Differences in Messenger RNA Expression of Fibulin-1, Elastin, Matrix Metalloproteinase-1, Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor, and α-Smooth Muscle Actin Between the Ventral and Dorsal Tunica Dartos in Patients With Hypospadias and Chordee: Protocol for a Prospective Cohort Study
Bibliographic record
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Hypospadias is a common congenital anomaly characterized by the displacement of the urethral opening to the ventral side of the penis. Surgical correction is often necessary for functional and psychological reasons. The etiology involves genetic and environmental factors, and chordee, a downward curvature of the penis, is a common complication. Proteins such as fibulin-1, elastin, matrix metalloproteinase-1, basic fibroblast growth factor, and α-smooth muscle actin play roles in hypospadias development. OBJECTIVE: The study's aim is to investigate the differences in messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of fibulin-1, elastin, matrix metalloproteinase-1, basic fibroblast growth factor, and α-smooth muscle actin between the ventral and dorsal tunica dartos in patients with hypospadias and chordee. METHODS: This prospective cohort study aims to investigate differences in mRNA expression of the abovementioned proteins between the ventral and dorsal tunica dartos in patients with hypospadias and chordee. Ethics approval has been obtained, and consent from parents will be obtained before data collection. Eligible participants are aged 6-18 months, diagnosed with hypospadias and chordee, and planned for urethroplasty. Tissue samples will be collected from both aspects of the tunica dartos and analyzed using real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Data analysis will involve statistical tests and normalization of housekeeping genes. RESULTS: This study is at the protocol development stage. A pilot study regarding its feasibility has been ongoing as of August 2023. The study results are expected to be available by the end of 2024. CONCLUSIONS: The study of mRNA expressions of various proteins in the tunica dartos of patients with hypospadias and chordee is expected to improve the understanding and expand the knowledge of the pathophysiology of hypospadias and chordee. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/52282.
Fetched live from OpenAlex and de-inverted. Abstracts are not stored in this database: the inverted indexes are 8.6 GB of the frame’s 9.3 GB of text, and the host has 13 GB free.
How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.003 | 0.003 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.002 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.006 | 0.001 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".