Coaching tailored by stages: A valuable educational strategy to achieve independence in research.

This study presents an individualized coaching approach tailored to the stages of proximity of promising scientists interested in becoming independently funded researchers in the context of a minority-serving institution. This strategy defined the participant's stage of proximity by their number of first-author publications in peer-reviewed journals and their track record in submitting research grants. We argue that coaching tailored by stages is an asset to maintain the enthusiasm, persistence, and positive attitude of promising scientists as they try to reach independent investigator status.

A Proteomics Signature of Mild Hypospadias: A Pilot Study.

Mild hypospadias is a birth congenital condition characterized by the relocation of the male urethral meatus from its typical anatomical position near the tip of the glans penis, to a lower ventral position up to the brim of the glans corona, which can also be accompanied by foreskin ventral deficiency. For the most part, a limited number of cases have known etiology. We have followed a high-throughput proteomics approach to study the proteome in mild hypospadias patients.

New frontiers on the molecular underpinnings of hypospadias according to severity.

Hypospadias, which is characterised by the displacement of the urethral meatus from its typical anatomical location in males, shows various degrees of severity. In this systematic review, we surveyed our current understanding of the genetics of isolated hypospadias in humans according to the severity of the condition. We found that sequencing and genotyping approaches were the preferred methods of study and that single nucleotide polymorphisms were the most common finding associated with hypospadias.

Severity-Dependent Profile of the Metabolome in Hypospadias.

Hypospadias, characterized by the displacement of the opening of the urethra at any point in the medial-ventral side of the penis, is classified upon severity as mild (Type I) and severe (Type II and Type III) hypospadias. Hypospadias' etiology is idiopathic in the majority of cases, and underlying causes seem of multifactorial origin. Studies regarding genetic variants support this notion.

Evaluation and Management of the Undescended Testis in Puerto Rico: A Single Surgeon's 10 Years of Experience.

Objective: Cryptorchidism is an abnormality of the male genitourinary tract in which one or both testes fail to descend into the scrotum. The American Urological Association (AUA) clinical guidelines for the evaluation and treatment of cryptorchidism were recently published. We reviewed our experience with the evaluation and management of our patients and examined our findings with respect to the AUA and European Association of Urology (EAU) guidelines.

Intersex care in the United States and international standards of human rights.

Deeply rooted on human rights principles, there is a growing international agreement to prohibit non-consensual medical interventions to intersex persons. In contrast, medical protocols for intersex care in the United States are guided by clinical wisdom and guidelines that are not legally binding. But as the medical profession is called to respect and to champion the right to health within human rights principles, expert opinion in the United States has become unsettled when confronted with current standards of intersex care.

Sonographic Features of the Liver Among Females with Type 2 Diabetes.

The craniocaudal (CC) length of the right lobe of the liver (RLL), liver texture, size of the main portal vein, and hemodynamics of the hepatic artery, were sonographically evaluated in female diabetic and non-diabetic patients. A One-way ANOVA, a Tukey's post-hoc test, and a Kruskal-Wallis with post-hoc Dunn's test, were employed. Non-symptomatic differences in liver anatomy were detected among non-controlled type 2 diabetes patients.

Anatomical criteria to measure the adult right liver lobe by ultrasound.

Introduction: This study aims to establish objective anatomical criteria to obtain accurate and reliable measurements of the right liver lobe (RLL) length by ultrasound while considering sex and anthropometry of the patient.

Methods: Thirty-three (n = 33) adult participants underwent two-dimensional (2D) and panoramic (PAN) ultrasound imaging of the RLL in the anterior axillary region (AAR). Each measurement was performed in the standard oblique plane and in a tested craniocaudal (CC) plane by two independent observers.

Age of the mother as a risk factor and timing of hypospadias repair according to severity.

Background & Objectives: Hypospadias is characterized by a displacement of the urethral opening in males that can change from the typical position within the glans penis to a subcoronal position (Type I), to anywhere along the ventral shaft (Type II), to penoscrotal, scrotal, or perineal positions (Type III). We and others have previously reported that age of the mother (≥ 40 years old) is a risk factor for having a child with hypospadias, but there is a scarcity of reports on whether such risk is higher for having a child with the mild (Type I) or the more severe forms (Types II and III). In addition, we aimed to assess the timing of hypospadias repair according to severity.

Ultrasound Accuracy of Liver Length Measurement with Cadaveric Specimens.

The liver is one of the principal organs of our body involved in over 500 physiological functions related to metabolism, digestion, immunity, and storage of nutrients, which makes it an essential organ to preserve life. Given that there are a number of approaches to measure liver length through diagnostic 2D sonography, this work aims to determine the most accurate measurement of this organ. Cadaveric specimens (n = 21) were employed to assess measurements in midclavicular line (MCL) and midaxillary line (MAL).

Concordance of Expert and Parental Opinion about Hypospadias Surgical Outcome Is Severity Dependent.

Introduction: Hypospadias is a male congenital condition where the opening of the urethral meatus is not located in the typical anatomical position. It has been a challenge for empirical studies to ascertain the level of concordance of opinion among parents and urologists with regard to surgical outcomes according to hypospadias severity.

Materials And Methods: Parents of children who had undergone hypospadias repair were recruited for this study (n = 104).

Risk factors, prevalence trend, and clustering of hypospadias cases in Puerto Rico.

