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Postural instability is a common symptom of vestibular dysfunction that impacts a person’s day-to-day activities. Vestibular rehabilitation is effective in decreasing dizziness, visual symptoms and improving postural control through several mechanisms including sensory reweighting of the vestibular, visual and somatosensory systems. As part of the sensory reweighting mechanisms, vestibular activation exercises with headshaking influence vestibular-ocular reflex (VOR). However, combining challenging vestibular and postural tasks to facilitate more effective rehabilitation outcomes is under-utilized. Understanding how and why this may work is unknown. The aim of the study was to assess sensory reweighting of postural control processing and VOR after concurrent vestibular activation and weight shift training (WST) in healthy young adults. Forty-two participants (18–35years) were randomly assigned into four groups: No training/control (CTL), a novel visual feedback WST coupled with a concurrent, rhythmic active horizontal or vertical headshake activity (HHS and VHS), or the same WST with no headshake (NHS). Training was performed for five days. All groups performed baseline- and post-assessments using the video head impulse test, sensory organization test, force platform rotations and electro-oculography. Significantly decreased horizontal eye movement variability in the HHS group compared to the other groups suggests improved gaze stabilization ( p = .024). Significantly decreased horizontal VOR gain ( p = .040) and somatosensory downweighting ( p = .050) were found in the combined headshake groups (HHS and VHS) compared to the other two groups (NHS and CTL). The training also showed a significantly faster automatic postural response ( p = .003) with improved flexibility ( p = .010) in the headshake groups. The concurrent training influences oculomotor function and suggests improved gaze stabilization through vestibular recalibration due to adaptation and possibly habituation. The novel protocol could be modified into progressive functional activities that would incorporate gaze stabilization exercises. The findings may have implications for future development of vestibular rehabilitation protocols.

Several philosophers have attempted to identify how it is that “social structure” can explain phenomena. Some of the most prominent of these philosophers have posited that what we call “social structures” are sets of constraints acting on individuals that guide and regulate their actions, either coercing agents into making choices, raising the probability that they will make certain choices, or making those actions reasonable or rational. Others have argued that social structures are factors that “program” for social outcomes. Examining historical work in quantitative sociology, I argue that both views are too narrow. I present Peter Blau’s distinction between microstructure and macrostructure, articulate their differences, and then argue that for some social scientific questions, macrostructural explanations are better positioned to supply answers. Macrostructural explanations abstract away from the relata between individuals and so do not involve constraints. Further, macrostructural explanations draw on facts about population structure, and so do not fit the form of programming explanations. I motivate this category of explanation by considering social scientific research that comports with macrostructural explanation.

Prostate cancer antigen 3 ( PCA3 ) is the most specific prostate cancer biomarker but its function remains unknown. Here we identify PRUNE2 , a target protein-coding gene variant, which harbors the PCA3 locus, thereby classifying PCA3 as an antisense intronic long noncoding (lnc)RNA. We show that PCA3 controls PRUNE2 levels via a unique regulatory mechanism involving formation of a PRUNE2/PCA3 double-stranded RNA that undergoes adenosine deaminase acting on RNA (ADAR)-dependent adenosine-to-inosine RNA editing. PRUNE2 expression or silencing in prostate cancer cells decreased and increased cell proliferation, respectively. Moreover, PRUNE2 and PCA3 elicited opposite effects on tumor growth in immunodeficient tumor-bearing mice. Coregulation and RNA editing of PRUNE2 and PCA3 were confirmed in human prostate cancer specimens, supporting the medical relevance of our findings. These results establish PCA3 as a dominant-negative oncogene and PRUNE2 as an unrecognized tumor suppressor gene in human prostate cancer, and their regulatory axis represents a unique molecular target for diagnostic and therapeutic intervention.

We have previously shown that the long non-coding (lnc)RNA ( ; formerly ) functions as a trans-dominant negative oncogene by targeting the previously unrecognized prostate cancer suppressor gene (a homolog of the gene), thereby forming a functional unit within a unique allelic locus in human cells. Here, we investigated the / regulatory axis from early (tumorigenic) to late (biochemical recurrence) genetic events during human prostate cancer progression. The reciprocal and gene expression relationship in paired prostate cancer and adjacent normal prostate was analyzed in two independent retrospective cohorts of clinically annotated cases post-radical prostatectomy: a single-institutional discovery cohort (n=107) and a multi-institutional validation cohort (n=497). We compared the tumor gene expression of and to their corresponding expression in the normal prostate. We also serially examined clinical/pathological variables including time to disease recurrence. We consistently observed increased expression of and decreased expression of in prostate cancer compared with the adjacent normal prostate across all tumor grades and stages. However, there was no association between the relative gene expression levels of or and time to disease recurrence, independent of tumor grades and stages. We concluded that upregulation of the lncRNA and targeted downregulation of the protein-coding gene in prostate cancer could be early (rather than late) molecular events in the progression of human prostate tumorigenesis but are not associated with biochemical recurrence. Further studies of PCA3/PRUNE2 dysregulation are warranted. We received support from the Human Tissue Repository and Tissue Analysis Shared Resource from the Department of Pathology of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and a pilot award from the University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center. RP and WA were supported by awards from the Levy-Longenbaugh Donor-Advised Fund and the Prostate Cancer Foundation. EDN reports research fellowship support from the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Brazil, and the Associação Beneficente Alzira Denise Hertzog Silva (ABADHS), Brazil. This work has been funded in part by the NCI Cancer Center Support Grants (CCSG; P30) to the University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center (CA118100) and the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CA072720).

