Simple Molecular Reactive Force Field for Metal–Organic Synthesis

For colloidal quantum dots to transition from research laboratories to deployment as optical and electronic products, there will be a need to scale-up their production to large-scale manufacturing processes. This demand increases the need to understand their formation via a molecular representation of the nucleation of lead sulfide (PbS) quantum dot systems passivated by lead oleate complexes. We demonstrate the effectiveness of a new type of reactive potential, custom-made for this system, that is drawn from simple Morse, Lennard-Jones, and Coulombic components, which can reproduce reactions across a broad range of PbS quantum dot sizes with good accuracy. We validate the capability of this model to capture reactive systems by comparison to <i>ab initio</i> calculations for a reaction between two dots

Adherence of clinical practice guidelines for pharmacologic treatments of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 to trustworthy standards: a systematic review

Importance: The COVID-19 pandemic created the need for rapid and urgent guidance for clinicians to manage COVID-19 among patients and prevent transmission.Objective: To appraise the quality of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) using the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) criteria.Evidence review: A search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials to December 14, 2020, and a search of related articles to February 28, 2021, that included CPGs developed by societies or by government or nongovernment organizations that reported pharmacologic treatments of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Teams of 2 reviewers independently abstracted data and assessed CPG quality using the 15-item National Guideline Clearinghouse Extent of Adherence to Trustworthy Standards (NEATS) instrument.Findings: Thirty-two CPGs were included in the review. Of these, 25 (78.1%) were developed by professional societies and emanated from a single World Health Organization (WHO) region. Overall, the CPGs were of low quality. Only 7 CPGs (21.9%) reported funding sources, and 12 (37.5%) reported conflicts of interest. Only 5 CPGs (15.6%) included a methodologist, described a search strategy or study selection process, or synthesized the evidence. Although 14 CPGs (43.8%) made recommendations or suggestions for or against treatments, they infrequently rated confidence in the quality of the evidence (6 of 32 [18.8%]), described potential benefits and harms (6 of 32 [18.8%]), or graded the strength of the recommendations (5 of 32 [15.6%]). External review, patient or public perspectives, or a process for updating were rare. High-quality CPGs included a methodologist and multidisciplinary collaborations involving investigators from 2 or more WHO regions.Conclusions and relevance: In this review, few COVID-19 CPGs met NAM standards for trustworthy guidelines. Approaches that prioritize engagement of a methodologist and multidisciplinary collaborators from at least 2 WHO regions may lead to the production of fewer, high-quality CPGs that are poised for updates as new evidence emerges.Trial registration: PROSPERO Identifier: CRD42021245239.</div

Assessing drug sensitivity of rare and transient cell populations.

<p>A) FACS analysis of dissociated D54 cells sorted into CD133⁺ and CD133⁻ populations, P3 represents the CD133 expressing cell population. B) to E) Bioluminescence assay of CD133⁺ and CD133⁻ sorted D54 cells incubated with 200 ng/ml TRAIL (B), 50 µM MNS (C), 50 µM MK886 (D) or 12.5 µM GW7647 (E). Bioluminescence was plotted as fold induction over values obtained from vehicle treated cells. Experiments were performed in triplicates and plotted as mean ± SEM. Paired t-test was performed for all experiments and * denotes p<0.05 value at indicated time points.</p

Validation of HTS hits.

<p>A) Bioluminescence activity of cells treated with MNS was measured at 12 hours post treatment and plotted as fold induction. Experiments were performed at least in triplicates (mean ± SEM). B) Representative western blots for Luciferase, cleaved Caspase 3 and PARP or β-Actin as loading control of D54 cells treated with (25 µM) MNS for 12 hrs. C) Bioluminescence activity of cells treated with increasing concentrations of CV3988 at 12 hours post treatment. Data are plotted as fold induction over values obtained from vehicle treated cells. Experiments were performed in triplicates (mean ± SEM). D and E). Bioluminescence activity was measured at various time points using 1833 (D) or D54 (E) cells treated with CV3988 (12.5 µM), Z-VAD (20 µM) or a combination of Z-VAD plus CV3988 for 24 hrs. Data are plotted as fold induction and experiments were performed in triplicates and plotted as mean ± SEM. F) Representative western blots of Luciferase, Caspase 3, PARP or β-actin were performed on lysates obtained from D54 cells. Cells were either treated with CV3988 (12.5 µM), pre-treated with Z-VAD (20 µM) or treated with Z-VAD and CV3988 for 12 hrs.</p

High throughput screening for inducers Caspase 3/7.

<p>Glosensor expressing 1833 or D54 cells (A and B respectively) were used to screen a library of 1,280 pharmacologically active compounds (LOPAC). Fold induction of bioluminescence signal intensity over values obtained from vehicle treated cells was plotted at maximal induction (mean ± SEM).</p

Transgenic reporter mice expressing Caspase 3/7 GloSensor.

<p>A) Schematic of the pCLEX Caspase 3/7 GloSensor transgene construct. B) Excision of the floxed EGFP-stop cassette when crossed with a Cre expressing mouse strain should result in tissue specific transcription of the reporter. C) Representative bioluminescence images of bi-transgenic (for the reporter and p48-Cre) or mono-transgenic (transgenic for the reporter in the absence of Cre) animals pre- and 30 hrs post-cerulein injection (75 ug/kg, total of 12 injections in 48 hrs). D) Quantification of BLI signal induction upon cerulein treatment. E) Representative bioluminescent and fluorescent (EGFP) ex-vivo images of pancreata from mono- or bi-transgenic animals. F) Representative bioluminescence images of bi-transgenic (right) or mono-transgic (left) animals.</p

Utility of Caspase 3/7 GloSensor for assessment of cell death in cells.

<p>A) Schematic of the Caspase 3/7 GloSensor reporter containing an N-terminus coding for the C-Luc domain (358–544) of luciferase and a C-terminus coding for the N-Luc domain (4–354) of luciferase and a adjoining sequence, DEVD, the Caspase 3/7 recognition sequence. B) The functional basis of the reporter, wherein Caspase 3/7 mediated cleavage at the DEVD sequence results in release of the luciferase peptides and reconstitution of the enzymatic activity and an increase in luminescence signal. C) Bioluminescence analysis of cells treated with 200 ng/ml TRAIL. Data is plotted as fold induction standardized to values obtained from vehicle treated cells. D) Western blot for Caspase 3 cleavage using D54 cells treated with TRAIL for 6 hrs. β-Actin was used to standardize loading. E) Bioluminescence analysis of D54 cells treated with varying concentrations (25–100 ng/ml) of an agonist anti-Fas antibody. Data is plotted as fold induction over values obtained from vehicle treated cells at every hour. F) Bioluminescence analysis of cells treated with a pan-Caspase inhibitor Z-VAD (20 µM), 50 µM Docetaxel or with Z-VAD and Docetaxel combined. Data is plotted as fold induction. Experiments were performed at least in triplicates and mean values were plotted ± SEM.</p