Vibrisseaceous fungi from the southern hemisphere, including Chlorovibrissea chilensis (Helotiales, incertaesedis) sp. nov

The discovery of Chlorovibrissea chilensis sp. nov.expands the distribution of Chlorovibrissea from Australasia to include South America. C. chilensis, phylogenetically distinct from other species in the genus, is also characterized morphologically by its ascoma with emerald green stalk and pale orange-brown head, budding paraphyses and 5-6-septate ascospores. Based on the phylogenetic analysis, the Australasian species Vibrisseaalbofusca is recombined in Chlorovibrissea, despite the fact it lacks the distinctive green pigmentation of other species in this genus. In addition, the genus Vibrissea in a strict phylogenetic sense is confirmed from the southern hemisphere for the first time; Vibrissea truncorum is reported from Chile and V. flavovirens from New Zealand.

Automatic Detection of Cow's Oestrus in Audio Surveillance System

Early detection of anomalies is an important issue in the management of group-housed livestock. In particular, failure to detect oestrus in a timely and accurate way can become a limiting factor in achieving efficient reproductive performance. Although a rich variety of methods has been introduced for the detection of oestrus, a more accurate and practical method is still required. In this paper, we propose an efficient data mining solution for the detection of oestrus, using the sound data of Korean native cows (Bos taurus coreanea). In this method, we extracted the mel frequency cepstrum coefficients from sound data with a feature dimension reduction, and use the support vector data description as an early anomaly detector. Our experimental results show that this method can be used to detect oestrus both economically (even a cheap microphone) and accurately (over 94% accuracy), either as a standalone solution or to complement known methods.

Optical imaging of cell death in traumatic brain injury using a heat shock protein-90 alkylator

Traumatic brain injury is a major public health concern and is characterised by both apoptotic and necrotic cell death in the lesion. Anatomical imaging is usually used to assess traumatic brain injuries and there is a need for imaging modalities that provide complementary cellular information. We sought to non-invasively image cell death in a mouse model of traumatic brain injury using a near-infrared fluorescent conjugate of a synthetic heat shock protein-90 alkylator, 4-(N-(S-glutathionylacetyl) amino) phenylarsonous acid (GSAO). GSAO labels both apoptotic and necrotic cells coincident with loss of plasma membrane integrity. The optical GSAO specifically labelled apoptotic and necrotic cells in culture and did not accumulate in healthy organs or tissues in the living mouse body. The conjugate is a very effective imager of cell death in brain lesions. The optical GSAO was detected by fluorescence intensity and GSAO bound to dying/dead cells was detected from prolongation of the fluorescence lifetime. An optimal signal-to-background ratio was achieved as early as 3 h after injection of the probe and the signal intensity positively correlated with both lesion size and probe concentration. This optical GSAO offers a convenient and robust means to non-invasively image apoptotic and necrotic cell death in brain and other lesions.

Somatic gonad sheath cells and Eph receptor signaling promote germ-cell death in C. elegans

Programmed cell death eliminates unwanted cells during normal development and physiological homeostasis. While cell interactions can influence apoptosis as they do other types of cell fate, outside of the adaptive immune system little is known about the intercellular cues that actively promote cell death in healthy cells. We used the Caenorhabditis elegans germline as a model to investigate the extrinsic regulators of physiological apoptosis. Using genetic and cell biological methods, we show that somatic gonad sheath cells, which also act as phagocytes of dying germ cells, promote death in the C. elegans germline through VAB-1/Eph receptor signaling. We report that the germline apoptosis function of VAB-1 impacts specific cell death pathways, and may act in parallel to extracellular signal-regulated kinase MAPK signaling. This work defines a non-autonomous, pro-apoptotic signaling for efficient physiological cell death, and highlights the dynamic nature of intercellular communication between dying cells and the phagocytes that remove them.

SU-E-T-175: A Study on Design and Fabrication of 25 * 25 cm2 Beam Monitor for Scanning Carbon Beam

PURPOSE

The KHIMA is developing a superconducting cyclotron of 430 MeV/u for carbon therapy. In order to verify the irradiated beam dose and position, detectors have been developed. The detector has a considered in the active area of 25*25cm² to cover the entire beam scanning area. To minimize the loss of data during beam irradiation, a fast data acquisition system was required.

METHODS

A PPIC type was adopted. To measure the beam position and profile, the electrode of PPIC was designed to have a strip pattern. The PCB technique was applied to large area with thin FR-4 plate of electrodes. The chamber has a strip interval of 1.7mm. He was used as the filling gas in order to reduce the ion collection time. Output signal from the detector connected to the two charge integrators was transferred every 10us. The signal can be stored temporarily in memory of FPGA through one of 2 integrators.

RESULTS

The fabricated large electrode plates did not show any deformation on their shape. Depending on the beam position, the amount of dose from the ion chamber will be measured. For fast data acquisition, the DAQ board was fabricated by using 2 charge integrators and the FPGA. The obtained data from the ion chamber was displaced on the PC screen every 10us. The fluence map of a single layer will be shown on the PC screen at the end of beam irradiation on the layer. The output data from the profile monitor will be compared with Gafchromic Film results.

CONCLUSIONS

PCB method for active area of thin electrodes was used in the strip pattern. To reduce the loss of data during irradiation, 2 charge integrators are used alternately. The response of the readout data was set 1 0us. The beam tests will be performed with the MC-50 Cyclotron.