Gene Electrotransfer via Conductivity-Clamped Electric Field Focusing Pivots Sensori-Motor DNA Therapeutics: "A Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Medicine Go Down".

Viral vectors and lipofection-based gene therapies have dispersion-dependent transduction/transfection profiles that thwart precise targeting. The study describes the development of focused close-field gene electrotransfer (GET) technology, refining spatial control of gene expression. Integration of fluidics for precise delivery of "naked" plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in sucrose carrier within the focused electric field enables negative biasing of near-field conductivity ("conductivity-clamping"-CC), increasing the efficiency of plasma membrane molecular translocation.

Binding and Stabilization of a Semiquinone Radical by an Artificial Metalloenzyme Containing a Binuclear Copper (II) Cofactor.

A binuclear Cu(II) cofactor was covalently bound to a lauric acid anchor. The resulting conjugate was characterized then combined with beta-lactoglobulin (βLG) to generate a new biohybrid following the so-called "Trojan horse" strategy. This biohybrid was examined for its effectiveness in the oxidation of a catechol derivative to the corresponding quinone.

Effects of the Momentum project on postpartum family planning norms and behaviors among married and unmarried adolescent and young first-time mothers in Kinshasa: A quasi-experimental study.

This study evaluated the effect of Momentum-an integrated family planning, maternal and newborn health, and nutrition intervention-on postpartum family planning norms and behaviors among ever married and never-married first-time mothers age 15-24 in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Using data collected in 2018 and 2020, we conducted an intent-to-treat analysis among 1,927 first-time mothers who were about six-months pregnant at enrollment. Difference-in-differences models were run for panel data and treatment effects models with inverse-probability weighting for endline-only outcomes.

Design and synthesis of 4-amino-2',4'-dihydroxyindanone derivatives as potent inhibitors of tyrosinase and melanin biosynthesis in human melanoma cells.

Melanogenesis inhibition constitutes a privileged therapeutic solution to treat skin hyperpigmentation, a major dermatological concern associated with the overproduction of melanin by human tyrosinase (hsTYR). Despite the existence of many well-known TYR (tyrosinase) inhibitors commercialized in skin formulations, their hsTYR-inhibition efficacy remains poor since most of them were investigated over mushroom tyrosinase (abTYR), a model with low homology relative to hsTYR. Considering the need for new potent hsTYR inhibitors, we designed and synthesized a series of indanones starting from 4-hydroxy compound 1a, one of the two most active derivatives reported to date against the human enzyme, together with marketed thiamidol.