EU-China trade and investment relations and Covid-19: old struggles or new challenges?

The article investigates EU-China trade and investment relations, highlighting the importance of theirpartnership for the global economy. The article argues that Covid-19 is an accelerating factor ofexisting trends, analysing EU-China relations as empirical evidence. It will address the institutionaland legal framework of EU-China trade and investment relations. The article will use primary andsecondary sources to inform the research. It will benefit from an interdisciplinary approach,combining both legal and political literatures. The analysis is based on EU-China trade and investmentrelations, as reported by EU’s official documents and is divided into three main sections. The firstsection gives an overview of economic interactions between EU-China. The second section provides ananalysis of the main documents between the EU and China before the pandemic. The third section isdedicated to showing how the relations between the two actors continued during Covid-19 pandemi

Stosunek do nieregularnych imigrantów w czasie pandemii COVID-19. Analiza porównawcza podejść włoskiego i portugalskiego

The aim of the article is to compare two emergency migration legislation adopted in Italy and Portugal. The article attempts to prove the link between integration and law, analyzing the different approaches of Italy and Portugal to the policy problem during the COVID-19 pandemic. As two of the Southern EU Member States with different views on immigration policies, Italy and Portugal represent an interesting case study to investigate. The article benefits from an interdisciplinary approach, addressing the issue, combining both the legal and political literature. Ultimately, the article tries to assess if the current measures are in line with the regularization policies that have been adopted in the past decade. The main finding is that both states tend to pass emergency legislation favoring migrants and granting them equal access to healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic, assessing the link between law and integration. Further empirical research is desirable.Celem artykułu jest porównanie nadzwyczajnego prawa imigracyjnego przyjętego we Włoszech i Portugalii. W artykule podjęto próbę wskazania zależności między integracją a prawem, opierając się na analizie włoskiego i portugalskiego podejścia do polityki imigracyjnej w czasie pandemii COVID-19. Włochy i Portugalia, dwa południowe państwa członkowskie UE o różnych podejściach do polityki imigracyjnej, stanowią ciekawy problem badawczy. Zastosowano interdyscyplinarne podejście badawcze, które umożliwia wypełnienie celu postawionego przez autorów na podstawie literatury prawnej i politologicznej. W artykule podjęto także próbę oceny, czy obecnie stosowane środki wpisują się w politykę regularyzacji, wdrażaną od dekady. Oceniając powiązania między prawem a integracją, uznano, że w obu państwach zostały przyjęte nadzwyczajne regulacje sprzyjające imigrantom i gwarantujące im równy dostęp do opieki zdrowotnej w czasie pandemii. Wskazane jest prowadzenie dalszych badań empirycznych

Association between asymptomatic carotid atherosclerosis and degenerative aortic stenosis.

OBJECTIVE: Degenerative aortic stenosis shows similarities with atherosclerosis. To confirm the hypothesis that aortic stenosis is an "atherosclerosis-like" disease, we investigated the association between degenerative aortic stenosis and atherosclerosis of carotid arteries. METHODS: We studied 270 consecutive patients, 135 with degenerative aortic stenosis (trans-aortic peak velocity ≥ 2 m/sec) and other 135 subjects without aortic valve disease. All patients underwent echocardiography and ultrasound scan of the supra-aortic trunks to assess the presence of plaque and/or intima-media thickening (IMT). RESULTS: Atherosclerosis of carotid arteries (IMT and plaque) was significantly more frequent in patients with aortic stenosis than in controls (95.5% vs. 66.6%, p < 0.0001). The same result was confirmed as concerns carotid plaques (69.6% vs. 42.2%, p < 0.0001). In addition, there was a significant association between aortic stenosis and degenerative carotid plaque (OR = 3.13; 95% C.I. = 1.90-5.17). Thus the presence of a linear correlation between the trans-aortic peak velocity of the cases and the thickness of the plaques and IMT was evaluated by calculating the coefficient of correlation (R = 0.15 for plaque and R = 0.53 for IMT). CONCLUSIONS: The presence of carotid atherosclerosis is associated with degenerative aortic stenosis and the severity of aortic stenosis corresponds to an increase of the thickness of plaque and IMT. This relationship is quite new. Our result strengthens the pathogenetic hypothesis "atherosclerosis-like" of degenerative aortic stenosis and suggest the ultrasound scan as a non invasive method for risk stratification in patient with aortic stenosis, with therapeutic implications especially for higher risk subgroups

