Jurisdiction in cases of divorce, legal separation or marriage annulment

The subject of coordination is fundamental for the functioning of jurisdictional rules of the Regulation n.2016/1103 on matrimonial property regimes and Regulation n.2016/1104 on the property consequences of registered partnerships. Both Property Regimes Regulations have the purpose of gathering litigation before the courts of one Member State and have the related procedures managed by the courts of the same Member State. Recital 34 of Regulation No. 2016/1103 specifies that matters of matrimonial property regime related to proceedings pending before the court of a member state hearing an application for divorce, legal separation or marriage annulment should be dealt with by the courts of that Member State, ?unless the jurisdiction to rule on the divorce, legal separation or marriage annulment may only be based on specific grounds of jurisdiction. In such cases, the concentration of jurisdiction should not be allowed without the spouses? agreement?. Unfortunately, the purpose of concentrating the proceedings is not always met. The Eu system of private international law in family matters has gradually extended its terms of reference from divorce and legal separation to the financial aspects of family life, at least for the Member States that will take part in the enhanced cooperation. Nonetheless, practically these topics are often addressed in the same action for divorce. Issues such as assigning the matrimonial home, and the definition of the obligation of one spouse to support the other financially are strongly and substantially connected to the ruling on divorce, and to the conditions and reasons that ground that ruling. The need to coordinate between the EU instruments becomes apparent because spouses litigate over the financial consequences of divorce. As a result, it seems reasonable and in the parties? interests to have divorce and the related financial aspects handled by the same court

This is the Nut You Should be Eating for Better Gut Health

The consumption of dried fruit is a dietary habit that is growing year by year. Nutrition specialists and others have carried out numerous studies confirming that the introduction of a controlled daily intake in the diet can bring benefits both in the prevention of major metabolic and cardiovascular diseases and in the well-being of the microbiome. The intake of dried fruit plays an important role in improving the quality and quantity of the microbial families of our intestine, leading to an increased production of short-chain fatty acids, which participate in numerous pathophysiological mechanisms and in the prevention of numerous diseases. The present review chapter compares numerous articles focusing on the characteristics and behavior of fibers and other main components of nuts

Dissolved major and trace elements in meteoric depositions on the flanks of Mt. Etna (Italy): the impact of volcanic activity on the environment

In the framework of the “Save the Etna World” research project, which investigates the impact of the volcanic activity on the surrounding environment, three bulk collectors were deployed on the flank of the Mt. Etna volcano to collect the meteoric depositions. The sampling sites were at distances between 5.5 and 13 km from the summit vents of the volcano on its eastern flank, that is the most exposed to the volcanic plume due to the high-altitude prevailing winds direction. The sites were selected in order to have a gradient of exposition with respect to the volcanic emissions, the most exposed being CIT, the intermediate ILI and the least NIC. Samples were collected monthly from July 2017 to July 2018 and analysed for major ions and for a large suite of trace elements. The influence of volcanic emissions is evidenced by the low pH of the collected depositions in the most exposed site, showing values mostly below 3.5 and never exceeding 5.72. The lowest values are related to high fluoride, chloride and sulfate concentrations in the collected water, deriving from the acid gases (HF, HCl and SO2) of the volcanic plume. The other two sites show pH values in range from 3.95 to 7.21. While the lowest values indicate a lower but significant volcanic influence, the highest values can be related to the dissolution of geogenic (mainly carbonate) particulate of local or regional (Saharan) origin. The latter process is evidenced by high concentrations of Ca and HCO3 in the samples with the highest pHs. Trace elements show almost all higher concentrations in the most exposed site. Highly volatile elements like Pb, Te and Tl, which are known to have strong enrichment factors in volcanic plumes with respect to the average upper crust composition, are found at CIT at concentrations always at least one order of magnitude higher than at NIC. Also lithophile elements like Si, Al, Ti and Fe are sometimes strongly enriched at CIT deriving from the interaction of the acid gases of the plume with the occasionally emitted volcanic ash. These new results confirm the importance of meteoric deposition as main carrier of volcanogenic elements to earth’s surface. “Etna World” is a fascinating natural laboratory, and the study of atmospheric depositions in this peculiar environment allows to understand better the general processes that influence the cycles of trace metals. Furthermore, the quantitative estimation of both emission and deposition of volcanogenic elements is a key factor for complementary studies on the geochemical mobility of trace elements and their distribution between atmosphere, soils, vegetation, and lastly, animals and humans in active volcanic areas

Role of nutraceuticals in cancer therapy.

Nutraceuticals are natural bioactive products with food value and promising therapeutic properties in several diseases. Current cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery, induce unintended side effects compromising also health and well-being of patients. Emerging studies suggest that some plant-based agents may impact cellular and molecular processes underlying tumor progression. However, some of these molecules might also play an antagonistic activity against classic therapeutic agents. The aim of this article is to review the current knowledge underpinning the use of nutraceuticals in cancer prevention and therapy.</p

Marked alveolar apoptosis/proliferation imbalance in end-stage emphysema.

