨葉子作為清淨環境空氣和降低 PM2.5 濃度以及物理性微粒的功能。為了解空氣鳳梨的吸附能力，我們先測量空氣鳳梨的滯塵能力，發現高居室內植物滯塵能力第二名：其次是測量植株能否降低線香微粒濃度，發現其葉片具有減少懸浮微粒的能力，顯示其具有空氣淨化效果；猜測上述能力應與毛狀體結構有關，於是著手測量去毛後的吸附能力，得知毛狀體是影響吸附能力的關鍵。接著我們學習 Image J 操作，進一步了解空氣鳳梨在各部位的吸收能力及運送途徑。透過數位化影像分析，推測微粒的路徑為葉基→葉中→葉尖。最後比較了吸附微粒後的植株與對照組的抗氧化能力，發現實驗組明顯降低，說明微粒會對空氣鳳梨造成氧化壓力並影響生理代謝。

在刑事犯罪案件中，血液經常作為物證出現，檢測血液的存在是鑑識犯罪現場的一項基本任務，因此研發並採用許多血跡檢測方法，魯米諾測試就是其中之一。而卡斯特－梅爾呈色試驗等傳統測試通常用於快速篩選可疑污漬中是否含有血液。這些呈色測試不僅低成本，而且可以快速檢測其為陰性或陽性，使其適合在犯罪現場篩選潛在的血跡。在本研究中，我們將 KM 試劑、靛藍胭脂紅試劑和亮藍試劑透過呈色分析進行血跡檢測，另外使用 OpenCV 來協助判讀試劑顏色變化。結果顯示，KM 試劑的靈敏度優於靛藍胭脂紅試劑，其檢測極限濃度分別為 10-2%(w/w)和 10-1%(w/w)。另外這兩種試劑均對含有次氯酸鈉的漂白水產生偽陽性。

奈米藥物在臨床治療引入了重大創新。多孔性二氧化矽奈米粒子(mesoporous silica nanoparticle) 具有生物相容性和高孔隙度的特性，被運用在奈米藥物傳遞和標靶治療。奈米粒子經過表面修飾可提高藥物載荷效能以達到有效的治療。 本研究建立一項有效的奈米藥物傳遞載體的開發系統，目標在合成多孔性二氧化矽奈米粒子，使用幾丁聚糖對表面進行修飾，以提升地塞米松藥物載荷和穩定的藥物釋放。應用 X-射線繞射和傅立葉轉換紅外光譜來分析奈米粒子產物和表面官能基。應用分光光譜儀進行測定藥物的載荷和釋放速率。幾丁聚糖修飾包覆的多孔性二氧化矽奈米粒子具有 53.7％的藥物載荷率，比較未修飾的粒子只有 27.9%。藥物釋放實驗，幾丁聚糖包覆的二氧化矽奈米粒子可以延緩藥物釋放，在 5 天釋放 19.7％的地塞米松。本次研究說明幾丁聚糖包覆多孔性二氧化矽奈米粒子是有潛力的奈米藥物載體。

生醫材料的開發與應用，現今佔有極重要的地位，但以金屬製的生醫材料而言，仍有植入人體內，被體液腐蝕或氧化的問題。本研究希望藉由高分子薄膜沉積與基材表面處理兩種方式，使金屬醫材能夠抵抗腐蝕，以延長使用年限。 本研究比較以真空電漿系統分別沉積六甲基二矽氮烷 (HMDSZ) 薄膜與使用四氟化碳 (CF4) 處理基材後，對不鏽鋼基材表面之抗腐蝕性和疏水性的影響；並找出使基材表面具較佳抗腐蝕性的工作條件。實驗結果中發現：(1) 在單體壓力為 60mtorr、功率為 30W的電漿參數下，沉積 HMDSZ薄膜 30分鐘，具較佳抗腐蝕效果與疏水性；(2)在沉積後 21天內，HMDSZ薄膜置於室溫時間越長，其抗腐蝕效果越佳；(3)CF4表面處理可能造成蝕刻或沉積，實驗中尚未找到可增加疏水性與抗腐蝕性之參數。

