Genetic Removal of the CH1 Exon Enables the Production of Heavy Chain-Only IgG in Mice

Nano-antibodies possess great potential in many applications. However, they are naturally derived from heavy chain-only antibodies (HcAbs), which lack light chains and the CH1 domain, and are only found in camelids and sharks. In this study, we investigated whether the precise genetic removal of the CH1 exon of the γ1 gene enabled the production of a functional heavy chain-only IgG1 in mice. IgG1 heavy chain dimers lacking associated light chains were detected in the sera of the genetically modified mice. However, the genetic modification led to decreased expression of IgG1 but increased expression of other IgG subclasses. The genetically modified mice showed a weaker immune response to specific antigens compared with wild type mice. Using a phage-display approach, antigen-specific, single domain VH antibodies could be screened from the mice but exhibited much weaker antigen binding affinity than the conventional monoclonal antibodies. Although the strategy was only partially successful, this study confirms the feasibility of producing desirable nano-bodies with appropriate genetic modifications in mice

The enhancement by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi of the Cd remediation ability and bioenergy quality-related factors of five switchgrass cultivars in Cd-contaminated soil

A greenhouse experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) on the growth, P and Cd concentrations and bioenergy quality-related factors of five cultivars of switchgrass, including three lowland cultivars (Alamo (Ala), Kanlow (Kan), Performer (Per)) and two highland cultivars (Blackwell (Bw), Summer (Sum)), with 0, 1 and 10 mg/kg Cd addition levels. The results showed that AMF inoculation notably increased the biomass and P concentrations of all the cultivars. The Cd concentrations in the roots were higher than those in the shoots of all cultivars irrespective of inoculation, but the AMF had different effects on Cd accumulation in highland and lowland cultivars. AMF inoculation decreased the shoot and root concentrations in Ala and Kan, increased the shoot and root concentrations of Cd in Bw and Sum, and increased shoot Cd concentrations and decreased root Cd concentrations in Per. The highest Cd concentrations were detected in the roots of Bw and in the shoots of Sum with AMF symbiosis. Bw contained the highest total extracted Cd which was primarily in the roots. Ala had the second highest extracted Cd in the shoots, reaching 32% with 1 mg/kg of added Cd, whereas Sum had the lowest extracted Cd. AMF symbiosis had varied effects on bioenergy quality-related factors: for example, AMF decreased the ash lignin content in Ala and the C/N in Sum, increased the nitrogen, gross calorie values, and maintained the hemicellulose and cellulose contents in all cultivars with all tested concentrations of Cd. A principal component analysis (PCA) showed that AMF inoculation could enhance, weaken or transform (positive-negative, PC1-PC2) the correlations of these factors with the principle components under Cd stress. Therefore, AMF symbiosis enhanced the growth of different cultivars of switchgrass, increased/decreased Cd accumulation, promoted Cd extraction, and regulated the bioenergy quality-related factors in Cd-polluted areas. Bw is a suitable cultivar for phytostabilization due to high root Cd stabilization, whereas Ala is an appropriate cultivar for phytoremediation of less polluted areas because of its high Cd extraction and excellent bioenergy quality

Learning Temporary Block-Based Bidirectional Incongruity-Aware Correlation Filters for Efficient UAV Object Tracking

In the field of UAV object tracking, correlation filter based approaches have received lots of attention due to their computational efficiency. The methods learn filters by the ridge regression and generate response maps to distinguish the specified target from the background. An ideal filter can predict the object’s position in a new frame, and in turn, can backtrack the object in the past frames. However, the neglect of tracking reversibility in most methods limits the potential of using inter-frame information to improve performance. In this work, a novel bidirectional incongruity-aware correlation filter is presented based on the nature of tracking reversibility. The proposed method incorporates the response-based bidirectional incongruity, which represents the gap between the filters’ discriminative difference in the forward and backward tracking perspective caused by object appearance changes. It enables the filter not only to inherit the discriminability from previous filters but also to enhance the generalization capability to unpredictable appearance variations in upcoming frames. Moreover, a temporary block-based strategy is introduced to empower the filter accommodate more drastic object appearance changes and make more effective use of inter-frame information. Comprehensive experiments are conducted on three challenging UAV tracking benchmarks, including UAV123@10fps, DTB70, and UAVDT. Experimental results indicate that the proposed method has superior performance compared with the other 34 state-of-the-art trackers. Our approach permits real-time performance at ~46.8 FPS on a single CPU and is suitable for UAV online tracking applications

Anomalous Growth and Coalescence Dynamics of Hybrid Perovskite Nanoparticles Observed by Liquid-Cell Transmission Electron Microscopy

We report on <i>in situ</i> observations of nucleation, growth, and aggregation of hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites by liquid-cell transmission electron microscopy. Direct crystallization of hybrid CH₃NH₃PbI₃ nanoparticles is achieved through an electron beam-assisted solvent evaporation approach. Time-lapse liquid-cell TEM imaging of the nanoparticles reveals a growth trend which is not entirely consistent with the classical Lifshitz–Slyozov–Wagner growth model. Significantly complex dynamical behaviors are observed during the coalescence process of CH₃NH₃PbI₃ nanoparticles. We propose that the chemical instability inherent in the hybrid perovskite iodides should be considered to understand this phenomenon in addition to the oriented attachment mechanism. This study provides a useful reference for understanding the intriguing chemical and physical properties of hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites

The Phase Evolution and Property of FeCoCrNiAlTix High-Entropy Alloying Coatings on Q253 via Laser Cladding

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) are emerging as a hot research frontier in the metallic materials field. The study on the effect of alloying elements on the structure and properties of HEAs may contribute to the progress of the research and accelerate the application in actual production. FeCoCrNiAlTix (x = 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1 in at.%, respectively) HEA coatings with different Ti concentrations were produced on Q235 steel via laser cladding. The constituent phases, microstructure, hardness, and wear resistance of the coatings were investigated by XRD, SEM, microhardness tester and friction-wear tester, respectively. The results show that the structure of the coating is a eutectic microstructure of FCC and BCC1 at x = 0. The structure of coatings consists of both proeutectic FCC phase and the eutectic structure of BCC1 and BCC2. With the continuous addition of Ti, the amount of eutectic structure decreases. The average hardness of the FeCoCrNiAlTix HEA coatings at x = 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1 are 432.73 HV, 548.81 HV, 651.03 HV, 769.20 HV, and 966.29 HV, respectively. The hardness of coatings increases with the addition of Ti, where the maximum hardness is achieved for the HEA at x = 1. The wear resistance of the HEA coatings is enhanced with the addition of Ti, and the main worn mechanism is abrasive wear