Alcune osservazioni in materia internazionalistica a proposito della belligeranza e del trattamento dei "prigionieri di guerra", ovvero brevi note su: siyar, jihad e III Convenzione di Ginevra (12 agosto 1949) in un'ottica comparativistica

Sommario: §1. Breve introduzione. §2. Linee guida sul diritto internazionale umanitario e sul diritto umanitario islamico. §3. Elementi di diritto internazionale islamico (Siyār). §4. Jihād e Siyār: ius ad bellum e ius in bello. §5. Sui “prigionieri di guerra”: prospettiva islamica e III Convenzione di Ginevra (1949): brevi note comparative

Il "diritto" (fa) in Cina fra tradizione e modernità in materia di diritto di famiglia. Breve riflessione sul rapporto fra l'emancipazione giuridica e sociale della donna e la politica del partito comunista dal 1949 a oggi

The paper is an outline regarding family law in modern China with special reference to women condition in China today

Riflessioni giuridiche e non solo giuridiche su fondamentalismo islamico e jihadismo

Sommario: §1. A proposito del fondamentalismo islamico. §2. Le “ragioni” dei fondamentalisti. §3. Dal fondamentalismo islamico al jihadismo. §4. Le cause del jihadismo. §5. Terrorismo, fondamentalismo e jihadismo: la re-interpretazione giuridico-religiosa del concetto originario di jihād

Diritto costituzionale e libertà religiosa in Cina. Il problema Falun Gong

Sommario: §1. Cenni introduttivi. §2. Panorama storico. §3. Qi e qigong. §4. Falun Gong e/o Falun Dafa. §5. Religione, Falun Gong e Socialismo. §6. Il Falun Gong e la Costituzione cinese: un dibattito. §7. La gestione del problema Falun Gong. §8. Alcune note conclusive.The Problem of Religious Freedom in China. The Question Concerning "Falung Gong

Materiali per un dibattito sul fenomeno terroristico internazionale con particolare riferimento a quello islamico

Sommario: §1. Verso una definizione di terrorismo. §2. Tipologia del terrorismo e nuovo terrorismo: l’“esempio” di al- Qā’ida. §3. Fondamentalismo, neofondamentalismo islamico contemporaneo, terrorismo e globalizzazione. §4. L’esercizio della violenza in nome della religione. §5. L’11 settembre 2001: conseguenze politiche. §6. L’approccio giuridico al fenomeno del terrorismo internazionale e la risposta europea. §7. La legge islamica di fronte al terrorismo: prospettive filosofiche diverse. §8. L’11 settembre 2001: ritualizzazione giuridico-religiosa di una strage. §9. Cenni sulle linee guida sulla recente legislazione italiana relativa al “terrorismo internazionale”The paper wants to give some juridical reflections concerning the international terroris

Il pharmakos nelle fonti antiche e nella Storia delle religioni. Alcune valutazioni critiche

Cosa s’intende con il termine greco pharmakos? Si trattava di un rito di purificazione oppure di un sacrificio? Quali sono le origini di questa cerimonia? Uno o due individui – in caso di crisi sociale, religiosa, politica, o a fronte di una calamità naturale – erano espulsi dalla comunità (e, talvolta, uccisi ritualmente) poiché si riteneva che tale pratica avrebbe purificato la società. Alcune fonti sembrano asserire che il pharmakos fosse sacrificato, ma la dottrina prevalente rigetta questa tesi adducendo che la vittima era percossa, ma non uccisa. Una spiegazione più plausibile vorrebbe che in talune occasioni fosse giustiziato, mentre in altre no. In questa prospettiva, esiste lo spazio per una problematizzazione storico-religiosa?What is meant by the Greek word pharmakos? Was it a purification ritual or a sacrifice? What are the origins of this ceremony? One or two individuals – in case of social, religious, political crisis, or a natural disaster – were expelled from the community (and sometimes ritually killed) because it was believed that this would bring about the purification of the human group. Some sources state that the pharmakos was sacrificed, but several scholars oppose such a thesis, arguing that the earliest sources for the ritual prove that the victim was beaten up, but not killed. A more plausible explanation would be that on certain occasions he was executed, while on others he was not. In this light, is there a space for a historical-religious problematization

