Deficits in ascending pain modulation pathways in breast cancer survivors with chronic neuropathic pain: A resting-state fMRI study

PurposeBreast cancer (BC) is the highest frequent malignancy in women globally. Approximately 25–60% of BC patients with chronic neuropathic pain (CNP) result from advances in treating BC. Since the CNP mechanism is unclear, the various treatment methods for CNP are limited. We aimed to explore the brain alternations in BC patients with CNP and the relationship between depression and CNP utilizing resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI).MethodsTo collect the data, the female BC survivors with CNP (n = 20) and healthy controls (n = 20) underwent rs-fMRI. We calculated and compared the functional connectivity (FC) between the two groups using the thalamus and periaqueductal gray (PAG) as seed regions.ResultsPatients with BC showed increased depression and FC between the thalamus and primary somatosensory cortices (SI). Moreover, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Depression (HADS-D) and pain duration were linked positively to the strength of FC from the thalamus to the SI. Furthermore, the thalamus-SI FC mediated the impact of pain duration on HADS-D.ConclusionIn BC patients with CNP, the ascending pain regulation mechanism is impaired and strongly associated with chronic pain and accompanying depression. This research increased our knowledge of the pathophysiology of CNP in patients with BC, which will aid in determining the optimal therapeutic strategy for those patients

Regional Impacts of Climate and Land Cover on Ecosystem Water Retention Services in the Upper Yangtze River Basin

Water retention is an important factor in ecosystem services, owing to its relationships with climate and land-cover change; however, quantifying the independent and combined impacts of these variables remains a challenge. We use scenario analysis and the InVEST model to assess individual or combined impacts of climate and land cover on water retention in the Upper Yangtze River Basin. Water retention decreased from 1986 to 2015 at a rate of 2.97 mm/10a in response to increasing precipitation (3.94 mm/10a) and potential evapotranspiration (16.47 mm/10a). The rate of water retention change showed regional variability (from 68 to −18 mm/a), with some eastern regions experiencing an increase and most other regions experiencing a decrease. Farmland showed the highest decrease (10,772 km2), with land mainly converted into forest (58.17%) and shrub land (21.13%) from 2000 to 2015. The impact of climate change (−12.02 mm) on water retention generally was greater than the impact of land cover change (−4.14 mm), at the basin scale. Among 22 climate zones, 77.27% primarily were impacted by climate change; 22.73% primarily were impacted by land cover change. Our results demonstrate that both individualistic and integrated approaches toward climate and vegetation management is necessary to mitigate the impacts of climate change on water resources

Pollination Services from Insects in Homegardens in the Chengdu Plain will be Confronted with Crises

Chengdu Plain is one of China’s most important agricultural production zones and has a large human population. Agricultural crops require insect pollination to increase yield and quality, which is especially important in plains areas where forest area is small. Homegardens are the main habitat of pollinators. The present study identified the importance of insect pollination in homegardens in the Chengdu Plain through field investigations and comparative experiments and revealed the risk to pollination services caused by the decrease in diversity and population of managed and wild pollinators. The results showed that (1) prohibiting all insect pollination (treatment A) and prohibiting managed bee pollination (treatment B) significantly reduced the yield and seed number of rapeseed and significantly reduced the size, weight, and sweetness of peach fruit, but had no significant effects on plums; (2) the dependence on insect pollination and the economic values of insect pollination for rapeseed and peaches are 0.56 and $85.1 million and 0.44 and$31.0 million, respectively; (3) there were 23 flower-visiting pollinator species at the experimental sites including: four species of managed bees and 19 species of wild pollinators. The peak time for pollinators to visit flowers was 11:00 to 15:00, and the managed bees accounted for over 67.55% of these visits; (4) within a radius of 1000 m from the site, 58.06% of the bees were non-locally managed, and the bee population managed locally by farmers decreased; and (5) compared with 2008, the number of homegardens decreased by 17.24%, the managed bees within the homegardens decreased by 62.05%, and the disappearance and destruction of homegardens led to a significant reduction in wild pollinators

Improving Electrical and Mechanical Properties of Blend Films Via Optimizing Solution-Processable Techniques and Controlling the Semiconductor Molecular Weight

