Reconocimiento de una situación jurídica relativa al estatuto personal válidamente creada o modificada en el extranjero: Italia

Analyzing the recent Italian case-law is clear that a difficult balance is maintained between the Italian Law and the State’s obligation to recognize a foreign status under the EU law and ECHR principles. Moreover, the recognition of foreign judgment and provisions related to personal status are surely interconnected with the role of public policy, on one hand, and the effectiveness of human rights on the other hand.En algunas materias relacionadas con el estatuto de la persona, la jurisprudencia del TJUE y del TEDH ha fomentado el reconocimiento por parte de los Estados de las situaciones jurídicas válidamente creadas o modificadas en otros Estados. Esta jurisprudencia ha cambiado y está cambiando la metodología y práctica propias del Derecho internacional privado de producción interna. Este trabajo analiza los efectos de dicha jurisprudencia europea sobre el Derecho internacional privado cuando éste se enfrenta a una situación jurídica relacionada con el estatuto de la persona que ha sido válidamente creada en el extranjero y que se quiere hacer valer en Italia

RECOGNITION OF A STATUS ACQUIRED ABROAD: ITALY

Analyzing the recent Italian case-law is clear that a difficult balance is maintained bet-ween the Italian Law and the State’s obligation to recognize a foreign status under the EU law and ECHR principles. Moreover, the recognition of foreign judgment and provisions related to personal sta-tus are surely interconnected with the role of public policy, on one hand, and the effectiveness of human rights on the other han

“Young” and “Old” Voices: the prosodic auto-transplantation technique for speaker’s age recognition

The present study is intended to figure out the extent to which prosody and intonation affect listeners’ ability to estimate the speaker’s age. The performance of a 40-year old anchorman and another by the same speaker at the age of 80 were spectroacoustically analyzed in order to identify the prosodic features of a “young” and an “old” voice. The results of the analysis have shown significant differences between the two voices on a suprasegmental level. To test the effects of these differences on a perceptual level, through the prosodic transplantation technique, the F0 values and the durations of segments and silences were transferred from the “young” to the “old” voice and viceversa. Two age recognition tests, based on original and transplanted voices, were administered to Italian listeners. The results of perceptual tests have confirmed the strict relationship between some rhythmic and prosodic features and the speaker’s age and have demonstrated the effectiveness of the transplantation technique. With advancing age, articulation rate and speech rate slow down, voice register rises and tonal range widens. Moreover, the “old” voice is also characterized by a higher percentage of vocalic portion which determines a shift of the Italian rhythm towards the isomoraic pattern

Labeling expressive speech in L2 Italian: the role of prosody in auto-and external annotation

The present study is intended to compare two approaches of labeling expressive corpora: auto-annotation and annotation by external lay listeners. These two methods have been applied to the semi-spontaneous emotional speech produced by Chinese learners of L2 Italian, involved in the CardTask, a moodinduction procedure that allows us to control the context of interaction, preserving the spontaneity of reactions. The emotional responses to the stimuli presented in the task were the object of an auto-annotation session. The same samples were then administered only in the auditory mode to 20 Italian and 20 Chinese lay listeners. The results of perceptual tests have underlined some similarities and differences between both auto- and external annotation, and between the ratings given by external Italian and Chinese listeners. The labels chosen by native Italians were similar to those selected in the auto-annotation session, particularly in the case of anxiety, fear and disgust. The correspondence between the results of the two annotation methods may be ascribed to the different prosodic patterns characterizing the emotional states. The results of the annotation made by Chinese listeners show that they found it hard to give a specific emotional label to utterances produced in a second language relying solely on prosodic patterns

Anti-Tumor Activity of Hypericum perforatum L. and Hyperforin through Modulation of Inflammatory Signaling, ROS Generation and Proton Dynamics

In this paper we review the mechanisms of the antitumor effects of Hypericum perforatum L. (St. John's wort, SJW) and its main active component hyperforin (HPF). SJW extract is commonly employed as antidepressant due to its ability to inhibit monoamine neurotransmitters re-uptake. Moreover, further biological properties make this vegetal extract very suitable for both prevention and treatment of several diseases, including cancer. Regular use of SJW reduces colorectal cancer risk in humans and prevents genotoxic effects of carcinogens in animal models. In established cancer, SJW and HPF can still exert therapeutic effects by their ability to downregulate inflammatory mediators and inhibit pro-survival kinases, angiogenic factors and extracellular matrix proteases, thereby counteracting tumor growth and spread. Remarkably, the mechanisms of action of SJW and HPF include their ability to decrease ROS production and restore pH imbalance in tumor cells. The SJW component HPF, due to its high lipophilicity and mild acidity, accumulates in membranes and acts as a protonophore that hinders inner mitochondrial membrane hyperpolarization, inhibiting mitochondrial ROS generation and consequently tumor cell proliferation. At the plasma membrane level, HPF prevents cytosol alkalization and extracellular acidification by allowing protons to re-enter the cells. These effects can revert or at least attenuate cancer cell phenotype, contributing to hamper proliferation, neo-angiogenesis and metastatic dissemination. Furthermore, several studies report that in tumor cells SJW and HPF, mainly at high concentrations, induce the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway, likely by collapsing the mitochondrial membrane potential. Based on these mechanisms, we highlight the SJW/HPF remarkable potentiality in cancer prevention and treatment

