Qing Cheng

We report the realization of a multifocal acoustic focusing lens using a simple metal cylinder structure immersed in water, as determined both experimentally and theoretically. The acoustic waves can be focused on one or more points, because the Mie-resonance modes are excited in the cylinder structure. The acoustic pressure fields measured in the Schlieren imaging system agree with the results calculated using the acoustic scattering theory. Interesting applications of multifocal focusing in the acoustic encryption communication are further discussed. Our work should be helpful in understanding the focusing mechanism and experimentally measuring the acoustic phenomena in cylinder structures.

Neuroendocrine (NE) cells comprise ~1% of epithelial cells in benign prostate and prostatic adenocarcinoma (PCa). However, they become enriched in hormonally treated and castration-resistant PCa (CRPC). In addition, close to 20% of hormonally treated tumors recur as small cell NE carcinoma (SCNC), composed entirely of NE cells, which may be the result of clonal expansion or lineage plasticity. Since NE cells do not express androgen receptors (ARs), they are resistant to hormonal therapy and contribute to therapy failure. Here, we describe the identification of glypican-3 (GPC3) as an oncofetal cell surface protein specific to NE cells in prostate cancer. Functional studies revealed that GPC3 is critical to the viability of NE tumor cells and tumors displaying NE differentiation and that it regulates calcium homeostasis and signaling. Since our results demonstrate that GPC3 is specifically expressed by NE cells, patients with confirmed SCNC may qualify for GPC3-targeted therapy which has been developed in the context of liver cancer and displays minimal toxicity due to its tumor-specific expression. © 2023 The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

This review introduces a qualitative methodology called institutional ethnography (IE) to healthcare professionals interested in studying complex social healthcare systems. We provide the historical context in which IE was developed, and explain the principles and terminology in IE for the novice researcher. Through the use of worked examples, the reader will be able to appreciate how IE can be used to approach research questions in the healthcare system that other methods would be unable to answer. We show how IE and qualitative research methods maintain quality and rigour in research findings. We hope to demonstrate to healthcare professionals and researchers that healthcare systems can be analysed as social organisations, and IE may be used to identify and understand how higher-level processes and policies affect day-to-day clinical work. This understanding may allow the formulation and implementation of actionable improvements to solve problems on the ground.

The utility of covalent crosslinkers as permanent netpoints has enabled robust shape memory behaviour in shape memory thermosets (SMTs). Having this permanent crosslinked structure, alternatively, challenges the reprogramming of permanent shapes. The introduction of vitrimeric type dynamic chemistry into SMTs allows for reconfiguration of crosslinked network and thus reprogramming of permanent shapes. However, adding this adaptability/plasticity to the network could potentially affect the shape memory behaviour, especially when the shape programming is conducted at a temperature that activates the network plasticity as well. Herein, to address the potential influence of network plasticity, we studied the shape memory behaviour of a shape memory vitrimer (SMV) that possesses a low network activation energy (Ea) of 33 kJ/mol, which indicates a relatively high plasticity index during shape programming. As we found, there is a dependence of shape recovery on the shape-programming time: a longer programming time leads to a poorer shape recovery. This negative correlation results from the dissipation of stored elastic energy at local strained regions associated with shape programming. We further related the loss of elastic energy to the stress-relaxation that results from chain exchanges. Accordingly, the dependence can be analyzed with an analog of stress-relaxation model. We reasoned that this latent plasticity associated with dynamic chain exchanges is ubiquitous in SMVs, and so one needs to carefully evaluate the reprogramming temperature and time when performing shape memory studies on SMVs.