International overview of somatic dysfunction assessment and treatment in osteopathic research: A scoping review

Background: Osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) is a patient-centred, whole-body intervention aimed at enhance the person’s self-regulation. OMT interventions are focused on somatic dysfunctions (SD) that can be defined as an altered regulative function associated with inflammatory signs palpable in the body framework in different body regions. The conceptual model that sustains SD, as well as its usefulness for the osteopathic profession, is still being discussed by the osteopathic community. Understanding the role and the application of SD is the aim of this scoping review. Methods: A literature search was carried out through the main biomedical databases: Pubmed (Medline), Cochrane, Central (Cochrane), Embase, PEDro and Scopus. Grey literature was considered via Google Scholar and the Osteopathic Research Web. The review was prepared by referring to the “Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis extension for Scoping Reviews” (PRISMA-ScR). Results: A total of 37,279 records were identified through database searching and other sources. After the duplicates were removed, 27,023 titles and abstracts were screened. A total of 1495 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility. The qualitative synthesis included 280 studies. Conclusions: Treating SD is an important part of osteopathic practice that varies from country to country. SD should be considered as a clinical value that assists in the clinical assessment and guides the decision-making process of osteopathic practitioners. Further studies should be designed to better understand why and how to choose the different assessment and intervention modalities to approach SD and to evaluate new osteopathic models

Picosecond ultrasonics for elasticity-based imaging and characterization of biological cells

© 2020 Author(s). Characterization of the elasticity of biological cells is growing as a new way to gain insight into cell biology. Cell mechanics are related to most aspects of cellular behavior, and applications in research and medicine are broad. Current methods are often limited since they require physical contact or lack resolution. From the methods available for the characterization of elasticity, those relying on high frequency ultrasound (phonons) are the most promising because they offer label-free, high (even super-optical) resolution and compatibility with conventional optical microscopes. In this Perspective contribution, we review the state of the art of picosecond ultrasonics for cell imaging and characterization, particularly for Brillouin scattering-based methods, offering an opinion for the challenges faced by the technology. The challenges are separated into biocompatibility, acquisition speed, resolution, and data interpretation and are discussed in detail along with new results

Near surface seismostratigraphic modelling of the Bandita plain in Palermo town (Italy) from integra-ted analysis of HVSR and stratigraphic data

The Horizontal to Vertical Spectral Ratio (HVSR) noise method (Nakamura, 1989) is nowadays widely used to estimate the resonance frequencies of geological structures (Bonnefoy-Claudet, 2006). However, often HVSR is also used to obtain information on the depth of the seismic bedrock and on thickness and seismic velocity of the process overburden deposits, using inversion techniques of the H/V curve (Fäh et al., 2003). This nevertheless produce results with large uncertainty intervals of parameters, and then must be necessarily constrained by detailed stratigraphic information. An application of HVSR inversion is presented in order to verify the effectiveness of this technique for purposes of reconstruction of the buried geological setting where stratigraphic constraints are available. The study area lies in the south-eastern zone of the Palermo plain, known as "Bandita". It falls within the geological context of the Monti di Palermo (Abate et al., 1978), resulting from the superposition of structural-stratigraphic units arising from the Miocene compressive deformation of limestone and dolomite shallow-marine deposits (Panormide Platform), and Mesozoic limestone and siliciclastic deep sea deposits (Imerese Basin), with overlying Oligo-Miocene terrigenous covers (Numidian Flysch). Specifically, the reconstruction of the stratigraphy in the studied area has been obtained by a seismic-stratigraphic three-dimensional modelling. This allowed for geophysical and geognostic data derived from surveys carried out during this study, as well as previously by the municipality of Palermo

Seismostratigraphic Modeling Using Constrained HVSR Data

An application of HVSR inversion is presented in order to verify the effectiveness of this technique for purposes of reconstruction of the buried geological setting where stratigraphic constraints are available. Specifically, the reconstruction of the stratigraphy in the studied area has been obtained by a seismic-stratigraphic threedimensional modeling. This allowed for geophysical and geognostic data derived from surveys carried out during this study, as well as previously by the municipality of Palermo

Baseline metabolic disturbances and the twenty-five years risk of incident cancer in a Mediterranean population

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Obesity is predictive of metabolic syndrome (metS), type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular (CV) disease and cancer. The aim of the study is to assess the risk of incident cancer connected to obesity and metS in a Mediterranean population characterized by a high prevalence of obesity. METHODS AND RESULTS: As many as 1133 subjects were enrolled in two phases and followed for 25 years (859 subjects) or 11 years (274 subjects) and incident cancer was registered in the follow-up period. Anthropometric measures and biochemical parameters were filed at baseline and evaluated as predictors of incident cancer by measuring hazards ratios (HR) using multivariate Cox parametric hazards models. Best predictive threshold for metabolic parameters and metS criteria were recalculated by ROC analysis. Fasting Blood Glucose >5.19 mmol/L [HR = 1.58 (1.0-2.4)] and the TG/HDL ratio (log10) (Males > 0.225, Females > 0.272) [HR = 2.44 (1.3-4.4)] resulted independent predictors of survival free of cancer with a clear additive effect together with age classes [45-65 years, HR = 2.47 (1.3-4.4), 65-75 years HR = 3.80 (2.0-7.1)] and male gender [HR = 2.07 (2.3-3.1)]. CONCLUSIONS: Metabolic disturbances are predictive of cancer in a 25 years follow-up of a Mediterranean population following a traditional Mediterranean diet. The high prevalence of obesity and metS and the observed underlying condition of insulin resistance expose this population to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer despite the healthy nutritional habits