Expression of Fibroblast Activation Protein in lungs of dogs with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and dogs with lung cancer

peer reviewedCanine Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (CIPF) is a progressive fibrotic interstitial lung disease of unknown aetiology, affecting predominantly the West Highland White Terrier (WHWT) breed. Currently, there is no curative treatment option available. Fibroblast Activation Protein (FAP) is a cell surface protease usually absent from normal tissue but specifically expressed in areas of active tissue remodelling such as in fibroblast foci in human idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. In humans, it is also upregulated in various types of cancers, either in cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), in cancer cells or in both, depending on the tumour type. The aim of this study was to assess the expression and localization of FAP in the lungs of WHWTs affected with CIPF, in comparison with WHWTs with healthy lungs and dogs with lung cancer. Post-mortem formalin-fixed lung biopsies prepared from WHWTs with CIPF (n=17, age from 10 to 15y), control WHWTs exempt from lung disease (n=4, age from 11 to 15y) and dogs from various breeds with lung cancer (n=8, age from 8 to 14y) were retrospectively used. Included lung neoplasia were adenocarcinomas (n=6), histiocytic sarcoma (n=1) and metastasized mammary adenocarcinoma (n=1). Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed using a rabbit anti-human FAP monoclonal antibody (#ab207178). An IHC staining index (absent, low, moderate or high) was attributed according to the percentage of positive cells combined with the staining intensity. FAP was identified in the lungs of 16 out of 17 (94%) WHWTs with CIPF (IHC index high, moderate, or low in respectively 10, 4 and 2 dogs), 2 out of 4 (50%) WHWTs with healthy lungs (1 of each moderate and low), and 7 out of 8 (88%) dogs with lung cancer (high and moderate in respectively 6 and 1 dogs). FAP was expressed by fibroblasts in areas of active fibrosis in CIPF and by CAFs (all types of cancer) and cancer cells (adenocarcinomas only, n=5) in lung tumours. Results of this study showed that FAP is moderately to markedly expressed by fibroblasts in most dogs affected with either CIPF or lung cancer. Accordingly, FAP should be considered as an interesting potential therapeutic target for both diseases and should encourage further studies in the future. The expression of FAP in healthy lungs of WHWTs should be further investigated, particularly in comparison with FAP expression in dogs from other breeds, as it might serve as an indicator of early fibrosis

Remodeling of the Sensor for Non-Audible Murmur (NAM)

INTERSPEECH2005: the 9th European Conference on Speech Communication and technology, September 4-8, 2005, Lisbon, Portugal.We developed the next generation of skin-attachment sensors for sampling NAM (Non-Audible Murmur) signals by using soft silicone, which has an acoustic impedance close to that of human flesh, as the prime medium of vibration. With new NAM microphones we could sample expanded target voice signal, suppressing air conduction noise signal to low by the experiment of synchronous stereo sampling of air and flesh conduction voices at the same gain. The bandwidth of the soft silicone type NAM microphone has improved and we obtain a much higher accuracy of both NAM and BTOS (Body Transmitted Ordinary Speech) recognition compared with the stethoscopic type. Aural comprehension test showed that accuracy of catching sentences of NAM and BTOS has improved with soft silicon type NAM microphone almost as high as that of air conduction voices. However, the extremely low accuracy of meaningless words is a problem to be solved for developing a "Non-Voice Phone"

Aftershocks: Globalism and the Future of Democracy [ISSEI – XVI International Conference]

This digital publication consists of a selection of 56 papers presented at the 16th International Conference of the International Society for the Study of European Ideas (ISSEI), held at the University of Zaragoza, 2-5 July 2019, the general theme of which was ‘Aftershocks: Globalism and the Future of Democracy’. Sponsored by The Aragonese Association of Sociology, the conference was well-attended – 170 participants from 28 countries met to discuss a wide variety of topics in 29 workshops. The feedback we received from participants confirmed that they had greatly enjoyed the venue of the conference, that they appreciated the warm welcome they had received and the congenial social atmosphere and opportunity to attend workshops on subjects that were not only in their own field of expertise. No one, of course, could have predicted that our world – our work and life as individuals, as communities and as nations – would change so suddenly and radically eighteen months after the conference, with the rapid and devastating spread of the Convid-19 pandemic. The current deepening global crisis along with the challenge of climate change and growing international tensions are a stark reminder of how vulnerable our societies, our civilization, and our species are. The shocks and aftershocks of these crises are felt today in every corner of the world and in every aspect of our global and local economies, and most obviously in the sociopolitical arena. As several of the conference workshops on the multiple crises Europe and the world face today – from the migrant crisis to the rise of populism and deepening inequality between rich and poor – showed – and as the Covid-19 pandemic has so cruelly brought home to us – we simply cannot take the achievements of human civilization for granted and must find ways to meet the fundamental social and political needs of human beings not only in our own neighborhoods, cities and countries, but ultimately in the world as a whole: their living conditions, livelihoods, social services, education and healthcare, human rights and political representation. Several of the workshops, as I mentioned, directly addressed these issues and emphasized the need for building social resilience based on tolerance, solidarity and equity. This too is why, as academics, we should continue to initiate and engage in collective reflection and debate on how to foster and strengthen human communities and human solidarity. Finally, I want to thank the participants and workshop chairs for their contribution to the success of the conference. It was a pleasure for me to work with the university organizing team and with ISSEI’s team in bringing this about, and I am particularly proud that my university and the city of Zaragoza hosted this conference

Bowdoin Orient v.103, no.1-23 (1973-1974)

https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/bowdoinorient-1970s/1004/thumbnail.jp