2024年

Calcineurin (CN) activation is a main cause of cancerous tumor formation, one of the leading causes of death globally. Cyclosporine-A (CsA) is a commercially available oral drug that inhibits CN activation; however, low bioavailability limits its use. Nine patented CsA conjugates are potential alternatives to CsA as they have improved cytotoxicities and bioavailabilities but unknown CN-binding affinity. This study aimed to identify the CNinhibition strength and bioavailability of CsA conjugates in silico drug-likeness evaluation via modified Lipinski’s Rule of Five was done on CsA, voclosporin, and CsA conjugates to test bioavailability. The binding affinities of bioavailable compounds were computed via docking to CN in five trials, and the binding affinities were compared. The Water-soluble, RVal, IIA, Alpha, and MeBmt 2 conjugates showed improved bioavailabilities compared to CsA as they passed the drug-likeness screening. After five trials of computational docking to CN, the IIA and RVal conjugates showed improved binding affinities at -15.8 kcal/mol and -15.2 kcal/mol, respectively, compared to CsA at -14.3 kcal/mol. Notably, IIA also showed an improved binding affinity compared to voclosporin at -15.5 kcal/mol. These results suggest that CsA conjugates may be better oral chemotherapeutic drugs than CsA.

In recent years, lower inter-limb asymmetries have become a topic of increasing interest in sports research. Numerous studies have investigated the occurrence of between-limb differences in a variety of physical tests, ranging from strength, sprinting, and change of direction speed to jumping tasks. The main focus has been the association of asymmetries to either enhanced injury risk or reduced physical performance. Sport specific aspects and differences of lower limb asymmetries have not often been analysed. Additionally, most studies have been performed with male athletes. Women, however, present higher prevalence of lower limb asymmetries in strength, coordination, and postural control than men. These two aspects were therefore addressed in the present study. Female youth soccer (n=18, age: 16.7 ± 0.8 years) and floorball (n=18, age: 17.6 ± 0.9 years) players completed a test battery consisting of six unilateral jumping tasks in horizontal and lateral direction to detect sport specificity in inter-limb asymmetries. The test comprised the following hops: (1) Single Leg Hop for Distance and (2) a newly created version of it, (3) Single Leg Triple Hop, (4) Single Leg Crossover Hop, (5) Side Hop and (6) Single Leg 6-meters Timed Hop. The scores of every jump were calculated into Limb Symmetry Indexes for each participant. A linear mixed effect (LME) model (using function lmer in program R) was applied to evaluate the effects of sport and jump type on asymmetries. In terms of the whole test battery, there was a significantly higher magnitude of asymmetries in soccer compared to floorball (p=0.0067) with a mean difference of 1.9%. Three significant differences between the effects of different jump types were detected (5>2: p=0.027; 5>3: p6: p=0.014). Moreover, the results showed no significant effect on leg dominance. According to the findings of this study, soccer appears to be more asymmetric than floorball, leading to the suggestion that inter-limb asymmetries may not only be task-specific, but also sportspecific. Since no significant correlations were detected, this study suggests that inter-limb asymmetries are independent of leg dominance. Considering the possible reduction in athletic performance and increasing injury risk, strength and conditioning coaches are advised to assess athletes' inter-limb asymmetries using a broad, sport specific test battery and decrease them.

Durians’ seeds have potential as a food source due to their content and nutrients. Durians’ seeds contain fiber, minerals, vitamins A, B1, B2, C, carbohydrates, folate, potassium and copper. Nutrients are needed for the body's health and growth and development process. Durians’ seeds have the potential as a nutrient-rich food alternative. Researchers made an innovation in the form of cereal, Healthy Cereal Organic (HCO). Analysis of durians’ seed content through two stages. First, wet lab examination and second, in silico method. The wet lab examination shows the results that durians’ seeds contain 10.17 Kcal of fat energy, 4.09% ash content, 11.25% water content, 72.79% carbohydrates, 1.13% total fat and 10.74% protein and the in silico method shows the content of carotenoid compounds (vitamin A, quercetin, beta-carotene, zeaxanthin) as a drug delivery system which means that this compound is able to be absorbed by the body with the help of albumin as a carrier that maintains stability and increases its activity. Feasibility analysis based on toxicity tests, Durians’ seed compounds show inactive (non-toxic) results. Allergenicity test showed non-allergen durians’ seed content. Hedonic test was conducted on 20 panelists dominant to the HCO1 sample for aroma by 60%, texture 90%, taste 40%. It can be concluded that durians’seeds can be used as a basic ingredient for making nutrient-rich Healthy Cereal Organic (HCO).

