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There are plentiful online programming resources that enable learners to develop an understanding of conceptual knowledge and practical implementation. However, learners, especially novices, often experience difficulties locating the required information to solve the programming problems. Differ from natural language in syntax and convention, answers for programming languages may not be found just by simple text information retrieval. To address this issue, Coding Peekaboom, a game-based tagging was developed to help adequately index the critical concepts of a code segment. An EEG device was applied to measure participants' mental states to identify their engagement during the gameplay. Study results include the effectiveness of appropriate concepts collected by participants whereas 47.15 concepts were collected on average in a game. The brainwave analysis and the questionnaire results reveal that participants were highly engaged in the tagging task via Coding Peekaboom. Correlations were found between the state of flow and the number of concepts selected, score, and time. Finally, the results of the flow theory and personal traits were reported to reflect the user experiences in the game.

Su et al. show that seipin negatively regulates the production of sphingoid intermediates by binding the enzymes serine palmitoyltransferase and fatty acid elongase at discrete regions of the ER in close vicinity to lipid droplets, thereby mediating the synthesis of two major building blocks for sphingolipids., Seipin is known for its critical role in controlling lipid droplet (LD) assembly at the LD-forming subdomain of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Here, we identified a new function of seipin as a negative regulator for sphingolipid production. We show that yeast cells lacking seipin displayed altered sensitivity to sphingolipid inhibitors, accumulated sphingoid precursors and intermediates, and increased serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT) and fatty acid (FA) elongase activities. Seipin associated with SPT and FA elongase, and the interaction was reduced by inhibitors for sphingolipid synthesis in a concentration-dependent manner. We further show that the interactions of seipin with SPT and FA elongase occurred at ER–LD contacts and were likely regulated differentially. Further evidence indicated that LD biogenesis was intact when SPT activity was blocked, whereas excess sphingoid intermediates may affect LD morphology. Expression of human seipin rescued the altered sphingolipids in yeast seipin mutants, suggesting that the negative regulation of sphingolipid synthesis by seipin is likely an evolutionarily conserved process.

We demonstrate that the open-circuit voltage (VOC) of organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices composed of rubrene and C60 can be considerably different when the anode and active layer are changed. Two types of anodes and active layers were compared. In plasma-treated indium-tin-oxide (ITO) OPV devices, the parameter VOC exhibits an improvement from 0.68 V to 0.76 V when the device structure is varied from a bilayer to a mixed structure. However, in the OPV devices that use ITO/MoO3 as the anode, a similar VOC is observed regardless of the device structure. A series of temperature-dependent measurements are conducted to investigate these results. The calculation of barrier height at the rubrene/C60 (or rubrene:C60) interface yields the prediction of VOC, suggesting that an excess energetic loss occurs in the mixed structures. The electroluminescent (EL) spectra of these devices show that the mixed structure can completely quench the EL of rubrene single layer. A broad band of the charge transfer (CT) emission is observed clearly. A temperature-dependent measurement for the extracting injection barrier is conducted and shows that the mixed structure is favorable for the hole current injection. The CT properties are obtained using the external quantum efficiency and EL spectra of the OPV devices. We find that the nonradiative recombination loss is highly correlated with the injected current; the lower the injection barrier induced the less the nonradiative recombination loss. Therefore, the parameter VOC can be improved when the injected current is increased.

In this paper, a digital variable on-time control (VOT) and primary side regulation (PSR) applied to a power factor correction (PFC) flyback converter is realized. This PFC flyback converter is operated in the critical conduction mode (CRM). Compared with constant on-time control (COT), VOT control can decrease total harmonic distortion (THD) of input current and make high power factor (PF). The method which is used to obtain output voltage is PSR. This method can sense output voltage by auxiliary wind without opto-coupler. This PFC flyback converter worked in universal input voltage 90∼264Vac and the output power is 36W with output DC voltage 36V. The proposed control method is implemented by field-programmable gate array (FPGA). Experimental result are shown that PF is higher than 0.95 and THD is less than 10%.

We demonstrate a simple method for achieving high-performance subphthalocyanine (SubPc)/C70 bi-layer organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices through the changing of the C70 thickness. The optical and electrical properties of the OPV devices were decoupled and could be individually manipulated to obtain a significantly increased short-circuit current density (JSC) without reducing the open-circuit voltage and the fill factor. The thickness-independent electrical property of the C70 layer was systematically studied in terms of the dark currents of the OPV devices and the carrier mobilities of the organic layers; the results indicate that the considerable difference in mobility between SubPc and C70 is not detrimental, while the optical-field distribution can be optimized by tuning the C70 thickness. The power conversion efficiency was improved from 2.7 to 4.2% by optimizing the C70 thickness. The optical effect upon the change in the C70 thickness was thoroughly investigated by calculating the optical-field profile and the power dissipation inside the OPV devices on the basis of the transfer matrix method. The calculated results suggest that the optical-field intensity is insufficient in predicting the trend in JSC. Instead, the power dissipation involving the absorption properties of materials and the optical-field distribution of OPV devices can provide deeper insight into the optical condition and indicates the importance of optimizing the film thickness in bi-layer OPV devices.

