Bioinspired Adaptive,Elastic,and Conductive Graphene Structured Thin-Films Achieving High-Efficiency Underwater Detection and Vibration Perception

Underwater exploration has been an attractive topic for understanding the very nature of the lakes and even deep oceans.In recent years,extensive efforts have been devoted to developing functional materials and their integrated devices for underwater information capturing.However,there still remains a great challenge for water depth detection and vibration monitoring in a high-efficient,controllable,and scalable way.Inspired by the lateral line of fish that can sensitively sense the water depth and environmental stimuli,an ultrathin,elastic,and adaptive underwater sensor based on Ecoflex matrix with embedded assembled graphene sheets is fabricated.The graphene structured thin film is endowed with favourable adaptive and morphable features,which can conformally adhere to the structural surface and transform to a bulged state driven by water pressure.Owing to the introduction of the graphene-based layer,the integrated sensing system can actively detect the water depth with a wide range of 0.3-1.8 m.Furthermore,similar to the fish,the mechanical stimuli from land(e.g.knocking,stomping)and water(e.g.wind blowing,raining,fishing)can also be sensitively captured in real time.This graphene structured thin-film system is expected to demonstrate significant potentials in underwater monitoring,communication,and risk avoidance.

Influence of Metabolic Syndrome on Vibration Perception Threshold in First-Degree Relatives of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Objectives: To investigate influence of metabolic syndrome on vibration perception threshold in first-degree relatives of type 2 diabetes who were not diagnosed with diabets before. Material and Methods: First-degree relatives of type 2 diabetes at the age of 40 - 60 s who had not been diagnosed with diabetes before were enrolled. Height, weight, waist circumference, hip circumference, blood pressure (systolic and diastolic blood pressure), body fat percentage, fasting plasma lipid, fasting plasma glucose, 2-hour blood glucose after 75 g oral glucose and vibration perception threshold were measured. Results: 58 subjects were diagnosed with the level of vibration perception threshold ≥ 16 V. Vibration perception threshold in the metabolic syndrome group was significantly higher than that in the non-metabolic syndrome group (P < 0.05). Vibration perception threshold increased with the increase of metabolic syndrome component. The group with ≥3 components of metabolic syndrome had a significantly higher level of vibration perception, as compared with that of group with 0 component, group with 1 component of metabolic syndrome (p < 0.01). Group with 2 components of metabolic syndrome had a significantly higher level of vibration perception threshold when comparing with group with 0 component (P < 0.05). Vibration perception threshold was positively correlated with weight, body mass index, waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose and 2-hour blood glucose. Stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that there was a positive correlation between waist circumference, systolic blood pressure and vibration perception threshold. Conclusion: Some first-degree relatives of type 2 diabetes who have not been diagnosed with diabetes have high risk of peripheral neuropathy, especially those with metabolic syndrome. Waist circumference and blood pressure are the main factors affecting Vibration perception threshold levels. Early detection of vibration perception threshold should be performed in first-degree relatives of type 2 diabetes with metabolic syndrome. Waist circumference and blood pressure may be important risk factors of peripheral neuropathy for them.

Improved Twin I-Girder Curved Bridge-Vehicle Interaction Analysis and Human Sensitivity to Vibration

The perceptible vibration of curved twin I-girder bridges under traffic loads is an important design consideration, because this bridge have rather low torsional stiffness that produce excessive vibrations. The objective of this investigation was to study the vibration of curved twin I-girder bridges due to moving vehicles and the effect of vibrations on bridge users. To this end, a comprehensive three-dimensional finite element models for bridge and vehicle are developed by using ANSYS code for studying bridge-vehicle interaction and the resultant sensitivity to vibration. Truck parameters include the body, the suspension and the tires. Gap and actuator elements are incorporated into the tire models to simulate the separation between the tires and road surface, and road surface roughness, respectively. Road roughness profiles are generated from power spectral density and cross spectral functions. To couple the motion of the bridge and vehicle, Lagrange multipliers and constraint equations are utilized through the augmented Lagrangian method. A parametric study is performed to identify the effect of various parameters on the vibration of the bridge. The results have been expressed in the form of human perceptibility curves. This study finds that the bridge response is significantly influenced by the road roughness, bump height at expansion joint and vehicle speeds. The results show that the inclusion of features such as increasing the torsional stiffness by providing additional stiffened bracing has major effects on the reduction of perceptible vibration.

Identifying at-risk foot among hospitalized patients with type 2 diabetes: A cross-sectional study in one Chinese tertiary hospital

Objective:To investigate the prevalence of diabetic at-risk foot and its associated factors.Methods:A total of 838 hospitalized patients with type 2 diabetes were screened for at-risk foot.Neural and vascular disorders were evaluated by assessing vibration perception thresholds and ankle brachial indexes (ABIs).After excluding 12 patients with abnormally high ABIs,remaining individuals with neural and/or vascular disorder were identified as at-risk patients and further classified into three subtypes:isolated neural disorder,isolated vascular disorder and mixed disorder.Potential associated factors were examined using Logistic regression models.Results:In the final sample of 826 individuals,the prevalence of diabetic at-risk foot was 30.6％.Among all at-risk patients,isolated neural disorders (69.6％) were more common than mixed (16.2％) or isolated vascular disorders (14.2％).Isolated neural and vascular disorders shared specific risk factors,including age per 20-year increment (odds ratio [95％ CI],3.73 [2.59-5.37] and 4.01 [1.98-8.11]),diabetic duration ≥10 years (1.69 11.13-2.54] and 3.29 [1.49-7.24]) and systolic blood pressure ≥140 mmHg (1.96 [1.31-2.93] and 2.90 [1.38-6.10]) respectively.In addition,isolated neural disorders were associated with a heavy smoking history (95％CI 2.69 [1.15-6.31]),increased high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels (95％CI 1.30 [1.04-1.62]) and mild obesity (95％CI 0.49 [0.20-1.241).Isolated vascular disorders were linked with decreased high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels (95％CI 3.42 [1.31-8.96]) and increased triglycerides levels (95％CI 2.74 [1.26-5.97]).Conclusions:Diabetic at-risk foot is epidemic among hospitalized patients with type 2 diabetes.Aging,long-term diabetes,hypertension,smoking,inflammatory response and dyslipidemia may be associated with the prevalence of diabetic at-risk foot.