Redes de datos para usuarios móviles. Estudio de la arquitectura MobileIP/CellularIP

La creciente difusión de terminales portátiles está llevando a un crecimiento vertiginoso del número de usuarios que piden poder acceder a Internet o a su propia red empresarial independientemente de su posición geográfica y de la tecnología de red disponible en el acceso (LAN, PTSN, GSM .. .). Tanto los operadores de telefonía móvil como los proveedores de servicios de Internet (ISP), por tanto, están cada vez más interesados en satisfacer la demanda de servicios de datos para usuarios móviles. Pero para conseguir esto son necesarios nuevos protocolos que permitan el acceso remoto del terminal móvil y la continuidad de las comunicaciones durante el movimiento. Las soluciones propuestas son varias y provienenfundamentalmente de dos ámbitos tan diversos como Internet o el entorno radiomóvil GSM y su ulterior evolución UMTS. Todo esto hace pensar en un escenario futuro en el que las compañías ofrecerán servicios de datos utilizando diversas redes de acceso con diferentes protocolos. Será necesario, por tanto, un protocolo que gestione la movilidad de una red a otra. Una posible solución que está teniendo una gran aceptación en el ámbito IETF es el uso de MobileIP / CellularIP.Peer Reviewe

Protective role of St. John's Wort and its components hyperforin and hypericin against diabetes through Inhibition of inflammatory signaling: evidence from in vitro and in vivo studies

Diabetes mellitus is a very common chronic disease with progressively increasing prevalence. Besides the well-known autoimmune and inflammatory pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes, in many people, metabolic changes and inappropriate lifestyle favor a subtle chronic inflammatory state that contributes to development of insulin resistance and progressive loss of β-cell function and mass, eventually resulting in metabolic syndrome or overt type 2 diabetes. In this paper, we review the anti-inflammatory effects of the extract of Hypericum perforatum L. (St. John's wort, SJW) and its main active ingredients firstly in representative pathological situations on inflammatory basis and then in pancreatic β cells and in obese or diabetic animal models. The simultaneous and long-lasting inhibition of signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)-1, nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs)/c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling pathways involved in pro-inflammatory cytokine-induced β-cell dysfunction/death and insulin resistance make SJW particularly suitable for both preventive and therapeutic use in metabolic diseases. Hindrance of inflammatory cytokine signaling is likely dependent on the hyperforin content of SJW extract, but recent data reveal that hypericin can also exert relevant protective effects, mediated by activation of the cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)/protein kinase cAMP-dependent (PKA)/adenosine monophosphate activated protein kinase (AMPK) pathway, against high-fat-diet-induced metabolic abnormalities. Actually, the mechanisms of action of the two main components of SJW appear complementary, strengthening the efficacy of the plant extract. Careful quantitative analysis of SJW components and suitable dosage, with monitoring of possible drug-drug interaction in a context of remarkable tolerability, are easily achievable pre-requisites for forthcoming clinical applications

Between the archaeological site and the contemporary stage: an example of acoustic and lighting retrofit with multifunctional purpose in the ancient theatre of Syracuse

A research conducted on the contemporary use of ancient theatres is presented, focusing on sustainable solutions for passive acoustics and artificial lighting devices. The case study is the theatre of Syracuse, well known as archaeological tourist attraction and as traditional stage for theatrical events. A retrofit was suggested to avoid the use of loudspeakers in the theatre during representations, through the selection of the best performing orchestra shells. For the lighting part, the study focused on the theatre as archaeological site, improving the monumental light system present in the theatre from the maintenance and energy saving points of view

VtoV: a perceptual cue for rhythm identification

Current metrics for the quantification of speech rhythm take into account parameters not easily detectable by listeners. To overcome this limit, in this study we propose a new model based on a parameter that account for listeners' ability to discriminate between different rhythmic patterns. Starting from the results of a spectro-acoustic analysis conducted on singing, we found that Perceptual Centres align close to Vowel Onset Points (VOP). To test the perceptual relevance of interval between two consecutive VOPs, that we call VtoV intervals, we analyzed a multilingual corpus of TV news, advertisings and recited speech. The signal was segmented into vocalic/consonantal portions and into VtoV intervals. The standard deviation of all parameters was calculated. The results of the analysis show that VtoV is a crucial parameter both to classify languages on a rhythmic basis and to account for intra-linguistic speech style variations