This work studies the open-circuit voltage (VOC) of planar and bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices by means of electroluminescent (EL) technique to resolve the charge transfer (CT) states between donor and acceptor. The OPV devices containing a small part of bulk heterojunction increases the VOC as a result of the enhanced CT process as compared with a complete planar structure. Red shift of the CT charge transfer was observed by increasing the bulk volume, which indicates the increased degree of interaction between both molecules and excitons. By characterizing the EL spectra of OPV devices and relating them to the CT absorption, the interfacial property between the donor and acceptor is shown to be crucial for determining the VOC in small-molecule OPV devices. Detailed analysis of the energetic loss was also used to interpret the VOC under the effect of CT states.

A planar heterojunction organic solar cell (OSC) with high internal quantum efficiency (IQE=95.6% at 590 nm) was demonstrated based on boron subphthalocyanine chloride (SubPc) and C 60 as the electron donor and acceptor materials. A thin layer of N,N-dicarbazolyl-3,5-benzene (mCP), acting as an electron and exciton blocking layer, was inserted between the ITO anode and the SubPc layer to prevent leakage current and exciton quenching. In the optimized device, a mCP thickness of 3 nm was thick enough to block the excitons (as suggested by a high IQE and longer-lived photoluminescence), resulting in an open circuit voltage of 1.09 V, a short circuit current of 7.87 mA/cm 2 , a fill factor of 59, and a power conversion efficiency of 5.08%. Increasing the mCP thickness resulted in increased serial resistance and SubPc crystallization that reduced the fill factor, V OC , and J SC . Due to the narrow absorption band of SubPC (71 nm at the full-width-at-half-maximum), this high performance (both in peak IQE and V OC ) device has the potential to be used as a subcell in a spectral splitting solar cell module.

We present an electrical characterization of the organic field-effect transistor with purified and non-purified pentacene by using in situ and real time measurements. The field-effect phenomenon was observed at the thickness of 1.5 nm (approximately one monolayer of pentacene) for purified pentacene, as compared to 3.0 nm for the non-purified counterpart. Moreover, the hole mobility is improved from 0.13 to 0.23 cm2/V s after the sublimation process to purify the pentacene. With atomic force microscopic measurements, the purified pentacene thin film exhibits a larger grain size and film coverage, resulting in better crystallinity of the thin film structure due to the absence of the impurities. This is further confirmed by X-ray diffraction patterns, which show higher intensities for the purified pentacene.

In this paper, we demonstrate the effects of donor deposition rate on an organic photovoltaic device using bis(4-(N-(1-naphthyl)phenylamino)phenyl)fumaronitrile (NPAFN) as the donor. When the deposition rate of NPAFN increased from 0.03 to 0.5 nm/s, the performance of the device improved from 1.98% to 2.3% due to significant enhancement in the open-circuit voltage (VOC) from 0.81 to 0.97 V. With the aid of diode equation fitting, the improved VOC is attributed to the low saturation current caused by weak molecular interaction during the deposition of NPAFN at a high deposition rate. In order to understand the detail of the molecular interaction, the morphological property of NPAFN thin film with various deposition rates is investigated using atomic force microscopic images, which show the emergence of pinholes at low deposition rates as a result of strong molecular aggregation. Moreover, the weak molecular interaction is found to contribute to the low carrier mobility in NPAFN from the calculation of space charge limited current, leading to the considerably increased bulk resistance and reduced fill factor as the deposition rate increases. The detailed electrical properties of the NPAFN device were analyzed using impedance spectra.

