Recensione a: Lezioni di diritto matrimoniale canonico. Percorsi di studio (e casi “peculiari”) tra teoria, prassi ed esperienza forense

L’opera di Mario Ferrante si muove nella prospettiva di coniugare il robusto impianto teorico del diritto matrimoniale canonico – collaudato nel corso dei molti anni di docenza universitaria – con una variegata casistica che l’Autore ha sperimentato nell’ambito della sua carriera di avvocato del Tribunale Apostolico della Rota Romana. Il volume è destinato sia agli studenti, quale chiaro e valido strumento per affrontare lo studio della normativa sul matrimonio canonico – tanto negli aspetti fisiologici quanto nelle derive patologiche – che ai cultori della materia e anche a coloro che nutrono interesse a meglio comprendere l’essenza del vincolo coniugale e/o dipanare i dubbi o le diffidenze che ancora accompagnano il percorso giudiziale che si celebra avanti i tribunali della Chiesa, per vedere dichiarata – una volta naufragata la vicenda matrimoniale – la nullità del vincolo che l’aveva costituita

Brevi considerazioni sull'efficacia probatoria del documento informatico in ambito europeo

Il saggio si propone di realizzare un'indagine comparata nel contesto europeo sull'efficacia probatoria dei documenti informatici e delle firme digitali nei procedimenti civili, basandosi principalmente sulla normativa comunitaria

Angular analysis of B0 → K*0e+e− decays

An angular analysis of B0→ K*0e+e− decays is presented using proton-proton collision data collected by the LHCb experiment at centre-of-mass energies of 7, 8 and 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9 fb−1. The analysis is performed in the region of the dilepton invariant mass squared of 1.1–6.0 GeV2/c4. In addition, a test of lepton flavour universality is performed by comparing the obtained angular observables with those measured in B0→ K*0μ+μ− decays. In general, the angular observables are found to be consistent with the Standard Model expectations as well as with global analyses of other b → sl+l− processes, where l is either a muon or an electron. No sign of lepton-flavour-violating effects is observed

Fast Inexact Bilevel Optimization for Analytical Deep Image Priors

The analytical deep image prior (ADP) introduced by Dittmer et al. (2020) establishes a link between deep image priors and classical regularization theory via bilevel optimization. While this is an elegant construction, it involves expensive computations if the lower-level problem is to be solved accurately. To overcome this issue, we propose to use adaptive inexact bilevel optimization to solve ADP problems. We discuss an extension of a recent inexact bilevel method called the method of adaptive inexact descent of Salehi et al. (2024) to an infinite-dimensional setting required by the ADP framework. In our numerical experiments we demonstrate that the computational speed-up achieved by adaptive inexact bilevel optimization allows one to use ADP on larger-scale problems than in the previous literature, e.g. in deblurring of 2D color images.The analytical deep image prior (ADP) introduced by Dittmer et al. (2020) establishes a link between deep image priors and classical regularization theory via bilevel optimization. While this is an elegant construction, it involves expensive computations if the lower-level problem is to be solved accurately. To overcome this issue, we propose to use adaptive inexact bilevel optimization to solve ADP problems. We discuss an extension of a recent inexact bilevel method called the method of adaptive inexact descent of Salehi et al. (2024) to an infinite-dimensional setting required by the ADP framework. In our numerical experiments we demonstrate that the computational speed-up achieved by adaptive inexact bilevel optimization allows one to use ADP on larger-scale problems than in the previous literature, e.g. in deblurring of 2D color images

Stem cell therapy for retinal pigment epithelium disorders

Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) dysfunction is involved in the advancement of numerous degenerative retinal illnesses, such as age-related macular degeneration and hereditary retinal abnormalities. Transplantation of RPE produced from stem cells has emerged as a promising therapeutic strategy to restore retinal function and prevent vision loss. However, other obstacles impede its clinical application, including immunological rejection, cell viability, functional integration, and the necessity for consistent differentiation techniques. This review offers a thorough examination of the molecular processes regulating RPE integrity, investigates recent progress in stem cell-derived RPE therapeutics, and addresses significant challenges to their broad implementation. Furthermore, we emphasize prospective avenues intended to enhance the safety, efficacy, and enduring success of RPE transplantation in clinical environments

