KDM5B Is Essential for the Hyperactivation of PI3K/AKT Signaling in Prostate Tumorigenesis

KDM5B (lysine[K]-specific demethylase 5B) is frequently upregulated in various human cancers including prostate cancer. KDM5B controls H3K4me3/2 levels and regulates gene transcription and cell differentiation, yet the contributions of KDM5B to prostate cancer tumorigenesis remain unknown. In this study, we investigated the functional role of KDM5B in epigenetic dysregulation and prostate cancer progression in cultured cells and in mouse models of prostate epithelium–specific mutant Pten/Kdm5b. Kdm5b deficiency resulted in a significant delay in the onset of prostate cancer in Pten-null mice, whereas Kdm5b loss alone caused no morphologic abnormalities in mouse prostates. At 6 months of age, the prostate weight of Pten/Kdm5b mice was reduced by up to 70% compared with that of Pten mice. Pathologic analysis revealed Pten/Kdm5b mice displayed mild morphologic changes with hyperplasia in prostates, whereas age-matched Pten littermates developed high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia and prostate cancer. Mechanistically, KDM5B governed PI3K/AKT signaling in prostate cancer in vitro and in vivo. KDM5B directly bound the PIK3CA promoter, and KDM5B knockout resulted in a significant reduction of P110α and PIP3 levels and subsequent decrease in proliferation of human prostate cancer cells. Conversely, KDM5B overexpression resulted in increased PI3K/AKT signaling. Loss of Kdm5b abrogated the hyperactivation of AKT signaling by decreasing P110α/P85 levels in Pten/Kdm5b mice. Taken together, our findings reveal that KDM5B acts as a key regulator of PI3K/AKT signaling; they also support the concept that targeting KDM5B is a novel and effective therapeutic strategy against prostate cancer

Rectangular Natural Feature Recognition and Pose Measurement Method for Non-Cooperative Spacecraft

Accurately estimating the pose of spacecraft is indispensable for space applications. However, such targets are generally non-cooperative, i.e., no markers are mounted on them, and they include no parts for operation. Therefore, the detection and measurement of a non-cooperative target is very challenging. Stereovision sensors are important solutions in the near field. In this paper, a rectangular natural feature recognition and pose measurement method for non-cooperative spacecraft is proposed. Solar panels of spacecraft were selected as detection objects, and their image features were captured via stereo vision. These rectangle features were then reconstructed in 3D Cartesian space through parallelogram fitting on the image planes of two cameras. The vertexes of rectangle features were detected and used to solve the pose of a non-cooperative target. An experimental system was built to validate the effectiveness of the algorithm. The experimental results show that the average position measurement error of the algorithm is about 10 mm and the average attitude measurement error is less than 1°. The results also show that the proposed method achieves high accuracy and efficiency

Experimental Study on the Status of Maize Mycotoxin Production in Farmers’ Grain Storage Silos in Northeastern China

The scientific rationality of farmers’ grain storage technology and equipment is crucial for the biosecurity of grain in the main grain-producing areas represented by Northeast China. In this paper, four farmer grain storage mock silos of different widths were used as a means to track an experimental cycle of grain storage. The absolute water potential of corn in all four silos at the beginning of the experiment was greater than the absolute water potential of air, prompting moisture migration from the grain interior to the air and down to about 14%. Moisture was influenced by wind direction, and moisture decreased faster with better ventilation on both sides of the grain silos. Therefore, grain silo width has a significant effect on the drying effect under naturally ventilated conditions of maize ears. This research focused on the determination and assessment of mycotoxin contamination under farmers’ storage grain conditions and analyzed the effect of silo structure on the distribution of mycotoxin contamination. When the width was too large, areas of high mycotoxin infection existed in the middle of the grain silo, and ventilation and tipping could be used to reduce the risk of toxin production. This study proved that reasonable farmer grain storage techniques and devices in Northeast China can effectively protect grain from mycotoxin contamination

Biological Characterization of Pseudomonas fluorescens Phage Pf17397_F_PD1 and Its Application in Food Preservation

In order to explore the application prospects of phages for controlling bacterial contamination, a lytic phage Pf17397_F_PD1 (Later abbreviated as PD1) was isolated from fish guts using Pseudomonas fluorescens ATCC 17397 as the host bacterium. The phage displayed short latency (18 min), long lysis period (212 min), and high lysis volume (1.47 × 102 PFU/each cell). It displayed wide temperature (30–70°C) and pH (4–11) tolerance. Genomic comparison revealed a maximum sequence identity of 48.65% between phage PD1 and other identified phages, indicating that PD1 was a new phage. The phage PD1 significantly inhibited the growth of P. fluorescens in milk and grass carp at 4°C and 25°C. Compared to the negative control, bacterial levels in milk stored at 25°C for 48 h were reduced by 2.71 log CFU/mL and 2.84 log CFU/mL at the multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 100 and 1,000, respectively. In contrast, when grass carp were stored at 25°C for 24 h, the bacterial load was reduced by 1.28 log CFU/g and 2.64 log CFU/g compared to the control (MOI of 100 and 1,000). When the phage was applied for preservation of grass carp blocks, total volatile salt nitrogen (TVB-N) values of phage-treated samples increased by 6.8 mg/100 g and 7.5 mg/100 g at MOI of 100 and 1,000, respectively, after 7 days of storage, which was significantly lower than that of the control group (15.83 mg/100 g). This study showed that phage PD1 was a good natural biological antimicrobial agent against P. fluorescens ATCC 17397

Energy and Exergy Analyses of Rice Drying in a Novel Electric Stationary Bed Grain-Drying System with Internal Circulation of the Drying Medium

In our study, we developed a system to reduce both energy consumption and pollutant discharge during the drying process. We present a new technology, a stationary bed grain-drying test device based on the internal circulation of the drying medium (ICODM). A rice-drying experiment was carried out inside of it, and the influences of air temperature (AT) and air velocity (AV) on the energy and exergy efficiencies (EEE) as well as the improvement potential rate (IPR) and the sustainability index (SI) of the rice-drying process were studied. The following conclusions were obtained: when the rice was dried at a temperature of below 55 °C and an AV across the grain layer of 0.5 m/s, the average EEE during the drying process was 48.27–72.17% and 40.27–71.07%, respectively, demonstrating an increasing trend as the drying medium temperature increased. When the rice was dried using an AV across the grain layer in the range of 0.33–0.5 m/s and a temperature of 40 °C, the two values were 39.79–73.9% and 49.66–71.04%, respectively, demonstrating a decreasing trend as the drying medium flow velocity increased. IPR and SI were 4.1–8.5 J/s and 1.9–2.7, respectively, at a drying temperature of 30–55 °C and an AV of 0.33–0.5 m/s. These conclusions can provide helpful guidance for the optimization and control of the rice-drying process in terms of saving energy

The complete chloroplast genome of Prunus clarofolia (Rosaceae), a wild cherry endemic to China

Prunus clarofolia (Schneid.) Yu et Li is a very attractive wild flowering cherry endemic to China. In this study, the complete chloroplast genome of P. clarofolia was assembled. The total length of the chloroplast genome was 157,899 bp, containing a pair of inverted repeat regions of 26,393 bp each, separated by a small single-copy region of 19,142 bp, and a large single-copy region of 85,971 bp. The overall GC content of the chloroplast genome was 36.71%. The genome contained 131 genes, including 85 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, eight rRNA genes, and one pseudogene. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that P. clarofolia and P. pseudocerasus showed the closest relationship