Dawson Schuck, Doncaster Secondary College, Australia
Modern-day feasibility study of a nuclear-powered aircraft
The Cold-War concept of a nuclear-powered aircraft is one that today is viewed under a very curious light. This engineering investigation explores the modern developments in reactor and propulsion technologies as well as the historical works to build what some consider as the ultimate transportation vehicle. If such a concept were feasible in the light of today’s carbon footprint and cost of fossil fuel debates, the dilemma of kerosene as an aviation propellant would be effectively quenched. By utilizing our abundant supply of nuclear-fuel, it may be possible to manufacture sustainable, long-range, adequately powerful crafts suitable for transoceanic flights.
By considering the engine technology, aerospace factors, safety and environmental risks and public response, this project comments on feasibility and potential applications in the aviation industry.
Laura Brown, Blue Mountains Grammar School,
Australia
Ocean Acidification - The Great Barrier Reef
It is becoming universally excepted in both the scientific and general community that, large emissions of carbon dioxide are having adverse effects on the environment. There is now growing evidence that carbon dioxide emissions are causing subtle changes to the chemistry of the world's oceans, in a process called ocean acidification. A group of Australian scientists aboard the Southern Surveyor are currently conducting a research, in the Coral Sea to determine how ocean acidification could effect the Great Barrier Reef. This project will explore the nature of their research, the possible effects of increasing levels of pH in a coral environment and our ability to understand the complex ecosystem of the Great Barrier Reef.
Zheng Jiameng Wuhan University, China
The Effects of Salt Stress on Photosynthesis in Sweet Sorghum Seedlings and the Alleviative Measure
Effects of NaCl on the growth and photosynthesis were carefully investigated with sweet sorghum seedlings. And the measure to alleviate the depression of growth and photosynthesis under salt stress were also discussed in this study. By testing the biomass, leaf area, photosynthetic parameters and the chlorophyll fluorescence characteristics of the sweet sorghum seedlings under various concentrations of NaCl, we found that the sweet sorghum seedlings can grow well in average salina where the salt content below 100mmol/L. The decreased net photosynthetic rate (Pn) in salt-stressed sweet sorghum seedlings is mainly due to non-stomatal limitation; the depression of carbon assimilation capacity significantly alters the excited energy distribution. After planting sweet sorghum seedlings in the mixture of salina brought back from seaside of china and peat with various ratio, we found the germination of sweet sorghum seeds is still over 50% when the Na+ reaches 126.9mmol/L. Moreover, various concentrations of Ca2+ have a great influence on chlorophyll fluorescence in sweet sorghum seedlings under salt stress, which means Ca2+ can generally decrease the damages to sweet sorghum caused by salt stress. The more Ca2+ was added, the fewer damages to sweet sorghum seedlings. In the long run, there are great potential and wonderful foreground in planting sweet sorghum and developing alcohol industry in the large area of available salina in China. Planting sweet sorghum in salina not only do great benefit to the improvement of energy structure, but also to the development of economy and society in these areas.
IL‐22 Binding Protein ‐ Understanding psoriasis at the molecular level
Normally the immune system defends us against harmful things like viruses, bacteria or when for example cancer cells develop in our body. But sometimes the immune system attacks the body itself, or more precisely it attacks one or a few of the proteins in our body. It is very often wrongly modified – normal – proteins which are attacked. This is what happens when an autoimmune disease like diabetes type 1, rheumatoid arthritis or psoriasis develop. For most of the autoimmune diseases we don’t know the etiology and it is necessary to understand the development of these diseses all the way down to molecular level to be able to make new and efficient medicine against them. Since the immune defense is too active in patients with autoimmune diseases it is interesting to investigate more about how th signal proteins in the immune defense are involved in these diseases.
An interesting protein to investigate is the signal protein Interleukin 22 (IL‐22) and its inhibitor IL‐22 binding protein (IL‐22BP). These are highly involved in the development of e.g. psoriasis. What I have done is to examine the regulation of IL‐22BP in immune cells. When we know more about the mechanism behind the disease it will be possible to make treatments that target much more specificin the immune system.
