Search results for "Aves [Birds]"

La dirigenza pubblica: criteri di identificazione e specialità della disciplina.

Nel tentativo di far luce sui maggiori coni d’ombra che emergono dalla relativa disciplina speciale del rapporto di lavoro, la tesi riflette l’esigenza di un ripensamento sistematico della figura del dirigente pubblico, nell’ottica di prospettare de iure condendo possibili correttivi. A tal fine, sono analizzate le peculiarità ed attribuzioni della dirigenza pubblica, in chiave storico-evolutiva, alla luce dei principi costituzionali e del processo riformatore che ha contrassegnato la magmatica materia, a tutt’oggi in atto. E’, altresì, rivolto uno sguardo comparativistico alla disciplina del personal directivo español, rivelandosi la stessa, speculare a quella del dirigente italiano quanto…

Autoimmune thyroid disease: new models of cell death in autoimmunity

2002

Autoimmunity to thyroid antigens leads to two distinct pathogenic processes with opposing clinical outcomes: hypothyroidism in Hashimoto's thyroiditis and hyperthyroidism in Graves' disease. The high frequency of these diseases and easy accessibility of the thyroid gland has allowed the identification of key pathogenic mechanisms in organ-specific autoimmune diseases. In early investigations, antibody- and T-cell-mediated death mechanisms were proposed as being responsible for autoimmune thyrocyte depletion. Later, studies on apoptosis have provided new insights into autoimmune target destruction, indicating the involvement of death receptors and cytokine-regulated apoptotic pathways in the…

Standardization of a bioassay for thyrotropin receptor stimulating autoantibodies.

2015

Cell-based bioassays for functional thyroid stimulating autoantibodies (TSAb) are sensitive diagnostic tools. However, there is no bioassay available that is standardized with international reference material. We aimed to promote the standardization of the test results among laboratories that perform TSAb bioassays and calibrate TSAb levels against the second international standard (IS) 08/204 from the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC).Serum TSAb activity was measured with a FDA-cleared bioassay that utilizes CHO cells expressing a chimeric thyrotropin receptor (TSHR) and a c-AMP response-element-dependent luciferase. The IS was applied for calibration. TSAb re…

A 2013 European survey of clinical practice patterns in the management of Graves' disease

2014

SummaryObjective Management of Graves' disease (GD) in Europe was published in 1987. Aim of this survey was to provide an update on clinical practice in Europe, and to compare it with a 2011 American survey. Design Members of the European Thyroid Association (ETA) were asked to participate in a survey on management of GD, using the same questionnaire of a recent American survey. Results A total of 147 ETA members participated. In addition to serum TSH and free T4 assays, most respondents would request TSH-receptor autoantibody (TRAb) measurement (85·6%) and thyroid ultrasound (70·6%) to confirm aetiology, while isotopic studies were selected by 37·7%. Antithyroid drug (ATD) therapy was the …

Reply to Drs. Kiaei and Molinaro Regarding the Publication “Comparison of a Bridge Immunoassay with Two Bioassays for Thyrotropin Receptor Antibody D…

2020

Dear Editor,Drs. Kiaei and Molinaro 1 put forth two criticisms of the manuscript published by us 2. They state that the experimental design of this study is flawed and that the authors falsely claim that negative Thyretain™ TSI Reporter BioAssay results for two Graves’ diseases patients undergoing drug treatments means the absence of stimulating antibodies. To substantiate this claim Drs. Kiaei and Molinaro point out that the manufacturer of the Thyretain TSI Reporter BioAssay clearly states in the package insert that “[t]he effects of various drug therapies on the performance of this Kit have not been established” 1. Second, the package insert explicitly states that “[a] negative result do…

Nonsteroid Immunosuppressants in Endocrine Orbitopathy

2009

Possible Pathogenetic Relevance of Interleukin-1beta in "Destructive" Organ-specific Autoimmune Disease (Hashimoto's Thyroiditis)

1999

Thyroid follicular cells (TFC) abundantly express a variety of immunologically relevant surface molecules in Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT), for example, MHC antigens and adhesion molecules such as ICAM-1. Cytokines produced by infiltrating type 1 helper and cytotoxic T cells are importantly involved in de novo expression or up-regulation of such molecules. We recently demonstrated that TFC from HT patients almost invariably bear on their surface two additive functional molecules: Fas/Apo1/CD95, an important participant in apoptosis, and B7.1, a member of a family of "co-stimulatory" molecules that are crucial for efficient antigen presentation. To date, 12 out of 14 surgical HT thyroid speci…

HLA Class II Differentiates Between Thyroid and Polyglandular Autoimmunity.

2015

The HLA class II genes are susceptibility genes for autoimmune endocrine diseases; however, scarce data are available pertaining to the determinants of genetic susceptibility to polyglandular autoimmunity (PGA). A total of 300 consecutive and unselected patients with either PGA or monoglandular autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) and 100 healthy control subjects were genotyped for the HLA class II DRB1, -DQA1, and -DQB1 alleles. Compared to patients with AITD and controls, the HLA-DRB1*03 (pc =0.001), *04 (pc<0.001), -DQA1*03 (pc<0.001), and -DQB1*02 (pc =0.001) alleles were increased in patients with PGA. When dividing patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) into those with PGA (PGA-HT) v…

Increasing the Astrophysical Reach of the Advanced Virgo Detector via the Application of Squeezed Vacuum States of Light

2019

Current interferometric gravitational-wave detectors are limited by quantum noise over a wide range of their measurement bandwidth. One method to overcome the quantum limit is the injection of squeezed vacuum states of light into the interferometer's dark port. Here, we report on the successful application of this quantum technology to improve the shot noise limited sensitivity of the Advanced Virgo gravitational-wave detector. A sensitivity enhancement of up to 3.2±0.1 dB beyond the shot noise limit is achieved. This nonclassical improvement corresponds to a 5%-8% increase of the binary neutron star horizon. The squeezing injection was fully automated and over the first 5 months of the thi…

Graves’ disease

2017