A Cross-Plane Design for Wearable Thermoelectric Generators with High Stretchability and Output Performance.

Stretchable wearable thermoelectric (TE) generators (WTEGs) without compromising output performance for real wearables have attracted much attention recently. Herein, a 3D thermoelectric generator with biaxial stretchability is constructed on the device level. Ultraflexible inorganic Ag/Ag2 Se strips are sewn into the soft purl-knit fabric, in which the thermoelectric legs are aligned in the direction of vertical heat flux. A stable and sufficient temperature gradient of 5.2 °C across the WTEG is therefore achieved when contacted with the wrist at a room temperature of 26.3 °C. The prepared TEG generates a high power density of 10.02 W m-2 at a vertical temperature gradient of 40 K. Meanwhile, the reliable energy harvesting promises a variation of less than 10% under the biaxial stretching up to 70% strain via leveraging the combined effects of the stretchability of knit fabric and geometry of TE strips. The knit fabric-supported TEG enables a seamless conformation to the skin as well as efficient body heat harvesting, which can provide sustainable energy to low power consumption wearable electronics.

The potential of adipokines as biomarkers and therapeutic agents for vascular complications in type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Over the past decades, there has been a major increase in type 2 diabetes (T2D) prevalence in most regions of the world. Diabetic patients are more prone to cardiovascular complications. Accumulating evidence suggests that adipose tissue is not simply an energy storage tissue but it also functions as a secretory tissue producing a variety of bioactive substances, also referred to as adipokines. The balance between pro-inflammatory adipokines and protective adipokines is disturbed in type 2 diabetes, this can be regarded as adipose tissue dysfunction which partly promote the pathogenesis of diabetes complications. In this review, we not only discuss the favorable adipokines like adiponectin, omentin, C1q tumor necrosis factor-related proteins, but also unfavorable ones like resisitin and visfatin, in the aim of finding potential biomarkers recommended for the clinical use in the diagnosis, prognosis and follow up of patients with T2D at high risk of developing cardiovascular diseases as well as leading to new therapeutic approaches.