Christoffer Norn Lyngby Technical High School, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
A Novel Process to Highly Improve the Bioethanol Production
In 2007 the bioethanol-industry produced 24.5 billion liters of ethanol and 15.4 billion kg of “distillers-dried-grain-with-solubles” (DDGS) – a left-over which can be used for livestock feeding. This co-product does however contain enough carbohydrates to increase the total bioethanol production by 12.2%, thus giving it a huge potential impact on the process economy.
The current application of DDGS is associated with a series of problems (high content of fibers, sulfur, phosphorous, possible presence of mycotoxins and high batch variation), that reduces its market value. To avoid some of these problems and to increase the bioethanol production, I have developed a novel protease-based process for simultaneous pretreatment of fibers and protein extraction. This new method can also be used for
non
-corn derived DDGS.
The pretreatment increased the yield of C5/C6-sugars during an enzymatic hydrolysis with a factor of 3.3 and 1.7, respectively.
By screening eight different commercial enzyme products, three were chosen for the hydrolysis of pretreated fibers. Different reaction conditions, i.e. enzyme ratio, pH, temperature, enzyme dosage and reaction time were evaluated with response surface and ternary mixture designs. Using optimal conditions, a total sugar yield of 58% was obtained.
The hydrolyzed DDGS was readily fermented with
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
giving approx. 94% yield based upon fermentation of glucose derived from cellulose.
The proteolysate stabilized the enzyme mixture used for hydrolysis of the pretreated fibers, resulting in approx. 87% sugar yield, which is very promising for future development.
Next step is to characterize which substance(s) is/are responsible for this important stabilization.
Tobias Maduro Nørbo, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark
Why Drop the Fun – When the Drip Is On?
161,000 children will get cancer in 2008 – 70 % of these children will suffer from a severe physical and/or mental side effect from their disease. This can result in symptoms such as local venous toxicity, fatigue, regression and mood disturbance.
One of the most effective treatments against side effects is exercise and mobile activity ‐ especially while treated, but 130,000 of cancer children have no choice they must use a drip stand which severely limits their physical possibilities.
To help these children, I developed a set of special bikes: the TriDrop series. So now a mild form of exercise could be a normal part of the children’s stay at the hospital ward –
also
during chemotherapy. These prototypes have been tested at the Children’s Cancer Ward (CCW) at the Royal Hospital of Denmark.
To optimize the TriDrops, I have:
Determined how to prevent the structure from over bending.
minimized the risk of overturningreduced the leg force needed to ride the TriDrop
developed 3D prints from CAD drawings
used a CNC machine to ensure accuracy of prototypes.
One of the most important features with my TriDrop‐system is a fastening mechanism that connects the drip stand with the TriDrop in a safe and user‐friendly way. This fastener system can also be used for many other applications such as improved; pipe‐clamps of pipes in any dimension, mast‐steps for yachting, bicycle‐trailer‐mounting‐systems and different applications in the rehab industry, therefore a patent application for the fastener mechanism has been submitted with a positive outcome.
Fabian Kempe Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg, Germany
Switchable protein adsorption on thin polymeric layers
In recent years the optimization of surface properties by polymeric layers has been an important research topic. One special approach of surface engineering is the formation of polymer brushes. They are consisting of polymer chains, which are tethered with one end to a substrate. The special conformation enables very useful possibilities to influence wetting behavior, interaction with biomolecules or lubrication of surfaces significantly.
Furthermore binary polymer brushes (made of two different polymers) show a switching of the layer properties also after the linking to a surface in dependence of changes of environmental conditions as solvent quality, temperatue, or pH. The focus of this project was to investigate the capability of those layers to switch the interaction with biomolecues. Therefore the interaction of binary polyelectrolyte brush with a constitutional stable globular model protein, a-Chymotrypsin, was studied in dependence of pH value. It was found that switching between adsorption and desorption was possible several times. These findings promise future applications of those polymer brushes as release systems for proteins and drugs or for tissue engineering.