HephaestusForge: Optimal microservice deployment across the Compute Continuum via Reinforcement Learning

With the advent of containerization technologies, microservices have revolutionized application deployment by converting old monolithic software into a group of loosely coupled containers, aiming to offer greater flexibility and improve operational efficiency. This transition made applications more complex, consisting of tens to hundreds of microservices. Designing effective orchestration mechanisms remains a crucial challenge, especially for emerging distributed cloud paradigms such as the Compute Continuum (CC). Orchestration across multiple clusters is still not extensively explored in the literature since most works consider single-cluster scenarios. In the CC scenario, the orchestrator must decide the optimal locations for each microservice, deciding whether instances are deployed altogether or placed across different clusters, significantly increasing orchestration complexity. This paper addresses orchestration in a containerized CC environment by studying a Reinforcement Learning (RL) approach for efficient microservice deployment in Kubernetes (K8s) clusters, a widely adopted container orchestration platform. This work demonstrates the effectiveness of RL in achieving near-optimal deployment schemes under dynamic conditions, where network latency and resource capacity fluctuate. We extensively evaluate a multi-objective reward function that aims to minimize overall latency, reduce deployment costs, and promote fair distribution of microservice instances, and we compare it against typical heuristic-based approaches. The results from an implemented OpenAI Gym framework, named as HephaestusForge, show that RL algorithms achieve minimal rejection rates (as low as 0.002%, 90x less than the baseline Karmada scheduler). Cost-aware strategies result in lower deployment costs (2.5 units), and latency-aware functions achieve lower latency (268–290 ms), improving by 1.5x and 1.3x, respectively, over the best-performing baselines. HephaestusForge is available in a public open-source repository, allowing researchers to validate their own placement algorithms. This study also highlights the adaptability of the DeepSets (DS) neural network in optimizing microservice placement across diverse multi-cluster setups without retraining. The DS neural network can handle inputs and outputs as arbitrarily sized sets, enabling the RL algorithm to learn a policy not bound to a fixed number of clusters.With the advent of containerization technologies, microservices have revolutionized application deployment by converting old monolithic software into a group of loosely coupled containers, aiming to offer greater flexibility and improve operational efficiency. This transition made applications more complex, consisting of tens to hundreds of microservices. Designing effective orchestration mechanisms remains a crucial challenge, especially for emerging distributed cloud paradigms such as the Compute Continuum (CC). Orchestration across multiple clusters is still not extensively explored in the literature since most works consider single- cluster scenarios. In the CC scenario, the orchestrator must decide the optimal locations for each microservice, deciding whether instances are deployed altogether or placed across different clusters, significantly increasing orchestration complexity. This paper addresses orchestration in a containerized CC environment by studying a Reinforcement Learni..

Mitochondrial dysfunction as a biomarker of frailty: The FRAMITO study protocol

Frailty syndrome often coexists with multimorbidity, sharing several risk factors and outcomes. Therefore, considering multimorbidity when exploring frailty biomarkers may deepen our understanding of these conditions’ pathophysiology. In this regard, most studies focused on inflammation, but markers of mitochondrial dysfunction, such as mitochondrial DNA damage, cell respiratory impairment, and oxidative stress, are less explored. The FRAMITO project aims to evaluate mitochondrial dysfunction in frailty, with and without multimorbidity. This cross-sectional study will enroll 75 individuals aged ≥65 years from inpatient and outpatient clinics at the Geriatrics Units of the University Hospital of Ferrara (Ferrara, Italy) and Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori (Monza, Italy). Participants will be categorized into three groups: 25 without frailty and multimorbidity, 25 with frailty but not multimorbidity, and 25 with frailty and multimorbidity. Blood samples will be collected to isolate Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells. Frailty biomarkers will be identified using untargeted metabolomics and functional studies on mitochondrial dysfunctions in PBMCs and their subpopulations, evaluating mitochondrial DNA damage, mitochondrial and glycolytic cellular bioenergetics, and intracellular reactive oxygen species. This project will advance our understanding of mitochondrial dysfunctions in frailty, particularly when combined with multimorbidity, revealing potential synergistic effects. Clinicaltrial.gov registration number: NCT06433427