Tseng, C-T., Su, N-J., Sun, C-L., Punt, A. E., Yeh, S-Z., Liu, D-C., and Su, W-C. 2013. Spatial and temporal variability of the Pacific saury (Cololabis saira) distribution in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 70: 991–999. Logbook data for the Taiwanese Pacific saury fishery and multi-sensor satellite images for 2006–2010 were used to characterize the habitat of Pacific saury (Cololabis saira) in the northwestern Pacific (NWP). An empirical cumulative distribution function (ECDF) approach identified that high cpue (catch per unit of effort) of Pacific saury occurred when sea surface temperature (SST) ranged from 14 to 16°C, chlorophyll-a concentration (Chl a) ranged from 0.4 to 0.6 mg m−3, and net primary production (NPP) ranged from 600 to 800 mg C m−2 d−1. A generalized additive model (GAM) and spatial non-stationary geographically weighted regression (GWR) were applied to predict the habitats of Pacific saury in the NWP. The spatial distributions of Pacific saury in the NWP estimated using the two approaches were similar and matched the nominal cpue distributions and those inferred from preferred habitat ranges based on ECDF. The density of Pacific saury is higher in coastal waters close to the island of Hokkaido and near the southern Kuril Islands than in the open sea. SST, Chl a, and NPP were substantially higher in the fishing grounds for Pacific saury during the main fishing season (September and October), corresponding to a high cpue for Pacific saury (23.1 t fishing day−1). The GAM explained more variability in spatial distribution (35.7%) than GWR (20.5%) VGPM (Vertically Generalized Production Model). Results derived from this study could improve our understanding of Pacific saury habitat distributions, which could be used to forecast fishing grounds and to develop fishery management advice based on oceanographic conditions that might be impacted by climate change.

We demonstrated that the open-circuit voltage (VOC) of rubrene/C60 organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices can be substantially improved by changing the rubrene thickness. A shoulder exhibited in a range of 500–550 nm was observed. This result indicated that the singlet excitons of rubrene were increased when the thickness of the rubrene layer was increased. Capacitance–voltage measurements were conducted for estimating the built-in potential of the devices. The calculated VOC was higher than that of the experiment, thus indicating that energetic losses occurred in the devices. We reused the reciprocity and revised Marcus theory for determining the charge-transfer (CT) properties of the devices. The CT properties of the CT states at the rubrene/C60 interface remained similar. The nonradiative energetic losses become smaller when the rubrene layer was increased, thus indicating the bimolecular recombination was increased. The increased recombination thermally activated the electrons in C60 into rubrene for form...

Organic materials are used in novel optoelectronic devices because of the ease and high compatibility of their fabrication processes. Here, we demonstrate a low-driving-voltage cathodic-controlled organic upconverter with a mapping application that converts near-infrared images to produce images of visible blood vessels. The proposed upconverter has a multilayer structure consisting of a photosensitive charge-generation layer (CGL) and a phosphorescent organic light-emitting diode (OLED) for producing clear images with a high resolution of 600 dots per inch. In this study, temperature-dependent electrical characterization was performed to analyze the interfacial modification of the cathodic-controlled upconverter. The result shows that the upconverter demonstrated a high conversion efficiency of 3.46% because of reduction in the injection barrier height at the interface between the CGL and the OLED.

The theoretical maximum of open-circuit voltage (VOC) of organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices has yet to be determined, and its origin remains debated. Here, we demonstrate that VOC of small-molecule OPV devices can be improved by controlling the deposition rate of a donor without changing the interfacial energy gap at the donor/acceptor interface. The measurement of external quantum efficiency and electroluminescence spectra facilitates the observation of the existence of charge transfer (CT) states. A simplified approach by reusing the reciprocity relationship for obtaining the properties of the CT states is proposed without introducing complex techniques. We compare experimental and fitting results and propose that reorganization energy is the primary factor in determining VOC instead of either the CT energy or electronic coupling term in bilayer OPV devices. Atomic force microscopy images indicate a weak molecular aggregation when a higher deposition rate is used. The results of temperature-dependent measurements suggest the importance of molecular stacking for the CT properties.

To improve the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of small molecular weight organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs) it is proposed to use a simple fabrication method by controlling the deposition rate of the acceptor material fullerene (C60) in planar heterojunction OPV structures of ITO/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate)/copper phthalocyanine (CuPc)/C60/bathocuproine (BCP)/Ag. In our optimised device, the highest PCE of 1.7% was obtained through a deposition rate of C60 equal to 0.3 nm/s due to the superior charge balance in the CuPc/C60 heterojunction. Such a charge balance condition increased the fill factor from 52.4% to 56.1% by reducing the carrier accumulation in the OPV device. The electron only device was fabricated with the purpose of analysing the electron mobility of C60 as a function of the deposition rate. In addition, the effects of the deposition rates on the performance of planar OPV devices were exhaustively analysed by examining the absorption properties and the surface morphologies.

Buckminsterfullerene, C60-based planar heterojunction (PHJ) organic photovoltaics (OPVs) have been created using a short wavelength absorption (λmax = 490 nm) electron-donating bis(naphthylphenylaminophenyl)fumaronitrile (NPAFN). NPAFN exhibits a hole mobility greater than 0.07 cm2 V−1 s−1 as determined by its field-effect transistor. It can be attributed to such hole mobility that enables a thin layer (

High efficiency and high open-circuit voltage ( V OC ) ITO/boron subphthalocyanine chloride (SubPc)/C 60 /bathocuproine/Al organic photovoltaic devices were fabricated in this study. Molecular packing was adjusted by controlling the deposition rate of SubPc, thus influencing the energy level of SubPc, which not only increased the energy level difference from the LUMO level of C 60 to the HOMO level of SubPc, but also reduced the energy barrier between the ITO/SubPc interface and diminished the accumulation and recombination of holes in SubPc, resulting in considerable improvement in both the V OC (1.02 V) and fill factor (65.37%) of the device, and a 3.96% final efficiency of the device.