Our project, the Autonomous Ecosystem Surveillance Robot, aims at closing the aquatic gap in biosecurity measures by including several functions, such as water quality monitoring, aquatic species monitoring, and seabed topology surveillance. Several instances have shown the need for such a system, as demonstrated below. The United States Corps of Engineers completed an electrich fish barrier in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal in 2002, in order to prevent the invasive Asian carp from moving into the Great Lakes. The introduction of the Asian carp into the Great Lakes would be an ecological disaster, as the Great Lakes provide an ideal habitat for the carp to proliferate, choking out native fish species that exist there. This would result in a major loss for the fishing industry in the area. One of the Great Lakes, Lake Erie, suffers annual algae blooms threats, which affect up to 12 million people in the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada. These algae blooms are caused by runoff pollution, which occurs when rainfall washes fertilizer and manure from farmland into Lake Erie, fueling algae that can make water toxic to humans and animals alike. In addition, there are many existing customs regulations around the world that are set in place to ensure biosecurity of national ecosystems, such as in Taiwan, where it is illegal to bring pork from abroad. Despite this, there still exists a very large gap in biosecurity measures; that of the aquatic nature. Through these three functions, we have the ability to protect local aquatic biodiversity via the ability to detect invasive species, therefore allowing authorities to properly deal with them. This allows less harmful measures to be taken against them, thereby limiting collateral damage to endangered native species. Coupled with the ability to map bodies of water, the Autonomous Ecosystem Surveillance Robot is an extremely potent tool to preserve aquatic biodiversity and to ensure biosecurity of local waters.

Medication errors in patients are a global problem. They can negatively affect patients and be costly for hospitals and medical clinics. In 2021, a 28-year-old man with heart problems was admitted to a hospital in Porto Alegre. Due to a pharmacy error and insufficient monitoring in the administration, he received a dose 10 times higher than prescribed. This caused serious and probably irreversible damage to the patient. Reading the news and following the case in the media has encouraged research in scientific databases, searching for information and data on medication errors, as well as emerging technologies to reduce the occurrence of adverse medication events. Based on the findings of an English study that proved that errors occur at the drug prescription stage, the first stage of this research focused on drug dosage errors. The aim of this study is to develop an application based on artificial intelligence that can recognise these errors and help prevent them. The application uses a neural network to analyse prescriptions and warn of possible cases of incorrect dosage. The computer program was developed using a neural network and the drug dosage error recognition system using Python and Keras. The system was trained with 10 drugs and correct and incorrect dosage cases. A graphical interface was created to input and display new case data. Neural networks with different configurations were tested to obtain high accuracy with the training and validation data. A confusion matrix was used to assess the accuracy of the network for cases not used for training. The accuracy was approximately 96%, but problems were found in certain intervals. The errors are due to the need for more training, higher processing capacity and a cloud server. The results of the first stage of the research indicate the feasibility of using a neural network to recognise medication dosage errors and thus preventing the associated risks. Such a method could prevent cases like the one in Porto Alegre. Future studies could incorporate more types of drugs, allergies, drug interactions, pre-existing illnesses and other relevant factors into the system.

Within the scope of sustainable cities and responsible consumption, which are among the goals of sustainable development, it is aimed to contribute to life safety, defense industry, protection from disasters and economy with the new generation environmental building technologies and materials to be developed in the field of construction. It is a critical issue to protect reinforced concrete structures, piers, bridge piers, overpasses against impacts, and to reduce the damages and economic losses in disaster situations. Reinforced concrete scaffolding is the load-bearing component of the structure and its impact resistance is crucial to the overall safety of the concrete structure. Therefore, there is a need to develop technologies that can protect structures against explosion and impact loads. Within the scope of the project, environmentally friendly and low-cost concrete materials with industrial waste glass, aluminum, plastic material additives, which can be used in columns, which are the most important part in the strength of reinforced concrete structures to prevent explosion and impact damage, were produced and their strengths were analyzed. The use and design of these materials in the strength of concrete creates the originality of the project. When the results obtained in the project were examined, it was observed that the steel fiber concretes with the addition of waste glass, aluminum ring, disc, beverage can and plastic bottle were resistant to high pressure when compared with the control groups without additives, and the change in surface height after the impact test, visual analysis and load-time graphics showed this. It is seen that the additives have a cushioning effect against the impact, absorbing the energy against the force by 87.6% and increasing the strength significantly. In this project, where it is aimed to increase the strength of concrete structures by using the impact energy absorption feature of waste glass, plastic and aluminum, products with high added value are developed, contributing to the literature and the construction sector. With the large-scale use of the project, the costs spent on the disposal of waste materials will be reduced, the upcycling based on re-using the waste products will be contributed, and the loss of life and property due to impacts and explosions will be prevented.

In recent years, there has been an extreme rise in population and economic development, which requires a great demand for energy worldwide. Global energy consumption has been increasing nearly every year for over half a century [1]; it is rapidly rising in the form of nonrenewable energy, such as coal, oil, natural gas, and fossil fuel. Fossil fuel overreliance has resulted in a dramatic rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations.