The relationship between human rights and property and the need for comparison in international law

International law and comparative law are traditionally concerned not only with two different fields of legal studies but they are also characterised by two divergent ways of looking at legal phenomena. Therefore, the idea of a close relationship between public international law and comparative law and even the apotheosis of a synthesis between these two different fields of law may appear as an impracticable encounter between opposites. Nevertheless, the issue of comparative international law has become a major concern in the recent academic debate among international scholars. The paper has the aims to show some examples of the utility of comparative international law as a way of looking at legal phenomena. This happens especially in those areas of law, such as property law, that tend to change form depending on the context. The Author gives an insight into this feature of property and formulate some preliminary remarks on the adequate method for investigating it

Proprietary Estoppel: un’analisi comparata della giurisprudenza italia

 In the English system, the doctrine of proprietary estoppel prevents a legal owner from acting in an unconscionable manner to the detriment of a reliable claimant. A proprietary estoppel could give rise to a proprietary right of the claimant. Italian law does not recognise a similar doctrine nor does Italian property law seem compatible with it. Nevertheless, in some recent cases, the courts protected the claimant’s reasonable reliance, preventing the legal owner from acting in contradiction with his/her own previous conduct (according to the maxim venire contra factum proprium nemo potest). This paper analyses these judicial decisions, and evaluates when and how the claimant’s reliance is protected.Nel diritto inglese, in base al proprietary estoppel, un soggetto che è stato indotto dal proprietario a confidare nel verificarsi di effetti costitutivi o traslativi della proprietà può, al ricorrere di determinate circostanze, agire in giudizio per l’attribuzione del diritto in via equitativa. La regola, com’è noto, non trova riconoscimento nel diritto italiano. In alcune recenti decisioni le Corti italiane, tuttavia, pur nel rispetto formale delle regole in materia di proprietà, hanno impedito al proprietario di esercitare facoltà e poteri dominicali in violazione delle aspettative dallo stesso ingenerate in un soggetto terzo. Il presente lavoro analizza questa giurisprudenza, con lo scopo di valutare se e con quali effetti sia tutelato l’affidamento del terzo

La propriet\ue0 dei semi in agricoltura: spunti ricostruttivi.

Il progresso tecnologico e le scoperte della genetica hanno avviato un processo di \u2018commodificazione\u2019 delle risorse genetiche vegetali, accompagnato dall\u2019applicazione ai semi delle regole della propriet\ue0 intellettuale. L\u2019appropriabilit\ue0 delle risorse genetiche vegetali, per contro, rischia di pregiudicare il libero accesso e l\u2019uso dei semi, incidendo sul diritto fondamentale al cibo. Tenendo sullo sfondo queste dinamiche, il saggio ricostruisce le principali regole relative allo sfruttamento delle risorge genetiche e botaniche racchiuse nel seme agricolo, nel tentativo di valutare se e in che limiti la propriet\ue0 conservi ancora una capacit\ue0 descrittiva e regolatoria della materia

Transient electronics for edible neuroprosthetics

Transient electronics is a recent challenging research field aiming at the realization of functional electronic devices able to disappear in a controlled and predefined manner. Amongst different applications, biomedical devices based on transient technology have raised a lot of interest. Their ability to dissolve within the biological environment, thus avoiding infections due to a prolonged stay and risks related to surgical retrieval, is their main appealing characteristic. In many cases the device relies on silicon-based electronics, but the incorporation of polymers in the design, mostly as flexible substrate or for drug-release purposes, is becoming more and more exploited. Due to the intrinsic versatility of polymeric materials, which potentially allow for a great variety of customized application and fabrication techniques, fully polymer-based transient electronic devices represent the natural step forward in this research area. We therefore intend to contribute to the progress in the field of transient electronics by fabricating probes for neural signal recording based on biocompatible and biodegradable polymers, both as substrate and active material, thus introducing the edible neuroprosthetics concept. In the specific case, we relied on Polycaprolactone (PCL) or Poly Lactic-co-Glycolic Acid (PLGA) as substrate and Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (Pedot:PSS) as conductive conjugated polymer. With these materials as building blocks, a series of passive neural probes were fabricated and implanted in mice brains (visual cortex area) to assess their in-vivo durability. Several time-points (1, 3, 6 and 9 months) have been established for the implants analysis in order to have a better comprehension of the degradation process within the biological environment and the response of the biological environment itself to the insertion of an external object. Preliminary results show that after one month of implantation the astrocytes are visibly activated as expected, whereas there is no evidence of activated microglia. In the near future, implantation of active neural probes will give insight also on the recording capacity of the devices

