A novel tumor-associated neutrophil gene signature for predicting prognosis, tumor immune microenvironment, and therapeutic response in breast cancer.

Tumor-associated neutrophils (TANs) can promote tumor progression. This study aimed to investigate the molecular signature that predict the prognosis and immune response of breast cancer (BRCA) based on TAN-related gene (TANRG) expression data. The RNA-seq data of BRCA were gathered from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and gene expression omnibus (GEO) datasets.

On-chip optical mode exchange using tapered directional coupler.

We present an on-chip optical mode exchange between two multiplexed modes by using tapered directional couplers on silicon-on-insulator platform. The device consisting of mode multiplexing and mode exchange is compact with relatively large fabrication error tolerance. The simulation results show efficient higher order mode excitation and mode exchange.

Long-range hybrid wedge plasmonic waveguide.

We design a novel long-range hybrid wedge plasmonic (LRHWP) waveguide composed of two identical dielectric nanowires symmetrically placed on two opposed wedges of a diamond shaped metal wire. With strong coupling between the dielectric nanowire mode and long-range surface plasmon polariton (SPP) mode, both deep subwavelength mode confinement and low propagation loss are achieved. On one hand, when compared to the previous long-range hybrid SPP waveguide, LRHWP waveguide can achieve smaller mode size with similar propagation length; on the other hand, when compared to the previous hybrid wedge SPP waveguide, LRHWP waveguide can provide an order of magnitude longer propagation length with similar level of mode confinement.