in keeping with the spirit of the albertine statute constitutionalisation of the national unification

This chapter deals with the difficult process of constitutionalisation which characterised Italian Unification. Constitutionalisation is a long-term phenomenon which had the purpose of giving constitutional forms to the Nation. The promulgation of the Albertine Statute is more the start than the arrival of this phenomenon. The focus of this investigation is, therefore, to study the Constitution through its evolution paying particular attention to the process of legal integration within the structures of the Albertine Statute and to the amendment mechanisms of the constitutional text. The preamble of the Albertine Statute speaks of «perpetual and irrevocable fundamental law». The word «perpetual» meant the prohibition of revoking constitutional concession, while the word «irrevocable» was intended as a pact between the Sovereign and the Nation. Over the years, very few were the changes to the letter of the Albertine Statute. The interpretation and the practice represented the most important mechanisms of constitutional change (implicit constitutional changes). A primary role was acknowledged to non-written norms. In this perspective, it may well be said that the Italian Constitution consisted in something more than the written text and dwelt in the spirit and not in the letter of the Albertine Statute

Le sacre du roi : stratégie symbolique et doctrine politique de la monarchie française

The Royal Coronation: the French Monarchy's Symbolic Strategy and Political Doctrine. M. Valensise. The unction and crowning ceremony—considered as a synonym of royalty and an ahistorical mystery of royalty's symbolic strenght—nonetheless has a history. Far from being a gesture which was always identical and faithful to itself, the coronation went through incessant transformation in its morphology. We can see in it the work of semantic erosion and continual change which allowed it to adapt to the legal and political evolution of the French monarchy. A diachronic analysis of its transformations and the controversy it raised at the time of Louis the Sixteenth's coronation in 1775 show the last possible dynamism of this archaic representation of the power incarnated in the king, before the dissolution of the monarchy during the revolution. This analysis points out the inherent limits to the efforts mode to reconstruct an unequivocal and infallible history of the monarchy's political doctrine so as to rationally found the historical rights of kings.Valensise Marina. Le sacre du roi : stratégie symbolique et doctrine politique de la monarchie française. In: Annales. Economies, sociétés, civilisations. 41ᵉ année, N. 3, 1986. pp. 543-577

Diagnostic evaluation of women experiencing repeated in vitro fertilization failure

Objective: The aim of the study was to propose a set of tests to clarify the diagnosis of repeated implantation failure in patients undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF). Study design: Fifty-nine patients with at least two unsuccessful IVF attempts were included in the study. Blood samples were evaluated for the presence of underlying thyroid abnormalities, antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL), increased levels of natural killer cells (NK), inherited thrombophilia and mouse embryo assay factor (MEA-f). The same tests were performed on 20 normal fertile control patients. Results: Seventy-six percent of lVF patients showed at least one abnormal result. This incidence was higher with respect to that found among control patients (45%). The prevalence of thyroid abnormalities, aPL and increased NK level was higher in IVF patients whereas no differences were observed in terms of prevalence of inherited thrombophilias and MEA-f. Conclusions: A better understanding of reproductive failure mechanisms should allow an effective diagnostic flow chart and a focused therapeutic option for patients experiencing repeated IVF failure. With this objective in mind, our data provide two important results: thyroid abnormalities. aPL and increased NK levels are more prevalent in women experiencing IVF failure. No evidence was found for an association between inherited thrombophilia and MEA-f and failure to achieve pregnancy after IVF. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved