Thoracic paravertebral nerve block combined laryngeal mask airway with preservation of spontaneous breathing can accelerate postoperative recovery.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the potential benefits of Thoracic Paravertebral Nerve Block (TPVB) coupled with Laryngeal Mask Airway (LMA) and the maintenance of spontaneous breathing anesthesia, in contrast to general anesthesia utilizing double-lumen endobronchial intubation, on promoting recovery following thoracoscopic surgery. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A randomized controlled trial was carried out involving sixty patients set for Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS) at the Affiliated People's Hospital of Jiangsu University from February 2021 to January 2022. Patients were randomized to either the TPVB and LMA with spontaneous breathing anesthesia group (non-intubation group, NI group) or the general anesthesia with double-lumen endobronchial intubation group (Intubation group, I group). The primary outcome measured was the duration of hospitalization. Secondary outcomes included early postoperative rehabilitation indicators, postoperative complications, Visual Analogue Score (VAS), and inflammatory response markers. RESULTS: Patients in the NI group experienced significantly shorter hospital stays than those in the I group (p < 0.05). Early postoperative recovery, assessed by metrics including the first exhaust time, food intake time, first ambulation time, and duration of chest-tube placement, was superior in the NI group (p < 0.05). Postoperative complications such as nausea and vomiting, pulmonary infection, atelectasis, sore throat, and hoarseness, along with cortisol and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels at the end of the operation and 24 h post-operation, and VAS values within the first 12 h post-operation, were significantly lower in the NI group (p < 0.05). However, blood loss, operation time, and VAS values at 24 h and 48 h post-surgery showed no significant differences between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that TPVB, in conjunction with LMA and spontaneous breathing anesthesia, may expedite postoperative recovery in patients undergoing VATS.

[Incidence and trend of severe postpartum hemorrhage between 2016 and 2019 in China].

Objective: To investigate the incidence and trend of severe postpartum hemorrhage (sPPH) in China, and to provide basic data for the development and evaluation of sPPH prevention and control strategy. Methods: Obstetric data was extracted from annual national representative sampling surveys based on the National Clinical Improvement System. From 2016 to 2019, 2 978, 3 400, 4 576 and 4 594 maternity hospitals with sPPH cases were included for statistics. The annual incidence of sPPH was calculated according to province and type of medical institutions and generalized linear model was emplyed to identify the determinants affecting sPPH incidence. Results: In China, sPPH incidence increased from 0.62% in 2016 to 0.93% in 2018, and was 0.92% in 2019. Eighteen provinces had an inverted U-shaped trend of sPPH over time and most of them had the highest incidence in 2018; ten provinces had an upward trend of sPPH and 3 provinces had a U-shaped trend. In 2019, the top five provinces with the highest sPPH incidence were Yunnan (1.88%), Beijing (1.45%), Jiangsu (1.31%), Guizhou (1.26%), and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (1.22%); the top five provinces with the lowest incidence were Henan (0.55%), Jiangxi (0.60%), Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (0.64%), Liaoning (0.64%) and Gansu (0.69%). In 2019, the sPPH incidence in different types of medical institutions were as follows: tertiary public general hospital (1.15%), tertiary public specialized hospital (1.02%), secondary public general hospital (0.81%), private hospital (0.61%) and secondary public specialized hospital (0.58%). sPPH incidence was positively associated with proportion of twin pregnancies, macrosomia, primipara, and puerpera aged ≥35 years in maternity hospitals (P<0.05). Conclusions: sPPH incidence generally showes an increasing trend from 2016 and is stable at a high level in recent two years in China. It is warranted to further strengthen the monitoring of postpartum hemorrhage, and improve the capability of hierarchical management and treatment in maternity institutions and regions, in order to reduce sPPH incidence and maternal mortality.

Therapeutic effect of ginsenoside Rg1 on mastitis experimentally induced by lipopolysaccharide in lactating goats.

Escherichia coli is a cause of subclinical and clinical mastitis in dairy cattle and goats, and sometimes causes severe clinical disease that may result in death of the animal. Previous investigation showed that ginsenoside Rg1 extracted from Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer (Araliaceae) has an anti-inflammatory effect on the sepsis induced by E. coli lipopolysaccharide via competitive binding to toll-like receptor 4. We hypothesized that intravenous injection of Rg1 had therapeutic effect on mastitis experimentally induced by intramammary infusion of lipopolysaccharide in lactating goats. In this study, 9 lactating goats were randomly assigned to 1 of the 3 groups: (1) lipopolysaccharide intramammary infusion + saline intravenous injection, (2) lipopolysaccharide intramammary infusion + Rg1 intravenous injection, and (3) saline intramammary administration + saline intravenous injection. Because no adverse clinical signs were observed after intramammary infusion of saline and intravenous injection of Rg1 in a preliminary experiment, and available qualified goats were limited in this study, this treatment was not included in this study. One udder half of each goat received intramammary infusion of lipopolysaccharide (50 µg/kg of body weight; groups 1 and 2) or saline solution (group 3), and the other half was infused with 2 mL of saline solution at h 0. Afterward, intravenous injections of saline solution (groups 1 and 3) or Rg1 (2.5 mg/kg of body weight; group 2) were administered at h 2 and 4 post-lipopolysaccharide challenge. Blood and milk samples were collected 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 48, and 72 h post-lipopolysaccharide challenge, and clinical signs were monitored hourly after lipopolysaccharide challenge within the first 10 h and at the same time points as blood samples. The results showed that Rg1 treatment downregulated rectal temperature, udder skin temperature, udder girth, milk somatic cell count, and N-acetyl-ß-d-glucosaminidase and upregulated milk production, lactose, and recovered blood components, such as white blood cells, neutrophils, lymphocytes, total proteins, albumin, and globulin. Considering the positive therapeutic effect on lipopolysaccharide-induced mastitis in goats presented in this study as well as the anti-inflammatory activity found previously, the botanical Rg1 deserves further study as a therapeutic agent in the treatment of E. coli mastitis in dairy animals.

Nrf2-ARE signaling pathway regulates the expressions of A1R and ENT1 in the brain of epileptic rats.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the behavioral changes and the expressions of the A1 receptor (A1R) and balanced nucleoside transporter-1 (ENT1) in the brain of epileptic rats after activating the NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)-ARE signaling pathway. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Adult male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into normal control group, epilepsy group, and t-butylhydroquinone (tBHQ) group, with 10 rats in each group. Lithium-pilocarpine induced epilepsy model in rats was established. The first epileptic latency and seizure frequency within 1 hour were observed in each group using the Racine scoring system. HE (Hematoxylin and Eosin) staining was used to observe the pathological lesions in the brain tissue of each group. The expressions of A1R, ENT1, and relative genes in Nrf2-ARE pathway in rat hippocampus was detected by immunohistochemistry and Western blot. RESULTS: Compared with rats in epileptic group, the first seizure latency was prolonged and the seizure frequency decreased in tBHQ group (p<0.05). The degree of brain lesions in tHBQ group was lighter than that of epilepsy group. ENT1 expression in rat hippocampus of epileptic group was significantly upregulated than that of normal control group and tBHQ group. Besides, the protein levels of A1R, Nrf2, HO-1, and ARE in rat hippocampus of epilepsy group markedly decreased compared with those of normal control group. However, protein expressions of A1R, Nrf2, HO-1, and ARE proteins in rat hippocampus of tBHQ group were markedly upregulated. CONCLUSIONS: Activation of the Nrf2-ARE signaling pathway can reduce the pathological damage of rat hippocampal neurons, prolong the latency of seizures, and reduce the degree of epileptic seizure in rats.

Down-regulation of JARID1B expression inhibits cell proliferation, induces apoptosis and blocks cell cycle in human acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells.

OBJECTIVE: Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) is a multi-factorial blood disease with unknown pathogenesis. Histone H3K4 methylation was significantly reduced in ALL patients, whereas jumonji AT-rich interactive domain 1B (JARID1B) was the specific demethylase of H3K4me. This study explores the expression level of JARID1B in ALL patients and down-regulated JARID1B expression in ALL cells to explore the function of JARID1B in ALL. PATIENTS AND METHODS: JARID1B mRNA expression level in ALL patients was detected by Real-time PCR. The peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy volunteers were selected as control. JARID1B shRNA was transfected with MOLT-4 cells and BALL-1 cells. JARID1B protein expression and H3K4me2 and H3K4me3 levels were detected by Western blot assay. Cell proliferation was assessed by 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Cell apoptosis and cell cycle were determined by flow cytometry. Bcl-2, Bax, Procaspase 3, and cyclin P21 expressions were evaluated by Western blot assay. RESULTS: JARID1B mRNA expression in primary bone marrow cells from ALL patients was significantly higher than that of healthy volunteers (p<0.05). The levels of histone H3K4me3 and H3K4me2 were up-regulated after JARID1B shRNA transfection. JARID1B shRNA significantly inhibited the proliferation of MOLT-4 and BALL-1 cells, induced apoptosis, and blocked cell cycle in G0/G1 phase compared with the control group (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: JARID1B is highly expressed in ALL. Down-regulating its expression inhibited leukemia cell proliferation, promoted apoptosis, and blocked cell cycle in G0/G1 phase through histone H3K4 methylation. JARID1B is an oncogene in ALL.

Serum proteomic spectral characteristics of acute myeloid leukemia and their clinical significance.

We investigated the differences between the serum proteomic spectral characteristics of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients and those of healthy people. We collected peripheral blood serum samples from 62 AML patients and 15 healthy controls. After removing high-abundance proteins, low-abundance serum proteins were separated using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis to identify differences between AML patients and healthy people. We investigated the different protein dots by mass fingerprint analysis, and evaluated the results using the Masort retrieval program provided by the MSDB protein bank. To further investigate the relationship between standard chemotherapy treatment efficacy and differences in protein patterns, we divided 21 patients into two groups (A and B) according to the efficacy of standard chemotherapy. Compared with the healthy cases, the AML patients demonstrated significant abnormal expression in 14 proteins (P < 0.05); α1-trypsin inhibitor (P < 0.01), prealbumin (P < 0.01), apolipoprotein E (P < 0.010), and apolipoprotein A-IV (P < 0.01) expression decreased, whereas haptoglobin HP2 (P < 0.05), serum exogenous lectin (P < 0.05), H factor homologue protein (P < 0.05), and serum amyloid A1 (P < 0.01) expression increased. Further stratified analysis revealed that patients with high serum lectin expression had poor outcomes. The study revealed various proteins with differential expression levels in the peripheral blood of AML patients, and the difference in serum lectin expression is related to the efficiency of standard chemotherapy. Therefore, these proteins are potential diagnosis markers or prognostic indicators of AML.

TDAG8 activation attenuates cerebral ischaemia-reperfusion injury via Akt signalling in rats.

BACKGROUND: T-cell death-associated gene 8 (TDAG8), a member of the proton-sensitive G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) class with an immune-specific expression profile, was recently shown to be expressed in the rat brain; however, its role in ischaemic stroke remains unknown. METHODS: We initially confirmed the time-dependent expression of TDAG8 in rat brain tissue after ischaemic stroke and reperfusion. Further evaluations were performed to increase TDAG8 expression 6h prior to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) by injecting a specific agonist, BTB09089, into the lateral ventricle to increase TDAG8 expression. Twenty-four hours before MCAO, a specific small interfering RNA (siRNA) was introduced. The infarction volume, neurological deficit score and cleaved caspase-3 and Bcl-2 expression were used to assess the effects of TDAG8 on ischaemic stroke. Finally, the effects of TDAG8 on the development of primary cortical neurons exposed to oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) were investigated. RESULTS: TDAG8 expression increased both in vivo and in vitro. Pretreatment with BTB09089 up-regulated TDAG8 and Bcl-2 expression and down-regulated cleaved caspase-3 expression, while the infarction volume was reduced, and neurological deficits were ameliorated 24 and 72h after MCAO. However, the protective effects of TDAG8 were reversed when its level was reduced in TDAG8-deficient rats. More importantly, these findings are consistent with data from neurons subjected to OGD. CONCLUSIONS: TDAG8 plays an important neuroprotective role through inhibition of neuronal apoptosis and alleviation of neurological deficits by activating the Akt signalling pathway in rats.

Comparative study: efficacy of closed-looptarget controlled infusion of cisatracurium and other administration methods for spinal surgery of elderly patients.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the efficacy of traditional administration, continuous pump injection, and closed-loop target controlled infusion of cisatracurium to determine the optimal method of drug administration, and to establish the individualized and rational administration of muscle relaxants in elderly patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 150 patients who underwent spinal surgery under tracheal intubation general anesthesia in our hospital from August 2013 to April 2015 were selected. All patients were administered with general anesthesia and randomly divided into three groups: group A (n = 50) was treated under closed-loop target controlled infusion (CLTCI), group B (n = 50) was treated under muscle relaxation monitoring, and group C (n = 50) was treated under continuous pump injection. Hemodynamic changes and blood oxygen saturation of the three groups were observed, and the muscle relaxation recovery, dosage, and bleeding of the three groups were compared. RESULTS: MAP and HR of group A were significantly lower than those of group B and group C (p < 0.05). There were no cases of insufficient muscle relaxation in group A, five cases in group C, and 14 cases in group B, and the differences between any two groups were statistically significant (p < 0.05). Regarding muscle relaxation recovery, the time (T¬¬1) of recovery from 10%-25% and 25%-75%, and the time from drug withdrawal to recovery to TOFr from 0.7-0.9 of group A were the shortest, followed by group C and group B. The differences between any two groups were statistically significant (p < 0.05). The total dosage of cisatracurium of group A was the least, followed by group C and group B, and differences between any two groups were statistically significant (p < 0.05). Moreover, the bleeding volume of group A (235.2 ± 141.3 ml) was smaller than in group B (353.1 ± 173.8 ml) and group C (316.5 ± 155.2 ml), and differences between the three groups were statistically significant (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: For spinal surgery of elderly patients, closed-loop target controlled infusion of cisatracurium was superior to continuous infusion and intravenous injection. The time of muscle relaxation recovery was shortened, the dosage of cisatracurium was reduced, and the number of cases of insufficient muscle relaxation was reduced.

Electron cyclotron emission radiometer upgrade on the J-TEXT tokamak.

To meet experimental requirements, the J-TEXT electron cyclotron emission (ECE) diagnostic is being upgraded. The front end antenna and transmission line have been modified and a new 8-channel W-band detecting unit has been developed. The improved ECE system will extend the frequency range from 94.5-124.5 GHz to 80.5-124.5 GHz. This will enable the system to cover the most plasma in the radius direction for BT = 1.8-2.2 T, and it even can cover almost the whole plasma range ρ = - 0.8-0.9 (minus means the high field side) at BT = 1.8 T. A new auxiliary channel bank with 8 narrow band, tunable yttrium iron garnet filters is planned to add to the ECE system. Due to observations along a major radius, perpendicular to BT, and relatively low electron temperature, Doppler and relativistic broadening are minimal and thus high spatial resolution measurements can be made at variable locations with these tunable channels.

Design of the 2D electron cyclotron emission imaging instrument for the J-TEXT tokamak.

A new 2D Electron Cyclotron Emission Imaging (ECEI) diagnostic is being developed for the J-TEXT tokamak. It will provide the 2D electron temperature information with high spatial, temporal, and temperature resolution. The new ECEI instrument is being designed to support fundamental physics investigations on J-TEXT including MHD, disruption prediction, and energy transport. The diagnostic contains two dual dipole antenna arrays corresponding to F band (90-140 GHz) and W band (75-110 GHz), respectively, and comprises a total of 256 channels. The system can observe the same magnetic surface at both the high field side and low field side simultaneously. An advanced optical system has been designed which permits the two arrays to focus on a wide continuous region or two radially separate regions with high imaging spatial resolution. It also incorporates excellent field curvature correction with field curvature adjustment lenses. An overview of the diagnostic and the technical progress including the new remote control technique are presented.

Serum Proteomics Analysis in Rats of Immunosuppression Induced by Chronic Stress.

