Sarcolemma resilience and skeletal muscle health require O-mannosylation of dystroglycan.

Background: Maintaining the connection between skeletal muscle fibers and the surrounding basement membrane is essential for muscle function. Dystroglycan (DG) serves as a basement membrane extracellular matrix (ECM) receptor in many cells, and is also expressed in the outward-facing membrane, or sarcolemma, of skeletal muscle fibers. DG is a transmembrane protein comprised of two subunits: alpha-DG (α-DG), which resides in the peripheral membrane, and beta-DG (β-DG), which spans the membrane to intracellular regions.

Structure and assembly of the dystrophin glycoprotein complex.

The dystrophin glycoprotein complex (DGC) has a crucial role in maintaining cell membrane stability and integrity by connecting the intracellular cytoskeleton with the surrounding extracellular matrix. Dysfunction of dystrophin and its associated proteins results in muscular dystrophy, a disorder characterized by progressive muscle weakness and degeneration. Despite the important roles of the DGC in physiology and pathology, its structural details remain largely unknown, hindering a comprehensive understanding of its assembly and function.

Reward deprivation is associated with elevated alcohol demand in emerging adults.

Policies vary substantially in terms of providing sources of psychosocial enrichment. Behavioral economic models of substance use and addiction emphasize that deficits in access to substance-free sources of reward increase substance reinforcing value and risk for addiction. The current study used an alcohol demand curve approach to test the hypothesis that various indices of reward deprivation would be associated with elevated alcohol reinforcing efficacy.

Conversational Engagement Using a Short Message Service Chatbot After Total Joint Arthroplasty.

Background: Utilizing conversational analytics in orthopaedic surgery may provide insights into patients' experiences and outcomes. This study retrospectively assessed how patients interacted with a perioperative chatbot and whether the topic of patients' queries could offer insight on their outcomes after total knee or hip arthroplasty.

Methods: We identified 1338 patients (746 knees and 592 hips) who enrolled in a short message service chatbot from 2020-2022 with greater than 3 months of follow-up.

Optimal restoration of spermatogenesis after testosterone therapy using human chorionic gonadotropin and follicle-stimulating hormone.

Objective: To study improvements in spermatogenesis in men with a history of testosterone therapy using a novel fertility treatment regimen.

Design: A single-center retrospective cohort analysis.

Setting: Clinic.

Saturation mutagenesis-reinforced functional assays for disease-related genes.

Interpretation of disease-causing genetic variants remains a challenge in human genetics. Current costs and complexity of deep mutational scanning methods are obstacles for achieving genome-wide resolution of variants in disease-related genes. Our framework, saturation mutagenesis-reinforced functional assays (SMuRF), offers simple and cost-effective saturation mutagenesis paired with streamlined functional assays to enhance the interpretation of unresolved variants.

Outpatient Management of Fever and Neutropenia in Low-risk Children with Solid Tumors: A Quality Improvement Initiative.

Background: Management of febrile neutropenia in pediatric oncology usually requires inpatient parenteral antibiotics after initial evaluation, but some patients at lower risk of sepsis could be safely managed outpatient. We describe a quality improvement project to increase outpatient management of fever and neutropenia.

Methods: We designed a standardized algorithm for children with a solid tumor diagnosis and low risk for bacteremia.

Transient Complete Asthenozoospermia.

Limited research exists on the mechanisms underlying asthenozoospermia associated with acquired ciliary dyskinesia. Primary ciliary dyskinesia links respiratory pathology with infertility and provides a basis for a potential mechanism. The aetiology of asthenozoospermia is often unclear and may be secondary to direct or indirect effects on sperm motility.

Patient Engagement Platforms: How Technology Is Impacting Perioperative Communication and Engagement in Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty.

Orthopedic clinics are becoming strained with clinical volume outpacing resources and personnel. Patient engagement platforms can help bridge the communication and engagement gaps between patients and their healthcare teams as total hip and knee arthroplasty transitions to the outpatient setting. These platforms provide a digital infrastructure that allows patients to participate in their healthcare journey while alleviating the burdens on clinic staff.

Patient Understanding and Perception of Urology Resident Training, Role, and Capabilities.

Introduction: We sought to identify patient understanding of urology residents and comfort with being cared for by residents. Through this pilot study, we aim to propose educational objectives to improve this knowledge gap and ultimately allow for an improved patient experience.

Methods: A prospective survey was distributed from September 2022 to October 2022.

Top-cited articles in andrology journals from 2013-2022: a bibliometric analysis.

Bibliometric analyses serve to identify influential articles that have shaped medical practice and fostered new research ideas. Over the past decade, research in andrology has witnessed exponential growth, with an increasing number of academic publications, collaborations, and research innovations. However, there is a lack of literature that has identified the top-cited andrology articles.

Automated vs. manual coding of neuroimaging reports via natural language processing, using the international classification of diseases, tenth revision.

Objective: Natural language processing (NLP) can generate diagnoses codes from imaging reports. Meanwhile, the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) codes are the United States' standard for billing/coding, which enable tracking disease burden and outcomes. This cross-sectional study aimed to test feasibility of an NLP algorithm's performance and comparison to radiologists' and physicians' manual coding.

Matriglycan maintains t-tubule structural integrity in cardiac muscle.

Maintaining the structure of cardiac membranes and membrane organelles is essential for heart function. A critical cardiac membrane organelle is the transverse tubule system (called the t-tubule system) which is an invagination of the surface membrane. A unique structural characteristic of the cardiac muscle t-tubule system is the extension of the extracellular matrix (ECM) from the surface membrane into the t-tubule lumen.

Evidence to support health system prioritization of health behaviors in the COVID-19 era.

Background: Since the COVID-19 pandemic health systems have shifted necessarily from chronic to infectious disease treatment, but chronic disease remains critical. One large health system uniquely tracks member health behaviors. This analysis compares data from select months of an ongoing monthly cross-sectional survey before and during the pandemic.

Penile Strangulation: Analysis of Postextrication Follow-Up, Sequelae, and a Review of Literature.

Numerous case reports exist on penile strangulation injuries and extrication methods; however, the care and long-term consequences of penile strangulation injuries have been under-reported. Our aim is to investigate the long-term outcomes and sequalae following penile strangulation injuries. The PubMed Medline database was searched using the keyword string "penile strangulation," "penis strangulation," and "constriction" for all studies reporting outcomes of published penile strangulation injuries.

A pilot trial of a brief intervention for cannabis use supplemented with a substance-free activity session or relaxation training.

Objective: Cannabis use is increasing among college students and commonly co-occurs with anxiety symptoms in this age group. Interventions that reduce anxiety may also reduce cannabis use. Behavioral economic theory suggests that substance use reductions are most likely when there is an increase in substance-free reinforcement.

Identification of a short, single site matriglycan that maintains neuromuscular function in the mouse.

Matriglycan (-1,3-β-glucuronic acid-1,3-α-xylose-) is a polysaccharide that is synthesized on α-dystroglycan, where it functions as a high-affinity glycan receptor for extracellular proteins, such as laminin, perlecan and agrin, thus anchoring the plasma membrane to the extracellular matrix. This biological activity is closely associated with the size of matriglycan. Using high-resolution mass spectrometry and site-specific mutant mice, we show for the first time that matriglycan on the T317/T319 and T379 sites of α-dystroglycan are not identical.