Evaluating Voting Competence in Persons with Alzheimer Disease

Voting by persons with dementia raises questions about their decision-making capacity. Methods specifically addressing voting capacity of demented people have been proposed in the US, but never tested elsewhere. We translated and adapted the US Competence Assessment Tool for Voting (CAT-V) to the Italian context, using it before 2006 elections for Prime Minister. Consisting of a brief questionnaire, this tool evaluates the following decision-making abilities: understanding nature and effect of voting, expressing a choice, and reasoning about voting choices. Subjects' performance was examined in relation to dementia severity. Of 38 subjects with Alzheimer's disease (AD) enrolled in the study, only three scored the maximum on all CAT-V items. MMSE and CAT-V scores correlated only moderately (r = 0.59; P < 0.0001) with one another, reflecting the variability of subjects' performance at any disease stage. Most participants (90%), although performing poorly on understanding and reasoning items, scored the maximum on the choice measure. Our results imply that voting capacity in AD is only roughly predicted by MMSE scores and may more accurately be measured by a structured questionnaire, such as the CAT-V. Among the decision-making abilities evaluated by the CAT-V, expressing a choice was by far the least affected by the dementing process

Topology optimization-guided stiffening of composites realized through Automated Fiber Placement

The paper proposes a mixed strain- and stress-based topology optimization method for designing the ideal geometry of carbon fibers in composite laminates subjected to either applied tractions or prescribed displacements. On the basis of standard micromechanical approaches, analytical elastic solutions for a single cell, assumed to be a Representative Volume Element (RVE), are ad hoc constructed by involving anisotropy induced by fiber orientation and volume fraction, also taking into account inter-laminar stresses and strains. The analytical solutions are then implemented in a Finite Element (FE) custom-made topology optimization-based procedure rewritten to have as output the best curves the reinforcing fibers have to draw in any composite laminate layer to maximize the overall panel stiffness or to minimize the elastic energy. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed strategy, different structures undergoing either in-plane or out-plane boundary conditions have been selected and theoretically investigated, determining the optimal fibers’ maps and showing the related results in comparison to standard sequences of alternate fibers disposition for the same composites. Two optimized panels were at the end actually produced using an innovative Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) machine and consolidating the materials by means of autoclave curing processes, in this way replicating the fiber paths obtained from theoretical outcomes. As a control, two corresponding composite structures were also built without employing the fiber optimization strategy. The panels have been tested in laboratory and the theoretical results have been compared with the experimental findings, showing a very good agreement with our predictions and confirming the capability of the proposed algorithm in suggesting the arrangement of the fibers to obtain enhanced mechanical performances. It is felt that the hybrid analytical-FE topology optimization strategy, in conjunction with the possibilities offered by AFP devices, could pave the way for a new generation of ultra-lightweight composites for aerospace, automotive and many industrial applications

Cerebrospinal fluid HIV-1 escape in patients with neurocognitive symptoms: pooled data from a neuro-HIV platform and the NAMACO study.

BACKGROUND Despite modern antiretroviral therapy, HIV-1 RNA escape into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) may occur. We examined the prevalence of and factors associated with CSF HIV-1 escape among people living with HIV (PLWH) in Switzerland. SETTING The Neurocognitive Assessment in the Metabolic and Aging Cohort (NAMACO) study is an ongoing, prospective, longitudinal, multicenter study within the Swiss HIV Cohort Study. The neuro-HIV platform is a multi-disciplinary, single-day outpatient consultation at Lausanne University Hospital. METHODS We pooled data from the NAMACO study and the neuro-HIV platform participants who underwent lumbar puncture (LP) between 2011 and 2019. Both patient groups had neurocognitive symptoms. CSF HIV-1 escape was defined as the presence of quantifiable CSF HIV-1 RNA when plasma HIV-1 RNA was suppressed or CSF HIV-1 RNA greater than plasma HIV-1 RNA when the latter was detectable. RESULTS Of 1166 PLWH assessed, 288 underwent LP. CSF HIV-1 escape was observed in 25 PLWH (8.7%) of whom 19 (76%) had supressed plasma HIV-1 RNA. Characteristics of PLWH were comparable whether they had CSF HIV-1 escape or not, including comorbidities, time since HIV diagnosis (15 vs 16 years, p=0.9), median CD4 nadir (158.5/mm3 vs 171/mm3, p=0.6), antiretroviral CSF-Penetration-Effectiveness score (7 vs 7 points, p=0.8), neurocognitive diagnosis based on Frascati criteria and radiological findings. CONCLUSIONS In this large pooled sample of PLWH with neurocognitive symptoms, CSF HIV-1 escape occurred in 8.7% of PLWH. PLWH with CSF HIV-1 escape presented no distinctive clinical or paraclinical characteristics. We conclude that LP is unavoidable in confirming CSF HIV-1 escape