Recently,thefeedpricesforlivestockfarmshavebeencontinuouslyincreasing, while the prices of calves have been declining, leading to many livestock and dairy farms facing financial losses. If livestock farms are affected by diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease, they suffer significant losses. This is because reducedproductivityinlivestocknotonlyaffectstheirproductionbutalsoentails substantial costs for vaccines and treatments. Therefore, there is a need to explore how to effectively prevent diseases, focusing on common diseases in cattle such as subclinical mastitis and mastitis, and alleviate the burden on farms economically and environmentally. This study aims to investigate the production of bacterial growth-inhibiting straw bedding using substances such as illite and charcoal to contribute to disease prevention.

Theseparation, purification, and recovery of precious organic solvents is a huge challenge for many industriesincludingpetroleumandpharmaceuticalcompanies,sincethesecompaniesusehugequantities of organic solvents [1-2]. Natural dissolvable nanofiltration(ON)has atremendous potential for supplantingafewenergy-concentratedcrudepurgingtechniques,similartorefiningandextraction[3-4- 5]. The importance of OSN is obvious from the fact that one cubic meter of methanol requires 1750 MJ of energy for distillation since the process of distillation is comprised of heating, evaporation, and condensation while OSN can purify the same volume of methanol by consuming 3 MJ of energy [6-7]. Additionally, OSN is a useful technology since it is simpler to use than conventional purification and separationmethods.Themembrane'sporestructure,whichinfluencesbothitsselectivityandpermeance, hasasignificantimpactonhowwellthemembranesperform[8-9].Ingeneral,thetrade-offbetweenflux andselectivityaffectsthemembrane'sperformance.Asaresult,themembranes'fluxandpermeabilityare affectedbythetailoringandtuningoftheirporestructure.Therefore,designinganefficientnanofiltration membranes with ideal porosity is highly desirable. Interfacial polymerization (IP) is highly versatile as it provides a freedom of selection of various monomersfortargetingaspecificapplicationsuchasnanofiltrationandreverseosmosisThepotentialfor organicsolventnanofiltration(ON)toreplacevariousenergy-intensivetraditionalpurificationtechniques, suchasdistillationandextraction,isenormous.[8-9].Despitethefactthatmanydifferentmonomershave been successfully used by utilizing IP to create thin film composite nanofiltration TFC-NF membranes, one of the main limitations of such membranes continues to be the poor selection of closely related comparable nanometer sized solutes. Many efforts are still being made to develop potential monomers with the perfect properties for creating membranes that operate excellently [10-11]. Another strategy is also getting more popular in which different porous additives are added to the TFC membrane either at thesupportleveloractivelayerlevel.Theseadditivesincludecarbonorganicframeworks(COFs),metal organic frameworks (MOFs), hyper-cross-linked porous polymers (HCPs), and natural polymers such as chitosan[12-13-14-15]. However,maintainingthecrystallinity ofsuch additives,particularlyMOFsthat lead to crystalline membranes, is extremely difficult while other additions suffer from aggregation and agglomeration that results in membrane flaws that impair the performance of the membranes [16]. Therefore,changingthechemistryofthereacting monomerduringIPcansignificantlyalterthestructure of the resultant active layers of the membranes. The current study was carried out by using linear aliphatic amines 4A-3P and 4A on a crosslinked PAN support. The study was carried out through interfacial polymerization between either 4A-3P and TPC or 4A and TPC on crosslinked PAN. In comparison to the previous studies where cyclic amines such as piperazine or aromatic amines such as meta-phenylenediamine (MPD) are used, we have used linear aliphatic amines 4A and 4A-3P crosslinked with organic phase containing terephthaloyl chloride (TPC) asacross-linker.TheIPreactionwascarriedoutbetweenamineandTPConacrosslinkedPANsupport. The fabricated membrane was extensively characterized by using scanning electron microscope (SEM), ATR-FTIR, water contact angle (WCA), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) and elemental mapping . The fabricated membrane was used for OSN applications by using dead-end filtration setup.