This study aimed to identify the spatial and temporal variations of the Kuroshio using satellite-derived Sea Surface Temperature SST data and a total of 585 Argos satellite-tracking Lagrangian drifters during 1987–2006 in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The threshold of high surface velocity, more than 75 cm s–1, was used to determine the location of the Kuroshio Current and found that its width ranged from 50 to 100 km. Moreover, this study first conducted a synoptic view for three predominant regions of the Kuroshio, including the area east of Taiwan, the area east of the East China Sea ECS and the area south of Japan. We found that the Kuroshio flows at a three-step increase in speed from upstream to downstream. The maximum mean surface velocity, 153 cm s–1, occurred to the south of Japan. Furthermore, the higher surface velocity of the Kuroshio was usually during the summertime from April to September. In addition, the four-cruise CTD Conductivity, Temperature, Depth-transect data observed in January 2005 were collected to identify and validate the path of the Kuroshio axes. The results showed that the measure of 17.5°C at a depth of 200 m could be regarded as an indicator of the Kuroshio axis, corresponding with the maximum surface velocities of the Argos drifters. The monthly satellite-derived SST values of the Kuroshio were usually more than 10°C, so it was difficult to find a specific isotherm to express the location of the Kuroshio. However, extensive Kuroshio fronts derived from satellite SST data were found in this study. These Kuroshio fronts, associated with high SST gradients, were usually located on the boundary between the warm water of the Kuroshio and the colder water of the shelf, corresponding with the boundary of high surface velocity of the Argos drifters. Consequently, this study suggests that these Kuroshio fronts can be regarded as an effective indicator of the Kuroshio paths and its main axes.

The stamping process of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) mold on the Ag electrode was demonstrated, for use as the anode of a top-emission organic light-emitting device (OLED) and the cathode of an organic photovoltaic (OPV) device stacked underneath. Such SAMs reduce the barrier for hole injection from the Ag to the hole-transport layer of OLED. The PDMS mold coated with SAMs can be used repeatedly, for more than nine times. In this tandem device, the power conversation efficiency under OPV-mode operation and the current efficiency under OLED-mode operation were nearly identical to those in individual devices without compromise.

The seasonal variation in the larval fish community related to the hydrography in the East China Sea (ECS) off northern Taiwan was studied from February to November 2004. Hydrographic conditions in the southern ECS are strongly influenced by the different water masses due to the seasonal monsoon system. A total of 173 taxa of larval fish belonging to 68 families and 105 genera were identified during the study period. The highest abundance of larval fish was recorded in winter, a moderate abundance was seen in late spring and summer, and the lowest abundance in autumn. Significantly higher abundances were usually found in the mixing zone than in ECS and the Kuroshio Current, and the number of species of larval fish was greater during the warm period than during the cold period. The larval fish fauna in the southern ECS is a mixture of endemic and exotic species; the latter come from the coastal waters of mainland China when the northeasterly monsoon prevails, from the South China Sea during the southwesterly monsoon, and from the Kuroshio waters year-round. The succession of water masses induced by the monsoon systems and the high nutrient levels caused by frontal turbulence and topographic upwelling may determine the distributions of larval fish in terms of abundance and composition.

Sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus) are of substantial economic importance to Taiwan because of their seasonal abundance (April to October, with a peak from May to July) off the island's eastern coast. They are harvested by drift gill nets, set nets, harpoons, and as incidental bycatch by inshore longline fisheries. Although the biology of sailfish has been investigated in eastern Taiwan, there is a paucity of data on movement patterns. Pop-up satellite archival tags (PSATs) were used to study the vertical and horizontal movements of three sailfish in 2008. The fish were tagged near the southeastern coast of Taiwan and linear displacements ranged from 1050 to 1400 km (~ 40 km day− 1) from deployment to pop-up locations and all movements were confined to the East China Sea. Sailfish spent 88% of their time in the upper uniform mixed layer above 50 m, but made more extensive vertical movements during the nighttime ( x ¯ = 60.61 m ± 48.24 SD) than daytime ( x ¯ = 35.21 m ± 35.37 SD). Depths and ambient water temperatures visited ranged from 0 to 214 m and 30.0° to 17.8 °C, respectively. However in all cases, the depth distribution appeared primarily limited by an 8 °C change in water temperature. Diel diving patterns also suggested basking behavior. Sailfish behavior makes them particularly vulnerable to surface fishing gears.

