Inverse design of compact silicon photonic waveguide reflectors and their application for Fabry-Perot resonators.

Silicon photonic waveguide resonators, such as microring resonators, photonic crystal waveguide cavities, and Fabry-Perot resonators based on the distributed Bragg reflectors, are key device components for silicon-based photonic integrated circuits (Si-PIC). For the Si-PIC with high integration density, the device footprints of the conventional photonic waveguide resonators need to be more compact. Inverse design, which is operated by the design expectation and different from the conventional design methods, has been investigated for reducing the photonic device components nowadays.

Is wide excision really needed? Correlation between resection margin and recurrence in benign phyllodes tumors of the breast.

Purpose: Phyllodes tumors are similar to fibroadenomas in imaging and in pathological characteristics and are difficult to identify preoperatively. The purpose of this study was to analyze the recurrence rate after excision stratified by the surgical margin width and to propose and emphasize the "wait and watch" treatment strategy for benign phyllodes tumors.

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of patients diagnosed with benign phyllodes tumors by surgical excision between January 2000 and December 2022 at our institution.

Appendiceal mucocele masquerading as an epithelial borderline ovarian tumor: a case report and literature review.

Appendiceal mucocele is a rare mucin-producing neoplasm of appendiceal origin. Due to its location and imaging findings, appendiceal mucocele is easily confused with tumors of the right adnexa. We present a rare case of a patient initially misdiagnosed with an ovarian tumor intraoperatively diagnosed as an appendiceal mucocele and successfully treated.

Polarization-driven thermal emission regulator based on self-aligned GST nanocolumns.

The increasing advances in thermal radiation regulators have attracted growing interest, particularly in infrared sources, thermal management, and camouflage. Despite many advances in dynamic thermal emitters with great controllability, sustained external energy is required to maintain the desired emission. In this study, we present a polarization-driven thermal emission regulator based on a two-way control: i) phase change and ii) polarization tuning.

Disordered-nanoparticle-based etalon for ultrafast humidity-responsive colorimetric sensors and anti-counterfeiting displays.

The development of real-time and sensitive humidity sensors is in great demand from smart home automation and modern public health. We hereby proposed an ultrafast and full-color colorimetric humidity sensor that consists of chitosan hydrogel sandwiched by a disordered metal nanoparticle layer and reflecting substrate. This hydrogel-based resonator changes its resonant frequency to external humidity conditions because the chitosan hydrogels are swollen under wet state and contracted under dry state.

Multilevel Absorbers via the Integration of Undoped and Tungsten-Doped Multilayered Vanadium Dioxide Thin Films.

Reconfigurable light absorbers have attracted much attention by providing additional optical responses and expanding the number of degrees of freedom in security applications. Fabry-Pèrot absorbers based on phase change materials with tunable properties can be implemented over large scales without the need for additional steps such as lithography, while exhibiting reconfigurable optical responses. However, a fundamental limitation of widely used phase change materials such as vanadium dioxide and germanium-antimony-tellurium-based chalcogenide glasses is that they have only two distinct phases; therefore, only two different states of optical properties are available.

Clinical Significance of Peritumoral Adipose Tissue PET/CT Imaging Features for Predicting Axillary Lymph Node Metastasis in Patients with Breast Cancer.

We investigated whether textural parameters of peritumoral breast adipose tissue (AT) based on F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT could predict axillary lymph node metastasis in patients with breast cancer. A total of 326 breast cancer patients with preoperative FDG PET/CT were retrospectively enrolled. PET/CT images were visually assessed and the maximum FDG uptake of axillary lymph nodes (LN SUVmax) was measured.

Effects and Mechanism of Surface Water Wettability and Operating Frequency on Response Linearity of Flexible IDE Capacitive Humidity Sensor.

Flexible capacitive humidity sensors are promising for low-cost, wearable, and radio frequency identification sensors, but their nonlinear response is an important issue for practical applications. Herein, the linearity of humidity response was controlled by surface water wettability and operating frequency of sensor, and the mechanism was explained in detail by surface water condensation. For a sensor with a Ag interdigitated electrode (IDE) on a poly(ethylene terephthalate) substrate, the capacitance showed a small linear increase with humidity up to 70% RH but a large nonlinear increase in the higher range.

Clinical value of dual-phase F-18 sodium fluoride PET/CT for diagnosing bone metastasis in cancer patients with solitary bone lesion.

Background: The present study aimed to investigate whether dual-phase F-18 sodium-fluoride (NaF) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) could improve the diagnostic accuracy of detecting bone metastasis in cancer patients with a solitary bone lesion compared to conventional F-18 NaF PET/CT.

Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 113 cancer patients who underwent dual-phase F-18 NaF PET/CT for the differential diagnosis of a solitary bone lesion seen on bone scintigraphy. According to the dual-phase PET/CT protocol, an early-phase scan was acquired immediately after radiotracer injection and a conventional F-18 NaF PET/CT scan was performed.

Risk of osteoporosis and fracture in long-term breast cancer survivors.

Purpose: High incidence of osteoporosis has been reported in breast cancer patients due to early menopause triggered by adjuvant treatment and temporary ovarian function suppression. In this study, we sought to determine whether long-term breast cancer survivors had an elevated risk of low bone density compared to the general population.