Objective: The aim was to determine the distribution pattern of hypospadias cases across a well-defined geographic space.

Materials And Methods: The dataset for this study was produced by the Birth Defects Prevention and Surveillance System of the Department of Health of Puerto Rico (BDSS-PR), which linked the information of male newborns of the Puerto Rico Birth Cohort dataset (PRBC; n=92,285) from 2007 to 2010. A population-based case-control study was conducted to determine prevalence trend and to estimate the potential effects of maternal age, paternal age, birth-related variables, and health insurance status on hypospadias.

The testosterone metabolite 3α-diol enhances female rat sexual motivation when infused in the nucleus accumbens shell.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to provide a quantitative assessment of female rat sexual behaviors after acute exposure to the A-ring reduced testosterone metabolite, androstanediol (3α-Diol), through the nucleus accumbens (NA) shell.

Main Outcome Measures: Quantitative analyses of female rat sexual behaviors and assessment of protein levels for the enzyme glutamic acid decarboxylase isoform 67 (GAD67) and gephyrin, a protein that participates in the clustering of GABA-A receptors in postsynaptic cells, were accomplished.

Methods: Female rats were ovariectomized and primed with estrogen and progesterone to induce sexual behaviors.

Male gender identity in an XX individual with congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

Introduction: In spite of significant changes in the management policies of intersexuality, clinical evidence show that not all pubertal or adult individuals live according to the assigned sex during infancy.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to analyze the clinical management of an individual diagnosed as a female pseudohermaphrodite with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) simple virilizing form four decades ago but who currently lives as a monogamous heterosexual male.

Methods: We studied the clinical files spanning from 1965 to 1991 of an intersex individual.

Exposure to an anabolic steroid changes female mice's sexual responses according to sex partner.

Introduction: Anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) affect human female sexual behaviors. Animal models have been useful in uncovering the neural mechanisms governing changes in female sexual response upon AAS exposure.

Aim: We quantify the sexual response of AAS-exposed gonadally intact female mice when paired with gonadally intact female or male pairs.

Central effects of the anabolic steroid 17alpha methyltestosterone in female anxiety.

The androgen 17alpha-methyltestosterone (17alpha-meT) is one of the most commonly abused anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS). We assessed the impact of 17alpha-meT after bilateral infusion into the dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH) in female anxiety. A paradoxical effect in Vogel conflict test (VCT) behavior was noted: while AAS infusion induced an increase in the latency to display the appetitive reaction of the task, it also increased the number of punished responses.

The neurosteroid 3alphaDIOL modulates place preference when infused in the basolateral amygdala according to sex.

Three different behavioral tasks were used to study the role of the neurosteroid 5alpha -androstane-3alpha, 17beta-diol (3alphaDIOL) in affective components of behavior when infused into the basolateral amygdala (BLA) of both sexes. Female rats were ovariectomized; half received implants containing estradiol benzoate (OVX-EB), whereas the other half received empty implants (OVX). Male rats were gonadally intact.

A testosterone metabolite is rewarding to ovariectomized female rats.

Anabolic androgenic steroids have become a major class of drugs of abuse among a growing population of male and female adolescents. Although the rewarding and reinforcing properties of androgens have been demonstrated in male rodents, it is unknown whether these properties are apparent in female rats. In this study, conditioned place preference and self-administration paradigms showed that the endogenous androgen metabolite 3alphaDIOL is rewarding and reinforcing in ovariectomized female rats.

Modulation of elevated plus maze behavior after chronic exposure to the anabolic steroid 17alpha-methyltestosterone in adult mice.

Exposure to supraphysiological doses of androgens may disrupt affective components of behavior. In this study, behavior of adult C57Bl/6 male mice was studied after exposure to the anabolic androgenic steroid (AAS) 17alpha-methyltestosterone (17alpha-meT; 7.5 mg/kg) via a subcutaneous osmotic pump for 17 days.

Sex-specific modulation of anxiety and locomotion after neonatal exposure to pregnenolone sulfate.

Neurosteroids may influence adult behavior and endocrine function since early in development. To test this hypothesis, Sprague-Dawley pups from both sexes were injected with pregnenolone sulfate (PREG-S) from postnatal (PN) day 1 to 14. Pubertal onset in females was determined by monitoring the day of vaginal opening.

Modulation of affect after chronic exposure to the anabolic steroid 17alpha-methyltestosterone in adult mice.

A battery of behavioral tasks in C57BL/6J mice was used to assess changes in affective components of behavior after systemic exposure to the anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) 17alpha-methyltestosterone (7.5 mg/kg). Gonadal weight in both sexes was reduced after 16 days of AAS exposure.

The function and the expression of forebrain GABA(A) receptors change with hormonal state in the adult mouse.

Neurotransmission mediated by gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABA(A)) receptors in the mammalian medial preoptic area (mPOA) plays a pivotal role in the expression of hormone-sensitive behaviors. Hand in hand with GABAergic control of reproduction, hormone treatments that activate gonadal steroid signaling pathways in gonadectomized rats are known to regulate the expression of specific GABA(A) receptor subunit mRNAs. While the effects of exogenous hormone treatments have been well documented, little information is available as to how GABA(A) receptor-mediated transmission in the mPOA is altered by endogenous changes in hormonal state in gonadally-intact adult animals or if those changes can be ascribed to hormone-dependent changes in receptor subunit composition.