Tseng, C-T., Sun, C-L., Yeh, S-Z., Chen, S-C., Su, W-C., and Liu, D-C. 2011. Influence of climate-driven sea surface temperature increase on potential habitats of the Pacific saury (Cololabis saira). – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 68: 1105–1113. Logbook data of the 2006–2008 Taiwanese Pacific saury fishery, coupled with MODIS satellite-derived sea surface temperature (SST) data, were used to determine Pacific saury's SST preferences and predict their potential habitats monthly. Results indicated that the SST preferences ranged from 12 to18.5°C, with significant monthly variability. Possible changes in potential saury habitats were estimated under four scenarios: recent years (2006–2008) and with 1, 2, and 4°C increases in SST because of climate change. Results revealed an obvious poleward shift of potential saury habitats under the influence of increases in SSTs. The southernmost boundary of potential saury habitat in recent years, located at 40.24°N, shifted to 46.15°N under the scenario of a 4°C increase in SSTs. These results improve our understanding of the variability in the spatial distribution of saury habitats and could form the basis for future fishery management and fishing forecasts.

We investigated changes in the assemblages of fish larvae during two distinct seasons (winter northeasterly monsoon vs summer southwesterly monsoon, 2004) and evaluated their relationships with the hydrographic conditions of the waters off eastern Taiwan. In total, we examined 2326 fish larvae belonging to 78 families, 77 genera, and 223 taxa. Oceanic larvae constituted 67.0% of the total catch and neritic species were 30.3% of the total fish larvae. The catch was dominated by five families: Scombridae (25.5%), Myctophidae (21.1%), Engraulidae (12.6%), Gonostomatidae (5.8%), and Trichiuridae (3.8%). The seasonal difference in total larval fish abundance was not significant; however, abundance of fish larvae was significantly higher in the East China Sea (ECS) shelf break area (transect I) than in transects to the east of Taiwan (II-V). Two seasonal station groups and four assemblages of fish larvae were distinguished. The distribution of fish larvae east of Taiwan was related to the prevailing oceanographic processes at the time of sampling. The dynamic front between the ECS shelf waters and the Kuroshio waters, driven by seasonal monsoons, may be important for the transport of fish larvae. In addition, winter frontal turbulence and upwelling contributed to increased biological production; the development of high chlorophyll a concentrations and zooplankton biomass provided abundant food for the survival of fish larvae.

In this study, potential tuna habitats in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) area from 1998 to 2005 were identified using a combination of multi-satellite oceanographic data related to sea-surface temperature (SST), chlorophyll-a concentration (Chl-a) and sea-surface height anomaly (SSHA). Histogram analyses of tuna catch per unit effort (CPUE) by the Taiwanese purse seine fishery in relation to the satellite oceanographic data were used to determine tuna's preferred ranges of the three satellite-derived oceanographic parameters. The highest CPUE corresponded to areas where SST ranged from 29.0-29.5°C, Chl-a ranged from 0.0-0.1 mg m-3 and SSHA ranged from 0.0-5.0 cm. Local areas within the WCPO with similar satellite-derived oceanographic parameters were assumed to be potential tuna habitat, and a spatially explicit model was developed to determine their locations. It was found that the potential tuna habitats were distributed in warm pools, in the vicinity of the western cold tongue in the equatorial Pacific. Consequently, by using these potential habitats, tuna-fishery management and protection of habitats of tuna species can be improved, and these can possibly form the basis of fishing-ground forecasting in the future.

WEN TSENG LO 1, HUNG YEN HSIEH 1,2*, LONG JING WU 2, HUANG BIN JIAN 3, DENG CHENG LIU 3 AND WEI CHENG SU 3 1 DEPARTMENT OF MARINE BIOTECHNOLOGY AND RESOURCES, NATIONAL SUN YATSEN UNIVERSITY, KAOHSIUNG, TAIWAN 80424, ROC, COASTAL AND OFFSHORE RESOURCES RESEARCH CENTER, FISHERIES RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF THE COUNCIL OF AGRICULTURE, EXECUTIVE YUAN, KAOHSIUNG, TAIWAN 80672, ROC AND FISHERIES RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF THE COUNCIL OF AGRICULTURE, EXECUTIVE YUAN, KEELUNG, TAIWAN 20246, ROC