Methods: Long-term breast cancer survivors who had been treated for more than 5 years were selected for this study.

Generation of highly integrated multiple vivid colours using a three-dimensional broadband perfect absorber.

The colour printing technology based on interactions between geometric structures and light has various advantages over the pigment-based colour technology in terms of nontoxicity and ultrasmall pixel size. The asymmetric Fabry-Perot (F-P) cavity absorber is the simplest light-interacting structure, which can easily represent and control the colour by the thickness of the dielectric layer. However, for practical applications, an advanced manufacturing technique for the simultaneous generation of multiple reflective colours is required.

Small-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the ileum: case report and literature review.

Background: Poorly differentiated neuroendocrine carcinomas (NECs) originating from the gastrointestinal (GI) tract are rare and very highly malignant disease with a poor prognosis. Poorly differentiated NECs most commonly arise in the esophagus and the large bowel; however, they may occur within virtually any portion of the GI tract. It is known, however, that they do not typically occur in the small intestine.

Synergetic effects of ligand exchange and reduction process enhancing both electrical and optical properties of Ag nanocrystals for multifunctional transparent electrodes.

In this work, we introduce a low cost, room-temperature and atmospheric pressure based chemical method to produce highly transparent, conductive, and flexible nano-mesh structured electrodes using Ag nanocrystals (NCs). Sequential treatments of ligand exchange and reduction processes were developed to engineer the optoelectronic properties of Ag NC thin films. Combinatorial analysis indicates that the origin of the relatively low conductivity comes from the non-metallic compounds that are introduced during ligand exchange.

Chemically Engineered Au-Ag Plasmonic Nanostructures to Realize Large Area and Flexible Metamaterials.

We developed a simple and systematic method to fabricate optically tunable and thermally and chemically stable Au-Ag nanocrystal-based plasmonic metamaterials. An Ag nanocrystal-based metamaterial with desirable optical properties was fabricated via nanoimprinting and ligand-exchange process. Its optical properties were controlled by selectively substituting Ag atoms with Au atoms through a spontaneous galvanic replacement reaction.

Hierarchical Materials Design by Pattern Transfer Printing of Self-Assembled Binary Nanocrystal Superlattices.

We demonstrate the fabrication of hierarchical materials by controlling the structure of highly ordered binary nanocrystal superlattices (BNSLs) on multiple length scales. Combinations of magnetic, plasmonic, semiconducting, and insulating colloidal nanocrystal (NC) building blocks are self-assembled into BNSL membranes via the liquid-interfacial assembly technique. Free-standing BNSL membranes are transferred onto topographically structured poly(dimethylsiloxane) molds via the Langmuir-Schaefer technique and then deposited in patterns onto substrates via transfer printing.

Air-stable, nanostructured electronic and plasmonic materials from solution-processable, silver nanocrystal building blocks.

Herein we describe a room-temperature, chemical process to transform silver nanocrystal solids, deposited from colloidal solutions, into highly conductive, corrosion-resistant, optical and electronic materials with nanometer-scale architectures. After assembling the nanocrystal solids, we treated them with a set of simple, compact, organic and inorganic reagents: ammonium thiocyanate, ammonium chloride, potassium hydrogen sulfide, and ethanedithiol. We find that each reagent induces unique changes in the structure and composition of the resulting solid, giving rise to films that vary from insulating to, in the case of thiocyanate, conducting with a remarkably low resistivity of 8.

Solution-processed phase-change VO(2) metamaterials from colloidal vanadium oxide (VO(x)) nanocrystals.

We demonstrate thermally switchable VO2 metamaterials fabricated using solution-processable colloidal nanocrystals (NCs). Vanadium oxide (VOx) NCs are synthesized through a nonhydrolytic reaction and deposited from stable colloidal dispersions to form NC thin films. Rapid thermal annealing transforms the VOx NC thin films into monoclinic, nanocrystalline VO2 thin films that show a sharp, reversible metal-insulator phase transition.

Stoichiometric control of lead chalcogenide nanocrystal solids to enhance their electronic and optoelectronic device performance.

We investigate the effects of stoichiometric imbalance on the electronic properties of lead chalcogenide nanocrystal films by introducing excess lead (Pb) or selenium (Se) through thermal evaporation. Hall-effect and capacitance-voltage measurements show that the carrier type, concentration, and Fermi level in nanocrystal solids may be precisely controlled through their stoichiometry. By manipulating only the stoichiometry of the nanocrystal solids, we engineer the characteristics of electronic and optoelectronic devices.

Fabrication of 3D nano-structures using reverse imprint lithography.

In spite of the fact that the fabrication process of three-dimensional nano-structures is complicated and expensive, it can be applied to a range of devices to increase their efficiency and sensitivity. Simple and inexpensive fabrication of three-dimensional nano-structures is necessary. In this study, reverse imprint lithography (RIL) with UV-curable benzylmethacrylate, methacryloxypropyl terminated poly-dimethylsiloxane (M-PDMS) resin and ZnO-nano-particle-dispersed resin was used to fabricate three-dimensional nano-structures.