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Ship detection and classification is critical for national maritime security and national defense. Although some SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) image-based ship detection approaches have been proposed and used, they are not able to satisfy the requirement of real-world applications as the number of SAR sensors is limited, the resolution is low, and the revisit cycle is long. As massive optical remote sensing images of high resolution are available, ship detection and classification on theses images is becoming a promising technique, and has attracted great attention on applications including maritime security and traffic control. Some digital image processing methods have been proposed to detect ships in optical remote sensing images, but most of them face difficulty in terms of accuracy, performance and complexity. Recently, an autoencoder-based deep neural network with extreme learning machine was proposed, but it cannot meet the requirement of real-world applications as it only works with simple and small-scaled data sets. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a novel ship detection and classification approach which utilizes deep convolutional neural network (CNN) as the ship classifier. The performance of our proposed ship detection and classification approach was evaluated on a set of images downloaded from Google Earth at the resolution 0.5m. 99% detection accuracy and 95% classification accuracy were achieved. In model training, 75× speedup is achieved on 1 Nvidia Titanx GPU.

Serpins, also called serine proteinase inhibitors, are widely distributed in eukaryotes. In insects, serpins play important roles in regulating immune responses, gut physiology, and other processes. Here, we report the cloning and characterization of 12 serpin-like cDNAs from the striped rice stem borer (Chilo suppressalis), a major rice pest. The putative proteins share significant sequence similarity with known insect serpins, especially those from lepidopterons. Analysis of functional domains revealed that nine of the cloned serpins are putative trypsin- or chymotrypsin-like inhibitors; two are mixed-type serpins that may act as inhibitors for trypsins, elastases, or thrombin; and the remaining one is truncate. The potential functions of these serpins in interacting with host plants were also investigated by analyzing tissue-specific expression and the impact of different host plant genotypes on gene expression. Our results provide a foundation for future studies on the role of serpins in gut physiology in the striped rice stem borer, and also useful information for comparative analyses of serpins from different insect species. Key words: Chilo suppressalis, striped rice stem borer, serpins, protease inhibitor, rice. Les serpines, aussi appelees inhibiteurs de proteases de type serine, sont largement repandues chez les eucaryotes. Chez les insectes, les serpines jouent des roles importants dans la regulation des reponses immunitaires, la physiologie de l'estomac et d'autres processus. Ici, les auteurs rapportent le clonage et la caracterisation de 12 ADNc de type serpine chez la pyrale du riz (Chilo suppressalis), un important ravageur du riz. Les proteines predites presentent une similarite de sequence significative avec des serpines connues chez les insectes, particulierement chez les lepidopteres. Une analyse des domaines fonctionnels a revele que neuf des serpines clonees seraient des inhibiteurs de type trypsine ou chymotrypsine; deux seraient des serpines de type mixte pouvant inhiber des trypsines, des elastases ou la thrombine; et la derniere serait tronquee. Les fonctions potentielles de ces serpines lors d'interactions avec les plantes hotes ont egalement ete examinees en analysant l'expression genique tissus-specifique et l'impact de differents genotypes de plantes hotes sur l'expression genique. Ces resultats constituent une assise pour de futurs travaux sur le role des serpines dans la physiologie de l'estomac chez la pyrale du riz et ils pourraient egalement fournir une information utile pour des analyses comparees des serpines chez differents insectes. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles: Chilo suppressalis, pyrale du riz, serpines, inhibiteurs de proteases, riz., Introduction Serpins, also called serine proteinase inhibitors, are likely to exist in all organisms and have been characterized in a wide range of species from animals, plants, bacteria, archaea, and [...]

BACKGROUND RNA interference (RNAi) is a breakthrough technology in pest control. It is highly efficient to Coleopteran pests such as the Colorado potato beetle Leptinotarsa decemlineata, a serious pest defoliator mainly attacking potatoes worldwide. The first step for effective pest control by RNAi is the development of effective and reliable target genes. RESULTS: Our results revealed that continuous ingestion of dsLdRan for 3 days successfully silenced the target gene, inhibited larval growth and killed 100% L. decemlineata larvae. When the bioassay began at the second‐, third/fourth‐instar larval stages, the larval lethality mainly occurred at the fourth larval instar and prepupal stages, respectively. Importantly, consumption of dsLdRan for 3 days by the newly‐emerged males and females effectively knocked down the target transcript, reduced fresh weights and caused 100% of lethality within a week. The LdRan females possessed underdeveloped ovaries. CONCLUSION: Considering that the larvae, adults and eggs are simultaneously sited on the potato plants, bacterially‐expressed dsLdRan is a potential RNAi‐based strategy for managing L. decemlineata in the potato field. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND Uridine diphosphate‐N‐acetylglucosamine (UDP‐GlcNAc) diphosphorylase (UAP) catalyzes the formation of UDP‐GlcNAc, the precursor for the production of chitin in ectodermally derived epidermal cells and midgut, for GlcNAcylation of proteins and for generation of glycosyl‐phosphatidyl‐inositol anchors in all tissues in Drosophila melanogaster. RESULTS: Here, we identified a putative HvUAP gene in Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata. Knockdown of HvUAP at the second‐, third‐ and fourth‐instar stages impaired larval development. Most resultant HvUAP hypomorphs showed arrested development at the third‐, fourth‐instar larval or prepupal stages, and became paralyzed, depending on the age when treated. Some HvUAP‐silenced larvae had weak and soft scoli. A portion of HvUAP‐depleted beetles formed misshapen pupae. No HvUAP RNA interference pupae successfully emerged as adults. Dissection and microscopic observation revealed that knockdown of HvUAP affected gut growth and food ingestion, reduced cuticle thickness, and negatively affected the formation of newly generated cuticle layers during ecdysis. Furthermore, HvUAP deficiency inhibited development of the tracheal respiratory system and thinned tracheal taenidia. CONCLUSION: The phenotypical defects in HvUAP hypomorphs suggest that HvUAP is involved in the production of chitin. Moreover, our findings will enable the development of a double‐stranded RNA‐based pesticide to control H. vigintioctopunctata. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vacuolar ATPase (vATPase) is an important proton pump in insect tissues including gut and Malpighian tubule. Subunit F, one of the 16 subunits of the vATPase holoenzyme, is not well characterized. Here, we found that two HvvATPaseF isoforms were highly expressed in the hindgut and Malpighian tubules (MT) in the 28‐spotted lady‐beetle Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata, an agricultural pest that feeds on Solanaceae and Cucurbitaceae. Knockdown of both HvvATPaseF variants by RNA interference (RNAi) delayed larval growth and negatively affected ecdysis and adult emergence. In the midgut, RNAi treatment resulted in the disappearance of peritrophic membrane, the reduction in the size and the impaired integrity of the gut, which was associated with sparse principle cells and an increase in TUNEL‐ and EdU‐positive cells. Whereas the MT were opaque and the tubule lumens were full of urine in dsegfp‐fed larvae, the tubules were clear and the tubule lumens were empty in the dsvATPaseF‐fed larvae. HvvATPaseF knockdown was also associated with a decrease in the abundance of the fat body and the levels of glucose, trehalose, triglyceride, total soluble amino acids and proteins, and an increase in glycogen. Consistent with the known effects of sugars on chitin formation, both the expression level of a chitin biosynthesis gene and the thickness of the head capsule cuticle were reduced in the HvvATPaseF‐depleted beetles. Our results demonstrated that subunit F plays an essential role in H. vigintioctopunctata development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]