Lan, Y-C., Lee, M-A., Chen, W-Y., Hsieh, F-J., Pan, J-Y., Liu, D-C., and Su, W-C. 2008. Seasonal relationships between the copepod community and hydrographic conditions in the southern East China Sea. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 65: 462–468. We studied the relationship between seasonal variation of the copepod community and hydrographic conditions in the southern East China Sea (ECS). Hydrographic conditions in the southwestern ECS were influenced by the China Coastal Current (CCC) from late autumn to early spring and by the South China Sea Current (SCSC) during the rest of the year, and in the southeastern ECS by the Kuroshio Current (KC) year-round. We identified 141 species of copepods belonging to 54 genera and 27 families. Diversity and evenness of copepods were higher in waters influenced by the KC and the SCSC, and lower in waters with intrusion of the CCC. The CCC transported dominant copepods such as Paracalanus aculeatus, Paracalanus parvus, and Calanus sinicus into the southwestern ECS in late autumn and winter, whereas the SCSC carried Temora discaudata, Oncaea venusta, and P. aculeatus in spring, and Undinula vulgaris, T. discaudata, and P. aculeatus in summer. In the southeastern ECS, the KC brought in tropical copepods having clear seasonal variations throughout the year. We examined the relationships between indicator copepod species and currents and oceanographic conditions, using canonical correlation analysis.

Asbestos and benzo(a)pyrene diol epoxide (BPDE) are pulmonary carcinogens with synergistic interaction in causing lung cancer. We used Affymetrix microarrays to study gene modulation in vitro using normal human bronchial epithelial cells exposed to chrysotile asbestos and/or BPDE for 4 or 24 h. Linear models were used to compare treated cells to controls at each time point to identify statistically significant up- or downregulation of genes. Profiles of genes regulated by chrysotile were dominated by cytokines, growth factors, and DNA damage. Profiles of genes with BPDE and chrysotile regulation were correlated with proliferation, DNA damage recognition and nucleotide-excision repair, cytokines, and apoptosis. Chemokines, growth-regulated oncogene-alpha (Gro-alpha, CXCL-1), and IL-8, were significantly increased, and these had previously been observed in bronchoalveolar lavage from asbestos workers or in animal models. Interestingly, the Hermansky-Pudlak gene, which is mutated in an autosomal recessive form of pulmonary fibrosis, was downregulated threefold by BPDE at 4 h. This is an interesting example of gene (Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome) and environment (BPDE) interaction. Transcription factors, including activating transcription factor 3 and Cbp/p300-interacting transactivator, were upregulated by chrysotile. Real Time PCR for IL-8, ATF-3, GADD45B, CXC Ligand 1, and CTGF compared to GAPDH validated microarray findings at 24 h. These in vitro findings in NHBE cells model environment-gene interaction for asbestos and BPDE, highlighting effects of inflammation, fibrosis, proliferation, and DNA damage recognition and repair.

1. In order to promote the establishment of the first marine protected area (MPA) in Taiwan, the conservation values of 12 reef sites in the Penghu Islands were evaluated. The results together with a 6-year surveillance programme revealed that the Chinwan Inner Bay (CIB) possesses the best coral community in the Penghu Islands with the highest coral cover, high species diversity and habitat types, as well as a high conservation value. 2. Utilization of biological resources and socio-economic factors of CIB were investigated by intensive field surveys and a complete visit-and-poll survey respectively. Most of the fishing at CIB is for recreational purposes and is characterized by low investment, low harvest rates, high dependence on weather conditions, and self-consumption. 3. The socio-economic data showed that there was basically no direct conflict of interests with local communities at two neighbouring villages, and most local residents indicated that they would support the MPA proposal. 4. A blueprint for a CIB MPA based on the results of these biological and socio-economic investigations is proposed. Environmental threats including anchor damage and the predation of Drupella snails need to be ameliorated and monitored through the implementation of appropriate management. The involvement of local communities is key to the success of this MPA and environmental education is recommended to promote public awareness. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

In this study, we compared the use of neat bathocuproine (BCP) and BCP:C60 mixed buffer layers in chloroboron subphthalocyanine (SubPc)/C60 bilayer organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices and analyzed their influence on device performance. Replacing the conventional BCP with BCP:C60 enabled manipulating the optical field distribution for optimizing the optical properties of the devices. Estimation of the interfacial barrier indicated that the insertion of the BCP:C60 between the C60 and electrode can effectively reduce the barrier for electrons and enhance electron collection at the electrode. Temperature-dependent measurements of the OPV devices performed to calculate the barrier height at the SubPc/C60 interface suggested that band bending was larger when the BCP:C60 buffer layer was used, reflecting increased exciton dissociation efficiency. In addition, the device lifetime was considerably improved when the BCP:C60 buffer layer was used. The device performance was stabilized after the photodegradation of the active layers, thereby increasing the device lifetime compared with the use of the neat BCP buffer layer. Atomic force microscopy images showed that the neat BCP was easily crystallized and could degrade the cathodic interface, whereas the blend of C60 and BCP suppressed the crystallization of BCP. Therefore, the optimal buffer layer improved both the device performance and the device lifetime.

