Chen Zhao

Carbon-based nanomaterials, including carbon nanotubes, carbon nanospheres, and carbon nanofibers, are becoming a research hotspot due to their unique structure and good mechanical, thermal, electrical, optical, and chemical properties. With the development of material synthesis technology, they can be functionalized and used in various fields such as energy, environment, and biomedicine. In particular, stimuli-responsive carbon-based nanomaterials have stood out in recent years because of their smart behavior. Researchers have applied carbon-based nanomaterials to different disease treatments based on their stimulus-response properties. In this paper, based on stimuli-responsive carbon-based nanomaterials’ morphology, we categorize them into carbon nanotubes, carbon nanospheres, and carbon nanofibers according to their morphology. Then, their applications in probes, bioimaging, tumor therapy, and other fields are discussed. Finally, we address the advantages and disadvantages of carbon-based stimuli-responsive nanomaterials and discuss their future perspective.

The discovery of cuproptosis, a copper-dependent mechanism of programmed cell death, has provided a way for cancer treatment. However, cuproptosis has inherent limitations, including potential cellular harm, the lack of targeting, and insufficient efficacy as a standalone treatment. Therefore, exogenously controlled combination treatments have emerged as key strategies for cuproptosis-based oncotherapy. In this study, a Cu2–xSe@cMOF nanoplatform was constructed for combined sonodynamic/cuproptosis/gas therapy. This platform enabled precise cancer cotreatment, with external control allowing the selective induction of cuproptosis in cancer cells. This approach effectively prevented cancer metastasis and recurrence. Furthermore, Cu2–xSe@cMOF was combined with the antiprogrammed cell death protein ligand-1 antibody (aPD-L1), and this combination maximized the advantages of cuproptosis and immune checkpoint therapy. Additionally, under ultrasound irradiation, the H2Se gas generated from Cu2–xSe@cMOF induced cytotoxicity in cancer cells. Further, it generated reactive oxygen species, which hindered cell survival and proliferation. This study reports an externally controlled system for cuproptosis induction that combines a carbonized metal–organic framework with aPD-L1 to enhance cancer treatment. This precision and reinforced cuproptosis cancer therapy platform could be valuable as an effective therapeutic agent to reduce cancer mortality and morbidity in the future.

Amyloid-β oligomer (AβO) is believed to cause neurotoxicity which is linked to Alzheimer's disease (AD). Therefore, the detection of AβO has been proposed as an effective method for the early diagnosis of AD. In this work, several three-dimensional layers using gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) embedded in different conducting polymer matrix, including poly (thiophene-3-acetic acid), poly (pyrrole-2-carboxylic acid), and poly (pyrrole-3-carboxylic acid), were harnessed as transducers for the large surface area and high electrical conductivity. The cellular prion protein (PrPC) was utilized as the biorecognition element for the specific detection of AβO. The prepared electrochemical sensors were fabricated and compared afterward, in terms of sensitivity and detection range for the highly sensitive detection of AβO. In comparison, the PrPC/AuNPs embedded in Ppy-3-COOH matrix (AuNPs-E-Ppy-3-COOH matrix) was demonstrated to have higher sensitivity and wider detection range (10−9 to 103 nM). Subsequently, through the ex vivo real sample analysis within cerebrospinal fluid and blood test, it is proved that PrPC/AuNPs-E-Ppy-3-COOH matrix can be used for the early diagnosis of AD.

The Digital Box and Block Test (DBBT) is a post-stroke rehabilitation assessment apparatus for in-home use. It is based on the clinically validated Box and Block Test used to measure unilateral gross manual dexterity. We show that the automated DBBT scoring algorithms achieve at least 90% accuracy on a scoring procedure that is traditionally labor intensive and subjective. Furthermore, we propose a tangible gaming system based on DBBT to increase patient motivation and make rehabilitation exercises more enjoyable.

The CO 2 emissions from China's coal consumption account for 14.3% of the world's CO 2 emissions. The taxation of China's coal industry affects the progress of world emissions reduction to some extent. This paper establishes six countermeasure scenarios with different tax systems considering carbon tax and indirect tax, then constructs a dynamic recursive computable general equilibrium model to simulate the tax system changes of the coal industry. It turns out that in both rural and urban populations, coal consumption is more sensitive to the carbon tax and indirect tax compared with the consumption of other commodities. The reduction effect of increasing tax will grow and social reduction cost will be reduced over time. Increasing the coal industry tax can reduce CO 2 emissions significantly and will suffer relatively less GDP loss, for example increasing 20% of indirect tax on the coal industry will lead to 3.65 billion tons of CO 2 reduction during 2018-2030, accounting for 10.05% of 2015 world CO 2 emissions. We found that increasing taxes can improve all industries' energy efficiency, which reflects on the powerful role of the coal industry in guiding the market to reducing CO 2 emissions. Finally, these results strongly recommend that China should increase indirect tax as quickly as possible to reach the long-term interests as soon as possible.