The Europeanization of Private International Law of Successions

Il progetto si propone di esaminare vantaggi e sfide della \u2018europeizzazione\u2019 del diritto internazionale privato in materia di successioni, con specifico riferimento al regolamento n. 650/2012 del 4 luglio 2012, il quale si applicher\ue0 alla successione delle persone decedute dal 17 agosto 2015. Scopo del progetto \ue8 fornire agli operatori del diritto una guida tempestiva con riferimento alle problematiche poste dalla nuova disciplina sui diversi fronti della giurisdizione, della legge applicabile e del riconoscimento ed esecuzione delle decisioni e degli atti pubblici in materia. Il progetto prevede la partecipazione di cinque unit\ue0 di ricerca, appartenenti a tre diversi paesi membri dell\u2019UE, istituite presso le Universit\ue0 di Roma \u201cLa Sapienza\u201d (sede proponente), Bologna, Macerata, Colonia e Madrid \u201cCarlos III\u201d, composte di autorevoli studiosi della materia

Design and validation of a foldable and photovoltaic wide-field epiretinal prosthesis

Retinal prostheses have been developed to fight blindness in people affected by outer retinal layer dystrophies. To date, few hundred patients have received a retinal implant. Inspired by intraocular lenses, we have designed a foldable and photovoltaic wide-field epiretinal prosthesis (named POLYRETINA) capable of stimulating wireless retinal ganglion cells. Here we show that within a visual angle of 46.3 degrees, POLYRETINA embeds 2215 stimulating pixels, of which 967 are in the central area of 5 mm, it is foldable to allow implantation through a small scleral incision, and it has a hemispherical shape to match the curvature of the eye. We demonstrate that it is not cytotoxic and respects optical and thermal safety standards; accelerated ageing shows a lifetime of at least 2 years. POLYRETINA represents significant progress towards the improvement of both visual acuity and visual field with the same device, a current challenging issue in the field

Development and Characterization of PEDOT:PSS/Alginate Soft Microelectrodes for Application in Neuroprosthetics

Reducing the mechanical mismatch between the stiffness of a neural implant and the softness of the neural tissue is still an open challenge in neuroprosthetics. The emergence of conductive hydrogels in the last few years has considerably widened the spectrum of possibilities to tackle this issue. Nevertheless, despite the advancements in this field, further improvements in the fabrication of conductive hydrogel-based electrodes are still required. In this work, we report the fabrication of a conductive hydrogel-based microelectrode array for neural recording using a hybrid material composed of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate), and alginate. The mechanical properties of the conductive hydrogel have been investigated using imaging techniques, while the electrode arrays have been electrochemically characterized at each fabrication step, and successfully validated both in vitro and in vivo. The presence of the conductive hydrogel, selectively electrodeposited onto the platinum microelectrodes, allowed achieving superior electrochemical characteristics, leading to a lower electrical noise during recordings. These findings represent an advancement in the design of soft conductive electrodes for neuroprosthetic applications

The Crowdsourced Replication Initiative: Investigating Immigration and Social Policy Preferences. Executive Report.

In an era of mass migration, social scientists, populist parties and social movements raise concerns over the future of immigration-destination societies. What impacts does this have on policy and social solidarity? Comparative cross-national research, relying mostly on secondary data, has findings in different directions. There is a threat of selective model reporting and lack of replicability. The heterogeneity of countries obscures attempts to clearly define data-generating models. P-hacking and HARKing lurk among standard research practices in this area.This project employs crowdsourcing to address these issues. It draws on replication, deliberation, meta-analysis and harnessing the power of many minds at once. The Crowdsourced Replication Initiative carries two main goals, (a) to better investigate the linkage between immigration and social policy preferences across countries, and (b) to develop crowdsourcing as a social science method. The Executive Report provides short reviews of the area of social policy preferences and immigration, and the methods and impetus behind crowdsourcing plus a description of the entire project. Three main areas of findings will appear in three papers, that are registered as PAPs or in process

Proprietary Estoppel: an Italian Case Law Perspective

In the English system, the doctrine of proprietary estoppel prevents a legal owner from acting in an unconscionable manner to the detriment of a reliable claimant. A proprietary estoppel could give rise to a proprietary right of the claimant. Italian law does not recognise a similar doctrine nor does Italian property law seem compatible with it. Nevertheless, in some recent cases, the courts protected the claimant’s reasonable reliance, preventing the legal owner from acting in contradiction with his/her own previous conduct (according to the maxim venire contra factum proprium nemo potest). This paper analyses these judicial decisions, and evaluates when and how the claimant’s reliance is protected