15-Year Outcomes of PFO Closure in Patients With Cryptogenic Embolism: Insights From the PROLONG Registry

Background: Transcatheter patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure has become the gold-standard treatment for patients with cryptogenic embolism and PFO, but long-term outcomes data are limited. Objectives: The aim of this study was to report the extended clinical outcomes of patients who underwent transcatheter PFO closure for cryptogenic embolism. Methods: PROLONG (PFO Transcatheter Occlusion Long-Term Outcomes National Group) is an investigator-initiated, multicenter, retrospective registry that enrolled patients who underwent transcatheter PFO closure between 1999 and 2013 at 12 centers in Italy. This analysis included only patients who underwent PFO closure for cryptogenic embolism, defined as cryptogenic ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attack, systemic embolism, or silent ischemic lesions on magnetic resonance imaging. Clinical, imaging, procedural, and follow-up data were collected from electronic health records and telephone interviews. Results: The study included 1,245 patients (mean age 47 ± 12 years, 56% women), with a mean follow-up duration of 14.5 ± 2.4 years. During follow-up, 34 patients (2.7%) experienced recurrent ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attack, or systemic embolism (0.19 per 100 patient-years). Predictors of recurrent events were Risk of Paradoxical Embolism (RoPE) score ≤ 7 (HR: 3.44; 95% CI: 1.06-11.3; P = 0.041), nonprobable PFO-Associated Stroke Causal Likelihood (PASCAL) classification (HR: 2.72; 95% CI: 1.17-6.34; P = 0.020), and new-onset atrial fibrillation (HR: 7.01; 95% CI: 2.45-20.1; P < 0.001). Serious complications were rare (0.4% in hospital, 0.4% during follow-up) and nonfatal. Conclusions: This study confirms the long-term efficacy and safety of transcatheter PFO closure for patients with cryptogenic embolism and PFO in a real-world setting. (PFO Transcatheter Occlusion Long-Term Outcomes National Group [PROLONG] Registry; NCT06504121

T1 mapping and major cardiovascular events in non-ischaemic dilated cardiomyopathy: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Aims: The aim of this study is to investigate the prognostic role of T1 mapping techniques in predicting major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in patients affected by non-ischaemic dilated cardiomyopathy (NIDCM) by performing a meta-analysis of available studies. Methods and results: Data from 12 observational studies exploring the prognostic role of native T1 mapping and extracellular volume (ECV) were analysed with random effect generic inverse variance. The primary endpoint was MACE defined as a composite of heart failure or arrhythmic-related events, expressed as hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). Secondary main outcomes were heart failure-related events, arrhythmic-related events, and weighted mean difference of native T1 mapping values or ECVs between patients with or without MACE. Overall, 4025 patients with NIDCM were included. The median follow-up length was 22 (IQR 14–22) months. The primary outcome of MACE occurred in 610 patients with a pooled HR for native T1 mapping values of 1.07 (95% CI 1.04–1.09, I2 31.5%) and a pooled HR for ECV of 1.37 (95% CI 1.29–1.44, I2 0%). HF-related events occurred in 492 patients, with a pooled HR for T1 mapping of 1.05 (95% CI 1.03–1.07, I2 1%) and a pooled HR for ECVs of 1.43 (95% CI 1.25–1.61, I2 63%). Arrhythmic-related events occurred in 118 patients, with a pooled HR for T1 mapping values of 1.09 (95% CI 1.07–1.12, I2 0%). The weighted mean difference of native T1 mapping between patients with and without MACE was 30.91 (95% CI 18.45–43.16, I2 16.72%), while the mean difference of ECV was 4.52 (95% CI 2.78–6.26, I2 86%). Conclusions: In NIDCM patients, native T1 mapping and ECV were associated with increased risk of the composite primary endpoint of MACE and the secondary endpoint of heart failure and arrhythmic-related events