Nephrolithiasis isacommondiseasewherestoneisfoundinthe kidney. Kidney stones areharddepositsmadeofmineralsandsalts that form inside your kidneys. Urine has various wastes dissolved in it. When there is too much waste in too little liquid, crystals begin to form. Sometimes, tiny stones move out ofthebodyinthe urine without causingtoomuchpainanditcontainscalciumoxide. But stones that don't move may cause a back-up of urine in the kidney, ureter, the bladder, or the urethra. Therefore, Ca-d is used as an effective and affordable alternative device to check kidney stones. A new detector we can operate as an indicator for people who have high calcium oxalate levels in their urine. Which will help us to check calcium oxalate levels easily and practically with the use of tds (PPM as its unit). It can check whether people have high PPM levels that can cause issues like nephrolithiasis. It can also be used regularly so that people can avoid the disease by consistently checking their urine with Ca-d.

There are many active volcanoes in Kagoshima Prefecture, including Sakurajima Volcano. So, the volcanic disaster prevention is an urgent issue. Also, Hirabayashi of Tokyo Institute of Technology reported that the molar ratio of HCl/SO2 is large during periods of high HCl/SO2 and conversely small during periods of low HCl/SO2 , and that explosions increase one month after the molar ratio of HCl/SO2 increases during periods of no explosions. We decided to determine the composition ratio of volcanic gases (sulfur dioxide, hydrogen chloride, and hydrogen fluoride) emitted from Sakurajima crater in order to understand and predict volcanic activities. Th us, we established a simple collection method for volcanic gases using alkaline filter paper and a quantitative method using a self m ade absorbance photometer so that even high school students could perform the measurement at many points, and we discussed the data from various perspectives. Furthermore, since last year, we have found a correlation between the variation of Cl-/SO2 ratio and the number of eruptions at Sakurajima volcano. Also, a model for the behavior of volcanic gases was developed based on a comparison of the amount of volcanic ash and the number of eruptions.

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.

本研究探討 Instruction-Tuning 對法律領域語言模型的影響，我們使用 ChatGLM-2 6B 作為基礎模型,先以台灣法律文本進行 Continual Pre-training，再以和律師的 Q&A 數據集，分別採用 Supervised Fine-Tuning(SFT)、Reward Model 及 Proximal Policy Optimization(PPO)等 Instruction-Tuning 方法進行微調。結果顯示,僅經過 Pre-training 及 SFT 的模型,其產生的回覆較符合法律專業風格;但考量模型對法律知識的掌握,則以 Pre-training、SFT 及 PPO 整套 Instruction-Tuning 的結合效果最佳。本研究證明, 針對單一領域的語言模型, 不同的 Instruction-Tuning 方式會對其回覆風格及知識掌握造成不同影響。我們的研究為未來單一領域語言模型訓練提供了參考。

台灣少子化、老齡化問題迫切，醫療資源入不敷出，使得遠距醫療成為潛在的解決方案與趨勢。然而，遠距醫療的身份驗證安全性尚未完善。指靜脈辨識有非接觸、體內生物特徵等特性，其在衛生性和高安全性的優勢在醫學相關領域與醫療院所備受關注。若能夠開發出遠距醫療可用的指靜脈辨識，將有機會為遠距醫療產業的安全性貢獻一份心力。本研究主要分為兩階段：其一旨在優化指靜脈辨識技術，利用輕量化 CNN 指靜脈辨識模型，結合 Mini-RoI 技術， 使用 FV-USM 以及 PLUSVein-FV3 兩個資料集訓練我們開發的 FVeinLite 指靜脈辨識模型，並使用不同的 epoch 值訓練出最好的模型。而我們訓練的模型相較於其他指靜脈技術具有高辨識正確率、參數量更少、運算速度快等優勢。其二，我們將模型結合自製的低成本嵌入式裝置， 並製作 API 與並使用模擬的病患資料完整打造一個可使用於遠距醫療及醫療院所的指靜脈身分辨識系統。