Heavy Metal Levels in Dog Liver and Kidney in Naples (Campania, Italy)

The aim of the current study was to carry out a retrospective analysis of heavy metal (Pb, Cd, and Hg) levels in liver and kidney of 38 dogs living in an urban habitat (city of Naples). Tissues were homogenized, digested in a microwave digestion system, and analyzed by atomic absorption spectrometry. The results of this study showed generally low levels of heavy metals in tissues of all examined dogs; only mercury concentrations in kidneys of pet dogs were higher than in stray dogs, and no significant age-dependent differences in metal levels were shown between the two groups. In conclusion, these results suggest the involvement of ad hoc-formulated pet food exposure to heavy metals in domestic animals

Levels of heavy metals in liver and kidney of dogs from urban environment

Lead, cadmium and mercury were detected in liver and kidney tissue of dogs from an urban habitat. Samples were digested in a microwave system and analyzed by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Results of the current study showed that at least one of the three heavy metals was detected in tissues of all examined dogs. These findings make us suppose that humans are exposed to the same heavy metals similar to those of dogs that are exposed since they share the same environment. Mercury concentrations detected in kidney of household dogs were higher than stray dogs, therefore the involvement of pet food in exposure to mercury can be supposed

Mediastinal syndrome from plasmablastic lymphoma in human immunodeficiency virus and human herpes virus 8 negative patient with polycythemia vera: a case report

Background: Plasmoblastic lymphoma is a rare and aggressive subtype of diffuse large B cell lymphoma, which occurs usually in the jaw of immunocompromised subjects. Case presentation: We describe the occurrence of plasmoblastic lymphoma in the mediastinum and chest wall skin of an human immunodeficiency virus-negative 63-year-old Caucasian man who had had polycytemia vera 7 years before. At admission, the patient showed a superior vena cava syndrome, with persistent dyspnoea, cough, and distension of the jugular veins. Imaging findings showed a 9.7 × 8 × 5.7 cm mediastinal mass. A chest wall neoformation biopsy and ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy of the mediastinal mass allowed diagnosis of plasmoblastic lymphoma and establishment of an immediate chemotherapeutic regimen, with rapid remission of compression symptoms. Conclusions: Plasmoblastic lymphoma is a very uncommon, difficult to diagnose, and aggressive disease. The presented case represents the first rare mediastinal plasmoblastic lymphoma in a human immunodeficiency virus-/human herpesvirus-8-negative patient. Pathologists should be aware that this tumor does appear in sites other than the oral cavity. Fine-needle aspiration biopsy is a low-cost, repeatable, easy-to-perform technique, with a high diagnostic accuracy and with very low complication and mortality rates. Fine-needle aspiration biopsy could represent the right alternative to surgery in those patients affected by plasmoblastic lymphoma, being rapid and minimally invasive. It allowed establishment of prompt medical treatment with subsequent considerable reduction of the neoplastic tissue and resolution of the mediastinal syndrome

Changes in fatty acids sebum composition during human menstrual cycle: possible relationships with fertile period

Changes in fatty acids sebum composition during human menstrual cycle: possible relationships with fertile perio

Risk of chronic kidney disease after cancer nephrectomy.

The incidence of early stage renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is increasing and observational studies have shown equivalent oncological outcomes of partial versus radical nephrectomy for stage I tumours. Population studies suggest that compared with radical nephrectomy, partial nephrectomy is associated with decreased mortality and a lower rate of postoperative decline in kidney function. However, rates of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in patients who have undergone nephrectomy might be higher than in the general population. The risks of new-onset or accelerated CKD and worsened survival after nephrectomy might be linked, as kidney insufficiency is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and mortality. Nephron-sparing approaches have, therefore, been proposed as the standard of care for patients with type 1a tumours and as a viable option for those with type 1b tumours. However, prospective data on the incidence of de novo and accelerated CKD after cancer nephrectomy is lacking, and the only randomized trial to date was closed prematurely. Intrinsic abnormalities in non-neoplastic kidney parenchyma and comorbid conditions (including diabetes mellitus and hypertension) might increase the risks of CKD and RCC. More research is needed to better understand the risk of CKD post-nephrectomy, to develop and validate predictive scores for risk-stratification, and to optimize patient management