Effects of four chemosterilants on Bactrocera tau.

Bactrocera tau (Walker) is a fly pest species mainly distributed in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific; it causes substantial ecological and economic issues because of its destructiveness and rapid reproduction. Chemical sterilization technology can reduce the use of insecticides and is widely applied for insect pest control. In this study, the sterilization efficacy of varying concentrations of four chemosterilants, namely, hexamethylphosphoramide (HMPA), CSII Aqua, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), and colchicine, on adult pumpkin flies was investigated. The results indicated that a solution of 0.03% HMPA had the highest sterilization efficacy. When the number of sterile males was equal to or exceeded 20 times that of untreated males, the hatching rate of offspring eggs was less than 10%. Chemosterilant treatment significantly altered the levels of acid phosphatase (ACP), alkaline phosphatase (AKP), and B. tau vitellogenin (BtVg); these substances have an important impact on reproductive development. The treatment also decreased the size of the reproductive organs (i.e., testes and ovaries). Our results suggest that 0.03% HMPA has unique sterilization properties and may represent a new chemical agent for the control of B. tau populations in agricultural settings.

Hybrid SVM-CNN Classification Technique for Human-Vehicle Targets in an Automotive LFMCW Radar.

Human-vehicle classification is an essential component to avoiding accidents in autonomous driving. The classification technique based on the automotive radar sensor has been paid more attention by related researchers, owing to its robustness to low-light conditions and severe weather. In the paper, we propose a hybrid support vector machine-convolutional neural network (SVM-CNN) approach to address the class-imbalance classification of vehicles and pedestrians with limited experimental radar data available. A two-stage scheme with the combination of feature-based SVM technique and deep learning-based CNN is employed. In the first stage, the modified SVM technique based on these distinct physical features is firstly used to recognize vehicles to effectively alleviate the imbalance ratio of vehicles to pedestrians in the data level. Then, the residual unclassified images will be used as inputs to the deep network for the subsequent classification, and we introduce a weighted false error function into deep network architectures to enhance the class-imbalance classification performance at the algorithm level. The proposed SVM-CNN approach takes full advantage of both the locations of underlying class in the entire Range-Doppler image and automatical local feature learning in the CNN with sliding filter bank to improve the classification performance. Experimental results demonstrate the superior performances of the proposed method with the F 1 score of 0.90 and area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) of 0.99 over several state-of-the-art methods with limited experimental radar data available in a 77 GHz automotive radar.

[Clinicopathologic features of gastrointestinal stromal tumor with synchronous carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinicopathologic features of gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) with synchronous carcinoma and the treatment principle. METHODS: Nineteen cases of GIST with synchronous carcinoma were collected from 113 cases of GIST from 2002 to 2008. The clinicopathologic features were studied and the expression of CD117, CD34, smooth muscle actin and S-100 protein were detected by immunohistochemistry using EliVision method. The expression of proliferation marker Ki-67 was also studied. GIST with synchronous carcinoma and those without carcinoma were compared. RESULTS: Nineteen cases (16.8%) of GIST with synchronous carcinoma were found, including 11 males and 8 females (male to female ratio 1.38: 1.00). The age of the patients ranged from 43 to 66 years (median age 57 years). Five of 19 cases were located in the inferior segment of esophagus and 14 were in the gastric wall. The diameter ranged from 0.6 to 3.8 cm [mean (1.91 ± 0.92) cm]. Three of 19 cases showed low grade dysplasia, and there was no dysplasia in the remaining 16 cases. The number of mitosis ranged from 0 to 4/50 HPF [mean (0.74 ± 1.07)/50 HPF]. The Ki-67 proliferative index (number of Ki-67 positive cell/HPF) ranged from 0 to 7.72% [mean (2.51 ± 2.20)%]. The synchronous carcinomas included two esophageal carcinomas and 17 gastric cancers.In contrast, patients of GIST without carcinoma included 52 males and 42 females (male to female ratio 1.24: 1.00). The age of patients ranged from 43 to 71 years (median age 55 years). Seventy-nine of the 94 cases were located in the stomach, 10 were in the intestine and 5 were in the esophagus. The diameter ranged from 2.4 to 15.5 cm [mean (5.42 ± 6.17) cm].Seventy-nine of the 94 cases showed variable degrees of dysplasia, and 12 cases were of high malignant potential. The number of mitosis ranged from 0 to 53/50 HPF [average (3.78 ± 10.22)/50 HPF]. The Ki-67 proliferative index ranged from 0 to 37.54% [mean (6.78 ± 12.45)%]. Comparing these two groups, the male to female ratio of GIST with synchronous carcinoma was higher than that of GIST without carcinoma. The average diameter of GIST with synchronous carcinoma was smaller than of those without carcinoma. The number of mitosis and Ki-67 proliferative index of GIST with synchronous carcinoma were significantly lower than those without carcinoma (t' = 2.809, P < 0.05; t' = 3.095, P < 0.05, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Sixteen point eight percent of GIST may be associated with synchronous carcinoma. There are no special clinical symptoms in most of GIST with synchronous carcinoma, as these GIST are usually incidental findings. The Ki-67 proliferative index of GIST with synchronous carcinoma is significantly lower than that of GIST without synchronous carcinoma. Most GIST with synchronous carcinoma can be treated by the standard treatment for the accompanying carcinoma, and do not require specific additional treatments.