Blending semiconductor polymers (SPs) with insulator polymers (IPs) is an effective strategy for preparing high-performance stretchable electronics. The key is the continuity of the semiconductor structure in the blend films, so the precise regulation of phase separation is the major challenge. Here, two key strategies that influence blend films were systematically investigated, including optimizing the solution-processable technique and controlling the semiconductor molecular weight (labeled LSP for 23.5 kDa, MSP for 108.5 kDa, and HSP for 222.6 kDa). Compared to the spin-coated (SC) films, the assembly on water-surface (AOW) films have uniform morphology, ordered microstructure, and better charge transport properties. During the formation of AOW films, SPs and IPs tend to move toward air and water, respectively, yielding a vertical phase separation structure. Moreover, a proportion of SPs are embedded in the SEBS matrix, with LSP forming an aggregated island structure and HSP forming a nanobunch network structure. For LSP, the introduction of an appropriate amount of SEBS can assist in the formation of an ordered film microstructure. The average mobility of the blend film LSP-SEBS (30%) is around 2.52 cm2 V–1 S–1, much higher than that of the neat film LSP (1.03 cm2 V–1 S–1). For HSP, the mechanical properties can be significantly improved by tuning the amount of SEBS, while maintaining favorable electrical properties. The highest mobility at 100% strain was calculated to be 0.73 and 0.21 cm2 V–1 S–1, for the blend film HSP-SEBS (70%) and the neat film HSP, respectively. Therefore, this study shows that optimizing the solution-processable technique as well as controlling the semiconductor molecular weight are promising and effective strategies for developing blend films, with good electrical and mechanical properties

Side Chain Engineering: Achieving Stretch-Induced Molecular Orientation and Enhanced Mobility in Polymer Semiconductors

Polymer semiconductors have been widely studied as an important component of stretchable electronic devices. However, most stretchable polymer semiconductors suffer from different degrees of charge mobility degradation at high strain. Here, we report a novel side chain engineering strategy to realize stretch-induced enhancement of molecular orientation and charge transport in donor–acceptor conjugated polymers. Specifically, hybrid siloxane-based side chains wifth different silicon chain lengths were grafted onto a backbone of poly-diketo-pyrrolopyrrole-selenophene (PTDPPSe). The charge mobility can be enhanced with an appropriate increase of the silicon chain length. Most importantly, increasing the silicon chain length resulted in significant improvement of stretchability, including decreasing elastic modulus and increasing fracture strain. Interestingly, charge mobilities parallel to the stretching direction for PTDPPSe-4Si, PTDPPSe-5Si, and PTDPPSe-6Si are all above 1 cm2 V–1 s–1 at 100% strain, higher than those of their unstretched states. This enhanced charge mobility is attributed to the excellent ductility and high strain-induced alignment of polymer chains. The current study is expected to provide guidance for the design of intrinsically stretchable polymer semiconductors and advance the development of wearable electronics

Data_Sheet_1_Deficits in ascending pain modulation pathways in breast cancer survivors with chronic neuropathic pain: A resting-state fMRI study.docx

PurposeBreast cancer (BC) is the highest frequent malignancy in women globally. Approximately 25–60% of BC patients with chronic neuropathic pain (CNP) result from advances in treating BC. Since the CNP mechanism is unclear, the various treatment methods for CNP are limited. We aimed to explore the brain alternations in BC patients with CNP and the relationship between depression and CNP utilizing resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI).MethodsTo collect the data, the female BC survivors with CNP (n = 20) and healthy controls (n = 20) underwent rs-fMRI. We calculated and compared the functional connectivity (FC) between the two groups using the thalamus and periaqueductal gray (PAG) as seed regions.ResultsPatients with BC showed increased depression and FC between the thalamus and primary somatosensory cortices (SI). Moreover, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Depression (HADS-D) and pain duration were linked positively to the strength of FC from the thalamus to the SI. Furthermore, the thalamus-SI FC mediated the impact of pain duration on HADS-D.ConclusionIn BC patients with CNP, the ascending pain regulation mechanism is impaired and strongly associated with chronic pain and accompanying depression. This research increased our knowledge of the pathophysiology of CNP in patients with BC, which will aid in determining the optimal therapeutic strategy for those patients.</p