The immune system can be damaged by chronic stress. However, for this process, the involved molecular alterations and their regulatory roles played in immunosuppression still remain unclear. This study was aimed to identify the differences in serum protein expressions that are closely associated with the effect of chronic stress on immune function. Serum protein levels of rats in control group and chronic stress group were measured by iTRAQ analysis. Subsequently, among the 121 differentially expressed proteins screened between the two groups, 46 proteins were upregulated (>1.5-fold, P < 0.05), while 75 proteins were downregulated (<0.67-fold, P < 0.05). Bioinformatics analysis revealed that most of the differentially expressed proteins were in relation with the metabolic, cellular, response stimulus and immune system processes. The significantly differential expression of ceruloplasmin, haptoglobin, catalase and peroxiredoxin-1 were picked out for reconfirmation by ELISA analysis. The results were consistent with those obtained by iTRAQ. What is more, the roles of above-mentioned four proteins, apolipoprotein B-100 and heat-shock protein 90 in immunosuppression induced by chronic stress were discussed. Taken together, these findings may provide a new insight into better understanding the molecular mechanisms of immunosuppression induced by chronic stress.

The design of a correlation electron cyclotron emission system on J-TEXT.

To study the anomalous transport, a correlation electron cyclotron emission (CECE) was planned to be developed on J-TEXT for electron temperature fluctuation measurement. The spectral decorrelation method was employed for the CECE system. It was developed based on the previous 16-channel electron cyclotron emission system. They shared the optical transmission line and mixer. The CECE part consists of 4 channels. Two fixed frequency narrow band filters were used for two channels and two yttrium iron garnet (YIG) filters for the other two channels. To meet the measuring requirement, some tests have been taken for the YIG filters. The results show good performance of the filters. Gaussian optics is used to produce a good poloidal resolution. Wavenumbers resolved by the CECE diagnostic are k(θ) ≤ 1.5 rad/cm and k(r) ≤ 12 rad/cm. Some preliminary experiment results are also presented in this paper.

Surgical strategies for unexpected gallbladder carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: To explore surgical strategies for unexpected gallbladder carcinoma (UGC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: A study of hospital records was performed in 26 patients with UGC treated in our institution from January 1990 to December 2002. The surgical therapies and disease prognosis were analyzed. RESULTS: Five cases of GBC were noted during open cholecystectomy (OC) and 15 were confirmed during minicholecystectomy (MC), while were 6 identified during laparoscopic (LC) surgery; all patients with Nevin Stage I gallbladder carcinoma (GBC) survived > 3 years; patients with Stage III GBC died within 2 years and patients with Stage IV GBC died within 1 year. CONCLUSIONS: Caution must be taken when high risk conditions and atypical ultrasonography of gallbladder are encountered. Examination of frozen sections should be performed routinely in all cases to reduce the rates of misdiagnosis. Surgery is an effective treatment for GBC.

First evidence for the contribution of the genetic variations of BRCA1-interacting protein 1 (BRIP1) to the genetic susceptibility of cervical cancer.

BRIP1 (BRCA1-interacting protein 1), a DNA-dependent ATPase and a DNA helicase, is critical for BRCA-associated DNA damage repair functions, and may be involved in the development of cervical cancer. Genetic markers in different regions of the BRIP1 gene have a plausible role in modulating the risk of cervical cancer. In this study, we evaluate the association between the BRIP1 variations and the risk of cervix cancer. We examined the potential association between cervical cancer and eighteen single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs, rs2048718, rs16945692, rs4968451, rs6504074, rs4988344, rs8077088, rs10515211, rs9897121, rs9906313, rs2159450, rs4986764, rs11871785, rs4986763, rs11079454, rs7213430, rs34289250, rs4988345 and rs12937080) of the BRIP1 gene using the MassARRAY system. The participants enrolled in this study included 298 patients with cervical cancer and 286 healthy women as the healthy controls from a Chinese Han population. The results showed that rs16945692 (intron 1), rs4968451 (intron 4), rs4986764 (exon 18) and rs7213430 (3'UTR) were significantly associated with cervical cancer (P<0.05). Furthermore, strong linkage disequilibrium (LD) was observed in three blocks (D'>0.9), and significantly more T-A-C-A haplotypes (block 1) (P=0.001) were found in the patients with cervical cancer. Significantly higher frequencies of C-A-T haplotypes (block 2) (P=0.018) and A-A haplotypes (block 3) (P=0.009) were detected in the healthy controls than in the patients with cervical cancer, suggesting that they may show protective effects against cervical cancer. These findings point to a role for the BRIP1 gene polymorphisms in cervical cancer in a Chinese Han population, and may be informative for future genetic or biological studies on cervical cancer.