Poor control of postural muscles is a primary impairment in people with cerebral palsy (CP). The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in the timing characteristics of trunk and hip muscle activity during walking in young children with CP compared with children with typical development (TD). Thirty-one children (16 with TD, 15 with CP) with an average of 28.5 months of walking experience participated in this observational study. Electromyographic data were collected from 16 trunk and hip muscles as participants walked at a self-selected pace. A custom-written computer program determined onset and offset of activity. Activation and coactivation data were analyzed for group differences. The children with CP had greater total activation and coactivation for all muscles except the external oblique muscle and differences in the timing of activation for all muscles compared with the TD group. The implications of the observed muscle activation patterns are discussed in reference to existing postural control literature. The potential influence of recording activity from adjacent deep trunk muscles is discussed, as well as the influence of the use of an assistive device by some children with CP. Young children with CP demonstrate excessive, nonreciprocal trunk and hip muscle activation during walking compared with children with TD. Future studies should investigate the efficacy of treatments to reduce excessive muscle activity and improve coordination of postural muscles in CP.

The ontology of race is often seen as answering two central questions. First, do races exist? Second, if races do exist, then what are they? Consequently, determining the best methods for answering these questions falls within the metaontology of race. Within the ontology of race, it is common to select a privileged representation of race in order to draw ontological lessons . While ontological lessons are direct answers to the ontological questions raised above, privileged representations are the basis for inferring those lessons. Using the Office of Management and Budget’s racial classification as an illustration, we argue that certain social-scientific methods are better than mainstream methods at ruling out just-so stories about race, and therefore outperform more mainstream philosophical methods in determining which representations of race should be privileged. In defending this position, we also argue that the widespread philosophical practice of sharply distinguishing social-scientific from ordinary-language conceptions of race is unmotivated.

Aim  To compare the effects of a supported speed treadmill training exercise program (SSTTEP) with exercise on spasticity, strength, motor control, gait spatiotemporal parameters, gross motor skills, and physical function. Method  Twenty‐six children (14 males, 12 females; mean age 9y 6mo, SD 2y 2mo) with spastic cerebral palsy (CP; diplegia, n=12; triplegia, n=2; quadriplegia n=12; Gross Motor Function Classification System levels II–IV) were randomly assigned to the SSTTEP or exercise (strengthening) group. After a twice daily, 2‐week induction, children continued the intervention at home 5 days a week for 10 weeks. Data collected at baseline, after 12‐weeks’ intervention, and 4 weeks after the intervention stopped included spasticity, motor control, and strength; gait spatiotemporal parameters; Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM); and Pediatric Outcomes Data Collection Instrument (PODCI). Results  Gait speed, cadence, and PODCI global scores improved, with no difference between groups. No significant changes were seen in spasticity, strength, motor control, GMFM scores, or PODCI transfers and mobility. Post‐hoc testing showed that gains in gait speed and PODCI global scores were maintained in the SSTTEP group after withdrawal of the intervention. Interpretation  Although our hypothesis that the SSTTEP group would have better outcomes was not supported, results are encouraging as children in both groups showed changes in function and gait. Only the SSTTEP group maintained gains after withdrawal of intervention.

Graphical Abstract The hypothesis is discussed that prostate cancer marker lncRNA PCA3 was introduced into the human genome by an oncogenic virus, and that viral infection‐related mechanisms might underlie its overexpression and prostate cancer initiation and/or progression.

The effect of continuous visual flow on the ability to regain and maintain postural orientation was examined. Fourteen young (20–39 years old) and 14 older women (60–79 years old) stood quietly during 3° (30°/s) dorsiflexion tilt of the support surface combined with 30° and 45°/s upward or downward pitch rotations of the visual field. The support surface was held tilted for 30 s and then returned to neutral over a 30-s period while the visual field continued to rotate. Segmental displacement and bilateral tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius muscle EMG responses were recorded. Continuous wavelet transforms were calculated for each muscle EMG response. An instantaneous mean frequency curve (IMNF) of muscle activity, center of mass (COM), center of pressure (COP), and angular excursion at the hip and ankle were used in a functional principal component analysis (fPCA). Functional component weights were calculated and compared with mixed model repeated measures ANOVAs. The fPCA revealed greatest mathematical differences in COM and COP responses between groups or conditions during the period that the platform transitioned from the sustained tilt to a return to neutral position. Muscle EMG responses differed most in the period following support surface tilt indicating that muscle activity increased to support stabilization against the visual flow. Older women exhibited significantly larger COM and COP responses in the direction of visual field motion and less muscle modulation when the platform returned to neutral than younger women. Results on a Rod and Frame test indicated that older women were significantly more visually dependent than the younger women. We concluded that a stiffer body combined with heightened visual sensitivity in older women critically interferes with their ability to counteract posturally destabilizing environments.

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the usefulness of the Teager-Kaiser Energy (TKE) operator to assess surface electromyographic (sEMG) activity from the hip and trunk muscles during pediatric gait in children with and without cerebral palsy (CP). Muscle activity was recorded from the trapezius, erector spinae, rectus abdominus, external oblique, gluteus maximus and medius, rectus femoris, and semitendinosus bilaterally in ten children with typical development (TD) and five children with CP ages 44.4 ± 18.6 months. Duration of muscle activity was calculated as a percentage of the gait cycle, and compared to two common onset detection methods, a standard deviation (SD) amplitude threshold method, and the visual inspection from two raters (R1, R2). Relative and absolute agreement was determined using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and Bland-Altman plots. Of the two automated methods, the TKE method demonstrated better agreement with visual inspection (0.45-0.89) than the SD (0.11-0.76) method. The Bland-Altman plots indicated a smaller bias and 95% confidence interval for the TKE method in comparison to the raters (TKE to R1: -5, 113%; TKE to R2: 4, 95%; SD to R1: -24, 170%; SD to R2: -15, 151%). The use of the TKE operator may better detect sEMG activity in children than the standard amplitude method.