Cherish Bird, Joseph leckie Cte, Great Britain
Torbugesic vs. Vetergesic
This project compared Vetergesic and Torbugesic in two analgesic regimes for cats, to find out the best post-operative analgesia. A blind test was carried out on 17 cats undergoing surgery. Behaviour changes were recorded in a table and a pain score assigned. Results suggest that Vetergesic provided lower pain scores and Torbugesic provided faster onset of analgesia. Cats with traumatic injuries may benefit more from Torbugesic whilst Vetergesic may be more beneficial for routine surgery.
Balázs Laki, Boronkay György Secondary Technical and Grammar School
The First Hungarian Rural Groundwater Monitoring
Healthy drinking water is one of the basic human vital conditions. Our most important task is the protection of groundwater, because one gets drinking water from it. The examination of these kinds of waters can only be solved by elaborating a complete monitoring system.
Small villages are in need of particular attention, as their dwellers are lack of pieces of information concerning contaminated groundwater. As a consequence of the huge number of polluted body of water of settlements and high expenditures of experiments, gaps in our knowledge can only be supplemented by more detailed scientific investigations on representative towns. Mátraderecske (Hungary) is one of those adequate representative towns, where thorough experiments were accomplished concerning water of dug wells.
Kolmogorov Test revealed that most components had lognormal distribution (e.g.: pH level, Mg-, Na-, Cl-, HCO3-, SO4- concentration, conductivity, carbon concentration, etc.), meanwhile concentration of nitrate and nitrite ions presented normal distribution. As a result of the examination of nitrate-nitrite concentration, a connection was proven between the ion density and level of groundwater.
During this evaluation I had composed the quotient of the older (1992 – measured by elder members of the laboratory) and the newer (2006 – measured by our research team) values of nitrate-nitrite concentration, and then I could show its correlation with the height of water-column in each well. High correlation coefficient (0.81) implies quite a strong connection.
This project is more than an attempt to save local environment, because it can be applied in areas of similar geological conditions, as well. Since no comparative investigations were carried out regarding the effects of sewerage installation till now, this amplifies the significance of our research.
We would feel honored if we had the opportunity to expand our experiments to Hungary itself. Creating a general database would obviously contribute to further hydrological initiatives.
Dina Listov, Faculty of Biochemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science and De-Shalit High School, Rehovot
A Study of Polyamine Homeostasis in the Cell: The Influence of Oncogenes on Transcription of Antizyme Inhibitor.
Polyamines are organic cations which are present in eucaryotic and procaryotic cells and are primary connected with cell growth and division. Polyamines are involved in numerous essential biological processes and as such, their levels in the cell are highly regulated through protein interaction. It has been shown that, in case of an augmentation in Polyamine levels the probabilities of the occurrence of cancerogenic processes is higher. One of the proteins which is involved in polyamine regulation is Antizyme Inhibitor (AzI). AzI is indirectly responsible for polyamine elevation in the cell.
The work studied the effect of 4 different proteins from the oncogene group- a group of proteins known for its involvement in cancerous processes when deregulated- on the promoter of AzI (a DNA region which regulates the gene transcription). Through bioinformatical tools, cloning and transfections, the promoter of AzI has been defined, cut and inserted into a plasmid and finally delivered into living cells together with plasmids containing the oncogenes genes. As a result, it was shown that the oncogene
Ras
affects the AzI promoter by increasing the rate of transcription. In addition, the work has narrowed the promoter region which reacts to
Ras
from 2,200bp (initially defined promoter) to 500bp.
The results obtained in this work show a connection between Ras oncogenesis and polyamine regulation. This result suggests that anti-cancerous treatments based on polyamine modification would be possible in the future.