BRIP1 variations analysis reveals their relative importance as genetic susceptibility factor for cervical cancer.

To evaluate the association between gene variations in BRIP1 (BRCA1-interacting protein 1) and the risk of cervical cancer, we examined eight single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs: rs2048718, rs12937080, rs4988344, rs6504074, rs4988345, rs4986764, rs4986763, and rs11079454) in the BRIP1 gene in cervical tissue from a Chinese population using the MassARRAY system. The participants enrolled included 454 cervical cancer patients and 562 healthy controls. Quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) was performed to examine the potential correlation between functional BRIP1 SNP genotypes and mRNA levels in cervical cancer tissues. Our results first showed that rs4986764, located in exon 18 in the BRIP1 gene, was significantly associated with cervical cancer (χ(2)=11.191, P=0.001, odds ratio (OR)=1.384, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.144-1.675). Another significant association was observed for rs4986763 located in exon 20 in BRIP1 (χ(2)=4.988, P=0.026, OR=1.241, 95% CI=1.027-1.500). Strong linkage disequilibrium was observed in the rs11079454-rs4986763-rs4986764 SNP block (D'>0.9). The frequencies of haplotype T-T-T are higher in controls than in these patients (P=2.01E-5). Moreover, cervical cancer tissues with a homozygous C/C genotype for rs4986764 had the lowest level of BRIP1, which was 2.8 and 2.9-fold lower than the C/T heterozygote and the T/T homozygote, respectively. These findings indicate a role for BRIP1 gene variations in cervical cancer and may be informative for future genetic or biological studies on cervical cancer.

A preliminary clinical study on high-intensity focused ultrasound therapy for tubal pregnancy.

Our aim was to explore the clinical application value of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) therapy for tubal pregnancy. Forty hospitalized patients with tubal pregnancies (28 cases of non-ruptured tubal pregnancy and 12 cases of ruptured tubal pregnancy) were selected to receive HIFU therapy. Serum human chorionic gonadotropin (ß-HCG) concentrations were compared before and after treatment. Serum ß-HCG was measured weekly and patients received observation only if the concentration decreased by 15% or more, compared with the previous value. Patients were given supplement HIFU therapy if the decrease in the serum ß-HCG was <15% within two weeks. Ultrasound was used to detect the volume changes in the ectopic lesions before and after treatment, and changes in vital signs and complications were recorded. Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography was used to assess fallopian tube patency after treatment. HIFU treatment was successful in 33 of the 40 patients (82%). Seven patients failed HIFU treatment and received surgical therapy (18%). Before and after treatment, serum ß-HCG concentrations and lesion volume were significantly different (P < 0.05, P < 0.01, respectively). Post-treatment tubal contrast-enhanced ultrasonography showed tubal patency on the affected side in 21 cases (64%) at six months and in 27 cases (82%) at 12 months. In conclusion, HIFU is safe and effective, and can be a treatment option for tubal pregnancy.

Strain relief guided growth of atomic nanowires in a Cu3N-Cu(110) molecular network.

A self-corrugated Cu(3)N-Cu(110) molecular network shows the potential to overcome the element dependence barrier as demonstrated by epitaxial growth of atomic nanowires (approximately 1 nm in width) among various 3d, 4d, and 5d elements. Scanning tunneling microscopy shows that all of the investigated atomic nanowires share an identical structure, featuring uniform width, height, orientation and the same minimum separation distance. Ab initio study reveals that the formation mechanism of atomic nanowires can be directly attributed to a strain relief guided asymmetric occupation of atoms on the originally symmetric crest zone of the corrugated network.

Oscillatory magnetic anisotropy originating from quantum well states in Fe films.

The magnetic anisotropy of Fe film grown on vicinal Ag(1,1,10) surfaces was studied with the in situ magneto-optic Kerr effect. Below 200 K, strong oscillations of the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy as a function of Fe thickness with a period of 5.7 monolayers are found, which can even cause the easy magnetization axis to oscillate between perpendicular and parallel to the steps. Such novel oscillation of the anisotropy is attributed to the quantum well states of d-band electrons at the Fermi level in the Fe film. This is unlike the previously observed oscillatory behaviors of ferromagnetic films caused by the quantum well states in nonmagnetic interfacing layers.