The aim of this study was to investigate the species composition and distribution of fish larvae in relation to hydrographic conditions in the waters surrounding Taiwan Island (TI) in February 2003. In total, 242 kinds of fish larvae belonging to 127 genera and 75 families were recognized. Among these, 109 taxa were identified to the family or genus level, others to the species level. The 12 predominant types, which constituted 71% of the total fish larvae, were Engraulis japonica, Scomber sp., Diaphus spp., Benthosema pterotum, Carangoides ferdau, Embolichthys mitsukurii, Maurolicus sp., unidentified Myctophidae, Gonostoma gracile, Trichiurus lepturus, unidentified Gobiidae, and Myctophum asperum. The distribution of fish larvae showed a clear association with water masses around TI, with higher abundances and lower species richness northwest of TI where the China Coastal Current prevails, and lower abundances and higher species diversity east of TI where the Kuroshio Current dominates. Cluster analysis distinguished three station groups and four species groups, and the distribution patterns of fish larvae also corresponded to hydrographic conditions. The total abundances of fish larvae and eight of the 12 predominant taxa showed significant and positive correlations with zooplankton abundance, which suggests that food source might be a key factor determining the abundance and distribution of fish larvae during the winter.

Reproductive biology of the common ponyfish Leiognathus equulus was described based on 958 specimens caught by otter trawlers in the south-western waters off Taiwan and landed at Tungkang and Linuan fishing ports from March 2000 to February 2001. Macroscopic appearance of the ovary, gonad-somatic index, oocyte diameter frequency distribution, and histological examination suggested that the spawning season of the common ponyfish in south-western Taiwan waters is from May to August. Eight stages of oocyte development were determined based on histological examination, and ovarian development can be divided as immature, early maturing, late maturing, mature and spent stages. The sex ratio of 0.52 was not significantly different from 0.5 using χ2 test. but females were overwhelmingly more when fork length (FL) was greater than 170 mm. The relations between fecundity (F), batch fecundity (BF), and body weight (BW) were estimated to be F=−5328+1.2946 BW (n=132, P

The carcinogenic process initiated by nongenotoxic carcinogens involves modulation of gene expression. Nickel compounds have low mutagenic activity, but are highly carcinogenic. In vitro both mouse and human cells can be efficiently transformed by soluble and insoluble nickel compounds to anchorage-independent growth. Because previous studies have shown that carcinogenic nickel compounds silence genes by inhibiting histone acetylation and enhancing DNA methylation, we investigated the effect of enhancing histone acetylation on cell transformation. The exposure of nickel-transformed cells to the histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A (TSA) resulted in the appearance of significant number of revertants measured by their inability to grow in soft agar. Using the Affymetrix GeneChip we found that the level of expression of a significant number of genes was changed (suppressed or upregulated) in nickel-transformed clones but returned to a normal level in revertants obtained following TSA treatment. Moreover, we found that treatment of cells with TSA inhibited the ability of nickel to transform mouse PW cells to anchorage-independent growth. Treatment with TSA also inhibited the ability of nickel to transform human HOS cells, although to a lesser extent. In contrast, treatment with TSA was not able to revert established cancer cell lines as readily as the nickel-transformed cells. These data indicated that modulation of gene expression is important for nickel-induced transformation.

In this letter, an efficient subphthalocyanine (SubPc)/C60 heterojunction organic photovoltaic device was demonstrated. The power conversion efficiency was improved from 2.7% to 4.3% by the sublimation of SubPc. The atomic force microscopic images showed that the crystallinity was improved with the sublimation of the SubPc, leading to the significantly enhanced hole mobility of SubPc in orders of magnitude as estimated by the space-charge limited current. The external quantum efficiency spectra further confirmed the improved charge collection efficiency as a result of the increase in the hole mobility of SubPc due to the unchanged spectral shape over the entire spectrum.

Time-of-flight (TOF) measurements typically require a sample thickness of several micrometers for determining the carrier mobility, thus rendering the applicability inefficient and unreliable because the sample thicknesses are orders of magnitude higher than those in real optoelectronic devices. Here, we use subphthalocyanine (SubPc):C70 as a charge-generation layer (CGL) in the TOF measurement and a commonly hole-transporting layer, N,N’-diphenyl-N,N’-bis(1,1’-biphenyl)-4,4’-diamine (NPB), as a standard material under test. When the NPB thickness is reduced from 2 to 0.3 μm and with a thin 10-nm CGL, the hole transient signal still shows non-dispersive properties under various applied fields and thus the hole mobility is determined accordingly. Only 1-μm NPB is required for determining the electron mobility by using the proposed CGL. Both the thicknesses are the thinnest value reported to data. In addition, the flexibility of fabrication process of small molecules can deposit the proposed CGL underneath and atop the material under test. Therefore, this technique is applicable to small-molecule and polymeric materials. We also propose a new approach to design the TOF sample using an optical simulation. These results strongly demonstrate that the proposed technique is valuable tool in determining the carrier mobility and may spur additional research in this field.