Tomoyasu Mani,
Department of Chemistry, UT Dallas, USA, (Japan)
Paramagnetic metal-ligand complexes as novel CEST contrast agents for MRI
Paramagnetic lanthanide-ligand complexes having unusually slow water exchange kinetics (PARACEST) may be used to alter image contrast in MRI by transfer of selectively saturated spins from one chemical pool to another, a process called chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST). PARACEST agents have the potential to provide us with more detailed physiological and functional information than conventional MRI contrast agents (CA). The efficiency of these systems for introducing tissue contrast is highly dependent upon the rate of water exchange in these compounds since CEST requires intermediate to slow water exchange rates. The metal-bound water molecule of lanthanide(III) DOTA-tetraamide complexes shows unusually slow water exchange rates compared to those found in conventional CA ligand systems. Modulation of the water exchange rate provides a platform upon which responsive PARACEST agents can be based. The parameters that affect water exchange rates in lanthanide complexes have been found to depend upon several factors, including the coordination geometry, steric crowding, size of the central Ln(III) ion, and the properties of ligating atoms. Lanthanide(III)-DOTA-based complexes with the appended amide substituents of different properties were synthesized and the effects of those substituents on the overall CEST properties of the system were investigated. The water exchange rates accelerate by adding bulky alkyl groups to the appended substituents in contrary to our working hypothesis. On the other hand a simple modification of the arms from alkyl group to carboxyl group can dramatically decelerate the water exchange rates. Additionally, we successfully performed
in vivo
CEST imaging using a Eu(III)-based PARACEST complex for the first time.
Mai Matsushita, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine Biomedical Science, Japan
The Biological Significance of Wwox in Colorectal Carcinogenesis
The
WW domain-containing oxidoreductase (WWOX)
gene spans the common chromosomal fragile site
FRA16D
. In human malignancies, loss of heterozygosity, promoter hypermethylation, and resultant reduction or loss of Wwox expression has been reported. In this study, we examined the expression and biological functions of Wwox in colorectal carcinogens (CRCs). Reduced Wwox expression in CRC derived cell lines was detected in the mRNA and protein levels possibly caused by hypermethylation of exon 1 CpG islands. Upon restoration of
WWOX
, CRC growth was suppressed both
in vivo
and
in vitro
, confirming the tumor-suppressing effects of Wwox. Also, we compared the tumor-suppressing effects of Wwox WT and mutant Y33R, and found that Y33R is also capable of acting as a tumor suppressor. Furthermore, we genetically compared WT and mutant
WWOX
by microarray analysis and detected an involvement of MDM2 in Wwox-mediated tumor suppressing pathway. In addition, we analyzed clinicopathological characteristics of Wwox expression and detected frequent down regulation of
WWOX
in CRC tissue samples. In summary, our data indicates that Wwox plays an important role in the progression and development of CRCs.
Jessica Gisela Magallanes Castañeda, Centro de Bachillerato Tecnologico Industrial y de Servicios no 168, Mexico
Anatomy easy
Anatomy Easy is a project focused on encouraging clinical laboratory students to study the human anatomy. It consists of a computer assisted didactic material that was designed, developed, and structured with the following elements:
1. A software application coded in visual basic.
2. An electronic device that provides real-time interaction with the software application.
The topics of study correspond to the following biological systems
1) Digestive system
2) Circulatory system
3) Nervous system
4) Skeletal system
5) Muscular system
6) Respiratory system
7) Reproductive system (male and female)
8) Urinary system
9) Immune system
10) Endocrine system
Michael Dalton, Berg Videregående Skole, Oslo, Presently: NTNU, Trondheim, Norway
Drag on an egg: Greater in the forward or backward direction?
This research project is an attempt to uncover some of the physical phenomena that occur when pulling an egg through water. Interestingly, applications of this research would stretch beyond eggs, as it has a cross-sectional shape similar to a streamlined body. One could also say that an egg is more or less a streamlined body that has been revolved around its own symmetry axis.
This project demonstrates what happens to an egg when pulled through water with the more acute angle first, as well as in the opposite direction with the more obtuse angle first. There were some limitations, the most important being the fact that the egg couldn’t go much faster than one meter per second, so anything beyond that would be beyond the scope of the project. Due to the complex nature of fluid mechanics, producing quantitative statements that can be confirmed mathematically is beyond the scope as well. The precise research question was: “
Is the drag on an egg greatest in the forward (more acute angle first) or the backward (more obtuse angle first) direction when held from a string and subjected to a non-turbulent (laminar) flow?”
A number of interesting physical phenomena occurred that supported the conclusion that
the drag on an egg is greater in the forward than in the backward direction.