BACKGROUND: Apoptosis has recently been proposed to contribute to the pathogenesis of emphysema. METHODS: In order to establish if cell fate plays a role even in end-stage disease we studied 16 lungs (9 smoking-associated and 7 alpha1antitrypsin (AAT)-deficiency emphysema) from patients who had undergone lung transplantations. Six unused donor lungs served as controls. Apoptosis was evaluated by TUNEL analysis, single-stranded DNA laddering, electron microscopy and cell proliferation by an immunohistochemical method (MIB1). The role of the transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1 pathway was also investigated and correlated with epithelial cell turnover and with the severity of inflammatory cell infiltrate. RESULTS: The apoptotic index (AI) was significantly higher in emphysematous lungs compared to the control group (p < or = 0.01), particularly if only lungs with AAT-deficiency emphysema were considered (p < or = 0.01 vs p = 0.09). The proliferation index was similar in patients and controls (1.9 +/- 2.2 vs 1.7 +/- 1.1). An increased number of T lymphocytes was observed in AAT-deficiency lungs than smoking-related cases (p < or = 0.05). TGF-beta1 expression in the alveolar wall was higher in patients with smoking-associated emphysema than in cases with AAT-deficiency emphysema (p < or = 0.05). A positive correlation between TGF-betaRII and AI was observed only in the control group (p < or = 0.005, r2 = 0.8). A negative correlation was found between the TGF-beta pathway (particularly TGF-betaRII) and T lymphocytes infiltrate in smoking-related cases (p < or = 0.05, r2 = 0.99) CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that apoptosis of alveolar epithelial cells plays an important role even in end-stage emphysema particularly in AAT-deficiency disease. The TGFbeta-1 pathway does not seem to directly influence epithelial turnover in end-stage disease. Inflammatory cytokine different from TGF-beta1 may differently orchestrate cell fate in AAT and smoking-related emphysema types

Moderate exercise improves cardiac hypertrophy in female aged mice

Age-related diastolic dysfunction has a significant impact on the elderly health, in fact the left ventricular filling is impaired, limiting intense exercise tolerance and reducing the quality of life. Pathological hypertrophy is commonly associated with up-regulation of fetal genes, fibrosis, cardiac dysfunction, fat deposits and increased mortality. Regular and moderate physical activity improves cardiac performance in elderly people. Type 5 cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase (PDE5) regulates intracellular cGMP levels and its increased expression has an important role in the development of cardiac hypertrophy (1). Our hypothesis is to assess if moderate exercise modulates PDE5 expression and reduces cardiac hypertrophy in old mice. CD1 female mice were grouped in young (2 months) sedentary (YS), young trained (YE), old 20 months sedentary (OS) and old old trained (OE). Exercise was performed at moderate intensity (speed of 13 m/min, for 30 minutes) on tapis roulant for 5 days/week. Morphometric (left ventricular weight/tibial length ratio) and histological (cardiomyocyte size) analyses showed that cardiac hypertrophy is present in OS compared to YS and YE and significantly reduced in OE group compared to OS. Moderate exercise also attenuated cardiac fibrosis in OE group. Molecular analysis revealed that hypertrophic markers such as ANP, BNP, GATA 4 and NKX 2.5 were significantly down-regulated in OE group. SIRT1 and PPARα, two regulators of oxidative stress and fat metabolism, were up-regulated in aged trained mice. PDE5 expression is down-regulated after exercise in OE group. These results suggest that exercise leads to a beneficial effect in old mice. Interestingly PDE5 expression correlates with the anti-hypertrophic effect of training in old mice

Effect of olive by-products feed supplementation on physicochemical and microbiological profile of Provola cheese

IntroductionWith the purpose to evaluate the effects of dietary olive cake, a source of bioactive phenolic compounds, as feed supplementation of lactating dairy cows on fatty acid composition, volatile organic compounds, and microbiological profiles of Provola cheese, we performed a two-arm study where control and experimental administered cows derived dairy have been compared.MethodsOur panel of analyses include metabolomics, physicochemical detected variables, culture dependent and independent analyses, and a stringent statistical approach aimful at disclosing only statistically significant results.Results and discussionLooking at the physicochemical variable’s profiles, a higher content of unsaturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acid, and conjugated linoleic acids as well of proteins were observed in experimental cheese samples, indicating the beneficial effect of dietary supplementation. Furthermore, based on volatilome composition, a clear cluster separation between control and experimental cheeses was obtained, mainly related to terpenes degradation, able of influencing their aroma and taste. Microbiological results showed a decrease of some spoilage related microbial groups in experimental cheeses, probably due to the inhibitory effect exerted by polyphenols compounds, that contrarily did not affect the core taxa of all cheese samples. This paper confirmed the promising utilization of olive by-product in farming practices to obtain more sustainable and safe dairy food products with lower environmental impact, mainly in Sicily and Mediterranean area, where waste disposal poses serious environmental and economic problems

Expression of the Atypical Chemokine Receptor D6 in Human Alveolar Macrophages in COPD

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