Reflectance was reduced by 39.4% at 550 nm in our OLED embedded with OSC function based on three-layer non-doped thin films sandwiched by counter electrodes. In this single device, red emission under OLED mode was achieved under 1.5V forward bias, and efficiency of 1.97% under OPV mode was obtained under AM1.5 illumination.

Transparent organic upconversion devices are shown in a night-vision demonstration of a real object under near-infrared (NIR) illumination in the dark. An extraordinarily high current gain - reflecting the on-off switching effect - greater than 15 000 at a driving voltage of 3 V is demonstrated, indicating the high sensitivity to NIR light and potential of using the proposed upconverter in practical applications. A maximum luminance exceeding 1500 cd m(-2) at 7 V is achieved. Unlike previous studies, where 2D aperture projection is reported, the current study shows 3D images of real objects under NIR illumination in the dark.

This report demonstrated that the open-circuit voltage (V OC ) of organic photovoltaic devices could be altered by changing the deposition rate of donor. The V OC was higher when used a higher deposition rate of donor. Atomic force microscopic image of donor thin film showing the presence of pinholes indicated the strong molecular interaction at the lower deposition rate. These may cause a severe leakage current from acceptor to anode as observed in the dark current. Equivalent circuit model and temperature-dependent dark currents were utilized to realize the effect of reverse saturation current on V OC . The higher barrier height at the donor-acceptor interface was attributed to the improved V OC for the device with higher donor deposition rate.

The dolphin fish, Corphaena hippurus Linnaeus, is one of the most important migratory fishes on the east coast of Taiwan. Present results are based on an investigation of 1439 specimens caught using long-line and driftnet, and set net collected monthly between September 1996 and September 1997. The sex ratio of female to male and female combined was 65%, demonstrating a female predominance. Oocytes became mature and transparent when they attained 1.0 mm in diameter. The total number of oocytes per ovary was estimated to range from 2.78 × 105 to 23.48 × 10>5, but batch fecundity was noticeably lower than the total number of ovarian eggs, ranging 5.3–32.7% (average 30.1%), and the relative fecundity ranging 10–344/g bodyweight (mean 111/g bodyweight). Minimum body size at sexual maturity was estimated to be 51 cm for both sexes. Dolphin fish spawned throughout the year with reproductive activity peaking in February to March. It is suggested that the dolphin fish has an extended spawning season, during which it lays eggs almost continuously.

In this report, we demonstrate an efficient planar-mixed heterojunction organic photovoltaic (OPV) device employing a mixed structure of subphthalocyanine (SubPc) donor and C70 acceptor. Compared to a SubPc:C60 cell, the SubPc:C70 cell exhibits high performance with a fill factor (FF) of 52%, short-circuit current density (JSC) of 8.8 mA/cm2, open-circuit voltage (VOC) of 1 V, and power conversion efficiency of 4.6% under air-mass 1.5 G illumination (1 sun). The high VOC is mainly due to the wide interface gap between SubPc and C70 as in the SubPc:C60 device. On comparing the absorption spectra of C70 and C60, C70 shows the higher absorption coefficient and wider absorption band, leading to the significantly improved JSC. Moreover, the FF of the device using C70 is enhanced to 52%; by comparison it is 45% when using C60. In order to understand this phenomenon, the space-charge limited current is measured for estimating the carrier mobility of SubPc, C70, and C60. It reveals that the electron mobility of C70 is lower than that of C60 by orders of magnitude but is close to the hole mobility of SubPc. As a result, a better charge balance condition is achieved when SubPc is blended with C70 and therefore a higher FF is obtained. Consequently, C70 seems to be a more suitable acceptor for the mixed structure to develop a highly efficient OPV device due to the improvements in both electrical and optical properties.

An efficient organic photovoltaic devices (OPVs) have been realized by using a new amorphous absorption material, bis(4-(N-(l-naphthyl)phenylamino) phenyl)fumaronitrile (NPAFN). NPAFN exhibits a hole mobility of 0.07 cm2/Vs as determined by the thin-film transistor. The structure of double-heterojunction OPV, ITO/NPAFN/fulerene/bathocuproine/Al, shows high performance with open circuit voltage of 0.98 V, short current density of 3.72 mA/cm2, and power conversion efficiency of 1.72% under air-mass (AM) 1.5 G illumination at an light intensity of 100 mW/cm2.