Mikhail I. Noniashvili Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Russia
“The problem of searching for the optimal sequences with phase-shift keying”
Objective
Due to good correlation properties phase shift keying sequences are widespread in radio communications, radio navigation and radiolocation. The best ones are Barker’s codes that have the minimal side lobes. Nowadays Barker’s codes for sequences with the length 4, 5, 7, 11 and 13 are known, but often we need sequences with much more length. Today Barker’s codes or sequences with similar properties of bigger length are not found. The report views the problem of searching such sequences and also generalized mathematical problem of search.
Methods
The Microsoft Visual C++ computer language and its standard libraries were used for this solution. All evaluations were carried out by simple desktop PC.
Main results
Complete researching of sequences that have the minimal side lobes is fulfilled in the range of lengths from 3 to 36. Time estimate of researching process is made for the sequences with much more length. The most likely level of side lobs is adduced for the sequences with the length 37, 38, 39, 40. The synthesis problem of sequences with known autocorrelation function is posed.
Conclusion
Nowadays, in spite of a great push in the field of computer engineering there are objects for which the opportunities of modern computers are not enough. That’s why we plan to solve this problem in two ways. The first one is the mathematical solving of the synthesis problem. The second way is to organize the computing on the basis of programmable logic integrated circuits.
Deniz Akdis, University of Zurich (UZH), Switzerland
Development of a method to demonstrate allergen-specific B-cells
Background:
The human immune system consists of many different cells, which ensure that pathogenic foreign material can be recognized as fast as possible and can be eliminated. There is a specific immune response and an unspecific immune response. T-cells are responsible for the cellular immune response arm of the specific immune response, whereas B-cells are responsible for antibody production. There are some technical problems in the investigation of antigen-specific B-cells in humans, particularly related to keeping them alive out of the organism for a long time. The aim of this study was to develop a method, which allows to determine the number of antigen-(allergen)- specific B-cells of patients with a direct method in peripheral blood. We investigated allergen-specific B-cells in beekeepers, who received multiple bee stings and developed high levels of antibodies against venom allergens. The bee venom major allergen phospholipase A2 (PLA2) was used to demonstrate specific B-cells.
Methods:
Allergen-specific B cells were enumerated by using flow cytometry. In this procedure cells pass through different lasers. If the cells are stained with fluorescent dyes, it’s possible to determine many other characteristics along with the number and the size of cells. We used highly specific monoclonal antibodies, which were linked to fluorescent dyes. These antibodies bind to the surface molecules of B-cells. The surface molecule CD19 is present on all B-cells. The CD27 is only present on memory B-cells. The monoclonal antibodies, which bind specifically to these surface molecules were used, and memory B-cells were gated in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Antigens which bind to surface immunoglobulin receptors of specific B-cells were labeled with fluoresceinisothiocyanate. The cells, the monoclonal antibodies and the antigens were incubated and analyzed by flow cytometry.
Results:
Since the experiment was applied to this hypothesis for the first time, there wasn’t any available protocol. Therefore the method had to be established first. Concentration and time kinetics were studied to optimize the method. The most efficient antigen dose was 0.2 mg/ml and the optimum time to incubate the cells was 60 minutes. Experiments on healthy donors showed, whether their B-cells expressed antigen receptor against different antigens. A negative control antigen was selected as keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH), which is a protein found in
Megathura crenulata
. Since there is a rare natural exposure, humans showed very few specific B-cells against KLH. Investigations of B-cells from beekeepers showed that they had a high number of PLA2- specific B-cells. These B-cells were more in the memory B-cell fraction compared to naive B- cells. Their frequency in whole gated memory B cells was in the range of 0.5% to 8.7% in the 5 beekeepers who were investigated in detail.
Discussion:
Before doing the experiments there was an assumption that beekeepers possessed a high frequency of PLA2-specific memory B-cells and that it should be possible to demonstrate specific B-cells. This appears to be true, since beekeepers are often stung by bees and they are exposed to PLA2 to develop a memory B-cell repertoire. Our findings demonstrated that allergen specific B-cells can be visualized and their frequency calculated for the first time.
Conclusion:
This study shows a novel method to characterize specific B-cells against different antigens and reveal a new way to understand their mechanisms in several diseases. With the possibility of purifying these B-cells by a flow cytometric cell sorter, our research will help to open a new window for the investigation of specific B-cells to find new molecular targets for innovative treatment modalities.
